Chapter 59
Beneath the stairs underground.
Two people walked through a dark corridor.
Lydia and Morgan spoke in low voices, recalling the ridiculous scene that had just happened.
“I never thought those nobodies would find their way here. Knowing their personalities, I figured they’d sooner die than come to ‘a place like this.’”
“They probably didn’t come in by chance. Maybe they followed someone they knew and ended up wandering in here.”
“And of all times, they showed up right when you’d knocked out the noble with the coin and were wearing that… outfit.”
“….”
Lydia groaned inwardly.
Then she looked down at her outfit. Her pale skin was boldly exposed, and her black stockings were on full display.
It was the very picture of an adult-game heroine DLC outfit.
Even if they sold it for 9,900 won,
it would probably sell like hotcakes.
No….
They might region-lock it before that.
‘This is bringing back memories of my past life for the first time in ages.’
“….”
Honestly….
This was completely unexpected.
‘I thought I wouldn’t have to worry in front of people I’d never see again. But of course it’s disconcerting to suddenly run into people I know while dressed like this.’
A faint flush of embarrassment rose in her for the first time in ages.
Still, she hadn’t been recognized, and she’d sent them on their way, so she decided to count it as resolved.
Lydia answered quietly.
“My face and hair are disguised with an artifact, so they won’t know. Surprisingly, people can fail to recognize someone as the same person after just this much of a change.”
“I don’t know if it’s easy to forget that silhouette. The riffraff were acting weirdly familiar with you, after all.”
“….”
She answered anyway.
“…They won’t know.”
“I’m surprised. I thought you’d puff out your chest and say, ‘This is who I am,’ even if they found out.”
“Isn’t it because the situation is complicated?”
“Hmph.”
Morgan gave her usual nasal snort, then looked around. The area beneath the underground stairs was unexpectedly complicated, and empty crates and furniture obstructed their view.
Lydia looked around and said,
“At any rate, nothing’s happening even though we’re taking our time looking around. I thought traps and guards would come pouring out.”
“Because I disabled the seal in advance.”
“With the coin?”
“No, that was a trap too.”
“?”
Lydia looked at Morgan.
With a confident expression, she said,
“Touching the purple mannequin at the sealed entrance triggers a trap that knocks you unconscious for more than a day. If you touch it while holding the coin, you avoid the trap, but it triggers tracking magic. It took some work to disable both.”
“I see. So if we used the coin as is, we’d be tracked. I hadn’t noticed that. Thank you.”
“…Hmph. Do you understand how useful mages are now?”
“I’ve always known how wise and capable you are.”
“….”
Morgan whipped her head away.
“Hmph.”
The two of them searched their surroundings.
Not long after, they found a spacious storeroom that looked unmistakably like a place for keeping ‘merchandise.’ It was filled with large crates and jars.
They were tightly sealed with magic.
Lydia had a feeling this was the place they’d been looking for.
“This must be it. Can you undo the seal here?”
“Got it. Just a moment….”
Murmur, murmur
As Morgan chanted,
the crates in one corner of the room sprang open all at once with a clatter!
“Thank you. You’ve been a great help.”
“…Hmph!”
While Lydia opened the crates,
Morgan magically inspected the lids of the tightly packed water jars. Then, straining with her little hands, she opened one.
“Lydia, look here. There’s a person inside this water jar.”
“…!”
Lydia looked up toward Morgan, then peered into the jar she was examining.
‘So the water jars were how they transported this ‘merchandise’….’
A person.
Someone wearing clothes like a white shroud.
“….”
The person, who looked like a young man, maintained a very uncomfortable posture without shifting at all. Even when the jar suddenly opened, he remained still.
“….”
First of all….
He was not in a normal state.
Lydia and Morgan left him alone for the moment and opened all the similar water jars nearby. Inside were people, men and women alike, dressed and posed exactly the same way.
They were all staring blankly from inside their jars.
“….”
“….”
“….”
No matter what happened, they didn’t react.
Morgan murmured,
“This is awful. It looks like a collection of experimental specimens. Like a bunch of pupae in the middle of metamorphosis.”
“Hmm.”
“They aren’t breathing or moving at all. Could they be… dead?”
“No. They’re alive.”
“?”
Lydia slipped a slender finger into one of the jars. The young woman inside, who hadn’t even been breathing, reacted ever so slightly. It wasn’t rigor mortis; it was an unconscious response.
“!”
Morgan asked Lydia,
“Can you tell how they’ve been restrained?”
“…I don’t know. Even if they’re using the power of the dark realm, the abilities vary immensely depending on which demons they worship.”
“….”
Morgan leaned over the jar again and said,
“They’ve made these people completely unable to move and knocked them unconscious. And yet their bodies are perfectly fine, as if time has stopped. I’ve never heard of this kind of seal. When binding someone with sealing magic, there’s always some kind of trace….”
And then.
She began chanting a spell and reached out.
“!”
Lydia gently stopped her hand.
Tap!
“?”
Morgan looked at Lydia.
She slowly shook her head.
“That seems dangerous.”
“Huh?”
“This doesn’t seem to be a seal made with ordinary magic. This is one of ‘their’ strongholds, after all.”
“….”
“No matter how careful we are, we don’t know how a ritual using the power of the dark realm might affect the mind. So let’s not investigate it magically.”
“…You’re right. Right now, we need to find the culprit, not figure out the cause.”
Morgan quickly accepted that. Then she replaced the jar lid and said,
“Then let’s put the lids back on and leave. There wasn’t anything unusual about the lids themselves—not even any trace of the power of the dark realm.”
“…Hmm.”
They replaced the lids on the water jars around them. The utterly alien and chilling scene was once again hidden beneath the dusty silence.
Ordinarily, seeing a scene like this
would make one shudder at the strange ways of devil worshipers.
But Morgan calmly replaced lid after lid.
Clack!
Clack!
Lydia watched her and thought,
“….”
‘Perhaps it’s because she’s so rational. She has a clear goal, yet even after experiencing something like this, she feels no particular confusion or guilt. It’s an unparalleled talent for someone who opposes the forces of darkness, but….’
She was reassuring as a companion,
but she didn’t have ordinary sensibilities.
If anything, it was a coldness that made it difficult to get along with others.
‘Is that why she was the first companion willing to get involved in something like this?’
Who would have thought the most twisted heroine in the original story would become the most levelheaded and helpful companion? It was truly unexpected.
Whether she knew what Lydia was thinking or not….
Morgan said, as if she’d come to a conclusion,
“When I heard ‘slaves,’ I pictured commoners who’d been beaten into submission. But they’re selling ‘dolls’ whose very souls have been hollowed out. More precisely, ‘dolls with emotions’….”
“They’re tools, but not tools; people, but not people. Slaves meant to become so confused that they completely lose their sense of boundaries.”
The two fell silent.
“….”
“….”
For the moment, they ignored the jars
and focused on opening the crates.
Lydia fidgeted with the particularly uncomfortable parts of her outfit and complained inwardly.
“….”
‘This outfit pinches terribly in some places, yet does absolutely nothing that clothes are supposed to do.’
Just as she was thinking that,
Morgan called from behind her.
“By the way, Lydia.”
“Why do you call?”
“What item are you looking for?”
“….”
Lydia adapted her knowledge of the original story to fit what would pass for ‘common knowledge in this world.’ She even described the appearance of the equipment she was seeking.
“They’re items that the organization I belong to lost. I decided to retrieve them for what lies ahead. Tracking those items brought me here. I wonder how things got so out of hand.”
“Hmm, I see.”
Morgan nodded, then came over to help.
“….”
“….”
‘They’re all flashy weapons and armor. Based on the shoddy illustrations in the game, the equipment should look quite old and shabby….’
She had opened and searched through a few crates when it happened.
Clack—!
Lydia froze.
“!”
She’d hit the jackpot.
Familiar pieces of equipment came into view.
There was the ‘Holy Cloth,’ which looked like an old rag; the ‘Cursed Staff,’ a red branch covered in various patterns; and finally, the ‘Lion’s Shield,’ covered in scratches. They were all there.
“….”
To think
they’d all be in one place like this.
“…Found them.”
“Really?”
Morgan glanced at the items, then handed over her cloak. Lydia took out the items and put them inside. The cloak made a convenient bundle for carrying all the equipment.
Morgan dusted off her hands.
“So what now? If we take this and leave… well, we’ve technically accomplished our original goal.”
“Now that we know this place is run by devil worshipers, we can’t just leave it at that. First, the ones waiting outside….”
At that moment.
A heavy stone door opened in the distance.
Rumble—
“!”
“!”
The person who entered was the director in the gray shirt. He was leading another customer and kindly showing him to the room where the merchandise was kept.
“Now, if you come this way, the merchandise is….”
“Hm?”
“Is something wrong?”
At the sight of the customer stopping,
the director also turned his gaze toward the storeroom.
And was horrified.
“Wh-what?! Why are you two here…?!”
“…!”
Lydia and Morgan looked at each other.
-What should we do?
-We subdue them.
And then they moved in an instant.
At the two geniuses’ movements,
the director and the customer were captured in an instant.
“Mmph, mmph—!”
“Stay still. You have things you need to tell us…!”
Just as they were about to interrogate them,
Lydia looked beyond the stone door and said quietly,
“Radiana, look at that wall over there.”
“!”
At the sudden use of her alias,
Morgan started in surprise and looked.
“It’s open. Is that another secret wall? What kind of theater has this many contraptions installed….”
At the moment she murmured that,
a relaxed voice spoke. It was an ambiguous voice, impossible to tell if it belonged to a man or a woman.
-Oh my, what unruly visitors…. The barrier wavered, and while I was distracted for a moment, you made it all the way here and started rummaging through the merchandise. I might not have noticed if there hadn’t been a transaction.
“!”
“!”
-As expected, this method is discreet, but security inside is utterly lax. To think someone could break in this easily. I’ll have to change how we conceal things, little by little.
Lydia moved in front of Morgan, putting herself between Morgan and the others as she prepared for battle.
“Radiana, someone’s approaching. Prepare for battle.”
“…!”
Amid the confusion, Morgan grasped only what she could understand. Instinctively, she sorted out the things she mustn’t accidentally get wrong.
She was being addressed by her alias.
She couldn’t let them find out her real name.
Someone was coming.
A devil-worshiper stronghold.
They were definitely hostile.
“….”
Her thoughts fell into place in an instant,
and she nodded, answering a second later.
“Got it!”
The relaxed voice spoke immediately afterward.
-So….
Footsteps came from beyond.
There were at least ten people.
Thudthudthudthud—!
-Whoever you are, you’re going to die.
“!”
*
Arti suddenly looked back as they were finally making their way out of the Hanson Troupe’s theater.
“?”
“What is it, Arti?”
“Oh, I thought the building shook just now….”
“Shook?”
“….”