Chapter 32
When I see Linia asking me for help, it means it's something she can't handle on her own.
And then, as if it's the most natural thing, a bunch of kids who look like freshmen from the unmanned department swarm in.
Listening to what they're saying...
'Are they fighting over Linia?'
[You can tell just by looking, right?]
'The moment you glance at it and make a quick assumption, that's when the illusion starts.'
Anyway, judging by the situation, my guess seems to be correct.
Still, just to be sure, I should clarify.
“Are you guys competing over Linia? HakenX.”
“I’ve told you several times, that’s not my name. It’s Raniel Leventesia.”
“I know. Melomelo Melona, just answer the question.”
“Are you doing this on purpose, you bastard?!”
Scully Babbamba didn’t answer my question and just exploded in anger.
“What are you talking about? Caffe Ore Wild Bar.”
“Ughhh!!”
The guy with a name that sounds like an ice cream flavor grabbed his head and threw a fit.
Honestly, the only thing I remember about him is that his name gives off an ice cream vibe.
So, if I keep calling him by ice cream-like names, I’ll probably get it right eventually.
“Actually, I don’t remember your name. Your mom’s an alien.”
“My mother is from the Empire, though?!”
“Ah, that might’ve gone too far. My bad. Minminmin Sweet Mint.”
“Have you completely abandoned the concept of names now?”
It seems like none of what I said was correct.
And then I realized.
I really don’t care about this guy at all.
[Master, you don’t even remember things you don’t care about, even if you beat them to death.]
‘You’d think I’d at least remember if I beat someone to death. The people in that neighborhood are really harsh.’
Come on, it’s normal to forget things sometimes!
Anyway, this ice cream-like bastard has been spouting nonsense since earlier, so it seems pointless to keep asking.
So, I turned my attention elsewhere.
The root of the problem, the guy who’s taller than me but is trembling so hard behind me that he’s practically tearing my clothes.
“Tell me what’s going on. Linia.”
"They keep insisting that we join their faction!!"
Problem solved. I wasted my time asking that ice cream-like guy for nothing.
"I never liked your useless muscles in the first place!"
"Who wears armor in the middle of summer? Ridiculous!!"
Fortunately, the martial artists aren’t drawing their swords, but they’re still fiercely arguing with each other.
Anyway, I can’t stand watching them cause a scene in a place that isn’t even their territory. It’s time to wrap this up.
Ah! "Listen up, you empty-headed fools!"
I tried to provoke them, but surprisingly, no one paid any attention.
Do these guys have no self-awareness? In a way, it’s impressive.
I quickly changed my approach and called out to them again.
"Hey! The most legitimate faction here—"
As soon as I said that, the martial artists, except for Linia, immediately turned their attention to me.
"Hey! What’s going on? Are you looking for us?"
"Ahem! If we’re talking about legitimacy, of course it’s us—"
"What? Are you talking about us?"
Wow, look at these shameless people.
I expected this to some extent, but it seems like they all think their own group is the most legitimate.
Well, even my father, a rural martial artist, always talked about tradition.
"If you want to recruit Linia, you’ll need my permission."
I confidently stated what I wanted to say.
Anyway, enough of these random thoughts.
"Huh? Who’s that?"
"Raniel Leventesia?"
"Raniel, even if you’re the top student overall, you don’t have the right to interfere in the Martial Arts Department’s affairs unless you’re part of it."
The Martial Arts Department members protested against my words.
"I’m like family to Linia, so I have the right to interfere."
Of course, I immediately fired back.
"Raniel…"
Linia seemed touched, as she looked at me with slightly teary eyes.
This girl, getting emotional over something so small.
I nodded with satisfaction and continued.
"Therefore, you’ll need to pay me a fair price."
"Raniel…?"
Linia’s expression changed in an instant, and she glared at me with dagger-like eyes.
"Huh? Does it sound like I’m trying to sell you out?"
"What? Why?"
---
"How would this blockhead know... No, I quietly raised my finger and pointed at the blockhead who didn’t even understand my grand intentions.
'Selling? What nonsense are you talking about?'
'Then what is it?'
'It’s... well! Outsourcing!'
'Outsourcing?'
'Exactly! It’s just introducing affiliated personnel for a fair price!'
Linia’s eyes narrowed even more.
'Huh? What’s that look? Silent racial discrimination?'
'Discrimination? No, forget that!!'
'Racial discrimination is a serious matter, and you’re brushing it off like that!'
'No! More importantly, what about my consent?!'
'Quiet! Affiliated personnel must listen to management!'
'You just said it was outsourcing! And what’s this management thing now?!'
'It’s similar, isn’t it?'
[No, they’re clearly different! Outsourcing deals with labor, while management handles talent!]
'It’s roughly the same thing, dealing with people. Just let it go. You’re neither labor nor talent since you have no rights.'
[You always say such harsh things to me so casually. Are you bullying me?]
'No. Bullying applies to those with rights, so this is far from bullying.'
[...]
As usual, the AI, who had been spouting nonsense, fell silent.
Anyway, this isn’t important.
'Now, present yourselves, you soulless beings.'
'Raniel? Are you listening to me? What about my consent?!'
Linia kept interrupting me.
'I have no intention of belonging anywhere, okay?'
I frowned at linia’s continued remarks.
'What? Are you self-isolating?'
'Why are you making it sound like that? And what’s self-isolating?'
'It’s human nature to belong to a group.'
Indeed, humans are beings imprinted with the DNA of pack animals at the cellular level.
Since the ancient days of Australo-whatever, humans started hunting in packs.
Even modern democracy, when you strip it down, is just a system where the majority oppresses the minority with numbers.
In other words, humans are a species of pack animals!
[As expected, Master! You casually say things that would get you dragged away by scary men in black suits from a democratic country and force-fed ox bone soup!]"
---
"Where is democracy in this neighborhood? I am a man of the Empire!"
Democracy is just an ideology of a past life.
Now, I am a man of the Empire.
Therefore, it is right to believe in imperialism.
"Your words are correct! Raniel Leventecia!"
“Yes! A person must belong to a group to have law!"
Anyway, as proof that my words are correct, even those without a master agreed with me.
"See, they also say my words are correct."
"What about my opinion?"
"It's the law that the minority opinion is always suppressed by the majority opinion!"
At my words, Linia closed her mouth, bowed her head deeply, and her body began to tremble.
I looked at her with satisfaction and nodded.
"Now, everyone, how much can you pay to recruit this damn... excellent talent?"
Then, I felt a heavy sensation on my neck.
"Too much! Raniel!!"
"Ugh!"
Before I could react, Linia grabbed my collar and started shaking me.
"Ugh, let go, let go..."
"You never listen to me properly!"
"Ugh..."
My mind began to grow hazy.
And then.
I lost consciousness.
"Raniel? Raniiieeell!!"
In the midst of my fading consciousness, the voice of this damn blockhead who did this to me pierced my ears.
This damn blockhead is really going to kill someone.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Ughhhhhh!"
Some crazy guy was screaming like a madman and wildly hitting the black iron plate on the floor.
I cautiously approached the madman.
The man was wearing a red powered suit.
A familiar powered suit.
The 7th generation powered suit, Red Crab.
It's named because the color resembles a crab, but it really does look like a crab.
By the way, what’s going on here?
Just now, Linia tried to assassinate me, and I thought I had regained my senses, but suddenly, a familiar scene appeared before my eyes.
The man in front of me is someone I know better than anyone else.
I spoke to that familiar man.
"Stop it. You're dead."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The man, as if he couldn’t even hear my words, has been frantically pounding on the black iron plate on the floor like a madman.
Even I can see he looks like a lunatic, but calling him a lunatic would be like spitting while lying down, wouldn’t it?
After all, that’s my past self.
My past self is right in front of me, acting out a familiar scene in a familiar way...
The fact that I’m observing myself in the third person already proves this isn’t reality.
'Therefore, this must be a dream.'
As usual, it’s one of those recurring nightmares about the past.
Even though I’m fully aware of the situation and observing it from a third-person perspective, it still feels distant from a typical nightmare.
"I get how you feel, but stop doing something so inefficient. Even I can’t stand to watch this."
At that, the crab-like powered suit in front of me stopped moving, and the face part of the suit turned toward me.
Even on second glance, it looks like a crab.
What’s for dinner tonight?
I hope it’s crab.
"What’s this? Who’s this squinty little brat?"
The front of the crab-like powered suit opened, revealing the familiar face of the man inside.
His eyes were slit, and a thick scar was prominently etched across his face.
"It’s my past self’s face, but even I have to admit, he looks like a bad guy."
"What are you talking about? You’re the one who looks like a villain."
Wow, look at this guy, no manners at all.
Even if it’s my past self in a dream, I can’t stand being called a squinty little brat smaller than a mouse’s tail, so tiny I could dig through the floor and reach the mantle.
"I can’t stand watching this guy, who’s lost touch with reality, wasting his time like this."
"What are you going on about? A squinty little brat smaller than a mouse’s tail, so tiny you could dig through the floor and reach the mantle."
"Tch, you’re no better than a big-headed brat who can’t even face reality, strutting around in a crab-like powered suit and spouting nonsense like a crab."
Since he kept throwing harsh words, I fired back with some of my own.
But why does it hurt me?
Anyway, I’ve been feeling like something’s been missing for a while now, and it just hit me—that guy who usually butts in with nonsense hasn’t said a word.
This just confirms it even more—this is definitely a dream.
“Now that I think about it, who are you? No, more importantly, how are you here with just your bare body? Don’t tell me you’re a monster?!”
“You caught on pretty quick. But judging by the fact that you’re still spouting nonsense even after realizing, it seems like you’ve definitely been nerfed compared to your real self, probably because we’re in the dream world.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Whatever, just hurry up and go home before you regret it.”
Even though this is a dream, and the guy in front of me is my past self from a dream, I couldn’t just let it slide, so I threw a jab at him.
Not like it’ll change anything, though.
-…RaNiel!!
Hmm, it seems like someone’s trying to wake me up.
I don’t know if what I’ll see when I open my eyes will be the afterlife or reality, but I guess I’ll find out when I wake up.
“What are you talking about?! Answer my question! Are you a monster or a human?”
“Looks like it’s time for me to go, so I’ll give you one quick piece of advice.”
“Monsters must be killed.”
“Monsters? Yeah, monsters should be killed. But think about why you started thinking that way in the first place.”
“So just hurry up and go home.”
My past self, standing in front of me, had a completely twisted expression, glaring at me with a murderous look. And as if reaffirming my resolve, I said to myself:
“I haven’t forgotten either. So don’t you forget either.”
As I stared at the menacing face of my past self, the scenery around me began to melt away like snow, and an unfamiliar ceiling came into view.
* * *
The phrase “an unfamiliar ceiling” is such a well-crafted saying.
But when you think about it, can someone who’s just regained consciousness and is still disoriented really tell if that ceiling is unfamiliar or the same one they see every day?
Even in my case, when I wake up and look at the ceiling, I can’t tell if it’s the ceiling of my house or some hospital ceiling that looks like it’s straight out of a drama.
Anyway, that’s beside the point.
“Ranieeeel!”
“Stop! Freeze! Stay right there!”
I urgently shouted at Linia, the first attempted murderer and now another murder threat charging at me.
“What, what’s this?! I was worried about you, and this is how you react?!”
“I appreciate the concern, but I’ll pass on the attempted murder, thanks.”
"What? What did I do?!"
Linia glared at me with a face full of frustration.
Yeah, sure. You might have rushed at me without any ill intent, but because of that, I was practically on the brink of death.
The image of a giant dog excitedly running towards its owner and accidentally sending them flying popped into my head.
Anyway, that's beside the point.
"Go get some water, Linia."
I pulled out a cup from the dimensional storage and handed it to Linia.
And without any suspicion, Linia took the cup I handed to her.
"Huh? Oh, okay. But why is this so slippery...!!"
*Crash!!*
The cup escaped from Lynia's hands, shouting for freedom as it hit the floor and shattered into pieces.
"You broke it."
"Huh? No, why was it so slippery?"
