"Successor, Come To My Tower" V6 Chapter 4 - Moving Fast In The Afternoon
"In the end, he wouldn't see me — Forte, that guy has a lot of nerve."
Leticia grumbled, clasping her hands behind her head.
She could already see her mansion, up the sloping road—
The three of them were slowly making their way back.
"Well, he's been busy lately."
Leticia looked ahead with distant eyes as she listened to Orphen's interjection. There wasn't much traffic around this part of the city throughout the day, and it was quiet.
She muttered while scratching the nape of her neck with her crossed hands.
"He's been busy, huh...Well, that's good. My paperwork was accepted earlier than I expected, at least. Oh — Speaking of acceptance, Majic..."
She looked down at Majic, who was walking next to her.
"I sent in an application — For you to join the Tower."
"... Yeah."
The reply from Orphen, who was looking back at him, was simple. Majic didn't show much reaction, either.
"Honestly, I don't really recommend it..."
Leticia added while looking up at her house. The red roof was familiar to her. In fact, her eyesight wasn't all that great, so she had to narrow her eyelids and squint. She felt like she could see something moving on the roof—
"............?"
At the same time, the figure disappeared.
(They jumped... from the roof!?)
Then, from somewhere beside the mansion, she heard Cleao yell.
Leticia suddenly braced herself. Orphen also noticed something strange and looked at her.
"Something happened at the house — Hurry!"
She shouted and began running.
The robes of the Tower weren't easy to run in — but they still hurried, and Leticia and the others ran to the house. In the front yard they saw all of the usual suspects at the mansion — and then some. They saw Tifis (but why was he drenched—), Pat (laying down for some reason), Vulcan (and why was his head buried in the ground?), but they didn't see Dortin — and last but not least, they saw Cleao.
For some reason, her blonde hair was dyed red with blood.
"Cleao!"
She heard Orphen cry. He ran past Majic to the girl who was crouched down, holding her cracked head. As he approached, Cleao's dazed blue eyes lazily looked up at him.
"Or...phen?"
She whispered, and slowly released her hand from the wound. Then, she shook her head as if she couldn't believe that it was her own blood — but moving her head only reminded her of the pain. She closed her eyes tightly, and fell on the ground.
Leki anxiously circled around her.
"H—Hey!"
Orphen screamed and caught the girl in his arms. Leticia slowly approached them — Over Orphen's shoulder, she could see the streaks of Cleao's tears mixing with the blood on her face. The wound was around her temple, but it was nothing more than a laceration. It'd heal without leaving any scars.
But it was a strange wound — it wasn't inflicted by a knife. It didn't look like she'd been hit by a blunt object, either. If it had been either of those things, Cleao probably would've been long dead. The wound was a single scratch — in a straight line, just not sharp enough to be a knife. It was more like she'd been poked by something like a sharp stick.
Leticia gave a little glance towards Tifis. He answered after being forced to get over his panic.
"I don't really know what happened — it was all so sudden."
He said, then continued.
"But... All of the sudden a Stabber appeared on the roof and when she asked who they were, they jumped off... and then he poked her, with just his finger."
"His finger?"
Leticia asked in surprise. It may not have been their intention to kill in the first place — Or, rather, if an assassin had wanted to kill her, there was no way the wound would be such a simple one.
"Who the hell was the guy?"
"I don't know, they had their face hidden by a mask. Their combat clothes looked like the ones supplied by the Tower though."
"The Tower of Fang..."
"A Stabber... from the Tower of Fang..."
Leticia repeated slowly.
"Did they run away?"
"Yeah, towards the central city area—"
"Hold it!"
Leticia shouted as she spun around, looking from Tifis' point of view— shocked, Tifis retreated half a step. Even Pat, who never woke up, no matter what happened, glanced up.
But it wasn't them that Leticia was angry at — it was directed at Orphen who was standing up.
He glanced back with a fierce look on his face.
"Don't ask me to wait. I'm chasing after them—"
"But I'm telling you to stop!"
Leticia shouted and quickly walked around in front of Orphen. He looked at her, holding Cleao in his arms.
While calmly looking back at him — Leticia groaned. She felt like he could easily escape if she looked away for even a second.
"I think you're forgetting what I said — What I told you. That if you cause any more trouble in this city, the elders won't be able to stay quiet any longer."
"I don't give a damn. I—"
"I don't care!"
Leticia's scream snapped Orphen out of it — but before he could reply, she continued.
"But you're right... I'll follow that Stabber... You should see to Cleao, got it?"
"But the enemy is an assassin from the Tower. What can you do, Tish?"
"Never mind what I'm capable of, I'm sure I can deal with some third rate Stabber who would hit a girl in broad daylight then run away."
While saying it, Leticia quickly tossed off the large black robe — Underneath the robe one would normally wear special undergarments, but Leticia often cut corners and kept her normal clothes on. It was the same case today, and she was glad that she had done so.
She was dressed in her usual black shirt and beige slacks. Leticia headed for the gate of the mansion. As she quickly walked, she mulled over her thoughts.
(Truly, Krylancelo, you have no self control...)
She brushed her hair out of her face and walked through the gate where, for some reason, there was a desk and a sofa.
(If I had gotten hurt like that, I'm sure you would've been just fine. I'm so sick of this. What's more, it doesn't matter what I say, or how much I do.)
While talking to herself, she glanced back over her shoulder. Orphen was sending Majic to wet his handkerchief, probably so he could wipe the blood from Cleao's head.
(Anyway, even if I chase them, a lot of time has passed — I don't think I can catch up with the assassin now.)
She muttered, then she stopped walking.
She felt a shiver down her spine — and turned around . Right next to the gate she had just passed. Just under the fence—
There, she saw a small man dressed in black, standing perfectly still.
They were silently watching. The mask hid his eyes from her line of sight, so she couldn't read his expression. Everything that the man was wearing was supplied by the Tower — an unmistakable Stabber.
"......Tch!"
Leticia was prepared, even without speaking a word. The man moved in a flash. His petite body shrank a little more, and then he rushed towards her, and—
He passed right by her.
With no time to shout 'wait', Leticia turned around and followed after the assassin that had zoomed behind her. The enemy ran off down a deserted street...
(Are they trying to lure me somewhere!?)
Otherwise, there'd be no reason to wait at the gate — but then, there was also reason to escape after showing themselves by the gate.
(I'm not sure if I should be following them alone—)
Leticia started to run. She followed the small assassin anyway.
The assassin was the same guy who had invaded her mansion the night before—
There was no doubt about it. That was the assassin running ahead of her now.
It was rare to see an assassin in broad daylight — More than that, it was just common knowledge that it should never happen. Of course, it wasn't like she'd rather encounter them at night.
(I wonder why — He came into my mansion, looking for something. This time he fled after hurting Cleao...)
But why — it didn't make any sense.
(If they're an assassin from the Tower, only the Elders can issue orders to their class — but if the elders were calling the shots, they wouldn't have to bother sneaking around like this, they would just give me direct orders. I have never dared to disobey the orders of an Elder.)
She thought as she was running.
(If these orders aren't coming from the Elders... then are the assassins acting on their own? Maybe they are, but why would they target my house? They could be aiming for Krylancelo, but it just doesn't feel that way...)
Leticia was trying to remember what he — Orphen — had said in passing. The assassin said they were looking for something...
(Right... It was something about the Browning family...)
In any case, she couldn't remember the whole thing.
As she thought about it, she realized that the assassin was keeping pace, not running too fast nor too slow. She was being completely led, and she knew he was guiding her somewhere specific.
The only thing that wasn't moving forward was her reasoning.
(How could there be something so important in my own house that I don't know about...? If they're really an assassin from the Tower, then are they one of the guys from the Whurl classroom?)
The classroom led by Whurl Karlen, the man who trained some of the leading assassins from the Tower of Fang. In a way, Leticia feared them even more than the elders.
(But—)
She decided to stop this pointless thinking and concentrate solely on moving her legs
(It doesn't matter. That mansion is my home. It's the only place where I have peace... It's.... I have to protect it.)
She kept running, even if she didn't entirely understand why she felt that way.
Suddenly, the assassin running in front of her disappeared.
Her breathing was ragged after running for such a long time, but Leticia stopped — sweeping away her bangs which were wet with sweat, her eyes staring...
Of course, it wasn't like the assassin suddenly disappeared into the void.
In the parts of Taphrem that were scarcely traveled, the evening created tons of blind spots. While she was running she seemed to have found herself in one such place without even realizing it. She tried to remember the twists and turns she'd taken to get there, unfolding a map of the city in her mind. Right, this neighborhood—
"Labyrinth Street... That was the name."
This was an area where they had set up buildings as temporary homes in the center of the city, during the time that it was being rebuilt. The building plans for Taphrem wanted this area separated from the highways, to have it on the back end of a separated alleyway instead. However, it turned out that more people were seeking urban dwellings than they had expected, leading to a boom in population. Ultimately, this area, which hadn't been included in the city plans up until then, was designed to be built up even more densely than the surrounding area. This unreasonable use of the land resulted in the creation of an intricate, convoluted alleyway district.
— When she remembered this, Leticia hit the palm of her hand with her fist. She caught her breath in short bursts and moved her gaze to the entrance of a dimly lit alley.
She knew that the assassin was inviting her to follow. If that was the case, there'd be a trap if she followed.
(If they've disappeared, it means they don't have to lead me along anymore.)
She gingerly stepped into the dry, narrow path, with no other signs of life. She couldn't even hear anyone from the four-story buildings on either side. It seemed that the entire area had become abandoned property.
She could see an empty flower pot in the window of the second floor of the building to her left, which at one point must've been an apartment.
(Even if I cried out for help... there'd be nobody here. It's such a blatant invitation. Never mind an outright trap.)
She paused — and then walked on with a sense of determination.
(It's a little strange.)
She breathed in, having a vague thought.
(Even if my opponent's an assassin, I can handle one. I don't see any signs of an ambush — and I don't think I have to worry about being surrounded.
She exhaled, and nodded to herself.
The alley couldn't even stay straight for a single block. The space between the buildings was narrow, with little side streets in places, but some weren't even wide enough for an adult to squeeze through. Considering the small stature of the assassin, it was possible they were hiding in one of those spots but it was unlikely that they would have escaped through one of them into another alley.
"Maybe... I should've brought a weapon."
She wasn't very good at fighting with her bare hands.
She realized that she was only trying to cover up her anxiety.
"That's what Krylancelo was good at — Like our teacher, hand-to-hand combat techniques."
She turned the corner as she whispered to herself—
She paused again.
That was the end of the alley. It was a dead end. And, the kitchen door of the abandoned building on her right was standing wide open.
Inside the well-lit building, there were no signs of life, just the uninhabited air pouring from the open entrance.
From the inside — she couldn't see any clear warnings, but she had no doubt that the assassin had entered through there.
Leticia silently entered the building.
As she entered it looked more like an emergency exit than a service door. It was a solid steel door with a lock that could be easily opened from inside. It was already open, the hinges making a quiet metallic scraping sound as they swayed. The entrance led directly to the corridor, and continued straight forward, to the main entrance at the front. However, the door at the front was tightly closed — and a square piece of wood was fixed around the handle with a chain
Near the front entrance, there was an administrators office and an inquiry window — Unattended, of course. Then there was a hallway that turned left, and if she didn't turn there, it'd lead back to the emergency exit where Leticia was now standing. There were no visible doors, at least that Leticia could see from where she was standing. She couldn't go anywhere but left from there. Even the staircase seemed to bend in that direction.
The corridor had been tidied up, like it had just been cleaned, and there was nothing in sight that she could use as a weapon.
(If only I could get a hint of where they went, I could take them by surprise...)
Leticia frowned while rubbing the back of her neck. As it was, she had no choice but to continue forward.
She clicked her tongue after realizing how loud her large heels were. She took a deep breath — and carefully took another step. After that, she went forward without making a sound.
The passage turned to the left. She glanced into it, then stepped forward. The inside of the building was bright because of the windows lining the halls. There were several doors on the wall opposite to the windows. She also saw a staircase at the end of the hall.
She proceeded slowly, while paying close attention to the doors. Then—
Crash!
"—!"
She heard breaking glass— but it wasn't from that floor. It was from the floor above.
"I'm just going wherever they tell me, right down to the time and place..."
Leticia mumbled, brushing her lips with her thumbnail. She ran straight up the stairs.
The moment she tried to enter the second floor, again, the sound echoed.
—Crasssshh!
Again, it was from the floor above her.
(Well... Isn't that kind of you...)
She cursed under her breath before running up the stairs again. When she climbed to the third floor she once more heard the sound of crackling glass from the floor above.
(So, they're on the top floor...)
Leticia, thinking fast, went up the stairs. Just as she was about to clear the top of the stairs, she felt a presence behind her—
"So, you felt my presence behind you."
"............!"
She wanted to scream, but instead threw herself forward — kicking the floor as she rolled, then with a jump she flipped around to face them. She felt a sharp wind from the spot where she'd been standing before.
In the center of the wind was a silver blade. A slim, cold long sword. It made a high pitched sound as it traveled.
The person who drew the sword was the assassin — A petite man, dressed in black leather. She couldn't see his face, or even his eyes. She wasn't sure where he had been hiding before, but as he readied his sword, the assassin spoke in a calm, low voice from beneath his mask.
"You chased me down by yourself...? Pathetic."
"... What was that?"
Leticia snapped back while bracing herself. Since she had no intention of engaging someone armed with a knife with her bare hands, she began to knit the magical composition right away — When it came to the magnitude of her magic, there were few who could hope to compete with her, even in the Childman class. Aside from her sister, Azalie, who was no longer with them — Korugon was the only person who could.
"He's just saying, it's unfortunate that you chased after him alone."
"—Huh!?"
The sudden voice startled Leticia — That voice didn't belong to the person in front of her. It came from behind her.
She kept her eyes on the man in front of her — but she couldn't ignore the person behind her, either. So, she jumped to turn her back against the windowless wall. With her back against the wall, she looked to the left and right of the hall.
On the left, the black cloaked assassin—
On the right side...
"H—Hydrant!?"
There he stood — the young candidate for the Highest Executive Committee of the Tower of Fang. The mask he wore wasn't one from the Tower, but he always wore it to hide his scars — a scar that was too large to really be called a scar. He was also wearing a black robe. In other words, he was dressed exactly the same as he always was.
He nodded nonchalantly.
"I had originally hoped to draw out Krylancelo — To capture him and use him as a bargaining chip with you. Though, in the end, I don't really care which way it goes."
"Milan."
It was the black-robed man who called Hydrant by his real name.
"Moderate your useless chatter."
"I'll have to interrogate her either way."
"............"
Leticia mumbled, ignoring the conversation between the two.
"How... I didn't sense any sign of them..."
"It's never good to rely too much on one skill. You can always erase signs that you're there."
Hydrant proudly snorted.
"What are you after...?"
Leticia asked, her gaze grim. She could see a vague smile through the gaps of Hydrant's mask.
He said it casually.
"What I want... is the Browning Family's "World".
"World...?"
Leticia furrowed her eyebrows, repeating the word that she couldn't comprehend the context of.
Hydrant shrugged his shoulders without regard.
"Even if you don't know... one of them will."
"Them? — Are you talking about the Childman classroom?"
"Well... Yeah, I am."
Hydrant answered as he moved a little closer.
Leticia took a proper stance and answered.
"You're not getting rid of me that easily."
"We don't intend to make this easy."
The black-cloaked man behind her was the one who spoke. She had been paying more attention to Hydrant, but her attention was suddenly drawn to a feeling behind her—
Bloodlust.
(He wants to kill me!?)
She felt a horrible foreboding and naturally shrank away from it, leaping instead towards the opposite wall — the one with the window. There was no time to compose a spell. She wrapped her arms around herself to protect her vital organs.
But that bloodlust — it was rushing after her.
"—Hnng!"
There was no sound.
Aside from, of course, the same slashing sound she had heard earlier.
While looking over her shoulder she saw the black-robed man who had swung the sword — She could even see blood on the sword in his hand.
The blade had definitely cut through flesh.
She felt a sharp pain somewhere in her body — but couldn't immediately tell which part of her body it was. She only knew that those painful impulses had finally struck her brain.
"Huff... Hnngf!"
Gasping from the intense pain, Leticia knelt down on the spot with her back against the wall. She was trying to figure out where the pain was coming from — but it was like listening to a distant thunderstorm to locate the lightning bolt.
The wound was on her left hand. Originally they must have aimed at her abdomen, which she had been protecting with her left hand — the wound was so deep that her left pinky and middle finger were almost torn off. At the very least, the bones were broken. While looking at the two fingers, which were hanging by a piece of skin, she thought — 'If I don't heal this with sorcery right away, I'll die.' Fresh blood was dripping from the wound like water from a faucet.
(Death— If I die, will you cry for me, Krylancelo? — Or would you be angry? Like at Azalie's funeral—)
At the same time, while knitting the sorcery to heal the wound — she saw a silver blade reflected again in her vision.
(If you don't dodge it, you'll lose your head!)
She couldn't move much while kneeling down. But even so, she twisted on the spot as if she were gonna do a full on cartwheel. The magical composition that she had knitted scattered and disappeared. Her blood smeared the floor, following the trajectory of her escape.
"Ughh..."
Leticia looked up and cringed as the intense pain hit her again — while she gripped the wound on her left hand. Her clothes were already soaked with blood. Hydrant stood with just his toes touching the edge of the blood on the floor — He held a sword in his hand, but she wasn't sure when he had drawn it. It wasn't the man in black who had slashed at her the second time, it had been him.
"Good call."
He remarked, then bent down to pick something up from the pool of blood.
"But you lost your fingers."
Leticia was horrified when she looked at the thin, blood-stained object that he pinched between his index and middle fingers — and not only because her fingers were gone. Her field of vision, which focused up at Hydrant, was rapidly growing dark.
(I'm about to faint...)
She bit her lower lip as she held her left arm, which was weak from the loss of blood. She needed to stay conscious for as long as possible — but she was running out of strength and even energy. So much so that she couldn't even feel any pain from her bitten lip.
"There's no point in letting her die."
She heard the black-robed man say to Hydrant. But even his voice was becoming harder to hear.
She thought that Hydrant had answered with something, but she couldn't quite make it out.
"Mas...ter..."
While desperately struggling, Leticia fell face first to the floor.
Everything was fuzzy, and something huge and overwhelming came over her—
Perhaps it was her imagination, but all that remained were a few voices in the fragments of her memory.
"She won't die so easily from a couple of missing fingers—"
"But if you just leave her here, eventually, she will die. The deal was—"
"Hmph... It's just a book—"
"Do you plan to say that to Master? You—"
"I don't give a shit what Master has to say — it won't be any worse than the wounds I suffered—"
"If you have some sort of personal grudge, why not take it up with him—"
"You failed to draw him out, so instead we're stuck with her."
"Then cut off her fingers—"
"—Again, it's just a book—"
"And this is just a grudge—"
Her memories darkened, and time began to lose its balance. Leticia cried in the darkness, just awaiting the words.
"What about the wounds I received—"
"I can't just hand her over to you."
"You won't be getting out of this, either—"
(............!?)
Leticia wondered suddenly — their voices were starting to sound more feminine.
"Y—You!?"
She heard an astonished voice, either from Hydrant or his friend—
"I figured there was no way you'd be able to get it — but even still, this kind of treatment ..."
Listening to that voice, Leticia recovered consciousness for just a moment — but she was still on the floor, and didn't have the strength to get back up.
"Is... that...!?"
For some reason, Leticia only screamed. She couldn't speak.
(I'm so sorry — that I — didn't attend your funeral—)
Dusk was steadily approaching.
Like a black haze, it covered the upper half of the room.
Through the window, she saw the fruit-colored red sunlight slowly moving away. She stared out the window — as if it were drawing her in—
Finally, she realized that she had regained consciousness.
She moved her head from side to side on a hard pillow. There were white walls — and a white ceiling. There was also the faint smell of disinfectant soap. Flowers. A vase with no handle. An unattended bed. Clean sheets. Curtain rails on the ceiling. There was a jug of water and—
A man standing at the window, staring out.
For a moment, she didn't realize who it was.
(Master...?)
No, it wasn't. The man wasn't tall like Master Childman, and his hair wasn't nearly as long. His physique was also a size smaller than the continent's strongest black-magic sorcerer. He wasn't exceptionally thin, but had a medium build and height. His eyes were stern — or rather, that seemed to be the general atmosphere of the whole man. He was...
(No... That's not Krylancelo.)
Leticia sighed under her breath. He hadn't noticed that she was awake, he was staring outside.
She gazed at him for a while... But at some point, she suddenly opened her mouth.
"Thank you."
She mumbled, and he turned to look at her. He immediately rushed over.
"Tish—"
That was all he said, and then he fell silent. Leticia tried to get up — but she didn't have the strength. In the end, she kept her head on the pillow and continued.
"Thank you. You were the one who saved me, weren't you, Krylancelo?"
"Huh? U—Uhmm..."
He stammered and nodded.
Leticia giggled and continued—
"You're such an idiot. I wouldn't have mistaken your voice for Azalie's—"
She remembered — and changed the subject.
"Is Cleao alright?"
"Yeah, it was just a scratch. Maybe concussion. Whatever it was, she was exaggerating like she always does, you know? She's fine now. She was going to come here with me, but I decided to come alone."
He spoke quickly and corrected his posture.
He then lowered his voice to speak to her.
"Um... Tish. It's about... your injuries, Tish..."
"Yeah."
She gently answered as she lifted her left hand out from under the blankets, neatly wrapped up in bandages.
He seemed to have discretely turned his gaze. Although it was a subtle gesture, Leticia noticed it.
"The fingers were able to be saved. You received first aid — so I don't think there's any need to worry about infection or anything, but..."
He reluctantly cleared his throat and continued.
"Once the nerves have been completely severed, there's no way to fix it with sorcery — all we could do was reattach your fingers. So, now we can only leave it up to nature to heal the nerves on its own... I couldn't even heal the scars. Too much time had passed."
"Is that so..."
She nodded and sighed. She stared up at his face.
"Well, I'm the one who screwed up. It's my fault, and I deserved this outcome."
And — when she said that, Leticia finally noticed.
"Krylancelo, what are you thinking?"
He was gazing at her, expressionless — with the same expression that he'd had when he was looking out the window before.
He answered immediately. His voice cracked.
"I'll kill them all."
"Stop it!"
Leticia screamed — and sat up with the sheer momentum. The bloodied clothes had been changed, and she was now in a hospital gown. She leaned as close to him as she could from the bed.
"Stop it — don't even think about doing something so stupid!"
"What's so stupid?"
Quietly — even angrily, he asked back. Leticia shook her head.
"What else can I even say but that you're being an idiot — and you need to knock it off."
"They put their hands on you, Tish!"
"Trading your life would be far too high of a price to pay for my two fingers!"
After screaming, Leticia sighed softly, and put her right hand on his chest.
“I wouldn't be happy if you did something like that.”
“Well then... What should I do?”
“Contact Forte.”
Leticia told him slowly, while listening to his heartbeat through her hand.
“I don't know what the intentions of the Whurl class are, but they tried to kidnap me, and failed. That means that they're corrupted, right? Forte can contact the Elders and have them dismiss Hydrant. After that they can take the appropriate measures against the Whurl Classroom. And they'll do that with pleasure — it'd be a unique opportunity to kill the Whurl class.”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“I'll be out of the hospital in no time. If Comicron were still alive, he would've healed me right away — but it can't be helped. Because of his death, Korugon was so shocked that he left the Tower. I wonder where he went...”
Leticia broke off and smiled.
“Before I knew it, everyone had disappeared from the Tower. Everyone...”
Her hands trembled as she spoke the words.
“If you care about me, please — stop doing these foolish things. Things like fighting assassins all by yourself, and leaving the Tower...”
“............”
He didn't answer, but she could feel the smile on her face loosening, losing its strength.
“Please don't... leave me all alone in this city...”
Leticia mumbled, her forehead pressing against the hand she had rested on his chest.
Tears formed in her eyes for just a moment as she leaned against him — even if she wasn't weak enough to start crying.
Table of Contents
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| (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) |
Starting At Night Arriving At Morning Rushing Through The Launch Break Moving Fast In The Afternoon Footsteps Echoing After Sunset Burning At Midnight Missing The Sunrise |