Chapter 168: Are You Alone?
Chapter 168: Are You Alone?
The superhuman killer noticed someone moving from the corner of his eyes, and he turned to the side and blinked in surprise as someone came to sit down right beside him. It was a little girl wearing a long black gown and carrying a teddy bear in her hands.
Talia Dragonheart.
The superhuman killer felt his heart rate spike for a moment as he thought that Mark would be somewhere around. Did they find out about him and come to apprehend him? Are there any guilds around? He had to find the best way to deal with this. Maybe he should just take the little girl hostage and use her to bargain for-
your m,v,l,e,m,p,y,r story
"Mister, are you okay? You look pale."
The superhuman killer blinked as Talia suddenly spoke to him kindly. He looked down into her eyes, and he was surprised when he did not see anything in there other than genuine worry. Even though Talia was a superhuman, it was impossible for her to fake emotions like he could. She had never received training for things like that, so he knew that her concern was real.
A small smile spread across the superhuman killer's face as he realized that his concern was for nothing. Mark was currently in school with Arit. They were not here with Talia, so everything was fine.
"Yes, I'm fine. I just felt sick for a moment there. Thank you."
Talia nodded at him before she turned back around to watch the birds in front of the bench.
[Who the fuck are you talking to?]
The man on the other end of the call asked in an annoyed tone, and the superhuman killer told him that it was nothing. The killer said that a little girl passing by had just spoken to him, so he greeted her back. The man clicked his tongue before he continued the previous conversation.
[I'll send you one of the strongest calamities we have. It will cause a substantial amount of damage, so it would be sensible for you to keep your distance. If it goes out of control, then it will kill you before you can even get to Mark. Although personally, I wouldn't be averse to having you both gone. Nothing but trouble, both of you.]
The superhuman killer knew that the man did not like him, so there was no surprise when he said what he just did. The superhuman killer took it in stride and responded professionally.
"I'll send you the coordinates later."
The superhuman killer cut the phone before the man could give a response, and he sighed as he continued to throw the seeds at the birds. Talia was silent beside him as she watched the birds eating the seeds. A woman jogged past the bench with a man following close behind her, and the superhuman killer was able to catch how the man's eyes were glued to the woman's large ass as she jogged.
"Bark!"
A dog barked from a distance, and some of the birds flew away as they heard it, but before long they all came back to continue eating. Both Talia and the killer were silent for a long time and the silence was only interrupted by the occasional cooing of the birds eating the seeds! From the expression on her face, The killer could tell that there was a lot on Talia's mind!
Surprisingly, it was the superhuman killer that spoke up first.
"Are you alone here?"
Talia pouted as she tightened her hold on the teddy bear, and she nodded to him. The superhuman killer hummed. Normally, he would never do something like this, but for some reason, he felt like talking today.
"Why?"
"The big-breasted bimbo forced big brother to go to school."
The superhuman killer blinked in surprise as he heard what Talia said, and he immediately wondered who the 'big-breasted bimbo' was. That had to be that girl Arit that Mark was dating, right? Yes, I can see why she would be called big-breasted bimbo. Even I can tell that she is quite endowed in the chest region.
"What about you, you don't want to go to school?"
"Big brother said I'll start going when my uniform gets here."
Talia looked down sadly as she said this, and the superhuman killer wondered what was wrong. Should he ask? Would that be considered too invasive? What if she suspects something from him asking too many questions? No, that's not possible. She is just a child, so I have to play the part of the concerned adult.
"Did you leave your house all alone? You shouldn't do that. It's dangerous out here."
Talia pouted and huffed.
"Big brother said I can go outside if I take Teddy with me. Teddy will look after me, so I'm not worried."
The killer hummed as he saw the sense in her explanation. It was only sensible that the teddy bear would be seen as a good guardian. There was hardly anything in this region that could pose a threat to an A-rank summoned beast, so Talia would most likely be alright. The only person here who could kill her easily right now was him, and he didn't kill children. Not after that last time.
The superhuman killer closed his eyes tightly for a moment as he cleared his mind of some images, and when he opened them, he was giving Talia a kind smile again as if nothing happened.
"You don't want to go to school?"
"I… don't know anyone there. It'll be lonely."
"Why don't you just make new friends?"
"Stupid people are scared of Teddy. Their parents always tell them to stop playing with me because they are scared of Teddy."
The superhuman killer looked at the teddy bear, and his military training immediately jumped to the forefront of his mind as he recalled all the information he had gathered about Talia.
A-rank superhuman with C-rank physical strength. She is a summoner capable of giving life to any inanimate object with only a touch, and each of her inanimate objects possesses enough power to be regarded as an A-rank fighter, so she is an invaluable asset to any guild. Her only limitation is the amount of mana she possesses.
Since she has to share her mana with the inanimate objects to give them life, her summons are limited by how much mana she has. Her grandfather protected her from being forced to join a guild by taking her into the NSA, but now that he is dead, it is only a matter of time before she is poached once more and they try to make her join a guild.
They are probably only holding back because of Mark's presence. They don't want to antagonize Mark, so they won't be forceful about approaching Talia, but once I kill Mark, they will definitely swoop in like ravens to try and claim Talia!
"Are you alone, mister?"
The superhuman killer was suddenly brought back to reality as he heard Talia talk to him, and he realized that he had zoned out of the conversation completely while reading through Talia's profile. He was not used to talking to people, so he was prone to zoning out unless it was something related to business. He smiled as he answered Talia kindly.
"Yes, I'm alone... I like being alone."
The superhuman killer paused for a moment in the middle of the sentence, and he only added that last part as an afterthought, but that was the part that Talia clung to as she tilted her head.
"You like being alone? Don't you get lonely?"
'Are you happy?'
The superhuman killer stared at Talia in surprise as he saw another image
overlap over her face. The image of a pretty girl with blonde hair and a kind smile. Blood was leaking from the side of the girl's mouth, but she still managed to keep that smile on her face as her hand gently caressed his cheek.
'You don't look happy.'