Chapter 19

We proceeded onwards to the First Barriered City. Having just arrived, we were on our way to our accommodations here.

“Those guys really are the worst. They’re just a bunch of criminals.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

I had told Sophia everything about how I ended up in the Twilight. She seemed to have figured out that we had some kind of bad history, which was why she decided to lend me a helping hand in that conversation. I was really thankful to have such a kind friend.

“I seriously don’t like having to travel with them… and it looks like we’re going to have to go to that party tonight with them too…”

“Right, Sophia? After I heard Yuria’s whole story, I thought the same thing!”

Sophia and Sherry were badmouthing the three of them, probably to cheer me up, but it wasn’t really helping. First off, everything that happened to me wouldn’t have been a problem if I weren’t so weak. If I’d been strong, I would’ve been able to turn them down and stand up for myself. Things wouldn’t have gotten that bad. That’s why I couldn’t bring myself to blame the three of them for what happened to me. I definitely held a grudge against them, though. There was a sort of burning hatred in the depths of my heart, but I was consciously suppressing it.

I was afraid of that anger. I didn’t want to become like them, after all. They look down on the weak just because they’re strong. I know that may be the rule out in the Twilight, but human society should be better. I think the strong should use their power to protect the weak, not oppress them. Weak people, after all, can’t protect themselves. If a strong person doesn’t protect them, they’ll just die. And so, I felt that I should only use my strength for the sake of others since I remember how weak I was in the past.

“Ha…”

“What happened, Yuria?”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing, Sherry. So, we’re going to be partying up with them tonight, right?”

“Yeah.”

We decided that we’d meet up again tonight and went our separate ways for the time being. Sherry and Sophia both had something to do. We didn’t really have anything to do until night, which was nice… except I had nothing to do. I guess I’ll just take a look around and see what this city is like, I thought, setting off to see the city.

***

As the name suggests, Barriered Cities are surrounded by barriers that repel monsters and demons. The barriers are completely harmless to humans and exist in every Barriered City. The First Barriered City, though, has a special barrier to protect the Royal Castle in the centre of the city.

The Royal Castle, simply put, is where the royal family lives. The royal family is the family that maintains the Barriered Cities. Humanity owes our seven bastions to the royal family. For some reason, they’re only able to maintain the barriers from this city. As a result, all the barriers in all seven Barriered Cities are managed from the First Barriered City. That is why this city is so important.

“Hey, bitch, you just bumped into me, you know? You got a problem, huh?!”

I heard a voice from an alley as I was walking. Looking closer, I could see a girl in the alley. She looked innocent, with her hair tied up in twin tails. However, I would describe her as beautiful rather than cute. She looked fairly young, and was surrounded by three large men. They seemed to be in the middle of some kind of dispute.

“Ugh… Look, can you get out of the way?”

“Hey, hey, hey, you know you bumped into me, right? You guys saw it, right?”

“Yeah, I saw it. Don’t fuck with us, bitch…”

One of the men reached for his sword. The three of them were probably Exorcists, so they should have all known that attacking humans is illegal. Moreover, there was no way that girl could fight all three of these guys.

“Excuse me… Did this girl do anything to you?”

“Huh? Who the hell are you?”

“Uh… I’m her brother.”

“Her brother, huh…”

Looks like they don’t believe me. I thought it was a pretty weak lie to begin with, so I’m not surprised, I thought. I didn’t look anything like the girl. For starters, we had very different hair colours – mine was white, while hers was light pink. Our facial features were completely different, too. I was obviously a total stranger to her, but the men didn’t care about that. They just wanted an outlet for their frustration – in which case, I was the perfect partner.

“So, if you’re her brother, then you know what you’ve gotta do, right?”

“Let’s do this.”

“Should we give him the usual?”

These three men seemed to be used to this kind of situation. Apparently, they needed to be more closely monitored.

“Hide behind me… I’ll take care of this.”

“Sure! Thanks, my dear brother!”

Looks like she’s pretty quick-witted. That’s a boon for me, considering how bad at acting I am. I faced off against the three men. All three of them had broadswords and were probably capable of using magic. I immediately activated [Twilight Sight] and checked the flow of mana around them. Ice Magic… Oh, I see. They’re going to make ice at my feet to keep me from moving then send spikes upwards.

“Take this!” one of the men shouted, trying to activate his magic. I won’t let him cast that spell. I closed the distance between us in a single step and cut apart the mana he was manipulating with [Invisible Blade], formed from my right index finger.

In order to activate magic, you have to first gather up mana. In other words, if you disperse the mana that someone else is gathering, you can prevent them from activating magic. Most people can’t perceive mana, so they’re not capable of pulling that off. But I have [Twilight Sight].

My sword swung through the air like a flash of light.

“Huh? My magic?!”

The man began to panic, but it was too late. I was right in front of him. I pointed [Invisible Blade] at his neck. Then, I used two fingers on my left hand to activate [Invisible Blade] as well and pointed those two blades at the other two men’s necks. I cut their skin slightly and dug the blade into the wall, so they knew a blade was there.

“…If you’re done, do you mind getting lost? I won’t hurt you.”

“E-eek!”

The three men ran away, looking like they’d seen a ghost. Yeah, that reaction… doesn’t really feel very good, I thought. I turned around to face the girl.

“You’re pretty good. Very good, actually. Was that Illusion Magic? Non-Systematic, Attribute-less Magic, other than Healing Magic, is quite rare. Was that an invisible sword you used back there? You can control the length at will, but you can’t wield it completely freely yet. It looks like you’ve focused all your training on your strengths. You used your fingers just now, but… you could also use sticks and other similar objects, right? You seem to need a starting point to activate that magic. What do you usually use?”

“Uh… well… I use a knife, ma’am…”

The aura around her was completely different now. She was much more confident. And, for some reason, I was instinctively talking to her formally. She may have been younger than me, but I felt a little overwhelmed by her presence. Most importantly, her analysis of my magic was perfect. Who is this girl? How could she completely figure out my magic in an instant?

“A knife… I see. Certainly, using a knife makes sense, considering your agility earlier. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as skilled as you… Oh! Are you Yuria?”

“Um… I’m definitely Yuria, but how did you know that?”

“I’m Eira, a sixth-year student at the Academy here. I’m a Special Rank Exorcist. It’s nice to meet you, Yuria.”

“Huh?!”

And so, I ended up meeting another Special Rank Exorcist.