26 — Chapter 26

Four days had passed since the victory feast began. Alice and I were steadily making preparations for our departure. The people of the settlement had told us we were welcome to stay as long as we liked, but we couldn’t take them up on it forever. Now that the dragon was subjugated, I wanted to start moving toward my objective.

Just then, there was a knock on the door of our rented house. When Alice opened it, a dwarf walked in—one of the brave warriors who had participated in the dragon fight. He seemed to be in a hurry.

“What’s wrong? Did someone catch you cheating on your wife?”

“No. Actually, we found a human collapsed outside the settlement. We’d like Lady Alice, who can use recovery magic, to check their condition. We aren’t very familiar with human physiology. It’s likely just exhaustion and hunger, but…”

Collapsing in a forest like this? I wondered if it was a stranded traveler. If someone knew the terrain, they shouldn’t have wandered in so carelessly. This was a danger zone infested with powerful monsters. Unless you were prepared like us, you wouldn’t even dream of passing through. There was no reason to enter unless you were looking for a shortcut.

Was this person in such a hurry that they took the risk? It piqued my interest.

“Jack, what should we do?” Alice asked. She seemed indifferent about whether or not to check on them.

“We might as well go. I want to see the face of this reckless challenger.”

“Very well. Let’s go help them.”

I started to head out once we’d decided, but I suddenly paused. I had no basis for it, but I had a bad feeling. These flashes of intuition were nothing to sneeze at; they had saved my life in the past.

“…I’ll take this, just in case.”

I picked up a rifle—a sawed-off type. It sacrificed range for better maneuverability. Its shape was almost like a large handgun, making it perfect for carrying around.

“Master Jack, that’s…”

“Just a precaution. The person is an outsider with an unknown background, right? There’s always a chance they’ll suddenly go wild.”

I rattled off a formal excuse to the bewildered dwarf. Since it was logical enough, he didn’t offer any further rebuttal.

We followed the dwarf to the Elder’s house. Apparently, the person had been carried there. When we arrived in front of a room near the entrance, the dwarf whispered to us.

“From here on, please refrain from any violence if possible…”

“Yeah, leave it to me. I’m just here to check the condition of our collapsed friend. I didn’t come for a fight.”

“R-right, of course.”

The guide dwarf opened the door, looking somewhat anxious. I entered with Alice and scanned the room. Inside the simple space was a wooden bed where a single human lay sleeping.

He was a young man with brown hair. He had shallow features and a somewhat frivolous look on his face. He was dressed in a checkered shirt and jeans.

I recognized that face. He was one of the Japanese men summoned alongside me. There was no way I could forget someone who was there during that mockery. I immediately aimed my rifle at the man’s forehead.

“Jack…?”

“Bingo. This is exactly the guy I’ve been looking for.”

“I see. So this person is also a Summoned Hero,” Alice said, nodding as she understood the situation. She didn’t interject further; she clearly had no intention of stopping me.

“M-Master Jack! I thought you said no violence!”

“Sorry. It’s a bit complicated. Forgive me.”

While keeping the dwarf at bay as he tried to stop me, my smirk widened. To think I’d reunite with one of them here. What a marvelous coincidence. Fate seemed to be on my side. At any rate, that made two of them. Things were off to a good start. I’d keep this momentum going and slaughter every last one of the remaining summoners.

I put my finger on the trigger. At that moment, the man’s eyes snapped open. He stared at me with an expression of pure shock.

“Wha—!? You, you’re…!”

“—Tch.”

The man tried to sit up. Ignoring him, I fired the rifle.

In the next instant, my field of vision flipped. Above me was the blue sky; below me was the dwarven settlement. Before I knew it, I was suspended in mid-air.

“Wha…?”

Before I could even voice my confusion, my body began to fall. I felt a coarse sensation around my neck. When I reached up, I found a rough rope coiled around it. I saw the tied end stretching upward.

At this rate, I was going to be hanged. Understanding this instantly, I hooked my fingers into the rope and tore it apart.

I managed to do it easily, thanks to my high-level corrections.

Adjusting my posture mid-air, I checked where I was going to land. A single house stood directly in my path, rapidly looming larger. I curled my body into a ball and slammed into the roof.

I smashed through the ceiling and the floor in quick succession, enduring a series of heavy impacts. When I finally came to, I was buried under a pile of rubble. I crawled out from the debris and assessed the situation. It seemed I had plummeted straight through the interior of the building all the way to the first floor.

Coughing from the dust, I patted the dirt off my clothes.

“Damn it, what the hell just happened…?”

I spat out a curse, scowling. My body didn’t have any major injuries. As expected of high-level corrections. If I had done the same thing back in my original world, I definitely would have been critically wounded. I probably would have had wooden splinters sticking out of me everywhere.

However, I noticed a strange detail: my clothes were torn in an odd way. It didn’t feel like it happened just from the fall. My chest area was slashed open, and I could confirm what looked like bullet holes. When I turned the fabric over, I found bullets flattened into mushroom shapes stuck to the inside.

Despite that, my body was perfectly fine. There were only a few minor grazes, and even those were already fading and disappearing. The regeneration ability from my new skill was likely at work.

“He got me,” I sighed, resting my hands on my hips.

It was a truly incomprehensible phenomenon. Ten to one, it was that Japanese guy’s doing. He had tried to kill me. Well, I suppose it was self-defense since I tried to shoot him first. Regardless, it was clear I’d been attacked with lethal intent. If I hadn’t resisted, I’d be a hanging corpse by now.

Being played so unilaterally almost made me feel more impressed than angry.

“Jack!”

While I was standing there, Alice and several dwarves came rushing over. Everyone looked pale.

“Master Jack! What on earth happened!?”

“I’d like to know that myself. One moment I’m there, the next I’m skydiving. What did you see?”

When I asked with a wry smile, Alice and the dwarven witnesses gave their accounts. According to them, both I and that Japanese man had vanished at the same time. While they were reeling from the unexpected event, they heard the sound of something collapsing outside. They gathered the other dwarves and ran to the scene, leading to the current moment.

Listening to the story, I grasped the situation. They seemed just as confused as I was by the sudden turn of events. Well, I had the gist of the flow now; I could fill in the rest with deduction.

Since the man had vanished too, he must have already fled. He had instantly moved me to a different location—it wasn’t surprising that he could do something like that. I suspect the man tried and failed to kill me [initially]. The unnatural damage to my clothes was undoubtedly the mark of some kind of attack he unleashed. If I assume he tried to finish me off with a high-altitude hanging after realizing he couldn’t wound me due to our difference in Status, the pieces fit together.

I definitely have to kill that guy. There’s no way I can stay quiet after being made a fool of like this. I never had a shred of intention to let him go in the first place.

I questioned the dwarves. “Do you have any idea where that man might be heading?”

“…Come to think of it, while we were carrying him to the settlement, he asked about the way to the Independent State of Eurea. He also said he didn’t want his identity questioned, so it seemed like he had his reasons…”

“Eurea, huh? That works out perfectly.”

I smirked after obtaining such vital information. The Independent State of Eurea was our destination anyway. He likely intended to disappear there.

My course was set. I’d go after him right now. And then, I’d kill him.

That man probably thinks I’m dead. If he knew he’d failed to finish me, he’d surely have come back immediately to try again using the same trick. Since he didn’t, he’s convinced he killed me. Well, it doesn’t really matter if my deduction is wrong. The fact remains that I’m alive.

That meant there was only one thing to do.

“I’ll chase him all the way to Eurea and blow him to smithereens.”

“You’re going to chase him?”

“Yeah. I’m going to send him to the other world using an extra-special method.”

I replied with a fearless grin. Peaceful days in the settlement are nice, but it seems a blood-soaked life suits my nature better after all. I swore my next objective deep within my heart.