Because I Am Surtr, Chapter 22

Was it an illusion?—No, it didn't seem like it.

A skilled hunter never believed they were experiencing an illusion.

And yet...

Red sniffed, her gray tail drooping dejectedly—if she couldn't find it, she couldn't find it; if she couldn't see it, she couldn't see it. Several times, she had even suspected someone was standing behind her. Yet when she used reflections, sensed the flow of air, or even spun around abruptly in resignation, all she found behind her was an empty passageway or corridor.

There was no sound, no movement. This sensation only temporarily faded whenever she crawled through the ventilation ducts. But when she poked her head out from the other side, the wolf's heart began to pound uneasily again.

Wolves should not crawl through ventilation ducts.

Nor should infiltrators linger too long in places as difficult to maneuver through as ventilation ducts.

So she adjusted her breathing and steadied her mind. After taking down several more guards, she infiltrated the deeper reaches of the Sarcophagus's facilities—

She could go no farther.

For just as she was about to enter the core area marked on the map, before the ancient facility that held an "important person" in storage, a hand that could no longer hold back reached out from behind her—and gently pinched one of her pointed ears protruding from beneath her hood.

"Meowgh—!?"

The proud gray Lupo let out a humiliating shriek like a Feline.

Trash Doctor, Persephone

The instant her ear was pinched, all the fur on Red's body stood on end, and her fluffy tail puffed up completely. A sharp matte dagger slid from her sleeve, and she instinctively slashed backward with all her strength—her movements were nimble and swift, and even in such an extreme environment, the dagger cut through the air without making the slightest sound. Perhaps this was one manifestation of the Originium Arts she wielded, perhaps...

There was no perhaps.

Her slash was meaningless.

The hand pinching her ear merely slid down along her hair and lightly seized the back of her neck—her spine was pinned down; in Yan terms, her "great dragon had been locked." Then came a light shake, and a resonant shockwave tore through her body along her spine, instantly filling every hollow in her bones.

—No vertebrate could maintain its fighting power when every joint in its body was rebelling. Not even Red.

Her slash lost all strength before it reached the end of its arc. The dagger slipped from her hand, but just as her fingers were about to loosen, a pair of slender hands caught them. She felt her center of gravity shift, and as her body instinctively fell backward, she landed in a warm embrace. Yet the fall did not end in an instant.

She was moving backward.

The woman behind her held her from behind and carried her backward.

Her senses and control over her body returned after five seconds, but the moment she tried to resist, the restraint from behind vanished completely. She had intended to keep fighting, but after steadying herself, the outline of a flame-haired Sarkaz entered her vision.

She stopped.

"You know me?" Miss Surtr raised an eyebrow, looking at Little Red Riding Hood, whose hostility had suddenly vanished. A trace of confusion surfaced in her heart. She had originally thought she would need to put in some effort and persuasion to calm this Lupo, who specialized in stealth, assassination, and infiltration, and had been raised as a tool since childhood. She had not expected things to be far simpler than anticipated.

"Surtr." Red put away her dagger and tilted her face up at her, as if she wanted to etch Surtr's features deep into her memory.

"Kal'tsit told Red: if Red meets Surtr, follow her commands." Red's voice carried a childish lilt, and her word choice was clearly different from that of ordinary people.

Miss Surtr was genuinely surprised... She had thought Kal'tsit would, as always, insist on doing things her own way and resist anyone making decisions or giving orders for her. After all, before Sarkaz Babel Tower fell, Surtr had run into more than a few hard and soft rejections from her. Yet she had not expected that she would one day take over as acting commander from Kal'tsit.

—Was it because Persephone was too important, and nothing could be allowed to happen to her? So she needed my strength as insurance?

—That's possible. Though it does feel like I'm being underestimated... I'm someone capable of stirring up the whole of Terra, and they want me doing this kind of grunt work... Still, since it's Kal'tsit's wish, I'll help her out.

—Besides, I never intended to do anything to Persephone in the first place. And—

She turned her head and glanced toward the secret hall where the Sarcophagus stood. Breathing lightly, she easily sensed the faint heartbeat within.

She turned to look at Red and found that Red was already standing obediently at her side, looking entirely to her for direction.

—And that wasn't the important part.

"Kal'tsit told you to listen to me. You remembered that." Surtr nodded slightly, but there was a hint of reproach and doubt in her gaze as she looked at Red. "But Kal'tsit definitely told you other things too. For example, not to approach the Sarcophagus—and even if you truly intended to get close, you had to remain on maximum alert."

Red stuck out her tongue.

Of course, she remembered Kal'tsit's warning. She had indeed taken those words to heart. But she also trusted her instincts and judgment. Besides, the mechanical installation area inside the Sarcophagus was clearly farther in...

—She saw Surtr raise a finger. A pale flame burned silently at its tip.

"If you had taken three more steps forward, you would have died."

The flame-haired Sarkaz spoke flatly. With a flick of her fingertip, the flame disturbed the air and became a gust of compressed wind. When that wind pressure, simulating the weight of an ordinary human body, swept over the point where Red had finally stopped and reached two meters farther ahead, a taut line stretched parallel to the ground gave a slight tremor.

It was not a tripwire, nor was it a pull cord. Even the material of the line itself was nothing special. Yet when the taut line trembled like a plucked string, there was a soft pop— above it.

Then came fire and light that covered that section of corridor floor, instantly melting even the metal structure!

"Originium-catalyzed detonation phenomenon." Surtr explained seriously to Red, though a faintly angry chill lingered in her eyes. "It uses handmade Arts units, triggered by vibration as the medium—there are similarities to the Lateran phonograph system. But for someone to make a trap like this using only manual work and crude components, they must possess cutting-edge contemporary Originium knowledge."

She had played the event. She knew what would happen in a Lateran town in the future—one of Rhodes Island's Medical Operators would die meaninglessly in that town. The person who killed her had used this very "phonograph Originium-catalyzed detonation" phenomenon, then successfully framed someone else and escaped.

And now, she was seeing Rhodes Island's Doctor (not yet employed) use this method on her own Operators.

Ah... Persephone, Persephone. You truly were as hopeless as ever.

Perhaps bringing back only her head would be a better answer for everyone?

Surtr shook her head slightly.

"That woman is important," she reminded herself—reminded herself that the person inside the Sarcophagus was important enough that forces aware of her abilities were willing to pay an enormous price for her.

And beyond that, Amiya and Kal'tsit both needed her.

And—

—that woman could afford the price of doing this.

Miss Surtr calmed down.

At her side, Red, who had just been looking utterly languid, was so frightened that her tail nearly exploded on the spot.

Ha, it was only natural that Red would be scared. This thing really could kill her, and just now, she had not sensed even the slightest danger—she was so shocked that when Miss Surtr took the opportunity to reach out and stroke her hair, she offered no resistance at all. By the time she came to her senses and was about to growl like a beast, seemingly ready to pounce on the mechanical area, that hand gently petting her head pressed her down for the second time.

"I'll handle this. Stay by my side and just watch."

Surtr said softly, and her words now aligned with Kal'tsit's orders.

So Red obeyed.

She gave an unhappy little growl. She was no longer as tense as before, but her gaze still vigilantly swept the surroundings.