[163] Late Lunch (1)
"Huff, huff."
Amy, who had been watching for quite a while, finally shouted as if she couldn't stand it anymore.
"Hey! Would you mind getting out of the way now? The nerve of you—if anyone saw this, they'd think we were the thugs and you were the victim."
Marsha turned her eyes to look at Amy, then, jutting her lips as if to set Amy's chest on fire, burrowed even deeper into Sirone's chest.
Amy heard the string of her patience snap.
"Unbelievable—this woman!"
Freemon stepped in front of Marsha and pleaded.
"Leave her be. She's worn out from crying."
Amy stared at Freemon in disbelief, then pointed a finger.
"Aren't you mistaken about something? Do you know how much we went through because of you people? It's a good thing we won—Sirone's life almost ended today!"
That was what Amy was truly angry about. Was a good outcome all that mattered? If Sirone hadn't gotten through today's crisis, the aftermath alone was horrific to imagine.
Not only Sirone, whose magic had been stolen—Amy, who had been forced to watch it, felt like someone who'd come back from hell alive.
"I'm sorry. Every crime we committed while operating as the Parrot Mercenary Corps was on my orders. Marsha only fought the Mage Association's trackers. But if even that counts as a crime…"
Arms folded, Amy shot back.
"If it does?"
"Then I'll take responsibility for her life."
Marsha, who'd been clinging to Sirone, sprang to her feet. She marched over and kicked Freemon's backside.
"Don't make me laugh! Who asked you to mess up my prospects? I don't need a guy like you!"
Freemon's waist rocked, but he still stood planted like an old tree. He'd been used to Marsha's tantrums since she was young.
"Noona Marsha."
At Sirone's voice, Marsha's shoulders twitched. She didn't have the courage to turn around. The reason she'd vented at Freemon for nothing was because she feared exactly this situation. In the end, she couldn't bring herself to turn and just spoke.
"Um… I'm sorry about what happened this time. Of course, I know it won't be forgiven."
"That's right. Noona, you can't be forgiven."
Marsha turned, startled. Sirone's eyes were cold. The look that had gently soothed her wounds just before was gone without a trace.
"Whatever the reason, you kidnapped a girl and used her. That's something you must never do."
Marsha couldn't refute it and bowed her head. She had never bullied the weak in all her life. But she didn't want to make excuses. Because the one who'd suffered most from Yuna's abduction was Sirone.
"Yeah, I guess so. Come to think of it, I was a villain through and through."
"That's right. Noona, you're a first-class villain."
Sirone said it without hesitation. Thinking on it, that was his nature. The reason he dealt with people sincerely without stirring up strife was because his disposition itself was good—not because he liked to cloud facts or tell lies.
"I'm going. I hope you get through this well. And… I hope we never meet again."
Without lingering, Sirone turned and walked away. Pitying and understanding Marsha—that was all he could do.
"I was wrong!"
In that moment, Marsha mustered her courage and shouted. Sirone had made no judgment about this incident.
It was the same as when she'd stolen the pottery at the market. That was why she had no choice but to step forward first.
"How can you just go like that? I'm only getting started. At least promise we'll meet again!"
After standing there for some time, Sirone turned back. His eyes were still sharp, and Marsha felt as anxious as a prisoner awaiting sentence.
"If you truly think you were wrong, apologize to Yuna. And admit your wrongdoing and say you're sorry to her brother, Jis, too. You have to compensate for all the damages the siblings suffered."
"Of course! Honestly, I hate this kind of thing too. I won't make excuses, and I'll ask those two for forgiveness separately."
"Even so, that doesn't erase what you did. I can never forgive what you've done up till now."
Marsha's shoulders slumped. Tears, brimming along her lashes, looked ready to fall at any moment.
"But if you really decide to live a new life, I can forget the past."
Marsha jerked her head up—then burst into tears like a child and threw herself into Sirone's arms.
"Waaah! I was wrong!"
Sirone couldn't bring himself to soothe Marsha as she cried in his arms. In truth, it was the first time in his life he'd made a choice like this.
Some people live a life harder than anyone else's. Not everyone in the world can fight with their convictions on the line.
And so Sirone decided to try forgiving her.
If he was the point where her change began, he thought he at least had the responsibility to watch over it.
'Marsha Clay…'
Maybe that was why—but Sirone suddenly realized.
That the Marsha who had only ever seemed strong and frightening was, in truth, a woman small enough to hold and then some.
Marsha led Sirone and his friends into the building. Since it was the place where two mages had fought, not a single fixture had been left intact.
His friends could infer how hard Sirone had struggled.
"Let's go up to the second floor. I'm hungry after that fight. I'll make you something to eat. I'm not very good, though."
At least the second floor was fit to stay in. Only a few flowerpots lay smashed on the floor.
Sirone's party waited for the food.
Yuna was seated at the table as well. Now that the tension had eased, her complexion looked better than at first.
They had set out at dawn and, with the sun already sinking, hadn't eaten a single meal. It wasn't a hunger that could wait for elaborate cooking, so Marsha served soup and bread they could eat right away.
The moment the food came out, they wolfed it down. Given how bad Rian's injuries were, he shouldn't have been in any condition to eat, but he seemed to have eaten the most of anyone.
"Can you no longer use the Out-of-Rule style now?"
What impressed Sirone most in this battle was, of course, the Out-of-Rule style. Not on the level of an Unlocker, but clearly a rare trait in the magical world.
"No, not exactly. Deprivation will be impossible, of course, but wounds carved into the heart don't heal that easily. It'll morph into something or other."
"I see. Hm."
When Sirone trailed off, quick-witted Marsha smiled brightly.
"Don't worry. I won't create anything that vicious again. You can change the rule to some extent."
Sirone nodded, eyes widening. This too was practical knowledge you couldn't learn at school.
"Then do you at least have a rule in mind?"
"Not yet, not really. Let's see… Maybe I'll develop a magic that, say, goes to a magic school and seduces a handsome blond guy?"
Sirone gave a nervous smile. Having experienced an Out-of-Rule caster's perversity firsthand, he couldn't take it as a mere joke.
Catching Amy's sharp glare, Marsha waved her hands to reassure her.
"Hehe, don't worry. It's not Sirone."
"Oh? Yeah? Then who?"
"There is someone. He goes to a magic school, he's blond, and he's handsome."
Amy dropped the subject. Arguing with an Out-of-Rule caster, who sees the world her own way, was pointless to begin with.
Freemon set down his spoon and spoke seriously.
"How about a magic to charm a man without eyebrows?"
"Pffft—!"
Marsha sputtered the soup back into her bowl. Know your place—who would have expected such brazen words at a table like this?
"What nonsense is that? Seriously, what's wrong with you?"
"What? I never said it was me."
"Is there anyone else in this world without eyebrows besides you and monkeys?"
"Monkeys aren't human."
"No! I'm saying you're the monkey! Come to think of it, you lost, didn't you? What a pathetic coward. How many times have I told you not to take the Reverse Technique Tree? Huh? Huh?"
Marsha jabbed Freemon's temple with her fork.
Watching this, something occurred to Amy. It really was strange that Freemon had taken a direct hit from her Flame Strike and still been fine.
'Reverse Technique Tree?'
Those who train Schema stack multiple schemas to build up. The most basic build lies at the bottom, and the option builds you choose are stacked on top.
Reversing that in an instant is the reverse build.
Schema users call it "Reversal," and it's a defensive build you only choose when your life is in danger.
Gunners, whose lifeblood is mobility and accuracy, usually base themselves on sensory-type or neural-type enhancements.
Therefore, defensive builds related to regeneration or cell activation inevitably get relegated to options.
Freemon was a Gunner too, so he wouldn't be much different.
But going by Marsha's words, he had fought from the very beginning on a defensive build—that is, a Reversal build.
In that case, it makes sense his face was fine even after being burned by Flame Strike.
'True… and the speed when he saved Marsha at the end was tremendous.'
That was probably his movement as a Gunner without Reversal. Once she thought of it that way, anger welled up in her.
Sensing Amy's mood, Freemon spoke.
"If it hadn't been Reversal, the opponent would have crafted a different strategy. There's no such thing as strong or weak. You just act according to the situation, and courage is part of skill. Amy, you were stronger than me. That's all."
Marsha propped her chin and let out a small laugh. Eyebrowless coward Freemon had learned to say something rather manly at last.
Praised by an enemy, Amy suddenly felt awkward.
"Uh, well… you were amazing too, ajusshi."
"Thanks. But I'm not an ajusshi. I'm the same age as Marsha."
"So what? Even if you're the same age, you're still an ajusshi to me."
Freemon drooped, bowed his head, and went back to tearing his bread. The question "So why does Sirone call Marsha Noona?" rose to his throat, but timid as he was, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
Once the chitchatty mood passed, Marsha straightened her expression and spoke seriously again.
"In any case, Sirone, if you're aiming to be a mage, it's best to be wary of Out-of-Rule casters. Honestly, it's pretty funny for me to be the one saying this."
"No, I want to know. Please tell me a little more."
"Hmm. The deprivation I used wasn't all that efficient. Even though 'stealing the opponent's magic' is overpowered as a concept, it's only a challenge at what might be possible—it isn't an effective way to fight."
Sirone thought the same: if you were going to stake your life as the price to gain some ability, you probably wouldn't choose deprivation.
There are simply too many constraints bound up in the very act of plundering someone else's ability.
"I'm a bit of a special case. Most Out-of-Rule casters are unusual, of course, but mine wasn't a magic created with fighting in mind from the start. Other Out-of-Rule casters will use styles far more effective and versatile than mine."
"I see. This is late to say, but fighting you really chilled me. I never thought there was a way in the world to seal Immortal Function."
"Hehe, sorry about that. But you're right. In the world of magic, nothing's impossible. Nothing's absolute. You beat me because you grasped my weakness, didn't you?"
"Yes. If the activation of the Out-of-Rule style itself is rooted in trauma, then I figured if you targeted that trauma tenaciously, variables might arise."
"Exactly. Put another way, it's a contest of constraints and prices. When facing an Out-of-Rule caster, it's more important than raw combat power to quickly figure out the mechanism of the magic they wield. Of course, I think you'll do just fine."
"No. I learned a lot this time."
Sirone answered from the heart. It had been a battle where he realized the world is wide and the number of outstanding people is beyond counting.