Ch.75Crimson Flame (6)

[EP.10 Slave Traders]

-Crashing waves, submerging iron bars-

This episode wasn’t originally meant to start with a kidnapping.

The protagonist’s group on a school trip to the sea.

Lezia, Irene, Sharlotte.

The three of them, enjoying a late-night walk, accidentally discover a carriage belonging to slave traders.

The children immediately begin following them to rescue the people.

Eventually, they reach a massive transport ship carrying goods.

“W-what should we do?”

“It seems like it will take time for the professors to arrive…!”

“It’s about to depart.”

“This is our only chance.”

“Yes. If we hesitate, it will leave.”

“Let’s go.”

The children board the ship immediately and engage in battle.

Confused soldiers swarm in.

Although Lezia’s abilities were unstable at the time.

The other two had reached a certain level of proficiency, so they seemed to overcome the crisis smoothly.

The Unknown retreated as soon as he saw Sharlotte’s face.

“There’s no need to get involved with the princess.”

“Hunting dog… regrettably, our alliance ends here.”

Thanks to the quick betrayal, the difficulty level decreased.

Despite the hunting dog’s fierce struggle, the children combined their strength and finally defeated him.

When they thought everything was over.

BOOM!!

A powerful explosion echoes.

The ship had been rigged to automatically begin sinking procedures if the hunting dog in charge died.

This was to prevent the ship and cargo from falling into enemy hands.

The hull, having suffered massive damage, slowly begins to sink into the sea.

“T-this… we need to escape quickly!”

“The ship is sinking too fast!”

“These crazy bastards…!”

“There are still innocent people trapped below!”

“We don’t have enough time.”

“If we continue like this, we’ll sink with them.”

The children did their best, but in their exhausted state, they couldn’t save everyone.

Crashing waves.

Iron bars submerging underwater.

The children had to helplessly watch all those scenes.

It was hardly what you’d call a bright ending.

This pain drove the protagonist’s group forward, later becoming significant nourishment for their growth.

A typical narrative of growth through failure.

‘It was just… too cruel.’

Because it showed the raw mental breakdown of the three people.

No matter how many times they tried, they couldn’t save the ship.

The story could only progress after defeating the boss (the hunting dog).

They tried to disarm the explosive magic, but handling magic with hundreds of overlapping circuits wasn’t easy.

Moreover, they weren’t concentrated in one place but spread evenly throughout the hull.

‘Essentially, it was unavoidable.’

It would have been the same for anyone else.

No matter how exceptional they were, they were still students who hadn’t even completed their coming-of-age ceremony.

That’s why it felt even worse.

The children, dropping tears.

That poignant illustration kept coming to mind.

‘Poor things.’

I click my tongue with mixed feelings.

As I shake off the random thoughts that had been lingering, suddenly I feel a hand grabbing my sleeve.

It was Irene, who had been leaning against me.

“W-what did I just hear? That the ship is going to sink…?”

The fox looks up at me with startled eyes.

Her black pupils were trembling.

Apparently, she was shocked by the mention of sinking.

The girl asks with a trembling voice.

“Is the ship really going to sink…?”

Just when it seemed like they had barely overcome the crisis, an even more serious problem awaited.

For her, it must have felt like a bolt from the blue.

I answer calmly.

“It hasn’t happened yet.”

“That person said there would be an explosion within 30 minutes. If we don’t free the people right away…”

“Miss Irene. Please calm down.”

“But there’s no time…!”

“Shh.”

I place my index finger on the girl’s lips.

Speaking in confusion, once her mouth is blocked, she begins to regain her erratic breathing.

She gradually calms down like a dying ember.

Before long, Irene drops her head.

“…Is this because of me again?”

There was anguish in her murmured words.

Was she blaming herself?

It was none other than she who had cut down the hunting dog.

The action meant to protect everyone was actually the switch that triggered their doom.

It was enough to make one’s head spin.

I firmly deny her question.

“No, it’s not.”

Tap.

A hand raised above her head.

To calm her, I playfully tousle her crimson hair.

Her unfocused pupils are staring at me.

“This time will be different.”

I say confidently.

I gently detach the fox clinging to me and slowly seat her on the floor.

As if telling her to wait just a moment.

“I’ll solve this.”

Snap!

I immediately snap my fingers.

Behind the shadow covering my fingertips, my entire body’s senses extend sharply.

I can feel traces of alien mana throughout the hull.

-Ding!

[Current remaining output: 20.2%]

The current remaining output is about 20%.

I’ve consumed a lot, but it’s just enough to barely solve the problem.

‘There are a total of 70 explosive magic spells prepared on the hull.’

Since the ship could probably withstand about 5 explosions, I needed to disarm 65 spells.

A design where hundreds of circuit lines resonated together.

If one was mishandled, all 70 would explode simultaneously.

To disarm the spells, I had to deactivate all 65 simultaneously without the slightest error.

‘First, I need to secure visibility.’

The spells were evenly spread throughout the lowest level.

To solve the problem simultaneously, I needed to be in a position where all 70 were visible at once.

I quickly clap my hands.

Whoosh!

The next moment.

I was standing in the sky, slightly away from the ship.

Below my feet, black waves surge.

With the sea breeze brushing past my ears, I gaze at the massive hull.

“……”

After a moment of deep breathing.

I gently lift my closed eyelids.

As white pupils are revealed, a new world covered in mana appears in my vision.

I stare intently through the ship.

Wooong-!

I can feel it.

The flow of mana carrying a heavy pulse.

Hundreds of circuit lines intertwine, forming tens of thousands of fuses.

I raise one finger to point at their center.

“Illuminate.”

The lines in the void become clearly visible.

I move my fingertips here and there, pushing aside the web-like entangled circuits.

Delicate control requiring complete concentration.

Though I was doing it calmly, it was actually more difficult than threading a needle from a distance.

I exhale calmly as I find the core of the circuits.

-Ding!

[Current remaining output: 15.4%]

-Ding!

[Current remaining output: 12.1%]

-Ding!

[Current remaining output: 9.7%]

The output is rapidly depleting.

In the precarious tension, I search for the single flaw that forms all resonance.

Before long, I was able to discover it.

A star shining brilliantly, surrounded by circuits.

It was the heart of the layered spells.

Without hesitation, I aim my finger.

I put all my remaining output into it, placing a virtual bullet in the blowing wind.

Embracing the shimmering heat haze.

“Break.”

I murmur with my lips.

“Dark Transition.”

Immediately after.

Pop-!

With a sound like air deflating, darkness is discharged.

A fragment flying rapidly.

It soon pierces the star’s heart.

Simultaneously, the connected circuits are dyed in darkness, losing their brilliant light.

The mana is cut off and neutralized.

Thud, thud-!

Despite the time being up, only faint echoes are heard a few times.

There was no change to the ship.

‘It worked.’

Just as I let out a sigh of relief.

A familiar mechanical sound rings.

-Ding!

[Current remaining output: 0%]

A blue screen appears in my vision.

Followed by a thick spray of blood.

“Cough…!”

Blood soaking my sleeve.

It was pitch-black blood.

The feeling of buoyancy disappears, and my body, which had been floating in the sky, begins to fall.

As I watch the water surface rapidly approaching with no time to react, a belated realization crosses my mind.

‘Ah.’

I overdid it.

Splash-!

An intense impact is transmitted, and cold waves engulf my body.

My consciousness becomes blurry, losing focus.

I need to surface immediately, but my body won’t move as I want, probably because I’m exhausted.

My open eyelids close again.

‘This is bad, at this rate…’

Fading consciousness.

I can’t offer any resistance.

What appears in my darkening vision is…

Grab-!

A hand seizing my sinking hand.

With disheveled crimson hair as the last thing I see.

I closed my eyes.

***

After some time passed.

Back on the ship’s roof.

On the cold deck, two thoroughly soaked people were present.

They looked as if they had just emerged from the sea.

“Wake up…!”

A blonde boy without consciousness.

His body was sprawled lifelessly.

He wasn’t breathing.

The fox was pressing on the boy’s chest with a pale face.

It was CPR filled with desperation.

“No… you can’t die like this.”

The girl doesn’t stop despite her exhaustion.

Tears that had been welling up now fall.

The fox grabs the boy’s chin.

Then, overlapping her lips with his, she breathes her breath into him.

A faint color returns to his face.

“Haa, haa…”

Irene breathes roughly.

With her head bowed, she repeated artificial respiration several more times.

It was the desperate gesture of a beast trying to save its master.

***

When I regained consciousness.

It was after a full two days had passed.