Chapter 97

A violent tremor rocked the interior of the car. Accompanied by a light sensation of weightlessness, my field of vision tilted at an angle. I stomped on the brakes reflexively, but the Golem Car lost control and plowed into a building. It smashed through several walls and pulverized the indoor furniture before finally coming to a halt.

Rubbing my forehead where it had slammed against the steering wheel, I slowly looked up.

“Is everyone alright?”

“…Yes, I’m fine.”

“I am perfectly unharmed as well.”

Responses came back from Alice and Nerea. Fortunately, the two of them only had minor injuries. They might have some bruising, but that level of damage could be healed instantly with magic. As for Nerea, she was a clone, so it wouldn’t have mattered even if she’d died.

“The next update needs airbags. It’s a mandatory requirement.”

I stepped out of the Golem Car with my shotgun in one hand. The swirling dust and debris were blended with black smoke. It was a good thing I hadn’t added any tear gas effects to the mix. I waved the smoke away with my hand and let out a light cough.

“Hmm?”

I only noticed it now, but my head and chest were throbbing with a sharp, tightening pain. I recognized this sensation. It was the warning sign for a breach of contract. That head-on collision must have been the cause. I hadn’t intended to kill Mihana, but apparently, in terms of judgment, that was a yellow card. What a royal pain.

I stepped over the scattered rubble and out onto the main street. Mihana’s vehicle had crashed into the building on the opposite side. It was almost completely destroyed—nothing more than a heap of scrap metal. Since her vehicle didn’t have armor like the Golem Car, it seemed the impact damage was severe.

I approached while keeping the shotgun trained on her.

“…I see.”

Mihana was slumped over in the driver’s seat. She was bleeding from the head and was pinned by the car body, which had been deformed by the collision. Several of her bones were likely broken. I poked Mihana’s cheek with the muzzle of the gun. There was no reaction. It didn’t seem like she was faking unconsciousness.

I kicked the car body to warp the metal further and dragged Mihana out through the gap I’d created. I hoisted her onto my shoulder and returned to the Golem Car. Opening the door, I tossed Mihana into the back seat and wrapped a cloth over her eyes as a blindfold. For good measure, I popped her joints and tied her up with rope.

As a finishing touch, I rummaged through my supplies and pulled out a syringe. I injected the contents into Mihana’s back. This was an anesthetic concoction Alice had prepared. It would keep her asleep for a while and render her unable to move her body. I didn’t want her pulling any strange tricks the moment she woke up.

Having finished treating Mihana, I climbed into the driver’s seat. I backed out onto the main street and drove off, ignoring the onlookers watching from a distance. Alice, sitting next to me, gave a small, firm pump of her fist.

“We finally did it.”

“Yeah, it’s great.”

I exchanged a high-five with Alice. In the back seat, Nerea also looked delighted. This was undeniably a victory for our combination. It was a result we’d seized because everyone had played their part.

“By the way, Lord Jack. Ultimately, what kind of ability did this girl possess?”

As the atmosphere began to settle, Nerea asked as if suddenly remembering. Come to think of it, I hadn’t explained it to her. It wasn’t something I was intentionally hiding. This was as good an opportunity as any, so I decided to fill her in.

While driving through the city at a safe pace, I answered her question.

“This is just a deduction, but it’s likely Future Sight—or an ability evolved from it.”

“Future Sight, you say…?”

“Yeah. Quite the outrageous power, wouldn’t you agree?”

I snorted with a laugh. If we assumed Mihana’s skill was Future Sight, her actions up until now made sense. First, there was that initial duel. Mihana foresaw exactly what attacks I would use and that she would be killed. To avoid that fate, she took the optimal path of action.

Since merely seeing the future isn’t enough, she must also have the power to manipulate the success rates of her actions. I’d witnessed her move in ways that should have been impossible with her level of technique. My own [Bomb Manufacturing EX++] is also a type of probability manipulation. It’s a skill that guarantees the successful creation of a bomb that should otherwise fail. It wouldn’t be strange if other summoned individuals had similar abilities. That was the true identity of her transcendent evasion.

The flaw in Mihana’s ability became clear during our exchange in the Academy Principal’s office. Specifically, the fact that I was able to strike and kick her without any trouble.

Judging by her personality, she would have dodged first if it were possible.

If her skill were active, I wouldn’t have been able to land a hit, just like during the duel. Back then, Mihana was complacent. She had gotten carried away, mistakenly believing that I—bound by a contract—couldn’t attack her. In other words, she hadn’t activated her ability. This confirmed that Mihana’s skill isn’t a passive, always-on type.

I became nearly certain of the skill’s effects and noticed its subtle constraints when I attempted to snipe her. Previously, when I planted a tear gas bomb at the inn, Mihana noticed it just before entering. From that position, it should have been impossible to discover the planted bomb. The fact that she fled regardless meant she must have foreseen a future where she was suffering from the gas.

Even with the anesthetic sniper round, she retreated indoors because she knew a future where she would be shot. In both cases, she sensed the danger approximately one minute before it happened. Given the situation, Mihana’s vigilance was high, and she was utilizing her skill to its full extent rather than conserving it. The fact that she noticed only a minute in advance meant that her future sight has a limit. There might be exceptions, but knowing the standard specifications is enough.

Furthermore, during our duel, Mihana performed a series of instantaneous evasions. It’s safe to interpret that she can freely foresee events within a one-minute window and avoid them through optimal movement. It’s a terrifying ability when you think about it.

Additionally, based on the fact that she didn’t realize my position during the sniping attempt, the range of her foresight seems narrow. She likely only grasps what is about to happen to her own person. In other words, even if she can perceive the future, she isn’t perfectly omniscient or omnipotent. That’s why she couldn’t see through the surveillance by Nerea’s clones this time. Simply watching from afar doesn’t interfere with Mihana herself, so she can’t sense it and has no way to prevent it.

Moreover, this car chase exposed a further weakness: her future sight is dependent on her vision. To be more precise, Mihana views her future self objectively. This was evident from how she could pinpoint and evade attacks even from her blind spots. As for the visual dependence, the clearest evidence was how she was misled by Nerea’s sorcery and guided right to us. If she doesn’t realize she’s under a spell, a discrepancy arises between the vision she sees through her foresight and the actual reality. That’s likely why she drove so recklessly; the confusion probably caused the accuracy of her foresight to plummet.

I exploited that weakness with the final smoke-type bomb. Once her ability to foresee normally was compromised, I used the black smoke to completely blind her. She charged forward in that half-wrecked vehicle, and I’m sure the cabin was flooded with smoke. Consequently, accurate foresight became even more difficult. Inside that thick black smoke, she wouldn’t know what to do because she couldn’t “see” the information she needed. Even if she foresaw the future where she collided with the Golem Car, she had no way to handle it in that state. By the time she escaped the smoke, she was destined to plow into a building and lose consciousness.

Even if her foresight hadn’t been linked to her vision, I had intended to corner her through other means. It wouldn’t have changed the grand scheme of things. This time, my highest-probability hypothesis just happened to be dead on.

To summarize, Mihana’s ability is “to see up to one minute into the future and avoid danger through optimal action.” Since I haven’t heard it from her own mouth, it’s just a hypothesis, but the gist of it is likely correct. Because my deduction was right, the countermeasures succeeded, and I was able to capture her.

Still, following Absolute Reflection and Time Stop, this is another absurd ability. It makes sense why these “Otherworlders” are so highly valued. If I hadn’t retaliated, the Empire that succeeded in the Hero Summoning would have secured a massive military force. If the surrounding nations knew, they might breathe a sigh of relief.

As I was reminiscing about the Imperial Capital that I’d erased with an explosion, Nerea tapped my shoulder reservedly.

“Um, Lord Jack.”

“What is it?”

“This girl was carrying an item like this.”

What Nerea showed me was a small crystal. It was densely engraved with magical formulas. Apparently, it belonged to Mihana. Alice, observing the crystal with a keen eye, offered her insight.

“It’s a magic tool for long-distance communication. It can only talk to its paired crystal, but it’s difficult for the conversation to be intercepted. It activates by channeling mana into it.”

“Activate it right now,” I ordered immediately.

If Mihana was carrying a makeshift communicator, the person on the other end was limited. It would be the very person I wanted to talk to. Alice placed her hand on the crystal and flowed her mana into it. The internal formulas glowed, and the entire crystal took on a faint light. After waiting a few seconds, a man’s voice came through.

『The communication cut out suddenly—are you safe? Did you manage to escape from Jack Aaron and the others?』

“…”

『Hey, what’s wrong? Answer me.』

“…Haha.”

I intended to stay silent, but the worried voice made me chuckle. From the perspective of someone who knew the current reality, his words were farcical.

『N-no… it can’t be… you!』

The voice from the crystal wavered. He had finally realized who he was talking to. I flashed my widest grin.

“Hello, my dear Sage. I’ve got a bit of a story for you—care to listen?”