Vol 5. Chapter 82: I’ve Got Plenty of Enemies

“Little tagalong, don’t try any tricks with me.” Vinny bared his teeth in a smile more hideous and terrifying than any monster’s grimace.

“I-I’m really not trying anything. I’m honestly doing my best to lead the way. These roads really were open before,” Shicodale insisted, pressing his pale lips together.

“Fine. I’m only reminding you that your life is in my hands. All I have to do is squeeze ever so slightly.” As he spoke, Vinny rubbed his fingers together as though crushing something between them. “I’d advise you to recognize the situation you’re in.”

“Mm. I’ll lead the way properly. But these gray-black fluid walls are blocking too many paths. I’d be able to guide you much more efficiently if you cleared them away,” Shicodale suggested.

On the surface, it was merely a suggestion. In truth, he was probing him.

If Vinny agreed, Shicodale could test his strength. If he refused, that would confirm that he did not know where the chaotic black cloud had come from either. In all likelihood, he had not summoned it and was incapable of dealing with it.

“Heh. Are you making demands of me?” After a moment of silence, Vinny’s voice turned icy.

“No. I’m only saying it would make it easier for me to guide you. After all, you seem to be in quite a hurry to see Aesphyra.”

Vinny said nothing. He simply stepped forward.

“W-What are you doing?” Shicodale retreated a step.

“Well, well, little tagalong. You’ve learned to play mind games too? Who taught you that?” Vinny’s lips stretched into a rigid grin.

“What mind games? I don’t know what you’re talking ab—mmph!”

Before Shicodale could finish, several bands of shadow burst from beneath the ground. They wound around his legs, bound him tightly, and hoisted him into the air.

The sharpened tip of one shadow band pressed against Shicodale’s snow-white throat like the point of a knife.

With his neck constricted, the sudden lack of air left Shicodale’s head spinning.

“If you try anything else, you know what will happen to you.”

“You’ll end up just like that white-haired woman—as my dinner tonight.”

The shadow bands released him with a snap, dropping Shicodale to the ground. He broke into a fit of coughing.

“Get up and lead the way like a good little guide. Understood?”

Sitting on the ground with one hand clasped around his throat, Shicodale could only nod between coughs.

He staggered back to his feet and continued ahead, leading Vinny onward.

“My, my. Tell me, with the Academy in this state, what do you think that white-haired woman is doing right now?” Vinny followed behind him. Apparently finding the silence between them too boring, he decided to start a conversation.

“I don’t know,” Shicodale answered stiffly.

“Do you really not know, or are you only pretending?”

Why does he keep asking that?

Shicodale had noticed that this Vinny’s favorite pastime seemed to be doubting, questioning, and contradicting everyone around him.

“I really don’t know. Aesphyra and I aren’t that close,” Shicodale explained dryly.

Even if they were close, he still could not possibly know where she was. It was not as though he could read her mind.

“Oh? You aren’t that close? Is that so? I thought you admired her quite a bit,” Vinny said playfully.

Shicodale was growing exhausted by the interrogation. He nearly blurted out one of Vinny’s favorite lines—Fine, fine. Whatever you say. I won’t argue—but given their current positions, he did not dare.

The Vinny before him clearly knew many secrets, including the truth of Shicodale’s origins. It was impossible to tell where he had learned them, making his identity all the more mysterious.

Yet whenever he spoke about personal relationships, he was frequently wrong. His version of events differed from what Shicodale knew.

What exactly was going on??

And why?

Why did Shicodale feel no sense of incongruity from the man’s identity?

He was not Vinny, yet his presence felt so strangely familiar.

Could he actually be telling the truth??

No. Impossible. Vinny himself would never behave like this.

Unless...

Something occurred to Shicodale.

“The black rain flowing from that cloud can only strike one point at a time. It still isn’t destructive enough.” Vinny’s lips curved faintly as he gazed up at the chaotic black cloud, watching black liquid pour from it and punch through the buildings below.

“Still, the place is in a miserable enough state. What a shame. This is no fun at all. Given the choice, I would rather burn the Academy to the ground with my own hands.”

“You didn’t create that black cloud?” Since Vinny seemed interested in talking, Shicodale followed his lead and asked.

“Heh. Fine. You’ve been testing me nonstop, but this young master happens to be in a decent mood today, so I’ll tell you. That chaotic black cloud isn’t my work.”

“As for where it came from... I suppose it must be divine punishment sent down upon Carillian Academy by the heavens.” Vinny spoke in a jeering, flippant tone. “The Tyrelis Ancient Empire is long gone, yet Carillian Academy—one of its surviving remnants—has managed to linger for all these years. It has already gotten more than its fair share. This place should have been swept into history’s trash heap alongside the ancient empire centuries ago. What’s happening now is merely something long overdue finally being put on the schedule.”

“Do you have a grudge against the ancient empire and Carillian Academy?” Shicodale asked.

“A grudge? I suppose you could call it that. But there are plenty of things that have earned this young master’s hatred.” Vinny’s voice gradually turned colder. “To be precise, anything unclean is my enemy. This entire world is my enemy.”

“Whether living or dead, I will reclaim everything that was taken from me—one debt at a time.”

“So you seized Vinny’s body?” Shicodale asked.

“Little tagalong, have I been too merciful with you? Is that why your questions keep multiplying?” Vinny gave him a peculiar smile. “Even now, you’re still trying to pry information out of me?”

“No. I’m only curious about why you—”

“I already told you. I am Vinny,” Vinny cut him off once again. “The genuine article.”

“Judging by that look on your face, you must have been fooled by the harmless nice-guy persona I usually put on. Hahahaha! How stupid can you be? This young master employed the simplest little trick, and every last one of you fools believed it.”

Vinny laughed mercilessly.

“Now I understand why you Moon Elves lost your kingdom and ended up enslaved. It’s because every last one of you is an idiot.”

Liar.

Shicodale said nothing. He merely clenched his fists in silence.

Someone who rarely interacted with Vinny might indeed be fooled by an artificial persona.

But Shicodale had lived with Vinny for so long. Whether human or elf, anyone would inevitably reveal many of their genuine habits and mannerisms in a dormitory, where they were at their most relaxed.

This impostor clearly did not know that Shicodale and Vinny were roommates.

That only made the situation stranger.

He appeared to possess a broad understanding of many things within Carillian Academy, yet some of the finer details he firmly believed were plainly wrong.

“All right, little tagalong. Do I need to remind you that you’ve been walking for an awfully long time?” Vinny said as he looked toward the ruined park ahead.

“What a shame. We haven’t seen a single person this entire way. When is this young master’s little game of cat and mouse finally going to begin? My patience is almost gone. I can hardly wait.”

“Little tagalong, you really aren’t leading me around in circles, are you?”

“I’m really not. Carillian Academy is enormous, and there are roads everywhere. It’s not like you don’t know that. Once we cross this large park and walk a little farther, we’ll reach another dormitory area,” Shicodale said.

This was the largest landscaped park in Carillian Academy.

“Oh, is that so?” Vinny gave Shicodale a meaningful look. “Then let’s go. Keep leading the way.”

Shicodale said nothing. Walking ahead, he entered the park first.

The two of them skirted the woods and reached the park’s deepest, central area.

“Well, well. Look at all this lush greenery. Those gardeners must have maintained this place rather well,” Vinny suddenly remarked for no apparent reason.

Shicodale did not understand why he had abruptly begun praising the scenery. But after their brief time together, he had already concluded that something might be wrong with the man’s head. Nothing he did would be particularly surprising.

“Isn’t it better for the trees to be thick and healthy?” Shicodale suddenly asked as they walked.

“Oh?” Vinny raised an eyebrow.

“They’ll make a fitting graveyard for you.”

Rumble—!!

Before Shicodale had even finished speaking, dark-green mist surged into the air, sending grass roots and leaves whirling in every direction.

Vinny showed no surprise at the abrupt change. Instead, he folded his arms and stood calmly amid the green haze, looking as though he were waiting to see what performance Shicodale would put on.

“Human, you truly are bold.”

Several enormous man-eating flowers erupted from the park’s sprawling lawn. Growing at tremendous speed, they became towering jungle predators nearly twenty-five feet tall.

One of the flowers raised the silver-haired elf high into the air.

From his elevated position, Shicodale’s high ponytail came undone, allowing his long silver hair to cascade freely behind him. The timid, shrinking look in his eyes vanished, replaced by a fierce, razor-edged aggression.

“You let an elf enter a forest, then dared to fight him inside it.”

“Heh heh. So you finally decided to make your move?” Vinny appeared neither concerned nor surprised. It was as though everything remained under his control and he had foreseen this exact development.

“Why do you think I mentioned how lush this park was?”

“My, my, little tagalong. Had you ignored that remark, pretended not to hear me, and continued leading the way obediently, I might truly have spared you.”

“Human, you certainly enjoy making arrogant boasts,” Shicodale said coldly.

“Heh. So it finally came out—my little tagalong’s ferocious personality.” Vinny kept his arms folded. “I knew you would do this.”

“Honestly, you’re far too confident in yourself. You take far too much for granted, and your intentions are much too obvious. None of those are good qualities,” Vinny said with a smile.

“Oh?”

“If I were you, I would have obediently found that hateful white-haired runt first, then decided what to do after seeing how strong she was. Or perhaps I would have joined forces with her. That would at least have improved your chances.”

“But you chose not to do that. You decided that even you and the white-haired runt together might not be able to defeat me, didn’t you?”

“If you already concluded that the two of you couldn’t beat me, why ambush me here? Did you think adding a forest to the equation would drastically improve your odds? Surely not.”

“If none of those explanations fit, then your intentions couldn’t be more obvious. You plan to pretend you’re fighting me to the death in this forest while actually waiting for a chance to escape. Isn’t that right?” Vinny asked with a broad grin.

“An interesting theory.” Shicodale fell silent for a moment before grinning back. “But perhaps I’m not overestimating myself. Perhaps you’re overestimating yourself.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Vinny slipped both hands into his pockets. “Then we’ll just have to wait and see.”

“But let me make one thing clear, little tagalong. This young master gave you a chance. You failed to cherish it, so there won’t be another.”

“You could have survived simply by wagging your tail and begging me for mercy, yet you insisted on resisting.”

“Spare me.” Shicodale’s voice was glacial. “You expect me to wag my tail and beg a disgusting human like you for mercy? Forget leading you to find someone—even if you asked me to lead you to a dog, I would refuse.”

“Is that so? What a pity. I thought that, in this world, the two of us might be able to understand each other.”

As Vinny spoke, he curled one hand around empty air. A massive crimson sword covered in pulsing flesh and living blood vessels appeared in his grasp.

“[Blood-Debt]??” Shicodale’s pupils contracted.

“What? Surprised?” Vinny asked cheerfully. “None of you ever imagined that I had secretly contracted an evil Divine Armament, did you?”

“Heh. Stop pretending to be him. You aren’t convincing anyone,” Shicodale sneered.

“Oh?”

Vinny fell silent for a moment.

“Ah, the counterfeit has driven out the genuine article. Why does no one believe the real thing anymore?”

“A Junior Magus?” Vinny had detected Shicodale’s current realm. “What can you possibly accomplish at that level? You aren’t even enough to make a decent meal.”

“Still, you’re much stronger than the version of you from the last world. Your blood should be rather valuable as well.”

Vinny licked his lips.

“Did you have something to do with his disappearance?” Shicodale asked coldly.

“Him? Who?” Vinny looked genuinely puzzled. “You only said ‘him.’ How am I supposed to know who you’re talking about?”

“You know exactly who I mean.” Shicodale’s brows drew together.

“I honestly don’t,” Vinny replied with a merry laugh. “If you’re asking about Vinny, then Vinny is standing right in front of you. The one and only genuine Vinny, without a single counterfeit part.”

Shicodale said nothing.

The man-eating flowers surrounding him surged toward Vinny all at once.

“More worthless flowers and weeds. Who are these rotten plants supposed to hurt?”

Vinny raised [Blood-Debt] in one hand and swept it horizontally.

[Bloodstained Harvest]

A crescent blade formed from countless crimson skulls flashed through the air.

The plant monsters Shicodale had summoned seemed to be brushed by a passing breeze. An instant later, nothing remained but shredded fragments whirling through the air.

With his foothold destroyed, Shicodale plummeted from above. He twisted in midair and landed atop the crown of a nearby tree.