Overpowered Reincarnation Perks! - Chapter 12.3

How can he be so functional when he was too drunk to stand properly and just got hit on the back of his head!

“I’ll, huff, teach you a lesson.”

His vulgar breathing reached my ears.

This crazy bastard. How can he still be aroused after being hammered by a woman?

With our legs entangled, I couldn’t even deliver a g***n kick, and with both my wrists restrained, I couldn’t poke his eyes either.

“Get your face away from me, you pervert!”

As I shouted, the pervert’s face really did move away.

“Guhak!”

Suddenly, a pungent iron smell wafted. Before I could realize it was the smell of blood, my body was lifted up.

Even in the darkness, I could see silver hair shining brightly.

Callion.

“Can you stand… No. Excuse me for a moment.”

Callion lifted me in his arms. It seems he was about to ask if I could stand, but decided it would be better if he just carried me and ran.

“!”

I thought he would start running right away, but Callion, who was holding me, flinched and stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

“Am I really insane? Why even the sensation…”

He wasn’t talking to me. Callion muttered with a confused expression and then quickly shook his head.

“Please bear with the discomfort.”

As Callion stepped on the window sill and leaped up, a cool breeze enveloped us.

Landing on the windowsill of the opposite building, he jumped up again. His movements were so light that it was hard to believe he was carrying me as a burden.

Before I knew it, Callion had climbed to the central tower of the palace and looked down while still holding me. I could see soldiers still bustling about trying to put out the fire.

The faint sound of weapons clashing could be heard. Are they in a standoff somewhere?

“I’ll escort you beyond the castle walls.”

“Ah, no! I need to go to the warehouse!”

I can’t just go back outside the castle when I came in to help Arvan.

“If you mean the ore warehouse, it’s already been burned down.”

“Really? Did you find the laboratory where they develop the ore too?”

“I don’t know about that. But even if we find the location of the lab, you won’t be able to do anything alone.”

Callion was coldly assessing the situation. It’s impossible for me, who couldn’t even properly subdue one soldier, to destroy the lab. And it’s even more impossible to safely escape from the Central Palace afterward.

‘Arvan is probably in the deepest part of the Central Palace.’

He’s the man who left me in a safe house saying it was dangerous. I can tell by how he thinks about his comrades. He’s surely taking on the most dangerous tasks himself.

“…Number 310. Put me down.”

I clenched my fists tightly to avoid calling Callion by his name unintentionally.

“The fire is almost under control. It’s impossible for untrained comrades to defeat the soldiers and escape from the Central Palace. We need someone who can clear a path to the castle gate.”

And Callion is the only one with such ability.

“Are you asking me to leave you behind?”

Callion frowned. His hands holding me tightened, causing a bit of pain.

Even in a situation where he doesn’t know it’s me, does he see me overlapping with someone similar? Callion seemed very reluctant to leave me here.

“If they see movement trying to escape, the soldiers will rush there. Relatively, the security inside the Central Palace will be loosened.”

“I understand that it’s safer for you to hide here for now. But escaping…”

“Arvan knows how to escape without being noticed. It might actually be easier for him to take me out alone than moving as a group.”

There’s no way he’d feel comfortable turning his back and leaving me, who has neither strength nor ability. So I decided to say the opposite.

I told him that Arvan and I would escape quietly together, so could Callion lead the other comrades in a noisy escape to draw attention.

This is more like using Callion, so it should be enough to lower his affection, right? Now he won’t feel guilty about leaving me behind.

“I don’t know where he is.”

“I know how to find him.”

“Then, let me accompany you until there…”

“No. The comrades’ escape comes first.”

From the beginning, the request Callion accepted was to neutralize the castle’s plans, so there’s no reason for him to protect me.

And I didn’t want to keep reminding him of painful memories by continuing to stay with Callion.

Both rationally and emotionally, there’s no reason for me to stay with him.

“You said I made you uncomfortable, right? I find you difficult too.”

“….”

As I spoke as if pushing him away, Callion’s expression faltered for a moment.

An expression as if he was hurt.

Even though he has no relationship with me, just hearing rejecting words from someone who resembles me seems to have revived those memories.

“I apologize for the intrusion.”

Callion came down to the top floor through the window and put me down. Standing on the windowsill, he told me to be careful and then leaped down.

The white figure disappeared like a snowflake.

‘…I hurt him again.’

I deliberately spoke as if pushing him away because I felt he would really help if I asked. It’s probably right to say that, even if it hurts him now. Once the soldiers start coming, it would be difficult for Callion to protect me alone. Then the past experience would repeat itself.

‘Even if they harm me, since I pushed him away like this, Callion won’t be shocked by my death.’

Suddenly my eyes blurred, so I took off my glasses and wiped away the tears. The sensation of clothes that had been wet and then dried sticking to my skin was unpleasant, but I didn’t have the luxury to mind such things.

‘Let me do what I can do.’

I took a deep breath and looked around. The high tower should be the most heavily guarded as it’s at the very center of the castle, but there was no sign of anyone.

That means all the manpower has been pulled out.

‘And Arvan wouldn’t miss such an opportunity.’

The fact that the comrades haven’t escaped even though the warehouse was burned down means they haven’t found the lab yet, and if so, the lab is likely to be somewhere deep inside this high tower in the Central Palace.

‘I need to find Arvan.’

The unkind system wouldn’t give me a useful skill like party member search. But there’s a way to apply what I have.

‘Fortification Construction.’

If I use this skill, I can know the absence of allies without having to search every corner, saving time. And there’s no cooldown when the skill is canceled due to unmet conditions, so it’s convenient.

‘Since Arvan is the only one who formed a party with me, the skill will activate if he’s within 10 meters in any direction. If not, it will be canceled immediately.’

As soon as I deployed the skill, a ding sound was heard and a warning window popped up.

[Condition 2. At least 1 ally waiting within 10 meters in all directions