Chapter 52 : Chapter 52

Chapter 52 : Strange Guy (2)

In a warehouse located in the basement of Eden Hall.

Behind a hanger where brooms and various cleaning supplies were hung, a shadow wriggled in the darkness.

And there, lying, was a man.

He had only one eye.

To be precise, his left eye was covered with an eyepatch, leaving only his right eye exposed.

His appearance was a mess.

Clothes caked with dust and bloodstains.

Even those were now soaked with cold sweat, and the intermittent gasps and groans escaping through his slightly parted lips revealed the situation he was trapped in.

“This, this can’t be. It was perfect. When we did the pre-test, there clearly wasn’t any problem… Again. Is it my fault again? Did I mess up again…?”

A nightmare.

In the swamp of an irreversible past, he was floundering.

[Dayle, you useless bastard!]

[Damn it! We shouldn’t have trusted that guy!]

[What are we going to do now? Because of you, the plan failed, and we’re all in danger of dying!]

“N-no, it’s not true. You guys checked it with me the night before the mission, didn’t you? I worked hard this time. I did my best!”

I shook my head violently.

“The bomb I made was perfect. It definitely was!”

The sense of injustice was so intense it felt almost pitiable.

But.

[Dayyyyle!]

[Because of you! Because of you, we…!]

My desperate pleas were blocked by the wall of time, scattering futilely.

“Urgh!”

Finally, with a suppressed groan, the surroundings fell into complete silence.

It was a little while later that my right eye opened.

Awakening from the nightmare of the past, I quickly scanned my surroundings and let out a deep sigh.

“Hoo.”

I must have fallen asleep for a moment.

Well, over a week of fugitive life was an ordeal that consumed tremendous mental and physical strength.

The cycle of barely eating or sleeping.

Constantly on edge, the moment a sliver of safety was secured, I collapsed into sleep as if fainting.

It was careless, but fortunately, I hadn’t been discovered.

“If only the dreams had been pleasant, I’d have nothing more to wish for.”

Wiping the tears gathered at the corner of my eye, I gave a wry smile.

My name was Dayle.

An artifact thief who escaped from a branch of the Beltus Cult and the culprit behind yesterday’s beast incident at the Academy.

Of course, I hadn’t always been an artifact thief.

Originally, I was a proud citizen of the ‘Naimus Empire.’

The Naimus Empire, alongside Frey, divided the continent’s hegemony, a superpower built on the extreme logic of strength where ‘weakness is a sin.’

There, secret biological experiments called ‘magic murders’ were conducted, and I, Dayle, was a hunting dog specially created through those experiments.

How did I end up drifting into Frey’s territory?

There were many reasons and choices, but the trigger was one event.

The mission failure that formed the backdrop of my nightmare.

Due to my mistake, the mission failed, and many comrades died because of it.

Whether it was misfortune or fortune, I survived that scene, but it was as good as being dead.

The unit would surely order me to take my own life for the failure and for surviving alone.

So, I turned my back on the unit and became a deserter.

That was how I came to Frey’s territory, evading the Naimus Empire’s pursuit.

But the root cause was something else.

[What the hell can you even do, Dayle?]

[Damn it! I shouldn’t have trusted you!]

[You useless bastard!]

[Dayyyyle!]

I let out a self-deprecating smirk.

I was a failure of the experiment.

Incompetent, a burden to the team.

Naturally, the treatment wasn’t kind.

Always met with disregard, distrust, and contempt.

If I hadn’t made a mistake that day and had performed my role like the others, the mission would have succeeded, and I wouldn’t have ended up like this.

Ten years had passed since then, but I was still consumed by self-loathing and deep defeatism.

“Maybe I should just die.”

That might be for the best.

Ten years of fugitive life.

Surviving by stealing magic tools, treasures, and artifacts, but now, looking back, I wondered why I struggled so hard to live.

Why?

For what? What desire was I clinging to, enduring like this?

“Like a cockroach.”

Even now, it was the same.

A few days ago, I was finally caught.

Fortunately, it wasn’t by the Naimus Empire.

But the ones who caught me were hardly any better.

The Beltus Cult, was it?

They locked me in a prison and asked strange questions.

‘Where is Fierce Conviction?’

‘What?’

‘Fierce Conviction. The elixir.’

‘What kind of nonsense is that? If I had something like that, I’d have used it long ago, you bastards. Why are you asking me for it?’

‘It looks like you’re joking. Fine. Lock him up and torture him until Narsi arrives. As long as his brain and mouth remain, do whatever you want.’

‘No, wait…’

I realized.

‘No matter what truth I tell, these bastards will never let me live!’

Luckily, I had the sharp instincts, skills, and an artifact to escape the prison.

And so, I escaped.

Chased by them, I somehow ended up hiding in Frey Academy.

“Of all places to hide, Frey Academy. Talk about bad luck.”

I was exhausted.

I stared blankly at the door.

There was no safe place for me anymore.

Everyone I’d meet outside could be considered my enemy.

The only safe place for me in this vast world was this tiny, less-than-one-pyeong warehouse in the basement of some unknown building.

Bitter as it was, I came to realize one truth.

Why I clung so desperately to life.

What it was that I had been yearning for.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never once been welcomed in my life.”

Sold to the Naimus research institute by my family.

There, I endured experiments and training akin to torture alongside my peers, but all I received was disregard and ostracism.

Then I failed the mission, deserted, and became a fugitive.

Even after defecting to the Frey Empire, nothing improved.

A fugitive could hardly build proper relationships.

I faced countless betrayals and narrowly escaped death multiple times.

Home.

And family.

Things that might seem natural to others were not for me.

That’s why I must have been searching for unconditional trust, love, and peaceful stability.

“But the end is here, isn’t it? Doesn’t this mean even the world has abandoned me?”

I let out a dry chuckle.

“Yeah, screw it. Being abandoned isn’t new. I’ll just live alone, damn it.”

Lamenting only made me more depressed.

“Being alone is easier. Damn nightmares made me waste precious energy.”

I spat on the floor.

Regaining my composure, I thought about the future.

Whatever the case, the current situation was far from good.

My stamina was dwindling, and my mental strength was at its limit.

The mysterious dark magic weapon that helped me escape the prison and evade the Academy’s guards and professors yesterday was down to just two uses.

Other consumables were in the same state.

Even if I somehow escaped the Academy, there was another problem.

By now, those cult freaks were probably swarming all over Icata.

“To think they’ve infiltrated even the capital of Frey, Icata. Scary bastards.”

I guessed it wouldn’t be long before the Naimus Empire’s invasion began.

“Well, whether that happens or not, it’s none of my business.”

The most urgent thing was food.

Having not eaten properly for over three days, I was so famished my stomach was practically sticking to my spine.

Grrrr…!

“I’ll die of starvation at this rate.”

I decided to address the hunger first.

In the middle of enemy territory, where anything could happen, maintaining optimal physical condition was critical.

“First, secure food and look for an opportunity.”

I pressed my ear against the wall.

The vibrations from the ground above traveled through the earth and walls to me.

Judging by the bustle, it was clearly still daytime outside.

To get food, I’d have to wait until night. I quietly conserved my energy.

How much time passed?

The vibrations from above gradually faded, and soon the surroundings were enveloped in silent stillness.

At the same time, my eyes, which had been closed as if dead, snapped open.

Creak.

I opened the basement warehouse door and cautiously slipped into the corridor.

Hugging the wall tightly, I focused all my senses on the staircase above, but there were no signs of life.

I made it to the first floor and out of the building without any interference.

Finally, I faced the night sky.

The moment I saw the blue moon gazing down at me aloofly, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

When was it? I’d seen a scene like this before.

Oh, right.

When I infiltrated the Research Wing to steal ‘Might of the Giant.’

“…Yeah, that time, too.”

That day, I failed to get what I wanted, and later, when I tried to retrieve it, I nearly got ruined after running into a thief from Shadow.

“He was quite the guy.”

Was it a sense of camaraderie as fellow thieves?

I was annoyed about losing ‘Might of the Giant,’ but oddly, I found myself thinking of him now.

‘If it were that guy, how would he handle this situation?’

If I ever met him, I’d want to ask for advice. Heh.

Muttering words that would never come true, I kicked off the ground with force.

Soon, my figure darted through the Academy grounds.

My movements were swift.

I had a rough grasp of the Academy’s layout from when I came for ‘Might of the Giant.’

Though I nearly got into trouble a few times due to heightened security, I overcame the crises with quick judgment and bold ingenuity.

And so, I reached my destination.

[Frey for Sandwich]

This sandwich shop, built on the main road connecting the main building and the central plaza, was a place I had scoped out yesterday while frantically fleeing from the guards.

Being a street stall, it was small, but the amount of bread, meat, and vegetables stored inside was more than enough for me alone.

The advantages of sandwiches were that they were quick and easy to eat and simple to carry.

Planning to make extra sandwiches to take with me, I quickly entered the shop.

It seemed they trusted the Academy’s security completely.

The shop’s door wasn’t locked.

I entered the storage area where food was kept.

Opening the refrigeration unit in the corner, a gust of cold air whooshed out, revealing five neatly stored sandwiches.

Finished sandwiches, not raw ingredients.

Normally, I might have been suspicious, but half out of my mind with hunger, I immediately reached for a sandwich.

Crunch crunch!

I came to my senses while unwrapping the last sandwich.

As a sense of fullness washed over me, my body relaxed, and blood flowed back to my brain.

The belated question, ‘Why were the sandwiches pre-made?’ followed, but I didn’t dwell on it long.

‘They must have prepared them for the next day.’

Having eaten all the sandwiches, I patted my stomach with a satisfied expression.

“…I feel alive. Burp.”

To think I’d feel such profound happiness from mere sandwiches.

I chuckled and got moving again.

Opening the refrigeration unit again, I took out the sandwich ingredients from the bottom shelf, made more sandwiches, and wrapped them in packaging.

My hands moved as carefully and tenderly as if handling a newborn.

The sandwiches I made were enough to last a full week.

Just looking at them filled me with reassurance.

A satisfied smile spread across my face.

“This should be enough.”

“Really?”

I whipped my head around.

A pair of white eyes stared at me from the darkness.

“…!”

I quickly reached into my coat.

My fingers grazed a cold sensation.

I grabbed it and pulled, but.

Boom!

Before the weapon was even halfway out, the man’s fist slammed into my chest.

“Ugh.”

Staggering back from the intense impact, I barely regained my balance and looked up.

A familiar mask loomed in the moonlight.

“You, you’re…!”

At the same time.

Ping──

The man’s mask seemed to split into multiple pieces.

It fragmented up, down, left, and right, scattering and reassembling repeatedly, while the ground beneath my feet suddenly surged and swayed like waves.

Classic symptoms of poisoning.

‘W-when the hell…’

──was my last thought.

Thud. The bundle of sandwiches I was clutching fell to the ground.

Sandwiches spilled out of the bundle.

Over them, my unconscious body collapsed limply.

* * *

“He ate a lot.”

I figured he’d eat maybe three at most, so I prepared other contingencies, but that was unnecessary worry.

Who would’ve thought he’d devour five right there?

Was he that hungry?

“Or maybe my special Hydra Venom jam was just that tasty.”

Well, thanks to that, I subdued him easily.

Two hours ago.

I came here in advance and prepared five sandwiches.

I had predicted he’d come to this sandwich shop.

Unlike other cafeterias, Frey for Sandwich is tucked away in an isolated corner.

It’s easy to access and steal from, making it an ideal target.

“Plus, sandwiches are convenient for storage and transport.”

So far, everything was going according to plan.

“The problem is what comes next.”

Breaking through the Academy’s tight security.

Evading the cult’s surveillance network, which is likely scouring Icata to find this guy, and safely transporting him to Shadow’s hideout—that’s the next mission assigned to me.

A considerable challenge is expected.

So, please.

“I hope this guy really holds the clue to the Secret Tomes we lost.”

I approached the guy, who was sprawled out like a corpse.

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