NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 41: Calculated Retaliation
Frustration can be a powerful motivator.
It's a persistent feeling that stays with you as long as you're striving to achieve your goal. Over time, its intensity may lessen, but there are moments when it flares up even more strongly than before. This is normal. Repeated failures can wear down anyone’s mind, affecting your reasoning skills and decision-making ability, making you more susceptible to external influences. This issue can often be managed by postponing important decisions or stepping away from the subject for a while. However, the biggest problem with frustration occurs at what I’d call the "instant point of frustration," which is the exact moment when frustration reveals itself for the very first time.
At that precise moment, you become your most vulnerable self.
“Haah… Haah.” The students were breathing heavily as they faced the intruder, their frustration clearly visible. In contrast to their exhaustion, the intruder didn’t seem nearly as worked up, which only added to their despair.
The battle had begun with thirteen students, but after just 30 minutes of clashing, their numbers had been cruelly reduced to only six. Their only comfort was that the enemy didn’t seem concerned with what happened to the students after they fell. Since the remaining students couldn’t actively check if their comrades were still alive, they could only rely on what they could see. Some of the fallen showed no signs of movement, while others occasionally stirred, indicating they were still alive.
“Oh, are you finally going to face me?” the Giant Killer asked, his gaze fixed on me as I arrived to the battlefield with Rin and Ruby at my sides. I took a quick glance at the remaining students, committing their faces to memory.
They’re strong.
To my surprise, Roran wasn’t as out of breath as the other students. Even while Lithe, possibly the stronger one of the two, was breathing heavily through his mouth, Roran stood there in almost perfect condition. Was he pressing the enemy too hard? One might even think he…
Wait. Something’s wrong.
“I think it’s time to end this. I’m not a fan of drawn-out fights,” I quickly declared while gripping my sword. Using a gun at this point wasn’t a good idea. As I’d suspected earlier, the gun was effective when the enemy didn’t know too much about my abilities.
After seeing me fire my gun twice, the Giant Killer wouldn’t fall for the same attack. I could manage two more shots at above E-rank speed, but if I failed to kill him with the second shot, our chances of victory would drop to almost zero.
“Heeh, that’s a very bold thing to say. Are you sure you can back that up?” the Giant Killer replied with a confident smile, relaxing his stance and standing upright in a completely nonchalant manner. Even as he did this, none of the students dared to attack.
“Well, before you die, I’d like to know who sent you here,” I continued the conversation, mirroring his calm demeanor. There were a few students standing between him and me, so I was confident they would intervene if he tried anything.
“[Ten Tedious] sent me. I thought you already knew,” he said with a shrug, acting completely oblivious to my question.
Maybe he’ll respond to a proper bait?
“Are those drunkards also involved?” I asked, causing him to pause for a second in surprise before bursting into laughter.
“Hahaha. Are you sure you should’ve said that?” he asked.
The students around us seemed confused by our conversation, but they remained silent, recovering as much stamina as possible while staying on high alert. Giving them this short break should help ease some of their frustration, so I kept going.
“I know a lot more than you might think. Plus, I’ve already decided to kill you here, so it doesn’t matter what I tell you,” I replied calmly.
There were very few people around the world who would know who I meant by ‘drunkards.’ The fact that a random student would refer to those people as ‘drunkards’ would naturally cause unease in anyone who knew the actual story behind that. It was an attempt to slowly dig into the Giant Killer’s mind.
“No, that’s not it. That’s not why you said that,” he suddenly retorted, raising a finger in the air, still holding his daggers.
“You’re hoping that at the end of this, I’ll somehow escape this dungeon. Once I’m outside, you want me to leak whatever you’ve been telling me to whoever my employer is. The more interesting the information you share with me, the more likely your plan will succeed. You want me to curiously ask questions, to dig for information from my employer and try to confirm whatever you’ve shared. Then perhaps you’ll set up a little trap to confirm who was behind this by seeing who uses the information you leaked through me. A classic canary trap. Am I correct in my assessment?”
“...”
I didn’t reply to his claim, but the surprised expressions from the students betrayed my calm demeanor.
“Oi, are you really trying to let this bastard escape?” Leven suddenly turned to look at me with an agitated expression, glaring at me while still holding his stance.
“S-shit, what if they’re working together!?” one of the students suddenly exclaimed, stepping away from Roran and joining one of the other students from their original 12-man team.
This…
“That’s…” Leven muttered under his breath as he looked between me and the Giant Killer. What the hell was he thinking? I immediately intervened.
“Are you serious? Why would you believe anything that guy says?” I replied calmly, but Leven didn’t seem convinced as he retorted.
“Earlier, when he appeared, you said you can’t tell us his name. How exactly do you know it? I don’t think this is the first time the two of you are meeting,” he said, eyeing me suspiciously. Is he serious? It may indeed have been a mistake to reveal that I knew him, but if I hadn’t emphasized how dangerous they were, I doubted the students would have taken the threat seriously. Maybe I revealed a bit too much. I immediately shook my head and replied,
“I can’t tell you how I found out, but this is the first time I’m seeing him face-to-face. Are you really going to let this psycho get into your head that easily?” I asked, throwing a bit of shade to gauge his reaction. At this point, the other remaining students, including Lithe, had suddenly gathered on one side, leaving Roran alone. Seeing this, Roran confusedly walked over to our team and stood with us.
“Hahaha. He’s telling the truth. I also don’t know him,” the Giant Killer casually said as he continued to watch us, not even attempting to attack. Naturally, the person who had been trying to kill them for the past few minutes wasn’t going to convince them that black is black. His existence as a whole was already a major threat, so even a truth from him will sound like lies.
“I see. So it’s true, you guys are working together, aren’t you?” Leven suddenly said, anger starting to show on his face.
Is he stupid?
I continued to stare at him, dumbfounded, but the fact that the other students, including Lithe, were now standing by his side didn’t help my case.
“Tsk. Then tell us why he’s holding back against Roran?” Lithe said, clicking his tongue as he glared at me, causing my eyes to widen in surprise. I looked at Roran beside me, who seemed just as confused by the sudden accusation.
“Holding back?” he muttered to himself. It was at that moment that the gears in my head started to unpack something very sinister.
“Tsk. So you’re really gonna act dumb? Then what about you, green-eyed prick? Why did that bastard give back your sword after taking it from you? You think we’re stupid?” Lithe continued to glare, his right eye glowing red with mana.
This is bad.
They’re too frustrated to even think properly.
“...”
I couldn’t say anything. I looked just ahead and caught sight of the Giant Killer’s face, which had twisted into a sinister smile.
I might've messed up.
While I was getting into the masked woman’s head, it seemed the Giant Killer was doing the same with the rest of the students. The things he said while fighting them, the method he used to take each of them down—I was completely unaware. I was confident in their ability to physically hold him back while I dealt with the masked woman, but I had completely neglected something crucial.
They’re still just kids.
Getting into their heads was a cakewalk for someone like the Giant Killer, whose greatest strength lies in all types of strategic warfare, both in combat and in the mind.
“Sigh. We’ll stick to our usual strategy, but I’ll be on primary support behind Roran. Make sure to follow my instructions,” I explained to my party members, and they all reluctantly nodded in understanding. Are they also starting to suspect me?
“So you admit it? Tsk, I should’ve known when I heard you’re that bitch’s brother,” Lithe said, shooting me a disgusted look. I wonder what happened between those two. Lily also seemed to dislike him, but I didn’t think it was to this extent…
“I’m not admitting to anything. My goal here is to kill that man. The warning I gave to everyone at the start of the floor still stands,” I said, keeping my voice emotionless, which only seemed to frustrate him more. He didn’t say anything, simply glancing back at the Giant Killer, who shrugged as if to say he wasn’t involved in this.
It will take too long to try and convince them while worrying about the Giant Killer.
The reason Roran didn’t look as exhausted as everyone else was because the Giant Killer made it seem that way. Add to that the fact that none of our team members were even remotely tired (except for Rin's injury, caused by me), and questions might start to arise. I was indeed going to use a canary trap, but only as a last resort if we failed to kill him.
But he seemed to have figured it out and used it against me, making it appear as if I was already planning to let him escape. He didn’t directly imply that we were cooperating, but instead mentioned it in a way that led the other students to their own conclusions. Every action our team made, no matter how big or small, would now be scrutinized to the point of breeding suspicion.
Their built-up frustrations would only fuel these delusions, making them even more confident in their unrealistic claims.
Perhaps my behavior was too casual?
I took note of that misstep as the gears in my head began to turn. In the eyes of everyone around me, I was nothing but a sixteen-year-old kid, so any behavior that seemed outside the norm would naturally raise suspicion. I had thought it wouldn't matter how I acted since I didn't care much about how the students viewed me, but this attitude was unexpectedly used against me.
Elondale's Giant Killer.
With very little effort, he had me dancing in the palm of his hand.
And just like that, the battle had suddenly turned into a three-way struggle. The outcome would be decided by three individuals: the Giant Killer, Lithe, and Roran.
Technique vs. Strength vs. Speed.
Who would win? I wondered as I prepared to cast my skills while using [Recall] to calculate the passage of time.
[28 minutes to forced teleportation]
