The effect of the Indulgence was certain.
After leaving the Darkest Dungeon with Louis, U-jin was imdiately pardoned for his cris and had his status as a Hero reinstated.
Louis had already given a heads-up for the administrative processing, so all U-jin had to do was go to the tribunal and get it notarized.
The process of his release went smoothly.
Originally, according to U-jin's plan, he was supposed to hand over the Source Stone and then head straight to the Guild House.
“…What are you going to do, Seo U-jin?”
But due to an unforeseen accident(?), that was now impossible.
“What about?”
Twitch-
“…Do I have to spell it out for you? Spit out the Source Stone.”
Louis Button scrunched up his face and wiped it with his hand.
From his perspective, it was an incomprehensible situation.
The Source Stone? Swallowed?
He couldn't know what U-jin's intentions were for doing such a thing, but the attempt itself was absurd.
Even if he conceded a hundred tis and ignored everything else, it was still impossible to comprehend.
The fact that U-jin was perfectly fine after swallowing that nightmarish lump of rock.
‘…….’
What had happened to all those who had swallowed a Quark?
They either beca madn no different from Magical Beasts and were executed by their comrades, or they beca Mutants, spewing tentacles from their mouths.
Without even needing to calculate percentages, almost all of them ended up that way.
Furthermore, even without directly swallowing a Quark, humans with strong Demonic Nature would gradually lose their human form just from increased exposure.
Due to this bizarre phenonon—where excessive exposure robbed one of their reason, causing them to lose their original form and take on the characteristics of a Magical Beast—the regulations for the Exorcists led by Louis included a rule to kill any team mber who beca a madman possessed by a Quark on sight.
But.
“…How can you be so calm?”
For so reason, despite being the one at the center of this absurd event, U-jin maintained a composed attitude.
“Well… it already happened. Nothing I can do about it.”
“……”
“Can't go trembling over spilt milk.”
He added, as if he had simply put in the wrong ingredient while cooking.
From Louis's perspective, it was enough to make him go crazy.
The person who should have been the most worried and anxious was acting like this, which conversely made him even angrier.
“…I feel like I'm going out of my mind.”
“Going out? For lunch?”
“……”
“Why? The food here is delicious.”
At U-jin's attitude, which showed no sign of changing no matter how much he was pressed, Louis clutched his head, let out a groan *Kkeueung-*, and fell silent for a mont.
And then.
“…Should we dissect you?”
He asked chillingly, slightly raising his head.
Wince-
Was it because he read the sincerity in those words?
U-jin, who had been stubbornly maintaining a calm deanor just as Louis said, lost his composure for the first ti.
“Uh… I, for one, am against that idea.”
If soone who didn't know the situation heard this, they might have thought it was Louis playing along with U-jin's banter.
But if that were the case, there would have been no reason for U-jin to flinch and shudder.
The Louis that U-jin knew was not soone skilled at jokes or acting.
In other words, that question was genuine, containing at least 80% sincerity.
“I can't make any promises, but this Priest will do his best to ensure you don't die.”
“……”
The words he added afterward lent more truth to it.
Of course, from U-jin's perspective, it was an unacceptable proposal.
He still had a whole bucket list of things to take care of, and he himself knew best that dissection wasn't going to provide any answers.
As U-jin stubbornly shook his head, expressing his refusal, Louis presented another proposal.
“Alternatively, Quarks have a property of reacting to powerful mana or strong external shocks.”
“……”
“First, let's confirm whether it has truly settled inside your body, Seo U-jin.”
“Uh……”
He was saying he would beat him to a pulp.
“For this thod as well, this Priest will do his best. To ensure you don't die.”
This, too, was not an argunt U-jin could readily accept.
“No… just wait a minute.”
“……”
“I'll look into it myself. Give so ti.”
After briefly pondering U-jin's compromise, Louis replied.
“…I cannot give you much ti. There has been no significant research conducted on the Source Stone.”
“……”
“There is no guarantee that your body will remain fine, Seo U-jin. It wouldn't be strange if your body exploded or you lost your mind at any mont.”
“……”
“…If you don't have an answer by tonight, I will truly take matters into my own hands.”
* * *
In truth, the matter of the Source Stone was sothing I also needed to look into.
I also didn't know the exact thod by which the Source Stone's bizarre power was being suppressed, or how I could be fine even after embedding it in my body.
I knew nothing about the chanism.
The reason was simple.
I wasn't the one who had handled it.
After waking up, it had been a series of chaotic situations, so I hadn't had ti to check. While it was true I had swallowed the Quark, the one who had actually processed it so that it wouldn't affect my body was ‘that person’.
The only reason I could set it aside without worry amidst that chaos was because *he* was the one who had handled it.
If his hand had touched it, then at least its success or failure was not sothing I needed to worry about.
『…I cannot give you much ti. There has been no significant research conducted on the Source Stone.』
Just as Louis had said, there was no significant research on the Source Stone.
That was the sa even in the 1st Regression, where the tiline had stretched much further.
I knew that the Witch had taken an interest in the Darkest Dungeon and Quarks and had conducted her own research, but I literally only knew the fact that she had done research; I knew nothing whatsoever about her findings.
So, of course, I couldn't possibly know anything about the act of swallowing a Source Stone.
In other words.
‘…I’m also at a complete loss.’
The fact that I had regressed was of no help at this mont.
I had to figure it out with my own abilities.
No.
To put it more bluntly, ‘I had to fabricate a plausible story.’
‘…One that Louis would find convincing.’
In reality, from my perspective, there was no need to dig into the actual truth.
I, too, was uneasy about having that damned rock inside my body and was curious about how I was fine, but.
Honestly, there was no need to doubt its safety.
Of course, this was sothing I couldn't explain to Louis, but as for , I had outsourced the job to a place more trustworthy than anywhere else.
Besides, having just brought Tom out, I had a lot of other things to do, so I had no intention of pouring ti into sothing that wasn't an imdiate danger.
The problem was the contract I'd made with Louis.
In the end, I was able to get out of the Darkest Dungeon thanks to his Indulgence.
And that Indulgence was received on the condition that I bring him the Source Stone.
Of course, he knew well that it wasn't intentional, but frankly speaking, from his perspective, it looked as if I had backstabbed him and made off with the goods.
There were two main points to resolving this issue.
The first was ‘proving my safety’.
As he had said before, no research had been done on the Source Stone.
However, there were already countless cases regarding the dangers of Quarks, which originate from the Source Stone.
Without needing to go into detail, since Louis was the head of the Exorcists who used the vast majority of Quarks on the continent, it would be no exaggeration to say that he was the person who had seen the most of what happened to those who swallowed them.
And if Quarks were like that, then from his perspective, I must seem like a walking ti bomb, one that could turn into a Mutant at any mont without it being strange.
To leave this place and do my own work, I first had to be able to prove to him that my body was safe.
The next was ‘replacing the Source Stone’.
To my face, he spoke under the pretext of worrying about my body, and it probably wasn't a complete lie.
But even if I sufficiently proved the safety of my body that had swallowed the Source Stone, it would probably be impossible to leave this place imdiately and move freely.
From his sohow changed deanor, I could guess that he had his own hidden agenda.
Regardless, the main reason he had demanded the Source Stone of Quark from was because he actually needed it.
It was to replace the old Source Stone, which had lost its ability to self-sustain and could no longer produce Quarks, with a new one to solve the Quark shortage.
If I proved my safety, it was highly likely I would be held here until an alternative solution to the Quark shortage could be found.
In other words, as long as the Source Stone was not removed from my body, if I didn't offer him at least a temporary alternative to solve the Quark shortage, it wouldn't be strange for him to proceed with torture-like research, such as the dissection he ntioned.
If I couldn't satisfy these two conditions, it would be impossible to leave this place a free man.
The truth, if possible.
If not, I had to find a way to solve these two problems with at least a plausible excuse.
Haaa-
“…What should I do?”
I had blustered that I would figure it out myself, but it wasn't as if I had a clear plan in mind.
I had just made it up to get out of the situation, because if I hadn't, the look in his slightly unhinged eyes made it seem like he would really dissect my body.
I had to start thinking of a thod now.
‘…….’
After so thought, I decided to go with a standard thod.
Teolseok-
I sat cross-legged in the middle of the headquarters' training hall that I'd borrowed from Louis and closed my eyes.
Contemplation.
I looked down at my body's Mana Circuit, from its core to its very ends, searching for any abnormality.
It hadn't manifested externally yet, but this wasn't just so random rock; it was the Source Stone of Quark.
I didn't know how ‘he’ had sealed the Source Stone's power, but it was impossible that there would be no change at all after embedding such an object in my body.
There had to be a part of my Mana Circuit that was different from before.
I planned to use that as a clue to devise a solution.
And I.
“…Huh.”
Without even needing to search for long, I imdiately noticed the abnormality.
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