Chapter 56
“Man, that was exhausting... Damn, he got away. He's fast.”
As expected, when we struggled up the sand dune, the archer had vanished, leaving behind only a few traces.
“I told you we wouldn't catch him. A top-class archer plans everything, even an escape route in case a shot misses.”
“It's fine.”
Still, it was fine.
I'd already figured out the magnetic-field pattern.
This new bacteria unit specialized in tracking could even identify the magnetic-field patterns produced by bioelectricity at the level of tiny human cells.
In other words, just as everyone's cellular arrangement was different, every person had a unique magnetic-field pattern, like a fingerprint.
“Looks like he went toward Mecca.”
“...But the tracks lead toward Jeddah, where we came from?”
“You said he's a top-class archer, didn't you?”
“...Ah?”
If he was top-class, changing his tracks probably wasn't difficult.
“Mecca's crowded, so he's probably planning to blend in.”
“Can you find him after he does?”
“Of course.”
These bacteria could track even the magnetic field emitted by a single cell inside a person's body.
Tracking a single ‘human’ was easy.
“Ah, he got into a getaway vehicle here.”
When we went down the other side of the dune, there were, as expected, tire tracks from a vehicle heading toward Mecca.
“Looks like he escaped toward Jeddah... huh?”
The Saudi security team, who had caught up with us late, stared wide-eyed when they saw the tire tracks heading toward Mecca.
“We need to go to Mecca. Call a car, hurry. And contact the Mecca police, too.”
“Y-Yes, sir. Terrorists near Mecca... How could this happen!”
They might have been called a security team, but they were effectively police under the police bureau.
So they were furious that a terrorist attack had taken place near the sacred city of Mecca.
Either way, we had to hurry.
If we were any later, he'd escape from Mecca, too.
**
Wee-oo! We entered Mecca with the sirens and lights on, under police traffic control.
The atmosphere in Mecca, famous for its congestion, was tense.
The police were conducting strict inspections, but...
Like that was going to work.
Awakened people had inventories, and if he was an archer type skilled at disguising himself to escape, he'd be even harder to catch.
“You've only caught innocent people.”
They'd rounded up a whole line of people as suspects, but none of their magnetic-field patterns matched.
“He's not among them. Let them all go.”
“What? How do you...?”
“Trade secret.”
This is why being a Hunter is great.
You can end the conversation with a single “Trade secret.”
The police were dubious, but since I was the victim and told them to release everyone, they had no choice but to comply.
Those who'd been arrested as suspects out of the blue bowed and thanked me.
Anyway, Mecca's bigger than I expected.
Even outside the pilgrimage season, it was a major city with a population of over two million.
Finding one person here was like looking for a needle in a desert.
And that needle in the desert...
I saw him!
“Let's go!”
I hurried off with Choi Kang.
Damn, I'd never really had to worry about my lack of mobility in a dungeon with limited space, but it's hard out here.
I really do need something to improve my mobility.
I hadn't felt the need since I never fought outside Gates, but this was a good opportunity.
If only I could catch this bastard.
After running for quite a while, we arrived at...
“Huh?”
A group of riot police gathered together.
And I could clearly sense the same magnetic field within that group.
One of the police officers?
Or was he disguised as one?
Whatever the case, he'd hidden right under our noses.
If I didn't have my ability, I really wouldn't have found him.
“Who are you!”
The problem was...
The Mecca police didn't know what I looked like yet.
The police eyed me warily, clearly suspicious of my foreign appearance.
“I'm Hunter Kim Segyun. I'm the one who came to clear the Mecca Gate and was just sniped.”
“Stay right there!”
They stopped me while the riot squad captain began speaking over the radio.
It seemed he'd heard a description of me, because he immediately saluted.
“I'm sorry we didn't recognize you. We've been ordered to cooperate with you in every way.”
Their manners were almost excessive.
But in Muslim-majority countries, the respect for top-tier Hunters was beyond imagination.
They basically considered Awakening a blessing from God.
Among the Awakened, top-tier Hunters—the strongest of them all—were considered, in Islamic terms, to have received an especially great blessing from God.
“Let me through for a moment.”
The path opened up before me like the Red Sea.
Ah, Moses is a respected prophet in Islam, too, so I guess that comparison works.
I'd studied a little about Islam before coming here, believe it or not.
...On the wiki.
As the path opened up...
I had No. 2 grab a police officer who was about to step aside, too.
The officer's eyes widened in confusion when he found his feet wouldn't move, as if glued to the ground.
“W-What's the meaning of this?”
“Why'd you do that to me, you son of a bitch?”
“W-What...!”
At my reaction, the riot squad captain hurried over and asked,
“Did one of our officers do something disrespectful...?”
“He's not one of your officers. I don't know what he did, but he disguised himself as one of your officers.”
“What? No... That's...”
“That's not true, Captain! He's mistaken! It wasn't me!”
The terrorist, unable to move his feet, was practically on his knees, desperately begging.
But... how could I prove it?
That our magnetic fields matched?
Then I'd have to prove my bacteria's ability, too...
This was getting complicated.
Choi Kang, who'd been silently watching from behind, slowly approached and snatched the terrorist's hand.
“Yeah, he's an archer.”
He showed everyone the calluses clearly embedded in the man's hand.
To hone his archery to the level of a master, it was only natural that he'd developed calluses on his hands.
Just as you'd expect from someone with experience.
That saved me the hassle.
“You can disguise your face and clothes, but you can't disguise your hands.”
At Choi Kang's words, the riot squad captain came over, checked the calluses on the man's hand, and grabbed him by the collar with a grim expression.
“Who the hell are you! Where's Faisal!”
It seemed Faisal was the original owner of that face.
Perhaps only then realizing he couldn't deny it, Faisal's face slowly melted away, revealing a new appearance.
The riot squad captain staggered back several steps in shock.
Stepping in front of him, I asked,
“Why'd you do it?”
“...To open Mecca's sacred Gate to an infidel? I cannot allow it.”
“Didn't you hear I'm nonreligious? Al Jazeera must've covered it a lot... Wait, is it Al Jazeera?”
To quell public discontent, the Saudi government had done a fair bit of persuading beforehand.
They'd used channels reaching not only Saudi citizens but the broader Muslim world, too.
Well, Mecca was in Saudi Arabia, but it was so sacred that Muslims from all over the world came on pilgrimage, so it made sense.
“A person without faith is no different from an infidel! Kill me! I have no fear of dying at the hands of an infidel!”
“Tsk. So he was just some crazy religious fanatic.”
“W-We will arrest him.”
“Kill me! Do it!”
Why would I kill you?
I needed you alive so I could keep holding this over the Saudi government.
If I went around telling people how I'd almost been killed in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi government's reputation would be ruined.
Then fewer legitimate foreign Hunters would come to Saudi Arabia to clear Gates.
Which meant it'd cost them a lot to keep me quiet.
“He's a powerful Hunter... It'll be hard for the police alone to take him away. Is there a hospital nearby?”
“...Please wait a moment... Yes, there is.”
“Tell them to bring an ambulance and a respirator.”
When they brought an ambulance despite looking confused,
I sent the Botulinum bacteria into the terrorist's body.
He resisted fiercely with mana, and many of them were destroyed, but even as they were being destroyed, my loyal bacterial legion squeezed out every last drop of botulinum before perishing.
His eyes went wide, and he was paralyzed on the spot.
Unable to move at all, with even his facial muscles paralyzed, he looked downright bizarre.
I felt bad for him, but I'd shown plenty of restraint by doing only this to someone who'd tried to kill me.
“Put him on a respirator right away. He won't be able to breathe on his own.”
“......!”
The police looked at me as if they were afraid.
Well, I couldn't blame them.
I'd turned a person into a vegetable in an instant, right there in front of them.
“It should last for several dozen hours, which is plenty of time to detain and interrogate him.”
“Th-Thank you.”
“You should be thanking me. I came all the way to a foreign country, got attacked by a terrorist, and even caught the culprit for you. I hope the Crown Prince hears all about this.”
After the police escorted the terrorist away, something remained where they'd been...
“Huh?”
A pair of shoes.
Ah, I'd stuck his feet to the ground...
In the end, they must've taken the shoes off since they couldn't pull him loose.
They looked antique, so they were probably an item.
Wonder if they're any good.
[Pilgrim's Baraka Shoes]
[Grade] : Legendary Shoes
[Description] : Shoes worn by a great pilgrim. They are said to hold God's blessing.
[Effect] : Always enters the ‘Pilgrim's Steps’ state.
[Pilgrim's Steps (Item Skill)]
Description: A pilgrim's steps toward a holy site are always light.
Effect: When moving in the direction of a holy site, movement speed increases by up to 1,000%. By default, the holy site is ‘Mecca,’ and you can designate your current location as the holy site once a month. Inside a Gate, the entry point is designated as the holy site. When moving away from the holy site, movement speed returns to normal.
...Legendary shoes, huh.
Could make a little pocket money.
And from the description, they seemed pretty useful.
They might be a little tricky to use outside a Gate, but inside one, they'd definitely be an overpowered item.
I basically had to fight while keeping my distance, so if the entry point was set as the holy site, I'd get a speed bonus when retreating.
So that's why this terrorist bastard was so fast.
Mecca must've been set as the holy site... and with the 1,000% effect, he'd have been incredibly fast.
It was the perfect item for a class like an archer or mage, which benefited from keeping their distance.
Since no one was paying attention in the confusion, I should quietly take them.
If anyone asked later, I could say I'd claimed them.
I took off my old shoes and changed into the new ones.
The great thing about item equipment was that it adjusted to your size automatically.
They fit almost ergonomically.
Let's run in my new shoes—no, old shoes—and ho-o-op...
“Ugh!”
I couldn't control my speed.
I nearly slammed into a wall.
Mr. Choi Kang looked at me like I was an idiot.
No, this is...
It seemed the effect was stronger because we were near Mecca, a holy site.
This might take a while to get used to.
**
Although we'd caught the culprit, the Saudi authorities had asked me to delay entering the Gate until the situation had settled down, so I was waiting at the hotel.
They said it was the best hotel in Mecca, and it was certainly spacious and luxurious.
Though what I was doing inside was a sight to behold.
Thud!
“Aah!”
Crash!
“Ugh!”
I was crashing around the huge hotel room, trying to control a speed boost of up to 1,000%.
Mr. Choi Kang watched while lifting a barbell like it was a dumbbell, only shaking his head.
“By the way, where'd you get that barbell?”
“It was in the hotel's fitness center. I said I was taking it, and they said to go ahead.”
“......”
Well, who'd stop you if you said you were taking it?
You've loaded on almost every weight plate they had.
What'd you leave there, just the bar?
And he still complained.
“I can't feel the stimulation. It's too light.”
Even while using a portable gravity generator to lift several times that weight, he was still complaining.
Just as we were looking at each other and sighing,
there was a knock at the hotel door.
The man who came in was wearing a black suit instead of traditional Muslim attire.
“Hunter Kim Segyun, I am Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al-Howairini, head of the Saudi Arabian National Security Bureau.”
“Abdul... what?”
“You may simply call me Abdul.”
“...Yes, Mr. Abdul.”
“I deeply regret this incident. I came to inform you of the preliminary findings of our investigation.”
As he spoke, he looked at my face with a grave expression.
“You seem badly injured. The battle must have been fierce...”
“...Pardon?”
...Was I injured?
When?