episode_0060

“There it is! There it is!”

Crash!

Hearing the sound of what seemed like dozens of urgent footsteps, I hurriedly moved my legs.

‘shit… … .’

A feeling of disgust flows out of me.

The level of those pursuing them is not that high. Normally, it would have been easy to get away with it.

However, now, after suffering from tracking for a long time, my mind and body were at their limit.

Additionally, those who are chasing them are not the end.

From all directions, several times as many people were chasing me.

In this situation, it is not easy to hide one’s body.

… No, if we simply had a lot of people, we might have been able to do it somehow.

By concealing his presence and hiding in the back alleys.

But now even that was not possible.

Although it is not visible, its felt presence is twice as much as what is seen.

In the dark, in the shadows, behind buildings, among people.

There were people who hid themselves and were aiming for my head.

Those who hide in the shadows and take the breath of their subjects.

assassin.

They were also trying for my life.

On a simple level, in terms of fighting, I am confident that even if a truckload of assassins comes by, I can easily wipe them out.

But hiding from them is a different story.

That’s their specialty, and mine is far from that.

Killing a sight is simple.

It’s easy to fool their senses.

However, they are experts in murder, and at the same time, they are experts in tracking.

Unfortunately, I am not good at erasing and hiding traces, so if they decide to pursue their traces, I cannot resist them.

Because of this, I had been running away for several days without even getting a proper rest.

As soon as the situation arose, I hurriedly escaped the academy and left Perdion at a high speed, but in the first place, those who were chasing me were not only leaving from Perdion.

People were chasing me from all over the continent and from all directions.

Soldiers of the Elbrent Empire, warriors from all over the continent, bounty hunters, mercenaries, and even assassins.

All of this was because of the crime against me.

The crime of murdering the prince of the Elbrent Empire.

Usually, murder alone is a serious crime, and the target of the murder is the prince of the empire.

If I had even had time to prepare, the fact became known to the world before I could do anything, and because of that, I had to hastily flee the academy.

The reason I suddenly ended up like this was because I fell into a trap.

─ “As expected, you were the ‘variable’.”

By planning an elaborate trap, the prince and the ‘bastards’ lured me out.

And, I was presented with a choice.

A choice you can never run away from.

In the end, I had to kill the prince.

… No, I don’t know if the prince is really dead.

Perhaps we don’t even know if he was a real prince.

What is certain, however, is that it appeared that way to others.

Because of this, I was condemned to the crime of murdering the prince.

‘… ‘If only I had been a little more careful.’

If you were more cautious and doubted everything.

This may not have been the case.

Since leaving the academy, those regrets have been lingering in my mind.

And that regret grew bigger as time passed and I became more tired.

Actually, if you ask me, there was no other way.

If I was simply concerned about my safety, there was a surer way than running away.

That is, asking Estelle for help.

If it were Estelle, she who would become the emperor of Reinberg, she would have been able to protect me from the hands of the Elbrent Empire.

Perhaps, if I had made that request, she would have accepted it without a second thought.

But that wasn’t possible.

I couldn’t make that choice.

Not wanting to bother her was certainly one of the reasons, but there was a more important reason than that.

If I had made that choice, something uncontrollable would have happened.

The Elbrent Empire would harbor a grudge against Estelle and Reinberg, and soon it would have escalated into war.

It is a war between only two empires that exist on the continent.

Just thinking about it alone would have resulted in people dying on an enormous scale, and the fight between the two giants would not have simply been a fight between them.

maybe… No, the flames of war will surely consume other countries.

And, in the end, it will burn the entire continent.

Knowing that, I couldn’t make that choice.

Because we couldn’t create so many victims.

And again… … .

‘Because we can’t let things go as they want.’

Those who trapped me.

What the thugs who charged me with murdering the prince want.

That was war.

So, if I had trusted Estelle, things would have really gone the way they wanted.

They have been working in secret for the purpose of starting a war.

Although its identity is not yet fully understood, it is probably not a group belonging to a specific group or country.

I was confident that it would spread wider and deeper than that.

The problem is that I can’t even guess what level of power they have.

This is a group under the command of the prince of Elbrent.

It was difficult to guess just how far that hand would extend.

Maybe it’s a bigger organization than you can imagine.

The question is, why did those guys target me?

… No, the aim itself is understandable.

I must have been an eyesore to those who wanted to start a war.

Perhaps if I had made up my mind to hide my identity, I had done quite a bit of work to stop the tricks taking place within the Academy, and inevitably I had no choice but to become quite famous.

Although I was careful, it was inevitable that if such situations continued, it would eventually attract some attention.

Even the students at one academy know me, and coming from an organization with such power, there’s no way they wouldn’t notice that I have something to do with their derailed plans.

So they must have tried to get rid of me.

However, I think the investment was too excessive.

Because they used the emperor of the empire as bait.

We can’t even be sure if it was actually the prince or if he really died, but at least officially and in the world’s perception, the prince was dead.

Now it has become a card that cannot be used externally.

I’m sure I was a nuisance to them, but my skills weren’t fully revealed.

Nevertheless, they invested in the prince card as bait and threw it away.

It is an investment that cannot be understood through common sense and cannot even be said to be excessive.

To throw away the prince’s life just to catch one academy student.

Aside from the resentment and resentment of falling into a trap, that was the only thing that kept bothering me.

Why did they make that choice?

Well, it’s a question that can’t be resolved since we can’t look into their heads.

Anyway, it is clear that it was an excessive investment, but as a result, it created an elaborate trap that was difficult to escape from.

From their point of view, it doesn’t matter which way they go, it’s a trap that will never result in loss.

If I get caught and die, it’s good because I, who was a hindrance to them at every turn, disappears. If I save my life by borrowing the power of Estelle or someone else, it’s good because I can use that as an excuse to spark a war.

Whichever way you roll, they end up benefiting.

If you think about it that way, it’s a really well-made trap.

… From the perspective of those who suffered, it is extremely unfair.

‘… Phew, let’s focus.’

Anyway, the situation happened, and we have come too far to regret it.

First of all, you have to think about survival first.

Regarding them, some information has been passed on to the party, so we have no choice but to trust them.

In the long run, I would have to prove that I had no choice but to kill the prince and bring out the evil beast and put an end to it, but right now I had to focus on surviving.

“Intake.”

Take a short breath.

widely!

leapt forward.

“Huh… !”

“He’s running away!”

The people who were chasing me reacted in confusion when they saw me gaining distance in an instant.

I decided that the fastest way to get out of this situation would be to physically chase him away.

It was a choice I did not want to make when my physical strength and magical power were at a low level, but I had no choice in this situation.

Still, the move with such great determination was probably worth it, as I was able to quickly increase the distance between me and my pursuers.

‘Hide inside the city like this… ‘It won’t work.’

Then, I might be able to escape the snow for now, but since I don’t have the time or ability to erase traces, it’s certain that they will find me by following those traces someday.

Continuing to change residence to avoid being pursued would probably be difficult because of the pursuers spread throughout the city.

So here, getting out of the city would be the right move.

After making that decision, I ran straight toward the city entrance.

Although I am exhausted, my physical ability when using magical power is at a level that is worthy of being called superhuman. Even though it was a fairly large city, it didn’t take long to reach the gate.

the problem is.

“Here he comes!”

It means that there were people waiting there who expected me to come.

“Stop it!”

At a glance, there seemed to be dozens of people, each holding a weapon and glaring at me.

The will was read.

The will to hold back somehow.

It seems like it would take a fairly large blow to break through at once.

However, doing so would require a considerable amount of magical power to be consumed, and may even cause harm to other civilians nearby.

After making an estimate in a split second, I immediately hit the ground.

widely!

“What, what!”

“Alternative… !”

I can hear people looking at me in shock.

It was worth it.

Because I jumped higher than the castle wall right before their eyes.

There were some people standing on top of the castle wall, but I didn’t even give them time to react.

Huh!

Feeling the strong wind, my body, which had been floating in the air, fell down again.

chin!

When I set foot on the ground again, I had the wall behind me.

“What is that… !”

Hearing a startled voice ringing behind me, I immediately started running forward again.

Once we got out of the city, the enemies came in without considering the number of people, but on the other hand, since I had nothing to worry about, I was able to speed up and outrun them.

With the intention of buying a little time and distracting myself, I chose the mountains as my escape route.

Still, the hard work seemed to have been worth it, as I gradually felt the presence behind me moving further away.

If you widen the distance like this and then move further away while paying attention to the traces, you will still be able to gain time.

Even while I was thinking that, I continued to exercise my legs and had reached the halfway point of the mountain.

“As expected, your skills are not appropriate for your age.”

Creepy!

The sudden voice, the goosebumps all over my body, and the strong warning from my intuition made my body stop.

“No, it’s more than that.”

If I hadn’t stopped right away… … .

‘I got cut.’

Probably, no, it was definitely cut.

“Even as I get older, surprises still happen, which makes me think that the world is really wide.”

Cold sweat broke out on my back, and I swallowed dry saliva.

And then, I looked at the old man standing in front of me with trembling eyes.

A black outfit that isn’t flashy, but looks like it’s made of an unusual material.

White hair that shows signs of age, but is neatly trimmed with a polite touch.

Eyes that seem soft at first glance, but whose true feelings cannot be read at all, and that contain a certain eerieness.

A strong physique that is unbelievable for someone his age.

And, tied to his waist, was a sword that radiated unusual energy.

Although it was my first time meeting him, I immediately recognized the old man’s identity.

It was because I already knew the old man’s face.

… No, even if I didn’t know the face, I would have recognized it right away.

To that extent, the energy and atmosphere the old man gave off was eerie and sharp.

‘… why?’

An unbearable question arose.

Someone who shouldn’t be in a place like this.

Someone who shouldn’t be there appeared before my eyes.

“Don’t you think so?”

The strongest warrior in the empire, and perhaps the strongest warrior on the continent.

Imperial Sword.

Swordsman Dreir Hexler.