A New Problem

"Seers and Diviners, the most troublesome foes of ye who wish to hide,"

Rie read a line out loud. It was from a book that Magnus had Klaris steal using Mirror World Thief.

He was doing his due diligence to avoid being caught as the infamous chaotic [Gatemaker]. He was studying and studying. With a pinch of training.

That was all that he and Rie had been doing while Klaris and Javelin executed their own tasks. The kids were doing student things as opposed to the adult things that the beast and man were doing: earning money, attending an auction, and whatnot.

Thus, Magnus and Rie lived in seclusion as the former trained in the hotel gym while the latter studied the world and its history through books and the MagiNet.

That line that she had just read out loud was one of the more concerning facts that Magnus had learned of so far. It was most likely the reason why he felt this sense of... foreboding.

His original body suddenly felt... naked. As if someone was already looking into his identity, trying to figure things out.

"I made a rather small mistake..." Magnus realised belatedly as he read through the capabilities that Seers and Diviners could display, "I shouldn't have used my original body as the bearer of the title [Gatemaker]. It might cause issues when I go to Archaeon University."

Luckily, however, "I haven't given them any items to track me down with. They are still lacking in resources to truly grab a hold of me."

No strand of hair, drop of blood, or important item had been given away for them to use.

Right...?

Magnus shook his head. He wasn't sure.

They could divine his general location though, that was for sure. Amini's Versatile Prophetic Observation was among such a classification of Blessings. Rie's State of Higher Existence was also among them.

Though... In the first place,

'I'm not even sure if there are any of these Diviners among those that received the Optional Event Trial Scroll... Or if they even have any contacts with such a Blessing type...' Magnus thought as he recalled the Scroll given to those he implicated:

[[ Optional Event Trial Scroll: The Chaotic [Gatemaker] ]]

[[ Your current sorrow had been brought upon you by a single person: The [Gatemaker]. Tear this Scroll to accept the fate of the chase. From the moment you tear this Scroll, you will bind yourself to a search for the truth. ]]

[[ Find the [Gatemaker] and end their life so that the Apocalypse of Monsters will slow down. ]]

[[ Become the hunter, instead of the prey. Search for the reason for all your sorrows. Scour the world for the one who gave you your scars. ]]

He wondered when someone would finally pop up, saying that they found him, the [Gatemaker]. And what would happen if he let himself die?

Would the Trial be completed? Or would it require the annihilation of the Hivemind?

Magnus was curious.

He was very curious. He wanted to live despite all those who wish to pursue him, but at the same time, it was tempting to simply let his original body perish.

"I feel like the Otherworld Trials will simply issue another Trial if the [Gatemaker] continues to exist," Magnus spoke as he experimented with his gravity.

"That is possible," Rie replied as she continued reading, "The MagiNet says that among the Blessings of Undeath, Trials would continue to persist, or, they would be restarted when a resurrection occurs."

Magnus had given Rie a mind similar to how he had done for Restiel. Although it was basically a copy of him with a few modifications and not the true Rie's mind, it was enough for her to seem like someone who wasn't a puppet.

Klaris was the only one whose mind was truly his apart from Magnus himself. After all, Klaris was the only one not stolen from the Mirror World, thus having a complete mind with memories and all.

"Hm," Magnus nodded, "So it has happened before. I feel like I'm going to be hounded by this Trial forever then..."

Rie nodded slowly, "Then, what do we do?"

"We let them do as they wish." Magnus smiled slyly, "I have confidence in my ability to run. Plus, I have a feeling that they cannot track me down when I'm in the Hivemind. I just need to do things perfectly or else my time at Archaeon University will not be pleasant."

Knock knock!

Speak of the devil and he shall arrive.

Magnus instantly felt his sense of foreboding increase tenfold. He and Rie locked eyes for a moment.

[ Hide, ] Rie suggested.

Magnus could only nod as he was unsummoned and forced to hide in the Hivemind.

Rie then walked slowly to the door, still grasping her MagiTech Phone.

Knock! Knock!

A fiercer sound thumped against the hotel room's door.

It was hurried as if it had sensed the disappearance of Magnus.

Bang!

Finally, even before Rie could open the door herself, a burly man barged into the room, breaking the door on his way in.

Fierce eyes scanned the room, filled with vigilance, only to spot the young Rie standing in shock.

Flustered, the burly man wavered in his ferocity.

"A girl..?" He mumbled before spinning around. "Oi—! Wasn't the [Gatemaker] supposed to be a young man?"

"He should be!" A voice replied from outside the hotel room. "Why? Did he really disappear? Is there no one in the room?"

"No... I mean... There's someone, but it's a little girl! Is she the [Gatemaker]?" The burly man couldn't help but tighten the grip on his unsheathed scimitar. He had a daughter who was about this age.

Had.

Past tense.

The burly man lost her to the Gate Overflow of Hellia Park.

'I will have my revenge no matter what!'

Recalling his precious daughter, the burly man's eyes gleamed with a feral glint. He was ready to strike down the evil chaos that was the [Gatemaker] even if they were but a small girl. To him, that was enough motivation to search for the cause of his sorrows. He did not care for the reward of the Trial at all.

After all, he was a 3-star fighter already. He did not need the promotion.

"No! She's not who we're looking for!" A hurried voice replied. "Weird... The [Gatemaker] is suddenly in a different place. If I'm not wrong... he's near Hotel Vain."

"That high-class place?" The burly man replied as he watched a lanky man enter the hotel room with stiff movements.

"Yes... That place... Though, this girl might be one of the [Gatemaker]'s accomplices." The lanky man said, "What shall we do with her?"

Swish!

The burly man didn't need to hear anything more. He didn't even care about answering the lanky man.

An emotion-filled strike rushed at Rie at this moment. Anyone who collaborated with such a villain had caused the deaths of many. They were unworthy of life in the burly man's righteous eyes.

The wind whistled as his scimitar slashed vertically down the narrow hotel room hallway.

Rie could barely react to the blur that was this rush of an attack.

Unlike Magnus and the others, she was still sitting at 1.9-stars. She was far from the 3-star standard displayed before her.

The only thing she could do was blink into a state of higher existence.

Fwoosh!

The scimitar slashed straight through her incorporeal form, causing a ripple to spread throughout her.

"Heh," A smug smile appeared on Rie's face.

The burly man staggered slightly from his swing. Hitting nothing wasn't something he was expecting.

'What?!' He exclaimed in his mind, 'A ghost-type Blessing?'

The lanky man's eyes dilated in shock as well.

Who was this young lady to have access to a Blessing already?

An Earthling, for sure. After all, normal Thare-born citizens only got their Curses at 16.

Taking advantage of this moment of silence, Rie sprinted for the balcony as she returned to her corporeal state.

She then jumped off.

The two men were hot on her tail, jumping off of the building as well.

"You have guts!" Rie laughed when she noticed this. A Magnus-like glimmer shone in her eyes.

"Catch me if you can!" She giggled as Magnus was resummoned just moments before she made contact with the crowd below.

Gravity was instantly reversed for her.

She was then launched far into the distance right before blinking into a state of higher existence. Magnus made sure to stay hidden within the crowds as he executed what was required of him.

Not that he would need to. As he was then unsummoned a split second before Rie was too far away for Master of the Hivemind's summoning function.

To any onlookers, Magnus would've simply been two flashes of light.

And thus, with that, Rie created a great distance between herself and her pursuers.

She followed the Hivemind's collective experiences in fleeing from foes much stronger than they were and did her best to weave through the crowd. With her 1.9-star strength and her small stature, such a feat was proving to be much easier than theorized.

"Incoming!" The burly man yelled out from the air. The surrounding people reacted swiftly, creating a space for the burly man to land.

Bang!

The sound of bone hitting concrete rang out as the burly man transitioned into a painful roll.

Jumping off of the 50th floor of a tower would clearly hurt.

"Shit!" The burly man cursed.

Perhaps a few fractures had found themselves present in his bones. Thankfully, he was still alive.

"Where did that girl go?"

The burly man slightly staggered as he got up and looked around. A few curious bystanders scanned him up and down for a moment before turning away.

As the burly man glanced around, he found no sign of Rie within the busy streets of Midseer.

He couldn't help but let out another curse as he realised that he lost an important lead.

"Slippery bastard," He seethed in rage. He swiftly opened his MagiTech Phone and made a call.

"Reporting in. The [Gatemaker] has teleportation abilities. It is suggested that we send space-locking Blessings towards his location before striking. The [Gatemaker] also has an accomplice in the shape of a young girl with brown hair and dark red eyes."

The burly man did not believe that the young girl was even a young girl. That smile of mockery she gave him when his strike missed was full of ill-concealed malice and disdain.

To him, Rie was a demon in a child's skin.

Quite hard to blame him though.

Which parent wouldn't fly into a rage when their own treasured offspring was included in a massacre?

The world would surely look very different to a parent who has suffered such an event.

They would see the world through a filter of vengeful reds and depressing blacks. A supposed monochrome but without the striking purity of white. Only deep shades of red would dye the previous purity.