[604] To Someone (2)
* * *
"Did I tell him the location for nothing?"
Liz, having sent Nade away like that, mulled over why he'd gotten angry at the research club.
He still hadn't let go.
She had drawn a firm line when Nade confessed properly, but looking back she'd likely been flustered at the time.
What had terrified her?
He wasn't the sort of junior you could chat with casually.
They'd been friendly, but whenever she was with Nade she'd always felt like she was walking a delicate tightrope.
The timing had been bad.
To a girl fresh out of a prestigious school and brimming with dreams for the future, a junior's confession was like throwing herself into darkness without knowing what lay ahead.
She just couldn't choose.
Because she didn't know what her future would be.
And at that time Oscar stood beside her, promising a happy future.
Yes, that would do. The past was past.
Liz shook her head and tried to erase it.
"Nade."
But the reason his name slipped out again at the end of her resolve was because she could never forget what had happened four years ago.
"What?"
Nade scanned the dining hall when Liz—who had been pestering him for almost three months—was conspicuously absent today.
Hmph. Let her handle it herself.
After months of being treated awkwardly by his senior, it was getting about time to give up.
"Where's Liz? She left yesterday and never came back."
His ears twitched despite himself.
"She said she had something to sort out with the research club."
"Don't tell me she got held up. The Alchemical Exchange dealers are nasty, I heard."
The words "Alchemical Exchange" snagged Nade's attention.
Bastards. Using students to squeeze obscene interest from them.
He slammed his plate down.
"Shut up."
Ignoring the stares, Nade stood and went over to Liz's friends.
"If you're so worried, why don't you go look for her? Why are you just chattering while you eat?"
They scowled like they'd seen an eyesore.
"What's it to you? You bored because Liz's gone? You should've treated her better."
Nade pulled out a chair and sat without answering.
"Tell me exactly what happened. So what did they do?"
The place Nade reached after slipping out of school was a seedy alley in the middle of Creas City.
What an idiot.
According to Liz's friends, the Supernatural Spirit Science Research Club had been doing a soul-transfer experiment. They'd used a financing product from the Alchemical Exchange for the equipment, and it seemed they'd run into scoundrels.
There were no solid leads, but for someone who knew the back alleys as Nade did, finding Liz wasn't hard.
A short walk later, a few low-level members of some organization were smoking and chatting.
Nade strode up and asked cockily, "Hey, you lot—come here a second."
The thugs looked around nervously, realized they were dealing with a kid, and made bewildered faces.
"What's with this brat? You—ah!"
All they saw was the afterimage of a blue spark, and everyone but one went down unconscious.
"Where's Liz?"
Nade grabbed a man's collar and demanded. The terrified thug's eyes trembled as he blurted, "I don't know! I don't even know who I am!"
Of course he wouldn't.
"Then find someone who does."
Pushing into the underworld's shadow, Nade learned Liz was being held at the private residence of an alchemist named Wiz out in the woods.
The Alchemical Exchange, huh.
When he slipped into the estate he saw a warehouse about two hundred meters away, guarded by two burly men.
As Nade approached rough voices carried over.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?"
"Hand over the girl."
Even hearing that, the experienced guards sensed the gravity of it and charged at Nade.
Crack!
At the sound like thunder, everyone at the warehouse turned toward the door.
"What's going on!"
The warehouse door splintered and Nade walked in.
"Nade?"
Liz, looking haggard, muttered in surprise.
Still alive, then.
Judging by the papers scattered over the table, negotiations had been going on all night.
Nade guessed these were things Liz could never accept.
Not only outrageous usury but even a waiver of bodily rights—these were people who would hand over such things without blinking.
Professionals.
Because the Alchemical Exchange moved large sums, even the hired help were mages.
Nade took in the seven mages standing ominously and let out a hollow laugh.
"You're a reckless senior. You knew what the Exchange was and still rented equipment on a whim? As a student?"
Liz's face twisted with injustice.
"I paid all the rental fees! But they kept saying the equipment was defective and that we had to buy it!"
It was the classic scam. Nade checked the equipment Liz had brought.
"An Ultrix."
A device that discharges high-output electrical energy at once—an expensive piece normally only companies in the field would buy. Its durability should hold up.
"A defect, huh? Open the lid. I'll check it."
As Nade stepped forward, Wiz held out a hand.
"Who are you? You wet-behind-the-ears kid inspecting an Ultrix? Do you know how much that costs?"
"That's for you to worry about. You know the Exchange's internal treaty, right? Article 7, clause 3. If you get caught cheating, you're expelled forever."
Wiz's brow twitched.
"Are you an alchemist?"
Nade didn't have an official license. But he'd studied magi-engineering since childhood; his skill matched professionals and he knew the industry taboos.
"If you're that worried, send it to a firm. Your choice—take it and get lost, or I take the equipment to the guild now."
"Surround him."
The moment Wiz ordered it, the mages moved.
"Nade!"
Liz tried to step forward but flames bloomed in concentric circles around her.
"Don't move. You'll be roasted."
Hired by the Exchange, they might be guild-born, but they were veterans in how they intimidated.
Wiz glared. "You sound like you heard something. Be honest—who knows you're here?"
Nade sneered.
"Unfortunately, I don't have any friends…"
That idiot!
Despair filled Liz's eyes. If she didn't even invent a fake accomplice they had no chance of getting out.
"I see."
Just as he'd expected, Wiz's face went cruel.
"Deal with him."
Six mages lunged at once.
Though not licensed, their battle-honed finishing moves were formidable—each attack amplified by its element and razor-sharp.
Crack!
In an instant the warehouse flashed blue; thunder cracked and dust filled the air.
Coughing, Wiz blinked and saw the front of the room—his face hardened.
In a single blow six professional mages convulsed, their limbs grotesquely twisted, electrocuted.
"Ugh!"
Watching them grit their teeth to endure the shock, Liz went pale.
He really was strong.
She'd thought him just a prickly junior. Seeing Nade spew blue electricity where pro mages lay was a jolt.
* * *
"I wonder if he's doing okay."
Even after Nade left, Shirone still sat in the lab and murmured.
"He'll manage. He's not the type to bow his head, is he?"
Iruki, who glanced at Shirone, closed his book.
"Do you really think so?"
"What do you mean? Of course he'll pull himself together."
"I already told you. Nade was captured by a band of thieves when he was young and subjected to electrical torture. It was brutal."
"I know. That's why he ended up like that. Honestly, I still don't get it—how he can control it."
"That's what I mean. Maybe it's better for Nade to keep wandering like this. For your sake, Shirone."
"For my sake?"
"You're thinking of giving up the evaluation because you figure getting a good score alone won't make you a mage."
It was a touchy subject between friends.
"Iruki, I—"
"It's fine. Once the graduation exam starts, I'll have no choice but to fight you."
Iruki stood.
"But the problem is Nade. He probably can't become a mage. No organization on the Red Line would hire a mage in that condition—unless he drifts between guilds or falls into the Black Line."
"Nade will never become that."
"I think so too. But Shirone, Nade's nature is completely different."
Iruki turned to Shirone.
"You have endless potential, but Nade's limits are clear. He's the apex. He became the strongest at eight, and since then he's stayed the strongest. And in my judgment…"
Iruki's eyes went cold.
"At your current level, you can't surpass Nade."
"It doesn't matter even if Nade's stronger than me."
Shirone meant it.
"But you can't be certain. We should both do our best—"
"You've never seen Nade's true face, have you?"
Shirone fell silent.
"I have. And a few others have seen it too. They'd agree with me. Nade isn't a mage. He's just magic."
Iruki sighed.
"I'd rather think that's for the best. As a mage, Nade has no future anyway. If that's the case, for your success—"
"I don't like that."
Shirone ground his teeth.
"Sacrificing someone's future for a friend? If Nade is slacking because of me—"
"It's not only because of you. You know that."
"Still, I can't accept it. Sacrifice in competition—that's nonsense!"
Iruki couldn't decide what was right.
Shirone was a precious friend, and Nade's power was practically cheating at academy level.
"I should go see Nade. I'm worried, after all."
Understanding Shirone's feelings, Iruki rose and followed.
"Let's go together."
* * *
There was a loud pounding on the door.
"Oscar? You're early."
Liz snapped out of her reverie and hurried to open the door. To her surprise, Nade stood there with a darker expression than she'd expected.
"Senior, I came again."
Maybe because he'd been thinking about what had happened four years ago, Liz's heart had softened compared to earlier.
"Come in. Did you meet Oscar?"
"Well… Oscar might be a little late."
Puzzled by his words, Liz stepped aside and invited him in.
Inside, seeing Oscar's clothes neatly folded on the bed made a dull pain twist in Nade's chest.
"Sit down. Late? What do you mean?"
Perched on a chair, Nade still couldn't decide whether to say exactly what he'd seen.
"Senior, do you really love Oscar?"
"Hoho! Suddenly? Of course I do—I'm engaged, aren't I?"
That was a different kind of hell.
I shouldn't have seen it.
If she hadn't known, she might have avoided this burden on her heart.
"Senior, I think Oscar might—"
Nade threw the words into the uncertain future.
"have another woman."