NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 40: Mind Games
Killing the masked woman wasn’t easy.
Firstly, I had to take into account that she likely had an automatic defense skill, similar to most high-level Authority users. Simply aiming my gun at her and shooting with the best speed I could muster wasn’t going to work. For a spatial ability like hers, her Authority might automatically activate her skill and teleport her out of the way to prevent her from dying.
This is why I needed a more indirect approach.
First, I needed the professor to cast a small portal. After plucking a feather from the bird, I stuffed it into the barrel of my second gun, which I mostly kept facing downward to avoid drawing attention to it. This meant that the moment I gave the signal, my gun would be connected to the position of the bird through the small portal.
Now, all I needed to do was get into the target's head.
I first shot Rin’s thigh as she used her Authority to connect that experience with the Giant Killer. She was pretty good at picking up cues without me having to explain, so she likely thought we were doing this to slow down the Giant Killer and give the other students an advantage. It was exactly what I wanted her to think.
As such, we were able to injure the Giant Killer easily, making the masked woman highly cautious. This was also why I used a much higher speed to ensure that she wouldn’t be able to follow the bullet's trajectory with her eyes. She was much weaker physically, so she wouldn’t be able to power through the pain like the Giant Killer did. Her weapon of choice was a rapier—a sword with a very thin blade. This detail made it easier to guess her physical capabilities.
Next, I teased the Giant Killer for a reaction after injuring him, making sure he shared his opinion regarding Rin's skill. The fact that he openly admitted that he couldn’t defend against such a skill was another blow to the masked woman’s psyche.
If the Giant Killer can't dodge it… if his bullets are that fast, why doesn't he…???...
Even with a mask, I could more or less imagine what she was thinking. One would think having a mask to hide your emotions was an advantage in a fight, but in this situation, my continued show of confidence would only bring more unease to her. It’s like he can see my face, she might even think.
After getting into the woman's head, I made a show of killing her—not just injuring her, but straight-up killing her. An action that would prompt an immediate reaction, leaving very little time to think clearly. It was vital to make her act on instinct rather than logic.
Sensing that pulling the trigger and shooting Rin in the head would inadvertently kill her too, she only had one choice: to remove me from the equation.
It was a double-layered trap.
If she chose to switch with Rin instead, she would've just died from a direct shot since I was already aiming for Rin’s head. This left her no other option but to switch with me, the attacker. By switching places with me, she would prevent me from killing her and also give herself an opportunity to restrain Rin, making sure she doesn't use that dangerous Authority anymore.
Because the Giant Killer had associated Rin's skill with 'spatial attachment', it meant that switching places with some random in the room wouldn't change anything. The connection made between Rin and the masked woman would still somehow remain. At least, that's what she would theorize.
At the moment she chose to switch with me, the bird that was silently hovering behind my head was now hovering behind hers. After seeing the scenery in front of me change with [Future Sight], I pulled both triggers. Since the professor had connected the barrel of my second gun with the bird, the bullet naturally entered her skull the second she switched places with me.
Gun=>Bird=>Skull.
A very quick and clean death.
I had no intention of fighting fair in the first place. And so, this brings us here.
One down…
I looked at the Giant Killer as he brandished his daggers. One of the students rushed in, but the Giant Killer quickly dodged and knocked the sword out of his hands with a dagger. In the next moment, he sliced across the student's chest, knocking him away as blood spilled onto the floor.
This is troublesome.
Even if his mission didn’t involve killing anyone, it would be a problem if the students bled out and still died. He probably wouldn’t even care.
“We won’t pay the promised money” wasn’t really something you’d use to scare someone like him, which is why I was still skeptical that [Ten Tedious] really ‘hired’ him for a job like this.
Maybe he really did come to kill us? But how did I not know of something this big in the past?
I thought to myself as I casually walked toward Rin and Ruby, who were still watching the scene in confusion.
“Are you two lovebirds finished? People might start dying now,” I said in a calm tone, but the situation really was that dire. Ruby looked at me with a strange expression—a mixture of fear and discomfort—but digging deeper into those eyes, I saw a flicker of anger directed at me.
“What’s wrong, Ruby? I saw you run over to me earlier,” I said with a smile, causing her to shrink back, wearing a saddened expression.
“You were going to…” She kept muttering to herself, completely oblivious to the fact that no one could really hear her.
“I’m honestly surprised,” I said, causing her to flinch as she retreated behind Rin, but as if suddenly remembering, she meekly stopped and stepped away from Rin’s back. Her reactions were a bit funny, and I wanted to continue teasing her, but I stopped and raised my hand.
“That was amazing. You might want to check your status window,” I said as I raised one of the guns I was holding, her eyes widening as she looked at it.
“I did… that?” She looked at her hands as if only realizing what had happened. That’s right, the gun that had been pointed at Rin earlier had suddenly shrunk to below half its original size. It wasn’t to the point that it couldn’t have been fired, but it was still a good start.
“Status.” Ruby immediately stared into space as she looked at her skills. Can she shrink objects without touching them now? I wondered. But out of respect, I decided not to ask. I turned to look at Rin, who had been staring at me the whole time.
“I think we should join the battle. Half of the students are already down,” I casually said as I turned to the battlefield. The two nodded and prepared for battle.
“But before that, I think I should address something. Rin.” I looked at her, and she looked back at me without much change in her expression. She was being awfully silent.
“If there’s going to be a pattern of suicide attempts in the future, then maybe you should do us a favor and drop out of the academy,” I said, causing her eyes to widen in surprise. I’ve seen many people in their last moments before death. I know what a person who has accepted death looks like. Her expression just then… To my knowledge, Rin was only 17 years old, and as such, her reaction was completely abnormal.
“I’m sorry if I worried you.” She gave a sincere apology while wearing a self-deprecating smile. I nodded and turned away from her.
“Above everyone’s lives, I value efficiency. Ruby is working hard because you’re here.” I looked at Ruby, who shyly looked away.
“So the next time you decide to do something that stupid, you should keep in mind that I'll get rid of her too,” I said while glancing at Rin, but she didn’t seem surprised by my threat. She's already back to acting like her usual self.
“I’m sure you would,” she simply said while looking at Ruby, who seemed uncomfortable with the line of conversation.
Whatever problems Rin had, she needed to deal with them as soon as possible. Losing her while Ruby was trying to grow might be too traumatic to handle. Ruby’s growth was oriented toward thinking on her own, so a forceful means of growth was out of the question. I didn’t want a puppet that would mindlessly agree with everything I said, or else I would’ve used a different approach.
I’m not as heartless as one might think.
I thought to myself as I walked toward the battlefield, where the most brutal battle we would experience was about to begin.
