Chapter 243

The minister nodded.

“Something they want.”

“Our lives are being held hostage. We can only break this curse by complying with the terrorist’s demands. If we don’t do as he wishes, the terrorist will blow us up then.”

When I finished speaking calmly, someone sitting on the opposite side of the table spoke crookedly, as if my attitude was unrealistic.

“Don’t we need to find out what that ‘want’ is as soon as possible? Your Excellency Askanian is truly serene.”

I wonder. My inner self is not serene. I must gather all information before using retry, but if the terrorist activates the curse right away, I’ll die, retry or not. Is there anyone who can be at ease in this situation?

Besides, even if I turn back time, victory is not guaranteed. Facing such a colossal enemy, I might not succeed even if I keep turning back time until my points reach zero.

I’m just deceiving myself.

I looked at the blue magic on my palm and slowly shifted my gaze to him.

“Do you want to know why I’m serene? Because there’s nothing we can do.”

“Nothing…!”

“The initiative in this situation belongs to the terrorist from beginning to end. Am I wrong? Since the magic lamp terror incident, have you accomplished anything properly? Fine. Then at least properly mourn the millions of subjects who are about to die due to your poor management. After all, the only thing you can do is report that it happened after everything is over. My name will be on the list of the dead, so it would be nice if you prayed for my soul too.”

“…….”

“Having created this situation, be sure whether that pride of believing you have the ability to find out what the terrorist wants is recklessness, a failure of self-objectification, or a mental victory. The first two are weakness, while the latter could be a strategy in its own right.”

Even though I uttered a sarcastic remark in a monotonous, unaccented tone, no one rebuked me. They probably didn’t have the mind for it. The mage who had challenged me averted his gaze with a complicated expression and just sighed deeply.

I stared at him and pushed the report towards them.

“Now the terrorist will present his demands to us. Since we don’t have the ability to dig out what the terrorist wants ourselves, let’s find a way to resolve the situation first.”

Of course, the Emergency Committee had done its best. In less than an hour, they had completed the data and gathered 300 dispel experts from all over the country to develop a dispel method. But wouldn’t it be better if they used the time they were despairing to join the scene and do something? If these guys found a solution, I would use it effectively in the next world, so I hoped they would come up with a method quickly.

Of course, even if they ultimately failed to find a solution, their helpless attitude was not helpful at all. Although there were many ministers and mages running around in the field, if the Minister of Magic, the head of the Emergency Committee, was in this state, in the end, I could only see them as targets to be completely overturned.

The Minister of Magic also seemed to think that nothing would be solved by just sitting here and talking, so he nodded and stood up from his seat. At that moment, several officials sitting around the table grabbed their hands and shouted.

“Aaargh!”

“Wh-what’s going on?!”

“…!”

A sharp pain shot through my hand as well. It was as if some shock had passed through, and my wrist ached as if the artery was about to be severed.

‘This….’

Now you’re moving.

I glared at the mark on my palm, which was shining more brightly. The mark, which had been a distinct dark blue, was now shining almost white.

As if the shock from the mark was not just for fun, a frantic voice came from the artifact placed in the middle of the table.

[M-Minister! Minister! Can you hear me?]

“I can hear you. What is it?”

[You need to come down to the main stadium right now. Quickly, right now!]

He was practically screaming. A man who spoke to the minister in this way could not be in his right mind.

But right now, there was no one in their right mind on these grounds. The minister rushed outside in a hurry. He was so flustered that he didn’t even think to warp, just ran. The other Emergency Committee members were all the same. I exchanged a glance with Leo and followed them.

Mages sent from each federation were guarding the darkened opening ceremony venue. Their gazes were fixed on the screens mounted on all sides of the venue. Our gazes followed theirs.

“That….”

“What is that?”

Several Emergency Committee members frowned and looked around at the screens on all sides.

The vast sky was visible due to the magically expanded space to accommodate 150,000 people. White carrier pigeons, released by the government for analog communication, were crossing the night sky.

And, on the black screens installed at an angle on the walls of the dome below, Divine Power was written in white letters and shimmering. Aside from how they had manipulated this magic field, the phrases displayed on the three screens were not normal.

I let out a hollow laugh and read the phrases to myself.

[“Archives of Anatomy, Physiology, and Scientific Medicine”, 1854 / 230170~230180]

[“The Struggle for the Liberation of the Fourth Estate”, Vol. 2, 1875 / 528392~528397]

[“The Book of Revelation—Johann Gottfried Herder”, 1829 / 25192, 25193, 14615, 7082, 107138, 9521, 268121, 43197, 1077]

‘Suddenly?’

“This is….”

The minister’s eyes widened as he muttered. He seemed to have realized what it meant.

I said quietly.

“It’s purely to torment us.”

There was a reason for saying so.

The terrorist must have intended to give us information through this. But the demand was so simple that there seemed no need to make it so convoluted, and the format of the problem didn’t fit the atmosphere of 1.37 million people about to die.

The Minister of Magic tapped the artifact at his ear and shouted.

“Get me that book right now! No, contact the Imperial Central Library and have them check the 17th to 18th words on page 230 of the 1854 edition of the Archives of Anatomy, or from the 17th to the 18th line on page 230!”

Even the Minister of Magic, whose brain had been frozen by the pressure of execution, quickly figured out the answer.

The reason that was possible was not because the minister had suddenly become smart, but because that code was a book cipher frequently used in this era. To explain it, it’s like this:

If the number 18325 is given, you find the 25th word on page 183. Sometimes, if the sentence itself is the code, it can also refer to the line.

‘It’s a good thing I discovered this before turning back time.’

One thing still bothered me: they had given away the book titles.

It’s normal for allies to share book titles. But why call it a code? In a hostile relationship like between the terrorist and the Imperial government, there was no reason to reveal the book titles.

‘Hmm, the culprit is being so generous….’

It wasn’t for nothing. It meant they needed to adjust the difficulty.

No exam commands you to solve 100 high-difficulty problems in 10 minutes. Whether by increasing the time, lowering the difficulty, or reducing the number of problems, the test-setter tries to find a balance.

So, the fact that they lowered the difficulty like this meant that the terrorist perceived a clear limit to our resources. For example, a problem with our manpower, time, magic power….

[Minister! We’ve reached the library director. I’ll connect you right away!]

At the same time, someone came here carrying a huge brass receiver artifact.

The minister sighed as if he had seen a ray of light and took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He seemed to think it was a relief to be given the culprit’s message, since something was needed to solve the case.

Leaving things to others was not my style, so I held out my hand, signaling for the receiver. The minister, perhaps feeling the burden, readily handed it to me. When I cast an amplification spell on the receiver, a strange voice came through loudly.

[Hello. This is the director of the Imperial Central Library. I was told that His Excellency the Minister of Magic is looking for a book called ‘Archives of Anatomy, Physiology, and Scientific Medicine’ published in 1854….]

“Yes, that’s correct.”

I replied, checking the magic screen hanging high in the sky again.

230170.

The minister mentioned the 17th ‘word or line’ on page 230.

Word and line, two possibilities. Let’s not waste time. We need to be sure of one.

I need to break down the number well. The 17th word on page 23 is not reasonable. If that was the intention, there would be no reason to put a 0 in the middle, so page 230 is certain.

The problem here is the 0 at the end.

‘They wouldn’t have added a 0 at the end for no reason.’

A standard-sized paperback book doesn’t have a 170th line on page 230.

So let’s assume it’s the 170th word. A page containing 170 words is rare unless it’s a dictionary or a large magazine with a page divided into three columns and filled with text. Cross-verification with the other books would be necessary, but based on the information so far, the clue the terrorist gave is….

It’s 230-17-0 and 230-18-0.

Then my conclusion is this.

“Page 230, lines 17 to 18. As soon as possible, please.”

[What? No, is this a codebook? Understood. 230, page 230.]

“Did you find it?”

[Lines 17 and 18. I’ve found it.]

The library director took a deep breath and continued.

[‘The duration of cardiac activity in a room without air can be assumed to be 30 minutes.’… That’s it. I-is this it?]

“…….”

This vast space was filled with silence. Not a single creature’s breath could be heard. The mages from other federations who had come to support and were guarding the stadium looked at us with bewildered eyes, and the people with marks on their hands just stared down at the receiver with wide eyes.

As I stood with my mouth agape, someone stammered and shouted.

“W-what is this?! W-w-wait a minute! What does this mean…!”

“…….”

The faces of the people with marks on their hands turned deathly pale.

Since no one answered, perhaps due to panic, I caught my breath and said slowly.

“It seems we have 30 minutes left to live. The countdown must have started with that pain earlier.”

[What? What did you say? You have 30 minutes to live?]

Before the library director could utter another unhelpful question, I quickly checked the electronic billboard on the other side.

528392 to 528397.

“The Struggle for the Liberation of the Fourth Estate, Volume 2, 1875 edition, page 528, line 39, from the second to the seventh word, please.”

Fortunately, the library director began to turn the pages quickly without a word.

[I’ve found it. ‘An enormous problem to be solved’.]

The moment I turned my head to check the next billboard, someone with a mark on their hand asked urgently.

“Are you kidding?! So how do we solve it…!”

“They must have put the clue to that in the Book of Revelation.”

I brought a finger to my lips, signaling for them to be quiet. As soon as the surroundings quieted down, I called out the third code.

“The Book of Revelation by Johann Gottfried Herder, 1829. Page 25, line 19, second and third words, page 146, line 1, fifth word….”

[W-wait a moment! Yes, okay. Please call it out now!]

“Page 70, line 8, second word, page 107, line 13, eighth word, page 95, line 2, first word.”

30 minutes. The sound of fluttering pages turning sounds like a countdown to my remaining life. I felt my heartbeat quicken as I waited for his answer. To me, at least, it felt like an eternity.

[Yes, okay. Please call out the next one.]

“Page 268, line 12, first word, page 43, line 19, seventh word, page 10, line 7, seventh word. What is it when you connect them?”

[…I.]

The library director was silent for a moment, then continued.

[Have already shown the answer to over 100 people.]

*  *  *

“To repeat what’s been said and summarize, the terrorist has already shown the answer to this problem to many people. Given that it was announced along with the fact that we have 30 minutes to live, we must find that answer to lift the time limit or the curse. Finding the answer, that’s what the terrorist wants. What he intends to gain from it is not for you to know.”

“What?! W-wait…!”

I rattled off the words like a machine gun and immediately stood up and ran to the main stadium’s staff corridor. The panicked minister tried to ask me something more, but I had no time to listen. I attacked his subordinates who were chasing me and picked up the fallen Imperial newspaper and filter with my magic.

Good.

I’ve got the clue I was looking for.

22 minutes left to live.

I die in 22 minutes. As if to prove that the time limit was real, 1/3 of the cross on my palm had disappeared.

I would turn back time, but the pressure of this urgent number was considerable. Besides, if I failed even after turning back time, it would only be a brief extension of life. No, next time, I wouldn’t hear the curse coming through the Imperial newspaper, so I would live alone. But then I would have to read the news that 1.37 million people gathered from all over the world were annihilated. I would have to hear the wailing of the continent.

I bit the inside of my mouth, drew blood, and swallowed.

“Hey!”

“There he goes!”

‘Hmm?’

At the unfamiliar shout coming from somewhere unexpected, I turned my head. And at that moment, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

‘…?!’

A black, wolf-sized dog appeared around the corner and rushed at me at an insane speed. I wasn’t unaware of who it was, but before I could even try to have a conversation, the dog pounced on me.

Thwack—!

Before I could even be flustered by the shocking fact that a wild animal’s face was right in front of my nose, I saw two guards chasing the dog. The guards, seeing me and the dog, were horrified and thrust their iron skewers at the dog.

“You son of a…!”

“No, that’s not it! Please wait a moment.”

Before I saw another person—though a dog—die, I pushed the dog to the floor and blocked the way. Of course, whether I saved this person now or not, it was already clear that everyone’s life was less than 20 minutes, but considering why this calculating and cautious man had rushed at me in this state… there must be something he had to tell me. Any trivial information was necessary for me. In fact, given who the opponent was, it was unlikely to be trivial.

The two guards looked down at me with puzzled eyes. My gaze naturally went to their hands. They were unmarked.

I forced out the words that still wouldn’t come due to the shock of the dog’s attack.

“It’s… it’s a dog I’m raising, no, looking after.”

“A dog you’re looking after? Why is a dog here…?”

“It was a dog that originally lived on these grounds. I looked after it a few times, and it came into the building.”

I said, getting up.

As they looked at me with confused eyes, I quickly added to end the conversation.

“I’ve caused a disturbance in an already bad situation. I apologize. I’ll take it outside.”

“Ah, yes. We were having trouble because it kept trying to bite, but it’s fine in front of you, sir.”

“Haha.”

I didn’t feel like laughing, but I let out a rough laugh and stood up. The dog looked back at me a few times and then ran forward like crazy. I suppressed a curse, nodded to the guards, and ran after the dog.

The dog ran too well. A New Human, or any human body, couldn’t catch it. I’d have to run at full speed to even get close to the speed they were running at without putting in any effort. By the time we moved to a less crowded place, I remembered that I had less than 20 minutes to live—unfortunately, I hadn’t forgotten—and called out to him loudly, meaning to tell him to stop running.

“Senior!”

The dog looked back at me once with what looked like cursing eyes, then disappeared into an alley somewhere.

I gasped for breath and turned into that alley. I couldn’t even properly distinguish objects due to the darkness. The problem was that the alley split into two again….

There was no need to worry.

Thwack—

Because the dog had finally turned back into a person and grabbed me by the collar.

Richthofen, who had led me to the left alley, had a frighteningly cold face. It was a face of complete panic, and I felt like I could hear his heartbeat from here. He listened to the surrounding sounds for a moment, then cast a soundproofing spell and said quickly.

“Junior, you know, right.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep