Episode 319. Centaur (2)

“…….”

Gulp.

Alice carefully looked straight ahead.

The ruined factory and residential areas.

The figure of the Centaur standing tall above them entered her vision.

Its imposing massive body and destructive magic.

Seeing the monster that overwhelmed the entire pursuit team with its aura alone, Alice felt her body freeze.

Seeing the monster she had only seen on screen with her own eyes was a completely different matter.

She barely endured the signals from every cell in her body telling her to run, but she couldn’t help the trembling in her knees.

Just then, Irene blocked Alice’s view.

“Huh, Unnie?”

“Stay still, Alice. That guy… is a real monster.”

Her voice was somehow reassuring.

Irene was generating magic power, trying to protect Alice somehow.

• [Hmm.]

Fortunately, a fight didn’t break out.

The Centaur disappeared according to the manual, and the pursuit team simultaneously relaxed.

“… Situation concluded. The target escaped.”

“Phew. What the heck. I thought a fight was about to break out.”

“I thought today was the end for me too.”

“If you got paid, you gotta do the work. Damn it.”

Sighs of relief and playful remarks burst out from various places.

“Alice. Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah. Unnie.”

Irene checked on Alice with worried eyes, and Alice replied hesitantly.

Only after the situation ended could she properly see her Unnie’s face.

A face she hadn’t seen before, genuinely worried about her.

‘… Didn’t she hate me?’

People show their true selves in emergencies.

Seeing Irene’s sincerity, Alice felt an unfamiliar emotion, but before she could properly savor it, she noticed someone darting off.

“H-Hey!”

The guild members were also startled seeing Lee Hoyeon suddenly dash off.

“Leave him be.”

“Guild Master! Even so, such impulsive behavior….”

“It was agreed upon since Cadet Lee Hoyeon arrived. We entrusted the Centaur’s investigation to him.”

“… I see.”

The guild member who had voiced his opinion quietly returned to his spot after Scarlet, who was assisting Isaac, spoke.

“….”

Alice watched Lee Hoyeon’s retreating back and thought.

Even Alice didn’t know why he was looking for the Centaur.

He made ridiculous excuses like ‘research,’ but neither her father nor she believed him.

Because Lee Hoyeon’s attitude suggested it was for something more important than mere research.

‘… Please, let him succeed.’

Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter.

Alice simply hoped that Lee Hoyeon would achieve what he desired.

*

“… Is this it?”

The spot where the Centaur had disappeared.

Traces of scattered Underworld mana remained, albeit very faint.

• Yeah. But… it’s hard to analyze in this state. At least I need to return to my original body, but is it okay to transform now?

“No, no. They’re all watching from behind.”

I pondered for a moment, then generated magic power.

It was to gather the mana that was scattering even as I spoke.

“You don’t have to analyze it right this second, do you?”

• I just need to analyze it and put it into the tracking spell Rebecca made!

“Okay.”

According to Liliana, that meant it was fine to take this mana and analyze it.

I raised my hand and manipulated the mana.

The unpleasant Underworld mana floating in the air.

I gathered them together, forming a small orb.

• Hmm. Yeah. That should be fine.”

“Okay.”

I pocketed the perfectly sized orb and returned to where the pursuit team was.

What the heck. They’re all looking at me.

This is why being popular is tough.

“… What are the results?”

Isaac approached me and asked cautiously.

He was probably a bit tense because of the Centaur’s strange behavior today.

“I won’t know for sure until I analyze it, but… it’s probably possible.”

“Is that the Centaur’s mana?”

“Yes. It’s the necessary material to track the Centaur’s location.”

“Hoh… I see.”

Isaac nodded, looking at the orb in my hand, while the guild members behind him listened to the conversation, their eyes wide, whispering amongst themselves.

“Didn’t he just say he’s going to track its location?”

“They called him a genius mage, so that’s why they brought him in.”

“Everyone, chatter later. As you just heard, if Lee Hoyeon tracks the Centaur’s location, we might have to fight to subjugate it, so be prepared. For now, let’s head back.”

Clap, clap.

Isaac clapped his hands, ordering them to disperse.

*

“W-What is this…?”

Caddish the fiend, who had followed to assist the Centaur.

He swallowed hard, eavesdropping on the Iris Guild’s pursuit team with his ability.

Their words about tracking the Apostle.

Even if he wasn’t sure if it was true or false, there was no reason for them to lie there.

It meant there was at least a possibility.

“As expected, Maestro had a reason for choosing me.”

His eavesdropping ability, which wasn’t detected by magic sensors, was proving useful now.

Grateful to Maestro once more, Caddish promptly got up from his spot.

“Lee Hoyeon… I need to report this. I didn’t realize he was such a dangerous guy.”

He couldn’t just let someone who stood in the way of Pandemic go.

But just then.

Caddish felt magic power surrounding him.

Click, click-

“This is really serious… I can’t let him live.”

Caddish turned his head at the beautiful voice coming from behind him, his eyes widening the moment he saw the red hair.

“… Rebecca. What is it?”

“Being too good at your abilities can be a problem, right?”

Feeling his body unable to move, Caddish glared at Rebecca.

It was Rebecca’s signature barrier magic right in front of him.

Her slightly smiling face was definitely not joking.

If that was the case, there was only one conclusion.

“You were the traitor! You piece of trash! How dare you betray Maestro?!”

“What are you going to do about it now?”

Crackle-

Simultaneously with Rebecca’s words, the rune barrier surrounding Caddish tightened like a snake eyeing its prey.

“Ngh?!”

“I’m busy too. Let’s finish this quickly. Still, you were a colleague I worked with, so I feel a little sorry.”

“Y-You slut… Ngh.”

Ignoring the horrific sounds coming from behind, Rebecca turned back the way she came.

“Popular men are such a hassle. Is this the strength of a mother?”

Feeling annoyed, Rebecca headed towards Lee Hoyeon’s lodging.

Since this was truly the final task, she had to handle it thoroughly.

*

“Hmm. I really don’t know.”

“… Really? Can’t be helped then.”

I nodded, looking at Liliana, who was frowning.

I remembered what the Centaur had muttered.

• [A Succubus, huh. Now I understand why I was contracted by humans. There was something that drew them in.]

It was confirmed that the Succubus was Liliana.

Plus, he mentioned she had a familiar face.

What on earth could be their relationship?

I watched Liliana stare intently at the Centaur’s orb and pondered.

Liliana.

‘What is Liliana’s identity in the first place?’

[Current Women with High Capture Potential: Im Sol (98 points), Rebecca (93 points), Liliana (85 points), Irene (83 points), Scarlet (70 points), … ]

I checked the list of women who could be made into heroines.

These were the names of women who could become heroines, even though this wasn’t the original game.

If a heroine is 100 points, you can think of it as gaining that many points when capturing them, substituting the importance they have on the world with points.

The higher their influence on the world, the greater the reward upon capture. Im Sol, at 98 points, was practically a main heroine. Rebecca, as strong as Im Sol or Isaac, also had a high score of 93 points.

Irene and Scarlet also had scores reflecting their influence.

The problem was Liliana.

Her score had increased since the last time I checked.

She wasn’t mentioned even once in the original story, yet 85 points was incredibly high compared to Scarlet’s 70.

In fact, it had risen significantly compared to when I first checked.

It was as if the closer I got to Liliana’s secret, the higher the score climbed.

Who knew a single contract bought from the black market would play such a crucial role.

“Hoyeon-nim.”

“Hm?”

Scarlet’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

“You seem to have something on your mind.”

“Just… thinking about some things.”

“Is it because of Liliana-nim?”

“Yeah.”

Liliana was still staring intently at the orb.

She’s cute, but staring like that won’t make anything happen.

“… Still, you were quite cool today.”

“Me?”

“Yes. The other guild members won’t dismiss you anymore. Plus….”

Scarlet suddenly fell silent.

She probably sensed her magic.

I spoke as I saw red hair appearing out of thin air.

“Rebecca-ssi. You’re here?”

“Yep. Hello, baby daddy? Hello, girlfriends.”

“Greetings, Rebecca-ssi. I’ll go prepare some drinks for a moment.”

Scarlet quickly headed to the kitchen.

She always does that.

I looked at Rebecca, who yawned as if tired, and spoke.

“You came to assist me, right? How did you get caught?”

“Hmm, the Guild Master was surprisingly strong. I used less mana on the barrier to extract the Centaur’s mana directly, and he noticed right away.”

“Ah…”

“I couldn’t complete it in the end. But I did catch the executive who was next to the Centaur.”

“Thank you. As expected of you, Rebecca-ssi.”

No wonder. I thought it was strange when Rebecca mentioned getting caught.

Rune barriers are ridiculously overpowered; it was odd that Isaac caught her in broad daylight, not at night.

“For now, what Liliana has there is Underworld mana.”

“Yeah. Thanks. I’ll analyze it with Liliana. Come here, Liliana.”

Rebecca checked the orb of Underworld mana that Liliana was holding.

“Mm. But Rebecca, didn’t you bring any snacks today?”

“Sorry. I’ll be sure to bring some next time.”

Hearing my words, Liliana also seemed to be making an effort to get along with Rebecca.

Everyone’s getting along so well.

Yeah. It’s so much better when everyone’s like this.

I checked my smartwatch.

Messages I hadn’t properly checked all day had piled up, and naturally, I only replied to the heroines.

However, there was also a message from Professor Im Sol.

• Professor Im Sol: Is my disciple doing well? Sorry for the late reply, my research just finished. My apologies.

“What kind of research takes this person a whole week?”

Eating only sweets like this is why their body is falling apart.

I shook my head and sent a reply.

• Me: Professor. You’ll ruin your health doing that.

A moment later, Liliana started making dying sounds.

“Aargh. My head hurts!”

“What’s wrong? Is it very difficult?”

“This is unexpectedly complicated. It’ll probably take about a day or two.”

“Ummm. Is that so? The timing is tricky.”

Even if the analysis finished quickly, time would still be needed to track and capture the Centaur.

Besides, I needed to talk with Liliana, so it wasn’t simple.

Tomorrow is Sunday, and starting Monday, I have to return to the Academy for final exams.

Spending the weekend like this was already a significant investment, and I couldn’t skip the final exams too.

Test scores are quite important, after all.

‘Do I have to give this up after coming this far?’

I really didn’t want that.

“I’ll handle it.”

“Scarlet?”

Just then, Scarlet, who had placed coffee on the table, gave a slight smile.