Chapter 89

The streets of Rondan were deserted as patients inundated due to the interrogator’s powers.

The only sound echoing through that quiet street was the thumping of my footsteps.

A sense of urgency, usually unnoticed, surged from deep within my heart.

The Saint once said, that the Record Keeper is the foremost elite among all outsiders.

I thought, perhaps she might help me, given that she often looked out for me for no particular reason.

“…So, we’re completely forgotten now?”

The Gardener’s prickly voice reached me, but I could tell it wasn’t meant to blame me.

“Sorry.”

“Ugh.”

Echoing sighs accompanied her words, proving my point.

“No matter how desperate the situation is, you must be cautious with the Record Keeper. There aren’t many who know her well.”

“Right. She was kind enough to enjoy my cooking, but… you still need to be careful.”

The Gardener and the Cook advised me like that.

That made sense. If even the ordinary outsiders find it hard to grasp, it was likely even harder with her.

Yet, it didn’t matter. As long as we could communicate, that was enough.

With that thought, I finally reached the entrance of Rondan.

But contrary to what was written, nothing stood there.

I looked around outside Rondan, wondering if I missed something, but I couldn’t find any traces of the Record Keeper anywhere.

“Hey, you told me to come.”

I muttered to myself in the empty space, wondering if I was being teased.

“Why are you doing this to someone already cornered?”

Nonetheless, I ended up shouting at the Record Keeper for not showing herself.

I was in such a tight spot that I couldn’t help it.

Ah, so that’s it. Was I just played by the outsiders again?

They seemed to find it amusing to toy with us.

We were just pawns moving according to their whims.

It was heartbreaking.

Tears were about to flow.

What was I expecting to rush here like this?

I couldn’t hold back the boiling emotions that reached my throat.

Whenever I faced situations I couldn’t handle, I felt sorrowful.

Something beyond my control, not my fault, causing suffering and devastation to me or those around me.

So unfair.

If it were my fault, at least I could acknowledge and move on.

I was overwhelmed and sat down, burying my face in my knees.

At that moment, I realized something was approaching from behind.

I became aware when I felt something leaning against my shoulder.

“…Yah-ho.”

“Ugh!”

My body flew forward like a cannonball, losing momentum and tumbling over.

The shock of my knees hitting the ground was overshadowed by my alarm, as I hurriedly tried to calm myself down.

A voice whispered softly in my ear.

The only person I could think of acting so peculiar around me was Agartha, yet her appearance in this situation felt even stranger.

I couldn’t see it, but she must have been wrapped up in the interrogator’s mist and carried off to the hospital.

After calming down, I slowly turned my body to see who was behind me.

And then—

“Uum?”

I found a woman with cute cat-like eyes blinking and tilting her head.

Scanning from her head to her toes, I realized she was not an ordinary person.

Dozens of black tentacles, trailing down from her corset-like outfit covering her belly, wriggled around to shield her back legs.

If that was the only bizarre aspect, I wouldn’t have immediately turned my head away.

But the outfit was too indecent!

She wore ivory boots, with garter belts strapped above them, and between them and the corset—there was nothing!

I could have dealt with it better if she wore something as revealing as Nutricha!

That would have been less disgraceful!

The relatively normal attire above was just a short cape that barely covered her back over a t-shirt.

“Leydan Tanton. You’ve come.”

Her gentle voice rang out once more, and I cautiously turned my head.

“Record Keeper.”

“Why are you tilting your head like that?”

At her question, I cleared my throat and slightly closed my eyes.

“Um, it’s just a bit… uncomfortable to look at.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

She snapped her fingers.

But it seemed she misunderstood what I was saying.

The tentacles that had been covering her legs suddenly vanished!

“Wha—what are you doing?!”

“You said you didn’t want to see the tentacles, right?”

I was infuriated, whether she knew what she was doing or not.

The Super Coward Mode reflects the personality of the subject in the manifestation.

So even the fact that the boots were slightly tight, squeezing the tops of her thighs, indicates the Record Keeper’s character?

This looked like the mode was fulfilling her personal desires!

And with the tentacles gone, she was essentially in her underwear!

“Cover your legs!”

“Ah, that’s what you meant.”

Finally understanding my words, the Record Keeper snapped her fingers, and the tentacles transformed, dropping down like a short skirt, barely covering the tops of her boots.

“I remember that Leydan Tanton liked the appearance I first showed.”

“Uh, whoever the Leydan Tanton you remember is, it’s definitely not me!”

The Leydan Tanton ‘they’ referred to was a complete pervert!

No, more importantly, did he even get to a point where he could toy with the Record Keeper?

What kind of a guy was he?

But even with such light-hearted banter, I could tell her position was no lie.

Just her existence alone made the atmosphere much heavier, and unlike the previous outsiders, I felt like I couldn’t do anything.

An overwhelming demeanor.

It seemed like a fitting description.

“Anyway, since you’ve read my red text, I’ve come to find you, Leydan Tanton.”

The Record Keeper stood before me.

That could be taken as an indication that she would listen to me now.

I had an endless backlog of questions.

How did she know about my past?

What did my past self do to be looked after like this?

But what was the most urgent question?

“Record Keeper.”

“Yes?”

“Then, without reservation, I’ll ask. How can I defeat the interrogator?”

At my words, the Record Keeper blinked her large eyes, gazing at me quietly.

Did she not understand me? Or was she simply lost in thought?

“Defeating the interrogator, you say?”

“Uh-huh.”

“There’s no way for you to do that right now, Leydan Tanton.”

But the Record Keeper delivered a despairing blow.

To think that I had no way to defeat the interrogator at this stage!

“You’re still inadequate to face her. The gap between you, who has just begun to grow, and the interrogator, who has absorbed suffering from humans for decades, is naturally immense.”

“Isn’t there any way you could help? You came here for that, right?”

As I slightly lowered my posture, almost pleading, the Record Keeper looked off into space as if she didn’t understand anything, lightly touching her lower lip with her index finger.

“Among outsiders, it’s an unspoken rule not to interfere with each other.”

“Please!”

In the end, the one who needs help always has to beg.

I approached her and held onto her arms.

“Oh my.”

“What am I going to do here if I don’t stop the destruction of Rondan? I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want to lose… the things that are precious to me.”

Eventually, I resorted to emotional appeal, but if I didn’t get the Record Keeper’s help now, I felt like I could do nothing.

Pathetic, but what choice did I have?

If there’s any method to protect Rondan, I would do anything.

Thinking like that, I looked at the Record Keeper’s face, but she had turned away, not meeting my eyes.

“Hmm?”

“…Even if you ask me like that, it’s still a struggle for me. I’m obligated to document objective facts.”

…Even though she left behind blog-like content clearly written based on her own will, saying such nonsense wouldn’t change a thing.

No matter how I argued, it was futile if the involved party didn’t want to comply.

Ultimately letting go of the Record Keeper’s hands, I turned to leave with heavy steps back to the branch.

“Still.”

A voice that seemed to be making excuses reached my ears, revealing the Record Keeper with her fist covering her mouth as she mumbled.

“If it’s a slip, it’s something unavoidable, so it should be okay, right?”

A slip.

Considering that term and linking it to what the Record Keeper had said previously, I finally grasped its meaning.

A slip means errors made by those writing or transcribing.

If that’s the case, and if that relates to recording the rules of the world, then it means if she accidentally wrote something down, it couldn’t be corrected later—she was suggesting she’d help me in that way.

A feeling of gratitude surged within me for a moment.

Thinking while being in a position to ask for help, I found myself curious.

As someone so important in the realm of outsiders, there was no need for her to go through such high risks just to help me.

Even if I complained, she could easily brush me off with, ‘Nope, ask something else,’ and that would be it.

That had been the case in the past.

Her writings often omitted crucial information, like some green blogger format, but still made an effort to give hints.

Like when she engraved text right in front of the Dragon Slayer.

So I couldn’t help but ask.

“Record Keeper.”

“…?”

“Why have you been trying to help me like this? Am I important in this world?”

I cautiously inquired, watching her gaze fixate upon me. What was she thinking?

Suddenly she walked over, leaning close enough for our noses to almost touch.

“…?”

I tensed up, wondering what she was up to.

Then, out of nowhere…

Hug!

“…?!”

The Record Keeper’s action was utterly surprising.

She wrapped her arms around my waist without warning.

“What are you doing?!”

“You asked me to tell you why, right?”

The Record Keeper said that, lifting her face to meet my gaze.

Without even realizing it, I bent my head to meet her eyes, where the Record Keeper blinked without showing any expression and said,

“I’m in love with you, Leydan Tanton.”

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