Ch.21Fatalism (2)

I’m weak beyond compare. Even though my supernatural power is decent, I can’t say it’s better than others. So there’s only one thing I can do.

Run away with Ju-an to a safe place. But where should we escape to?

I don’t know. Let’s just keep running somewhere far from here. That’ll give us better odds of survival than staying.

With such pathetic thoughts, I ran desperately and finally managed to reach the Grand Cathedral. If my body were like before, I would have arrived much faster.

Praying that nothing bad would happen, I opened the cathedral door.

“You’re here? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Thankfully, Ju-an greeted me at the entrance of the shelter, looking perfectly fine. Now I just need to grab him and run.

“I’m fine… huff huff… so… huff…”

My lungs feel like they’re tearing apart after running here in one go. I can barely speak.

“Catch your breath first. You look like you’re about to die.”

It’s not me who’s going to die, it’s him. I need to tell him somehow, but I’m so out of breath that I can’t get the words out.

So I improvised by opening the notepad app on my phone and typing what I wanted to say.

[Run away. You’ll die if you stay here.]

“What do you mean I’ll die if I stay here?”

[Just run. I’ll explain later.]

“Sorry, I can’t run away.”

Is he really this thick-headed? You’ll die if you stay here. That’s why we need to escape right now!

There’s so much I want to say, but it’s frustrating that I can’t even convey a short message in my current state.

“If I run away, who’s going to protect the people in the shelter?”

Ju-an added his own thoughts.

Persuading him with messages isn’t going to work. I need to catch my breath and try talking again.

After a little time passed, I was finally able to force my voice out.

“Just run away, you idiot…”

“And leave everyone behind to escape alone?”

“I’ll figure something out…”

“If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better if I stayed? The two of us protecting this place would be much safer.”

“I won’t die… it’s not my fate yet… just run away…”

No matter what happens, I won’t die. The same probably goes for the people who evacuated here.

But this guy doesn’t seem to understand that and insists on staying.

“Fate? There’s no such thing.”

“What if it really exists? What if it’s really your fate to die here?”

“Then all the more reason to stay.”

“You’d stay even knowing you’ll die? What do you think a human life is worth? When you die, that’s it, it’s over!”

As we continued arguing, my breathing finally calmed down enough to speak comfortably. Now I can persuade him more easily.

“But what about the people in the shelter? And what about you?”

“I told you, it’s not my fate to die yet.”

“Are you certain that fate can’t be changed?”

“…”

People tend to view many things with bias. Especially when it comes to themselves, they tend to think positively.

It’s contradictory for Ju-an to think he can change fate and survive while I claim I won’t die according to fate.

Maybe everything will fail and everyone except Ju-an will die.

What if we all escape together? But too many people would be noticeable. And the more noticeable we are, the easier we become targets.

Plus, controlling such a large group would be difficult. The elderly and weak would move relatively slowly.

Is there no better solution? A way to save everyone in the shelter and Ju-an too…

“When you die, that’s it. Are you okay with that?”

“Then I just need to change fate, protect everyone here, and survive myself.”

Ju-an continued with a confident expression.

“Besides, I think I’m pretty strong.”

He’s always been like this. Always prioritizing others over himself like some pushover.

Valuing others’ lives more than his own to the point of dying in a fire—that says it all.

I’m done trying to persuade this stupid pushover.

“So how strong are you?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m confident I can protect someone like you.”

“Worry about yourself instead.”

I can still play along with his foolishness like in the old days. He’s such a handful.

“Don’t you dare die.”

“Don’t worry, I’m probably stronger than you anyway.”

“…On second thought, maybe you should die.”

I envy how he can joke around even in a life-or-death situation.

This is why people need real-world experience. Only then do they understand how precious life is.

***

I keep watching our surroundings, but still nothing happens. It’s so quiet that I wonder if demons really invaded.

I should come up with a strategy now. It’ll be easier to respond later.

“By the way, what exactly is your ability?”

“Slowing down time, stopping time, and I know a bit of swordsmanship.”

Ju-an showed me a brilliantly shining golden sword as he spoke.

“Nice sword. Where did you get it?”

“The guild master gave it to me. I think it’s called Excalibur.”

“…Isn’t that an incredible weapon?”

“I’m still too weak to use the sword’s power properly. But I think I’ll be able to handle it skillfully soon.”

“…This is so unfair it’s killing me.”

From day one, I got my head cracked open with a wooden club and signed a contract trapping me in this hell, but why does he have everything?

“What kind of person is your guild master to be so generous?”

“I don’t know either. He just keeps supporting me, saying it’s an investment for the future.”

That damn deceiver has top-tier looks, personality, and abilities—all three.

God is fair? Who came up with such nonsense? If God is fair, why give him everything and me nothing?

Ah, I get it. He got my share too. There’s no other explanation.

While I was grumbling, Ju-an suddenly broke the taboo.

“Am I really fated to die? It’s too quiet…”

“Stop saying ominous things and just be quiet.”

“Does it really matter? It’s not like a demon will suddenly appear just because we’re talking.”

“Why do you think the saying ‘Speak of the devil and he shall appear’ exists? So stop raising death flags and just shut up.”

Positive possibilities rarely come true, but negative ones always do.

Like how when you choose an option with a 90% success rate, you often end up in that 10% failure scenario.

“Who believes in such superstitions? In the first place…”

CRASH!

Before Ju-an could finish, a huge demon broke through the wall.

“Do you believe now?”

“…Now I do.”

“I told you to shut your mouth, but you never listen.”

“Is this really my fault?”

“I don’t know. I just wanted to blame someone.”

Ending our pointless conversation, I immediately summoned my gun and prepared to shoot the demon. Since it’s big, it should be easy to hit. Let’s try using about 1% of my mana first.

Bang!

The bullet hit the demon’s body but flattened and fell to the ground. Let’s try using about 10% this time.

—BANG!

Thanks to the power and sound being 10 times greater, I was able to inflict some damage. But it’s still not enough to make a significant impact.

So I came to only one conclusion.

“…Are you sure you don’t want to run away?”

“Nope. But I think we can win if we do well.”

“Don’t be overconfident…”

Ju-an made a gesture, and the demon’s movements completely stopped. Then he readied his sword and prepared to charge at the demon.

“Hey! What are you doing? It’s dangerous…”

Ju-an rushed toward the demon at high speed, and in an instant, the demon’s head fell to the ground with a thud.

And there was Ju-an, standing casually in front of it.

“See? I told you I was pretty strong.”

“…The world is so damn unfair.”

That ended too easily. Is Ju-an too strong, or am I too weak?

Whatever the case, did we just overcome the first hurdle?

But something feels off. This demon seems too weak for one summoned to eliminate a newborn hero.

Suddenly, an ominous possibility crossed my mind.

What if this isn’t over yet?

As soon as that thought occurred to me, the demon’s head regenerated instantly.

I told you negative possibilities always come true…

—BANG!

I just fired a bullet containing 80% of my mana at once. As a result, I lost something usable as a bullet. But at least the demon’s head exploded cleanly.

Ju-an didn’t miss the opportunity while the demon was defenseless and stabbed its heart with his sword.

But the demon didn’t care and threw a direct punch at Ju-an.

—THWACK!

With a loud noise, Ju-an flew into the wall beside me. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem seriously injured.

“Getting distracted during a life-or-death battle, chatting, taking direct hits—truly impressive.”

“…Sorry.”

“Sigh… what would you have done without me?”

If I weren’t here, Ju-an would have died according to his fate long ago. He’s such a handful.

Anyway, the wound must be deep because it’s not regenerating as quickly as before. Thanks to that, the demon is just standing there, focusing on regenerating its body.

But I wouldn’t say we have the advantage. I’ve used up most of my mana covering for that idiot.

The only consolation is that the demon lacks intelligence. If it could think…

Let’s not create negative possibilities.

“So, do you have any good ideas?”

“No. How about you?”

“I have one. Running away without looking back.”

“Then what about the people here?”

I momentarily forgot about the people who evacuated here.

Thanks to that, the option to run away is completely gone. No matter what, I’m not evil enough to easily sacrifice people.

“So what do we do now?”

“We need to buy time until reinforcements arrive.”

“When are the reinforcements coming?”

“I don’t know. But soon, I hope?”

What a hopeful statement. It gives me strength.

“By the way, do you know how much blood a person needs to lose to die from excessive bleeding?”

“Probably… about 1.5 liters would be fatal.”

I immediately fired about 0.1 liters of blood as a bullet.

—BANG!

A hole opened in the demon’s abdomen. The power is similar to when I used 80% of my mana. Anyway, this should work fine as ammunition.

“I can fire about 14 more shots. How about you?”

“I’m fine.”

Taking down this demon would be ideal, but I can’t think of a way to do it.

While I was racking my brain, the demon fully recovered from its wounds. Then it charged straight at us.

By the way, does the demon seem faster than before? Maybe it’s just my imagination?

Let’s try to hold out until reinforcements arrive somehow.