Chapter 168: Former Comrade (2)

The wizard named Colt. Seiya spoke while staring attentively at Colt.

「Wind…Do you mean you’re a wizard with wind attributes?」

It seemed that Seiya was more concerned about his profession rather than his name. I was the one who asked the Great Goddess Isister to show me the scenes of the past. But, on the other hand, Seiya forgot about the adventure of the first saving quest of Exfolia upon dying and getting summoned again. It didn’t surprise me when he didn’t recall Colt’s name.

Colt smiled upon hearing Seiya’s question.

「There’s no pure wizard in this town. There’s a limit to the magical power that humans can handle. It is now common sense to use one’s own characteristics as a magical weapon. In my case, I control the magical power of the wind and I can adjust the trajectory of bullets to increase the hit rate. That’s why my job is called “Wind Controller”.」

With that said, Colt glanced at the gun pocket on this waist. He didn’t dare to pull it out because he didn’t want to be misunderstood by Seiya. Anyway, everyone really had guns. Exfolia became such a dangerous world…

「More importantly, why don’t we talk about it after moving to a different place? Wolf will find us if we stay here.」

Colt made a suggestion while looking around, but Seiya shook his head.

「There’s a possibility that you’re more dangerous than Wolf.」

「Come here, Seiya! 」

Seiya looked at Colt with a suspicious face. Then, I pulled Seiya’s arm and whispered on his ear.

「It’s fine! This person can be trusted! 」

「How do you know that? 」

「That’s because…I’ll explain it later. 」

Colt started walking away when I agreed with his suggestion. We left the main street and headed towards the back alley where steel-framed buildings stood high. I was pushing the wheelbarrow vigorously in order to chase Colt, but before I knew it, Seiya stood next to me.

「Are you going to help me push it? 」

「Wrong. Why did you suddenly trust Colt…You didn’t do it because of a simple story concerning an old party member, right?」

「You knew that!? 」

「I remember the name Colt. During the last saving quest of Exfolia, I met a girl named Eich in the underground settlement of Galvano. Eich said she was Colt’s sister.」

「I see. So that’s the reason why you remembered him. 」

「A former comrade, huh. However, this time he could be an enemy. Don’t forget that we are in a twisted world.」

Then, Seiya spoke immediately to Colt, who continued to walk down the alley.

「Hey. How far are we going? 」

「I’m guiding you to the place where you’ll meet my fellow companions.」

「Hmm. It could be a trap. I’ll stop here.」

「You are a very suspicious person. Bu, you are right, that kind of caution is necessary to survive in this world.」

「…Let’s continue with the conversation. Tell me what you know.」

Seiya spoke while standing behind a far-distanced building to protect himself from Colt. Upon seeing this, Colt laughed bitterly at Seiya’s caution.

「Have you seen Wolf’s transformation? He acquires special abilities through the powerful magic item “Superior”.」

「I already know that. The upper level of magic items is called Superior. And the highest level is called Artema.」

「You know every detail, I see. Then do you know this? Your souls are comparable to Artema, the highest magic item. That’s why Wolf is targeting you.」

「Do…Does that mean he’s trying to take us hostages?」

「This is not a friendly story, you know. In order to inject magical power into a magic item, you have to spend all of your life force.」

「That means our lives…!! 」

「That’s right. That’s the reason why Wolf of the Guiding Rewrite, a member of the elite unit under the principality, is trying to kill you. It’s not just the Principality of Galvano. If this information is leaked, you will be targeted from all over Exfolia.」

「The people of Exfolia will try to hunt us down!? Humans as our enemies…No way…!!」

“First we were targeted by demons and beasts alike, and now, we were being targeted by humans whom we originally tried to save.”…This horrifying fact made my eyes teary; however, Seiya kept his calm and looked at Colt with cool eyes.

「Are you also aiming for our lives? 」

「Honestly, I thought about that too. Getting an Artema-class soul is the same as getting a nation.」

「Ehhhh!! 」

Frightened by Colt’s shocking remarks, I moved closer to Seiya.

Was…Was Colt our enemy after all!? Seiya was right…!!

「But there’s another prospect. I want to confirm that now.」

「Wha…What prospect? 」

「There’s a possibility that you guys with Artema-class souls will change this crazy world.」

Colt, who was easygoing since the beginning, was now looking at Seiya and me with sincere eyes. After a brief silence, Seiya left the building where he distanced away from Colt.

「Okay, fine. Take us to your companions.」

「…Seiya? 」

「I don’t believe in this man. However, I decided that it would be worth listening to the story in detail. It’s an alternative source of information for us.」

「Is…Is that so…Hmm, you’re right! Let’s go then! It’s dangerous to wander around here since Wolf is searching for us!」

「That’s why I don’t need “it” anymore.」

After saying those words, Seiya approached the leading cargo and removed Enzo’s collar. Then he pat Enzo’s shoulder.

「Go, Enzo. You are free.」

「Fre…Free…? 」

Enzo was confused for a moment, but then, he shouted happily upon understanding it instinctively.

「Yuuupiiiii!! 」

Enzo, whose collar was removed, ran with a strange screaming voice and disappeared into the night. Seiya nodded with satisfaction.

「Yeah. He looked fine. 」

「To me it looks like he has a pretty deep wound in his heart!!」

I felt uneasy to see Enzo fleeing away. When I looked back, I noticed that Colt was staring at Celseus inside the wheelbarrow.

「Who is the guy with a hood sitting in a triangle position? He hasn’t spoken a word since I’ve met you.」

「Eh, well, lot of things happened and he ended up like this.」

I replied with an awkward smile on my face. Colt proceeded to walk ahead. I quickly took off the hood covering Celseus. I saw that he had steel-colored chicken skin.*

「What’s wrong, Celseus? 」

「It…It’s coming…! 」

「What’s coming? 」

Suddenly, a loud continuous sound echoed throughout the town! Celseus jumped off the wheelbarrow at an unstoppable speed and crossed his arms in front of Seiya! The sound of iron hitting against iron shook my earlobes!

「Hey. So you were hiding in a place like this. 」

I heard a muffled voice. I gasped when I saw someone emerging from the darkness and holding a smoldering machine gun in one hand.

…I ran away during Wolf’s transformation process, so this was my first time seeing him in his perfected form. At first glance, the Wolf man stood in two legs…But his body stretched over two meters tall (6.56 ft) and was covered with a silver-white armor. Wolf was like a remodeled robot.

…Was…Was this transformation the power of Superior!? Was he a human that wielded the power of the magic items!?

Wolf, who became something totally different from humans and beasts, gazed at Celseus with a machine gun in his robust arms.

「So you used a shield to deflect the bullets, huh. Is that man a Supereon as well?」

「Supereon…? 」

「A person who handles the upper-level magic item “Superior”.」

Like Wolf, Colt looked at Celseus with astonishment. He asked me with trembling his hands.

「What the heck is he? He was crying and quivering moments ago, and yet, he protected his companion from deadly bullets.」

Well, no wonder that everyone was pretty shocked! What they thought and what he actually did was quite the opposite!

However, Wolf seemed to be wary of Celseus. I used this opportunity to speak quietly with Seiya.

「What are you going to do, Seiya!? We are in a very dangerous situation now!! Shall we escape from here!?」

「There’s no problem. I originally intended to defeat him. 」

The others probably heard Seiya’s voice. Wolf’s eyes glittered, and he stared voracious at us.

「If you’re not going to run away, then do you think you can beat me? Do you have a powerful weapon?」

「Maybe. 」

「If so, then I want to see you compete with “this”.」

Wolf pointed a machine gun with a rough appearance at Seiya. On this very moment…

「Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!! 」

Celseus jumped out while crying, and spread both arms to protect Seiya!

「Hmm. 」

After a short moment, Seiya looked somewhat annoyed, raised his leg and kicked Celseus, who was standing right in front of him! Celseus was kicked by the power of the Crazy Warrior and blew away by rolling to the back alley like an empty can!

「Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh!? Seiya, why did you kick him!? 」

It surprised me when I saw Celseus’ state. It seemed that the Stand Alone was released, and Celseus returned to his original form. He fainted on the spot.

「Stand Alone is a mean to protect yourself from long-range attacks, mainly from sniper attacks. However, he is a hindrance for close-range combats.」

But, why did he have to kick him!? Celseus was hardened and released without his permission, no wonder that he’d cry so much!!

「By the way, Wolf. Tell me one thing before we fight. How many people did you kill while I was away?」

「Ehh! Se…Seiya…? 」

Seiya looked at Wolf with serious eyes. I…I see! He was angry because the enemy killed the townspeople!

Wolf opened his armored mouth. Sharped, pointed teeth like nails peeped out of his mouth.

「How many people did I kill? I hear that question quite often. Well then, I will reply with the same words I usually say. “I don’t remember how many I killed; I just know I killed more than ten.”」

「You don’t remember, you say… 」

「Uh, uh, uh. Did I make you angry? 」

「Tha…That guy doesn’t care about human lives! There’s no need to have sympathy for such a guy! Seiya, you must defeat him!」

When Seiya nodded at my words, he put his hand inside his cloak. I thought that Seiya would grab a gun he made in the Underworld to compete with Wolf’s machine gun. However…

「Eh? 」

In Seiya’s hands were stickers, which said, “I’m sorry”.

「Well, it can’t be helped if you can’t remember it. I will hand over fifty stickers for the time being.」

「Those stickers again!! What do you think people’s lives are!?」

It was just my misunderstanding. Seiya was not angry at all and acted normally as he usually did. I felt disappointed, but Wolf spoke as if he were impressed with those stickers.

「I killed those guys in town because I wanted to upset you. Apparently, that kind of modus operandi** doesn’t work on you.」

「47, 48, 49… 」

「Ahahah. He’s not listening. 」

While Wolf laughed amusingly, Seiya was politely counting the stickers like a wad of bills.

「Okay, 50. I’ll leave them here.」

「Why do you keep doing that silly thing!! That’s enough!! 」

Seiya put a bunch of stickers under his feet. And then, he suddenly remembered something, I took out another sticker.

「Just stop doing thatttttttttttt!! 」

Seiya ignored my screams as always, and threw that sticker in Wolf’s direction. Wolf grabbed the sticker in front of his own eyes, which was thrown at a piercing speed.

「…That’s yours. 」

「Hey, hey. I can’t laugh at that. 」

Ohh! Seiya looked a bit cool now…But, this was not the right moment to be impressed!

The smile disappeared from Wolf’s face, and the surrounding area got enveloped in a heavy atmosphere. And the fierce power between the two was rising to an alarming state before I knew it.

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*Keratosis pilaris is a common, harmless skin condition that causes small, hard bumps that may make your skin feel like sandpaper. You may have heard it called “chicken skin.” The bumps are often light-colored. They usually appear on your upper arms, thighs, and buttocks, sometimes with redness or swelling.

**A Latin term used to describe a particular way or method of doing something.

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