Chapter 200
“Did you find them?”
“No. I couldn’t find them.”
“I’m sure they came this way…”
Their voices could be heard from a very close distance.
Covering Yusti-ah’s mouth had definitely been the right answer. Thanks to that, they were able to completely hide their location.
It did feel like he had acted a bit aggressively, but…
She would surely understand if he explained it properly. Neither of them wanted to be tailed, after all.
“Let’s go back out to the main street.”
With those words, no more voices could be heard. Only the sound of light footsteps, unsuited for the gloomy alley, gradually faded away.
Eventually, when even that sound could no longer be heard, Franz removed his hand from Yusti-ah’s mouth.
“Yusti-ah, I’m sorry. I should have explained it beforehand.”
“It’s fine. I understand what’s going on. But why would they follow us?”
“Well…? Maybe they’re just curious about what the two of us are doing?”
“True, I probably would have followed too if it were me.”
Yusti-ah gave a small nod of agreement, as if it were only natural.
‘Do people usually follow someone just because they’re curious…?’
Franz was simply bewildered by her reaction.
Since when had tailing someone become a given? It felt as if his common sense was being destroyed.
“Anyway, you brought me here entirely to avoid being tailed, right?”
“Right…?”
“You didn’t have even the slightest bit of ulterior motive?”
Yusti-ah said, wiggling her pinky finger.
Was it because of the damp and dark atmosphere of the alley? Her behavior felt a bit delinquent.
Anyway, what in the world did she mean by an ulterior motive…
“Not really…?”
“…Right. I’m a fool for believing in you.”
Yusti-ah let out a deep sigh, as if the ground were caving in.
He felt like he had been hearing the word fool quite a lot lately…
It was truly frustrating since he couldn’t figure out the reason.
“Then let’s hurry and get out of here. I don’t like how spooky it is.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
Just as the two finished their conversation and were about to take a step.
“Found you…”
Suddenly, a voice came from above.
Franz immediately looked up.
What he saw was Yuna, Hera, and Arian looking down at him from the roof.
“Yusti-ah…! Run…!”
“N-Nueh…!”
Franz started running down the narrow alleyway with Yusti-ah.
But when I thought about it carefully, wasn’t something strange going on?
“Why am I running away…?”
He hadn’t done anything wrong, so there was no real reason to run.
If anything, the ones who should be hiding were the girls who had been tailing them.
Still, since they were already running, he figured he might as well enjoy it.
“Which way-?!”
“Left-!”
Hearing Franz’s words, Yusti-ah turned left at the fork.
Arriving at the fork shortly after, Franz moved in the same direction as she.
Yuna’s group was currently chasing them by running across the roofs.
“What kind of monsters are they…”
Moving so fast that it only left afterimages was a movement you’d only see in movies.
In contrast, wasn’t this side made up of the saintess and the mage, who lacked physical abilities even within the Hero’s Party? In truth, the chances of escaping were practically zero.
Not that there was any reason to run away in the first place.
Left, right, and right again, they were running hard through the narrow, winding alleyways.
Their path ended up being blocked by someone. More accurately, they had witnessed a crime scene.
“Just once is fine, isn’t it? Hmm?”
“N… No…!”
One lanky man, two bulky men. And one cowering woman.
The lanky man was holding a short dagger in his hand, so it was undoubtedly a crime scene.
“What are you people doing right now?”
Yusti-ah said in a firm, angry voice.
‘Yusti-ah’s parents were also killed by vagrants, she said…’
Perhaps her emotions had flared up for that reason.
The past was not something easily forgotten.
It would be even more so for painful memories.
“What the hell are you…”
The lanky man glared and turned his head.
But that was only for a moment. Soon, his eyes shot wide open as if he realized something.
It was the same for the two bulky men beside him.
It seemed they had realized these weren’t ordinary passersby, but the Magic Tower lord and the saintess.
“T-This is, you see? I mean… we were selling fruit, fruit…! We were just begging her to try it just once.”
He pulled out an appetizing apple from somewhere and waved it around for them to see.
“Do you expect me to believe that nonsense…? Well, whatever. I can just ask the lady what happened.”
Yusti-ah said so and gestured for the woman to come over.
At that, the woman hesitated while reading the room, then quickly ran over to Arian.
It was then.
“Run-!”
The men exchanged glances and started running.
“Stop right there!”
Yusti-ah hurriedly stepped forward to chase them.
“That idiot…!”
Even though she was a member of the Hero’s Party, wasn’t her role strictly to support everyone?
Since the opponents had weapons in hand, there was a chance she could be in danger.
Franz immediately started running after Yusti-ah.
“Stop right there this instant…!”
“Would you stop if you were us…!”
Franz and Yusti-ah chased hard after the three men, but the distance didn’t shrink at all.
“If only I could use magic…!”
Spatial Movement Magic - no, if he could use even 1st Circle Magic, he would have caught guys like that in an instant.
It was a moment that made him realize once again just how precious magic was.
“We’re out…!”
Bright light was shining from the end of the alley.
If those guys went out to the main street and blended into the crowd like this, there was a chance they wouldn’t be able to find them.
“F-Franz…! Help me…!”
Yusti-ah cried out in a desperate voice.
But at this moment, there was nothing Franz could do. A mage with a broken mana core was no different from an ordinary person.
Not that he could just ignore Yusti-ah’s plea, either.
“What I can do…”
What in the world could a mage who had lost his magic power do?
Should he grab a stone and try throwing it?
No, if he were good at that, he would have been a baseball player in the first place.
The conclusion he reached after continuing to ponder was his newly acquired power, divine power.
Until now, using divine power to fix his mana core was all he had done. Therefore, he couldn’t help but be inexperienced in using it for anything else.
Still, what else could he do? If there was only one option, he had no choice but to bet on it.
“I just need to tie up their feet.”
As Franz focused his mind, his body began to glow with a faint golden light.
Using divine power wasn’t much different from using holy power. He just had to wish for it to happen.
Had Franz’s earnest wish come true?
A golden chain appeared on the foot of the lanky man who was running at the very front.
“Urgk?!”
“W-Wait…!”
“Why are you stopping…!”
As he lost his balance and fell, the two bulky men following behind him also tripped and fell.
A shadow was cast over the three of them tangled up like that…
Yuna, Hera, and Arian were already blocking the alley exit.
It would be safe to say that there was no chance for those guys to escape this alley in the first place.
“D-Damn it…!”
The lanky man slipped out from between the bulky men and immediately lunged at Yusti-ah.
He still held the menacing dagger in his hand.
“Yusti-ah…!”
Everyone was startled and stepped forward to protect Yusti-ah.
However,
“It’s fine.”
Yusti-ah herself was incredibly calm.
“Die-!”
The man thrust his dagger toward Yusti-ah’s neck.
In response, Yusti-ah moved half a step back and twisted her body.
Swish-.
The sharp dagger narrowly brushed past Yusti-ah.
And it was the moment the man’s body was positioned right in front of her.
Smash-!
Yusti-ah forcefully drove her knee up into the man’s abdomen.
“Keuhuk-!”
Receiving a heavy impact to his abdomen, the man stumbled back and coughed up his breath.
Naturally, his back was hunched and his head was lowered.
Not missing that moment, Yusti-ah stepped forward and delivered a powerful upward kick to the man’s jaw.
Crack-!
Along with a horrifyingly gruesome sound, the man’s eyes rolled back to show the whites as he fell backward.
“This is the real Yusti-ah…?”
The Yusti-ah that Franz remembered was an incredibly fragile person who would throw up at the sight of blood and guts, let alone fight.
But the person now right in front of him was nothing short of a brawler, leaving him completely dumbfounded. It would be much more convincing to say she was a different person.
Franz wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Everyone was staring at Yusti-ah with bewildered expressions.
After a brief moment of silence.
“It’s white…”
Yuna muttered quietly, as if possessed.
“H-How could you say that out loud…!”
Yusti-ah’s face was completely flushed red.
Since she had done a front kick while wearing a skirt, those standing in front of her must have seen something.
Soon, she turned around and glared at Franz.
“I didn’t see anything. I was behind you in the first place.”
“And why didn’t you see it…!”
Because he was behind her…?
Those words rose to the tip of his tongue, but he somehow managed to hold them back.
It didn’t seem like anything good would come from speaking up right now.
Eventually, once the situation had settled down to some extent, Yusti-ah spoke quietly.
“You, what was that earlier?”
It seemed it was finally time to tell them that he had become a demigod.