Ch.41Three Together (3)

I swung my Callipers, releasing all the Pron I had carefully accumulated in one burst.

With a thwack, the monster’s stomach was flipped open. It let out a horrific scream and rolled halfway over.

“You dare lay hands on Rustila?”

Rustila absolutely must not die. Without her talent, this universe is doomed.

Fortunately, Rustila was still breathing.

“Eidel!”

“Are you okay?”

“This is no time to worry about me!”

I know.

I put my weight behind the Callipers.

It might be insignificant compared to the monster’s size, but I was aiming for something else.

The ‘Callipers of Wisdom’ is a tool personally created by the outer god Cartesia.

Its first function is to measure length at the subatomic level, and its second function is to damage conscious entities.

“Kieeeek!”

It inflicts physical damage even on the toughest and most resilient opponents.

But this alone isn’t enough.

I request additional attacks from Cartesia in exchange for the Pron I’ve spent.

[“How unpleasant. Appearing before me without knowing your place.”]

Outer gods form groups with their forces, and these groups are extremely hostile toward other groups.

The monster I’m currently facing belongs to Maxwell’s Forces.

Meanwhile, Cartesia belongs to Descartes’ Forces.

I’m taking advantage of their relationship. Simply put, I’m the shrimp benefiting from a fight between whales.

As a result, Zernya fainted while foaming at the mouth, but she’ll probably be fine.

I pulled the Callipers straight out. Its stomach split open, and its eyeballs burst out like entrails.

[“Y-you bastard, I’ll k-k-kill y-you…!”]

I don’t stop here.

I drive the outer jaws deeper.

A nicotine-like substance gushes out like squid ink.

[“Ugh, urk, ack.”]

The skills of outer gods from Descartes’ Forces destroy the mind, not the body. Their targets aren’t limited to humans. They can manipulate anything with neural cells or similar structures.

Obviously.

Any intelligence capable of communication will inevitably suffer damage.

The Renanyai’s head began to melt like lava.

[“Urgh, kuk, ugh.”]

First, it destroys the language system.

“Krurk, kuk.”

Then even the way of thinking collapses.

Thud, thud.

And finally, it damages the circuits to the point where even simple stimuli and responses become impossible.

Though it was clearly a mental attack, its body was melting.

As soon as its movements slowed, I unsummoned the Callipers.

Now all that’s left is to save Rustila and Zernya.

I reached out to Rustila first, who was farther away.

“Rustila!”

Our hands intertwined. I quickly embraced Rustila. Then I pulled in the unconscious Zernya as well.

Thanks to Zernya’s small frame, it wasn’t difficult to hold both girls at once.

“Eidel, wait…!”

That’s when it happened.

The lifeless monster toppled over.

Not in any other direction, but specifically toward the cliff.

“…Ah.”

The sensation of floating.

One wrong move and we’d die.

That’s what I thought.

I struggled as hard as I could, stepping on the monster. Toward land, toward the ground. I needed to get up onto the cliff. If I made even the slightest mistake here, all three of us would die. My heart felt heavy.

The more I flailed, the more helpless I felt.

Our center of gravity was already beyond the edge of the ground, and our bodies were trying to fall downward.

In a final desperate attempt, I brought out the Callipers.

[— No Pron remaining.]

[— No Pron remaining.]

[— No Pron remaining.]

[— No Pron remaining!]

[— I said there’s no Pron left!]

[— Huh? What are you going to do about it? What can a mere human do without paying the price?]

[— Just because I’m in your head doesn’t mean I’m your ally, kid.]

Ahahahaha-!!

“Damn it…”

“…Eidel! Clench your teeth and pull your chin down!”

“What?”

“Hurry-!!”

Following Rustila’s instructions, I gritted my teeth and lowered my head as much as possible. It seemed Rustila was doing the same.

In the end, my final struggle was in vain, and we experienced free fall.

1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds.

I counted the time.

4 seconds, 5 seconds, 6 seconds.

Falling.

7 seconds, 8 seconds, 9 seconds.

Suddenly, I feel regret.

10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds.

It’s all my arrogance. A mistake. There must have been a better way, a way to do this better.

My pride in knowing the original work to some extent drove me to the brink of death. I was not a web novel protagonist, just an ordinary human.

Ah.

If only I could have at least gotten a doctoral degree…

With that final thought, my vision went dark.

***

[— You have defeated the S-class monster ‘Renanyai’ using the ‘Callipers of Wisdom’!]

[— You have acquired 25,000 Pron as a reward!]

***

Nine B-rank Inspectors dead.

Three A-rank Inspectors dead.

About 40 inspectors and security personnel hired for safety suffered minor to serious injuries and were being transported to hospitals.

Seventy percent of the northwestern area of the Dodeca Forest was destroyed, and among the students who were there, two were seriously injured and eight suffered minor injuries.

The identity of the monster that appeared in the area was still unknown.

The teachers who heard the interim report wore grim expressions.

“…It’s fortunate that no students died.”

“No, there are three missing persons. We can’t say there are no casualties when we don’t know if they’re alive or dead.”

“Damn it…”

The teachers now had two concerns.

First, they had to figure out how to announce the results of the reassignment test.

Second, they had to decide whether to disclose what had just happened to the public.

The second issue was particularly problematic.

“Let’s handle this transparently.”

“No. This incident won’t just blow over.”

“Since it’s almost certainly the work of an outer god, if we report it to the government immediately, we might avoid being dismissed.”

“You say that because you don’t understand.”

“My conscience can’t bear it. I vote for disclosure.”

“Are you all crazy to lose your jobs? I have nowhere to go if I’m kicked out of this school!”

Even among the teachers, opinions were not easily reconciled.

At that moment, one of the surviving A-rank Inspectors came in and shouted.

“Department Head Lotus! A female student is asking to see the teachers!”

“Who is it?”

“A girl with white hair and golden eyes. She says her name is Seti von Adelbein Rheinland…”

“Haa!”

This is the end.

“Adelbein, Rheinland…?”

“A girl who uses the surnames of both families?”

“Was there a child born between the two houses?”

The second-year teachers who had joined after receiving reports of the situation were clueless and could only look astonished.

“We have one new student this year.”

Kendra kindly explained to them that there was a prodigy born between the direct line of the Rheinlands and a branch of the Adelbeins.

“What should we do? Should we let her in?”

“Just a moment…”

After a brief consideration, the department head spoke.

“Tell her to come in.”

Soon the door opened, and a girl with white hair entered.

Her face was as gaunt as someone who had suffered a loss, and her dull golden eyes showed no sign of vitality.

“…I can’t find my brother and sister.”

The girl spoke with difficulty.

“One is named Eidel von Rheinland. The other is Rustila Kersil. Those names…”

“Those two are still missing.”

When Teacher Karlen sighed and answered, the surrounding teachers nudged her.

“Read the room… Teacher!”

“…Reality is reality. She needs to be told.”

Karlen was one of the teachers who had voted to disclose the incident to the public.

Therefore, she intended to tell the girl the facts without omission.

“Based on the circumstances, it seems they fell from the cliff in the northwest with the monster, and that area is being searched now.”

“It’s been two hours since this happened. Why haven’t there been any reports?”

“That area wasn’t originally meant to be used for the test. The Dodeca Forest itself is vast, so we don’t know how long it will take to find them.”

At this, the girl looked like she was about to cry.

She frowned and pursed her lips.

“Hey, you shouldn’t just tell her that.”

Kendra slapped the back of Karlen’s head and then knelt before the teary-eyed girl.

“We’ve received reports that there’s a lake below. And listen! They say that while the slope is steep, the cliff itself isn’t that high. If they know how to swim, they could be found soon.”

“That idiot can’t swim…”

“……”

Kendra fell silent.

Until positive results came in, no words could comfort the girl.

All they could do was hug her, console her, and send her on her way.

However, the girl, Seti, wanted to stay with the teachers.

The second-year teachers and the conservative first-year teachers swallowed hard and looked at her warily.

Kendra, sensing the atmosphere, made hot cocoa for Seti.

Outside, night had fallen, and it had started to rain.

Whoosh.

A heavy downpour that made it impossible to fly helicopters.

“Bad luck.”

A grinding sound of teeth.

It was Seti.

Her parents had no interest in her, and her half-siblings kept their distance or treated her harshly.

In elementary and middle school, she was treated like an untouchable flower just because of her prestigious family.

For a girl who had no one to open her heart to, losing Rustila would be like death itself.

And then…

“Brother.”

Her third half-sibling.

Until just a few months ago, he was the bastard she most wanted to kill, but for some reason, she now found herself worried about him.

It was strange.

And it was numbing. So numbing that she felt like she was losing her mind.

If she lost one person—no, two people—how could she go on living?

She didn’t even want to imagine it. She wanted to avoid it. She didn’t want to experience such a thing.

For now, she could only hope for the rain to stop.