Chapter 178
Sion made a grumpy face when he saw Oliver's hand gesture.
"Oliver, I meant it seriously."
"Oh, sure. If you're crazy, you'll just spout crazy talk, right? Seriously."
"Haa......"
Sion scratched the back of his head and glanced around at the others.
Neph was quietly gazing at Sion, awaiting his orders.
Enpi was unreadable, as if 'a person-shaped void' existed in the air.
'Dad's on guard.'
Dragan, concluding that he had no right to speak, just stroked his beard, and Thomas and Oliver were looking at Sion with uncomfortable faces.
Thomas's gaze turned to Licorice, who was still bleeding profusely.
"Hey, enpi."
"Hm?"
Enpi, who had been crossing his arms, responded to Thomas's call.
"How did you know Licorice's clothes were compound armor? Not just that. Cracking, anesthetics... Those are things even you, with your perception and wealth of experience, couldn't have easily analyzed."
"Hm. Distrust is spreading, I see."
Enpi shrugged his shoulders.
"Oh, it's not that I don't trust you. If you'd been planning something, we'd all be dead already."
"......"
Thomas's words were based on Enpi's dangerous reputation, which had already been proven by the Bianca Guild incident.
It was a rough remark, not matching his usually serious and gentlemanly personality.
'He's lost his mind from being angry at Dragan.'
Enpi silently clicked his tongue.
"And Dragan might have already been skinned and become one of your souvenirs."
As Thomas kept talking, dragan's expression grew darker.
"Thomas. I'm not interested in weird souvenirs."
Enpi replied passively, trying to calm Thomas down.
When a reserved person gets angry, trying to actively calm them might just pour oil on the fire.
This was exactly that kind of moment.
"Good to hear. Then I'll process that souvenir myself."
Thomas threw out a chilling remark and glared fiercely at Dragan.
Of everyone present, thomas was the most hurt by Dragan's earlier excuses.
"Damn it! I can let other excuses go!"
Finally, thomas pointed at Dragan and shouted.
"But dragging Londi into your excuse? Was it enough that you met Licorice with Londi? Are you saying no weird talk happened between you two? What counts as 'weird' to you? Did you think mentioning Londi's name would dilute what you did? Is that it? You just toss Londi out in front of Sion so you can make yourself look good and call it a day?"
"I—..."
"Coward!"
As Dragan tried to say something, thomas immediately raised his voice to cut him off.
"You selfish bastard with no loyalty! This is exactly why Sion called you selfish! What's a friend to you anyway? What was our time together worth? And why blurt out Londi's secret like it was nothing!"
Tears welled up and trembled at the edges of Thomas's eyes.
"... Sorry, enpi. The topic changed."
Thomas wiped his eyes with a sleeve, struggling to push down his feelings about Dragan.
Everyone present knew well the friendship between Dragan and Thomas.
That was why no one blamed Dragan or cheered for Thomas.
Everyone realized that this was something only Dragan and Thomas could settle, in a way that made sense to both of them.
"I'm curious how much you know about Licorice, enpi. You always found her hideouts first, didn't you?"
Holding back his churning emotions, thomas asked calmly.
"Sorry, thomas. This won't be a short explanation. And if Licorice wakes up while we're talking, it'll get real troublesome."
"I know. I'll be the first to die, right? I'm the weakest here, after all."
Thomas's anger still hadn't faded.
"Don't just shoot your mouth off. Calm down."
Enpi spoke in a composed voice.
Still, the wrinkles on Thomas's forehead and eyes didn't smooth out.
"... Fine, whatever. With Sion and His Majesty here, I guess we'll manage somehow."
From the bag at his waist, enpi pulled out a handheld device, fiddled with it a few times, and placed it in front of Licorice.
"If that reacts, you two deal with it."
Because Enpi's explanation was so unkind, dragan, thomas, and Oliver couldn't figure out what it was, but Neph peered through the device and understood immediately.
'A priest explosive, rigged from a device—using a Dote projector like that...'
The Dote projector attached to the device was normally a cheap, common security accessory.
Enpi had modified this tool, which casts billions of dots on the user to capture features, so that the motion detection sensor—using a camera—would trigger explosives if the recorded target moved even slightly.
That thin, small explosive couldn't even reliably kill an adventurer or villager, let alone Licorice.
But if she budged even a bit, it'd react instantly, giving Sion or Neph a shot.
"Now, let me explain."
Enpi picked up the stacked paper cups beside Dragan one by one as he talked.
"There were plenty of chances to kill Licorice. I've been tracking her for nearly nine years. Actually, this place isn't unfamiliar to me."
Enpi turned on a virtual screen from the device.
On the screen was a scene of Dragan and Londemaria meeting Licorice in this very place.
There was a bland but warm smile on the faces of all three.
Footage and photos streamed by one after another, leaving Sion's party speechless for quite some time.
"What is that? What the hell?!"
Oliver, stunned, asked.
"Everyone, calm down and listen."
Enpi shut off the screen and said.
"The three of them never had any serious conversations. I analyzed their talks in detail—nothing useful, nothing harmful. Just plain small talk. They talked about ordinary things."
"No, just meeting her is the problem! Do you realize how many times Licorice has threatened this world? What were Dragan and Londi thinking, meeting a person like that!"
Thomas burst out angrily again.
"They weren't sane, obviously. At any rate, none of them knew about the Lord of the White Dragon or Bianca. They treated government stuff like it was from a different world."
"So what got those three together, then? There had to be something. Was the coffee that great?"
Thomas pressed relentlessly.
"You know the saying 'misery loves company.' Licorice, londemaria, and Dragan share something."
"Share what?"
"All three have outstanding abilities. Licorice is a genius. Dragan is an outstanding adventurer. And Londemaria can reset the world. But—they all hit rock bottom."
"Rock bottom? Why?"
Thomas's face twisted further with confusion as he questioned.
Enpi hesitated, then, thinking of his oldest daughter, spoke.
"Let me ask you something, thomas. What can a genius actually do in this world? If you were a genius, what would you do?"
"......"
"You can't think of anything, right? That's exactly it. You can be gifted from the heavens, but if you don't know what to do with your power, that's where it ends."
Enpi played a bookmarked video on the virtual screen.
The year was indeterminate, but it was clearly winter.
As snow fell in flurries, londemaria, licorice, and Dragan were roasting marshmallows, not knowing Enpi was filming them from the rooftop.
Licorice, sitting on a discarded sofa, set down her coffee cup.
—I can use selective paradox, you know that, right?
At her words, londemaria and Dragan both looked at her.
—What do you think I did with that skill?
At her question, londemaria let out a wry laugh.
—How many times are you going to say it? I bet you summoned grain blocks with better flavor, right?
—Mm.
Wearing an awkward expression, licorice picked up her cup again.
—Why not do something else?
The one who asked was Dragan in the video.
—Just because someone's a genius doesn't mean they're clever.
Licorice replied bluntly, sipping her coffee.
—I don't know what to do. Other than challenge the Firstborn, nothing comes to mind.
In the video, londemaria and Dragan both looked at Licorice with pity in their eyes.
—Come on, londi. If you get it, go ahead and reset the world. I want to start over in a world without Sion North.
—There you go being lazy again.
Dragan grumbled, then handed Licorice a nicely roasted marshmallow.
Enpi paused the video there.
"They were always like that. People with the same pain comforting each other."
Stunned by Enpi's analysis, the group turned toward Dragan.
Dragan just looked at the floor with a bitter smile, not saying a word.
Sion recalled words he once said to Licorice long ago.
He'd pointed out that she did "bad things too half-heartedly."
After mulling over those words, licorice had ended up resolving to break everything Sion had tried to understand about her.
'Did I... give a defeated person the energy to live after all?'
Sion was again burdened by memories of that day.
Enpi continued.
"After watching her so long, I started to feel like something strange might happen if Licorice was killed."
"Strange? She going to vomit up all the marshmallows she ate in life?"
Thomas retorted with another barbed comment.
Enpi shrugged.
"Licorice knows a secret that could shake the foundations of this world. Not that it's even a secret anymore. It's probably about the existence of the scenarist, an entity observing all worlds from a near-divine position. Knowing your life's ending is fixed—maybe that's why she was so despondent."
"So what happens to all the people who died because of her moping?!"
Thomas yelled, kicking over the paper cup tower.
Enpi sighed as the paper cups rolled on the floor.
"What I figured out is just the big picture. The details are probably inside Licorice's head."
"Then extract her quantum data and interpret it, right now!"
"If that were easy, would I be struggling like this? Licorice's quantum data is backed up in a special way. That's why she kept showing up fine, even after Sion killed her a couple times."
"... Ha."
With his patience depleted, thomas slumped down to the floor with a sigh.
Leaving him be, enpi turned to Sion.
"Sion. You're not just going to let Licorice go, are you?"
"No."
Sion answered, then approached Dragan and ripped the armor off his back with his bare hands.
* * *
After both her broken body and robe had regenerated, licorice finally regained consciousness.
She coughed and tried to move, only to panic.
She couldn't believe she was buried up to her neck in hardened concrete, only her head exposed.
'Damn it! I used up all my energy regenerating my body and clothes! I can't turn concrete into calories! At this rate, I'll just wither away!'
And to top it off, a straw hat was firmly planted on her head, shielding her from the sun.
"Hey, licorice. Awake now?"
Dragan's voice came from nearby, and Licorice turned her gaze.
Dragan, just like her, was sticking his head out of a lump of concrete.
"Sorry. I got found out."
He chuckled.
"... I told you to be careful, you idiot! Sion North's got good intuition!"
At her words, dragan gestured with his eyes and chin that she should look the other way.
Licorice turned and glared.
"You...?"
She stared intently at Sion, who sat in a folding chair, and Neph, who stood by his side.
"You look tired."
At her sudden expression of concern, sion, unsure what to say, just smiled weakly.
"A lot happened yesterday. Anyway, mind having a chat?"