“...Cough.”
The blood flowing from the captain's mouth stained his clean shirt.
It was the very shirt his wife had ironed herself this morning, telling him to have a safe first flight.
‘I'm going to get scolded when I get home.’
No, the real question was whether he'd even make it back.
Barely holding onto his fading consciousness, he surveyed his surroundings.
The first officer had already lost consciousness, and five corpses lay piled around him.
The two of them had resisted the sudden intrusion as best they could, but they had simply been too badly outnumbered.
“How's the situation?”
“They're still in a standoff with the soldiers out in the corridor.”
“Tch.”
The conversation of the enemies occupying the cockpit buzzed in his ears.
Grab!
An intruder seized the captain by the hair and growled in a low voice.
“From now on, you follow my orders. Understood?”
“Ghk... I think I hear... a dog barking somewhere.”
Bam!
“Urgh!”
The intruder slammed the captain's face into the control panel before pulling a dagger from inside his clothes.
The blade's tip was pressed against the unconscious first officer's neck.
“Do I look like I'm joking? If you don't do as I say, I'll kill him.”
If they'd threatened him with his own life instead, he'd have at least spat in their faces.
The captain wore a conflicted expression before reluctantly clenching his teeth.
“Good. That's more like it.”
“...What exactly do you want?”
“I won't permit questions.”
Seeing the intruder's stubborn expression, the captain slowly turned his head.
Then his gaze stopped on the man's fingertips.
One of his fingers bore a black tattoo.
It was the mark of the Black Finger, the group that had recently become active throughout the Empire.
‘These bastards... don't tell me they're the demon race's...!’
It felt as though the blood in his entire body had turned cold.
If that was true, then the purpose of this terrorist attack definitely wasn't something as simple as money.
The man, watching the captain's tense expression, spoke.
“From this moment on, head for the capital at maximum speed.”
“...You mean the airport in the capital?”
“I'll tell you when we get closer.”
No doubt about it.
Their goal was most likely to use the airship itself to bombard the capital.
Without realizing it, the captain looked out the window, conflicted.
‘If I move the lever now, I can still crash us into the plains.’
Of course, a crash like that would leave no survivors.
Not himself, not these intruders, and not the passengers in the cabin.
Even so, the captain hesitated.
‘If this airship crashes into a building in the middle of the city...’
The number of casualties would obviously multiply several times over.
The intruder didn't wait for him to make up his mind.
Sliiick.
The tip of the blade lightly cut across his neck, and blood trickled down.
“Don't even think about taking everyone down with you. The moment I sense that's your plan, I'll kill you and fly this ship myself.”
Bluffing.
Piloting an airship was incredibly difficult.
Without specialized training, precise control was impossible.
Seeing all these levers and buttons, the man had surely realized that himself.
That was why he had kept the captain alive until now.
‘Support from the Imperial Palace or the White Tower...’
Looking over the map, the captain bit his lip.
After increasing speed to escape the Sky Ray, they had long since passed the area they were originally supposed to be flying over.
And judging by how communications had been dead for a while now, the terrorists apparently possessed something capable of interfering with mana.
‘In the worst-case scenario, the airport might not even know where we are.’
If that happened, expecting reinforcements would be even more hopeless.
Just as a burning thirst rose from his throat—
“Aaargh!”
A scream echoed from the corridor outside the cockpit, and one of the terrorists' companions came running in.
The man frowned.
“What happened?”
“Damn it! The soldiers wiped everyone out!”
“You idiots! How many times did I tell you all to just hold your positions?!”
“You make it sound easy! Every single one of them was Level 5!”
Hearing that, the man bit his lip and looked down at the floor.
“Throw the bodies outside and shut the cockpit door.”
Swish!
At the same time, the blade against the captain's throat pressed in harder.
“Don't think this is your chance to try anything stupid. It only takes one second for me to kill you.”
After throwing all the corpses into the corridor, the intruders shut the cockpit door.
A moment later, the soldiers began pounding on it.
Bang! Bang!
—Open the door and surrender! You're already surrounded!
As the terrorists began to waver, their leader glared at them.
“Do not falter. He is always watching over us. He will surely take pity on our noble sacrifice today and allow us to be reborn as the New Humanity.”
His bloodshot eyes had taken on an almost fanatical gleam.
Beep!
At that very moment, a single green dot appeared on the previously silent radar.
Everyone's eyes turned toward it, and the leader narrowed his gaze.
‘Reinforcements? No... impossible.’
Their mana interference device had been active since before they boarded.
That meant no one should have been able to determine the airship's exact location.
‘Did this bastard secretly do something?’
He stared at the back of the captain's head before shaking his own.
There was only one dot on the radar.
Which meant the Imperial Palace or the White Tower was likely just searching for the missing airship.
‘No need to stir up trouble.’
The leader gave an order.
“Increase altitude. Increase speed. Avoid crossing paths with that.”
“This is already the airship's maximum speed. If we climb any higher, we'll have stability problems...”
“Shut up and do it!”
As the blade dug into his neck, the captain squeezed his eyes shut.
The airship slowly climbed higher, its speed beginning to increase even further.
Beep-beep!
The radar sounded once more.
“What?”
The green dot that had appeared at an incredible distance was now much closer.
‘Is it malfunctioning? The airship is moving much faster than before.’
The leader frowned and stared at the radar.
Beep-beep!
The position updated again.
“...What the...”
The words slipped from his mouth without thinking.
The green dot was chasing the airship from behind at an utterly impossible speed.
Something was wrong.
The thought flashed through his mind.
Thooom!
Someone had landed heavily outside the cockpit.
A moment later, a pair of eyes could be seen through the window, calmly surveying the cockpit.
Eyes so cold they seemed incapable of compromise.
‘Oscar Crucian!’
The leader's eyes flew open as he recognized him.
Oscar was someone repeatedly mentioned while planning this operation.
—He can use spatial magic. He can exist anywhere and appear at any time. If he is discovered within your assigned operational area, there is only one rule you must follow.
There was even a special contingency prepared exclusively for him.
—If you encounter Oscar Crucian, detonate the mana bomb immediately, no matter the reason.
Remembering that order, the man instantly pressed the detonator in his hand.
No matter how incredible a Level 7 mage Oscar might be...
There was no way he could stop someone from pressing a detonator hidden in their hand the instant he appeared.
‘Our victory.’
Just as the leader's lips began to twist into a vicious grin—
Slash!
A single cutting sound swept through the cockpit.
By the time the captain, now drenched in blood, looked up in shock—
There was no one left.
The man checked the time.
By now, the capital should have been engulfed in flames, and urgent evacuation broadcasts should have already begun.
Yet his communication device remained silent.
‘It failed.’
Calmly taking a sip of tea, the man picked up the communicator.
It connected after only a few signals.
“How are the preparations?”
—We're standing by. Once the capital is consumed by flames, we'll immediately enter the Imperial Palace and—
“Clean it up.”
—...Pardon?
“Leave not a single human connected to this operation alive.”
A short while later.
The person on the other end acknowledged the order, and horrifying screams echoed through the communicator.
Click.
Setting it down, the man gazed up at the sky with an indifferent expression.
He had been certain the operation's chances of failure were low.
At most, he'd estimated them to be under two percent.
A plan to massacre the Empire's leadership.
Then exploit the ensuing chaos to infiltrate the Imperial Palace.
It had been clean, efficient, and free of unnecessary complications.
‘So the reason for the failure... was him after all.’
As the man thought of Oscar Crucian—
The sound of fireworks bursting outside filled the air.
White fireworks.
The color alone was enough to tell him who had won this year's Night of the Mages.
“The White Tower.”
He stared at the white fireworks as they dissolved into smoke.
Then, having reached a decision, he picked up the communicator once more.
Beep— Beep—
This time the ringing continued for much longer before the call connected.
The person on the other end remained silent.
The man spoke first.
“That proposal from before. Is it still valid?”
A moment later, a chilling voice like grinding metal came through the communicator.
—Heh heh... So you've finally made your decision.
“I'll cooperate. But this absolutely cannot fail.”
—You needn't worry about that.
Beep— Beep—
The other side terminated the call without another word.
Ordinarily, such a thing would have been unthinkable.
But the man simply lowered the communicator as though it meant nothing and closed his eyes.
Now...
There was no turning back.
Standing by the airport director's office window, Oscar looked down at the crowd streaming outside.
Every one of them had been passengers aboard the airship only moments ago.
Not a trace of worry remained on their faces.
Instead, they were filled with excitement over what they believed had simply been a new experience.
“They have no idea, do they? That they all came within a hair's breadth of dying.”
“I'm just glad everything worked out.”
For the first time in quite a while, Oscar felt his eyelids growing heavy.
The moment he arrived, he had activated 『Majiro Time』.
Then, after assessing the situation, he had used it four consecutive times to eliminate every enemy.
‘It's definitely an amazing spell... but the mental strain is just too much.’
It would have been far better if it consumed mana instead.
His mind felt completely blank, as though it refused to think any longer.
“Phew... We owe this entirely to you.”
“I only did what needed to be done.”
“...Right. And from here on, it's my turn to do what needs to be done.”
Fidelina's eyes sharpened.
There were obvious aspects of this terrorist attack that simply didn't make sense.
“I'm launching an investigation.”
“You should.”
“More than anything else, the information about the disguised passengers planted by the Imperial Palace... even on our side, only a handful of people knew about it. I didn't know either.”
The White Tower Master Sasha, who oversaw the airship business.
Herself.
And the directors of each airport.
There truly had been only a few people.
“So that means...”
“Let's stop there for now. There are ears listening.”
Oscar glanced behind him.
The airport director stood there with both hands politely clasped together, looking completely at a loss.
“Right. In any case, I'll request the Imperial Palace's cooperation in the investigation as well.”
By the Imperial Palace, Fidelina naturally meant exactly that.
It was now all but certain that information had been leaked from within the Imperial Palace.
“...Be careful. The fish might be bigger than you think.”
The information in question was classified at a level that was difficult to access even within the Imperial Palace.
Which meant anyone capable of viewing it was likely someone of considerable rank.
Understanding what he meant, Fidelina nodded.
“I will. And thank you again. Thanks to you, we were given the chance to contain this incident.”
“Once again, I only did what needed to be done.”
Answering lightly, Oscar turned to the airport director.
“By any chance, is there somewhere like a bedroom? I'm so exhausted that I'd like to get a little sleep.”
“...You're going to take a nap?”
Fidelina stared at him in surprise, as though it was the first time she'd ever seen such a thing.
But after using 『Majiro Time』, his brain was refusing to function.
Right now, all he wanted was to lie down on a bed.
“Ah, as it happens, we have a capsule hotel inside the airport for VIP guests. I'll show you the way.”

Comments

Loading...