<287 - Scary Child's Friend>
“Titosso! Other side of the hallway.”
“Ahhh! Brightness level 3 beam—!!!”
“Kraaaak! I can’t see in front of me!”
In the narrow corridor of the ship, Titosso’s light was demonstrating its power like a one-person army.
As the magician Irene unleashed an attack in one direction, Titosso successfully blocked the incoming barrage with just one light stand from the opposite side.
‘Honestly, Titosso isn’t needed; wouldn’t a +5 enhanced light stand be enough…?’
Irene shook off such thoughts, sending ice arrows flying from her fingertips.
It wouldn’t be easy for an ordinary student to commit such harmful acts against so many people.
There’s a psychological difference between squabbling for grades among fellow students and injuring the foundation’s crew in an attempt to start a mutiny.
Tap tap.
“Gah! Wh-what is this? Please don’t shoot ice arrows from behind…”
“I’m going to move. Follow me.”
“Ugh… I know you’re calling me with magic because we can’t face each other due to the light, but my clothes will get wet…”
It’s not that Titosso lacked psychological resistance or fear.
They looked just like a coward.
With every touch of ice, Titosso let out screams like “Huh?!” or “Yikes!”
Just looking at those cute reactions showed it all.
They had steeled their mind enough to suppress their innate cowardice.
‘Did Oknodie and Arcadia notice that such a timid child could hold this much courage?’
In the frozen and barren northern lands, even a ten-year-old boy or an old man could wield a spear alongside sturdy farm laborers.
In the land where Irene was born and raised, they would mobilize anyone for the battlefield, without discrimination.
But a weak child like Titosso, being a girl, was already out for the count, and with their skinny limbs, another strikeout, and with their cute screams, yet another.
They wouldn’t even be sent to the front lines, serving merely as a number or a runner to help ferry stones for the siege.
To assign such an important task to Oknodie or keep Arcadia close was something that could be said to be superior insight compared to Irene.
“Uung! Irene, don’t leave me alone~!”
The way they came scampering with their little feet was nothing short of pitiful. Yet even that child could lift the dazzling light stand to defeat an enemy.
After all, that light stand wasn’t as easy to wield as one might think.
‘It absorbed a massive amount of mana.’
As a magician, she knew.
Anyone who picked up Titosso’s light stand lightly would soon be overwhelmed by dizziness due to mana deficiency and faint away.
A proper magician, trained in magic, wouldn’t have the desire to use equipment that guzzled their mana dry to convert it into light.
This was a piece of equipment exclusively for magic users.
For those who have plenty of mana but lack the know-how to handle magic, it was a half-baked tool.
“Ugh! The hallway’s ended. This place is immensely wide and has so many stairs that I can’t block everything with the light stand!”
“I’m going to build an ice wall. We can block every path with reflective light, so just keep the light stand’s brightness down.”
“Okay! I’ll do my best!”
Titosso had done their part well.
Next was her turn.
Irene aimed to create a ruckus with ice magic, drawing the aggro of the ship as she headed for the control room.
The facility where one could open and close all the controls of the cruise ship at will.
If she could just infiltrate there, the crew would be trapped, and the students in the prison would be easily freed.
“In three years, you’ll have some respectable skills. But it was too soon. It’s impossible for you at this moment. Even Temis and Chris within me say so.”
The Apostle of Anrage, the god of corruption, who could freely access the experiences held within countless personalities.
He was strong.
So much so that he reminded one of the academy’s professors.
Being a Foundation comparable to the academy, there must be such powerful individuals in the foundation as well.
They thought there would definitely be someone of such caliber in important facilities like the control room.
“Please don’t resist. If you wish to enter the underground prison unharmed, follow me quietly. If the persona of the pacifist Posepp fades, the next persona to emerge will be the flesh-eating predator Gustav.”
The Apostle of Anrage.
A foundation executive.
He was undeniably strong.
Strong enough to easily subjugate Irene and Titosso by himself.
But Irene, who had anticipated such a powerful opponent, couldn’t have barged in recklessly without thinking.
Boom!
Pat pat pat.
Suddenly, all the lights within the facility went out, plunging everything into unexpected darkness.
In fact, during the process of enhancing Titosso’s light stand, many lights had been stolen, making the dim corridors turn completely dark.
“This is the control room’s…?”
As the Apostle of Anrage escorted Irene to the prison, Sing, who infiltrated the now-empty control room, skillfully completed his mission by seizing the opportunity as planned.
All the students in the underground prison were now released, and the crew was thrown into chaos.
“Now’s our chance!”
Suddenly, enemies that had appeared from the darkness attacked the convoy in turmoil.
The Apostle of Anrage, who had been holding onto Irene’s arm, frowned and let go of his grip to block the incoming attacks.
Swish!
The sensation of something wrapping around his wrist.
That was a thin string.
“What is this… A bikini? Why the heck is there a bikini…?”
As the Apostle of Anrage tore off the strange object wrapped around his hand and looked at it in confusion, a nearby vent opened up, and Ppyoi pulled Irene and Titosso in.
“Phew. Thank goodness the opportunity has finally come!”
“Weren’t you supposed to go for the uninhabited island auction?”
“I had to forfeit because I was attacked!”
“Quite a mess at the auction, huh?”
“Did the ship mutiny succeed?”
“Up to phase two.”
Phase one: cause a ruckus.
Phase two: infiltrate the control room.
So far, everything was going according to plan.
However, the truly crucial facilities were separate.
The helm, which actually controlled the ship, and the captain’s quarters where the ship’s commander resided. Without taking control of these two facilities, the mutiny aboard couldn’t be considered successful.
Foundation executive Jonnas Wahyhiemhai.
The other executive, the Apostle of Anrage.
Having drawn out two significant forces, the chances of successfully defeating these two and seizing the Captain’s quarters and helm were now greatly increased.
But the Apostle of Anrage was also aware of this fact.
“We need to head towards the underground prison.”
It would be nice to head back to restore the power in the control room, but going to protect the control room and Captain’s quarters would likely fail in occupying those facilities.
Even if they gathered a handful of students, the power would greatly increase when they combined their forces.
It would be far greater than adding the crew members to the Apostle of Anrage.
“Thanks, Irene! If it weren’t for you, I might’ve seriously considered snapping some fingers!”
“Titosso, you’re the hero of our lower class!”
The lower class students welcomed Titosso enthusiastically, filled with joy.
However, Titosso’s expression wasn’t bright at all.
“What’s wrong? Why the gloomy face?”
“Uuuh…”
“Are you crying!?”
“I was shocked by how ugly you are!”
“Is this for real…”
Fortunately, the student, shocked by his own ugliness, rubbed away the tears with his hands while denying it.
“No, that’s not it… I lost the light stand…”
“What!? You lost the light stand again!?”
Irene apologetically interjected from the side.
“I lost it when defeated by a foundation executive. If I had just been a little stronger, Titosso could have had the time to escape… It all happened because I was lacking.”
“Why is it your fault? It’s because the foundation executive was too strong.”
Titosso composed himself and vowed with determination.
“I’ll definitely reclaim the light stand. I can’t lose the precious gift my older sister gave me!”
Despite Titosso’s vow, the lower class students were inquisitive.
“If it’s true that the silkworm moth has a habit of stealing shiny things, why would a foundation executive steal the light stand?”
“Right? What would they even use it for?”
This was a reasonable question from the lower class students, who were still unaware of the news about the enhancement of the light stand.
*
*
Because of one light stand, the crew members who had spent a long time on the floor of the corridor or clutching onto ice walls were bandaging their hands in despair.
“To spread a cold wave capable of causing frostbite wherever it touches… That was truly a vicious combination technique.”
“I never thought the light stand would become such a feared item.”
“How does that tiny light stand produce light comparable to a searchlight?”
One mage engineer cautiously approached the Apostle of Anrage.
“Could we analyze that light stand?”
“One finger.”
The mage engineer’s face fell in regret after speaking. The persona of the pacifist had vanished, and the Apostle of Anrage had become the flesh-eating predator Gustav.
The mage engineer, who had foolishly spoken out, ended up having a finger cut off on the spot as payment for his transgression, but in his eyes, curiosity and passion toward the artifact were sparkling.
Such eagerness that didn’t mind the loss of bodily integrity was almost close to madness.
‘Opportunities for growth don’t easily come to us, unlike academy students.’
In this world, there are those who, as long as they can become stronger, rise to higher positions, or grasp the brink of mysteries, would gladly sacrifice a finger.
The mage engineer paid the price and received the light stand.
And then, he realized a horrifying truth.
The mana input port of this light stand was far too small.
The primary power source was the mana held by the person gripping the light stand.
It was a weapon that ran on human mana.
A man who had knowledge but no mana, who had become just an ordinary mage engineer, couldn’t withstand the sudden massive loss of mana and fell to the ground.
As he lost consciousness while grasping the light stand, his body was rapidly aging due to the siphoning of his life force.
The sight of him instantly aging horrified the expressions of nearby crew members.
“This is a cursed item!”
“It’s draining life!”
“They let first years in the academy handle such equipment in actual combat!?”
Crew members used long poles from a distance to pull away the hand clutching the light stand, as if saving someone from electrocution.
Many gasped at the tragic fate of the mage engineer, who had aged at least 20 years in an instant.
“Indeed, you are friends with Oknodie.”
“Birds of a feather flock together.”
Titosso.
That name was now beginning to instill fear.
