It was a dead-end wall that seemed unremarkable.
“Where is this place?”
At my question, Cat smiled slyly.
He tapped the wall with his hand, and a soft, hollow sound echoed from the space.
“This is the perfect place to complete our jailbreak. Now step back a bit.”
I silently listened to his words.
Then, Cat pulled out several objects, each the size of a palm, from his pocket.
He stuck them onto the wall and lit a match.
He quickly ran back to where I was.
“Get down!”
“W-what? Get down?”
I crouched down as he instructed.
Then, after a brief moment, a huge explosion went off, and flames shot up.
Boom!
The building vibrated from the shockwave.
This level of noise must have been felt by the administrators of the maze as well.
Beyond the broken wall, a vast stretch of the ground could be seen.
Unlike me, who was startled, Cat appeared completely unfazed.
“This place is the only one where the walls are thin, unlike the other mazes. Do you know how hard it was to figure that out? Now, shall we get going?”
“Go? Where to?”
“Out of this damned prison.”
“Wait, you don’t mean we have to jump down from here, do you…?”
“Why not?”
If I fell from here, I would surely be smashed to pieces.
The sound of wind howling by was terrifying enough to make the situation feel even more lethal.
“No, isn’t there a normal exit somewhere?”
At my near scream, Cat chuckled.
“A normal exit? Tch. We’re not on a picnic, we’re escaping. Don’t expect too much.”
“B-but…”
Unlike me, who was filled with fear, Cat’s voice was full of confidence.
“Don’t worry. I’m confident in freefall. I’ve done this kind of thing more than once.”
He pressed a button on his clothes, and something that looked like wings sprouted from his back.
Still, my feet didn’t want to move.
The mere thought of jumping down from this high was terrifying enough, but if I followed them, I would become a criminal with two serious charges.
‘An assassin who tried to kill the emperor, and now an escapee? No way! But if I don’t follow, I’ll die right here… I have no choice!’
Cat beckoned me closer.
It seemed that my only option here was to follow him.
“Alright, I’ll go…!”
With each step I took, the hole I had to jump through became more and more visible.
A shiver ran down my spine.
Eventually, unable to hold back any longer, I squeezed my eyes shut and screamed.
“I’m so scared! I can’t look ahead…!”
“You might as well just keep your eyes closed. That’ll work, right?”
“But it’s still scary! Can’t you at least block my view with your body until we jump?”
“Unbelievable. I’ve never heard such a strange request in my life.”
“Well, how many ordinary wolfkin like me get to experience jumping from such a height…!”
Cat stared at me, looking somewhat incredulous.
A brief thought crossed his face that seemed to suggest he was tired.
But perhaps he felt pity for my trembling, hunched-up form, because he sighed deeply and stopped near the hole.
Because he was blocking the edge of the hole, the view below was less visible, making it slightly easier for me than before.
“Are you ready now?”
“Yes, I think I can muster up the courage now. I don’t know how this will sound, but… I think you’re actually a pretty good person, Cat. Thank you so much.”
I took a deep breath and moved closer to him.
I extended my hand toward his, which was outstretched toward me.
Just as our hands were about to meet in midair, I kicked him with all my strength.
“Click…?”
At that moment, Cat had a look on his face as if he couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
His eyes widened in shock as he fell down into the abyss below.
I felt guilty, but there was nothing I could do.
I couldn’t let myself become an escapee.
‘He said he was confident in freefall… I hope he’ll be fine.’
Then, from behind, I heard a loud laugh.
It was Jay, Cat’s companion.
“Hahaha! That stupid Cat. I knew he was a rat the moment he started calling himself Cat. Acting all goody-goody, and now he gets what he deserves!”
I gave a dry laugh and scratched my head.
“Ah, I accidentally lost my footing…”
At my delayed excuse, Jay wiped the smile off his face.
“You think I’m an idiot like Cat? Do you think I couldn’t tell the difference?”
“Uhm, I guess it’s hard to believe, right? I would have thought the same.”
I quickly started walking in the opposite direction of where Jay was, not forgetting to keep an eye on him.
“You’ve worked hard to get here. Well then, I’m off…!”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Ah, I was thinking of going back to the prison… Is that a problem? You did say earlier that you wouldn’t care if something happened to Cat…”
“Well, I don’t care what happens to Cat, so it doesn’t really matter.”
Relieved by his words, I quickened my pace.
Just then, Jay smiled slyly and tilted his head with a crack.
The sound of bones snapping was chilling.
Then, he drew a sharp dagger from his sleeve.
“Why do you have that…?”
A bad feeling began to creep over me.
As I swallowed nervously and blinked, he spoke in a cheerful tone.
“That’s separate. But the truth is, I want to kill you. It’ll be fun to kill a wolfkin for the first time.”
Jay’s eyes narrowed into slits.
There was an intense sense of excitement radiating from them.
His crazed smile made my body freeze in place.
The air around us seemed to grow colder.
Realistically, there was no way I could win against someone armed with a weapon, especially someone who looked like a trained assassin.
‘I don’t want to die like this…! Is there no way out?’
Then, I remembered the bead the headmaster had given me.
They had confiscated all my belongings when I entered the prison, but just in case, I had hidden three beads inside my undergarments.
I never expected I would use them like this.
I pulled out the beads I had hidden in my chest and shouted.
“Move and I’ll use this! Don’t make me do it!”
Perhaps because the beads seemed insignificant, Jay didn’t show any sign of concern.
It was as if he was only thinking about how to kill me.
As proof, he muttered to himself.
“Would it be neater to cut you into three pieces? Or maybe four?”
He didn’t sound like he was joking at all.
There was no humor in his voice.
My body tensed with fear.
Trying not to show my fear, I puffed myself up like a beast, trying to bluff.
“The moment this breaks, you’ll definitely regret it, you know? If you breathe in the poison gas coming from it, you’ll die writhing in agony!”
Of course, it was a lie.
But the fear of death is a basic human instinct, right?
I thought I could buy some time, even if it was just for a moment.
However, my expectations were dashed when Jay wore an indifferent expression.
“Eh? If you keep this up, I’ll really break it. If I’m going to die anyway, why not kill one more person before I go?”
Jay’s steps grew faster.
Just seeing him approach was enough to make me feel overwhelmed.
I had no choice but to throw one of the three beads I was holding on the floor.
“Ugh!”
With a sharp sound, the bead shattered, but nothing happened.
The first bead was a dud.
“W-what’s going on?”
I hoped not all the beads would turn out like this.
In a panic, I quickly threw another bead I was holding.
Thankfully, the second bead worked as expected.
A hazy smoke rose from the broken bead, quickly enveloping my surroundings.
‘It worked…!’
Wolfkin like me couldn’t afford to reveal ourselves during missions.
That’s why we had smoke beads used for camouflage.
‘Now, I need to get out of here fast.’
I activated my Wolfkin technique, “Flock of Sheep.”
Without making a sound or a trace, it would be difficult for Jay to guess where I was while the smoke obscured everything.
However, the smoke also made it hard for me to know where I was going.
I had to feel my way along the walls and move as quickly as I could, but suddenly something whipped past my leg.
“Ugh…!”
It felt like something sharp had grazed my skin.
It hurt.
No, it burned.
When I touched my calf, I found blood on my palm.
It must have barely missed, because if it had hit properly, I probably wouldn’t be able to move.
Just as I thought the smoke was starting to clear, a small blade flew toward the wall in front of me and struck with a “whizzing” sound.
“Meh, huh…!”
I hurriedly clamped my mouth shut.
If I had moved any further, that blade would have pierced my body.
I could hear Jay’s voice from not far away.
“Where are you hiding, you stupid sheep? Don’t hide like a coward. Come out and play with me, okay?”
His laughter echoed off the maze-like walls, making it impossible to pinpoint where he was.
My stomach churned as I felt my way around, and I broke the last bead in my hand.
Thanks to the smoke from the previous bead, the surroundings were soon engulfed in a thick fog.
I limped as fast as I could, trying to come up with a way out of this hopeless situation.
‘What should I do now?’
Honestly, I didn’t have any real plans.
I just did all this in a desperate attempt to avoid becoming an escapee.
Even with this much commotion, I had expected that at least one of the prison guards would show up, but it was strangely disappointing that no one appeared when I needed them most.
As I kept running, I could hear blades slicing through the air, narrowly missing me.
When the tip of a blade brushed against my coat, my heart dropped.
The feeling was like my insides had frozen.
‘What did I do to deserve this?’
I felt tears welling up in my eyes from frustration.
Was this another trial to make me a stronger problem solver?
No matter how I looked at it, this was too much.
And sadly, the end of this cat-and-mouse game seemed to be drawing near.
The obvious conclusion in sight was my death.
‘Please, anyone…!’
As I turned a corner, someone grabbed me and yanked me back.
I was about to scream when a large hand clamped over my mouth.
A calm voice whispered into my ear.
“Shh.”