I sprinted away without looking back in the direction Outcast God was pointing.
As I kept running until I was sure that the smiley plants the Gardener controlled were no longer chasing me, I felt my breath quickening and my legs starting to ache.
“Are they still after us?”
Seeing the Outcast God peek out of my pocket while shaking her head reassured me that nothing was following.
At last, I could pause for a moment and catch my breath.
“Hah, phew…”
On the surface, I looked perfectly fine, but I was gradually losing my energy, and I couldn’t tell what state I was really in.
Thanks to the Super Coward Mode, there were no visible injuries, but the fact that I had no way to assess my physical condition was becoming a significant problem.
For now, I was still able to move my body, but it worried me that my insides might be completely twisted.
Imagining the worst-case scenario wasn’t going to help, so I decided to push those uncomfortable thoughts aside and think smart.
I couldn’t confront a Gardener as hostile as she was on my own.
That meant all I needed was some serious firepower to go against her.
If only I had the tricks of a Hunter, I could have dealt with this in no time.
Unfortunately, I had none of those options available, so it was impossible.
“Hey, friend, can you pull out some candy for me?”
The Outcast God dove back into my pocket and retrieved three lollipops sequentially.
Physical enhancement, mental enhancement, and… suicide.
For me, who had mental immunity, the most useful would be the physical enhancement, but I wondered how significant and lasting the increase would be.
As a first-timer, there was no way for me to know that.
“This won’t be enough to take down the gardener.”
Unless I had a weapon.
There was no way they would hand over a precious Outsider-hunting tool to a criminal who would just be discarded.
To break through this situation, I also needed…
“I need Muyun.”
The force that smashed the ground in the underground prison.
An axe that could split wood like paper.
The story I’d seen in the community about the daughter of a god.
If I had Muyun, everything would fall into place and get resolved.
But if she had already escaped, it would all be meaningless.
“Friend.”
As I called to the Outcast God, she soared up to meet my gaze.
“Can you show me where Muyun is?”
But the Outcast God shook her head.
Could it be that, unlike with the escape plan, she couldn’t sense people?
…Thinking back, the way she pointed to the gardener when I asked about the escape route suggested there was something more complex at play than I realized.
“Then can you fly up to find the pink-haired woman for me?”
At that, the Outcast God nodded eagerly and shot up into the sky.
I was worried she’d catch the gardener’s attention in her vulnerable state, but perhaps the gardener couldn’t interfere up there, given her name.
Fortunately, the Outcast God returned to my shoulder without any issues.
“Did you find her?”
She nodded, but her expression was visibly darker.
Could it be that something had happened to Muyun?
“Lead the way. Let’s hurry!”
#
Following the Outcast God’s guidance, we arrived at a place with a main gate.
As expected, it seemed that Muyun fled in the direction of the exit…
But the exit was blocked off by a trunk, making escape impossible.
Yet, this meant that Muyun was trapped here…
Having been the underdog, I felt the urge to complain a bit as I looked around, but my mouth just went shut.
“What the hell is this?”
I had thought the flowers looked beautiful right up until I noticed them crawling out from the ground, making their way toward one area.
The flowers, moving with their tiny stems and leaves, began to jump and surround something.
Their intertwined, abnormally thick stems ensnared something inside.
And there, I spotted Muyun, trapped within a cage of petals.
“Snap out of it, Muyun!”
No matter how I looked, she seemed to be in serious condition.
I dashed over, trying to pull the stems off with my hands, but they felt as sturdy as wood.
After a struggle, the Outcast God handed me a lollipop of a different color.
Right! Physical enhancement!
She pointed to the red lollipop.
Could this be the one that boosts physical abilities?
“But is this candy really supposed to enhance physical function?”
Thanks to the Super Coward Mode, all the candies looked similar, so I couldn’t remember which one was the one I wanted.
Since one of them contained a suicide potion, if I picked the wrong one, I’d be leaving this world without even getting a chance to try anything.
The Outcast God was pointing towards a candy, but I couldn’t shake off my doubts after remembering where she had guided me to before. My skeptical look seemed to urge her, and she jumped around as if to prove it was genuine.
…I hope this doesn’t kill me.
Well, considering the urgent situation of almost dying, I figured I might as well pop it in my mouth.
After all, dying from this candy or at the hands of the Knights isn’t that different.
I ripped open the candy wrapper and placed it in my mouth, filled with a spicy yet sweet flavor.
What can I say? It had a flavor that was almost overwhelmingly delicious—like delectable cherry sweetness.
If candies like this kept coming, I’d gladly eat them nonstop.
Ah, right.
This wasn’t the time to be lost in such thoughts, so I ground it with my molars and swallowed.
As soon as the candy made its way down my throat, I suddenly felt like it vanished into thin air.
Maybe because it was made from Outsider body parts, it seemed to be absorbed into my body without any digestion process.
Did I really eat it properly?
Perhaps out of anxiety, I started to feel cold sweat trickle down from my head.
A few seconds passed.
Still, there was no sign of any reaction.
Could it be that I accidentally ingested a mental clarity drug?
When I turned to glance at the Outcast God, she had a furious emoji-like expression, pointing excitedly at the flowers as if to prompt me to act.
No, wait…
I don’t really feel any stronger, and trying might be pointless.
As I contemplated this, I grabbed the flowers entangling Muyun and pulled.
With a crunch!
Though the stem that had felt immovable suddenly started to budge, it still felt heavy.
If the effects were showing, shouldn’t there be some visible change? Why am I feeling nothing?
This is confusing.
“Hang in there, Muyun! I’m coming to save you!”
Seeing Muyun’s life force diminishing, it didn’t feel like I could afford to waste any more time.
I hurriedly tore the flowers off her, realizing some of them had wrapped around her leg.
These must be what’s threatening her life.
The flowers seemed just as determined to kill her, as with each one I removed, they’d stick back onto her like glue.
But thanks to my enhanced physical abilities, I could move faster than the speed of the vines, and for a brief moment, Muyun was free from the flower’s grasp.
Seizing that opportunity, I grabbed her arm and pulled her away, just as the stems lunged sharply toward where she had been.
Brring!
The sound was adorably cute, but the underlying intent of stabbing something into Muyun made it all the more grotesque.
“Excuse me, Muyun!”
Holding her in my arms, I sprinted like a madman.
Conversation could wait.
With the source of nourishment gone, the stems suddenly started leaping towards me.
#
As the effects of the candy began to wane, I felt my strength fade rapidly.
“Is it safe enough now?”
After running for a while, I noticed the vines had stopped chasing me.
Do they also have their own territory like any other plants?
Finally reaching a flowerless stretch of land, I found a place to rest.
Gently laying Muyun down, I pulled out the mental stabilization candy that the Outcast God had given me and placed it in her mouth.
That was all I could do for now…
Letting out a sigh at this absurd day, I looked at Muyun, and where the flower stalks had been pulled away only left slight marks—as if nothing ever happened.
Even so, I could tell how incredible her regeneration abilities were as those traces swiftly faded.
“Muyun, please wake up.”
I called softly but received no response.
“You’re already awake, aren’t you?”
Since she remained silent, I shouted.
“I won’t blame you for running away, so just please wake up.”
Slowly, she started to open her eyes.
Her expression, filled with an overwhelming sadness, made me quietly solemn as well.
Eventually, tears began to flow from Muyun’s eyes.
“…I’m so sorry. I was scared and wanted to escape because of the orders…”
“Don’t cry, just tell me.”
“I’m grateful for you saving me, but it hurts so much to deceive you, and I’m so sorry—I feel so ashamed…”
“Oh dear, calm down already.”
Her words were a jumble, mixed with sobs.
I absentmindedly put my hand into my pocket and suddenly felt something like a handkerchief, which I promptly handed to Muyun.
Wait, was this there from the start?
Thanks to the Outcast God’s abilities, it felt so weightless that I had no way of knowing.
What on earth is the current state of my pocket?
As I carefully dabbed at Muyun’s tears with the handkerchief, helping her blow her nose, we finally found ourselves able to meet each other’s gaze.
That’s when I noticed her staring at me with wide, surprised eyes.
“W-What’s wrong…! Hold on a second…”
With a shocked expression, she scanned me and burst into even more tears, to the point where my efforts seemed in vain.
“Tanton, your body… it’s…!”
She was pointing exactly where I had felt pain before.
Maybe I had been all right thanks to my Super Coward mode, but was there something wrong after all?
“Ah, this is…”
“There’s a hole… visible… cough!”
No way. Did I get hurt that badly?
It seems people do only trust what they can see. Even after hearing that, I didn’t immediately collapse from the pain or anything.
Perhaps shocked, I gently patted Muyun on the shoulder to comfort her as she continued to sob.
“Muyun, I’m fine. Just stop it.”
But since she still wore an expression of shock, I let out a deep sigh.
“…Muyun, calm down. The scary stuff is all gone now. I totally understand because I’m a huge coward myself.”
I thought I had done a decent job of soothing her.
“…That’s not it!”
Suddenly, Muyun forcefully cut off her sobbing and shouted loudly.
I quickly placed my finger over my mouth, signaling her to lower her voice.
She then managed to hush herself, still taking raspy breaths.
“…I was scared… but more than that, Tanton, you got hurt so badly saving me, and I… I feel so sorry for that… I hate myself for it!”
“I get it, but please calm down for a bit.”
While reassuring her with gentle pats on the back, I decided to wait until she stopped crying.
A few minutes later, she was still sniffling, but she started to speak with a slightly improved voice.
“…Actually, the reason you all were ordered to capture the Outsider was because of the Deputy Director’s hidden intentions.”
“Hidden intentions?”
“The other two knights, besides me, are criminals. Do you remember the jade ball we used during rock-paper-scissors? It steals luck from the opponent, giving its user an advantage in battle. They committed various crimes under the pretense of being rookie knights. But, well, they are knights, after all.”
Ah.
So it really was a set-up.
But then what was that voice from the ball?
Since it wasn’t urgent, I decided to erase it from my mind.
“The Deputy Director treats only those whom he can manage. If they’re unmanageable or problematic, he judges them as useless. So sending me along with the captured criminals to be killed makes sense as a means of disposal.”
…I had thought it could be something like that, but it turned out to be true.
From the Knights’ perspective, they were dangerous elements due to their serious crimes, so it made sense to eliminate them along with the criminals.
I understood that, but was it really fair to throw them to the Outsiders so casually?
“…So, what about you, Muyun?”
“…The Deputy Director told me to come back alive. I had to take charge of this task because of my father’s excellence, and the fact that I’m a disciple of the White Mask. But I’m just a coward who couldn’t even handle this mess. The Deputy Director always says that those who can’t adequately fulfill their orders are useless and need to be disposed of. …So, I’m probably no different from those two knights. Like them, I might have been sent away under the pretext of being dealt with, tarnishing my father’s name. I wish it could have been….”
She was completely engulfed in negative emotions.
To keep her from trailing into more dark thoughts, I put my finger to my lips and shushed her.
It was true that Muyun had made some actions that could easily anger me from my perspective.
But she had only followed orders from above, and I personally thought her actions were justified treatment towards criminals.
Of course, I felt wronged for being labeled a criminal, but that wasn’t something that concerned the general public.
So I held no feelings of resentment towards Muyun.
Now that I had found her, all I wanted was for her to do something for me.
“Muyun.”
“…Yes?”
“There’s a way for you to get rid of that guilt over me and become capable.”
A coward understands the heart of a coward the best.
So, in a way, I was the one who knew her heart best.
Muyun looked at me with an expression full of curiosity.
Seeing her like that, I gave her a slight smile.
“How about it? Want to give it a shot?”
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