TL/ED – Miso
“…”
“…”
Sowhere in the spire, at a table.
Piercing Blood and I held a brief staring contest, but I was the one who blinked first.
In the end, I was the one to lose.
“Sorry about that. At the ti, I couldn’t think of any other way.”
“Hoo…”
At my words, Piercing Blood let out a deep sigh.
If I woke up to find the situation already over and a bump on my head, I’d be angry too.
But true to his role as the leader of a group, he visibly fought to calm himself despite the irritation on his face, then shook his head.
“There’s no need for an apology. In the end, you did what needed to be done and proved yourself to us.”
“I appreciate you seeing it that way.”
“Dark Night is definitely dead?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t bother ntioning that it was actually a puppet mimicking Dark Night, a World in disguise.
Piercing Blood’s expression relaxed slightly with relief. He settled into a more comfortable position and glanced around the room.
“Well, looks like you really did climb your way into the Upper Tier. How is it up there? Did you find what you were looking for?”
“No. Still searching.”
“I hope you do. We actually ca to ask you for a favor.”
“A favor?”
I tilted my head.
Of course, he wouldn’t have co all this way just to ask why I’d knocked them out.
He must have had so purpose in coming here.
I nodded to indicate I was listening, and his expression turned serious.
“Find out where the World-Sealing Pills co from.”
“World-Sealing Pills?”
“Yes. We know for certain that Upper Tier produces them, but…”
Piercing Blood tapped the desk with irritation.
“We have no idea where they’re made or what ingredients they use.”
“I did hear they’re difficult to produce.”
“It’s beyond difficult. We’ve turned over nearly every corner of the Lower Tier searching, but we can’t figure out what materials go into them. We can’t even find where they’re being made.”
“Hmm.”
I nodded in understanding.
“So this was the real reason.”
“I’m only telling you now, but yes. We’re extrely uneasy having our lifelines in the hands of these lunatics.”
It seed that sending to the Upper Tier had largely been about discovering the source of the World-Sealing Pills.
Honestly, I couldn’t say he’d been a huge help, but it was true I’d used him without proper explanation, and this was sothing I needed to investigate anyway.
“Understood.”
If the Empire could begin mass-producing World-Sealing Pills, they’d have a ans to draw in Fallen from the Lower Tier.
That ant they could bind the Crimson Circle’s hands and feet. At minimum, if I could just identify the ingredients, Dersia could handle the production herself.
That was the calculation behind my decision, but Piercing Blood seed to think I was doing this for their sake. He looked moved as he nodded.
“Thank you. This is more than enough to forgive you for knocking us out and selling us to that damned woman.”
“One more thing.”
“Hm?”
“There’s sothing I’d like to ask of you as well. It’s also related to the World-Sealing Pills.”
“Of course. Just say the word and we’ll move out imdiately!”
The mont I ntioned the World-Sealing Pills, Piercing Blood readily agreed.
Then again, if he was feeding a group of Fallen this large, no amount of contracts would ever be enough.
Especially since I’d left them unconscious for quite a while. I waved my hand beneath the lamp light.
“Do you know about this Dark Veil? The phenonon where shadows move on their own?”
“Mm, I heard it was a plan the Upper Tier carried out while we were dealing with Dark Night.”
Piercing Blood furrowed his brow and glared at the shadows.
“Spreading burdens across the World… I don’t even know what these people want anymore. Have you heard anything as a mber of the Upper Tier?”
“I’m still in a probationary period. I need to find out what the Lower Tier Fallen did in relation to this plan.”
“It was a designated mission, so it didn’t even appear on the mission board. The Upper Tier must have issued contracts to people they’d selected in advance.”
“I have reason to look into the details. Can you find out?”
“Sure. That’s not difficult.”
Piercing Blood rose with a bitter smile.
“We know who was involved. If we rough them up a bit, they’ll talk. But I believe it was more of a transport operation than killing or kidnapping anyone.”
“…Transport?”
“Yes. The ones who were resting during that period specialized in moving things. They probably carried sothing from the far side of the continent to here. All we need is to find out what it was.”
“I see. When you have the information, co back here. I’ll have sothing on the World-Sealing Pills by then.”
“Now that’s reassuring.”
I saw him and his companions off, then went back to reading the history texts.
“…”
“Undercurrent-nim?”
Sothing registered on my Current Sense.
“I’m going to head down to the basent for a mont.”
“Ah, yes.”
Cheon-hwa, who had said she would handle matters related to the Deep Sea, occasionally read through catalogs or searched through books. When she had questions, she called for .
But her thod of calling was rather peculiar.
Whenever she wanted to summon , she wrote letters on her desk.
Co down, it said.
“…Doesn’t that bother you at all?”
The hinges creaked as I opened the door and descended to the basent, asking that question with so resignation. Cheon-hwa looked up from her papers.
“Does what bother ?”
“This is almost the first ti I’ve explained my Current Sense in detail to anyone. Honestly, if I were you, I’d tell not to use it anywhere near .”
I cleared my throat and tried to phrase it delicately.
My Current Sense was called a sense, but in practice it was more like installing an ultra-high-performance CCTV system across several hundred ters that could pick up even the sound of breathing. An overwhelming invasion of privacy.
If I had to live near soone with an ability like this, I’d want at least an entire city between us. But Cheon-hwa seed unbothered as she tapped her docunts into a neat stack.
“If I’m not doing anything shaful, it doesn’t matter. It’s actually convenient not having to go upstairs.”
“Ah, yes.”
We hadn’t spent that much ti together, but I had enough sense to tell that sothing about Cheon-hwa’s personality was a bit off.
“Why did you call for ?”
“I’ve finished organizing. I need to go to another Spire to conduct so experints.”
“…Experints?”
“Yes. I can’t do it alone.”
“What exactly are you doing?”
“I need to bring out your kin and observe how they survive.”
In other words, she intended to interfere with my World.
I imdiately furrowed my brow.
“Is that possible without Void?”
“Yes. Interfering with a World itself isn’t particularly difficult. You’ll be able to confirm the details when we get there.”
“…This sounds extrely dangerous.”
“Every mber of the Upper Tier has faced their World in that place. You need to do the sa.”
Cheon-hwa cut off coldly and handed the stack of docunts.
“Show this to them, and they’ll tell you everything you need to do.”
“Who am I looking for?”
“Phantom. He’s in the Upper Tier like you.”
“I’ve never heard that na before.”
“Of course not. He never goes outside. But you should have seen his World recently.”
“His World?”
Cheon-hwa’s expression turned slightly self-deprecating as she spoke.
“Phantom’s World is the Dark Veil.”
“…!”
The Dark Veil. The plague currently tornting the Empire.
I kept my thoughts from showing on my face and asked carefully.
“He’s not dead?”
“Of course not. If he died, he wouldn’t be able to spread his World’s burdens. We have to keep him alive by any ans necessary.”
“I see.”
It seed fortune had fallen right into my lap.
If I could confirm this information and possibly find a way to kill him…
Nothing could be better. I nodded and picked up the docunts.
“Where do I go?”
“Open the door and walk through.”
At first, I took it as Cheon-hwa making a joke.
But then my Current Sense suddenly couldn’t detect anything beyond the door, and I narrowed my eyes.
“…”
I carefully opened the door. Pitch-black darkness greeted .
Clearly not normal.
“So it’s a system where you can only go if you’re invited.”
“It’s just a few steps, so don’t worry.”
Unlike Cheon-hwa’s casual tone, I was quite disappointed.
If this was how it worked, ambushing wherever his main body was located would be nearly impossible.
I was thinking I’d have to look for sothing else once I got there when…
“Undercurrent.”
“Yes?”
Cheon-hwa suddenly called out to .
I waited for what she was going to say. She seed about to speak, her expression haughty as always, but then she shook her head.
“…Never mind. You should be fine. Walk straight ahead.”
“? Yes.”
It wasn’t as if I had the option not to enter.
The mont I stepped forward, it felt like surrendering my body to smoke that had weight. I was almost certain I wouldn’t be able to breathe inside.
Of course, that didn’t apply to . My body didn’t need to breathe.
After a few steps, the surroundings beca engulfed in pitch darkness, just as I’d expected.
The days of finding darkness frightening were long behind , so I kept walking.
“What?”
The path didn’t end.
No, it was hard to even call it a path.
After wandering for a while through an abyss where I couldn’t even tell which direction I was going, I began to understand what Cheon-hwa had tried to warn about.
“Playing gas, are we…”
It seed this Phantom character wanted to test .
Of course, what he’d miscalculated was this: my Current Sense still worked in here.
In this place where I couldn’t see a hand’s breadth in front of , I closed my eyes and focused. I detected a door so distance away.
When I walked toward it, the door slid away, trying to escape.
“…”
I was so exasperated that I used water pressure to lock the door firmly in place, then approached and wrenched it open.
With a click, the door swung wide. Beyond it lay a space that looked exactly like the basent of the Spire.
The only difference was that instead of Cheon-hwa, a brown-haired man who looked barely in his early twenties sat there.
I wasn’t really one to talk, but still…
He’s so young.
Far too young to believe he was the owner of the World that had plunged the Empire into terror.
Could he be hiding his real age? While I concealed my tension, Phantom checked the watch on his wrist and let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha.”
“Undercurrent. Should I have wandered around a bit longer before finding my way here?”
“…One minute. So you’re the real thing.”
Despite my slightly sharp greeting, Phantom smiled and stood before .
“I assud it had to be a misunderstanding, but… the Deep Sea? This is impossible. How can sothing like this actually exist?”
“Wait…”
“This is impossible. How are you even alive? Normally, you would have been crushed the mont you fell!”
Phantom handled like I was so kind of toy, turning this way and that.
“How many are subrged in there?”
“What are you talking about?”
This wasn’t the personality I’d expected at all.
I shook myself free with so effort, and he asked, unable to contain his excitent.
“The corpses drowned in the Deep Sea. There must be so, right?”
“…?”
This was the first I’d heard of it.
User Comments
0 comments from readers