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Chapter 7
“Arsene… that can’t be true, right? It’s just a coincidence, isn’t it?”
Helga’s eyes were filled with confusion. Her expression screamed disbelief.
“A coincidence… do you really think so?”
There were no coincidences.
Considering everything that had happened so far, it was obvious that the Administrator was involved in this incident.
“Then the shelters won’t be safe either. If the Administrator is working with them, he’ll know where they are.”
I was now convinced that the Administrator had infiltrated the Center with some hidden purpose.
Suppressing my expression, I asked:
“Did you see any of the terrorists?”
“N-No. But I heard their voices. They were looking for someone.”
“Looking for someone? Who?”
“I ran immediately, so I didn’t hear clearly… but I think it was one of the children.”
A child?
The moment Helga answered, I remembered the time Loti had disappeared.
That unsettling look.
The expression of someone who had finally found what they’d been searching for.
Loti.
The Administrator’s target was Loti.
I didn’t know why, but instinct screamed that he was after her.
A chill crawled down the back of my neck.
BOOOOOM!
“AAAH!”
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Just as the pieces of the puzzle began falling into place, something enormous slammed down behind us.
“Helga! Get down!”
“Ugh! What the hell was that?!”
The center of the terrorist attack seemed to be drawing closer once again.
“Cough! Cough!”
The shockwave from the falling object stirred up debris everywhere like a raging storm.
Stone fragments flew into the air.
The already chaotic surroundings became even more obscured.
“Damn it… what is that?”
As the dust slowly cleared, something emerged.
What had fallen from the sky was a gigantic blade resembling an enormous greatsword.
There was no way something like this was a natural phenomenon.
It had to be the work of an ability user who controlled metal.
“Run! Hurry!”
I shoved the stunned Helga forward.
With Marban in my arms as well, my movements were painfully slow.
Sleeping children were always heavier than awake ones.
Grinding my teeth, I kicked off the ground.
As if she understood my struggle, Loti pressed herself tightly against me without complaint.
“It’s okay. I’ll protect you no matter what.”
I tightened my grip on her tiny body.
Is kidnapping their objective? Is Loti the child of a Ranker or some noble family?
As I hurried after Helga, I continued turning her words over in my mind.
The intruders were searching for a child.
If that was their goal, then at least one of them probably possessed some kind of detection ability.
They were searching the entire area openly.
Yet somehow they hadn’t found my body.
Lucky. The fact that they didn’t take Loti while I was dead…
Then—
I suddenly remembered the messages that had flashed before my eyes just before I died.
[Achievement – First Completion of “A Great Sacrifice for Others”!]
[Fervent Protection has been maximized!]*
[The unlock rate of National* ** Restraint** temporarily increases!]**
[National* ** Restraint** Unlock Rate: 20%]**
**[Synchronizing Loti *‘s Foresight/Stealth Ability—]
[Please note that the duration will be extremely short due to the low unlock rate!]
[You have obtained a clue through the achievement!]
You protected what is most precious to the protagonist.
He is also the key to the curse.
Clue Accumulation Rate: 2/5
Foresight? Stealth?
My gaze shifted toward the little girl in my right arm.
My running slowed.
“Loti.”
I looked at her with confused eyes.
She was frightened, but her clear blue eyes looked back at me exactly as they always had.
No.
That wasn’t true anymore.
Loti…
She was an ability user.
That was why they hadn’t been discovered.
Even though we’d been lying buried for over two hours, her ability had hidden us from the intruders.
Then my third ability was synchronization?
And Loti’s abilities were Stealth and Foresight?
If Stealth worked the way I thought it did, then her incredible skill at hide-and-seek all this time hadn’t been natural at all.
It had been supernatural.
Then that strange scene I saw among the rubble was Foresight.
And if she’s someone precious to the protagonist… does that mean she’s his child?
My head spun.
Most importantly, Helga had found us immediately afterward.
That meant Loti either wasn’t using the ability now or couldn’t.
Maybe she was still too young to control it properly.
BOOM!
Another explosion erupted nearby.
The cold reality instantly cleared my thoughts.
The devastated surroundings.
The suffocating smoke.
The thunderous explosions echoing from every direction.
Right.
Understanding the situation was important, but everyone’s survival came first.
“Arsene! Over here, quickly—!”
Helga, who had gotten ahead of me, waved her arm.
Then—
“MOVE!”
Her scream rang out like a lightning strike.
Seeing the terror on her face, I turned around.
“Found you!”
A man wearing a pure white rabbit mask lunged at me with a massive fist.
The force behind it was clearly beyond that of an ordinary person.
At least D-Rank.
If it connected, I’d be finished.
What the hell?!
I immediately ducked.
“Ghk!”
Since I was carrying children, I couldn’t brace myself properly.
I rolled across the ground.
Blood streamed from my forehead.
At last, Loti began crying.
“Shh, shh. It’s okay. Everything’s okay.”
“Black hair. Dull golden eyes.”
“You are Arsene Neroro, aren’t you?”
As I wiped blood from my face, the masked man recited my appearance perfectly.
Chuckling, he extended a hand toward me.
“Who the hell are you people?”
I quickly stood and widened the distance between us.
The rabbit-masked man laughed mockingly.
“No need for you to know.”
“Looks like I’ve done something worthwhile for once.”
“Hand over the child named Loti.”
“If you do, I won’t hurt you.”
“Maybe you should think before talking nonsense.”
“If someone told you to hand over a child, would you do it?”
“There are dozens of members like me.”
“Resistance will only get you killed.”
“Then come and take her.”
“Hah. So being immortal has made you fearless?”
“If dying is your wish, I’ll grant it and take the child afterward!”
His raised fist shot straight toward my head.
I didn’t dodge.
There was a reason I’d kept him talking.
CRACK!
Something shattered.
The man collapsed sideways.
“Arsene, are you alright?”
Helga had quietly approached from behind.
Holding a large stone, she had smashed his head open.
The man’s body twitched violently on the ground.
Making sure Loti couldn’t see the gruesome sight, I pulled her closer into my arms and nodded.
“I’m fine.”
“Let’s keep moving.”
***
Since we had abandoned the shelter plan, we no longer had a destination.
For now, we were simply avoiding the bombs and weapons raining from the sky.
After traveling for some time—
“Helga!”
A familiar voice called out from behind us.
“Kasen!”
Helga and Kasen immediately embraced.
Meanwhile, I checked on Amanda, who stood beside him.
She looked terrible, but thankfully she didn’t appear seriously injured.
“Thank goodness.”
“Both of you are alive.”
“Lady Rowina saved us.”
“I met Mr. Kasen not long ago.”
“I’m so, so glad to see all of you again.”
Seeing our colleagues alive was a relief.
But we didn’t have time for an emotional reunion.
Kasen and Amanda were both carrying their assigned children.
The children were asleep, but the sedatives would soon wear off.
We needed to move quickly.
If the children started crying, the chances of being discovered would increase exponentially.
“The intruders and the Administrator are definitely working together.”
“If we encounter them, run no matter what.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“There’s no time to explain.”
“Even the shelters won’t be completely safe. The Administrator knows they exist.”
“What are you talking about?!”
Kasen looked back and forth between Helga and me in frustration.
There wasn’t time to explain everything.
Amanda remained silent.
Since she already knew about the Director’s drunken state, she probably understood exactly what I meant.
Then Helga suddenly snapped her fingers.
“No.”
“There’s one place the Administrator might not know about.”
She frowned thoughtfully and pointed toward the smoke-covered forest.
“The forest.”
“There’s a shelter in the middle of it.”
“It isn’t marked on any map of the island.”
“Only veteran sitters know about it.”
“It’s far from the Center buildings and difficult to clean, so it was excluded from management.”
“Do you know how to get inside?”
“Of course.”
“The password pattern is similar to the others.”
“I think its sector number was 90.”
Shelter passwords consisted of a fixed code followed by the sector number.
Good.
A shelter should easily accommodate three adults and three children.
I nodded and immediately laid out my plan.
“Let’s split up here.”
“Helga, take Kasen and Amanda and head for the shelter.”
“I’ll go find Cove.”
“What?!”
“What are you talking about?”
“We should stay together!”
Helga grabbed my apron.
The worn pink fabric nearly tore.
“Yeah!”
“Why are you suddenly looking for Cove?”
“Just come with us, Arsene!”
“Mr. Arsene and Loti are both in danger!”
Kasen and Amanda also tried to stop me.
I shook my head.
Even shelters could eventually be destroyed by powerful ability users.
The people attacking the Center were clearly not ordinary opponents.
Including the Administrator, there seemed to be at least two A-Rank individuals among them.
Hiding indefinitely wasn’t an option.
If they located the shelter and began breaking in, it would only be a matter of time.
The important thing was eliminating or neutralizing the intruders themselves.
For that, we needed a Ranker.
The Director’s whereabouts were unknown.
I had no idea where Rowina was.
Finding Cove would be faster.
For some reason, I even had a pretty good idea where he might be.
Though it seems ridiculous, he’s exactly the kind of person who might still be sleeping through all of this.
In fact, I desperately hoped he was.
If even he had been defeated, then there was almost no hope left.
“No.”
“The shelter won’t remain safe forever.”
“We need someone capable of protecting it.”
“Then at least leave Loti with us.”
“We’ll take care of her.”
At Kasen’s words, Loti’s grip on me tightened even further.
The little girl buried herself against my chest.
I shook my head.
“…Don’t worry.”
“I’ll protect her somehow.”
Either way, she was in danger.
I’d feel safer keeping her with me.
First, I handed Marban over to Kasen.
“Let’s meet again alive.”
The Director’s fate was unknown.
Rowina was supposedly helping evacuate others.
Even if the Director was alive, that would already be a blessing.
And while Rowina was strong, her ability was teleportation—not one suited for direct combat.
Please… just be sleeping where I think you are.
Holding Loti tightly, I immediately sprinted toward the cliffs.
To be continued…
