Kyle was dozing off against a tree.
-Attention, seeds! Please come to the entrance of the forest!
A voice that seemed to bounce. Awakened by the sound ringing in his head, Kyle opened his eyes. The voice belonged to Finelli. The campfire that had been burning all night had died down, leaving only a faint warmth and white ashes.
Molson jumped up and looked around.
"What is it?! Where did that come from?"
They won't be able to find it by looking like that. In fact, it wasn't sound waves, so it couldn't even be called sound. This was a magic that was studied for the purpose of transmitting messages without being affected by the environment, as it was the manifestation of [Echo]. Kyle got up from his seat and straightened his clothes. He shook his stiffened hair in the cold air and turned it to one side. It was only then that he took a step forward.
When they went to the entrance, Finelli was smiling brightly. Behind her, a line of men in black suits were lined up. They all wore hats with the words "Lucidus Company" on them.
"Are you all here?! It's dawn! Now, let's begin the liberation event!"
From the 'house' next to Finelli, Miley emerged, yawning. While smacking his lips, he kept a watchful eye on Finelli. The seeds standing at a distance from each other did the same. All of them looked at Finelli with swollen faces.
Bipar raised his hand cautiously, and Finelli nodded.
"Do... Do we have any weapons?"
"No way!! Hehe- I have it all planned out!"
Finelli gestured, and a thick duffel bag flew out of the car he had come in. The dripping red liquid from the duffel bag was impressive.
Seemingly triggered by a playful impulse, Miley spoke with a smirk.
"Magician sir! Something is dripping from the inside, right? Is there a corpse in there or something? Pfft."
"Oh? You don't have to be surprised! It's just the blood of criminals! Not a corpse!"
"······Blood? Human blood?"
"Of course!"
Miley recoiled in disgust and backed away. The reactions of the other seeds were not much different. April gave him a contemptuous look.
"Hehehe. I wonder what you're all thinking. This is for your safety."
Finelli reached into the duffel bag. What he pulled out was a blood-soaked stick. With a single gesture, he brushed off all the blood that was on it. The stick grew larger and changed into the shape of a dagger.
"Wow..."
"Amazing! That's so cool."
As someone's admiration echoed, Finelli thrust a dagger into his own neck. There was a chilling, crunching sound.
"Ow! Oh my gosh- oh my gosh, it hurts! Save me, Finelli!"
Finelli stuck out his tongue and pretended to be dead, then he smiled brightly again. April glared at him.
"······If you do that again, I'll kill you."
At that moment, Kyle felt a chill. It couldn't be just his imagination.
'What's this······?'
Kyle looked at April with a puzzled expression.
"Phew- Alright, alright! I won't do it! I can't die, can I?!"
There was a bloody gash across Finelli's neck, but that was all. There was no blood flowing.
"And it really hurts! I'm not kidding! There's a mechanism that makes you feel the 'pain' even though it doesn't actually cause any damage!"
The seeds stifled their laughter at that. If they could feel pain, they would have passed out when they were stabbed in the neck. How could they lie with such a calm face?
Finelli held up the dagger with his blood on it. The part where the blood touched was melting.
"Anyway- all the weapons I brought react to blood! Even if you stab with the intention of killing, you can't kill them! If you get a lot of blood on it, it will turn back into a stick like before!! How about it! Do you want it? Are you tempted?!"
The blade melted when it touched blood. Even if it was a Lutentus, it seemed to have some kind of safety mechanism.
The seeds seemed to have some hidden anxiety. Some of them sighed in relief after Finelli's explanation, while others wiped their foreheads. The strong ones, such as the secondary offspring and April, didn't seem to care.
Kyle narrowed his eyes. He could not detect any magical power in the dagger. That meant that the items were most likely lost artifacts from antiquity. Magical phenomena that could not be explained by magic were always like that.
"Bows, spears, knuckledusters, swords, etc. I have everything except what doesn't exist, so take one each! Be careful not to touch it with blood because it's no different from a normal weapon. If it breaks, I'll bill you immediately! This is very expensive! Very, very expensive!"
Even without such emphasis, the price of ancient artifacts would be incalculable. Even for the sake of the Lutentus, it would be strange to release so many weapons for the sake of liberation. Then, a strange hypothesis was suddenly formed.
'This many weapons, in bulk?'
Perhaps they didn't just restore ancient artifacts, but also 'understood' and 'mass-produced' them. It is possible that something that was considered impossible in his previous life happened in Andoria.
"Especially you, Kyle! Are you listening to me?!"
Kyle was awakened from his thoughts by a voice calling his name.
"You said you scratched the Redwood! And in the process, you broke a sword too! You can't break it this time!!"
"I'll be careful."
"It was a joke. Hehehe. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of performance Kyle will show this time! I, Finelli, am expecting great things from you."
Finnelli's thin, long eyes curved into a smile.
* * *
-The liberation will begin immediately after everyone has chosen their weapons! Please note this!!
With that, Finelli disappeared. And of course, during the liberation, you cannot bring any personal belongings with you.
"Ugh. Unreasonable. Snacks. Nutrition. Essential."
Breta, who had all her snacks taken out of her bag, protested, but it was no use.
"You're not going to choose a weapon? You're so embarrassing······"
Gilliam shook his head and walked away from Breta.
The other seeds were busy choosing their weapons. There were a total of 28 people, and there were about 100 weapons. Even the same sword had different sizes and shapes. There were also a few defensive weapons like shields and armor. The company employee said, "First come, first served," but no one approached the weapons. Bipar shook his head.
"The Core guys are just standing there, so to hell with first come, first served!"
April immediately approached and picked up a simple longsword, but Miley seemed to be troubled and kept biting his nails.
It wasn't Bipar's turn just because the central guys had chosen. He had to wait for the secondary offspring to choose as well before the opportunity would come for Bipar, the secondary offspring. He was already getting ready to run out in anticipation of that moment.
"I'll go with this one."
The boy from the indirect branch calmly received a weapon from the staff.
Bipar's eyes widened.
'That guy is really something...'
Whether it's the Core or Secondary Offspring, does he not bother with subtleties at all? At first, his independent actions were off-putting, but increasingly, Bipar found himself wanting to support him. Maybe, for the first time, someone from the indirect branch could beat the core region. With that unlikely hope in mind.
Kyle examined the weapon he had chosen, looking it over from top to bottom.
In a forest duel, it is unrealistic to expect a head-on confrontation. Someone might set a trap and ambush you, or they might shoot you from a distance with throwing weapons such as bows. You needed a weapon that could be used flexibly in most situations, even if it didn't have any outstanding features.
After thinking about it, he chose a whip-like stick that was about 2 meters long. It had a short iron bar at the end, connected to the stick by a chain.
As Kyle finished his selection, Miley walked up to him with a frown on his face.
"You. See you later. I'll show you how different real combat is."
"Okay."
"Ugh······!"
He nervously chose a throwing kukri, a modified version of the traditional Nepalese knife. The kukri had a long string attached to the end.
Miley glanced at Kyle, then walked away.
'There was a rapier too.'
It wasn't surprising, considering his background, which he had heard from Molson. Then, Gilliam chose a bow, and the other seeds began to select their weapons one by one. Only one person was standing there blankly. Kyle approached him.
"Is there nothing worth choosing?"
Breta lowered his head.
"Big Brother."
Big Brother?! The surrounding seeds looked at Kyle and Breta in shock. Breta was twice his size, and he was three years older than him. So how could he be his big brother?
"I. Don't. Need. Weapons."
Kyle looked at this earnest guy and chuckled.
"Did you fight alone with your bare hands last year too?"
"Right. Barbarian style. It's enough."
"This time will be different. You may even be attacked while walking in the forest or sleeping. If you really don't like carrying a weapon, how about carrying a shield?"
"A shield?"
Breta turned her head to where Kyle was pointing. Behind a row of weapons, there was a shield standing. It was big enough to cover Breta's entire body if she held it at an angle.
"It's only for blocking surprise attacks and getting close. After that, you can fight with your bare hands, which you like."
"Yes! Yes!"
Breta smiled brightly. Then, a clacking sound was heard from behind her. There was only one person in this place who still insisted on wearing shoes, even before their liberation. Everyone's eyes were focused on her movements.
"What."
April glanced at Breta and then narrowed her eyes.
"Growl..."
Bretta avoided her gaze and backed away. Maybe they had fought before in a previous liberation. It looked like an instinctive fear.
"Hmph."
April scoffed at Bretta as she walked away, then turned to Kyle. With her shoes on, their eyes were about the same height. She stared at him silently.
"Why do you keep looking? It's annoying."
"What is?"
"You're looking even now, aren't you?"
"Don't you have anything to say?"
"No."
April's eyebrows twitched.
"You told me to choose you. The system has changed; the duel is gone now, so we can't do it anymore. What should I do about this regret?"
Was that what she said? But Kyle's thoughts remained unchanged.
"You don't need to be regretful."
"It's not that I'm regretful······!"
"When the liberation begins, I'll find you first. Just wait."
As Kyle spoke, April quickly lowered her head. Her face was red.
"Hey, work hard. Try your best!"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
April turned around without answering. She took a few quick steps away, then her body swayed. She didn't stop there and fell to the ground with a thud.
"What's going on?"
Kyle finally took a look at his surroundings, which had been quiet for a while. All the other seeds were lying down. The company employee who was managing the weapons was nowhere to be found.
He closed his eyes and focused on his senses. Then, he felt the poison seeping into his body. It was a subtle sleeping poison that even Kyle could barely feel. His "immune system," which had been created by the process of releasing and detoxifying the poison from the shackles, was resisting. So, this must also be a part of the magical effect. Could it be Finelli's doing?
'So this is what it means to start the liberation immediately after making a choice.'
Kyle looked towards the place where the weapons were chosen.
Breta was lying down, hugging a shield.
"Grrr-!"
He was snoring loudly. He must have fallen asleep right after he made his choice.
The sleeping poison was not harmful enough to cause death or pose a threat. It was probably just for the purpose of putting them to sleep.
He didn't expect it to happen this way, but he could see the purpose.
The purpose is to disrupt the cooperation between the seeds and encourage them to overcome it on their own. Soon, the seeds will be dropped in various parts of the forest.
His eyes began to close slowly. The amount of sleeping poison he inhaled was starting to exceed his immune system.
-Booooow-!
The sound of engines could be heard from a short distance away from the forest. It was not just one or two vehicles.
'They must be the ones who will move the seeds.'
Kyle's eyelids were heavy. He felt like he could collapse and fall asleep at any moment. He started to lie down on his back, but then he looked down at the dirt floor.
"······."
Suddenly, a desire beyond sleep stirred within him. In his fading consciousness, Kyle's path led him 'coincidentally' to Miley's house.
Author's Note
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