Vikir, a low-ranking guard with no name or affiliation.
No one knew the identity or intentions of this hunting dog that melted into the darkness of the Nouvelle Vague.
'Did I just hand over the picaresque mask to Camus for no reason? I think I should have kept a little more to see.'
Bikir thought as he moved forward, flat against the ceiling.
It is easier to be a little smaller in order to avoid the eyes of guards who are on watch.
So, I thought for a moment that it would be easier to hide if I turned into a puppy.
… … But soon Bikir had to change his mind.
There was not a single dog or cat in the Nouvelle Vague.
If he had transformed into a dog's body and walked around, he would have been very noticeable.
Prison guards sometimes kept pets, but the animals were usually lobsters, crabs, and octopuses, and some often kept seals, water cats, and buffalo.
'If you want to raise a pet, an aquarium is a must.'
This is natural as this is a deep sea.
Bikir realized that everyone around him had disappeared and got down to the ground.
5th floor. This is the place that Bikir chose as the primary destination for prison escape.
What I saw before my eyes was a huge sea.
In the vast square, there were large circular pools in each section, and narrow, steep passages ran between them.
aquarium. Or a fish farm.
This was the only aquarium within the Nouvelle Vague.
"Would you like to see what is growing somewhere?"
Bikir brought a bundle of rope that was stacked in a corner of the aquarium.
Then, he threaded the pickled sea bass onto a hook as big as the anchor of a decent ship attached to the end and threw it into the pool.
with a plop-
The bait went into the seawater in the pool.
Eventually, a response came.
Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss-
It was also visible above the water. A long, huge shadow approaching the bait.
… Wow!
I could see the rope being pulled taut.
Bikir tightened his hands and pulled the rope.
Ssssssssssssssssss-
A huge water peak seemed to be rising above the water, but then something underneath the water appeared with a fishing hook on it.
It was a huge eel.
"… … hmm. "This is a balloon eel."
The appearance of the 'Gulper eel' was truly bizarre.
The head and belly are so huge that they are incomparable to the skinny and bony tail.
Meanwhile, the mouth, which took up more than 90% of the head, was as big and wide as the main gate of a huge temple.
Although its appearance was bizarre, surprisingly, it was not a monster from the demon world, but an endemic species that originally lived in the deep sea.
It is also known by nicknames such as one-bite eel, gulping eel, and elevator eel.
[That-oooooo!]
As soon as this huge deep-sea fish was dragged to the surface, it immediately became irritated.
When you open the huge mouth, you can see gums protruding from the teeth, each one shaped like a fish hook.
There were a lot of rough barbs growing on the backs of the teeth, as if they would never let go once they were bitten.
… … of course.
"It's a spoiled eel."
There was no threat to Bikir at all.
Wow!
Bikir, who broke off most of the eel's teeth with a single slap, pulled the eel, which was limp and shedding tears, all the way to land.
"There are a lot. "Is this one the biggest?"
Bikir looked at countless eels swimming in a circle in the aquarium's pool.
Luckily, the one I just caught was the biggest of them all.
This balloon eel is a species of fish that is bred in earnest in Nouvelle Vague.
Its characteristic feature is that its body is too large and its fins and tail are too small, so it cannot swim well. Instead, its body is large and light, so it moves around in the deep sea by floating around in the ocean currents.
Most of the body was made up of water, and the only remaining parts were bones and skin, so it was impossible to obtain flesh.
Moreover, it was so fishy and had a foul smell that it could hardly be used for food.
As you can see, they are not cute enough to be kept as pets.
… … So why are these seemingly useless fish species farmed in the Nouvelle Vague?
"Because this is the only 'elevator' that can take you to the ground level."
Bikir looked at the balloon eel panting in front of him.
Getting down to Nouvelle Vague from the ground is simple.
A sea area that can be reached only by sailing a long distance even in harsh seas.
At 12 midnight, when the vortex that serves as the primary entrance opens, you can place a prisoner inside the Orharkon alloy coffin and let it sink.
The coffin containing the prisoner slowly sinks along the ocean currents and soon arrives at Nouvelle Vague, 10,000 meters below the deep sea.
… … So how do you get from Nouvelle Vague to the ground level?
Just use this balloon eel.
Its mouth is big and its stomach is even bigger. Any number of people can board it.
Their flesh is soft and their skin is tough, so they survive well despite being crushed by the distant water pressure of the deep sea.
Balloon eels with these biological characteristics are bred to an appropriate size according to the body size of the occupants.
In the rare event that you have to go up to the ground, a balloon eel of appropriate size is picked out, and the passengers open the eel's mouth and enter its stomach.
Due to the nature of their bodies, balloon eels are excellent at withstanding water pressure, but they have almost no power to swim on their own. They ride on 'specific ocean currents' that lead to the land and slowly flow up to the land.
That's why one of the nicknames is 'elevator eel'.
"… … "Is it possible to escape from prison by just breaking through that bubble film?"
At the end passage of the breeding farm, you can see the black deep sea scenery.
But in fact, there was a waterproof wall of transparent mucus between the deep sea inside and outside the breeding farm, blocking the two spaces.
The guards of Nouvelle Vague called this sticky, transparent wall of mucus, which looks like a soap bubble, 'Flubber.'
'BDSM' and 'Flubber', these two are the key substances that make Nouvelle Vague viable.
BDSM creates order by binding the prisoners' mana and power, and the flubber blocks water flowing into the castle from the outside, allowing the prison itself to be maintained.
Both had something in common in that they were unknown substances whose identity had not yet been clearly revealed.
Sticky…
Vikir frowned at the sight of this unidentifiable slime covering the window, or rather, the entire castle of Nouvelle Vague.
Flubber was also a material responsible for Nouvelle Vague's security along with BDSM, but it was not as sturdy as BDSM.
Now that he had thrown off the restraints, there was no reason why Vikir, who could use mana, could not penetrate this substance called flubber.
Sloppy-
Vikir dragged the eel by its tail and walked towards the window.
The eel didn't want to move from its seat, but it didn't matter.
Anyway, their bodies are so flaccid that they can only pass through narrow windows, and they have no ability to swim, so they just follow the ocean currents.
"Is this for the purpose of restraining a giant? "Why is it so big?"
Bikir looked at the balloon eel he had just caught.
It was a large eel so large that it could be considered a restraining weapon for the giants.
While other aquariums are crowded with small ones, there are only a few such large ones in the aquarium.
Coogoo soup-
Bikir put the reins on the eel's tongue and soon stretched the line all the way to its belly.
The idea was to allow the eel to control the direction of its fins even if it did not have the ability to swim.
yet.
… Phew!
Bikir kicked the eel out of the sea.
Fujijijijik!
The flubber mucus is torn and the eel escapes into the distant space of the deep sea.
With an empty stomach.
After that, Bikir caught several more eels using a rope, fishing hook, and sea bass piled up in a corner as bait.
There are three that are small but large enough to fit a Bikir, and two that are larger than the previous one.
Bikir did the same to them, tied the reins to their tongues and fins, and pushed them out the window.
Even if the fluor window was torn, it healed quickly again, so there was no need to worry about the seawater continuing to rush in.
At that time, Decarabia asked Bikir, who was letting the sixth eel out of the water.
[human. But why do we keep releasing eels into the sea? I'm not even going to ride it.]
"To cause confusion. "It will take a lot of manpower and time to chase down all these eels."
[aha. That one little hair is amazing.]
"If you can afford it, it's better to prepare one disruption measure at a time. "Especially when you break out of prison."
[Can we now go out on the seventh eel? huh? But why did you only catch six eels? You have to catch one again, right?]
Decarabia expressed his doubts to Bikir, who threw all the eels he had caught out the window.
Then Bikir answered briefly.
"I'm not going out."
[…] … what?]
Decarabia asked as if it were absurd.
[No, if that's the case, why did you release the eel in the first place?]
"I told you. A distraction measure."
Bikir smiled slightly.
"Going out on the eel will be a little later. "Escape from prison is not yet the final step."
If you go out now, you will be caught no matter how many disturbing eels you release. This is because the speed of the ocean current is too slow.
Also, since there was no drinking water or food stored up, it was impossible to go on a voyage without knowing how long it would take.
Additionally, the risk of the eel being eaten by a larger deep-sea monster or being stranded on a reef or rough ocean current cannot be ignored.
So, Bikir was fully prepared and tried to escape.
This is because it is right to exclude uncertain elements as much as possible.
… … Right then.
"what? Are you an escaped convict?"
An unfamiliar voice came from behind.
"… … !"
Vikir instinctively sensed danger, wiped away the burn marks on his face, and returned with a bare face.
As Bikir slowly turns around, the sound of footsteps approaches.
"I thought he was a guard because he was wearing a uniform, but I guess he wasn't."
The voice exclaimed with interest as it faced Bikir.
"Hmm - it looks like this. "The face of the guy who broke my handcuffs."
A being who admires Vikir's face, not Garm's face.
A girl with green hair, lazy eyes, and a youthful face who looks like she's still in her early teens.
But the layers of restraints on her wrists and ankles were clearly familiar.
Even though she was wearing a guard's uniform, this mysterious girl was wearing restraints and had a shiny rank insignia on her chest.
One star. A mark denoting a brigadier general, a rank higher than a colonel.
Vikir narrowed his eyes when he recognized her identity.
"… … Right. "Did you make it?"
It was the moment when one of Bikir's long-standing questions that had not been resolved for a while was resolved.