Published: July 3, 2025
Good deeds should be done quickly, or with a spirit of "let's just try it for now." With that mindset, the group borrowed a meeting room at the inn and decided to take immediate action.
"No, we should think this through a bit more carefully..."
The test subject, Shaafi, had said, but even Gecko replied,
"It's better to do it sooner rather than later."
By then, Shaafi had already taken the painkiller, a general anesthetic, and was deep in sleep.
Rhea had also completed her long incantation and was ready to activate the magic with just the trigger word.
Additionally, there was hot water prepared for some unknown purpose.
This was based on Ryo’s dubious medical knowledge that such procedures required hot water, which of course was prepared by Ryo, the water attribute magician.
Now, all that was left was for Max to prepare to actually peel off the tattoo.
The knife to be used was already decided.
It was a knife used for extracting magic stones... well, it was the same knife used last time when peeling off that cursed tattoo.
Max was the type of person who believed in omens.
Essentially, those not related to this "procedure," Gecko, Abel, Lin, and Warren, were watching the sleeping Shaafi from a distance.
Warren had his shield up, with Lin peeking out from behind it.
(If a situation arises where we actually need the shield, we won't come out of this unscathed...)
Ryo muttered quietly in his heart as he observed the scene.
Max was pulling on Shaafi's skin and pressing on his muscles, checking various things.
Next to him, Ryo began the work of expanding the ice membrane around Shaafi's heart.
The heart itself and the blood vessels surrounding it.
Those large blood vessels that come with the heart when it's pulled out in comics and anime.
The great veins that run vertically, the great arteries that loop around, three carotid arteries that branch from them, and the left and right pulmonary arteries that loop around, finally leading to the four left and right pulmonary veins.
As long as he covered those areas, he wouldn’t die instantly.
If it came to anything other than instant death, Rhea was there...
Ryo thought this and encased it.
"The ice membrane is ready."
Ryo informed Max.
"Got it. Then Gecko-san, we will begin."
"Yes, please."
With Gecko's permission granted.
Taking a breath, Max plunged the knife in. Without hesitation, he sliced through skin and flesh.
However, when he had cut about a quarter of the way through as planned, the tattoo underwent a change.
The design of the tattoo was a sword piercing a double-headed eagle, and that sword began to glow.
Then, a stone spear started to form.
It looked like the stone spear was aiming for Shaafi's chest.
"Ryo!"
"Don't worry. I will protect Shaafi's heart."
Ryo calmly responded to Max’s call.
The tattoo had a mechanism capable of killing its host if one attempted to peel it off.
However, that was also taken into account with the "ice membrane."
Max's knife continued to cut, aiming to slice through about half of the planned area.
In the meantime, the stone spear generated by the tattoo clashed against Ryo’s ice membrane as it targeted Shaafi's heart.
Kiri kiri kiri
It was supposed to be the sound of ice clashing against stone, yet the sound echoed in the meeting room as if metal were grinding against metal.
(The ribs are pretty much shattered, but there's nothing I can do about that... I hope Rhea can manage something.)
While the heart was being protected, the ribs outside it were becoming victims of the stone spear.
However, at that moment, a bigger problem arose.
(What? Someone is coming towards us at a tremendous speed, and in a straight line?)
Ryo’s [passive sonar], which he had activated just in case, reacted.
"Something is coming through the window!"
Ryo shouted out loud enough for Gecko and Abel, who were watching from a distance, to hear.
"Abel, protect Gecko-san. There’s a possibility someone is targeting Gecko-san's life!"
"Leave it to me!"
Abel had his doubts, but he understood that this was not the time to ask questions.