The bodyguards, who belatedly recognized the real attacker, hastily subdued him.
"This guy is a dark mage."
The mage bodyguard muttered while looking at the captured attacker. Her hand touched the attacker's face.
-Sizzle.
The leather over the skin easily tore away.
"It seems the delivery itself was real. However, they must have intercepted the delivery person midway, killed him, and then put on his skin. They also switched the contents."
"What a disgusting act."
Although dark mages were gaining recognition in society, it was still dark mages who caused problems like this. You could tell just by looking at how they casually killed people and wore their skin like now.
"Then what about that bodyguard over there?"
"It seems that guy was used by that dark mage. Do you see his right hand? If you look closely, there should be something like connected tubes."
It was as she said. Looking at the dark mage's broken right hand, something like red tubes was protruding. It was nerve fibers that had pierced through the skin.
"They stick that into a person's spine to control their nervous system and manipulate them as they wish. Like a marionette puppet."
"I'm starting to think I responded too excessively."
"You don't need to worry about that. We always carry emergency treatment potions in preparation for situations like this."
Before Osian could step forward, the military-background bodyguard began emergency treatment.
"Fortunately, it's good news. The cut surface is clean, so it attached well without any special surgery."
Being knowledgeable in medicine as well, he examined the unconscious bodyguard's condition and reached a conclusion. He seemed quite surprised while speaking. No matter how much potion was used, the wrist itself had been severed.
Even if you poured potion on the cut surface, it wouldn't result in complete healing. It was a situation where they would need to take him to the emergency room for follow-up treatment.
'But there are no injuries worse than this.'
Because the cut surface was too clean, they were able to perfectly reattach the severed part with just the potion. It would take time for rehabilitation, but there would be no aftereffects according to his assessment. Rather, the mental shock from being controlled by the dark mage would be greater.
Osian just shrugged his shoulders at the distrustful gazes directed at him.
"More importantly, how did you figure it out?"
The mage bodyguard pointed out a fact that suddenly occurred to her.
"He just looked suspicious."
"He looked suspicious? There wasn't anything to be suspicious about, was there?"
"It was just a simple hunch. He looked suspicious, that's all. There was no rational consideration."
"You acted with such confidence based on just a hunch?"
She seemed quite incredulous. Osian didn't bother trying to force her to believe it. It was an undeniable fact that he had recognized the dark mage with a knight's sharp intuition. The fact that the opponent was a dark mage made him react particularly sensitively.
"...Well, regardless, you did well in the end, so I have nothing to say."
"That's about right."
"Phew. At first I thought you just came here through connections, but seeing you today, it seems we misjudged."
The bodyguards were more favorable than before, as Osian's display of skill was quite impressive. It was a natural reaction since working with skilled people made them that much safer. Even though they were bodyguards, the dangers they faced were far from ordinary, as just demonstrated.
"Since this happened, it's fate, so let me introduce myself. I'm Joy Lunas. I'm in charge of the security team here."
Joy Lunas pointed to the mutant standing beside her.
"This is the mutant Zybruck. And that man over there is Step. He looks stiff because he's from the military, but he's actually a caring person."
"You're all capable people."
"So what about you? I can't keep calling you 'newcomer' or 'you.' We'll have to work together at least until the concert ends."
Osian nodded.
"I'm Osian. I work as a fixer."
"Heh. Osian? And a fixer? Don't tell me, you're that man? The one everyone's talking about these days?"
Joy was surprised but then nodded in understanding as she recalled the scene Osian had shown. Indeed. With that level of skill, it made sense that he would be a resolver and be assigned to Rose's security.
"Is there trouble outside?"
Just then, perhaps feeling the commotion, Iva came out of the waiting room. Her face hardened when she saw the scattered corpses of dismembered insects in the hallway and the somewhat excessively subdued dark mage.
"Iva? What's wrong?"
"Ah! Rose! You can't come out!"
Iva tried to stop her, but it was too late. Rose had poked her head out and witnessed the devastated hallway. Just as Iva was about to make some excuse, Rose said nonchalantly:
"What, I thought something serious had happened."
Rather, it was Osian who was surprised by her reaction.
"Aren't you surprised?"
"This isn't the first or second time something like this has happened."
When he looked at Joy with an expression asking if this was really true, she nodded in agreement.
"There are many people targeting Rose."
Rose added an explanation with a bright smile.
"There are many people who want to kidnap me for ransom, or kidnap me to keep me as their personal singer. That's still better. There are also people who want to kill me."
She spoke such outrageous things so matter-of-factly. Rather, it made Osian wonder if something was wrong with him for listening. Rose was a celebrity. And one who couldn't be ranked in Tirna. At least in this field, there was no one in Tirna who could compare to her.
'Perhaps it would be the same even if you searched the entire continent.'
Being such a Rose, she was often caught up in various major incidents. Because her existence was so brilliant, people around her tried to use her.
Kidnappers were at a common level. As Rose herself said, there were cases where wealthy people with peculiar desires hired private mercenaries to attack.
'Moreover, there are people who want her dead.'
Rose was too symbolic a figure. The ripples that came out when she said a word were never small. Rose went all the way to District 1 to make people enthusiastic, but that didn't mean everyone loved her.
'When light is strong, the shadow it casts becomes that much darker. As more people come to love her, conversely, there are also people who feel endless hatred toward her.'
The dark mage from earlier was like that. The insects that came out of the box he brought were clearly not just meant to startle the opponent, no matter how you looked at it. He had really come with the intention to kill.
It wasn't because Rose had done something wrong. Rose always wanted everyone to be happy listening to her songs. Looking at her motives alone, she was an incomparable good person in this world.
But in society, there are occasionally people who cannot accept someone's goodwill. The stronger the goodwill becomes, the stronger their rejection of it. And they resent and hate people who are loved by everyone.
Rose started as a commoner and sat on the throne of admiration that everyone looked up to. While looking up at her with longing, they also wanted her to fall down below.
"Well, this kind of thing happens so often that it's not surprising anymore."
Rose's reaction was understandable. She had experienced this kind of thing so often that she had become accustomed to it. Now he understood her spirited appearance during the Red Liberation Army's terrorism.
'Still, being able to endure so calmly like this must be thanks to her strong spirit.'
Anyway, there was one thing he had learned for certain. Rose's security commission was very dangerous. The substantial reward wasn't given for nothing.
Rose headed back to the waiting room to receive the remaining makeup. Iva's face became troubled for a moment, and she asked Osian:
"How is it? Do you still intend to continue Rose's security after this?"
"It sounds like you want me to back down."
"I'm warning you. The danger that lies ahead won't stop at just this level. You might die. That would be unfair, wouldn't it?"
"What about you then?"
At Osian's question, Joy chuckled.
"We're veterans. And we've been working with Rose continuously. We wouldn't be standing in this position without that kind of resolve."
"If there's this much trouble, won't it interfere with the concert? Is that okay?"
Iva seemed to agree, but she could only sigh.
"No matter how many times we try to stop her, Rose won't listen. She's really stubborn about this kind of thing. She says she can't give in to trials of this level in front of people who came to hear her songs."
Osian didn't know Rose that well, but he thought the answer was very much like her.
"I'll say this out of concern, but this is really just the beginning. Once the concert starts, there will be even worse sabotage attempts. There are many malicious people. And even more dangerous enemies than that."
"For something like that, there's been no news of the concerts themselves failing so far. Didn't they all end successfully?"
Joy smiled bitterly.
"Because they had to end that way."
"...I see."
A picture formed in Osian's mind. Below the glamorous concert stage, invisible fierce battles must have been waged. Joy and the other bodyguards must have done their best to stop them. Like secret operations that people didn't know about.
Osian could feel it. Even though there were only three people here, there must have originally been more bodyguards. The reason for the shortage of people would be only one.
"Lady Rose took a break period because the degree of such interference gradually became excessively severe. There were quite a few casualties too. Of course, such truths were never revealed to the media."
Osian understood why Iva and Joy were saying these things. This was a kind of warning asking whether he would continue to be Rose's bodyguard even knowing these facts.
Since Rose had hired him arbitrarily, they probably mistakenly thought he was half-dragged into this. So they were worried about him and told him to get out on his own before things became needlessly dangerous.
"I appreciate the concern, but I'd like to say it's unnecessary meddling. I'm not as weak as you think."
"...Alright. I won't force you."
Since Osian came on strong, Iva decided to stop trying to persuade him further.
"Today's concert will start soon. So everyone be prepared."
The clown who had flown up on a balloon landed in a dark alley where human eyes couldn't reach.
In the darkness, the clown's eyes glowed eerily.
"Chaos. More chaos is needed."
The fear that children had was a good energy source for the clown. Targeting the orphanage in District 41 was one such reason. But he had encountered an unexpected formidable enemy.
Although he had mocked Martinez and left the scene, the clown had unintentionally consumed considerable power.
To recover this, he needed humans' negative emotions. For that purpose, chaotic times like now were optimal for the clown.
The clown wandered around eating the vagrants that were still remaining. The clown had devoured blood, flesh, and even bones, but was still not satisfied.
The shabby old vagrants didn't taste very good when eaten and had rock-bottom nutritional value. Moreover, guys who would normally be scattered about underfoot were nowhere to be seen today. After wandering around for over 30 minutes, eating only three was all he managed.
The clown's eyeballs rolled around. Soon after, the clown released a balloon, grabbed it, and floated up.
He could feel the breath of a place where many people had gathered.
The clown on the balloon headed toward District 31. The sun had set and night had come but District 31 was livelier than ever before.
The entire district was full of light. Intense beam lights moved here and there, creating a festival atmosphere. The clown looked down at the people spread out below.
People were anticipating it. Those who would normally have shouted and emitted negative emotions were colored with joy and ecstasy.
Why? The rolling eyeballs turned toward the huge concert hall at the center of District 31.
Light was flowing out from the concert hall, and the closer one got to it, the stronger and thicker the people's vitality became. It felt like gorgeous and brilliant colors were surging like a tsunami. For the clown, it was the worst possible environment.
A woman's face appeared on the artifact billboard outside the concert hall. Rose Melody, dressed in gorgeous attire and wearing a sparkling smile, looked at the people beyond the screen.
-Waaaaaaah!
Even though the performance hadn't started yet, people screamed with enthusiasm until their throats were torn. That huge wave struck the clown. The clown contorted his face. The white-painted facial skin cracked, revealing writhing flesh.
"Chaos. Greater chaos is needed."
The clown glared at Rose Melody beyond the screen. The cracks carved into his face healed and returned to the original painted appearance.
The clown's gaze swept over the crowd.
Everyone was expecting Rose Melody's performance and harboring feelings of admiration, but there were some people who didn't feel that way.
Among them were those who openly burned dark emotions toward Rose.
-Hehehe.
The clown's mouth split long down to below his ears.