BXBX NOVEL Chapter 54 – Escort Request (4)
Chapter 54 – Escort Request (4)
Chapter 54: Escort Request (4)
The Tower Master swiftly extended his hand.
Dozens of magical barriers materialized in front of him.
They were pure mana shields, their solidity rivaling that of a castle wall.
Ketal indeed felt resistance, so he applied a bit more force.
Crack!
The barriers shattered instantly, like cobwebs torn apart by a human hand.
The Tower Master’s pupils dilated.
‘Not even a ballista could break through this…’
He thought it would at least buy him some time, but it didn’t even manage that.
His mind raced.
He had 0.5 seconds until Ketal’s hand reached him.
Considering a margin of error of 0.2 seconds, he had to find and implement a countermeasure within 0.3 seconds.
In 0.3 seconds, what could he do?
His accelerating brain quickly found the answer.
The Tower Master curled his fingers.
Mana penetrated Ketal’s body.
He intended to directly influence his physical form with mana.
But it didn’t work.
The mana, as if running along an endless horizon, failed to reach its destination.
Then, space distortion.
He twisted the space itself to prevent the attack from reaching him.
But it was useless.
The distorted space was forcibly restored to its original state by sheer physical force.
Next, repulsion.
He mimicked Ketal’s attack with mana, generating an equivalent physical force to repel it.
All these spells took less than 0.2 seconds to activate.
He had truly reached a high level.
Yet, even that didn’t work.
The Tower Master was dumbfounded.
‘He’s ignoring interference with pure physical strength?’
From that brief battle, the Tower Master grasped Ketal’s peculiarity.
It was impossible to counter him with interference methods.
So he decided to increase the distance between them.
In an instant, chaotic mana waves surrounded the Tower Master.
There was still time before Ketal’s hand reached his body.
But at that moment, Ketal’s speed increased even more.
‘Getting faster?’
Before that thought even finished, Ketal’s hand gripped the Tower Master’s neck.
Boom!
The Tower Master’s body was slammed into the ground.
Ketal clicked his tongue.
‘Ah I miscalculated the force.’
Feeling something was off, he had increased his speed.
Ketal looked down at the man he had slammed.
He didn’t seem to have suffered major injuries.
“You’re unscathed. Seems I’ve gotten better at controlling my strength.”
Ketal smiled with satisfaction, and the Tower Master was dumbfounded.
‘Bullshit.’
If he hadn’t instinctively protected himself with mana, his limbs would have burst apart.
Ketal lifted him by the neck.
“Um, I’d appreciate it if you handled me gently.”
“If you want that, I suggest you don’t do anything strange. At the slightest hint of anything, I’ll snap your neck.”
“Haha…”
Ketal carried the Tower Master away.
* * *
The Tower Master dangled in the air, held by his neck.
‘Cain. Was he in a situation like this too?’
He had mocked Cain, and now he was in the same predicament.
The Tower Master felt deeply depressed.
What made it worse was the girl looking at him with a strange expression.
Elene cautiously asked.
“Who is this?”
“I don’t know. Someone who was watching us.”
“What? Watching us? Since when…?”
“I don’t know exactly when. He suddenly appeared in my detection range.”
‘…You really sensed me?’
The Tower Master was astounded.
What Ketal had said was something only the truly powerful could do: envelop an area within their detection range, observe, and control everything happening within it.
It was something naturally done upon reaching a certain level.
The problem was that the distance between Ketal and the Tower Master was at least 1 km.
A barbarian, not using mana, could detect that far?
‘Is that possible without being a high elf?’
“…Was he really watching us?”
Elene’s face was filled with shock.
As she looked at her, Ketal spoke.
“He’s probably connected to you two.”
Elene and Aaron flinched.
They opened their mouths as if to explain but then closed them again.
Eventually, Elene lowered her head, seemingly giving up.
“…You’ve noticed.”
“Did you really think you could fool me? It was obvious to anyone.”
Departing at night as if to avoid being seen.
Taking a detour off the main road.
It was easy to tell that these actions were to avoid meeting people.
Elene was startled by Ketal’s words.
“Really?”
“Yes. That’s why Rosa warned me too. Said it was suspicious.”
“Huh?”
Elene was clearly flustered, as she hadn’t expected this.
Ketal shrugged his shoulders.
“Don’t worry about it. I accepted the request knowing everything.”
“…Thank you.”
“But since we’re now being directly pursued, I need to hear the details.”
“Yes.”
Elene nodded.
“I’ll tell you everything.”
“Lady Elene.”
“Aaron, he came with us because he trusts us.”
Aaron tried to dissuade Elene, but she remained resolute.
Aaron also hesitated for a moment before stepping back in silence.
“Let’s postpone that for now. There’s something more pressing we need to address first.”
Ketal’s gaze turned to the Tower Master.
Elene and Aaron followed suit.
The stares were intense.
‘This isn’t the meeting I calculated.’
Originally, he planned to approach them first, intending to take control of the conversation.
He thought he could deceive them by pretending to be a traveler.
But now, this felt more like a hostage situation.
His calculations had gone awry.
Still, it wasn’t all bad.
He had achieved his primary goal of approaching Ketal, which meant half the plan was successful.
“Your name?”
“Patrick.”
“Alright, Patrick. You were following us. I assume it’s because of Elene and Aaron?”
“No. It’s not.”
“Really?”
Neither Ketal, Elene, nor Aaron believed him.
And they weren’t wrong to think so.
The circumstances clearly suggested that someone was after Elene.
But the Tower Master felt wronged because it genuinely wasn’t the case.
To him, Elene and Aaron were just worthless followers trailing behind Ketal.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Ketal turned his gaze to Elene.
“What do you want to do? We could hand him over to the soldiers of the Kingdom of Denian, or kill him here.”
‘I don’t want that.’
The current situation wasn’t truly dangerous for the Tower Master.
After all, this body was just a puppet.
Even if it was torn to pieces, it wouldn’t affect him.
However, if that happened, he wouldn’t be able to achieve his goal of observing Ketal.
‘…I have no choice.’
Although it was different from his original plan, given the circumstances, there was no other way.
The Tower Master spoke up.
“I admire you, Sir Ketal!”
“Hmm?”
Ketal looked at the Tower Master in surprise.
“…Me?”
“Yes.”
The Tower Master quickly continued speaking.
Ketal had accomplished many feats as a mercenary in the territory.
He handled all sorts of requests, from mundane tasks to dungeon conquests, solving numerous problems.
While residing in the territory, he was considerate and showed kindness to others.
When people began to think he wasn’t so bad after all, Ketal helped an inquisitor of the Sun God to defeat a demon.
As a result, a considerable number of young people started to trust and follow him.
It wasn’t unusual.
Throughout history, many men worshipped strength.
A C-rank mercenary was a high grade not commonly seen in the Barkan territory, and Ketal became a role model for young adventurers.
Patrick was one of those young men.
However, among them, Patrick’s admiration was so strong that he almost worshipped Ketal.
When Ketal left for a journey, Patrick left his hometown to follow him.
This was the persona the Tower Master had crafted for Patrick.
He had prepared this in case things went poorly.
Ketal tilted his head.
“That’s strange. I don’t recall ever seeing your face.”
“Well, I was afraid to go outside…”
Ketal realized.
“A shut-in.”
“What?”
“Nothing. So, you followed me?”
“Yes, yes. I thought following you might change me.”
The Tower Master, one of the greatest magicians in the world, the head of a powerful tower, a figure even the Emperor couldn’t treat lightly, was humbling himself by claiming to admire a barbarian.
Any mage who knew the Tower Master’s true identity would find this sight unbelievable.
“I see.”
Ketal looked at the Tower Master thoughtfully.
“Then let’s confirm a few things.”
“Yes.”
The Tower Master nodded.
Ketal asked Patrick about various things.
What he did in the territory, and what events had occurred there.
Patrick was slightly taken aback.
Ketal’s questions were extremely sharp.
They pertained to trivial matters that only someone who actually lived in the territory could know, not just surface-level rumors.
If Patrick were an ordinary pursuer, he would have failed to answer and had his neck broken.
But Patrick answered everything.
He knew details that only someone living in the territory would know because he had been observing since Cain’s visit, allowing him to match the story perfectly.
“Interesting.”
Only then did Ketal’s face relax.
He smiled and released his grip on Patrick.
“Admiration, huh? Thanks. But still, following me on this journey is quite a dangerous choice.”
“It’s fine. Challenges always come with risks.”
“Right. That’s correct!”
Ketal grinned widely.
Aaron, who had been watching their conversation, spoke up.
“Isn’t it possible he’s lying?”
“Probably not. Even if he were, he wouldn’t be lying about being from the territory. There were too many details he knew that one couldn’t gather just from rumors.”
Patrick knew all about the small tasks Ketal had done in the territory, even things that happened long before Elene and Aaron arrived.
“Unless your pursuer had been living in the territory even before you arrived, which seems unlikely.”
“That’s true.”
Aaron agreed.
Ketal stroked his chin.
“But I can’t just let him go.”
Patrick’s words made sense, but there was no concrete evidence.
After a moment of contemplation, Ketal struck his palm with his fist as if he had an idea.
“Alright, this will do. Wait a moment.”
Ketal rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a rope.
* * *
They continued their journey, but now with one additional person.
Patrick was following them, tied up with the rope.
‘This is the first time I’ve been in such a situation.’
Patrick likely was from the territory and not following Elene and Aaron.
However, they couldn’t be certain, so they couldn’t let him go.
Thus, Ketal decided to take him along tied up.
Elene and Aaron looked at Patrick, tied up and walking, with mixed feelings.
Ketal spoke apologetically.
“Forgive my rudeness.”
“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind.”
Patrick shook his head.
It wasn’t a lie.
‘Although this is a wretched situation.’
Despite the circumstances, he achieved his goal of observing Ketal up close.
He would learn more about what kind of person Ketal was.
Being dragged around wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t too bad either.
Patrick quietly watched Ketal.
Smart.
Not just in terms of knowledge but in quick thinking.
He could grasp the essence of things and understand the core of situations.
And most importantly, he was strong.
‘Cain, now I understand why you didn’t know.’
He closed the distance in an instant, moving at a speed beyond comprehension.
And he broke through his magic with sheer physical strength.
‘Fast and strong.’
Patrick wasn’t in his perfect state.
He was a lich.
He had come here using the body of a homunculus rather than his true form.
Essentially, it felt like he was controlling a puppet.
Instead of using the nearly infinite mana of his true form, he had to rely on the tiny amount of mana stored in the puppet.
The speed at which he could cast spells was sluggish compared to his original self.
More importantly, a wizard prepares and anticipates.
In a sudden battle, he couldn’t exert his full strength.
Even considering these limitations, the tower master was strong.
He could easily handle most superhuman beings.
This meant that Ketal, who had subdued him, was beyond superhuman.
‘A hero class?’
He couldn’t definitively say that.
Even among superhuman levels, there were significant differences.
Ketal had only shown his physical strength.
Pure physical power alone couldn’t withstand the world-shaking feats of heroes.
But Ketal likely hadn’t shown everything yet either.
The tower master’s mind raced quickly.
As they continued further, Elene finally approached Ketal with a determined look.
“Ketal, I have something to tell you.”
“You’re finally going to tell me?”
“…I’m really sorry for keeping it from you.”
“I understand. You couldn’t be sure if you could trust me.”
And Ketal had built that trust.
He felt quite satisfied.
Finally, the distrustful employer was ready to trust the mercenary and reveal her secret.
“…Originally, I didn’t intend to tell you. We’ve had no problems so far, and no one was pursuing us. We hired you as a guide and to deal with bandits and the like.”
Elene paused for a moment before continuing.
“…If you find that you can no longer carry out the request after hearing everything, please let us know. I’m sorry.”
As she was about to speak, Ketal raised his hand.
Elene became frightened.
Was she too shameless?
Was he angry because she had deceived him?
But Ketal shook his head.
“Unwanted guests have arrived.”
Ketal looked straight ahead.
The sound of bushes being parted could be heard.
“They must be here because of you.”