Manuke FPS Chapter 169

Published at 7th of December 2021 09:02:33 PM

Kay: Sorry about the lateness. Holiday + IRL work. Dad got hurt at work and is going through some stuff with work comp so I ended up being his arms for his side hustle. Revolves around towing / recovery/ transportation so chains, straps, ropes, rethreading wenches, etc etc. Basically, everything that would worsen his injury should he try and do it.

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On the final day of the King’s Festival, the labyrinth core I’d put up for auction was sold for 150 platinum coins. The conclusion brought much excitement to the auction, but Nekoyanagi chose this moment to strike. 

Sleeping mist, an abnormal state spell, was unleashed upon the audience while they gave their applause. The nobles among the crowd reacted immediately but the surviving staff of Hirashia chose to evacuate the core. However, among the evacuating staff, I caught Koti’s footsteps. She was an employee at the Pavillion of Tranquility and also a member of Nekoyanagi. 

I jumped from the second floor down onto the first. 

“Hey! What is he doing?!” 

“‘Black Mask Shaft’!” 

Those on the first floor who hadn’t fallen asleep thanks to their magical barrier were in shock at my appearance. I did not have time to explain though. On my map, the staff was moving further and further by the second. The core had a GPS attached to it, but who knew if it’d fall off, or if they put it into a dimensional bag and it stopped transmitting?

Since I couldn’t use a dimensional bag myself, I couldn’t exactly test what happened if that happened. And it only crossed my mind just now… So, in the event that it happens, I decided that I needed to tail Koti, preferably within a detectable distance of my map. That decided, I proceeded to tail her. 

“Shaft!” 

Most likely noticing my jump, called out to me as she approached. 

“Ophelia, it’s Koti. The girl disguised herself as a Hirashi staff member.”

“Are you sure?” 

“Without a doubt. I’ll give chase.”

“I’m coming with you — I’ve sent my knight to retrieve my sword. Is Shaft going to fight unarmed?”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. I’ll go ahead if you can’t go right away.”

The staff group moved toward the far end of the building, which was about near the edge of the map’s range. I couldn’t stay put much longer. 

“Shaft-sama!” 

The moment I turned away from Ophelia and was about to go after them, I heard Minnea’s voice. Shouldn’t she be evacuated already?” 

No, they’re just starting to gather up to evacuate…

From the direction of her voice — She was being urged to leave as she waved at me. A boy and girl I was no familiar with were beside her. Princess Cyril was also there. A man then placed his hand on the fourth princess’s shoulder — It was the king of Kurtmerga himself… He was among the few who knew I was a trespasser. 

“Your Majesty, please hurry.”

“Un — Cyril, come.”

“Ah, yes, Esteemed Father.”

For just a moment, I felt that my gaze was met by the king. However, he soon turned away due to a whisper that came from behind. It was Felix, deputy leader of Rafflesia. It’s not like I had something against Felix, but I couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. 

The sleeping mist had stopped its spread. Now, it was being dispersed after being pushed back by the barriers. Although the quick response from the nobles bore some fruit, it would take some time for the merchants to settle down. While he didn’t make too loud of a fuss, I could hear the Yamigasa Company’s chairman saying ‘What about my Great Mana Stone!?’ 

“Ophelia, Koti is heading towards the northside of Hirashia. You may try to intercept them there if you wish.” 

“Understood. I’ll be heading out soon.”

I had enough of worrying about everything else. Using the map, I made my way to the staffs’ location. Not long after I started my way, dots on my map signified that they’d stopped moving. Did they arrive at their destination? … I don’t think so. The terrain displayed was not a passage, room, or staircase. It was most likely a window that connected to the outside. Right then, one of the dots went through the window, but1 the other dots remained stationary.

I ran through the interior while I checked the map for the shortest route. Once I turned the last corner, I should be able to see that … what—?!

Just around the corner, I saw the staff members on the ground.

“Are you alright?!” 

I immediately rushed to the closest one.

“Suuu~…” 

Just to find that they were sleeping… I checked another one just in case. Yes, they were sleeping. Only one dot moved away. In other words, it was Koti who cast the sleeping mist? They weren’t in any danger. Meanwhile, the dot moved at an increasingly faster speed. So, she wanted to escape, huh?

I didn’t know where she was going, but I would not let her go like that. 

I jumped through the same window and left Hirashia. There were about 100 meters between me and Koti… The dot on my map was not moving really fast. But it was faster than regular walking speed. Perhaps she was trying not to attract suspicion from passersby. 

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I activated the TSS, changed to my Black German Guard outfit since it was hard to move in a tailcoat, and it’d be too conspicuous. The mask was still the black panther mask, but it shouldn’t be a problem. Regarding weapons, It wouldn’t be possible to use firearms within the capital at the moment, so I proceeded with the equipment that I’d prepared beforehand. The preparations were quickly done and I continued my pursuit as the Joti was about to reach the edge of my map.

Koti chose the main street as her escape route. 

Stalls lined the street and the people of the capital celebrated the King’s Festival. I ran through the bustling crowd in order to catch up with Koti. Between the gathering and the stalls, or watching for performers, my eyes caught sight of a route that’d allow me to easily shorten the distance… A rice field! 

I saw a back that looked different from the other people on the road. The other of that back — Koti — was just about to deviate to the side of the buildings, perhaps to get off the road and into an alley. Suddenly, her face turned to me, and her gaze caught sight of me as I approached. 

“Why are you here?!” 

She yelled with wide eyes and rushed into an alleyway. However, she was too late to notice me. I wouldn’t lose sight of her now even if she increased speed. It was about time that I hunted her down at full speed. My body, which never got tired, kept on chasing her. I shook off any obstruction without trouble while on the other hand, Koti wheezed and eventually came to a stop. 

“Hah, hah, are you really human nya… How come you can keep running– for so long nya…” 

“Excuse me, I’m just really good at running.”

“Hah, hah… ~~~,~~~~,~~~~.~~, Sleeping Mist nya!”

Koti had been cornered and was out of breath, but apparently, she hadn’t been ready to give up yet.  

She used her spell quickly. At the same time, a white mist released from her hand that covered the alley. But I already knew from back at the venue that this spell was a mana interference type. To me, a manuke, this kind of magic wouldn’t work. The best it could do was hamper my vision temporarily. It was quickly fixed by switching to FLIR mode. I found that Kori was still there, not bothering to escape. 

I should use the lack of vision to my benefit. 

I pulled out the taser from my shoulder holster, released the safety, and pulled the trigger sas I aimed for her abdomen. 

Push!

Two wired electrodes sprung from the cartridge that was fitted to its muzzle. It produced a swish and landed on target.

“Nyaaa?!”

She may have noticed that something had attached itself to her. The real surprise came after. With a pull of the trigger a second time, 50,000 volts of electricity coursed through the wired electrode from the battery 

“Nyaa—!”

The shock made Koti scream and then faint. When the cartridge was removed from the muzzle, it disappeared into light particles along with the wired electrodes. The sleeping mist also dispersed. That’s good, but the moment I picked up the black box from the fainted Koti to check the content… 

“Uhi! I heard that you used large-scale fire magic. Who would’ve thought you could also use lightning magic~” 

When I turned to the strange voice, sic people stood there — the clowns. 

“Master has given me a strict order to finish you off~. Gufu! I brought more people with me to deal with you, S~h~a~f~t~c~h~a~n.” 

The white paint face, the big red nose, and the clowns with painted eyes and eyebrows colorfully screamed eerily.

They’re at it again… Cactus…

Chapter end