“Alright. The atmosphere is a bit gloomy and awkward, so how about we introduce ourselves? We might not all be from the same area, but it’s pretty rare to meet Northern folks in the South, right?”
“······.”
“······.”
Alicia claps her hands and talks cheerfully.
But still, the atmosphere inside the carriage is filled with a chilling silence as if to embarrass Alicia.
Alicia’s bright smile gradually hardens over time.
‘I really can’t deal with this.’
Two people sitting across from each other.
A pale-skinned Blood Ghoul, Transylvania, and the spirit, Gui Ho.
It really was a painfully awkward combination.
One is a former Taesu who had to step back from the front lines due to injuries three years ago, and the other, a former Heavenly King who dragged her down…
‘What on earth is my sister thinking…?’
Alicia looked like she was about to burst into tears any moment.
To put these time bombs into one spot.
It’s a team formed to track down an unidentified enemy; it wouldn’t be surprising if they started fighting among themselves first.
‘Why the hell am I even here…?’
The most incomprehensible part was Alicia’s inclusion.
The Murderer Transylvania and the spirit, who might be a bit lacking in output since being injured, but still retains top-notch skills.
These two alone would be enough, so why did they have to throw me in the mix?
No, I guess I get it.
If something goes wrong, they’ll stitch it up and report to Yerina.
If only the two of them are involved, one could kill the other and bury them somewhere isolated, and no one would ever know.
My head hurts. It really does.
How did I end up with this labor?
If it were in the past, I would have stubbornly refused.
‘Well, there really wasn’t a way to refuse.’
A hollow smile appeared on Alicia’s lips.
There was no way out of this.
She couldn’t just ignore commands.
After all… everything had been exposed…
Just thinking about it still makes Alicia regret that moment.
‘I never thought they’d come at me like that…’
After being kidnapped and subsequently rescued by the curse caster, she knew Yerina’s suspicion had never truly faded.
But I thought, as long as it remained a suspicion without evidence, it would be fine.
But then, Yerina played an unexpectedly strong card.
“You. Marry this guy. Palana should be forging connections with the Magic Society soon, right? A family with three elders in the society will definitely help Evgenia.”
“Uh, sister?”
“Don’t worry too much. I checked, and he’s not the type to look down on beastmen. You’ll definitely secure a solid position as the main wife, so it’s not a bad deal. Right? Can you find a better offer than this?”
“······.”
She was cornered.
Surely, it was about time for Alicia to have a marriage talk.
The undead army situation had calmed down, and she couldn’t use that as an excuse anymore.
More importantly, she had previously hinted that if a suitable man appeared, she’d get married to pretend she didn’t love Yoo Jin.
But she never imagined someone would come along who fit all the conditions she had so painstakingly laid out.
“Why are you silent? Don’t like him? Good family, good looks. There’s no reason to refuse!”
“I, uh… I just… changed my mind suddenly…”
“Ah, a change of heart. No, that’s not it. You never had any intention of marrying from the start, did you? Because you already had your eye on another man. Shall I take a guess, little sister? A man you’d turn down regardless of his perfect conditions. And a man you can’t tell me about. Hmm? Seems like only one person comes to mind. Odd. No matter how I see it, isn’t it Yoo Jin?”
“······.”
The lack of evidence still remained.
Weak suspicions transformed into vastly stronger ones.
Essentially, she had confessed herself.
From that day on, Alicia had to perform all the dirty work that Yerina assigned her, as some form of atonement.
The reason Yerina didn’t completely cast Alicia aside and only gave her this mild punishment was simple.
She couldn’t bring herself to be harsh to someone who missed and loved Yoo Jin.
With Yoo Jin already gone, what would punishing Alicia severely even accomplish other than venting her frustration?
In a way, it was somewhat comforting.
Among very few who knew that a man named Yoo Jin existed, there were precious few who missed and awaited him.
When Yoo Jin was here, they were like stray cats, but now they were comrades waiting for him together.
The more people thought of him, the stronger the pull toward him would be.
Wouldn’t that make it easier for Yoo Jin, wherever he is, to find them?
Wouldn’t the way back become brighter?
Yerina suddenly thought of this, which is why she couldn’t cast Alicia aside.
Of course, that was separate from punishment.
“The enemy is highly likely to be from the Underworld.”
“Whoa!”
Alicia jumped in surprise at Gui Ho’s suddenly cracked voice.
Realizing she had offended by interrupting, she quickly settled down again.
But Gui Ho continued as if he didn’t care less.
“A Great Demon? That’s not even a threatening demon! Based on the torn and stitched-up spaces, their skill in handling demonic energy is quite substantial. They surely far exceed all the mages that once existed on this land, and they’s on par with or even beyond the fury level among demons.”
“You never change, always so full of yourself. It doesn’t matter if you get sliced in one stroke anyway, just like you did when I made you look foolish, Gui Ho.”
“Don’t scratch suddenly, Murderer… I’m in a very foul mood right now…”
“But are you uncomfortable? One hasn’t even been found dead or alive for four years. Everybody must be a mute in front of me, huh?”
“That white body, shut up before I burn it all to ash with demonic energy.”
“Hahaha! Good! I think I’ve gotten stronger since we last met, Gui Ho! How about we measure our skills for a change?”
“Sure. Stop the carriage.”
“Driver… just keep going and ignore these two, please…”
Alicia felt a throbbing headache.
These people…
No matter how she looked at it, they were not someone she could patch up.
.
.
.
‘The path is visible.’
I begin to cultivate ‘My Inner World’ again.
How long has it been since I obtained the answer from the God of the Underworld?
Back then, I couldn’t grasp anything, but now a direction is starting to take shape.
First and foremost, the key ingredient will indeed be the Great Magic of the Nameless.
A magic that creates souls.
The problem is that the souls created this way are one tier lower in status and don’t last long.
What is needed are two things.
First is a tool to broaden the status of ‘My Inner World.’
This Sword Aura I forged with purely my will.
It may not look promising now, but if I just learn another Martial Arts Secret or so, it should be usable.
Second is a way to maintain a completed soul permanently.
In fact, there are quite a few methods for that.
Using machines, inscribing semi-permanent magic circles… etc.
‘What I have in mind is something different, but it’s not certain.’
Of course, besides that, there are indeed other enticing methods.
However, since the theory may not even be established yet, I cannot push solely for that.
It’s wise to keep various possibilities open.
For now, the most immediate thing to try would be acquiring a new Martial Arts Secret.
“I need to get close to Yerina Frost.”
“Leave that to me! The Frost Duchess really likes me!”
“Are you sure that’s okay?”
“Huh?”
With an innocent face, Nameless confidently exclaims.
But it’s not as easy as it sounds.
Nameless is currently misunderstood as having been abducted by an unseen enemy from the coalition.
Moreover, they’re even rambling about seeing invisible things.
Clearly, they appear to have fallen under a spell.
It would be suspicious if someone like that suddenly returned and claimed they wanted to meet Yerina.
It’s dangerous.
At least, it would be wise to time and plan the rescue of Nameless.
“First, let’s gauge the atmosphere in the coalition. I left something deliberately, so maybe they’ve already noticed my existence by now.”
“How can we gauge that? If I show up right away, I’ll be treated as brainwashed according to uncle’s words and get caught, causing alarms to blare everywhere.”
“Didn’t you say there’s a network where all the coalition information gets gathered?”
“Right? It’s called the Archive.”
“Who’s in charge of managing the Archive?”
“I heard it’s some high-performance computer… Was it Linda?”
“Not just a high-performance computer. It’s an artificial soul. A being no different from a person, yet it isn’t a person. We’ll gather information from that being.”
Nameless tilts their head in confusion.
Seems they don’t know Linda well yet.
Well, I haven’t publicly announced the transfer of ownership, so…
It’s no trouble for it to be regarded merely as a high-performance computer.
‘Nameless and Mi Jeong see me. Then what about Linda?’
It’s still just a hypothesis, but so far, no one with a soul among humans could recognize me.
The only two who can see me are those with a unique constitution bearing no soul.
So what about Linda?
Does the artificial soul made by Cern get regarded as a soul or not?
I plan to go find that out.
‘Speaking of which, I haven’t heard anything about her since she destroyed herself and Cern went into repairs.’
I haven’t seen Linda in ages since she had self-destructed.
Yet it seems she now plays a role managing the network that envelops the entire coalition.
I guess I should charge her handsomely later for the unauthorized use of my clockwork machines.
“The Archive’s data storage is this way… huh? How do you know the direction?”
“Well, it’s my house.”
“······?”
The Clockwork City.
It’s been quite a while since I last visited.
I wonder if Cern is doing well.
Walking down the familiar path, I sought out Cern’s old mansion.
But this…
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Uh, it’s just… a lot different than I imagined…”
The mansion… no, it’s not that at all.
My body stands stiff in front of the Archive data storage.
I expected a neat building since it’s the hub of the network.
But before my eyes lies a disorderly chaotic mass of structures and machines, seeming to stretch in every direction without any order.
The sight resembles a massive tree.
Thick trunks, with skeletal steel branches sprawling all around.
They’ve got almost nothing in common besides being gigantic, yet strangely, it gives me an impression akin to the World Tree.
And one more thing.
There was something else that resembled it.
“This really brings back some not-so-good memories…”
Linda’s old self.
In other words, the time when Linda was the dungeon boss.
The visual reminds me of a strangely shaped giant clock tower.
