Volume 2 Chapter 7.4
Fugitive in the Blue Night, Hope is
Fleetingly Plucked Away Part 4
Translator : PolterGlast
The old school
building was no longer in its original form.
Swarms of
ever-expanding crystals have broken through the brick exterior walls from the
inside, causing sharp pale petals to bloom in the moonlit night. From afar, it
must have seemed like a magical sight.
To Emma, who had no
choice but to flee with Nina on her back, it looked as if the presence of death
that had materialized was approaching with tremendous force.
This is no longer a
mere disaster.
Unlike a mere natural
phenomenon, it is driven by the malevolence of a human being, and that is too
much to handle.
The two had already
escaped from the building, but the dreadful crystals had broken through even the
floor of the rooftop.
"......Emma, the
crystals!"
"Don't make a
fuss. I know."
The only way out was
upward.
Emma jumped over to
the oncoming crystals. Even if the crystals kept multiplying, as long as she
was on top of them, she did not have to worry about being crushed.
Nevertheless, this is
just like clinging to a piece of driftwood to withstand the fury of a flood.
In the face of the
mighty power of the heretics, even an agent who has undergone fierce training
since childhood is reduced to a helpless sheep.
"If the tide
level reaches five meters above the old school building, it will be a violation
of the rules and you will lose. Are you okay with that?"
"Don't worry. The
crystals will stop multiplying soon."
"...... That's
just what that guy said."
"I'm sure Jin can
read Karen's mind. I'm confident of it."
There was no way that
Karen, who was determined to crush them thoroughly, would be satisfied with a
foul victory.
Therefore, she would
surely stop the crystals in the middle of the game and approach them to put an
end to it herself.
This speculation can
only be made by trusting in the psychology of a psychopath.
Emma, who had always
been very cautious, couldn't believe that they would act on such an assumption.
"Besides, Jin
will defeat Karen soon."
"Why do you think
so highly of that-......~!"
Although there was
more to complain about, it didn't seem like the time to continue the
conversation any further.
One shadow came up the
mountain of crystals.
Emma bit her lip.
If the other party was
Jin, the crystals should have already disappeared. Besides, the <duel>
was supposed to be a one-on-one battle between Nina and Karen, so it would not
make sense for Jin to meet them before the duel ended.
"...... We need
to hide."
─The only thing you should always assume is the
worst-case scenario.
That's what her boss
always told her.
Jin Kirihara failed to
complete his mission and was killed by Karen Ashby.
In an instant, Emma
interpreted this as the entirety of what had just happened.
Emma went around
behind the crystals that protruded like the tip of an iceberg. Here, she would
be in a blind spot from the approaching figure.
"I know you're
hiding there. Nina Stingray."
After all this
movement. Emma's breathing had become so ragged that it was inevitable that her
position would be discovered.
As if mocking Emma,
who was spinning her brain looking for an escape route, Karen went on in a
nonchalant manner.
"Are you sure you
want to just run around forever? How can you face your brothers of the
<White Knights> if you keep running away? If you're a psychic, If you're
a psychic, you should fight me head-on and with dignity."
Emma felt fear for the
first time in a while when she heard the voice bubbling with excitement.
She had heard this
story many times from her compatriots. It is a common trait among heretics who
are intoxicated by their own power to enter a state of mania immediately after
killing someone.
"Jin Kirihara was
much braver still. He had the guts to approach me, even though he was using
tricks. On the other hand, what about you, Stingray? Don't tell me you've been
pretending to be the <Queen of Calamity>? Look, I'm right here. Come on,
show yourself."
Mighty power always
begets insanity.
If we trace the
history of mankind, there is no more universal truth than this.
Nerves numbed by the
destruction they themselves have wrought, the guilt of breaking the taboo of
murder easily ebbs away. In the Republic, this is a realm that cannot be
reached without thoroughly brainwashing new recruits through six months of
training using <conditioning>.
This is why psychic
abilities are so terrifying.
Without any special
training, they can turn a 15-year-old girl into such a monster.
─I have to stop them.
Before the empire used
these terrifying monsters to take over the world.
Before the world is
rewritten into hell.
For that, I must
survive at all costs.
She turned her
attention to the girl who was trembling, her shoulders hunched against her.
─Right, ....... If I sacrifice this girl, I'm sure I'll
be able to save myself.
There is also the
possibility that Nina, after being caught, might reveal her true identity. If
she wanted to be safe, she should push her off the rooftop and then run away.
If she could make it seem that Nina had thrown herself off the roof because she
could not bear the fear, then everything would be all right.
As an agent of the
Republic, this would certainly be the best course of action for her.
However, what came out
of her mouth was a completely opposite suggestion.
No.
What the hell
am I saying?
Make the right
choice for the benefit of the Republic.
Reason admonished her
again and again. But still, her emotions refused to make the cruel choice.
The innocent [Emma]
personality is unaware of her existence, but not the other way around. She has
had a front-row seat to Emma's happy routine in the classroom.
Nina has been sitting
next to her and smiling at her with an unsuspecting smile,
The figure of Jin
watching her with a cynical expression on his face,
She has been watching
so closely.
Every day, day in and
day out, to the point of exasperation.
But that didn't mean
she was capable of being ruthless to the very end ─ she felt herself unfit to be a spy.
Perhaps she had
somehow been influenced by that innocent girl. before she knew it.
"......I'll leave
the rest to you, Nina."
She said this and was
about to get up when she saw something unbelievable.
How could this
be possible under these circumstances?
How could she
still look like this?
"It's okay,
Emma."
With tears in her
eyes, she still has a strong resolve to believe in hope.
She has not given up
on anything yet.
She unabashedly
believes that her accomplice is still alive, that they can defeat that
terrifying monster, and that they can fool the world.
The two fraudsters are
bound together by a mutual trust that is so strong.
"Wa-......"
Without hearing her
words, Nina leaped out from behind the crystals.
Her back was too
dazzling for Emma, who had been living in darkness for so long.
＊
Karen's thoughts were
thrown into chaos when she saw a figure jump out from behind the crystals.
─Why are you here?
─In the first place, you shouldn't be a student of this
school.
There she saw Kate
Lambert, with whom she had recently undergone breathing technique training at
the dojo.
She was moving her
head around restlessly, looking at her surroundings, as if she had wandered in
by a series of bad coincidences.
"Huh......? It's
Karen."
With a look as if she
had found a boat of salvation, Kate approached her.
It's strange, no
matter how one thinks about it.
The fact that she is
not even a student at the Heiberg School and is here at this place is a false
assumption to begin with.
─It's a disguise. This person in front of me is Nina
Stingray.
Karen's thinking
ability to arrive at that answer in an instant was indeed outstanding.
However, whether or
not her body would accept the conclusion she reached in her head was another
story.
Even when she held out
her palm toward Kate, she could not generate crystals.
So she cursed the
mistake she had made in the dojo.
At that time, she had
taught Kate a fatal truth.
The fatal weakness
that restricted her psychic abilities to anyone but the students of the Heiberg
School.
Even though Karen was
being approached by the girl with a spray can in her hand, and even though her
mind was aware of all the truth, her body, her nerves, and her deepest psyche
could not recognize the girl in front of her as an enemy.
That is how impressive
Nina's acting is.
Nina is a monster in
every sense of the word, for she can pull off such divine deception even when
every circumstance is conspiring to expose her lies.
"What's wrong,
Karen, you look pale."
Kate approached her
with a look of worry on her face.
"If you're having
a hard time, I'm here to listen, okay?"
Step by step, the
monster closed the distance nonchalantly.
"You don't have
to be so uptight. Feel free to tell me anything."
The nozzle of the
spray was brought close to the tip of her nose.
"I know full well
that you're actually a kind person."
Who are you?
Who are you?
Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?
Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?──.
"Aaaaaaarrghh!"
Karen snapped out of
her stupor before the nozzle shot out a spray of liquid.
She pointed her palm
in the opposite direction and let the crystals spurt out. Thin, long, and
sharp.
What she produced was
a single long sword.
If she couldn't crush
her directly with the crystals, she could attack her with a weapon made of
crystals. Simple and effective logic, Karen had come up with in less than a
second.
"...... Nina
Stingray."
To identify her as her
enemy, Karen chose to utter that name.
"I know it,
you're a damned fraud. About you being the <Queen of Calamity> is also a
lie. All you can do is form a gang, put on a disguise, and use such tricks to
trick me - you are a coward."
Karen swung her long
sword with both hands and knocked the spray can out of Nina's hand with the tip
of her sword.
After taking a glance
at the spray can, which rolled on the crystals with a dull sound, Karen filled
her whole body with murderous intent.
"But I still
respect you for being such a coward. You sure were strong."
Aiming precisely at
the heart of the girl whose eyes were wide open, a merciless thrust was
unleashed.
Karen has dreamed of
becoming a hero of the empire since she was a child, and she has not neglected
her physical training.
There is no way Nina
can evade the attack.
A mere ordinary girl
would not even be able to react.
A pale flash of light
slices through the air at a tremendous speed.
The sharp tip was
thrust into her left chest,
Right before it struck
her──.
From behind Karen, a
boy's voice could be heard.
"Unfortunately,
you've lost."
The sword suddenly
lost its strength and shattered from the tip due to air resistance.
It was not just the
sword. The cluster of crystals that had filled the rooftop and destroyed the
old school building from the inside out were transformed into pale particles
with a sound similar to a torrential downpour.
What grazed her nose
was a refreshing citrus scent - a new [Forced Deactivation] that had been
hastily changed about a week ago.
"...... You're so
slow, Jin. That was a close call."
The girl in front of
her was laughing as she wiped tears from the corners of her eyes.
What reflected in her
eyes was a boy wearing a clown's mask. Karen didn't know why he was here, as he
was supposed to have been killed before her eyes earlier.
"You were wearing
a stab-proof vest, remember? You'll be fine even if you get stabbed a
little."
"......That's not
the problem, though."
─A stab-proof vest?
Karen looked at the
girl's figure with confusion.
Certainly, the outline
of her body seemed to have swelled a little. Her body shape is clearly
different from when they met at the dojo.
No way, had he
read through even my last-ditch plan?
No, there is a
bigger problem.
─How is this guy still alive?
─No...... how does he even know my latest [Forced
Deactivation] in the first place?
"A first-rate
fraudster has even the deepest psyche under his control."
Amidst the noises of
collapsing crystals, the boy cruelly went on.
"For the past few
weeks, you've had certain information imprinted on your psyche. For example,
through the small talk of the girls you passed by. Or the outdoor advertisements
on the way to the dojo. Or the scent of Kate Lambert, who you befriended at the
dojo."
"...... No
way."
"Oh, you figured
it out already? You sure are a quick thinker."
After a round of
deliberate applause, Jin pulled out an amber-colored vial from somewhere.
"I believed in
you from the very beginning. You're a cautious person, so I'm confident that
you'll realize that the contents of <Aeris No. 6> have been extracted.
When you realize
you're being tricked, you'll naturally feel the need to change your perfume,
right? However, it would take time to change your <conditioning> to a
completely different routine, and it would be difficult to make a new custom
order.
Besides, changing the
perfume is only for a short period of time until you defeat Nina. If that's the
case, it's better to quickly buy a perfume that can be obtained at any time and
start the <conditioning> process right away.
Then I'd better act
quickly. Now, what kind of perfume should I choose?
When you think like
this, the first thing that comes to your mind must be <Glow Citrus>.
It's a popular product
among first-year girls, and you often see it on billboards on your way to the
dojo. And you recalled that Kate Lambert, who you recently befriended at the
dojo, was also wearing one.......
Well, the trend in the
school is the result of information manipulation that I orchestrated, and the
billboard was posted without permission only when you walked by, not to mention
Kate is none other than Nina in disguise - but when you chose the perfume, you
couldn't possibly have known that, could you?
As an insurance, I had
a detective tailing the shipping company you hastily arranged for, ...... but
it looks like my plan to guide you was a success."
Karen could hardly
wrap her head around Jin's words.
All she understood was
that she had been involved in a hell of a scam. But her brain refused to
comprehend any more than that.
If she gets the whole
picture right, she might go crazy with fear.
She couldn't possibly
have known that everything had been in this man's hands from the very beginning──.
"...... H-How the
hell did you survive in the first place?"
"You know what,
you think I'm going to answer everything?"
"Y-You
......!"
"Look, Jake's
flying over here. Let's get this all over with before he hears something
weird."
Jin came closer to her
with his hands in his pockets.
Karen didn't realize
until the last minute that it was a diversion to get her attention.
A sharp pain shot up
her neck.
The last thing she saw
was another person wearing a mask. She had no recollection of this person, who
was dressed in a black coat with a hood.
─Just what kind of scam am I in......?
Without anyone to
answer her question, her consciousness sank into the darkness.
◇
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