episode_0167

167. Alex.

An familiar smell emanated from her clothes. A fishy yet cold, metallic smell.

Even though my internal magical power was sealed, I could still feel it to that extent.

This was also thanks to my recent achievement in handling ambient magical power.

‘Did she perhaps realize my situation?’

No, that can’t be. If that were the case, she wouldn’t be this quiet right now.

Above all, Alex wouldn’t have the loyalty to save John.

The two men’s relationship was close to being a bad one.

‘Then why? What business does she have with me······.’

Did she come for revenge? But is it right for someone who came for revenge to leave so easily?

The time Sarah and the person presumed to be Alex spent talking was only about 10 minutes. It’s hard to believe the two men and women separated so peacefully if she came with resentment.

John, who had been racking his brain for a while, eventually gave up. There were too few clues. It’s about selective focus; right now, I need to focus on fixing the coordinates.

Still, the more information, the better. John nodded his slightly stiff chin and said.

“Who was it?”

“A hotel employee.”

“What did they come for?”

“They said they haven’t seen anyone going out of the room, so they came up to check.”

John raised an eyebrow. It was a lie. But he didn’t bother pointing it out. Nothing would change even if he did.

“······Is that so? Okay.”

Sarah glanced at John. Did she notice something strange? Of course, nothing changes even if she did.

Clang-

Sarah grabbed the chain and sent magical power into it. She smiled unconsciously. The power of the seal was further strengthened.

“It’s suffocating.”

“Hang in there, John. I’ll release you soon.”

If the brainwashing progresses perfectly. She swallowed the rest of her words.

***

One day, she got up from her seat and said.

“I’ll be back from the bathroom for a moment.”

“Okay.”

She sent magical power into the restraints and then went outside. She also didn’t forget to use the sound-blocking artifact.

John twisted his fingers this way and that. Now, while she’s gone, is the chance to control the ambient magical power.

Whoosh······.

The radius in which I can interfere with ambient magical power has widened compared to before. John focused his mind and observed the external environment.

Thud, something was felt.

‘Is it a pebble?’

John spread his magical power widely and embraced it. Something hard and bumpy. Lifting it up slightly, it wasn’t very heavy either.

‘This is perfect.’

Immediately after, the movement of the magical power surrounding the pebble changed. Until just now, it was only caressing the surface, but now it penetrated deeply.

After a while, the ambient magical power was completely sucked into the pebble. The preparation was complete. The first step of teleportation that John thought of.

Magical Power Transformation.

After replacing all the particles that make up matter with magical power, set the coordinates and shoot it to that location. This was the essence of the teleportation spell John created.

‘Now the problem is the coordinates······.’

John extracted some magical power from the pebble. And he wove it like a rope and threw it far away.

Thud, the magical power rope landed not far from the pebble. Next, John transmitted ‘all’ the particles of the pebble using the rope as a medium.

Whoosh-!

Although John couldn’t see it, the pebble seemed to flash for a moment and then appeared in a new place. John felt both joy and despair at the same time.

‘Tsk.’

It’s because the pebble didn’t arrive at the tip of the rope, but at a completely unexpected place.

‘Another failure.’

Teleportation clearly happens in an instant. However, the upheaval of the world was faster than that.

Even if John sets the coordinates with a rope, it’s meaningless because it keeps changing.

In other words, as I’ve been saying, the coordinates must be fixed.

‘But how?’

At that moment, John felt a sensation that he couldn’t describe.

John’s brow furrowed. A thin thread of magical power was leaking out of the hotel room.

John instinctively tracked it. It wasn’t difficult. All he had to do was mix some ambient magical power into the thread of magical power.

Of course, control would be lost if he strayed beyond a certain radius, but fortunately, the thread’s destination wasn’t that far.

Immediately after, the thread of magical power connected to something. At the same time, a faint vibration came to the hotel room through the thread.

‘What is this?’

The direction of the vibration was not unilateral. The vibration was not only coming from that side, but also being transmitted from the hotel room to that side.

In an instant, lightning flashed through John’s mind.

‘String telephone!’

I had made one during science class when I was young. This form of magical power was very similar to that.

‘Then the vibration is soon sound, right······.’

Of course, it could be an object for other purposes. However, for now, I decided to exclude that possibility. I’ll set up a hypothesis first.

Who could it be. An employee of the company that made this damn restraint? The manufacturer of the white pills? Or maybe······.

‘Alex. It could be that bastard.’

John felt frustrated. If it weren’t for the sound-blocking artifact, I would have gotten more information.

I wanted to track the magical power thread right away to find out the identity of the other party······

‘Huh?’

Come to think of it, how did that artifact fix the coordinates?

It’s an artifact with a similar principle to teleportation, except that it transmits sound instead of objects.

John’s brain spun violently. He constantly explored the differences between his spell and the artifact.

In the meantime, the door burst open.

“Did you wait long, John.”

“······Huh? Uh.”

John answered a beat late. She tilted her head.

“It’s almost time to take your medicine.”

She said that and approached John. At the same time, John finally realized the difference.

John’s eyes darted around.

“Sarah.”

“Hmm?”

Sarah, who was about to reach out to John’s chin, stopped. John continued.

“From now on, I’ll open my mouth on my own. So you don’t have to hold it.”

“······Um, really?”

Her eyes narrowed. She was exploring the hidden truth in John’s words.

John desperately tried to put on a nonchalant expression.

“Okay. I’m happy with that, what.”

After a while, she handed out the pill with suspicious eyes.

“Say, ah.”

“Ah-ah-”

Gulp, John swallowed the pill smoothly. Veins stood out above her eyes.

‘Looks like I didn’t do anything useless.’

She felt a small sense of satisfaction. Finally, John’s resistance has weakened.

‘I need to buy more pills.’

Sarah thought so as she watched John fall asleep. The effect was quite outstanding.

***

After that, John spent his confinement life relatively mildly. He didn’t say anything about asking her to release him, and he took the medicine she gave him well.

Thanks to that, Sarah’s vigilance has weakened a little. Of course, it was just a little. She still suspected John. Just as John knew her well, she also knew John well.

‘That’s enough.’

John looked at the ceiling with a nonchalant expression. Now the preparation is complete.

‘Today, I will subdue Sarah.’

My feelings these days are unusual. It’s ridiculous, but I might forgive her someday.

I can’t wait any longer. I wanted to finish preparing a little more and execute the plan if I could. But I wasn’t sure if my mind would be intact in the future.

‘The medicine, I need to cut off that damn medicine right away.’

At that time, Sarah, who was peeling an apple next to him, spoke.

“John, say ah-.”

“Ah-ah-”

“Good job.”

Crunch, a sweet scent swirled in my mouth. At the same time, fluffy emotions soared from within my heart. John wanted to spit out the apple right away.

‘······Damn it.’

John blinked his eyes. How much time passed after that, finally an opportunity came.

“I’ll be back from the bathroom for a moment.”

“Okay.”

She got up from her seat and headed for the door. Just as she was about to turn the doorknob, she asked.

“John.”

“Yeah.”

“You’ll be good, right?”

Did she have some kind of ominous feeling, John admired inwardly.

‘Good intuition.’

John bit into the apple with a nonchalant attitude and answered.

“Why are you asking the obvious?”

“······.”

She stared at John with narrowed eyes and turned the doorknob. The creaking sound was unusually long.

Boom- The door soon closed completely.

‘Now!’

Immediately after, John took out the Blood Crimson Fan from his inventory. A crimson fan popped out into the air.

At the same time, the ambient magical power gently rotated and enveloped the Blood Crimson Fan and John. A feeling as if my whole body was becoming mushy. I couldn’t help but sweat.

‘Will it work?’

It was the first time applying it to a human body instead of an object.

John rolled his eyes and scanned his whole body. The fan was set up. But the body wasn’t yet.

In the first place, the work of turning the body into magical power was difficult, and it was also because he had been practicing turning objects into magical power to death for the past time.

John’s mouth was parched. If his prediction was correct, by now······

Thud!!!

The door and the wall that was in contact with the right side, that is, the wall in the direction where the bathroom was located, exploded.

“Shin-Johhnn!!”

Sarah rushed towards John with her face distorted like a ferocious demon. She came out so urgently that her pants were hanging between her legs like a hammock. Rip- Ah, it finally tore.

It’s a funny thing, but it wasn’t funny at all. John flicked his fingers.

From the beginning, I didn’t think it would be easy. The nearby ambient magical power that couldn’t penetrate John’s body fluctuated.

‘I need to buy time.’