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#160. Frozen Things (4)
─Be careful of Binjin.
The moment she said those words, two emotions coexisted in Ayla’s bowl.
Gratitude towards me.
Fear of poverty.
…was it some kind of warning?
“Ray, what did your sister say?”
“He said you were pretty.”
“Ah…! Really?”
Ray, who answered the question from the side without thinking, suddenly realized one thing.
“But Veronica, we weren’t a family, so was it okay for us to eat at a family restaurant?”
Veronica looked at me as if to say, “What kind of strange question is this?”
But soon he realized that the other person was Ray and answered kindly.
“I know that the main target is families. But I don’t think they’d necessarily kick out people who can afford to pay for a meal… Also, you don’t have to be related by blood to be called family.”
Veronica pointed to the recruitment flyer posted at the restaurant’s entrance.
[We are looking for someone to join the Quant Restaurant family. Even those who are lacking can learn and grow.]
[One day off per year. 98 hours per week. Salary negotiable. 70% of monthly salary paid during 12-month probationary period.]
“Look, there’s a word for family here too?”
“That’s right.”
“When we become close and get along well, we say we are like family.”
Ray thought for a moment and then asked.
“Then Veronica and I are family too?”
“huh…?”
“We’re much closer than usual.”
“That’s… not family.”
If you’re family, you can’t stay together.
“Then you’re not as close as family?”
“That’s not it… .”
If you and I aren’t intimate, who will be?
“Then you’re family?”
“That’s not it… .”
“Not family?”
“that….”
“Are you family?”
“… … .”
Veronica realized that she was in a terrible trap.
“Ah! It’s time to feed Nero! Now, this is the magic circle modification formula I asked for yesterday! I’ll go! Bye!”
Veronica, who had checked his empty wrist, handed him a note and ran away.
“… … .”
Ray, who was watching Veronica turn into a dot in an instant, also started walking towards his next destination.
I had to stop by Amon’s office and find Ignis’s black card, which had been registered to its new owner.
Next, we had to infiltrate the tower and investigate while Binjin was teaching.
Knock—knock—knock—
Ray, who was passing by on the street, suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of suffocation.
‘Did you eat too much meat?’
I thought about it for a while, but I concluded that it wasn’t that.
In order to always maintain optimal condition, I strictly adhered to the amount of food I ate.
This is more of a physical discomfort than… .
‘The stuffiness of the heart.’
Why?
Knock—knock—knock—
Ray, who had been walking briskly, had to walk a few streets before he could find what appeared to be the cause.
“I’m telling you to take care of yourself.”
“Don’t worry about others, worry about yourself.”
“You have to love yourself before you can love others.”
That’s because the words he said at the restaurant didn’t seem to be directed solely at Ayla.
“… … .”
The boy’s steps slowed and stopped.
‘But still, for someone like me… .’
As for me.
In my case… .
What about me?
“… … .”
Knock—knock—knock—
The pace quickened again and the feeling of suffocation grew like a balloon.
But the balloon never seemed to burst, which only made my heart swell.
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Could it be the influence?
‘Am I annoyed right now?’
An unknown emotion welled up in me.
It felt similar to how I felt when the story of the stone tablet was cut off, but I couldn’t be entirely sure.
The boy still lacked the experience and knowledge to accurately diagnose his own emotional state.
However, if this unpleasant feeling right now is actually annoyance… .
‘I wish there was a place to let it out.’
At almost the same moment, Ray could sense a few figures following him in the distance.
‘You’re lucky.’
Ray immediately turned around and lured the sounds deeper into the alley.
As we reached a dead end, the opposing side appeared, blocking the entrance.
“Are you an idiot? Why don’t you find a place for me?”
“No, I came here on purpose. I’m confident in my skills.”
“Anyway, it doesn’t change the fact that that kid died today.”
A total of 4 characters appeared.
All of Binjin’s students in Class A.
They were the type of people who harbored a deep ill will and an inferiority complex after losing the Managu game.
The inferiority complex and malice were even greater than yesterday.
One of them raised his hand, stopped his colleagues from talking, and stepped forward.
“Our greenhouse flower, the handsome Hayler of the Tower. Did you sleep well last night?”
Tenon was ranked first in both theory and practice in Class A.
“Thank you so much for the class yesterday. I learned a lot. But I also had doubts. I wondered if Mr. Hayler would be able to excel in a real fight with intense movements. That’s why I’m taking the trouble to ask you to spar with me─.”
“Your tongue is ticklish.”
Ray cut him off.
“If you’re going to attack, then attack quickly. If you keep whining, I’ll tear your tongue out.”
A brief silence fell on the alley at Ray’s unexpected and radical remark.
Soon, Tennant’s true colors were revealed, his face distorted without mercy.
“You idiot kid, you don’t understand the situation because you’re being polite. Hey, you little idiot. Do you still think this is the mansion where the master lives? Do you still think you’re our superior?”
A fireball fired by Tennant suddenly rushed towards Ray.
Hurrah!
However, Ray reacted immediately and was eaten by a larger fireball, disappearing into thin air together.
Huruk! Huruk!
After that, Tennant fired fireballs with all his might, but the result was the same.
It was a moment that clearly revealed whose skill was superior.
This is a little bit of this.
Tenon, who had been chewing on this, took the ring out of his bosom and put it on as he continued to speak.
“Kuuuuu…! Do you know what this is? It’s an artifact that can paralyze an opponent’s ring for a certain period of time…! What if you’re 2nd circle higher than us! What are you going to do if I tell you that I’ll make it so you can’t use all of your mana!”
The other three, who had been slightly flustered at the sight of Tenon being pushed, only then began to feel confident.
“Yes. No matter how great your magical skills are, if you can’t use mana, it’s useless.”
“Tenan, but I don’t think we need to explain too much to that kid. Just kill him right away…”
Tenon, whose breathing had calmed down a little, shook his head with a faint smile.
“No. I want that guy to know what he’s been through and die. Then he’ll writhe in despair, knowing that no matter what he does, he can’t win. Right─”
The disciples who noticed this accepted the words with the same smile.
“─Just like we experienced yesterday.”
“─Just like we experienced yesterday.”
They gave Tennant goosebumps.
They had also learned a lot of magic from their master, but that guy was on a whole other level when it came to darkness.
It’s like the thick, stale sewage from a sewer that’s been suppressed and suppressed until it’s about to back up.
I didn’t know that it might be because of my record of being a perennial underachiever for 10 years.
“Hey, you little flower squirrel.”
Tenon, with the momentum of his colleagues behind him, continued speaking while looking at Ray.
“I didn’t originally intend to do this, but after thinking about it while I was sleeping last night, I realized that it couldn’t be done. I used to be superior, but because of you, I became inferior. But there is a way to become superior again. Do you know what it is?”
The corners of the lips go up in an instant.
“Just kill the one who is superior to me.”
Tennant continued talking, chuckling at Ray’s unresponsive appearance, perhaps thinking he was frozen in fear.
“Even if you were a precious child, it wouldn’t be a big deal to just bury it without a sound. For people from the streets like us, there’s a way. You think I can look forward to it? So, if I aim this ring at you like this and concentrate my mind… If I concentrate… If I concentrate…?”
As he spoke, Tennant felt something strange.
The ring was not visible before my eyes.
No, the hand itself was not visible.
Following the dripping blood along the cut surface of his wrist, he found his own hand.
‘What the…? Why is my hand there…?’
For a moment, my stomach lurched.
My mind was spinning with cold sweat.
‘Ah, I see. Those cleanly cut sections are clearly cut by the blade of the wind… .’
What awakened Tennant’s sense of reality─
“Kill him! Kill him!”
“Oh, when on earth did you use magic!”
“That fu*king bastard cut off Tennant’s hand! That crazy bastard!”
─It was a cry dedicated to the evil of his comrades.
“Ah …
Tennant, in excruciating pain, collapsed, holding his severed wrist.
Woof!
Woohoo!
The remaining three immediately released the mana they had stored up out of their bodies and manifested magic.
but.
“What the…! The magic isn’t working…!”
“Oh, the elements don’t combine…?”
No magic was manifested due to Ray’s elemental interference.
And the next moment.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Boohoo! Boom! Boohoo!
“Profit! Profit!”
“My body…! It’s not listening to me…!”
“Weakness magic! It’s a weakening magic, this!”
The weakening element that settled like dust all over their bodies broke down their bodies.
“Weakening magic! What is destruction magic!”
“I don’t know that!”
“You idiot! Then why are you talking?”
Desperately straining my body and resisting the feeling of weakness─
dump!
─I tried to do that, but before I could, I completely flattened myself on the floor and couldn’t even raise my head.
The situation was resolved in an instant.
Ray thought as he looked at his enemies, who were kissing the floor and groaning.
‘No matter how you look at it, Ayla is better.’
It was a 2-circle, and above all, the elemental bond was so strong that it could not be touched.
Ray walked towards Tennen, who was on his knees muttering something unintelligible to himself.
As I lifted my hand from the pool of blood, Tenon’s head, which had been bowed down until then, suddenly rose.
“My hand…! My ring…!”
“The hand is yours. But the ring doesn’t seem to have been yours originally.”
“Give me…! My hand…! My, my ring…!”
“It looks exactly like the ring that Binjin always wears, but I don’t think it’s that one.”
“Give it back…! My hand…! Give it back…!”
“Are there multiple quantities? I don’t think Binjin gave them to you as a gift. How did you get them?”
“Give it back…! Please give it back…!”
Tennant didn’t answer the question, just flailing his arms toward Ray’s raised hand.
His half-rolled eyes and cold sweat covering his body were proof that he was not of sound mind due to extreme pain.
Ray used healing magic.
Woof!
The bleeding has stopped, the pain has eased, and he is able to answer some questions.
But as soon as Tenon’s mind returned to focus, the words he spat out were.
“Because of you!
It was a backflow of evil talk.
It’s like something welling up from deep inside my heart, and I can’t hold it back any longer, and it’s pouring out.
“You fu*king punk…! You, you’re the reason…! It’s all your fault…! If only you hadn’t shown up in front of us…! Yeah, if only you hadn’t provoked us with those lessons…! Ugh, if only you hadn’t made us miserable…!”
Tennant continued to curse persistently, laughing grotesquely while trembling in pain.
“Are you, are you satisfied? Th, is this the case? You murderous bastard…! You, selfish bastard…! You, a guy like you who was born with everything you need, don’t you know…! Uh, how much people like us, uh, have to struggle to live…!”
Ray watched Tennen’s outburst with calm eyes.
well.
I don’t think I was born with that much.
Rather, from the boy’s point of view, he felt that there was a vast and essential asset that he alone had not inherited.
It was a feeling.
The boy believed that emotions were the driving force that allowed people to move forward endlessly.
Depending on how you use your emotions and how well you handle them, you can gain enormous life energy.
Even if you just look at class A, there were people who transformed their feelings of inferiority into positive competitiveness and a sense of challenge.
“Because of you!”
That’s why Tennant’s words… sounded like nothing more than an excuse and justification to the boy.
“You little brat who was born with it all…! Guys like you will never understand us…!”
Rather, I felt a little angry when he said he had the most important thing when he didn’t.
Ray opened his mouth.
“so.”
Words I learned from the embodiment of narcissism.
“whatever.”
Spit it out.
After hearing Ray’s words, Tennant was stunned for a few seconds before he fell forward into a pool of blood and fainted.
Kuung─!
Ray, who had been looking down at Tennant for a moment, retrieved the ring from the severed hand he was holding.
‘A tool that can neutralize rings.’
There was no great tremor in Tenon’s emotions when he said those words.
It was the truth.
Of course, it is true under Tenon’s perception… but seeing as Binjin has the same item, it is judged that it is highly likely to be true.
‘I think you’re planning on using this on me the day of the procedure.’
Exploitation magic is powerful, but has the limitation that the victim must remain entirely within the magic circle.
Although there is a lure called ‘treatment’, something unexpected can happen on the same day.
Considering Binjin’s personality, it was right to think that there would be an arrangement.
‘I don’t know how many arrangements there are, but I think it’s safe to say that this is one of them.’
One of the areas that I was wary of and cautious about has been resolved.
Ray raised his head and looked at the students of Class A, including Tenon.
“… … .”
Although it was not what we expected, the result was quite beneficial.
The only thing left to do now is to test the ring’s functionality and squeeze out the ripe pulp of information that has fallen here to give a clearer picture of the situation.
Ray, who was thinking like that, spoke towards the outside of the alley.
“Run away. If I catch you, I’ll cut off your ankles so you can’t go any further.”
I heard someone’s legs give out and they fall to the ground.