episode_0075

Originally, this episode didn’t begin with an abduction. The main characters, on a school trip to the sea— Regia, Irene, and Charlotte— were enjoying a late-night stroll when they stumbled upon a slave merchant’s carriage passing by. The children immediately began to tail them, intending to rescue the people. Eventually, they reached a massive transport ship carrying supplies.

“Ah, what should we do?” “It seems like it’ll take a while for the professors to arrive…!” “It’s about to set sail.” “This is our only chance.” “Yeah. If we hesitate, it’ll leave.” “Let’s go.”

The children immediately boarded the ship and engaged in battle. Panicked soldiers swarmed them. Although Regia’s abilities were unstable at the time, the other two had reached a certain level of skill, so the crisis seemed to pass smoothly.

The unknown figure retreated as soon as he confirmed Charlotte’s face. “There’s no need to get involved with the Princess, is there?” “Hound… Regrettably, our alliance ends here.”

Thanks to the swift betrayal, the difficulty level decreased. Despite the Hound’s fierce struggle, the children combined their strength and finally dealt with him. Just when they thought everything was over.

A deafening boom! A powerful explosion echoed. The ship was rigged with a device that would automatically initiate the sinking process if the Hound, the one in charge, died. This was to prevent the ship and its supplies from falling into enemy hands. The heavily damaged hull slowly began to sink into the sea.

“Th-this is… we have to escape quickly!” “It’s sinking too fast!” “These crazy bastards…!” “There are still innocent people trapped on the lower decks!” “There isn’t enough time.” “If we stay like this, we’ll sink with it.”

The children did their best, but exhausted as they were, they couldn’t save everyone. Crashing waves. Submerged iron bars. The children could only helplessly watch all of it. It was by no means a bright ending.

Such pain pushed the protagonist’s party, later serving as significant nourishment for their growth. A typical growth narrative through failure. ‘But… it was just too harsh.’

Because it vividly showed the three of them with shattered mental states. No matter how many times they tried, they couldn’t save the ship. The story only progressed after defeating the boss (the Hound).

They even tried to disarm the detonation magic, but it wasn’t easy to handle magic with hundreds of overlapping circuits. Moreover, it wasn’t just one, but spread evenly throughout the hull.

‘It was virtually unavoidable, really.’ It would have been the same for anyone else. No matter how talented they were, they were still students who hadn’t even gone through their coming-of-age ceremony.

That’s why I felt even worse. The children shedding tears. That poignant illustration kept coming to mind.

‘Poor things.’ He clicked his tongue, a bitter taste in his mouth. As he shook off his lingering stray thoughts, he suddenly felt a hand grab his sleeve.

It was Irene, who had been leaning against him. “W-what did I just hear? The ship is sinking…?” The fox looked up at him with startled eyes. Her dark pupils were trembling. It seemed the word “sinking” had startled her.

The girl asked in a trembling voice. “Is the ship really sinking…?” They had barely seemed to overcome one crisis, only to find a far more serious problem awaiting them. To her, it must have felt like a bolt from the blue.

I calmly replied. “That hasn’t happened yet.” “He said an explosion would happen in 30 minutes. If we don’t release the people right away…” “Irene-yang. Please calm down.” “But the time…!”

“Shhh.” I placed my index finger on the girl’s lips. She had been speaking in a daze of confusion, but with her mouth silenced, she slowly began to regain her erratic breathing. She gradually calmed down like a dying ember.

Before long, Irene dropped her head. “…Is it because of me again?” Her whispered words were laced with anguish. Was she blaming herself? It was none other than her who defeated the Hound. The action she took to protect everyone was, in fact, the switch that triggered their destruction. It was enough to make her mind go numb.

I firmly denied her question. “That’s not it.” Pat. A hand rose to her head. To calm her, I playfully ruffled her vermilion hair.

Her unfocused pupils stared at me. “This time, it will be different.” I said confidently. I gently separated the fox, who had been clinging to me, and slowly sat her down on the floor.

As if telling her to wait for a moment. “I’ll take care of it.” Snap! I immediately snapped my fingers. As a shadow fell over my fingertips, my entire body’s senses sharply extended.

I felt the remnants of foreign mana from various parts of the hull. Ding! [Current remaining power: 20.2%] The current remaining power was about 20%. Though a lot had been consumed, it was still barely enough to solve the problem.

‘There are a total of 70 explosion spells prepared on the hull.’ Since it could withstand about 5 exploding, only 65 spell formations needed to be disarmed. The design involved hundreds of circuits resonating and connecting. If even one was touched incorrectly, all 70 would explode simultaneously.

To disarm the spell formations, all 65 had to be disarmed simultaneously, without a single error. ‘First, I need to secure a clear view.’ The spell formations were evenly spread across the lowest deck. To solve the problem simultaneously, he needed to be in a position where all 70 could be seen at a glance.

I quickly clapped my hands. Clap! The next moment. I was standing in the sky, a little distance from the ship.

Beneath my feet, pitch-black waves surged. With the sea breeze brushing past my ears, I gazed at the massive hull. “……” After a brief deep breath. I gently lifted my closed eyelids.

As my white pupils were revealed, a new world covered in mana appeared in my vision. I peered through the ship intently. A deep thrum!

I felt it. The flow of mana, bearing a heavy throb. Hundreds of circuits intertwined, revealing fuses that formed tens of thousands of lines. I raised a finger and pointed at their center.

“Reveal.” The lines in the air clearly came into view. I moved my fingertips here and there, untangling the circuits that were intertwined like a spiderweb. It was precise control, requiring complete concentration. Though I was doing it calmly, it was actually more difficult than landing a pencil lead, thrown from a distance, into a needle hole.

I calmly exhaled and found the core of the circuits. Ding! [Current remaining power: 15.4%] Ding! [Current remaining power: 12.1%] Ding! [Current remaining power: 9.7%]

Power was consumed rapidly. Amidst the precarious tension, I searched for a single weak point that enabled all the resonances. Before long, I found it. A star radiating brilliant light, surrounded by circuits. It was the heart of the layered spell formations.

I aimed my finger without hesitation. Gathering all remaining power, I infused a virtual bullet into the swirling wind. Shimmering with heat haze. “Shatter.”

I murmured with my lips. “Dark Turn.” Immediately after. A soft fizzle! With a sound like air leaking, darkness was triggered.

A projectile flew swiftly. It immediately pierced the star’s heart. Simultaneously, the connected circuits were dyed with darkness, losing their brilliant light. Mana was severed, and they were neutralized.

Thump, thud! Even though the time had come, only faint echoes were heard a few times. There was no change to the ship.

‘It’s done.’ The moment I let out a sigh of relief. A familiar mechanical sound rang out. Ding! [Current remaining power: 0%]

A blue screen appeared in my vision. Then, deep coughs of blood burst out. “Cough…!” Blood soaked my sleeve. It was blood stained black.

The sense of levitation vanished, and my body, which had been floating in the sky, began to fall. As I watched the water surface rapidly approach, without time to react, a belated realization flashed through my mind. ‘Ah.’

I overdid it. Splash! A powerful impact hit me, and cold waves swallowed my body. My consciousness blurred as if losing focus.

I needed to get up right away, but perhaps from exhaustion, my body wouldn’t move as I wished. My open eyelids closed again. ‘This is a disaster, at this rate…’ My consciousness faded. I couldn’t offer any resistance.

What appeared in my darkening vision was… Grab! It was a hand grabbing my sinking one. As vermilion hair scattered, it was the last thing I saw. I closed my eyes.

***

A short time passed. Back on the ship’s deck. Two soaking wet figures lay on the cold deck.

They looked as though they had just emerged from the sea. “Wake up…!” The unconscious blonde boy. His body was sprawled weakly. He wasn’t breathing.

The fox pressed down on the boy’s chest with a pale face. It was CPR filled with desperation. “No… if you die like this.” Though exhausted, the girl didn’t stop her hands. Her teary eyes welled up and tears fell.

The fox grabbed the boy’s chin. Then, she overlapped her lips with his and breathed her own breath into him. Faint color returned to his complexion.

“Haa, haa…” Irene was breathing roughly. With her head bowed, she repeated mouth-to-mouth resuscitation several more times. It was the desperate gesture of a beast trying to save its master.

***

I woke up. No less than two days later.