Doping

Just a few minutes ago.

Selena and I had been keeping an eye on that suspicious man for a while.

"Selena, do you feel it? To the right and behind us, in the direction we're walking, there's someone radiating hostility."

"Yes. He has a considerable amount of Internal Energy, but strangely, he doesn't seem to be able to control it properly."

Just as Selena said.

The guy who was making the back of my head tingle had a considerable amount of Internal Energy, as if he could emit a solid aura, but he was leaking hostility that he couldn't quite conceal.

At that rate, whatever plan he had would end before it even began.

'Let's see, Elodie's side...'

Without moving my face or eyes, I checked on Elodie.

It wasn't easy to focus on something else while only looking straight ahead, but ever since I started feeling supernatural powers, it felt like I had opened up another sense besides sight.

It's inconvenient to explain it as "feeling supernatural powers" every time, so let's call it "sixth sense" for convenience.

'Elodie doesn't seem to have noticed.'

Elodie had cast all sorts of barrier magic on herself, Aten, and Sybil for concealment.

Hiding yourself from the outside world means that it becomes difficult to feel interference from the outside world as well. Especially high-performance magic like Elodie's.

"To notice that hostility, as expected of Frondier-nim."

"I don't need formal compliments."

"...It wasn't particularly meant to be one."

Selena and I naturally kept our distance from the guy while pretending to look around the department store. He didn't seem to be specifically targeting us.

After arriving at the cafe, while we were having a casual conversation and keeping an eye on him,

Jacob suddenly came forward and started babbling about himself.

I asked Selena.

"This is just in case, but does Manggot have a rank called 'finger'?"

Just now, Jacob called himself the 'third finger'. The nuance itself seems plausible, but what about in reality?

Selena answered without hesitation.

"No."

I thought so. It's the first time I've heard of it.

"Then that guy is ultimately,"

"A fake."

Selena was looking at Jacob with a bored expression.

"To impersonate Manggot, he's playing hacky sack with his liver."

"Is he just a terrorist? Is it even terrorism? Isn't the bomb part just a bluff?"

Selena's eyes narrowed at my question. Back when she was at the Tyburn, she was sharp enough to detect the Mana of the Sacred Forest from the barrier.

"...The bomb seems real. He's hiding it, but he's holding a detonator in his right hand. He's putting excessive force on his thumb, which is on the switch. It's probably to avoid accidentally pressing it. It's highly likely that he has planted the bomb."

"He says the bomb will go off if he dies, what about that?"

"...I'm not sure. However, to activate such a trigger, you have to use Mana, even if it's a very small amount. I can't feel it, but he might have created a trigger with an amount smaller than my detection ability."

...A very small amount of Mana.

To be honest, I didn't see anything like that in Jacob's body. If he dies, it detonates, which means such a trigger is implanted in his body, but I couldn't find it even with my sixth sense.

"What about him saying he has comrades?"

"That's a lie. First of all, I don't see any such comrades around, and in the first place, it's very difficult for a simple terrorist without special training to carry out such an operation."

"Why?"

"Saying 'If I get caught, other comrades will help' assumes that he will be caught. The problem is who will play the role of being caught. It's like putting a bell on a cat's neck. No matter how noble a cause terrorists believe they have, they try to find meaning in their actions. They can choose to 'die with the bomb', but they can't choose to 'be caught without doing anything'."

"...Indeed, Selena."

"I don't need formal compliments."

If Selena's words are true, it means that everything Jacob said except for the bomb is a lie.

...Hmm.

"Even if the 'bomb that goes off when he dies' is true."

Knocking him out would be enough.

Black Lotus Activation

Dispersion

I manipulated the Black Lotus Bracelet and took out the Obsidian.

The fine particles of Obsidian, spreading out slowly in small amounts, were invisible to the naked eye of ordinary people.

The fragment of Helheim that I obtained in the northern part of Yeranhes, its Mana has several different characteristics compared to the Mana of the continent.

One of them. It may sound obvious, but it has excellent responsiveness with Obsidian. Manipulating Obsidian is now almost like using my own limbs.

The Obsidian, which had spread out as small particles, slowly gathered behind Jacob.

I'm not particularly imaginative, so there are only a few things that come to mind when it comes to knocking someone out.

"Move quickly! If you don't want to die..."

"Wow."

Interrupting his words, momentarily drawing everyone's attention to this side.

Thwack!

I created a hammer and struck the back of Jacob's head. As long as he doesn't die, I don't really care if he faints or becomes disabled.

"The bad guy has fallen. Wow. It must be divine punishment."

Spouting some random nonsense and retrieving the Obsidian, and it's done.

The scene of a perfect crime. Even though it's not a crime.

'It's good that I can remotely control it without Menosorpo.'

What I just did is not much different from the application and effect of the existing Menosorpo, but the fact that it can't be detected is attractive.

Menosorpo is a rune, so anyone with even a little bit of Mana knowledge would notice it.

"Let's go, Selena. Someone will report it."

"...Yes."

Selena seemed a bit surprised to see Jacob suddenly collapse, but she soon understood the situation and followed me.

"Frondier-nim, excuse me, but..."

"That's too formal, Selena."

"...That, the terrorist from earlier, there's something that bothers me."

"Right. It's because of the aura, isn't it?"

Selena nodded at my words.

That guy named Jacob knew how to imbue his voice with aura, and in the first place, I felt a considerable amount of Internal Energy from him.

But he himself is a half-wit with obvious bluffs, an imprudent plan, and he got knocked out by a single surprise attack from behind.

Most people acquire aura through blood, sweat, and tears, research, and training, and they develop it in their own way.

But Jacob was not the kind of person who could do that.

He has aura despite not having the skills to possess it.

"But let's leave it to the police for now. If we get involved now, things will only get complicated."

Selena readily nodded at my words. The strange appearance of the man named Jacob, if he's not alone, it will soon reach Constel's ears as well.

However, on the way, Selena glanced back at the fallen Jacob just once.

"It's not the exact expression, but..."

As if she had something on her mind, Selena muttered with her eyes downcast.

"It's like... 'doping'."