133 – Bait – 7
In fantasy or martial arts novels, there are often scenes in which a drunk master quickly shakes off his drunkenness. Whether it’s making your inner energy go round, or managing your mana, in a way. In fact, if you look closely, it’s not just getting drunk. Poison, drugs, and medicines for rather nefarious purposes are all solved in a similar way. Even if you get drunk, get poisoned, get drunk, get drunk and wander about because of drugs like that, you’ll be fine if you give it back to your whole body, whether it’s roughly mana or energy. Anyway, it would be convenient to think of it as purifying all miasma that is harmful to the body.
And such a setting, sure enough, was a law that also worked in this world. Although it requires a certain level of mastery, it is possible to clear away poison as well as drunkenness just by channeling mana along the circuit. I sometimes forget it, but in this part, I am reminded that the original novel that makes up this world is a mass-produced novel with roughly scribbled settings. Long live mana and magic.
Anyway, it doesn’t mean that I just burned something similar to cigarettes that the merchant gave me without insurance. I thought that there would be no problem at all if I took a bite and immediately turned the mana to shake off all the miasma. Rather, it was solved if things were solved more easily by inducing one’s carelessness. That’s why he burned the drug without any specifications.
“Cough, Cough!”
“Asshole. Do you really suck this?”
In that sense, I was very embarrassed by this situation. Why… , Why are you okay? Could it really be just cigarettes? Is this just a gift from good intentions? I’ve never heard of these bullies who provide service to the world. Furthermore, the low sound of profanity and ridicule coming from outside completely ruled out the possibility of service. If it were just an ordinary cigarette, there would be no way they would laugh so blatantly.
The world was spinning for a while, but it felt more like the so-called ‘brigari’ that appears when you just burn a cigarette rather than a medicinal effect. A very long time ago, a friend smoked cigarettes so deliciously that I borrowed one, and I had a bad cough and dizziness, so why did I smoke it? I was certain that the tingling sensation I felt then and the dizziness I felt now were exactly the same sensation.
Thinking that maybe my brain had already lost its taste, I tried diligently turning mana, but of course there was no problem with my body. I didn’t feel any miasma blocking the circuits or blood vessels, and mana rode my mana circuit that was open like an autobahn and went around my body. To be sure, I am currently perfectly normal.
What could be the cause? While I was diligently rolling my head by myself, the door to the narrow secret room opened. The merchant still let out an unpleasant sneer.
“Where are you?”
“Uhhh….”
The Merchant came into the room. I reflexively rolled my eyes and let out a stupid groan. His hands were also slightly trembling. Reminiscent of the drug addicts he saw in the movie, he performed desperately. I thought it was a bit excessive, but fortunately the merchant smiled contentedly when he saw my inverted whites through the eye sockets of the mask.
“I’m sure. No, did the medicine work better?”
I’m glad I’m wearing a mask. I thought, hiding the corner of my mouth that twitched. So, where are you going to take me now? Then, the merchant put his hand to my face. He murmured softly.
“So, why did you hide your face so tightly?”
You pointed it out on our first meeting, so it seems you were quite concerned. It’s about the subject that I’m hiding my face.
I stiffened. Of course, I dared to wear a mask, but of course, since the operation was an operation, revealing the face was something that was considered in advance. It was also true that just because the other person knew my face, I didn’t think that I would be able to do something alone.
However, if it can be avoided, wouldn’t it be best to avoid it? Even if you know that something you hate will come someday, you want to postpone it as long as possible. I wondered if there was any way to get out of this situation. At that time, a sound like a vibrating cell phone rang out from inside the merchant’s robe. His hand stopped.
“No, who else is coming?”
He grumbled as he pulled away the hand that was reaching for my mask. Could the vibration just now come from some kind of beeper? Perhaps it was a call or something, he immediately turned his back and left the room.
I wiped my chest. I don’t know who it was, but a new guest bought me a little extra time. How can I say that I spent this time to the fullest? To be honest, it wouldn’t hurt to just launch the operation here. If a raccoon den of this size is discovered, I don’t think I’ll be able to set foot anywhere near it anyway. Shall I just brush it off in moderation?
Besides, there are several more reasonable reasons for this. First of all, the other students who must have been scattered in the room next to me, in the room next to it, and in the room next to it were quite worried. If I hold back and pretend to be fooled here, what about the kids who are here in the meantime? I’ve been holding on so far, so I didn’t want to crush it with the words of holding on for a few more days. Saying such a story without knowing the situation and telling such a story after seeing it all with my own two eyes is as different as heaven and earth.
For another reason, to be honest, I didn’t have the confidence to go further up here. No, it wasn’t even clear where exactly this place was in their organization. To be honest, I originally came here with the thought that if I checked my face appropriately, they would somehow drag me to their boss, but if they control the victims through drugs like this, and if they believe that I am drunk, then there is no reason to drag me around like that. Is not it.
I pondered for a long time, then stood up from my seat. The decision took time, but it didn’t take long to put it into practice. First of all, how should I take care of this beggar drug den? Wouldn’t it be absurd to leave Sodom and Gomorrah alone just to find some unknown darkness?
I plan to sneak out like this and bring the guards with me. It is said that if you get involved with me, you will become incompetent, but it couldn’t be more reassuring to finish the case. In common sense, it is impossible for me to cover all these students, no, virtually hostages, by myself, so I can’t help it.
I opened the door. The door could be opened and closed freely from the inside. There was a lock, but it wasn’t even locked in the first place. Considering that this narrow secret room doubles as a kind of prison, I don’t know how blindly I believe in the performance of that drug. In other words, as long as you get drunk with that drug, isn’t it a story that you can’t even think of escaping even if you leave the door open?
The hallway was quiet, as expected. Well, if there were other people, there wouldn’t have been a need for that person who dared to work on me. The stale air and acrid smell didn’t bother me too much, as if I had already gotten used to it.
I finally grabbed the doorknob of the opposite room to check the status of the other students. Of course, there was no lock in this room either. A hollow laugh escaped the doorknob, which turned so easily. I took a deep breath, made up my mind, and opened the door.
“Ugh. Smell….”
And the situation was more serious than I thought. As soon as I opened the door, I immediately frowned at the pungent smell that entered my nostrils. Perhaps because the medicine was burned continuously without ventilation in the small room, the smell of steam permeated the entire room. In the middle of the room, a man with unfocused eyes was sitting there staring blankly into space. As if he had no ability to recognize who had entered the room, he was staring blankly into space without even looking at me.
Perhaps this person is also an academy student. I’ve never seen her face, but a hint of cuteness came out of her haggard face. It seems like they took off all the accessories and sold them a long time ago.
I already knew it, but seeing the victim with my own two eyes like this was more horrifying than I thought. I don’t know if I’ll be able to return to my daily life soon. No matter how much there is magic in this world that is no different from a cheat key….
No, thinking about it now is useless. It would be much more helpful to go up and ask for help right now. I quietly closed the door and went out into the hallway.
And at that moment, I saw a face that shouldn’t be here.
“Cordelia?”
I blinked a few times, wondering if I was seeing something wrong. But my eyes were perfectly fine, and Cordelia was right about that red hair, half-blind, being dragged by a robed merchant. Still, it was comforting that they knew it was a precious body and that it wasn’t treated harshly, but that fact couldn’t stop the sparks from flying in my eyes.
Something grabbed my wrist as I was about to run away.
“Wait a minute, wait a minute.”
“Lira? What the hell is this….”
There was one more person who shouldn’t be there. It was Lyra that caught me. She put her hand over my mouth, shoved me into the room I had been in, and shut the door behind me. Then he placed his index finger on her lips and gestured for silence. After a while, she sighed as she took her ear away from her door.
“After… I’m glad for once If I got caught here, the matter would have been more complicated.”
“What the hell is this all about? That’s right, Cordelia, right? Why are you both here?”
“It’s a bit long to explain….”
“Explain properly.”
I hope you don’t even think about evasive words. Lira took a step back at my sad expression. She mumbled for a moment, then opened her mouth.
“The problem is um… , It looks a little like it.”