Rumors (4)

Ugh!

The back wheels lifted first, and the car flipped over. I felt intense pressure on my chest, the back of my head, and my waist.

As the car was suspended in the air for a moment, my eyes checked the bottom.

Meno, Sor, oph...!

The Rune activated, and rolling my eyes to the backseat, I locked eyes with Azier, who had suddenly embraced Philly.

Our gazes conveyed the same message.

Survive on your own.

Boom!

Azier kicked the car's back door with her foot. The door flew off noisily. Azier, with great agility, took Philly and exited the car while still in the air. It was a considerable height to the ground, but worrying about Azier was a luxury.

Only the driver and I remained in the vehicle. The driver's eyes were unfocused. There was no emotion in them, not the panic of having flipped the car by stepping on the accelerator, nor the fear of imminent death.

Something's wrong.

Void Weaving, Simultaneous Replication

Imperial Armory

Spears, from No. 1 to No. 3.

Shields, from No. 1 to No. 4.

I wove spears outside the vehicle and thrust them into the backseat.

With a crunch, the car, which was falling vertically, shifted diagonally upon impact, and aligning with that direction, I thrust spears into the car once, and then again.

As a result, the car turned in mid-air and crashed into the top of a tall tree trunk.

Bang!

I caught the falling car with a shield from below. I did it again three times, each time the car stopped in mid-air, stopped, and stopped.

Crash-!

It landed on the ground.

The car was wrecked, but the driver and I were unscathed.

...Haah...

I was relieved to see the driver was fine.

However,

Suddenly!

There was no time to relax. The driver lunged at me, trying to choke me with both hands, which I grabbed.

Ugh, hey! Mister! Snap out of it! Hey!

I was so flustered that honorifics and informal speech jumbled out.

The opponent trying to kill me was completely expressionless. It was more terrifying than I had imagined.

Why is the driver so strong...?!

Weaving

Workshop, Blunt Weapon No. 1

Wooden Hammer

Clang!

I created the simplest weapon I had in the sky and struck him on the head. The man's strength weakened a bit.

In that moment, I grabbed the man's shoulder with my right hand and pulled. His back was now in view.

Crack, I gained the upper hand in our posture, twisted his arm behind him, and grabbed his hair. Then,

Bang-!!

With all my strength, I slammed his head into the steering wheel. The horn, still not dead, blared loudly.

"Snap out of it!"

Even slammed against the steering wheel, his expression didn't change. Could he not feel pain? His vacant eyes rolled and then looked at me. Chills ran down my spine.

Trembling.

I was suppressing the man with all my might. I had firmly subdued his arm, yet he was lifting his body as if he was about to break his own arm. Controlling his movements through pain was useless.

"Frondier! Are you okay?!"

From a distance, I heard Philly's voice. Only after hearing it did my mind start to clear.

'...Phone.'

This man's sudden change was undoubtedly because of that. The moment he took the call, his focus disappeared, and he accelerated the car towards me.

What did he hear? What was said to make him react like this?

'...No, maybe.'

The 'content' of the message might not be important.

Thud, something hit against the outside of the driver's door. Looking out the window, it was Azier.

"Frondier, the door's locked."

"Do I look like I'm in a situation where I can open the car door right now!"

"Fair point."

I felt a strange sensation from Azier outside the window. It was aura. The moment I realized it,

Crack!

The car door opened. Or rather, I thought it opened, but it was torn off. Azier, holding the car door in one hand, threw it aside.

And then, he threw the driver I was suppressing out of the car.

The man slid to the ground and tumbled over and over. Azier had skillfully tied up the driver from above.

Seeing that familiar action, I asked.

"Do you always carry rope with you?"

"When you become a pro, you'll need to carry it too. There are far more times when you shouldn't kill someone than when you have to. Handcuffs are good, but ropes are more versatile."

Azier tied up the driver and dusted off his hands. After struggling a few times, the driver soon stretched out limply, as if suddenly fallen into sleep.

"Are you both okay?"

Philly quickly approached. She examined the driver's face and I sensed a sigh of relief in her eyes.

He had been driving for Philly since I first met her. She must have trusted him quite a bit.

"Check him."

Azier rummaged through the man's pockets, found a wallet, and tossed it to me.

"Look for an ID. It might have been switched somewhere. These days, 'masks' are almost impossible to distinguish with the naked eye."

Following Azier's instructions, I checked the wallet. Philly was saying, 'No, I can tell; this man is definitely my driver' and so on, but I didn't bother to respond.

......And then.

I found it.

Thud.

The wallet dropped. It slipped from my hand. I thought dropping something in shock was something that only happened in dramas, but here I was doing that not at all funny act.

Right, it's not funny at all.

'...What is this?'

What I found wasn't an ID.

It was a business card.

[Serf Daniel]

- Indus Member No. 9

That strikingly simple sentence.

Yet that unforgettable name, it made me tremble.

Serf Daniel.

The one I met in the cabin, Serf Daniel.

With the bow I made, with the arrow I made.

...Surely, an arrow that could never miss, hit Serf Daniel.

'He...'

In disbelief, I looked over the unchanging business card several times.