Do You Think You Can Run After Reincarnating, Nii-san?

The Golden Boy: The Awakening of Talent

Conclusion

The man laid prone on the crumbling roof of the abandoned fortress, waiting for the right moment.

The girl in the robe moved away, and at that instant, a line of sight to Jack Lieber opened.

It took the man less than a moment to release the drawn bowstring.

—

It was probably by chance that I saw it.

A silhouette on the roof.

That silhouette holding what looked like a bow.

And just now—an arrow was loosed toward me.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

Phil and Raquel did too.

In an instant, we understood.

In about 0.3 seconds, I would be pierced by the arrow and die.

So, they acted instinctively.

Both Phil and Raquel moved to shield me.

It was a natural decision for them.

And for me—it was an obvious choice.

I pushed the two of them away with my sprained hands.

In the slow-motion world, their shocked expressions were burned into my retinas.

The arrow approached.

I would probably die if things stayed like this.

—

—【Wings of Departure】!!!

Exactly 0.3 seconds after noticing the arrow, the sharp point reached my left chest.

But at that moment, I had erased my own mass.

Pushed by the mass of the arrow, I rolled on the ground.

However, all the force from the arrow was deflected—

And there wasn’t a single scratch on my left chest.

“Jack!!”

“Jack!!”

The two rushed over in a panic.

To show I was unharmed, I sat up and smiled at Raquel.

“That was fast, right?”

My best reflexive spirit art activation time was 0.5 seconds.

But just now it was about 0.3 seconds.

A 0.2-second improvement.

Rachel supported me and smiled with relief.

“It’s still not perfect.”

“Harsh…”

It seems I still have much to learn…

“Master! That person!”

Phil pointed in the direction the arrow had come from.

A member of the thieves’ group? Did they fail the ambush and run away?

But when I followed Phil’s finger—

I was stunned.

He had his mouth wide open.

Trying to swallow the sharp arrow.

And then, immediately.

With his own hand, he thrust the arrow deep into his mouth.

That depth…no mistake.

It reached the brain.

The man lost strength and fell from the roof.

So abnormal, so inexplicable.

It was—suicide.

“…What the…what is this…”

We stood there, dumbfounded.

The moon in the night sky watched over us without letting us escape.

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Later, the Crimson Cats extermination squad arrived and thoroughly investigated the abandoned fortress.

As a result—excluding Vicky, 32 bodies were discovered.

All of them had committed suicide.

Some had slit their own throats with their swords.

Some had bashed their heads against the walls repeatedly.

Some had broken each other’s necks.

Every body had destroyed itself to the point of making physical movement impossible.

And so—the thieves’ group Crimson Cats was completely annihilated.

Due to the suspicious nature of these suicides, my father imposed a gag order, but…

As a side effect, a rumor began circulating among the public.

—It was said that a mere seven-year-old boy and girl had destroyed the Crimson Cats.

And so.

It didn’t take long for rumors about Phil and me to reach the royal capital—

Especially the Royal Spirit Arts Academy.

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TO BE CONTINUED IN

The Golden Youth: Assembly of Prodigies