Chapter 197 - Encroachment (2)

A rectangular surface shone in my left hand.

A skill card, something I had grown familiar with by now. Its color, however, was unfamiliar.

'Purple? Violet?'

A card's color was determined by the skill's rank.

Ranks F through C were bronze. People mocked it as the color of shit. Most hunters' skills were shit-colored, though plenty of hunters wept because they didn't even have those.

Ranks B through A were silver. The skills commonly considered jackpots fell into this category.

Rank S and above were gold. My companions were so exceptional that I tended to forget, but normally, even getting to speak to a hunter with a golden skill was difficult.

There were no [purple] cards anywhere in that system.

'Surely this isn't an error...?'

I skimmed the lettering engraved on the card's front.

+

[Formation Art of the Demonic Heaven]

Rank: Undetermined

Effect: A formation art created on the foundation of the Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven. This formation manifests the mental images shared by its practitioners. The more practitioners participate, the more proficient they are in the Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven, and the clearer the mental images they share, the more powerful the formation becomes.

This formation's effectiveness has not been proven!

You are the first to create this skill. From now on, you must demonstrate the potential of the Formation Art of the Demonic Heaven. Once sufficient data has been accumulated, this skill's rank and description will be revised.

※This skill's rank has not yet been determined.

+

'Ah.'

I understood why the card was violet.

It was a sort of trial version. Skills whose testing wasn't yet complete apparently took on a purple hue.

'So this can happen, to—'

"That's fucking awesome!"

I jumped. My attendant spirit had thrust his head forward and shouted right beside my ear.

'Holy crap. What's gotten into you?'

"I've never seen a violet card either!"

The attendant spirit's eyes sparkled.

"Man, to think I'd get to see something like this. Becoming a ghost instead of quietly fucking dying was definitely the right choice!"

'It's just an unusual color. What's all the fuss about...?'

"Zombie. Your brain usually works pretty fast. What's wrong with you? Isn't this strange? Would you choose violet to represent a trial version whose effectiveness hasn't been proven yet? Normally, you'd use white."

Huh.

Now that he mentioned it, that was strange.

'You're right. You wouldn't set purple as the default color. Not normally.'

"Exactly."

'Hmm.'

Maybe the owner of the Tower liked purple.

I was thinking about the Tower Master, whose face had been completely hidden in darkness, when—

"Father."

"Oh, sorry. I was distracted for a moment."

"It is all right."

Uburka shook his head. He was still holding my right hand.

"More importantly, I need to explain the current age to you, Father. Surely there is a reason you have descended at this particular moment. Something momentous is happening on the continent."

"Something momentous?"

"Yes. Perhaps I should say it concerns the world, rather than the continent."

Uburka grinned as he offered those cryptic words.

"They say a new continent has been discovered."

At that moment, the quest updated.

[The quest for floor 35 is being issued.]

The quest window's name field read:

[Age of Exploration]

2

A new continent.

The new world had been discovered twenty-four years ago.

"I stayed on the snowy mountain for over three hundred and fifty years, but I occasionally visited cities to hear what was happening in the world. Apparently, a Gillfin Folk captain spotted land that was not on any map."

The Gillfin Folk had the form of merfolk.

They mostly preferred living in rivers, but there were always exceptions.

One of them wondered what lay at the end of the sea. As it happened, he had the ability to satisfy that curiosity—and the courage to stake his life on that ability.

「Please lend this humble man your support.」

The Gillfin Folk captain gave a speech before the admirals.

「The Earth Spiritfolk have 'earth' right there in their race's name, so they have the right to rule the land. The fairy race are inherently sly creatures, so they deserve dominion over gold. But water belongs to the Gillfin Folk alone! There must not be a single sea route whose depths and currents are unknown to us!」

The speech didn't have a shred of fucking logic to it, but the admirals splashed their approval.

「We shall provide one ship, one member of the Bloodsucking Race, and forty sailors.」

And so a legendary voyage began.

How should I put it? Maybe living and swimming in the water made their thinking just as free. First developing boiled salt, and now this—it felt like the Gillfin Folk handled every unusual undertaking in this world.

"What happened to that captain?"

"He achieved his dream. He discovered the new continent sixteen months after setting sail."

Uburka spoke matter-of-factly.

"Then, on his way home for a triumphant return, an orca ate him at sea."

No.

That was just too sad.

"It happens surprisingly often. Uger. The leading cause of death among the Gillfin Folk is crocodiles. Second is orcas, and third is drowning."

"Merfolk can drown?"

"I do not know the details either."

The mystery deepened.

As we father and son pondered it together, a sigh came from close by.

"You two... Transfer."

It was the Black Dragon leader. She turned her head back and stared up at us.

"You're treating me like a chauffeur. Transfer. Could you stop chatting so carefree among yourselves? Transfer. Listening quietly to you is starting to piss me off, you know? Transfer."

The Black Dragon leader kept reciting Transfer between her words because we were currently aboard the Instant Teleportation bus.

I was cradled in Uburka's enormous arms, while the Black Dragon leader nestled in mine. That let us repeat Instant Teleportation safely.

From a distance, wouldn't we look like a matryoshka doll, or a kangaroo?

"Come on. We're giving you a comfortable ride in return."

"You two may be comfortable, but I'm not. Transfer. Do you know how tedious it is to cast a skill nonstop? Transfer."

"We're practically family, aren't we? Oh, now that we're so close, can I call you my big sister? I haven't had anyone to call that since I entered the Tower. I'd like us to be on brother-and-sister terms."

"So you're the type who gets endlessly cheeky once we're close... Transfer."

The sea stretched beneath the three of us.

Yes. The sea.

Whichever way I turned, I couldn't see so much as a rocky reef, let alone land. An endless blue extended to the horizon. We were heading for the new continent, cutting literally across the middle of the ocean.

"No calling me your big sister. I don't like it."

"Then shall I call you Your Majesty? Black Dragon Queen."

"Our Death King is so funny."

The Black Dragon leader smiled.

A brief period of getting slapped across the face followed.

"I won't tease you again..."

"Wise decision. Transfer. If you insist on changing how you address me, call me your senior. Transfer. I'll allow you that much."

"Oh, I like that. Senior. You can call me Gongja, too."

"..."

The Black Dragon leader didn't answer. She simply turned to face forward. With no emotion in her eyes, she murmured, "Transfer."

Silence settled naturally.

Listening to the waves far below, I checked the quest window once more.

+

[Age of Exploration]

Difficulty: A-

Mission Objective: Exploration! Adventure! A new continent has appeared before the seven races. The Gillfin Folk's explosive push to open new sea routes has now drawn in the other races as well.

'I want to live somewhere other than here.'

Every age has those who dream of another world. Unfulfilled desires, miracles never encountered, excitement never felt. People board ships with everything they have failed to obtain in this life staked on the far side of the sea.

However, the new continent is a new world only to the seven races.

Others have already made their homes on that land. Conflict between the adventurers and the native inhabitants is currently on the verge of erupting! A one-sided massacre may occur.

Invasion? Coexistence? Or expulsion?

The seven races face the danger of annihilation. Guide them!

※However, if you fail to guide them, one or more races may be wiped out.

+

Massacre. Annihilation.

Those ominous words seared themselves into my eyes.

This was why we were hurrying to the new continent.

"Could the children be massacring the natives?"

"We don't know. Transfer."

The Black Dragon leader continued.

"But it's possible. Massacres often happened in the outside world during the opening of new sea routes, too... Transfer. I hope the people of this world won't do that, but, Transfer. The children won't grow up exactly as we wish."

"Whatever the reason, I want to stop any massacre."

"I'm rooting for you."

"Ugor."

Uburka suddenly spoke up.

"There is something over there."

Uburka pointed beyond the horizon. I couldn't see anything, but the moment I heard my child's words, I enhanced my eyesight with aura.

Something was floating on the vast ocean.

"A ship?"

It was an enormous vessel.

I frowned.

"Black Dragon leader. No, Senior. There's a ship over there. Let's stop by."

"Why?"

"I can see the ship, but no crew."

"Transfer."

Apparently, the Black Dragon leader had spotted the vessel too. In an instant, we moved onto its deck.

By the time we set foot on the wooden planks, we could already sense something was wrong.

"There are people here, but..."

The Black Dragon leader looked around.

"... They're all asleep?"

The crew were fast asleep on the deck.

The sailors belonged to several races. Most were Demonfolk or Gillfin Folk, with a few Conforming Humans mixed in. Regardless of race, however, every sailor was painfully thin.

I approached the helmsman slumped over the wheel and gently took their wrist.

"Malnutrition."

I circulated aura through the sailor's body, examining every part of it.

"They're showing severe dehydration. Looks like they haven't eaten for three or four days. Hmm. No injuries, and their head is fine..."

Learning the Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven's Numbing Sword of Death by Thirst had made me thoroughly familiar with dehydration. Just in case, I examined the other sailors, but their symptoms were all identical. Malnutrition. Severe dehydration.

And...

"No matter how I look at it, they're simply asleep."

The sailors breathed softly and peacefully.

They hadn't fainted or lost consciousness. They were merely sleeping.

"Have you tried waking them with aura?"

"Yes. I'm deliberately stimulating them, but they won't wake up. This is really strange."

"Give me a moment."

The Black Dragon leader came over and laid a hand on the sailor. Black aura rippled from her fingertips.

Before long, she narrowed her eyes.

"... They aren't cursed."

"Could it be drugs? Did they all get high together?"

"That's certainly possible. But the symptoms are too mild for a drug effect. I can't sense any traces. There might be a drug unique to this world that I know nothing about, though..."

The Black Dragon leader pondered.

Meanwhile, Uburka pulled sailors out from all over the ship.

Unusually, the captain was one of the Mountain Snailfolk. Salt damaged their skin—or even dissolved it in severe cases—yet this one had ventured out to sea. That took incredible nerve.

"This is certainly suspicious."

Uburka twitched his nose as he set the Mountain Snailfolk captain down.

"These people seem to have been working right up until they fell asleep. Apparently, sleep suddenly overcame all of them in the middle of their work."

"All at once?"

"Ugor."

Thirty-two sailors in total lay sleeping on the deck, as though they had forgotten their waking lives.

Once again, the mystery only deepened.

"... Would you like to take a quick trip into a dream?"

After some thought, the Black Dragon leader made a suggestion.

"A dream?"

"Yes. [Person Possession] would be more reliable, but that costs a whole 1,000 points. We shouldn't waste points on something like this, so let's use [Appear in a Dream]."

That remark revealed a sliver of her personality. This senior of mine probably allocated the guild budget while saving every last penny, too.

The type to debate going to a dessert café or buying dessert at a convenience store, then weigh the value for money and settle on convenience-store dessert.

'Raviel is the type to rent out an entire dessert café she likes.'

She probably had a private seat set up, too.

How magnificent.

After thinking of my duchess out of habit, I nodded.

"All right. That should be the quickest way."

"Yes, then I'll go first..."

"You've worked hard climbing mountains and crossing the sea. You've covered land, sea, and air. Let me handle this."

"... You're so sweet sometimes that I can't hit you."

"You're my senior. Of course I should take care of you."

I opened the Civilization Shop.

[Purchasing 'Appear in a Dream.']

[100 Race Points will be consumed!]

[You currently have 7012 Race Points.]

Then I used the item on the Mountain Snailfolk captain before me.

WHOOSH!

My vision churned.

Everything before my eyes spun like bathwater swirling down an opened drain. One breath. Two breaths... As my breathing grew urgent, my sense of time went numb. At some point, I had closed my eyes.

A little later.

"Gongja."

Someone whispered in my ear.

"Open your eyes, Gongja."

My eyes snapped open.

Right in front of me, an unidentified woman who looked exactly like Raviel had leaned her face close to mine.

"..."

Hmm.

I quickly scanned Raviel's pale neck and long fingers. No necklace. No wedding ring.

Before climbing to floor thirty, I'd spent half my entire fortune on that wedding ring, figuring I had nothing else to spend my money on anyway. It was nowhere to be seen.

"Hehe."

Just in case—just on the tiniest off chance—I looked around some more.

One of the bedrooms of House Ivansia.

I lay on a plush bed. The woman with Raviel's face looked down from above me, as though poised to pounce. I checked the plant stand beside the bed and the chair, but there was no golden skill card anywhere.

'Okay.'

Situation assessed.

"What are you looking at so intently?"

The woman before me stroked my cheek.

Eyes identical to Raviel's glowed with tenderness.

For a moment, I wondered whether to consider this a fucking sweet situation or a fucking shitty one. Fortunately, after 0.1 seconds of deliberation, I reached a conclusion.

"Tomorrow is a day off, my love. Let us enjoy some time together for a change..."

"Hey, you fucking bastard. How dare you spout bullshit with Raviel's face? You wanna die?"

The woman's hand stopped dead.

"You've got ten seconds. Get the fuck off me and kneel right now, or whether you're a god from another world, an apostle, or some other dipshit son of a bitch, I'll fuck up your very existence. Watch yourself while I'm still asking nicely. I'm not kind enough to count for you. Get on your knees within ten seconds yourself."

"..."

The woman's face went rigid.

"How...?"

She looked utterly bewildered.

"Are you not fully asleep yet? No. That cannot be. I have entered the dream perfectly. How in the world did you...?"

"Ten seconds are up."

"What?"

I smiled brightly.

"First, let's give you a beating."