Chapter 11 - A world good for being a mage
"Draw? Bullshit."
The boss bastard who mercilessly rejected the bold proposal of a draw went straight into the kitchen and stuffed his mouth full of fries from the fryer.
"Tastes good. Guess that's because you put that damn expensive Sanggong Poison in them."
Sanggong Poison.
A poison that scatters inner power or blocks the meridian flow. If your martial attainment is high, you could easily neutralize it, but with my pitiful level of inner power, it's impossible.
No wonder my Dantian felt strangely quiet.
Was that Sanggong Poison sprinkled over the fries tray?
"I thought it was just seasoning."
"Keuk keuk."
Using inner power is impossible for the time being.
If that's the case… I have no choice but to negotiate with these guys.
I put on a shameless face and shouted boldly.
"I was drunk back then!"
"So what the hell are you trying to say."
"Besides, I'm young and still immature. If you let it slide like a real man just this once, I'll live diligently from now on!"
"I don't know what disgusting neighborhood you crawled out of, but at least it's not Junktown. Drunk or a brat, if you shot seven people to death, you gotta pay the price. Right?"
"...!"
At the words about shooting several people to death, Rena's pupils, who had been listening silently, shook violently.
Levan, who had been a loyal Servant for ten years, was actually a terrifying serial killer? A look that clearly said she couldn't believe it.
This question must not be acknowledged.
"Now you're making up things that never happened. As expected of a scary gangster."
Crunch—
Since I was already sitting again, I took a bite of the hamburger.
Soon, my face twisted on its own.
A sandy texture, rancid-smelling meat juice, a greasy patty full of stale odor. A mysterious taste that makes you want to throw it as far away as possible.
Even fried, it tastes this bad.
"Did I really have to pay money just to have it fried?"
As I said that regretfully, one of the gang members standing like a folding screen butted in.
"Heh, you sucker. Frying's free in the first place."
My god, what a business-savvy brat.
I threw the burger I was holding onto the floor and glared at the fries tray soaked in Sanggong Poison. Rudolph, who was still face-planted and drooling all over it.
"Rudolph. Why didn't you tell me burgers are fried for free?"
"I told you it tasted bad and we should go somewhere else."
What an ill-mannered bastard.
"You said 'told you' casually."
"So what. How old are you?"
"Don't do that next time."
"Next time? You think there's gonna be a next time? You're done. You're dying here! Got it? Acting all tough and then crawling out from the morning just to stuff your face with a damn hamburger? Huh?"
He points his finger excitedly.
He really does have a talent for pissing people off.
While staring blankly at Rudolph as he spewed insults with saliva flying everywhere, I quietly opened my mouth.
"This is your last warning."
"Pfft, what the hell are you saying, asshole."
"If you curse one more time, I'll rip out all your fingernails first. Then each finger joint. When those are all pulled out, I'll carefully stop the bleeding. Then we move on to your toes. When they're all gone, I'll throw you to the corpses as food. I'll pick ones with soft teeth."
"Still bluffing. Like you'd—"
"You think I can't."
"...."
Rudolph's facial muscles tremble.
He still has enough sense left to think maybe, just maybe.
He's still acting up because he hasn't been beaten enough. If you keep getting hit, you eventually become well-behaved. Like someone from before.
—Levan.
Rena quietly whispers while hiding her mouth shape.
—Uh, what should we do? Should I fight too?
"It's fine."
I don't want a precious body like yours getting shot full of holes.
I finished the remaining cola and stood up.
Breakfast was a shame, but this is it.
"Looks like poison works well on your Dantian. Or is your level just worse than I thought?"
As I finished eating, the snake-eyed mage who'd been bothering me spoke up as if he'd been waiting.
The most dangerous person in this store.
I wiped my mouth roughly and replied to the sneering snake-eyed bastard.
"You should fix your eye shape first."
"Your mouth's still alive for someone who should be begging to be killed soon. Just like a Martial artist who only talks about chivalry."
"Martial artist?"
"You thought I wouldn't notice you shooting all over the place to hide it? Tell me. What level Martial artist are you? Third-rate?"
He flicks his tongue like a lizard.
Is it because mages are rare in this town? What a strange concept he's got.
Without answering, I suddenly raised my hand.
"Snake-eyes, could it be that I'm a mage?"
Swoosh—
Not a particularly impressive movement.
With my fingertip, I slowly and straightly traced the air in front of me.
Slowly, so everyone in the store could see.
"What are you doing?"
Everyone else didn't even pay attention, except snake-eyes, who sneered but whose face stiffened slightly.
"Put your hand down. Before I cut it off."
"Why so sensitive? It's just a joke."
Ignoring snake-eyes, I kept tracing.
From the left end to the right end, long and slow.
When my finger stopped at the end of that simple motion, snake-eyes narrowed his eyes further and called out to the boss who was eating fries.
"Musco."
"What."
"That guy feels bad. Let's just kill him now."
The boss called Musco snapped angrily with a dumbfounded face.
"What kind of barking bullshit is that? We're not letting him go easily. We'll find guys who like men, run him for a few days, then send him to the factory. And that bitch next to him too. That's the only way I'll be satisfied."
I closed my ears for a moment and focused.
There are many ways to manifest magic.
In the 4th playthrough, mages of Raagis often manifested magic through trigger words represented by incantations, sequences of actions, or using objects as mediums.
Among those, I was quite skilled at manifesting magic through 'movement', and the series of actions I just performed were essentially…
"...!?"
The same as saying I had finished preparing an attack.
Snake-eyes felt the mana suddenly condensing around my heart and turned this way in shock.
I responded as casually as possible.
"It's a misunderstanding. I'm a Martial artist."
"You crazy—"
"Watch closely."
"Everyone get your heads down!!!"
Soon.
At the same time snake-eyes noticed the ominous movement of mana and deployed a protection spell, dozens of fingernail-sized mana projectiles shot out from my fingertip that had traced the air.
"Kkgh!"
"Aaah! My eyes!"
"Damn it, I can't see!"
4th playthrough. The border between the Kingdom and the Empire.
What Kingdom soldiers feared most was a powerful Knight charging in on an armored warhorse.
Because most magic scattered uselessly against the ferocious Knight's fighting spirit, the most efficient way to stop a Knight was to split mana projectiles and aim for the horse's exposed eyes beneath the plate armor.
The power was only enough to kill insects, but it was more than sufficient to scratch a beast's eyes and throw it into confusion.
"Don't just stand there like idiots! If you can't see, fall back!"
Snake-eyes shouted furiously.
Before his shout even finished—
—Fuck, shoot them!
"...!?"
—Just fire! I'll protect you!
My mouth released snake-eyes' voice, echoing loudly through the store.
One of my small tricks from fighting on the front lines.
『 Mana Resonance 』
Human voices produce vibrations that ride on mana particles. In a chaotic battlefield like this, it's hard to distinguish the real voice.
In the blink of an eye.
Bang—!
I instantly pulled out a handgun and squeezed the Trigger repeatedly. Someone has to start it for reactions to follow.
Bang—!
"Ugh, what the hell!"
As soon as gunfire erupted at close range, Rudolph threw himself to the floor while shielding Rena with his whole body.
The Control chip has settled properly.
It detected an emergency situation and is forcibly controlling his actions. Even if it means dying, he'll try to protect Rena.
—S-shoot? I can't see!
—I said I'll protect you. Just fire!
Click. Click. Click.
Pleasant sounds echoed from all directions.
Riding the heated atmosphere, I shouted excitedly. Of course, using snake-eyes' voice.
—It's fine, just shoot! Turn them into mince!
The real snake-eyes shouted to lower the guns in utter shock, but—
Human voices are slower than bullets, and the camaraderie of bottom-tier Third-rate thugs is far behind a beast's survival instinct.
Blind men with guns don't distinguish friend from foe.
——!!!
In an instant, dozens of deafening gunshots exploded at once. A storm of indiscriminate bullets. Muzzles spewed red flames.
At the same time the chaos began, I manifested a single spell.
『 Malta's Shell 』
A common magic of the Malta Kingdom Magic Tower.
A mana barrier that tightly envelops the entire body. It hurts a lot when hit, but you won't die from a few bullets.
Puhk…! Puheok…!
The interior descended into pandemonium.
Red dots bloomed across the body of a man riddled with blind gunfire at close range, blood gushing out.
As the man slowly collapsed, his muzzle swept across where other members stood, and I fired my handgun at those still pulling their Triggers in panic.
Bang—! Bang—!
Soon.
A stunned silence filled the store.
Not even a minute had passed, but only three people remained standing unharmed.
Snake-eyes, bleeding from the face after a ricochet during a momentary lapse in his defensive magic, a giant man hiding behind the distant counter, and me.
The silence was broken first by snake-eyes.
"...Impossible. There was clearly evidence of inner power usage. But you're a mage?"
And then, I took over.
"It makes me sad you didn't believe me."
Thud!
I pulled out a high-concentration mana solution injector and stabbed it near my chest—
Mana of a completely different density flooded the circuits, assaulting my entire body with an intoxicating sense of omnipotence.
This really is a world good for being a mage.
As I grinned and shook my body once, the boss, who had been standing there blankly, roared in furious agitation.
"…You fucking bastard!"
Cyberware parts that had consumed more than half of his body creaked as they revealed sharp blades and muzzles.
"Fuck, you even had a mana injector. Were you playing with us…? What level are you? Level 4? Or… level 5?"
Snake-eyes muttered to himself repeatedly, still seemingly out of his mind. His small eyes were stretched to their limit, with no sign of narrowing again.
Only now did I find their appearances quite pleasing.
***
Central district gun shop.
A morning that should have been no different from usual, Cincia Blanqui stared with troubled eyes at what lay before her.
Various firearms caked with blood and grease.
Cincia rested her chin, clearly surprised.
"So it wasn't a bluff. He really is a lunatic."
An employee behind her quietly added.
"He wiped out the 17th Street hideout alone."
Cincia scratched her head.
If he's bold enough to act like that, he's no ordinary person, and he even collected used guns to sell diligently… Did he lose all his money gambling at a casino or something?
That was when—
——!!
Faint gunshots and explosions echoed through the streets from somewhere, and soon after, Cincia's network began to buzz.
[ Boss. There was a shootout at the Real Burger store on 15th Street intersection. ]
"I heard. Find out exactly what happened."
[ Well... ]
[ Harenio's boss Musco, the mage classified as a dangerous individual, and all Harenio gang members are confirmed dead. ]
"...Really?"
Did she hear that right?
Cincia asked back in disbelief.
"All dead? Are you sure?"
[ Yes. It was done by that person who stopped by the gun shop. And... he wants to sell Musco's cyberware and the seized firearms. How should we handle it? ]
An armed group that ruled part of Junktown vanished overnight. In a hamburger store. By just one person.
Then… it couldn't be better.
Clearly no ordinary person, and the sweet scent of Credits drifting lightly to her nose.
"Looks like we've got a good regular. I won't be bored for a while."
Cincia's eyes curved like a crescent moon.