"..."
Mason had long since broken free from Salome's enchantment.
He was released from the enchantment when he fell from the bridge to this bottom village. As death loomed close, his instincts cast off the shackles binding his consciousness.
However, Mason deliberately concealed the fact that he was no longer enchanted and faithfully followed Ash's orders.
"Hey, big guy! Put some muscle into it!"
"Such a big frame! Move it quickly and cheaply!"
"..."
Ash's order for Mason in this bottom village was to do as the two highwaymen of the Desperation Homeward Band, Sword Devil and Spear Devil, commanded.
Thus, Sword Devil and Spear Devil were gleefully exploiting Mason.
From cleaning around the village to repairing ruined houses, he was called for all sorts of heavy labor.
Mason found these tasks tedious and troublesome, but he didn't show it and carried them all out.
Perhaps it was because Mason was seen as a reliable and reticent worker.
Sword Devil and Spear Devil led Mason to quietly dig up a secret vault buried in their house's yard.
After unearthing the vault, Mason carried it on his back and headed towards the corner of the village.
With every move, the sound of metal coins clinking echoed from inside the vault.
Mason easily realized that the vault was filled with gold coins.
Where were they moving this gold to?
Mason soon found the answer.
In a corner of the bottom village, there was a small well with shallow, black water. Inside the well, a pile of heavily rusted gold coins lay submerged.
"Pour it in."
"Into here, quickly!"
"..."
As instructed, Mason opened the vault and poured its contents.
Chrrrrrr!
Splash...!
The gold coins, covered in the patina of age, bubbled as they sank into the well.
With the vault emptied and the newly poured gold coins reaching the bottom of the well, Sword Devil and Spear Devil turned away without a second thought.
"...Why?"
But Mason didn't understand.
"Why throw away gold coins you worked so hard to collect?"
It was the first time Mason had spoken since arriving in the village.
Startled, Sword Devil and Spear Devil turned around, but soon answered with a snicker.
"Before the Lake Kingdom came to this state, all the villagers eagerly collected money. There was a rumor that if you gathered enough gold coins, you could buy 'citizenship'."
"And then?"
"Well, that turned out to be a mere rumor. There was no such system. There was never a way for us, the non-citizens, to become citizens of the Lake Kingdom."
"Right after we, as a couple, learned this truth, the Lake Kingdom sank downward and perished. We became cursed, unable to live or die."
Sword Devil and Spear Devil laughed together.
"Since then, with much hardship, we managed to gather the villagers again in this hellish pit. But what could we possibly do here?"
They knew all too well.
That even if they died and were reborn, they could never become citizens of the Lake Kingdom. And that the Lake Kingdom could never return to its former beauty.
"In a life where we can neither live nor die, we still need to remember."
"The goal we had back when we still had the drive to dream and live. To gather money and enter paradise."
Even knowing it was an unattainable goal from five hundred years ago or now. Even knowing it was a foolish and futile dream.
"Without such vain hopes, how could we possibly live in this hell?"
The body might live forever.
But without a purpose to live, the mind... the soul, dies.
So, the people here collected gold coins to survive.
Scouring the bottom of this hell, continuing out of sheer inertia.
And to maintain that inertia - when enough gold coins are gathered, they throw them down here.
The vault was emptied, and the people set out again with a new goal to fill it... surviving yet another day.
"...Haha."
Mason, who had just begun to understand the principle behind this bottom village's survival, let out a hollow laugh. Sword Devil and Spear Devil glanced at him.
"Do we amuse you?"
"It must be hard for a living soul from the outside world to understand."
"No."
Mason shook his head.
"I realized that this hell isn't so different from the outside world."
Carrying the empty vault on his shoulder, Mason walked between the two elders.
"I learned to wield a sword to support my family. My parents and relatives were old and sick, and I was the only one in the family capable of doing a proper day's work."
"..."
"At first, it was enough to eat without starving. But as soon as we stopped going hungry, other problems erupted. Winter was cold in mere rags, and without a proper house, it was hard to sleep for fear of thieves."
Clothes were needed. A house was needed.
Thus, Mason easily fell into temptation. Instead of loyalty to the McGregor family, who taught him the sword, he started associating with others who filled his pockets right away.
"Just not starving wasn't enough to live as a person. So, I kept switching masters, looking for those who paid more."
And then - he met Fernandez.
Like getting wet in a drizzle, by the time Mason realized it, he had completely become Fernandez's dog.
But one day, his master said something. That the world was doomed anyway. Everyone would die, but he would try to save the people within the Imperial Capital, New Terra.
Fernandez had his own firm cause.
Facing the end of the world, he wanted to save as many people as he could.
He wanted to save at least those living in the Imperial Capital, New Terra.
The problem was that Mason's family wasn't wealthy enough to live within the Imperial Capital. They lived in the suburbs, far from the capital.
"I hastily sold my family's house in the suburbs, but the money was not enough to move into and live within the Imperial Capital."
Mason laughed bitterly.
"No matter how hard I tried, my family and I could never become 'people'."
"..."
"So, I went to my master, knelt down, and begged. If he could make my family live within the Imperial Capital, turn us into 'people', I would do anything for him."
Mason looked down at his hands, which had turned beastly.
"And this is what happened."
He wanted to live like a human.
For that simple purpose, he gave up being human.
Betraying the family that taught him swordsmanship, arranging for the death of his benefactor, threatening his son with a sword... and ultimately, after being injected with serum, he degenerated into a beastly form.
He spent his whole life striving to be human.
But when he came to his senses, he had become something far from human.
Mason laughed bitterly.
"Maybe living is like pouring gold coins into a dry well..."
To collect gold coins, they throw gold coins away.
To live as humans, they give up being human.
In the end, both gold and humanity lose their original value, and the process itself becomes the purpose, turning like a wheel...
Chewing over this irony, Mason looked up as he arrived at the house of Sword Devil and Spear Devil -
"I've heard a good story..."
There stood Ash, right in front of him.
Startled, Mason's shoulders tensed. Ash scratched his ear with his finger and then glared at Mason.
"But you, when did you break free from the enchantment?"
Mason laughed hollowly.
...Caught red-handed.
***
Mason and I were crouching together in front of the sewer.
Even though he was freed from the enchantment, Mason showed no intention of harming me, and I likewise had no desire to deal with him.
We sat side by side, silently killing time together.
After a long silence, Mason, with his furry body, rummaged around and suddenly pulled out a pocket watch. I was startled.
"Whoa, what?! Where did you get that from!"
Wasn't it that nothing came out during the previous search! Where did he pull that from!
"Having a body like this, with twisted bone structure and fur, gives me many places to hide things."
He then handed me the pocket watch. I recoiled, surprised.
"You didn't keep it somewhere dirty, did you?"
"It's precious to me. I kept it in a relatively clean place."
Relatively clean...?
With a skeptical look, I took the pocket watch. Mason gestured for me to open it, so I flipped open the metal cover.
Click.
Inside were a plain pocket watch showing the time, and... a portrait of a woman on the cover.
Mason's gaze at the portrait was filled with deep affection.
"Who is this?"
I asked cautiously. Could it be Mason's wife?
His answer was somewhat unexpected.
"My girlfriend."
"Eh."
Considering Mason looked at least fifty, I didn't expect him to say girlfriend instead of spouse.
Chastising my own stereotypes, I awkwardly smiled.
"You must have been together for a long time? Keeping her portrait like this."
"No. We've only been on about five dates? We haven't been together long."
"..."
Cough! Clearing my throat, I asked carefully.
"Still, she must be very special to you. How did you meet?"
"There was a time I had to attend a couples' party during a mission, and being a clumsy fool who had never held a woman's hand, I was in a fix. Then I found a service where you pay to have someone pretend to be your partner."
"..."
"And after that mission, we continued to meet, feeling good about each other."
"...Paying?"
"If I don't pay, she wouldn't meet me."
"What a fool, this man!"
This isn't a romantic relationship, but something... darker!
But Mason nodded seriously.
"Our feelings for each other are genuine. Especially before I came down for this mission!"
"Especially?"
"We... we even held hands!"
"You don't look it, but you're a real fool, sir!"
While it's okay if the participant is happy, this is too far beyond my imagination! I'm a fool too, but this man is much worse!
"...I've spent my whole life supporting my family."
Mason muttered, staring vacantly at the sewer on the other side.
"I had no life of my own. Even before I left for this mission, I had to spend my last penny to move my family and relatives into the Imperial Capital."
"..."
"So, when I said I had no money this time and she didn't have to meet me, she came to see me off on the day I left... and she gave me that portrait. She told me to think of her when things get tough."
Mason paused for a moment, then slowly continued.
"Your Highness. I am going to die soon."
"..."
"Due to the excessive strain of forced beastification and the severe injuries I sustained on my way here, I won't last long. I probably won't see the light of the outside world again."
"So?"
"If you happen to see that woman in the Imperial Capital... please return this portrait to her."
Mason, his face now that of a beast, smiled awkwardly.
"A beautiful thing like this shouldn't rot away with someone like me."
"...Why are you asking me to do this? Do we have some sort of good connection? You think I'd entertain such a bothersome request?"
Then Mason shrugged his shoulders.
"What can I do? Down here in this hell, you're the only person I can ask for a favor."
"..."
"I'm just desperately clutching at straws."
I silently pocketed the pocket watch.
"Any message for Fernandez?"
"None."
Mason shook his head.
"I've completed my mission. His Highness Fernandez only asked me to deliver the message to the Demon King. If I don't return, he'll assume the Demon King has refused."
"..."
"His Highness Fernandez believed I would definitely succeed in the mission, and I did. Nothing more is needed."
Silence ensued.
As I glanced at the side profile of this furry bureaucrat, whose thoughts were inscrutable, I was about to say something more.
Thud.
Suddenly, something cold dropped on my cheek. I looked up. Mason also looked up.
Thud, plip-plop, pitter-patter -
Raindrops began to fall from the sky.
"This is..."
I extended my palm forward.
The water collecting in my hand was black.
"...Black rain."
I quickly stood up.
The water that had pooled on the ground was slowly flowing towards the sewer. I clenched my fist tightly.
The time of overflow had come.
It was time to return to the surface.