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Novel
The Second Coming of Gluttony
Chapter 71 - Taboo
THE SECOND COMING OF GLUTTONY
C71 - Taboo
Chapter 71. Taboo
The village of Ramman was a fragrant little settlement kissed by warm rays of the sun.
Although it was smaller in size compared to the village of Zahrah, in return, the place was surrounded by a picturesque landscape straight out of an oil painting with fences running through the carpets of endless yellowish-green fields. And in the distance, precipitous mountains that looked as if they had wrapped themselves up in mother nature like a veil serving as the unforgettable backdrop.
Seol Jihu paid the balance to the two carriage drivers, and slowly closed his eyes as the gentle breeze tickled him by. The gentle winds stroking his cheeks brightened his mood up greatly.
'We got lucky.'
They didn't encounter any ambushes during their travel and arrived at their destination before nightfall. Although it might have been nothing to fret over, for some reason, he couldn't help but feel good about this.
It was as if the heavens were blessing his first outing as the….
"Bleeeurgh-!!"
His peace was shattered by the sudden noise of someone vomiting on the side. And then, that was followed by the disgusting noise of something falling on the ground.
He broke out of his reverie and opened his eyes, a deep frown forming on his face. Not too far from him, a girl with a slightly wavy blonde hair was bent over, busy emptying out the contents of her stomach.
The superbly green fields were instantly soiled by the thick mess of reddish-brown liquid.
"Khya-ahk, ghyaahk!"
Was she trying to scream or vomit? Which one was it?
After successfully vomiting out a rather terrifyingly large chunk of something, Maria maintained that deep grimace while she shoved her index finger back inside her throat. And then – began vomiting one more time.
"That's why I told you to drink in moderation."
Seol Jihu walked over to her and patted her back.
It was understandable, though. She drank that much yesterday and then had to ride a carriage non-stop for the past twelve hours, so it'd have been a miracle if her innards were still intact and functioning properly.
Maria barely managed to lift her head back up and began breathlessly grumbling out in her usual manner.
"Pant, pant… Argh, this god-fucking motion sickness…."
Seol Jihu took out a clean rag and began wiping Maria's cherry-red lips all dirtied from the puke. She looked unimpressed but had no energy left to resist him, so she remained docile for the time being.
"Our little Maria is going through a lot, isn't she~?"
Chohong giggled and approached the duo before handing over a bottle of vodka. Seol Jihu gasped in disbelief but Maria seized upon this chance to snatch the bottle away and took a mouthful of the hard liquor.
She used that as a mouthwash; her cheeks ballooned up as she sloshed the alcohol around in her mouth before spitting them back all out. And then, she tilted the bottle a little to take a small sip.
"Keu-heuh… Urgh! Now I feel alive."
"…."
Seol Jihu suddenly thought that alcohol must be circulating in her veins, rather than b lood. It became somewhat torturous to watch anymore, so he turned around to leave. Even Veronika looked away as if she was fed up.
She saw the depressed look on the youth's face. She sighed and lightly patted him on his shoulders. Somehow, that helped in consoling him a little.
"Looks like we'll have to rest for the day."
Mikhail shook his head in helplessness. Seol Jihu agreed with that assessment. It wasn't just for Maria's sake though. Riding carriages for half a day straight was never easy. Besides, they weren't pressed for time, like how it was with the Arden Fortress back then.
The six of them agreed to search for a suitable place to get some rest and entered the village's entrance. And that's when this happened.
"I saw it! I swear, I did!"
Out of the blue, a hoarse voice greeted them from the side. An old woman standing in front of the thatched-roof mud hut was staring at the group with unblinking eyes. She seemed to be a Paradisian.
"It was a white ship! A white ship lowered its anchor!!"
'A white ship? Anchor??'
Seol Jihu tilted his head.
The old woman grabbed the handrail, hard. She looked as if she'd rush out at any second now. It was at this moment that a man hurriedly ran in from a distance.
"Mother! Why are you doing this again?"
"I saw it! I'm telling you, I saw it!"
"I understand. I understand, mother, so please go back inside. These people are Earthlings."
"I'm telling you, a white ship lowered dozens of anchors!!"
The old woman continued to shout out even as she was pushed back inside the hut. The man sighed helplessly and urgently lowered his head to the group.
"I-I'm truly sorry! My mother has a small problem with her mind and…."
"No, it's fine. Don't worry about it."
Seol Jihu's calm voice caused the man to blink his eyes in a bit of daze. His previous nervous demeanor had softened just a tad.
"Are you here because of the subjugation request?"
"Yes. Are you the one who issued it?"
"Ah, no. I'm actually in charge of the security of this village. My name is Brice. The issuing of the request is always taken up by the village head, actually."
'The village head is in charge of it all the time, is it….'
Seol Jihu began chewing on those words, causing Brice to cautiously ask him again.
"Is there anything that I can help you with?"
"Ah, yes. We need a place to rest for a while."
"We'll definitely provide you with a place like that. Let me guide you to the inn."
Seol Jihu felt someone touching him on the arm, He turned to look, and found Maria shaking her head.
"I don't want to breathe indoor air right now. It's a bit of a bother, too. I'll be fine if I just get some air for an hour or so."
"Well, that's what she said. Looks like we'll be fine with an outdoor area."
"Please, follow me. I know of a place that fits your criteria."
Brice guided the team to an open area with a log table seemingly carved out from the trunk of a huge tree, surrounded by several aged wooden chairs. He continued to sneak glances behind him, perhaps worried about the team making other demands from him.
Just as Maria planted her forehead on the smooth surface of the log table, Mikhail opened his mouth.
"Hey, leader. If it's okay with you, can I ask him a couple of questions? I came here before so I just wanted to confirm a few things, you see."
"Really? It's fine."
Seol Jihu replied with an expression that asked back, "Why are you asking my permission for that?"
Mikhail grinned refreshingly at the youth's attitude.
Since he wasn't a header, he should refrain from stepping up too much, but most leaders wouldn't mind this little bit of insubordination unless they were of persnickety nature.
"Hey, you said your name was Brice, right?"
"Ah, yes."
"It's nothing much, actually. I was just curious if anything has changed since the last time. The contents of the request, that is."
"No, not at all. There aren't any changes, as far as I can tell."
"In that case, it means we can scoot over to the night fog zone to kill them before they come out, right? Like the last time?"
"Yes, that's correct."
Mikhail nodded his head. Brice asked if he was curious about anything else, and after hearing the reply of "No, not anymore", hurriedly departed from there.
"Looks like it won't be that difficult again. We can conclude our first goal by going to the night fog zone."
Veronika spoke up, yawned, and stretched her limbs grandly. Rather than asking his teammates what this night fog zone was, Seol Jihu recalled it from the records he read before coming here.
"The night fog zone is where the variants respawn every four months, yes?"
"Yeah. It's a bit of distance away, but if we walk fast, we can get there under two hours, max. The monsters that appear beside the variants aren't all that much to worry about, either. With our team's ability, we'll probably massacre them when they show themselves."
"We can't let our guards down, though. Our leader did say that the variants could have gotten stronger, after all. Don't forget that Moles appeared near Haramark recently, and Lioners showed up in the Forest of Denial, too."
Gierszal finally broke his weighty silence and voiced his opinion. Veronika shrugged her shoulders.
"Hey, let's eat something! I haven't had anything since this morning, and this hunger's driving me insane."
Chohong sounded really grouchy as she spat those words out. She took her bag from one of the porters and pulled out the dried meat, fruits, and pieces of bread.
The rest of the team were also feeling hungry at this point, so they reached to grab their share.
Seol Jihu fell deeper into his thoughts as he chewed on the dried meat. If he wanted to, they could finish this mission today and go home. Of course, he didn't want to return after doing only that.
'Why couldn't anyone find the colony?'
There was no result without a cause. There had to be a reason why variants kept appearing in this place.
'….Should I just start digging the ground or something??'
He set out to solve this mystery, but he simply didn't have enough information to do that. Even Ian ended up throwing his hands up in defeat, so this task was never going to be easy.
But, he did have his suspicions.
He got up from his wooden chair while taking a couple of things to eat along with him. Seeing him get up, the bread sticking out of Chohong's mouth bobbed up and down.
"Bare bah byu goong?"
"I'm going to take a look around the village for a bit."
Seol Jihu turned around to leave after activating 'Nine Eyes'. He originally planned to use it when he got to the night fog zone, but he figured that activating it within the village wouldn't be such a bad idea as well.
Well, having more information was better than not having any, after all. And if he got lucky and stumbled onto a jackpot, then even better.
And so, after he'd been walking a while….
'Green…. Another green….'
He walked around, looking to his left and right. He then suddenly sensed someone tugging at his hand. He looked down to find an unfamiliar little girl tugging at the bread held in his left hand with her small, cute fingers.
"B-r-e-a-d. Brreead."
Seol Jihu had to stop walking as the girl was barely keeping up with her hurried trot.
"Heeey!!"
The little girl suddenly went Hiick! from the sudden yell coming from somewhere and began hiccuping in fright.
"What do you think you're doing?! Come over here, quickly!"
A young boy rushed in a hurry and snatched the little girl's hand away. He must've been around ten years old or somewhere there. He was about a head taller than the girl and looked to be her biological older brother.
"He's an Earthling, an Earthling! I told you not to go near one, didn't I? You want to be spanked?!"
"But, hiiing… the bread…."
Did she want to eat it so badly? The eyes of the complaining, kicking little girl became moist in no time at all.
The boy managed to drag his little sister away, but his actions came to a sudden halt when Seol Jihu knelt down on one knee to match his eyes.
"Here."
Seol Jihu smiled and pushed forward the lengthy bread. The little girl's eyes sparkled from seeing the food being offered. She then shook off the flustered boy and came running back to the youth. She grabbed the bread, and after opening her mouth wide, she took a healthy bite.
Seol Jihu lightly patted the little girl's head as her small lips busy chewed on her meal.
"Is it good?"
"Yeah!"
She grinned brightly and continued to bite into the bread. He found her so adorable and couldn't help but smile. She quickly polished the bread off, then her eyes sparkled even more at the sight of the dried meat.
He handed it over to her, and the widest smile imaginable formed on her face as if she just got a present from Santa Claus.
"Thank you."
"There, there. Ah, right. Do you want to eat this, too?"
Seol Jihu pushed the fruit to the boy, but the kid hesitated briefly before shaking his head.
"….No, I'm fine…."
"You can take it. You bravely stepped forward to rescue your little sister, so you should be rewarded, right?"
Seol Jihu encouraged the boy to take it. The child hesitated for some more, but eventually, he took the fruit. He hurriedly bit into it, but then, realised Seol Jihu was still there and quickly bowed his head.
"Thank you very much."
"You're quite mature for your age. You two live in this village?"
"Y-yes."
The boy nodded before cautiously asking a question of his own.
"What about you, Mister Earthling, sir?"
"You don't have to call me sir or a Mister Earthling, you know. Just call me 'Hyung'. I'll get embarrassed if you keep calling me that."
"Hyung…. Did you come here because of the request?"
"That's right. Don't worry about it, though. We'll definitely beat them back."
Seol Jihu's gentle demeanor worked wonders, and the boy's wariness had lessened somewhat. His stiff expression had softened just a tad as well.
"I'm not worried. My sis and I aren't allowed to go near the night fog zone, anyway."
"But, that's obvious. It's dangerous over there."
"Well… I don't know."
Seol Jihu stopped smiling and tilted his head at this unexpected answer from the boy.
"You… don't know?"
"Yes. Grandma Hans did go there once before, but she came back all fine and the like, you see? Well, she speaks funny things now, though."
The boy must've been unhappy for a while because he was quick to unload what was on his mind. Seol Jihu remembered back to the old lady shouting something by the village's entrance.
"I mean, honestly, I'm not a six or seven-year-old kid anymore, so I can't understand why I'm not allowed to go there."
Seol Jihu formed a wry smile.
"It's probably because mutants keep appearing there periodically. The grown-ups are just worried about you, that's all."
"I know. But still, things become safe again once you beat them back, right? But they don't want to let us out, busy coming up with strange excuses and calling them three taboos and all…."
The boy grumbled softly to himself.
"Hng. A monster will kidnap you to another world if you break one of the three taboos? Does anyone think I'll fall for that childish story?"
Seol Jihu's eyes opened very wide.
"Three taboos? Another world?"
"That's right. Hyung, you also think it's just nonsense, right?"
Seol Jihu's eyes were withdrawn deeply now.
"Can you tell me more about those three taboos?"
"U-uhm, that is…."
Mmmm… The boy massaged his temples before carrying on.
"Okay. First, never go towards the voice coming out from the fog. Second, never go where the hand is beckoning you. Third, if you see people wearing grey clothes, don't go near and run away. Those are the three taboos."
"Who told you about those? Was it your parents?"
"My parents told me, but I think the village head asked them to tell us. I know everything, you see."
"Can you tell me where the village head lives?"
That question immediately caused the boy to stop answering diligently and signs of hesitation reappeared on his face again.
"Uhm… W-why?"
"I wish to stop by and talk to him about something. I can't?"
"Well, it's not like you can't, but…."
The boy's voice became progressively smaller.
"If you want to ask for more reward money, then…."
"Reward?"
Seol Jihu finally figured out why the other villagers were behaving so oddly towards him and his teammates.
"No, that's definitely not it. The amount of reward money is set in stone the moment I accepted the request, you know. So, you don't have to worry about that, okay?"
"….Really?"
The boy asked with a pair of bright, innocent eyes. Seol Jihu could only sigh inwardly.
"Of course. I promise it's the truth."
Soon the boy told him the directions, and Seol Jihu moved towards his next destination. The abode of the village head was a proper house with scale-like tiles added to the walls, quite different from the mud huts of other villagers.
More importantly, though – it didn't have any color in 'Nine Eyes'.
Seol Jihu's eyes narrowed to a slit.
'Man, this is so frustrating.'
If only he knew what this 'no color' thing could mean. That would make his life so much easier. But, what could he do? Gula told him to stop dreaming of unlocking that part so easily, after all.
Regardless, this was the first place that didn't shine in green within this village. He wasn't sure whether this would lead him to anywhere or not, but he'd lose nothing by finding out.
He climbed up the short stairs and knocked on the front door. He heard a soft cough and the door was slowly opened, revealing an old man with a thick head of white hair, his wrinkle-covered eyes growing wider.
"Who might you be, young man?"
"Ah, hello there. I'm the guy who accepted your subjugation request this time."
The village head let out a soft groan when he heard Seol Jihu's introduction.
"Ah, I see. I beg your pardon. I've been having health issues lately, and I couldn't come personally to receive you."
"Oh, no. It's fine. Besides that, I'd like to have a word with you about something. I only need a moment."
"M-mm. If it's about the rewards, we don't have much to discuss here, I believe…."
The village head continued on.
"Truthfully, the majority of the money for the request rewards come from the support funds provided by the kingdom. If you wish for additional rewards, I fear it'd be more productive to speak to the kingdom's officials, instead. Haramark's royals are known to favor the Earthlings, so it could be the best solution for both sides."
Maybe this wasn't his first time, because the village head recited his words as if he had them memorized to the very last letter.
"Actually, I'm not here for the talk of additional rewards. I'm here to ask you about a couple of things regarding this request, instead."
"Mm? If you mean the contents of the request, in the night fog zone, you will….."
"I'm sorry for stopping you there, but I know all about those. What I'd like to ask you about is something else."
"Y-you want to ask me something? An Earthling wants to ask me?"
"Yes."
The village head looked very, very surprised then.
"Huh… What an odd development this is."
The village head tilted his head as if he couldn't understand anything and muttered softly to himself after lightly coughing to clear his throat.
"You're the second one, since that man, Like 'em Titties."
"….Eh? You like what now?"
Seol Jihu couldn't help but doubt his own hearing.
"Ahh, that. There was another Earthling who came to see me, wanting to talk to me about the request as well. I thought he and I were about the same age, and because his name was so unique that I ended up remembering him."
"What… what did you say his name was?"
"Like 'em Titties. He said that his surname was Titties and his given name was Like 'em. Well, I let it be since he told me that it was a common name in the world he came from. He sure was a funny man, that guy."
"…."
Seol Jihu thought that the village head might start ripping Ian's beard off after learning the truth. He only regained his wits after seeing the village head turn around.
"In any case, please come in. We're a poor village, so we can't treat you well, but as a client, I can certainly talk to you about the request."
Finally being let inside, Seol Jihu settled down on a chair the village head pulled out for him. The décor itself was pretty bare-bones, but there were books aplenty in the bookshelf. He did his best not to look around too much, though.
Because, he was acutely aware of how uncomfortable the villagers felt about the Earthlings overall, that was why.
'I should leave right after asking the questions.'
"So, what would you like to ask me?"
Seol Jihu quickly organized his thoughts when the village head settled down in front of him. He had spotted more than a few suspicious points when he went through all the records. If some of his questions could be answered, then he just knew that he'd find that elusive clue, a thread to unravel this mystery once and for all.
"From what I know, there had been around twenty subjugation requests issued so far. And the whole thing started from quite a while ago, as well."
"That sounds about right."
"And the request is always been issued by you, the village head."
"That's correct."
At that moment….
"If that's the case,"
Seeing the village head keep agreeing without holding anything back, Seol Jihu's eyes began gleaming elegantly.
"Please take a look at this."
He pulled out a piece of a document from his inner pocket and presented it before the old man.
…Towards the elderly man with no color coming off of him.
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Novel
The Second Coming of Gluttony
Chapter 73 - The White Ship, The Anchor
THE SECOND COMING OF GLUTTONY
C73 - The White Ship, The Anchor
Chapter 73. The White Ship, The Anchor
Experience is important – this wisdom applied to just about every imaginable area of expertise.
The extermination team's attitude went through an immediate change after they found out that the mutants now possessed the ability to camouflage as well as the ability to regenerate in almost a blink of an eye.
Mikhail and his team, an old hand in stuff like this in their own way, totally threw away any notion of underestimating their enemies. Veronika carried a far, far more somber expression than before as she guided the team forward. She kept grinding her teeth, her eyes scanning the surroundings and missing not even a tiny speck of dust. Thanks to her diligence, the team's speed of advancement had plummeted down to a turtle's walking pace. Of course, no one was dissatisfied with it.
When the ambushing tactic no longer worked, mutants changed their strategy and reverted back to simply clashing with the team head-on.
Fortunately, the team preferred to breakthrough from the front. This was because Chohong had her mace draped in divine power, Mikhail sheathed his sword in a blueish aura, while Seol Jihu had gotten himself fully ready with his magic spear. With Maria's timely assistance added to the mix, they didn't have to fear the mutants anymore, though they still proved to be slightly cumbersome opponents to handle at the end of the day.
About four hours later, the team was able to completely wipe out every single variant seemingly existing within the Night Fog Zone. They roamed around for a little while longer to make sure, but couldn't find a single one, which could only mean that they had succeeded in eradicating the enemy.
"The end!"
Mikhail sheathed his longsword and formed an expression of pure contentment. Even Gierszal and Veronika displayed obvious hints of being pleased as well. The opponents may not have been the easiest ones out there, but at the same time, they weren't too tough either. That was why the trio felt so chuffed right now.
They didn't have a lot to go before getting their much-anticipated level-ups. It was a rare thing to run into enemies that perfectly suited their current in-between status like these mutants.
Unlike them, though, Seol Jihu was dwelling on a different kind of sentiment. The eradication of the mutants was, in the end, only one of the goals he had set out to achieve. He planned to dig into the mystery and lay it bare once and for all, and at the moment, he couldn't hide the signs of confusion on his face.
'There's no color….'
The moment the last variant was taken care of, the Night Fog Zone's color changed from yellow to colorless. What did this event signify?
'…..I can't figure it out.'
Seol Jihu rubbed his face. No matter how long he walked around, he couldn't see anything suspicious at all.
One of the fundamentals in any investigation was searching for potential clues. However, he felt like he was being stonewalled by an invisible force, unable to even begin searching for clues.
His chest felt heavy and tight as if a boulder got stuck there. Was this how someone would feel after being asked to solve a mystery without any clues whatsoever?
'This sucks….'
"When we go back to Haramark, the first thing we will do is to make a pitstop by the temples."
Mikhail suddenly engaged Seol Jihu in conversation as the youth stood there burning his brain cells.
"You know, I think this is more than enough. Me, Gierszal, Veronika, all three of us might be able to get to the next stage after today."
"Is that so?"
"That's right! When I become a Level 4, I'll be able to walk around with a bit more strength in my shoulders! The 'Sword Actor'! Keuh! Tell me that doesn't sound cool!"
Mikhail laughed good-naturedly and blabbed on. Seol Jihu could only form a weak smile, instead.
"Congratulations."
"Huh…. Did I read the mood wrong?"
Mikhail grinned embarrassedly at the youth's response.
"Well, what I actually wanted to tell you was that you shouldn't be too discouraged by this."
"What do you mean?"
"The three of us are more than happy to return to Haramark with what we've achieved. From the get-go, you told us that the info you had wasn't a 100% sure thing. It was us three who made the choice to come with you anyway. Besides, it's not like this is our first time going home empty-handed. Expeditions or explorations, it's all a big gamble, really."
Seol Jihu must have looked far too worried from others' perspectives. For sure, he felt the unseen weight pressing down on his shoulders from the burden of being the leader. Mikhail's words certainly did help the youth in that regard.
"Thank you."
"Sure, sure. So, what will you do now? Going back to Ramman isn't a bad idea, but if it's too much bother going back and forth, it won't be that bad to set up a camp nearby."
Now that Seol Jihu thought about it, the sun had set a while ago and dim twilight was slowly creeping into the land. This meant the fog should be rising up soon.
It was unwise to doggedly cling to a problem with no solution in sight. Seol Jihu quickly organized his thoughts and made an announcement.
"Let's make camp here. We'll survey the zone during the night, and if we don't find anything particular, then we go home in the morning."
"Nice. Let's do that."
Mikhail coolly replied to that.
*
Evening came and went, and the time now was well into the middle of the night.
The team set up camp a bit further away from the Night Fog Zone. If it was at all possible, Seol Jihu would have preferred setting it up within the Night Fog Zone itself, but the fog thickly covered the area as the night deepened, greatly limiting one's visibility in the process. They may have swept all the mutants away, but one would never know. There was no real reason to deliberately take on any unnecessary risk when they could avoid it altogether.
Dawn was approaching silently. Seol Jihu rubbed his eyes and got up from his sleeping bag. It was his turn to stand as the lookout.
Two people would rotate in turn to serve as the lookout. That was the basics of camping outside in Paradise. When he made his way out of the tent, he found Maria sitting before the campfire, but she was already nodding off to the la-la land by then.
"M-mm, mm…."
He settled down cautiously next to her, and as if she was waiting for that, she used his lap as her pillow and laid down completely. A thin smile formed on his lips, but it dissipated soon enough.
Now that he got some much-deserved shut-eye, he no longer felt as anxious as before. Of course, that didn't mean the elusive answer had suddenly materialized in front of his face. He simply stared at the campfire burning away without saying a word, his gaze tracing the reddish arcs drawn in the air by the dancing flames.
'What did I miss?'
In all honesty, Seol Jihu had already half given up on his quest to unravel this mystery. Well, many outstanding Earthlings had tried and eventually surrendered with their hands – and even feet – raised in the air.
He wasn't the smartest person out there nor was he overflowing with wisdom built up from extensive experience. Indeed, it was wrong for him to jump headlong into this problem, loudly claiming that he would solve it when others couldn't. The only thing separating him from the rest was his 'Nine Eyes'….
That was probably why he couldn't just let this one go. Because there definitely was something here. There was no doubt about that. His suspicions had morphed into certainty after that meeting with the village head.
'Should I go back and threaten him or something?'
Seol Jihu could only wryly chuckle at his own stupid idea. Obviously, he wasn't thinking of doing that, ever. He hadn't seen any colors of danger from the village, and the village head himself showed no ill will towards him. The youth wasn't so thick-faced to force a man living in solitude into saying something that might or might not help him.
Just in case, he took a glance at the dense fog covering the zone, but he confirmed that there was no change. He slowly licked his lower lip.
'I've succeeded in carrying out the request, yet I don't feel good at all.'
He looked at Maria on his lap, her sleeping face not carrying one hint of worry and suddenly felt a bit grumpy. He then lightly pinched her cheek that still had some baby fat left. She spat out hing~! and turned her head around.
A soft chuckle escaped from his mouth. He gently patted her head, and she grinned and murmured, heh….
Her soft, steady breathing reminded him of a house cat.
"Haaaaaa…"
Argh, I don't know anymore. Seol Jihu laid down on his back as well and turned his attention to the sky above. A bright white moon was casting pale-blue light from the clear night sky.
'Huh, it's a half-moon tonight.'
When he silently gazed at it, the half-moon resembled a white ship gently floating on the endless stretch of a jet-black ocean. Absorbed by this rather beautiful sight, he stared at the sky, unmoving and wordless.
Just how much time passed by like that?
"?"
Quite suddenly, he thought that his vision had become blurred. Seol Jihu quickly blinked several times.
'….What was that?'
At first, he thought his eyes were playing a trick on him. But no – from a certain point onwards, his eyes could clearly see dozens upon dozens of black 'lines' rising up to the sky.
This event wasn't happening near him; he couldn't even see properly what those lines were made out of since they were so far away. However, those black lines still pierced out of the night's fog and wiggled towards the half-moon as if they were trying desperately to reach out to the night sky.
Wooooooo…..
Almost right away, an eerie call resounded out from somewhere within the fog – and, at the same time, a portion of the Night Fog Zone suddenly changed color to yellow. Goosebumps broke out all over his body in mere seconds.
"OUCH!!"
Seol Jihu hurriedly shot up to his feet, and Maria cried out in distress as her sweet slumber was interrupted by her head hitting the ground.
"W-what was that?!"
Her pain wasn't that important, though.
[It was a white ship! A white ship lowered its anchor!!]
The moment his memories reached there….
[I'm telling you, a white ship lowered dozens of anchors!!]
Seol Jihu was already running like wild wind.
"Maria!! Wake everyone up and follow me!"
After leaving behind those words, of course.
Wooooo…?
When he breached into the Night Fog Zone, that eerie wail began softening for some reason. The black lines trying to cover the half-moon slunk back into the fog too – just like a white ship lowering its anchors.
Seol Jihu arrived in his destination in the blink of an eye and crazily swept his gaze around his surroundings. However, he couldn't see anything.
But it was definitely here! Not only that, even the yellow color was beginning to disappear, reverting back to the previous colorless state.
'What the hell is going on here?'
He genuinely felt that, if he missed this chance, then he would not be able to find another one any time soon. Seol Jihu was momentarily caught in indecision, but being pressed for time, he quickly ran up a small mound right next to him. He thought that, by being somewhere higher, he might be able to see something, anything.
The mound wasn't even six meters high, and he climbed to the top in no time at all. He looked down with his Nine Eyes still active and finally discovered the strange phenomenon happening right below.
'The yellow color….'
…was disappearing? Seol Jihu narrowed his eyes. Indeed, the color was 'disappearing', but it was completely different to how the color faded away usually. It would normally fade away like paint spreading over another color and changing it, but here, he saw a big, yellow circle rapidly shrink into a far smaller dot.
It was the size of a house, then to a large boulder, then rapidly shrunk down to a size of a clenched fist, then eventually a small dot – and then, gone for good, leaving behind no color at all.
"What the hell…..?"
He muttered to himself in puzzlement, before he sucked in several cold breaths. Others would say that he suddenly had an epiphany. His comrades had arrived around at this time.
"What happened?!"
Maria's loud yell brought Seol Jihu back to his senses. Before he could forget that spot, he took another hard look down below. Although the color was gone now, he still remembered the location where that yellow was.
"What's going on?"
"It didn't disappear."
"What?"
"It realized that I was looking, and it went below. And that's why it shrunk like that."
"W-What are you even talking about?! Did you eat something you shouldn't have??"
Maria creased up her brows.
Again, Seol Jihu wasn't completely sure. But if his theory was right, a few questions would be answered straight away. Why only this place was so barren, why there were all those holes in the ground, and then….
Seol Jihu pulled out his spear almost out of reflex and smacked the hill with it. Pak!! The hardened chunk of sand crumbled and scattered dust in the air.
This was quite literally a lightning bolt out of the blue. All the team members stared at the youth busy pounding the hill with dazed faces. Only Chohong hesitantly pulled her mace out after spending a few more seconds observing the youth.
"I really wanna ask you what's up with your exercise routine in the middle of the night, but I should just hit this hill like you, right?"
"I could be wrong, but it has to be somewhere around here."
SLAM!
With Chohong added to the mix, the hill began to crumble at a far quicker pace now. And because the soil itself lacked any life whatsoever, it broke away easily, too. She continued to pound the ground but still didn't forget to throw him a sideways glance as well as a question.
"And why are we suddenly doing this now?"
"Back in the village, I heard about 'three taboos'."
"Three taboos?"
"The sound, the waving hands, and people wearing grey clothes. Ignore these three taboos, and you will end up in another world."
"The sound? You mean, that Woooo~ from just now?"
"That's right."
Seol Jihu agreed with her while still digging out the hill.
"The wavering hands was just a figurative description."
"Eh?"
"I just happened to see it. Something below here, beneath the Night Fog Zone, would sometimes reveal itself when it thinks there's nobody nearby. And when it detects danger, it quickly hides itself again. When you think about the special characteristics of the mutants, the one about them not leaving any traces behind, then it's not all that strange for the others to miss the signs."
Seol Jihu explained himself at a rapid knock.
"T-Then, what about grey clothed people or whatever?"
"No need to think too hard about that. Remember what the color of the mutants was?"
"Hey, I really can't tell head from tail what you're on about, you know?!"
Chohong frowned grandly and swung down her mace with a lot of power. And this happened.
CRACK!
Without any warning whatsoever, the sensation of something hard splitting up got transmitted to her hands. She yanked her deeply-buried mace out and blinked her eyes in sheer dumbfounded amazement.
"This…..?!"
"The thing was…."
Seol Jihu's eyes were gleaming brightly now.
"It was not 'another world' or something like that. Someone cooked up that rumor in order to hide something."
Chohong looked at him with the face of a person still failing to understand. And that was the difference between someone who simply decided to participate in the request and someone who investigated everything before coming here.
"Don't try to dig deeper there. Instead, let's try to carve down the sides now."
Four Warriors roused up their mana and began digging into the hill, and before long, the whole mound began resembling an apple with its side bitten out.
A short while later, the team was staring a certain large boulder firmly blocking 'something' with amazed eyes.
"Holy cow…. So, well, uh, why the heck is this thing here?"
"Remember that the Night Fog Zone is a hilly region. No one would find it odd to see another 'hill' here."
When Veronika asked in stupefaction, Seol Jihu replied in a soft voice.
"Someone built a small hill here disguising the entrance, all in order to hide something."
"I, well, I didn't know. For real. I didn't see any trace of artificial tampering around here."
Veronika stuttered defensively.
"That's to be expected. This place was closed up many years ago, after all. Since it's only this big, you wouldn't have needed a lot of time for something man-made to be swallowed up by nature."
"Many years ago? Closed up?!"
Seol Jihu was about to say, 'The person hiding all this was very meticulous', but decided to save his breath. They wouldn't understand it even if he explained it now.
"In any case, let's get this rock outta there first."
Chohong and her short temper stepped up forward before anybody else, her sleeves all rolled up. Gierszal, Mikhail and Seol Jihu also joined in.
Hnnnng!
The boulder eventually issued a heavy creak and was pushed to the side, revealing a rocky cavern it had been blocking up all this time.
"So…."
Mikhail nervously swallowed his saliva.
"…The secret to the mystery is sleeping within this hole, is that it?"
Seol Jihu wordlessly nodded his head. He was sure of it now. The moment this entrance was revealed, the 'hill' changed its color back to yellow. He also got to learn that being 'colorless' was the most variable out of the four directions.
"Ha! This is great! Leveling up by solving a mystery once and for all! Can there be any outcome better than that?"
Mikhail shouted out in excitement, his head already full with images of a rosy future.
"Good! Very good! Leader, let's go inside!"
The team quickly assumed their previous formation. Veronika hit the entrance a couple of times and even tossed a rock inside, before nodding her head in satisfaction and took the spot in front of the group again.
For a while, the six of them walked in the humid, damp corridor that took them lower and lower underground. By the end of this stony passageway, they spotted hints of light. The team cautiously walked further forward and found themselves inside a massive underground chamber.
The interior wasn't that dark, which was somewhat unexpected. Illuminating stones were buried in the walls here and there to provide necessary illumination. That was one of the clearest proofs that this place felt the hands of humans before.
If one had to name a problem with this place, it would be that there was absolutely nothing there, which was strange for such a large area. All they could see was the ceiling, about four meters high, as well as another passageway at the far end of the chamber. This underground tunnel felt lonesome and deserted, even.
"Mm…. There might something here, so let me take a look around first."
Veronika tilted her head slightly and carefully moved forward.
"This is not what I was expecting…."
Seol Jihu muttered to himself.
"Hey, just how did you locate this place? I wasn't expecting something like this to exist here, you know?"
Gierszal asked with a face full of curiosity.
"Oh, that. I figured that there was a research center somewhere near Ramman, you see."
"A research center?"
"I read about it in the Empire's history book. After the Parasites invaded…."
Seol Jihu proceeded to briefly explain what he found out to the rest of the team and sighed out.
"The village of Ramman wasn't mentioned at all, but Master Ian suspected that the mutants were the results of that research."
"Hold on. Didn't you just say that the research center was in the Delphinion Duchy?"
"That's where the main research center was located, yes. But the satellite research centers were dotted around the countryside, so I thought that it was possible for one of them to be somewhere around here….."
Seol Jihu didn't finish his sentence, but Gierszal still nodded his head.
"So, that's what happened. It's a bit shoddy in here to be a research center, though. Doesn't look like there's anything of value at all."
He was right. It was nominally a place to conduct research, yet not one commonly-seen research apparatus could be seen here. Logically speaking, shouldn't there be at least a single flask or something similar to that? Even a deserted mine wouldn't be this empty. Considering the technological prowess of the Empire, reputedly at the peak of magic engineering, something like this place made no sense at all.
'Could it be that the village head wasn't lying?'
It was then, Veronika finished scouting up ahead and returned to the team.
"Damn it, I found nothing."
"Did you see anything like the footsteps of a person or something similar to that?"
"Well, I'd say this place is definitely man-made, but…."
Veronika shook her head.
"I can't see any sort of trace in this place. All I can say is that no one has stepped s foot in this space in the last three months, at the least. That's as far as I can read, though. Sorry."
Which meant that the only thing remaining would be the cavern on the other side.
"It would be nice if there's something in there."
Veronika licked her lips and took the lead of the team again. But, just as she was about to lead them forward, Seol Jihu opened his eyes extra wide and gasped out belatedly.
"Wait!!"
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