Chapter 151 - Into the Tiger's Mouth
Although sothing unwelco had occurred before I even began, there was no ti to dawdle.
In the first place, it wasn't sothing that would tangibly affect the execution of the plan.
‘Shall I start moving?’
With that thought, I slowly began to take my steps.
To quietly slip away from the group I was with and head toward the passage leading to the basent.
Well, I did have a thought.
‘I’m debating whether I should say sothing before I go.’
The thought was whether I should ntion my departure, since I was leaving my post.
To state the conclusion first, I didn't, because leaving any discernible trace was a risk in itself.
Yes. My plan was definitely that. To head to the underground passage quietly, without being noticed by anyone.
To that end, I was moving silently so as not to be seen, but⋯⋯.
“Hey.”
What more is there to say? The mont I was slowly breaking away from the group.
“Where are you going again without a word?”
I was caught in the hallway by the black, short-haired girl who had spotted as if by magic—Yuna.
‘Oops⋯⋯.’
I’ll be honest. I was confident that it was the absolute perfect timing to slip away. So much so that I could say there would be no better opportunity.
However, I may have overlooked the fact that Yuna was among the group.
She was a girl with terrifyingly sharp intuition, which could only be described as being close to a divine skill.
Considering her origins, it might have been a given.
“⋯⋯I felt dizzy from being in a crowded place for so long. I was thinking of stepping out for a breath of fresh air.”
“⋯⋯.”
At my words, Yuna tilted her head with a peculiar expression, her arms crossed.
It could only be described as a look of disbelief.
“Really?”
“⋯⋯Yes.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll go with you.”
“⋯⋯.”
An interrogation followed the look of utter disbelief.
I couldn’t readily answer ‘sure’ to her words.
If I took Yuna with , I naturally wouldn't be able to avoid questions like how I knew about the incident.
Even if Yuna turned a blind eye, it wasn't good for even one more potential leak about my hidden hand to be created.
“Phew⋯⋯.”
As if she had seen through the aning behind my brief silence, Yuna let out a deep sigh.
“You’re up to sothing again, aren’t you?”
“⋯⋯.”
It was a direct hit. Though she usually seed like a scatterbrain, at tis like this, her intuition was excessively good.
Just as it was in the original story.
“You’re always like this. Even when I want to help, you never tell what you’re thinking, you do sothing on your own, and alone you⋯⋯.”
Honestly, I had no rebuttal to that.
Because what she was saying was, without a doubt, the truth.
To Yuna, I must have been the kind of person who knew about inexplicable things on my own, did sothing on my own⋯⋯ and sotis ca back injured.
But at the sa ti, my insides were burning with impatience.
‘I don’t have ti for this.’
The golden ti was tighter than I thought. It was from the start of the Crown Prince's dance until the finale, so even if I split the ti into tiny pieces, it wouldn't be enough.
Of course, I had allocated ti considering such unexpected situations.
And, as I was conflicted between those two feelings.
“Ugh, I didn’t an to get annoyed⋯⋯.”
Yuna broke the brief silence and scratched her head with a complicated expression.
Then, what she said after opening her mouth again was.
“⋯⋯Go.”
Go?
“Pardon?”
“⋯⋯I said go, it’s written all over your face that you’re in a huge hurry.”
“⋯⋯.”
“I want to hear everything about what’s going on, and if there’s anything I can do to help, I want to be of help to you, but⋯⋯ if those thoughts just end up getting in your way, there’s no point.”
Honestly, I was surprised. I thought I wouldn't be able to just brush it off again, given how much had accumulated until now.
The only thing in my head was how to get out of this situation.
“So⋯⋯ go. Don’t get hurt this ti. And if there’s anything you want to talk about, you can tell anyti.”
But she was saying.
That she just wanted to help , not hinder , so I should go.
And to tell her when I felt like talking.
‘Have I been outmatched in character?’
I could do nothing but bow my head.
“⋯⋯Thank you.”
I bowed my head and expressed my gratitude. I couldn’t think of any other expression.
I thought to myself that I was truly an exceptionally blunt person.
And, just before I turned to leave.
“⋯⋯I’m really sorry to say this again and again, but can I ask just one thing?”
Yuna spoke to again, her voice thick with conflict.
It was a voice that seed to be pondering, ‘Is it okay to say this? I decided to just let him go, but is it okay to delay him further?’
“It’s alright. Please, go ahead.”
I answered calmly. Now that Yuna had decided to let go, this much ti consumption was within my expectations.
“You know, honestly, you looked happy. Today.”
As I answered, Yuna continued to speak.
“I don’t really know what you’re usually thinking, and you were a guy who was crazy about training as if you were being chased by sothing, so to see you happy for the first ti in a while. Because of that. I was a little relieved, but then again⋯⋯.”
That was an undeniable fact. I had been happy in many ways today.
I had talked about this and that with Khan and Elwin on the way to the hall.
I had laughed again while bickering with Yuna at the entrance of the hall.
I had been encouraged by Regina.
I had danced happily with Arien.
And I had also talked happily with Serene, who arrived late.
Though not a friend, being with Pleta was of course enjoyable as well.
“⋯⋯Is what you’re about to do sothing you have to do, leaving all those enjoyable things behind?”
And, Yuna was asking that.
“Can’t you just⋯⋯ just pretend you don’t know and stay here?”
Can’t you just stay happy?
Perhaps she was right.
In the original story, this incident was resolved as just a threat anyway, and maybe I didn't need to intervene. It was an incident with no casualties to begin with.
‘No. Is this just an excuse too?’
I’ll be honest. I wanted to just stay happy.
“I can’t argue with that. To be frank, I want to do just that.”
But.
“⋯⋯Nevertheless.”
Happy days weren't obtained for free. There were things that had to be done to protect these days, and today's task undoubtedly fell within that boundary.
If you don't walk today, you'll have to run tomorrow. It was a simple story like that.
“It’s sothing that must be done, nevertheless.”
That’s why I answered that way.
“⋯⋯.”
No answer ca back. She was just turning back towards the hall.
“⋯⋯I’m always grateful, Ms. Yuna.”
I said it quietly, but loud enough for her to hear clearly.
And, I moved forward.
***
After leaving the hallway, I quickly retrieved the bag I had hidden in the stairwell and took out all the prepared equipnt.
It was the bag Regina had prepared for .
‘『Spellbinder』, 『Outlaw』, 『Fortress Kill』, and even a Knight Robe⋯⋯.’
I checked the prepared items once more, and there were still no issues.
“Shall we go?”
And, I began to move down to the basent along the stairwell.
Sssk-
I was going down to the basent, muffling my footsteps as much as possible, but as expected, the security personnel in the basent were completely gone.
They weren't collapsed, they just weren't there at all.
‘Let’s hurry.’
That was the proof that the Exchange eting event from the original was starting now, so I quickened my pace.
‘I shouldn’t be late, ti-wise⋯⋯.’
By now, the dance in the hall should still be in the early to middle stages.
I was almost certain, as I had listened to the songs playing in the hall multiple tis to infer the approximate timing.
Well, if I was completely off, regression was always an option, so there was nothing to hesitate about.
Thud-
And after a little while, I reached the basent of the hall without a hitch.
The original basent was used as a warehouse, so naturally, there were no people.
However.
“⋯⋯A trace of magic.”
Leaking from the tightly shut doors was the distinct trace of magic.
And it was a viciously threatening Otherworld magic, the kind I had felt when facing the previous monster.
Bang-!
There was no ti to delay, and I threw open the warehouse doors, searching for the culprits who had caused this ss.
And, if I made such a commotion, my location would naturally be recognized by the enemy.
“⋯⋯.”
Soone draped in a robe, who seed to have co out after tuning a magic circle in another room, ca out into the hallway and watched .
‘A robe⋯⋯ just like I saw in the original.’
From that appearance, I could quickly recognize the enemy I had seen in the Exchange eting event of .
An unknown person draped in a robe.
Their identity is not revealed in the original work. The main enemies of the Exchange eting event were the already summoned monsters. The summoner remains a MacGuffin and smoothly escapes the hall in the canon story.
It was only ntioned in the epilogue that it was one of the nobles who had attended the Exchange eting.
Tat-!
Therefore, I ran towards the robed figure.
The objective was clear. To capture them alive.
‘If I can capture them and prove a connection to 『Ad Astra』, or even just to Claudio⋯⋯.’
In other words, if I could link this attempted terror attack to Ad Astra, led by Claudio, my future actions would beco much smoother.
It would, of course, also lend strength to Regina.
“⋯⋯!”
As I rushed towards the robed assailant, they montarily emitted magic.
At that mont, what jumped out from both sides were.
“■■■■■■■-!”
Sticky-ford monsters that appeared, screaming a sound that couldn't be recognized as any structured language.
Tatatak-!
Then, the robed assailant left the monsters behind and ran off in the opposite direction.
“You’re not getting away.”
Shing-
I had already anticipated their resistance, so I drew 『Spellbinder』 as I ran.
And, at the sa ti-
[Episode 7. Stopping the Declaration of War]
-Stop the monster summoning ritual targeting the Exchange eting.
[System: 『Overcoming Ten Thousand Deaths』 has reached a checkpoint!]
A ssage that the checkpoint had been updated appeared before my eyes.
Seeing that, I might have let out a small smirk.
When was it that the thing that was like a curse ca to be recognized as a reliable ally?
I wonder.
I didn’t rember well. I just moved forward into the tiger’s mouth, along with that curse-like blessing.
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