### Chapter 251 – Room 202, Cursed Room – ‘Mermaid Princess’ (29)
—
– Park Seungyub
— Clack!
“Ugh, are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine!”
Rilinganor and I stumbled out of the cramped limousine for the third time, crashing into each other. Every time it happened, I was apologizing, and the old man driving was apologizing, too. But Rilinganor would just smile brightly and say it was all good.
Such a sweet kid. I can’t tell if she’s good-hearted to her core, though.
“Anyway… I just can’t hold back my curiosity anymore.”
“…”
“What are these machines? I mean, with only three people in here, how did the limousine get so cramped?”
“Sorry for the tight fit.”
“I’m not worried about the space; I’m curious about what these devices are.”
I finally got her curiosity. This limousine is big enough to fit eight people excluding Elena, who’s sealed away on the island.
But now, with just the old man, me, and Rilinganor squeezed in, it felt like we were in a sardine can. Every inch of space was taken up by delicate and crucial machinery after folding the seats down.
“Really, you don’t know at all?”
“Huh? Should I know?”
“You don’t have to, but I just thought you’d have a clue. The Administration Bureau’s technology must be impressive.”
There was a device next to the daughter of the Sea God, and she didn’t even know what was next to her. It suddenly hit me: the tech from the Bureau had even reached miraculous heights.
When I stood up slightly to check the back in the rear-view mirror, I saw a huge trailer following us. Good to know the doctor can handle a vehicle like that.
After about ten minutes, we finally hit the coastal road leading to the Sea God’s island. But Rilinganor, who had previously been curious about the machines, was starting to panic.
Who prepared the curse that always assaulted us upon entering this coastal road?
Initially, Rilinganor seemed to be the prime suspect. The only groups capable of this kind of trickery are Serenade or the Administration Bureau, and since there’s no reason for either, that leaves us to ponder.
On our first and second attempts, we had to activate the curse on the coastal road first and eliminate it before bringing Rilinganor to the Sea God’s island. But this time, the curse was functioning just fine.
“U-um! Excuse me!”
“…”
“Excuse me!”
“What is it?”
“Could you pull over for a sec? I, uh… really need to use the bathroom!”
“Pffft!”
The old man couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.
“Hello?”
“Kid, it seems the curse prepared on the legs can’t identify you. In any case, we’ll stop around the middle, so don’t worry too much.”
For a moment, Rilinganor’s expression froze like a statue. The girl who had been chatting merrily with me a second ago seemed to vanish into thin air.
“… You’re saying some really odd things.”
“Aren’t you the one who’s done something strange?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about! I just came along because you said the Sea God’s island was in a crisis, right? By the way, how can such a weak road support that heavy trailer—”
“Hey! Are you trying to use some strange powers? Keep your mouth shut! Even Elena, the original of that ability, wouldn’t use it recklessly like this, so why are you?”
“Ugh! Ugh! I can’t get this hand off me!”
“Aaargh! Don’t bite! Don’t bite! I didn’t come here to fight with you! Quite the opposite, I came to apologize to your god!”
Is she seriously nuts?!
In that brief moment, Rilinganor clamped down on my hand, making it bleed. Just like that, any warm feelings I had left for Rilinganor extinguished in an instant!
Is she even a person? Oh right, she’s not just a person but a weird sea creature, huh? Is she part dog now, or what?
“Came to apologize to the Sea God? What in the world—”
Seeing is believing.
No amount of talking would beat showing. I promptly opened some of the transporting devices in the limousine. Upon seeing the contents, Rilinganor had a total deer-caught-in-headlights look.
The car stayed utterly silent until we reached the Sea God’s island.
*
After hearing the old man’s lengthy explanation, Serenade summed up her feelings in one sentence.
“… You expect me to believe that?”
To be honest, it’s a ridiculous story. Who would easily buy it?
The former deep-sea saint sold the Sea God’s followers to the Bureau, and the Bureau had been using them for biological experiments for over 20 years. As a result, the angry and hopeless Sea God is about to cause a catastrophe through Lee Sooho and Rilinganor.
Of course, it’s easy enough to show Serenade the “evidence” that persuaded Rilinganor.
Serenade approached the limousine, skeptical yet curious. The moment the transporting device opened before her, she was left speechless.
In the cloudy tank, tangled wires floated around small snails, smaller than my fist. Serenade, who was dazed, reached out, and the Ruda that were floating in there seemed to cling to her arm, wriggling.
Meanwhile, the doctor driving the trailer opened even more transporting devices right in front of Serenade. With about 200 Ruda in sight, she finally broke her silence.
“Are there more?”
“Governor, these specimens are just a tiny fraction. The Administration Bureau has been mass-producing and cultivating Ruda for decades. Unfortunately, we couldn’t rescue them all.”
“What about the remaining specimens…?”
“We’ll guide you to the lab. We’ll need at least 20 more trailers of this size. The Ruda themselves are small, but these transport devices are unexpectedly big.”
“… Wait a minute. Something tells me there’s work we need to do first. Could I get a bit of time?”
“You should ask your younger sister instead of me. Rilinganor, what do you think? Will rescuing the Sea God’s followers from tragedy help cool your god’s anger?”
“…”
Overcome with startling information, Serenade seemed to regain her senses and looked at Rilinganor.
She had always thought of Rilinganor as a young and inexperienced younger sibling. But it turned out, she was already a step ahead as a servant of the Sea God, carrying out that rage. What must Serenade be thinking right now? Betrayal? Sadness? Or perhaps pride?
The two sisters stared at each other with an indescribable atmosphere surrounding them. Just then, the doctor placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Governor, we’ll wait outside.”
“Take this. To the outskirts of the island— right, you already know the location. Show this piece at the hospital, and it’ll wake Elena.”
— Clack!
“Seems like family matters, so let’s leave it to you.”
The doctor suggested we go wake Elena with the wooden piece, but then the old man made a strange noise.
“Huuuh…”
“Grandpa?”
“Both of you, come take a look.”
The sky was oddly colored. It was an utterly incomprehensible murky hue. The gray light was slowly spreading like paint staining the sky.
“Sir, is that what Miss Ahri mentioned yesterday about a ‘means to shake the Administration Bureau’?”
“… Seems so.”
“It’s ominous as hell. Just to double-check, are we talking about a ridiculous ending where the world falls apart because we couldn’t stop that thing?”
“Well…”
“Grandpa?”
“Enough with the questions. Seungyub, you’re starting to figure things out, aren’t you? Ahri and I have quite a difference in our experiences. Just because Ahri knows something doesn’t mean I do. I have no clue what that is.”
Eek! I flinched at the mention of Ahri’s ‘experience.’
I’m not an idiot! It’s not like I’ve been bold enough to ask, but I can’t be so oblivious as to not notice that Ahri’s age and experience are a bit… off, either.
“Um… Grandpa.”
“Yeah?”
“Did Ahri possibly get married out there? Or maybe! What if she has a son older than me but just hasn’t told anyone?”
“… You should just ask her yourself. And please try to find someone your own age. Even better if it’s another human.”
“…”
*
“Sir, do you think Eunsol and Songee will manage just fine?”
“Are you worried?”
“To be honest, yes. I feel like it’s pointless if the final resort is just about the Bureau coming down hard.”
“Doubtful. They paved things so it couldn’t be done that way.”
“Paved?”
“The Bureau thinks they can trample any opposition from outside if they believe they’re correct. But—”
“But?”
“Now, their faith in the ‘project’ might falter. They’ve been faced with the shocking fact that the new humanity they trusted is being manipulated by Jinchul to attack them. At such a time, what Eunsol and Songee intend to do may prove very effective.”
“Really?”
“Moreover—”
“Moreover?”
“I’m not sure if the Bureau can effectively handle the external operations at all.”
Following the direction of the old man’s finger, Sanghyun gazed at the ominous ash-gray sky. In a normal situation, the Bureau might not have been troubled, but against the unknown disaster they are currently facing, it would be nearly impossible for them to stop Eunsol and Songee’s ‘final strike.’
Suddenly, Sanghyun pondered, if they reach the conclusion in such a manner, to whom would the ownership of the inheritance go? With plenty of survivors, it wouldn’t just be one person making it happen.
He couldn’t help but chuckle. He had forgotten that this wasn’t the time for the party to be divided up over such issues. It would most likely get sorted out appropriately. At the very least, the kind of people who would sow discord over that wouldn’t have made it this far.
As evening fell, the three daughters of the Sea God gathered, including the freed Elena, to perform a rite for the souls who had suffered. May the Sea God’s followers, who died in pain, find peace.
Thus, we too desperately wished to be liberated from this room.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.