How To Suck Honey With Extras [EN]: Chapter 98

Episode 98

108. Greed and Schemes Move in the Night (10)

I don’t know how, but I’m alive!

It was only a few seconds, but I had a moment to catch my breath!

And for some reason, a potion bottle touched my hand.

I thought I was out of them?

Did I drop one from my pocket while getting beaten?

I don’t understand.

But trivial things don’t matter.

This is definitely an opportunity.

“Aaaaaaaaargh! You’re not getting away, you bastarddddddd!”

I screamed and squeezed out every last bit of strength.

Even a little is enough.

“Salamander! Buy me time!”

I summoned a low-level fire spirit, Salamander, to engulf him in flames.

I just need to create an opening.

I grabbed the potion, chugged it down in one go, and unleashed my spirit magic again.

“Undine! Douse him with all the water you’ve got! Push him back!”

Undine faithfully carried out my instructions, creating several huge water droplets around us.

They burst like a collapsing dam.

A swirling vortex of water poured down to push him back.

He cut through the flames and mercilessly swung his sword to counter it.

But he didn’t have the same ferocity as when we first met.

No, to be precise, his sword aura couldn’t hold out.

Clang!

As it touched the vortex of water, the remaining blade shattered and scattered.

He had reached his limit.

It was only a normal iron sword, and he had pushed it far beyond its limits.

No matter how skilled an Aura Master he is, he hasn’t reached the point where he can fight without a sword.

Even he would naturally have reduced combat power without a weapon.

‘To struggle so much because of a mere difference in equipment.’

He must be furious.

But I found it endlessly amusing.

“You… bastard… how far…”

I simply stared into his eyes, burning with rage.

“Just get lost already, you weakest Aura Master old man.”

I used all my remaining mana to activate gravity control.

I unleashed the full force of the pouring water vortex on him as if punching him head-on.

The power and sharpness of his fist were already gone.

I knew he was at his limit.

Kooong!

His tattered armor finally shattered from the impact.

“Kuaaaaaaagh!”

Kroll’s sturdy body was directly hit by the gravity field, flying all the way to the docks, smashing through the area, and plunging into the water.

He didn’t resurface.

The battle was over.

* * *

This time, he won’t get up again!

I collapsed on the spot.

It was a miracle that I had managed to hold on.

It only worked because his sword was completely broken, and his pride was hurt, blinding him even if just a little.

It was like a child throwing a stone and hitting an adult’s vital point.

I wasn’t confident I could pull off the same miracle twice.

‘Hopefully, that’s enough to kill him…’

I considered chasing after him to make sure, but I gave up.

It’s too early.

More than anything, I don’t have the strength anymore.

Let’s just be satisfied with the fact that I survived.

‘Besides, if I’m not mistaken, something else jumped in when he fell into the sea.’

It was dark, so I couldn’t see clearly, but the chances of me being wrong are slim.

If that’s the case, it’s even better not to chase after him.

‘For now, I just need to get away…’

And finally, the sun was rising.

The residents who had temporarily evacuated and were trembling from the night’s commotion would start coming out to check the situation.

If the visibility improves, those guys won’t be able to run rampant anymore.

If I can just stop them from achieving their goal, it’s my victory.

With that conviction, I tried to get up, staggering.

The problem is, if someone finds me like this, it’ll be just as troublesome.

I need to escape too.

‘Aura Masters… they’re even more monstrous than I imagined.’

Even though he’s the weakest Aura Master, he seemed like an unfathomable monster to me.

Moreover, according to the setting, he had only reached the level of Aura Master a year ago.

He wouldn’t have been able to fully utilize his abilities because he hadn’t adapted to the senses after transcending the realm.

And his equipment wasn’t perfect either.

By my calculations, he could only exert about 40% of his power compared to the main story in Volume 4.

And yet, it was like this.

If I fought him twice in this state, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.

‘I need to get stronger…’

I’m still far from it.

The time will soon come when villains who have reached that level will start causing trouble.

But if I’m struggling against the weakest Aura Master, I won’t be able to survive.

‘By the way… what was that thing back then?’

When I was in danger, when I couldn’t even catch my breath to recover and was about to give up.

He suddenly covered his face and backed away.

If I’m not mistaken, it looked like he was attacked by something.

But by who?

In the first place, when I looked closely at the potion bottle I drank at the end, it wasn’t a potion I made but a mana potion.

Well, I had a little left over from what I got from Cruse during training, but did I drop it?

‘Or could it be that someone from the Pileros Merchant Guild helped me?’

That’s absurd.

Moreover, there’s no one among the mercenaries here who could launch such a fast and precise attack to make him back off, right?

‘…Forget about that.’

It’s enough that I survived.

This isn’t the time to worry about trivial things.

I put strength into my legs to get out of here.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any mana left to use for teleportation.

“…It’s hard… Ah… damn, I want to sleep…”

I feel like my eyes are going to close any second now.

I’m so sleepy.

Is this what it feels like when fatigue exceeds its limit…?

The vague, burdensome feeling is even more painful.

‘I want to lie down somewhere, but I need to escape first… I need to hide somewhere, anywhere…’

My vision darkened as I muttered to myself.

I heard someone’s footsteps nearby, but I didn’t have the strength to react.

This is my limit.

I couldn’t hold on any longer and had no choice but to lose consciousness.

* * *

The moment Eilon collapsed, the blonde female mage on the walls of Pelpuk quietly watched the scene with magic and sighed.

“…That boy really can’t stay still. How does he end up in situations like this every single day?”

Cruse Elfaman sat on the wall, watching with long-range magic.

It was by chance that she noticed.

A caravan leaving for another city had broken down and couldn’t travel far.

In the meantime, Cruse faintly noticed familiar mana fluctuating near Pelpuk.

Eilon, it’s that boy.

She was surprised.

To be able to sense it even from a day’s distance.

That means he’s exerting a very strong force.

Since she had already left, there was no reason to interfere with what the boy was doing, but she immediately returned when she noticed.

And as expected.

She sighed as she looked at the city, which was almost a quarter destroyed.

‘That boy really gets into big trouble if I leave him alone… Does he have some kind of strange destiny?’

To think that something would happen on the very night she left.

She was momentarily speechless with disbelief.

It was a joke back then, but she wondered if that boy would really die on the streets if she left him alone.

What should she do?

Cruse was conflicted.

‘It’s dangerous.’

When she arrived, Eilon was already fighting someone wielding Aura [a life energy].

Even at a glance, the man’s skills were extraordinary.

Judging from what she could see, he had reached the level of Aura Master.

It would be easy to take care of him.

But since she had already said she was leaving, interfering easily wouldn’t be good for the boy at all.

Cruse understands that excessive interference is harmful.

In the end, she watched, but she couldn’t stand it and interfered just once, but no one would complain about that much.

More than anything, judging from the circumstances, it seemed like those knights were the despicable ones.

‘…He should be fine now.’

She considered helping Eilon, who had collapsed, but she was relieved when she saw the faces of those who had arrived at the scene.

They were probably members of the merchant guild that Eilon trades with.

If so, they would help him.

After watching the merchants discover Eilon in shock and take him away, Cruse stopped watching.

“…Then I should leave this time.”

She wouldn’t have to worry anymore.

Cruse was convinced and left the place.

This time, she disappeared quietly so that the boy wouldn’t notice.

* * *

If I’m born again in another life, another world, I’m going to choose only the easy things!

With that desperate feeling, I opened my eyes, and fortunately or unfortunately, it seems like I’m still in that damn novel world.

‘I’m alive?’

The reason I’m sure is that my body hurts like hell right now.

“Ugh… my whole body aches…”

My recovery ability should still be active, but the pain in my body hasn’t subsided yet.

I feel like I’m experiencing every possible pain, including fever, nausea, and so on.

‘That damn bastard…’

How do you beat someone so badly that they have such aftereffects?

But I should be grateful that I’m alive.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a fairly neat room.

‘Where am I?’

I raised my throbbing body and opened the window to check, but the scenery outside the window wasn’t Pelpuk.

“…Wait? Where am I really?”

I tried to recall the events as far as I could remember.

That damn guy from the Empire attacked, and I fought desperately to protect my well-being and property.

Then I ended up fighting that even more damn Aura Master.

After being at a disadvantage, I thought I was going to die this time, but somehow I managed to land a blow on him and gave him a seagull-poop-filled tour of the sea.

The problem is, I’m not sure if what I remember is accurate.

I was already half unconscious.

‘I probably passed out right then and there… So why am I here?’

Even for me, there’s no convenient function that automatically returns me to a safe place when I lose consciousness.

There’s no such setting.

More than anything, if I had such an ability, I would have learned it right away.

‘Who moved me?’

When I looked at my body, I saw bandages and traces and smells of medicine.

They even changed my clothes.

How mortifying.

They took good care of me.

That means someone moved me while I was passed out.

And they even treated me.

‘Who is it really?’

I tilted my head and wondered what to do.

Should I go outside and take a look?

Then someone opened the door and came in.

Instinctively wary, I stuck close to the window, but I widened my eyes when I saw the person’s face.

It’s a familiar face.

It’s a merchant who works for the Pileros Merchant Guild.

“Oh, Mr. Eilon. You’re awake? Please wait, I’ll go get someone else right away.”

“…Ah. Yes.”

I hesitated and nodded.

How should I think about this and accept it?

I survived, and it seems like I’m still destined to live in this world.

‘Well, being alive is the best, so I have no complaints.’

With that, I breathed a sigh of relief and lay back down on the bed.

Yeah, living is the best after all.