"Hathathathathat- what the hell is this?"
There is a thick and muddy bass sound.
Vikir squinted to face the man in front of him.
The entire skin visible under the uniform was black, and there was not a single hair on the smooth skin.
Tightly defined muscles were subtly different in placement from human ones.
The face lacked eyelids, nose, and lips, revealing the eyeballs beneath the torn orbits and the sharp teeth.
bugeulbugeulbugeul...
The muscle fibers that made up his body moved separately, strand by strand, bubbling like boiling tar.
Lt. Colonel Black Tongue.
He was the lowest ranking of the five wardens, but in fact, in terms of seniority, he was the most senior, except for Brigadier General Flubber.
'...D'Ordume and Souare said he's been a lieutenant colonel since they were second lieutenant.'
Vikir scanned Black Tongue's entire body.
The seasoned hound was quick to formulate an estimate of his prey.
But even if he had a rough idea of its power, he still didn't know how evil it was, or what it was up to.
So Vikir met Black Tongue with the most benign and common-sense response possible.
"I'm sorry for carelessly hurting the leech. I'm so surprised... my heart is still pounding like it's going to explode."
Vikir blustered, stealing a nervous sweat.
Like the hero of a past era, who hid under his desk, pretending to be startled and rattled by the sound of lightning, to hide his extraordinary abilities from his enemies.
Vikir's strategy of humbling himself seemed to have some effect.
The unpleasant, ominous aura that Black Tongue was emitting was diminished, if only slightly.
"Hathathat- I see you're Captain Garm, or is it Major, and you're not as gutsy as you're rumored to be."
"It's a burden because it seems like it's being overvalued due to the current situation."
"No. Judging by the rumors, you are a complete monster. Rather, it's nice to see a humane side, but what~"
"...."
"Ah! Have a seat, wherever you're comfortable, and don't mind the leeches, I threw them away when they became a nuisance. I often use them as cushions, though they don't have much to offer other than being fluffy~"
Black Tongue turned away with an unpleasant chuckle.
Every time he moved, Vikir could see the muscles on his back twitching, and upon closer inspection, they were all leeches.
The tiny, tough leeches were tightly woven throughout Black Tongue's body, as if each one were a single muscle fiber.
In other words, he was wearing leeches all over his body. It was like a suit-like full body armor!
'... I've heard that Lt. Colonel Black Tongue is human, but despite being human, he's not treated as such, and I can see why.'
Who would consider a human being to be a human being who wears leeches all over his body 24/7?
It was a rather generous assessment of a similar species.
"I see. You're here sooner than I thought, I guess that Bastille guy was in a bit of a hurry?"
Black Tongue naturally looked down on Bastille, who was also a Lt. Colonel of the same rank.
It was natural. If only for time, he should already be a Brigadier General or Major General.
As Vikir nodded, Black Tongue smiled.
It was an unpleasant smile, one of those smiles where you're smiling but not really smiling.
"I see. How's that Bastille guy doing, still acting like a helpless pet without his master?"
"...That's a difficult question to answer."
"Hathathathat, from a subordinate's point of view. As for that Bastille guy~ he used to obey my orders when D'Ordume or Souare were around, but now that those two bastards aren't around, he's just as stubborn as ever~ I often have to argue with him because his reactions are hilarious~"
Vikir looked at Black Tongue's face for a moment.
He'd heard that Black Tongue didn't get along with all of Nouvelle Vague's guards, but he was especially bad with D'Ordume and Souare.
D'Ordume dislikes Black Tongue for interfering with his efforts to steal various goods from Nouvelle Vague, and Souare has a deeply rooted feud with Black Tongue.
'Rumor has it that it was Black Tongue that blew off half of Suare's face.'
It was recorded in Garm's diary that they had met and fought several times during their time on land, including a famous naval battle.
...Well, it wasn't exactly Vikir's business.
Meanwhile, Black Tongue landed on the leech in front of Vikir.
ppujig!
He sat down on top of the leech, and it spat out a thick, purple juice from its mouth.
It sounded like a human groaning inside.
"...."
"...."
Vikir and Kirko shut their mouths as if they had made a promise.
It wasn't that they were hiding a secret, it was just that the atmosphere was so dank and unpleasant.
'Surely there are humans inside those cushioned leeches?'
'I'm sure there are, but let's sit down. If you're uncomfortable, sit on the floor.'
'...No. I'm not uncomfortable.'
Kirko looked determined and sat down on the ball of leeches in front of her.
It was a determined demeanor, as if she wasn't going to be overpowered.
ppujig-
The leech beneath her ass shudders again, this time spewing out a thick stream of blood.
No human groans could be heard.
'Lucky.'
Kirko thought, the best of all possible worlds.
If she could hear a human groan from beneath her ass, she probably wouldn't have been able to maintain her expression.
Meanwhile, Black Tongue, seeing Kirko's eyes narrow for a moment, spoke up with a chuckle.
"You look like you're about to get fucked~"
"...."
"Joke. Joke. You look tense, so I'm trying to loosen you up~"
His face still didn't show much of a smile, but at least the leeches that had taken over his facial muscles could be inferred to be in full bloom.
"Okay, I'm going to start the interrogation now. It's simple, so don't be too frozen. If you're stiff, your blood won't flow as well, which is bad for your circulation. It's also bad for the flavor."
"...."
"Joke again. A joke. You young people are so serious nowadays, you can't joke around."
Black Tongue frowned, but continued in a friendly tone.
"Haha, I'm afraid I might be a little off-putting – both in appearance and personality! The average guard never gets to meet me anyway, and there are many who have spent decades in the Nouvelle Vague who have never seen me."
"...."
"The ones I do see are always the same. Failure to pay their dues, violation of military honors, lack of discipline, desertion, insulting their superiors... They're all assholes. If you've lived your life upright, you have no reason to be afraid of me. Rest assured."
Black Tongue continued to waggle furiously for a long time after that, preaching about how people shouldn't be judged by first impressions or appearances, how people shouldn't sin, and so on.
His eyes narrowed as he held in his hand the papers containing the findings of his investigation into Vikir, or rather, Garm.
'Let's see. Separate... Origin is from the land... had an ordinary lower-class family... Was your career a little below average? But your grades have risen sharply recently? When will this be the starting point? ... Umm, okay... After 'Night Hound' prison escape incident, your grades improved noticeably... At this time, did you get caught up in some serious accident and as a result you became awakened? Hmm... From then on, it was all success... It's like I've become a different person... After suppressing a Level 8 prisoner's riot, it's a special promotion... It seems like Lieutenant Colonel Bastille openly favored you and pushed you? It's not like you're his distant relatives or anything like that, right?"
Black Tongue stuck out his purple-stained tongue and interrogated Vikir with a poisonous snake-like gaze.
At the slightest hint of weakness, he could feel its intention to stick to it and suck out everything inside
...However.
"Yes. I come from the ground. I recently received a telegram telling me that my parents and siblings all died at once. I heard that everyone in my hometown suffered disaster."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, what happened?"
"They say there's a demon on earth and it's turned my hometown into a sea of fire, though I only heard about it in a few short sentences, so I don't know the full story."
"Yeah, it's kind of hard to communicate with the outside world here in Nouvelle Vague, isn't it? Yeah, that must be frustrating. Anyway, did it make you feel like a different person?"
"It was a trigger."
Vikir is an unseen being from the Age of Destruction, and his ability to conceal his mana and power is greater than anyone else in the current era.
What even Hugo, the master of Ironblooded Baskerville, had failed to notice in the first place, Black Tongue could not.
"Haathathat. They say there's been a lot of trouble on the ground these past few months."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. Well, demons or monsters suddenly appear, the dungeon opens, a gate appears, and what else? and it's been pretty crazy, and that's why Orca, D'Ordume, and Souare went up to the surface to escort the exploding population of sinners to this place, though I'm only here, so I don't really know."
Black Tongue muttered in a cheerful voice, checking off items on the paperwork.
Then he slammed the file shut.
"Interrogation over, then. Everything's fine, you. Clean~ clean~ clean~"
"If you're done with your business, I'll just head back."
"Eh? Eh~ No matter what, I didn't ask you to leave, so how dare you say that first. I'm a Lieutenant Colonel, You're so bold, aren't you?"
"I'm sorry, I have a lot of work to do."
Vikir rose from his seat, and Black Tongue opened his mouth in a smirk.
"Sit."
"...."
"No~ What's with the scary look on your face? Relax~ I didn't mean what you said."
Black Tongue waved at Vikir as if telling him to go out.
The place where his gaze is directed is behind Vikir.
"Hothothot. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"
It was Kirko's face.