TRPM 265

chapter 265

The shadows in the park were not flickering for my eyes alone.

The Commissioner of Police, the top talent in the force, noticed it as well and gave orders through his radio to the officers encircling the park.

“Erase the shadows.”

At his command, beams of light burst forth from all directions.

It wasn’t anything mysterious—just the searchlights the police had prepared in advance.

Of course, these weren’t ordinary searchlights. They had been designed specifically to deal with shadow manipulators.

So bright…

Turning on searchlights in broad daylight might normally seem pointless, but the lights the police were using were different.

Everything illuminated by them appeared completely white. And objects that should have cast shadows on the opposite side… had none.

The whitening is meant to counter ability-users who manipulate color. And the lack of shadows is meant to suppress powers like this shadow manipulator’s.

The important part was that thanks to these special lights, shadows had been erased from the park.

“(Ugh?!)”

Naturally, the shadow manipulator who had been hiding inside a shadow was forced out when those shadows vanished.

But…

A woman?

Not that I had any intention of being sexist, but I hadn’t expected the shadow manipulator Arthur had lost track of to be a woman.

In my memory—before I regressed—all the shadow manipulators with skill great enough to slip past Arthur had been men. Of course, it wasn’t as though I knew every single one in the world.

Well, Arthur did say she escaped from the courtroom to avoid being forced into a dungeon expedition.

That explained why she hadn’t been famous before my regression.

Awakened people usually built recognition through tackling difficult dungeons or appearing in broadcasts. If she had never entered dungeons, it wasn’t strange she remained unknown.

When the shadows vanished, leaving her powerless, the manipulator turned to glare—at Arthur beside me.

Naturally. She would know that Arthur had been the one pursuing her back in Britain.

But curiously, I didn’t sense malice in her eyes.

Usually, a criminal despises the one who hounded them relentlessly…

My thoughts didn’t last long.

“Begin suppression.”

The Police Commissioner, having confirmed that she could no longer use her shadows, gave the order.

He must have assumed subduing a shadow manipulator without shadows would be simple.

…Wait a moment.

According to Arthur…

[In the course of her escape, dozens of people were injured, including guards and bystanders.]

He’d said people were hurt during her escape.

But if she had simply melted into shadows and fled, no one would have been injured. Shadows moving don’t injure people.

Which means… at the start, she didn’t flee inside shadows at all.

And then—

“Kh…!”
“Argh?!”

The manipulator moved.

Her motions were sharp, precise—though not at the level of an Aura Master, they were movements few veteran Aura users could even follow. She swiftly overpowered the officers advancing on her.

…Fast.

These weren’t weaklings—armored officers armed with tasers, keeping their distance. And yet she neutralized several in an instant.

That’s the strength of someone who supposedly doesn’t enter dungeons?

Or perhaps, once upon a time, she did. Maybe she had some trauma from those experiences, and that was why she had refused the court’s order to perform dungeon-related public service.

“Click… Arthur, Artist. My apologies, but could you assist us?”

Even the Police Commissioner, after watching her movements, seemed to realize ordinary officers couldn’t handle her. He asked us directly.

I had expected this from the start, so I nodded without hesitation and stepped forward.

But it wasn’t only Arthur and I who moved.

“A tricky opponent.”
“You’re clumsy at suppression…”

Guildmaster Shin Chae-gun of Night Eagle, and Yeon Mirae—my disciple and an executive of the Ironblood Guild—also stepped forward.

Since the opponent had been skilled enough to evade Arthur, even the top guild leaders showed themselves.

With this group, there’s no way she escapes.

If anything, I worried she might die under the weight of such overwhelming force.

“(…Ugh.)”

Realizing that all four of us were far stronger than her, the shadow manipulator instinctively stumbled backward.

And I thought to myself:

…With ability like that, she turned to theft? And then actually got caught and put on trial?

I didn’t mean to belittle British police, but could they really capture a thief of her caliber? Doubt nagged at me.

And then—

Fwoooosh…!

A strange wave radiated out from her body.

“Mm?!”
“!”

Everyone it touched felt a sudden weakness.

And not just people.

“Damn it! Fix the lights immediately!”
“Yes, sir! But it will take time!”

The police’s searchlights lost their power, their glow extinguished. Shadows returned to the world.

“……”
“……”
“……”

Korean Awakened—especially those of the police, Night Eagle, and Ironblood Guild—recognized that wave.

Some had only heard of it. Others had experienced it firsthand.

It reminds me of Oracle… of the devices used by the Martian organization that make aura unbearably heavy.

Coincidence? Perhaps.

No… similar, but not the same.

Oracle’s devices made aura heavy. This manipulator’s wave dissolved it outright.

In some ways, that was even more terrifying—but the rate of dissolution was slow. Short exposure wasn’t fatal.

I tested by drawing up my inner energy, condensing it into aura.

The process took no more than the usual effort, but… I could feel the aura weakening, unraveling, the longer it existed.

…Her wave is breaking my aura down.

I had never heard of such a phenomenon. And it was happening right before my eyes.

I turned to Arthur.

“Arthur, fall back. This energy is your worst match.”
“I can feel it already.”

He retreated quickly.

Though the principle differed from Oracle’s devices, it still affected the magic flowing through Arthur’s homunculus body. Prolonged exposure would be dangerous.

Once Arthur was clear of its reach, I turned back to the manipulator.

The real question is who this woman is.

The resemblance to Oracle’s power might be coincidence… but my instincts told me otherwise.

She must be connected to Oracle and the Martian organization somehow.

We needed to talk.

Her eyes met mine.

Perhaps sensing that I harbored neither hostility nor killing intent, she slowly raised both hands and said—

“(I surrender.)”

“…Huh?”
“She just… surrendered? Out of nowhere?”

Shin Chae-gun and Yeon Mirae looked stunned. Others, however, nodded as if it were natural.

“Well, what choice does she have with four Aura Masters standing before her?”
“Strong or not, compared to Aura Masters she’s nothing…”

They assumed she had surrendered out of fear.

But… was that really all?

“(On one condition.)”
“(A condition?)”
“(At a time like this?)”

Just as I thought. She hadn’t surrendered purely from intimidation.

But what condition could she possibly make?

“(I want to be tried in Korea, not Britain. Even if that means being sent to Korea’s prison island afterward.)”

“…?”
“…?”

A criminal demanding trial under foreign jurisdiction?

Not impossible, nor without precedent—but highly unusual.

And that was what she wanted.

…Why?

Did it mean she didn’t want to return to Britain at all? That she would rather risk Korea’s harsher punishments—even exile to the prison island?

“(And why should we accept?)”

Shin Chae-gun pressed her.

And he was right. We had no reason to agree.

Trying a foreign criminal under our laws could cause diplomatic trouble.

Why take that risk?

“(Because…)”

She hesitated, then spoke:

“…Until recently, I lived on the Moon.”

“……”
“……”
“……”

Now that was a reason.

Maybe others didn’t understand, but I knew the truth: Oracle’s headquarters lay on Mars, and their forward base on the Moon.

To me, that made her invaluable.

Looking around, I saw confusion on the faces of ordinary officers and guild members. They clearly didn’t understand what “living on the Moon” implied.

But the higher-ups did.

Executives of Ironblood, who had heard it through me and Sophia. Leaders of Night Eagle. The Police Commissioner and his circle.

All of them recognized the weight behind her words.

And then—

“…I’ll persuade the British government. In return, would you be willing to share information with us later?”

Arthur, as a Briton, clearly thought it best to accept her condition as well.