"Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Roy. I'm just a bandit who happened to cross paths with you," Roy said casually."It's true that we've only just met, but—"
"BUT WHAT?!"
"Anyone who meets me… and manages to catch my interest—"
CRATS!
"UGH!"
"—HAS TO DIE."
---------------------------------------------
The smoke around me thickened again.
No sound. No shape. No sense of direction.
Only smoke—strangely harmless to my breathing, yet absolute in how it erased the world.
CRATS!
"UGH!"
Another strike. From nowhere.
If this continued… I would die without ever fighting back.
"What's wrong?" Roy's voice echoed mockingly from within the haze. "Is this all the academy's students can do this year?"
"…Shut up."
"I'll admit it," he continued, his tone dripping with amusement. "Your determination to keep standing is admirable. Really." "But I'm curious—how long can you last?"
CRATS!
"KYAH!"
My leg.
I collapsed, my left knee slamming into the ground.
"HEY!" I shouted through clenched teeth. "YOU'RE A MAN, AREN'T YOU?! FIGHT ME PROPERLY!"
"HAHA!" Roy laughed cruelly. "Fighting you directly is boring, you know?"
"I prefer taking it slow… little by little…" "Thin cuts all over your body. Even the slightest movement will send pain screaming through you. I love watching people suffer."
"You bastard!"
TRANG!
I forced myself upright, stabbing the scythe's handle into the ground for support.
—Pain.
My eye—
"UGH!"
It burned.
No—It felt like something was drilling into my skull from the inside.
"HOEGH—!"
Blood spilled from my mouth. My body trembled. My vision blurred.
Just a little longer…Please—just hold on a little longer.
"Oh?" Roy mocked. "Running out of strength already?"
"Come here… you piece of trash!"
"UPHH— HOEGH!"
"Are you going to die?" Roy whispered gleefully from the smoke. "Take your time. I'll wait patiently in here… hahaha."
I can't—I'm out of ideas.
What am I supposed to do…?
Iych…In the end, we still had to face this kind of battle, didn't we… I'm sorry… sorry for always dragging chaos into your life… Looks like this is as far as I—
"Ri—"
…Huh?
"Rinne—!"
A voice.
"WHO'S THERE?!" I shouted reflexively.
"Hm?" Roy sounded confused. "Have you finally gone insane?"
"Iych?! Can you hear me?!" I yelled desperately.
"Rinne! Yes—I can hear you!"Her voice echoed inside my head. "Thank goodness… thank goodness you're still alive, Rinnehehe…"
"…Yeah."Tears spilled without permission. "I'm glad… I can hear your voice again…"
"Rinne…"
"Iych…"
"HEY, THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR TEARS," A deep, unfamiliar voice cut in sharply. "Rinne, you're currently inside my ability. This conversation can't be heard by anyone else."
"Who are you?" I asked.
"I'll explain later. Right now—what can you see?"
"Nothing," I answered honestly. "Just smoke. It's been blocking my vision for a while now."
"I see. Can you move?"
"My right hand can still swing the weapon… barely," I replied through pain. "My left arm is numb. He shredded it."
"What is he using to attack you?"
"I don't know. I can't see it clearly."
"…Listen carefully," the voice said, serious now.
"His ability is smoke manipulation."
"What?" Iych reacted. "Isn't his talent in his knives?"
"No. We already knocked out the man using the cigarettes," the voice explained. "But the smoke never disappeared."
"…Ah. So that means—"
"Exactly. The smoke itself isn't the smoker's talent."
That… made sense.
"Then what is the smoker's talent?" I asked.
"The opening attack that hit you and Iych," the voice paused. "Explosion."
"…Hooaammm. Hey—what are you spacing out for?" Roy's voice returned after the silence.
"SHUT UP!"
CRATS!
"GRHH!"
CRATS!
"ARGHH!"
CREK!
"Never scream when you're about to die," Roy sneered. "It doesn't make you look cool."
I still… can't fight back…
"What would happen," he whispered, "if I crushed both your eyes?"
A blade-shaped mass of smoke formed—aimed straight at my face.
ZHUSHH!
I deflected it with a desperate swing of my scythe.
Smoke.
Only smoke.
"You still don't understand, do you?" Roy laughed. "All of this is pointless."
"I don't know what makes you want to live so badly in this kingdom…"
"…What do you mean?"
"I knew it from the start," he continued calmly. "That we're the same."
"The same in what way?!" I snapped. "We're different! I'd never hurt innocent people!"
"PFFT—HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Roy laughed so hard it looked like his jaw might snap.
"That's not what I meant, you stupid kid."
"THEN WHAT?!"
"Huff…" He exhaled. "We're both from the lower districts."
My heart skipped.
"…What?"
"I'm doing this for you."
For the first time, Roy stepped out of the smoke—
clearly visible.
"…My fellow comrade."