Chapter 10
Mental System?
No, their main strength is definitely the Physical System.
This power is at least A-rank.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Team Leader Max."
The petite woman effortlessly crushed my hand in her grasp as if to show off.
My body twisted slightly from the irresistible force, but that was it.
However, as if expecting more, Max squeezed my hand even harder in an overt manner, and the surrounding bodyguards watched this scene with interest, but
"I'm Deliverer Yohan from 555 Office."
Having no intention of playing along, I replied as calmly as possible.
Then, as if finding it boring, Max willingly let go of my hand.
What a nasty initiation ritual.
"Looks like you're Weapon System, but I don't see a weapon?"
Max, having quickly assessed me, tilted her head and gestured to a nearby bodyguard.
"Get him a truncheon."
"Yes, Team Leader."
Max twitched her thin eyebrows once and walked past me, saying,
"You can choose any empty seat in the back."
As if they had been waiting for Max to finish speaking, several people, including the large man who had brought me here, openly whispered.
"What? He's a Weapon System?"
"How did he get in here without a weapon?"
"Isn't the office just trying to pick a pretty boy to show off his face?"
"No, he's a Deliverer, right? Why is he causing a fuss in our industry?"
The conversation, which started by exploiting a gap seen in a stranger, led to the usual contempt for Deliverers.
Pushing through that chatter, which was so familiar it was grating, I sat alone in a secluded seat and
Quietly kept silent.
＊ ＊ ＊
The departed train soon entered land.
The unfamiliar western land itself was interesting to see.
Wide plains, mountains existing like scenery in the distance.
Since this land was treated as a sacred place for Weapon System ability users like me, the naturally rising excitement was a bonus.
Belignore, where I was currently heading, was the location of the 'Cradle of Swords,' one of the three great forges.
Thanks to the Cradle of Swords, which boasted an enormous scale, it had even become a tourist destination.
Thinking about what kind of weapon I would encounter there made me feel like a child the day before a picnic.
It felt like just yesterday that I had only walked safe paths….
By now, it even felt like I had been waiting for this moment.
"Nice to meet you."
A tall, lanky man who suddenly appeared spoke to me and naturally sat down in the seat opposite mine.
"My name is Bennelli."
He greeted me with a slight courtesy.
Short platinum blonde hair, a middle-aged man with drooping eye corners.
"My name is Yohan."
"I'll apologize on behalf of everyone for earlier. We've been working as a team for a long time."
"I understand."
If a group formed to protect someone had been united for a long time,
It was perhaps natural for them to be extremely wary of outsiders.
"Thank you for understanding. Here, this is the official schedule."
Bennelli handed me documents that were dozens of pages thick.
It was so densely packed that even the content seemed to be filled without any gaps.
Was this a schedule that didn't even allow a minute outside of sleeping hours?
The junior had been living with this kind of schedule until now?
"How is it? Already getting a headache?"
"I'm alright."
The only time I would have to move separately was dawn?
"More than that, there's something I'm curious about."
"Ask me anything."
"What level of security detail requires a dedicated team of this caliber to be formed separately?"
I wanted to know the weight of the crown the junior was wearing.
At my question, Bennelli crossed his arms and answered earnestly.
"Since Tempora's status rose sharply about half a year ago, the level of security has also skyrocketed accordingly."
Those were words that made me, who had been too busy with Deliverer work to pay attention, feel a pang of guilt.
"So, DX, Tempora's overall agency, hired our security team. It's been about five months now."
Bennelli continued with a calm smile.
"Incidents rarely happen at official events; most things happen during transit."
"What level of incidents are we talking about?"
He leaned forward and replied in a low voice.
"The most common case? Trying to leave an unforgettable scar on the existence they admire. Physical System sasaengs usually do things like that."
Good heavens.
"In our second month as the dedicated team, there was a guy who tried to draw blood from one of the members. He was a regular person, but the one who hired him was a Phenomenal System sasaeng. They did it with the purpose of putting it in a doll."
Unknowingly, tension stiffened my upper body.
"The most troublesome are the ones who act like sasaengs using Mental System abilities. They somehow implant suggestions to make her perform actions meant only for them on stage, or make her say 'I love you'…."
Just hearing about it felt so musty, I could almost smell mold.
"We are all in a position where we have to block all those impure intentions that try to worm their way in through various means."
I said it before, didn't I?
That it was a relief she was an ambiguous superhuman who only indulged in the admiration of people.
I take that back.
"However, don't worry too much. The things I mentioned earlier don't happen frequently. Besides, it's not like we're just any Tom, Dick, and Harry."
He looked around proudly and told me as if boasting.
It was a composure that exuded experience.
"Oh, right."
Bennelli, as if suddenly remembering, took out a small earring from his pocket and placed it on the table in front of me.
It was a unique earring made of silver with a small spinning top hanging at the end.
"What is this?"
"Our means of communication."
Bennelli then tapped his temple with his long finger and said—
"I'm in the mental system."
Somehow, I figured he wasn't the type to have Physical or Weapon System sensibilities.
Following Bennelli's suggestion, I put the earring on my left ear, and he put on the same earring as if to demonstrate.
Then, he flicked the spinning top at the end of his earring with his finger, and it began to spin fiercely.
Following him, I spun the top on my ear, and a subtle sound and vibration resonated in my earlobe.
But only for a moment, before both my ears went numb.
Bennelli's black pupils, which I was facing, turned white, and then returned to black after a moment.
"What was that just now? Was that a suggestion?"
"That's right. To be precise, it's a suggestion based on hypnosis."
When did he hypnotize me? Since my ears went numb?
"Now, spin the top on your ear again."
Following Bennelli's words, I spun the top again, and the gentle sensation that had resonated in my earlobe earlier was gone.
Soon, Bennelli's voice entered my now-numb ears.
'Can you hear me alright?'
But Bennelli, sitting across from me, hadn't even moved his lips.
Nodding with a dazed expression, Bennelli now opened his mouth and continued speaking.
"My ability is 'Inner Channel.' Through hypnosis and suggestion, I can share a single channel with a group."
His voice continued to be heard in my ear, even though he hadn't moved his lips again.
'Like this.'
Bennelli opened his mouth again and tapped his temple a couple of times.
"If you want to communicate, spin the top and strongly visualize what you want to say in your mind."
'Like this?'
Bennelli smiled faintly and nodded at my immediately adapted reply.
What an amazing ability.
Not to mention security, it was an ultimate command system that could give organic unity to a group.
If Max was the center of this security team, then Bennelli was the core.
"Arrival expected in 20 minutes, distance to the waiting carriage is 100 meters."
A moment later, one of the bodyguards sitting at the very front announced this loudly to everyone in the car.
Then, most of them rustled about, each starting their own preparations.
Amidst this, everyone without fail wore the same earring on one ear.
In line with them, I, also wearing a dark navy suit like theirs, lightly touched my earring, fully prepared.
Having composed my senses, when I grasped the provided baton in my hand, the limit of my skill with it was imprinted on my entire body at an instinctive level.
Having finished all preparations, the door of the passenger car slowly opened not long after.
The first to burst out into the scene were all the bodyguards.
Following behind them, the place we emerged into was.
───!
An enormous crowd was packed together, accompanied by a noise that momentarily made my ears numb.
The security team, without a moment's hesitation, began to move in front of that crowd, and they all spun their tops as if by agreement.
In line with them, I also spun my top and moved according to the formation they had taken.
'Eleven o'clock, watch those two men carefully.'
'Which damn event manager is it? There's someone carrying a weapon over there!'
'Tempora will be out in three minutes.'
'Clear the path! Galvern! Don't space out, you bastard!'
'Chance, you take the lead.'
'Yes, sir!'
The urgent voices of the bodyguards echoed endlessly in my ears. And the shouts of the crowd covered those voices in waves.
Calmly assessing the situation, I shared the conclusion based on my senses, deployed fully and without omission.
'Seven individuals around three o'clock moved towards the median strip. There's a gap in the median strip, be careful.'
'Hey, who was that just talking?! What the hell are you rambling about on the channel!'
Shit, never mind.
Slightly moving away from my position, I went to the median strip where a gap had formed and guarded it.
If we kept dragging time like this, the crowd's excitement would become uncontrollable.
The timing wasn't good.
Meanwhile, Max's voice echoed in my head through the earring.
'Counting down, 3…2…'
1.
As the signal was given, the four Tempora members who had been waiting descended from the train in a line.
Bodyguards stuck to them like glue.
'Maintain the minimum space so they can move while interacting with fans.'
'Hey, slow down the lead!'
They moved towards the opened path in formation.
The shouts grew even louder, and the barricade swayed from people jumping up and down.
As expected, people squeezed through the gap in the barricade.
A total of eight.
Holding the baton in reverse grip, I supported the chest of the first person to pop out and blocked all seven who followed.
Among them, one with exceptional physical abilities nimbly tried to slip to the side.
Instantly pushing the people aside, I tripped the man trying to pass with the end of my baton.
Just in time, Tempora and the entire bodyguard team passed behind me, and in that small gap,
Polia's two eyes sparkled brightly.
For a fleeting moment, she smiled at me, then immediately focused on the crowd.
What an admirable kid.
And so, with the entire group reaching the carriage and Tempora getting in and departing,
The first leg of the journey ended.
＊ ＊ ＊
A terrace overlooking a scene crowded with countless people.
Three people sat leisurely in that spot with a great view, as if they had rented the entire place.
Two men and one woman.
"It doesn't look too difficult."
The man, who had been looking down at the scene as if spectating, now glared at the carriage that had already driven far away and spoke.
In response, the man sitting across from him simply smiled faintly without a word.
In that man's ear, hung an earring with a spinning top at the end.
