Chapter 70: Labyrinth and Puppet (4)

“Phew…”

I exhaled deeply, sheathing my sword and dismissing the skill window filled with nonsense except for a single sentence.

Unsatisfied with the lukewarm sparring with Nana, I’d finally experienced a truly gratifying duel.

Even better, I’d ended it with the technique of that swordmaster I’d always admired. I couldn’t have asked for a more satisfying outcome.

‘I was pretty Baldojae-like.’

Anyone who saw the technique I’d just displayed couldn’t deny that.

Basking in the thrill of victory while clutching my aching stomach, I looked at the wall where my defeated opponent was stuck.

With his waist bent at an odd angle, he squirmed like an insect, trying to free himself from the wall.

“Need a hand?”

“No, I think I can manage.”

True to his word, after more struggling, he emerged from the wall along with a shower of debris.

His body, now free from the rubble, had its abdomen half-torn. He swayed unsteadily, looking like he might topple over at any moment.

“I can’t fight anymore like this. Congratulations. You’ve won.”

He declared my victory in a nonchalant tone that didn’t match his torn stomach.

Irritated by his casual attitude towards losing, I coldly remarked, “…Couldn’t you at least pretend to be upset about losing?”

“Huh? Kekek! Was that what you were worried about? You won this match. Just enjoy your victory!”

“Tch…”

Even at the end, he refused to show any weakness, maintaining his composure.

Thud. As I clicked my tongue, annoyed with his dignified demeanor, suddenly one of his knees hit the ground.

“Looks like they’re calling me from the other side.”

His other knee also hit the floor. The strength left the hand gripping his katana, and the light in his eyes gradually faded.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had such a fun duel. Next time, let’s do it barehanded…”

I shouted at his collapsing body as he slowly lost consciousness:

“Your name!! You said you’d tell me if I won!!”

“Name? Ah, right…”

He chuckled weakly, then after a moment’s thought, spoke in a small voice like a dying old man.

“Ganryu. That’s my name now. Well then, see you next time… What was it again? Ah, right…”

See you next time, Baldojae.

With those final words, his body lost all strength and fell limply to the ground.

I was astounded by Ganryu’s last words.

The name he mentioned was the alias of a swordmaster known to anyone with even a passing interest in katanas.

Ganryu Sasaki Kojiro, the genius swordsman famous for his duel with Musashi at Ganryujima and as the Swallow Slayer.

‘Surely it can’t be him?’

He could be pretending, but Ganryu seemed unaware of the skill window that possessed individuals like myself knew about.

That meant he wasn’t a possessed individual, but given the bizarre occurrence of people entering novels, it wouldn’t be strange if a historical figure had been reincarnated here.

‘No, even so, it can’t actually be him.’

I’d overlooked one thing – the real Sasaki Kojiro wouldn’t laugh in such a silly way, like “Kakakek”.

“Haah…”

If it wasn’t him, then he must be a character based on the historical figure…

In this novel, while katanas appeared, Hinomoto, the country primarily using katanas, only existed as a setting without much information.

‘If there had been any hint of it appearing, the comment section would have gone crazy…’

I could still vividly recall people hurling insults, calling it “Jap sh*t” and accusing the author of glorifying Japanese militarism before anything had even appeared.

Even if I went to the library to search for information about Hinomoto, I probably wouldn’t find anything substantial.

“I’m beat…”

It had only been a few minutes, not even hours, yet my body felt as exhausted as if days had passed.

Wanting to rest a bit before anyone arrived, I leaned against the wall and was about to sit on the ground.

However, before I could even sit down, there was a cracking sound. A spatial rift appeared in midair, and Marina’s cold mana poured out from that gap.

“…She sure got here fast.”

Seeing Marina appear after everything was over, just like in the novel, I couldn’t help but sneer.

Finally, turning the rift into a large hole, Marina emerged along with what looked like spatial fragments.

Landing gracefully on the floor, Marina was enveloped in pure white mana.

Cautiously surveying her surroundings, she spotted me and rushed over immediately.

“Ian! Are you alright?! Where’s the intruder…?!”

Instead of answering, I pointed at Ganryu’s collapsed body, or rather, the body Ganryu had been using.

Seeing the body with its torn stomach, Marina nodded and synchronized her magic with the labyrinth.

A moment later, Marina let out a relieved sigh and turned back to me.

“It seems there are no other intruders. You did very well. I’m so relieved to see you safe.”

“No, it wasn’t much…! Urgh!!”

As I tried to say it was nothing, thick blood gushed from my mouth.

The impact from when Ganryu struck my stomach earlier must have reached my internal organs.

“I-Ian!!”

Seeing me cough up blood, Marina quickly approached and began casting healing magic on my internal organs.

Feeling my damaged organs gradually healing, I said to Marina:

“…Compared to Hori’s poison, this is nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“H-Hori? Poison? I don’t know what you’re talking about, but stay still!”

Shortly after, Marina finished healing my internal organs and proceeded to treat all the minor wounds on my body.

“Now that I’ve healed your injuries, if you’re up for it, could you tell me what happened?”

“…I don’t mind, but here? Right now?”

“Yes, here. When Jessica came to find me, I reverse-summoned all the students in the labyrinth and they’re currently under protection, so there’s no need to worry.”

Jessica… I thought she hadn’t come, but she must have given up on the test and gone to find the headmaster.

“…Then why wasn’t I reverse-summoned?”

“It’s not that we didn’t. We couldn’t.”

That implied a mage of higher rank than Marina, an Archwizard, had interfered with the reverse-summoning.

“There’s clearly something sinister behind this incident.”

“…I suppose so.”

Recalling Ganryu’s sword pointed at me just moments ago, I couldn’t help but agree.

This unidentified entity, which hadn’t appeared in the original work, not only had swordmasters on par with Ganryu, but also mages surpassing Marina.

The scariest part was that they made no effort to hide it.

‘Either they’re confident they won’t be caught even when showing off their power like this… or they don’t care if they’re found out.’

Thinking about how serious this was, I told Marina everything that had happened, leaving out the parts about possessed individuals.

“Headmaster. Was there a similar incident last year?”

“No, nothing like this happened last year. At least since I took office, this is the first time intruders have appeared in the Academy.”

“I see…”

“From what I can tell, this incident seems to have targeted you, Ian. But the strange thing is why they targeted you. Ian, do you have any idea?”

“None at all. I don’t even know who would be after me in the first place.”

Given that he knew my nickname, it was certainly a group created by possessed individuals, but I couldn’t know anything beyond that.

“I guess we should start by investigating them.”

As I said this, I looked at the body Ganryu had been using.

Rising from our seats, Marina and I approached Ganryu’s body and began removing the armor it wore piece by piece.

“…The inside looks like a puppet.”

What we found after removing the armor was a mechanical body that looked like something out of science fiction or steampunk, completely out of place in a fantasy world.

With arms and legs shaped like those of a jointed doll, it gave off an unsettling feeling just looking at it.

While the abdomen I had damaged was pretty messed up, the rest seemed mostly intact, so investigating shouldn’t be too difficult.

“I’m not an expert on magical engineering, but examining the parts should give us at least one clue. I’ll ask the Royal Magical Technology Institute to investigate this later.”

“Yes, but there’s something that’s been bugging me. Could we check it out a bit here?”

“I don’t mind… but please try not to damage the doll any further.”

“I’ll do my best.”

The heartbeat that had bothered me during and after the battle.

To uncover the truth, I examined the chest area and could feel something like a pulse in the middle.

“Headmaster. Do you know how to use X-ray magic? If so, could you take a look here?”

“……”

Whether there was magic interfering with the X-ray or not, Marina, who had been staring intently at the chest, muttered some spell before closing her mouth.

“What’s wrong? Is something not working?”

“No… There was quite a complex magic formula in place, but I’ve unraveled it. However…”

“However what?”

“…There’s a human heart inside. A heart that’s still beating. And…”

“And…?”

Marina seemed reluctant to continue, but after looking at the fallen doll on the floor, she spoke with a resolved expression.

“In the head part, just like in the chest, there’s… a brain that’s still functioning…”

A brain that’s still functioning?

Hearing those words, I recalled situations I’d often seen in various media, and my expression hardened.

“If the brain is still functioning, then…”

“…Yes. It’s exactly as you’re thinking. This doll, no, this person is still alive.”