Chapter 42: Serial Runaway Event (5)
City of Seoul. A dimly lit alley.
In that gloomy place enveloped in a pungent odor, a middle-aged man in shabby clothes, with trembling hands, was clutching the hem of a cleric’s robes, begging.
“Please, please, the medicine….”
The cleric, dressed in a black robe, silently watched the man, then took out a small bottle of medicine from his robe. A brilliant color touched the middle-aged man’s face.
“Oh, ohhhh! Please, please give me that medicine.”
“What’s the price?”
“…The, the price.”
The middle-aged man’s eyes were so clouded he seemed unconscious at a glance. Saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth, and his nostrils flared. He desperately searched his pockets and chest and pulled out his wallet, but his face fell in despair upon seeing its contents. However, the man, still craving the medicine, began to beg again with a hideous smile, raising just one finger.
“I, I have no money. But my only daughter….”
“You’re going to sell a person. Is that right?”
“Yes, yes! That’s right. I just need the medicine.”
Ha. The man laughed emptily and harshly threw the bottle of medicine. Pills spilled from the shattered bottle, and the man, drooling, gathered the pills. Pieces of glass were embedded in his hand.
“Contact me later. Your daughter will be kept in the best condition until then.”
“…Heh, hehe.”
“Answer me.”
Bang.
The hem of the robe vanished and immediately kicked the man’s body. The man who flew several meters coughed violently, crawling to the pills.
“Uh, khahaha. Uheuheuk!!”
His outstretched hand was stepped on by the robe. The foot rubbed violently against it. Blood seeped onto the ground.
“Answer.”
“Yes, yes, I understand.”
Upon hearing the man’s response, the cleric snapped his fingers. His robe and mask disappeared. Now appearing as an ordinary man, the cleric stepped outside and sneaked a peek down the alley. The middle-aged man who had scraped up the medicine was running to the other end of the alley.
“What a stupid bastard.”
The cleric spat out a derisive curse as he watched.
“Okay~ next idiot.”
Suddenly, a woman appeared right before him, in his face.
“…Who are you?”
“Hey, don’t you recognize me? I think we’ve met before.”
She gestured exaggerated surprise at his calm denial, her black eyes wide. Black hair, black eyes, eyes shining like black jade. The woman grinned.
“It’s really disappointing. How can you not recognize me? Remember well from now on.”
She quickly started generating mana in her hand. The man, shocked, hurriedly donned his robe again.
“This damned!”
She, with a grin on her lips, shouted as loud as she could.
“A worm that doesn’t recognize the revered Pinetree cannot be forgiven by P!”
Kwang!
Her fist shattered the man’s mask, burying his face precisely. The man, retreating several steps, clutched his bleeding face and activated his mana.
The magic circle of Teleportation.
“What!?”
However, to P, who had mastered interference and spatial magic purely because she wanted attention, lower teleportation was just a child’s play.
“Do you know who I am now?”
“……P!!!!”
“That’s right, bastard.”
The genius of exploration.
The communicator.
The daughter of evil.
P began to compress mana into both hands, laughing. The suppressed space began to distort strangely.
“Now, guys!”
P looked at a drone in the air and smirked sweetly.
“I’ve recorded a V-log today~”
She activated a spell. The man’s body stiffened as if time had stopped.
“If you like the P-Tree, everyone, hit the like?”
-Like
-Like
-This is crazy???????????????
-A talented jerk. Who would think of broadcasting the capturing of criminals?
-But solving cases is really cool. You need to be at that level to broadcast proudly.
Seeing the reactions, P seemed satisfied and chuckled. The surrounding buzz was a burden only at first, but now it was nothing.
“Ah, my teammates are coming. So, shall I go and catch some broadcast criminals? Love heart!”
-BB! (Meaning Bye Bye)
-Attention-seeking is disgusting. Attention freak.
[Like-Button-Pusher has been expelled.]
[Broadcast has ended.]
“Is the broadcast over? Can I come out now?”
“This girl really values her face a lot.”
“The honored daughter of the Korosu family shouldn’t appear in such low-class broadcasts.”
“Heh.”
Roshi clicked her tongue as if it was amusing, looking at P, who proudly held up her middle finger. Then, Bob walked up behind her. Bob, who had grown to a towering 3m, attracted everyone’s attention.
“Bob, can’t you do something about that towering height?”
“I. Don’t know how to shrink. When fighting. Always grow.”
“… Sorry, my bad.”
The sound of smartphones taking pictures rang out around them. There will probably be articles about Spring Beach Blossom solving the serial runaway cases by tomorrow.
Several fainted clerics were already hanging on Bob’s back. Naturally, leaving them like that with no clean spots on their bodies, they would surely die.
“Bob is really like a madman.”
“I admit that. His combat ability is almost comparable to the Master’s, isn’t it?”
Roshi replied to P’s joke. It had been a year since Bob joined, and he had already become an irreplaceable combatant for the team.
But if asked whether he was comparable to Baekdo… P trembled at the thought of Baekdo’s movements.
“Crossing the line saying he can defeat Baekdo.”
“I admit that.”
“But won’t it be a good match if he goes against Hwangdo?”
“I don’t know about that. I heard a rumor that if Hwangdo gets angry, a whole country could be ruined.”
“Oh. Really?”
“Hehehe, of course.”
The chatting women were like housewives gossiping about a morning drama.
“What are you talking about?”
Hwangdo, who happened to walk by, asked them. P and Roshi naturally smiled and replied.
“It’s nothing.”
“Really? If you badmouth me, you’re really going to die!”
“Would we?”
“Right~ Even though P is quite reckless, she won’t badmouth Hwangdo. And can you transport these to the torture room?”
“Can I?! Leave it to me!”
Hwangdo rolled up her sleeves and raised mana all over her body. Soon, all the clerics around disappeared. P applauded, startled by the instant spatial magic.
“Amazing.”
“Hehe!”
Hwangdo, with her nose high in the air, put her hands on her hips and smiled proudly.
“Now, after we torture them to find the hideout, if we just attack there, it’s over.”
“Right? But P, did you check for suicide magic and poison in their mouths?”
“Hey, who am I? Of course, I checked.”
They were first-rate.
Though victims might come up, they had never failed in their assigned tasks. Roshi grumbled while cleaning the floor with magic.
“But with this, how many times has it been? Just with Flower-related cases, it’s the seventh time now.”
“Indeed. Wasn’t the last time the juniors got involved, it was a minor Flower branch?”
P, with a disgusted face, was scraping the blood under her shoes and murmured softly.
“The trash of society.”
Flower.
A large-scale terrorist organization intended to eradicate the ingrained caste system and overturn the world’s foundations. The actions of those who have occupied the underworld were too contemptible and malicious. To raise funds for their great cause, they distributed drugs and accepted assassination requests? It was absurd.
However, there was a reason why the World Association and the Tree People Sect couldn’t catch them, even with both keeping a close watch. They could extract and use the power of the World Tree. Recently, it was said they were even aiming for the trunk of the Five Great World Trees.
Even Baekdo, a notable fighter compared to even Flower’s executives, couldn’t handle them alone. Baekdo said to defeat an executive, one must risk their life. It was no surprise that a normal World Tree couldn’t handle such powerful terrorists. To begin with, the power of the World Tree had been weakening for a long time.
“It feels like it’s going to explode big time someday.”
Everyone remained silent at P’s anxious words. Because she was right.
If all of Flower’s executives targeted one place simultaneously, P thought maybe no forces in the world could resist them.
“It’s okay!”
Hwangdo raised her voice to liven up the dead atmosphere.
“Sis will figure something out!”
Seeing Hwangdo shout cutely, P and Roshi chuckled softly.
Then something rolled and bumped into their feet. It was a white pill bottle containing, to anyone’s eyes, something vibrant.
Menedel.
It was intended to aid the growth of the World Tree, but with a little additive, it became a dangerous, addictive substance that could turn into a weapon of mass destruction.
Roshi thought, seeing this, if a Tree Person consumed this excessively… they would probably turn into a monster by now.
-Aaahhh!
A piercing scream was heard from somewhere.
Sansuyu and I were coming out after watching a movie.
“Uwaaaah.”
A little girl was sitting and crying in a corner of the shopping street. I approached her and reached out my hand.
“Are you okay?”
“Daddy, waaaah.”
“Shh, calm down.”
The child showed no sign of stopping her crying. People around started to look at me strangely, and I was sweating and shouting.
“Is this child’s parent here!”
After making sure the people around me knew I was not a bad person, I started to calm the child again.
“Ca, calm down.”
“Sniff, waaaah.”
“Want candy?”
“Waaaah!”
Damn child… I should have had experience in this. Normally, pretty women should be soothing her. I looked at Sansuyu for help, but she remained expressionless.
‘She can’t do this.’
With no choice, I generated mana in my hand.
“Look here.”
“Sniff, waaaah.”
“Bunny!”
I drew a bunny with the flame in my hand. It was almost perfect mana manipulation, even if I say so myself. The child seemed to calm down a bit and stared blankly at the flaming bunny.
“Hic, huh?”
“Where is your dad?”
“… Don’t knooow. Waaaah.”
How did this happen? But I couldn’t ignore this. I had to maintain my composure and soothe the child with a bright smile.
“Sniff, sob. Shin Chaerin…!”
Then, from afar, a man was running towards us.
“Daddy?”
The girl smiled brightly at the man’s voice, but soon her little face contorted again.
“Sob, why daddy? Does it hurt?”
The child started crying again. The man’s arm was covered in blood, and his face was surrounded by dark circles. His shirt, as wrinkled as my face, reminded me of a dead man. People were staring at the man as if he was a strange creature.
-Gurgling.
“My daughter, my daughter…! Sob, sob. Chaerin, finally, we can get the medicine!”
A strange noise came from the man’s lower abdomen. The feeling of mana brushed against my skin. The man’s eyes were bloodshot. Above his shoes, the vivid roots of a tree were growing. I stood in front of the stunned child.
“…Sansuyu.”
“Yeah.”
“Cover the kid’s eyes.”
The creature, which couldn’t be called a human anymore, screamed eerily.
“I’ve finally found it.”
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