Vol 4 Chapter 7

After the last ice shard disappeared, Kran, with his head and armor covered in white ice, jumped up and down below, shouting.

"Kap! You should at least give a warning!"

"...You're still alive?"

Kapros asked with a hint of humor, meaning 'Isn't it enough that you survived?', but Kran strangely stiffened.

"Y-y-you really..."

"..."

It seemed his joke hadn't been taken as one. As Kapros narrowed his eyes, Un-o spoke while drawing his bowstring fully.

"We don't have time for jokes. We need to finish this quickly and get out of here."

"Ah."

Right. They hadn't finished them off, just frozen them. Kapros looked at the frozen, sludge-like things behind Kran and drew his sword.

With a swish, the quickly drawn sword emitted a blue aura. As he concentrated on pushing mana into it, a transparent energy began to ripple and shake with a hum. Looking at this, Kapros leaped from the cliff without hesitation.

"Whoa! Kap?"

"I'll break the frozen ones nearby first, so please support me. Fly!"

After giving instructions to Un-o, Kapros used Fly, and his falling body suddenly stopped, slowly descending to the ground as he wished. Kran, who had been running over in surprise, saw this and dropped his arms with a big sigh.

"Right... Phew. You have magic. Don't scare people like that."

Did he really think Kapros would jump from that height without any thought?

While Kapros was puzzled, he saw arrows flying overhead with a twang of the bowstring, beautifully piercing through the ice chunks.

Crack! Clang! Crackle!

Three arrows spread in different directions, simultaneously piercing through two or three ice chunks each. A moment later, as cracks spread and the ice shattered silently and crisply, Kapros quietly smiled, his eyes curving.

"Kran. Now let's shatter them too."

"Huh? Uh?"

Before Kran could give a dazed reply, Kapros was already lightly rolling his feet and running. His body, pre-cast with Haste and Strength, felt as light and fast as a butterfly. Even though it was barely comparable to other users' speed, to Kapros, it was a symbol of freedom greater than anything else. It was always a pleasant feeling to realize that he didn't have to worry about falling or his legs hurting even when pounding his feet vigorously.

Kapros swung his sword down towards the crown of the grotesque frozen monster in front of him, injecting even more mana.

"Haah!"

Crash!

"Mmm. Phew. The city we'll reach right after passing through here is... Ah, right. Bistale."

After defeating them all and leaving the swamp to enter a safe forest path, Kran muttered as he plopped his tired body down on the ground. Kapros nodded in agreement.

By now, Kapros had reached the point where he could roughly tell which city would come next by combining information from the MIST community he occasionally visited with his own map. Bistale was a larger city than the small and medium-sized ones they had passed through so far, and being close to the relatively unpopulated north, it had naturally developed one characteristic.

"It's a lawless city, isn't it?"

As Un-o said with a slight frown, it was indeed known as a lawless place to the extent of earning the name "lawless city."

Due to its remote location, it attracted more users who enjoyed PK or criminal activities rather than ordinary users. It was rumored to be a gathering place for those who were known to be beyond help even in MIST, where one wouldn't even get the murderer title for ordinary PK. The severity of the situation was unimaginable.

"I heard they even have a battle colosseum right in the city? It's completely free PK."

Contrary to Kran's expression of displeasure, always championing justice and fairness, Un-o's face showed unusual interest.

"It seems you can earn a lot of money if you participate in the tournaments held in the colosseum."

"You... Do you really want to participate?"

"If it's doable, I think it might be good."

"...Kap! Stop him! Is he really a high school student?"

Although Kran was dumbfounded, Kapros pretended not to hear. In fact, he was quite interested in the colosseum himself.

The free-for-all battles regularly held in the colosseum were infamous for being one-on-one fights without any rules, but they were popular due to the existence of incredible prizes for the winners.

Among the prizes that changed each time, he had heard that a 5th circle 'Flash Beat' spellbook had appeared recently, so it was only natural that he became interested. If there was a magic-related prize this time too, what should he do... As he walked thinking about this, the gates of Bistale gradually came into view.

***

The man was hiding his body between alleys, standing with his shoulders completely stiff. He had tried to step out many times, but his feet wouldn't move.

He had finally come after being asked to, but actually moving his feet was a much more difficult problem than he had imagined. The door of a large traditional kendo dojo was visible about 100 meters ahead, but he had been standing there for hours without being able to move a single step.

However, despite his tall stature, tired-looking back, and gaunt face, the man was a noticeable kind of person. A clear, piercing light emanated from his eyes, which he tried to hide behind sunglasses. Almost like a murderer.

'A murderer, huh.'

The man quietly repeated to himself. Until a few months ago, he had thought he was no different from a murderer. After enduring terrible suffering day by day, he had finally decided to at least lay flowers on a grave and got off the plane, only to find out that the person was not dead but alive, still breathing on this earth.

He should have said it was a good thing. Now he could ask forgiveness from a living person. But not for this man. After learning this fact, the content of the nightmares he had every night changed.