Chapter 207 - Easter Egg (3)

When I said, "I'd like to talk to you," the Tower Master gazed silently at my face. Had a minute passed? She nodded and led the way.

"All right. Follow me."

I walked as she instructed.

"This way."

A run-down alley. Old tile-roofed houses stretched along it. This was nothing like the tidy atmosphere of a traditional Korean house village. The roof tiles were worn and eaten away by weeds. Stone walls torn down long ago had never been repaired, enduring the gravity of time in their collapsed state.

'What's wrong with these traditional houses?'

I was just about to ask about the oddness I felt.

"These mansions were built during the Japanese colonial period and have survived to this day."

TAP.

The Tower Master spoke softly as she walked ahead.

"When the war broke out, this city was overrun almost instantly. That's why traces of the past remain more intact here than elsewhere."

"What war?"

"The Korean War."

The smell of summer rotting rose from the drains.

"These houses missed their time to die."

"..."

The procession of tile-roofed houses stared at us, their owners possessing nothing but lengthy pedigrees. Rather than quaint, the sight resembled a face covered in age spots. We followed a stone-walled lane that bulged like a boil, opened a gate with peeling lacquer, and crossed a courtyard where not even weeds grew.

"Please wait here a moment."

I sat on the wooden-floored hall and waited. There was no air conditioner, not even a fan. The shade beneath the eaves was the only place to cool my head.

BZZ, BZZZ, BZZ-BZZ... ZZ...

Cicadas sang in the direct sunlight.

A little later, the Tower Master returned carrying a tray.

"I have nothing to offer a guest."

"No, I'm the one who should apologize for showing up unannounced."

I respectfully accepted the cup with both hands. It was filled with water—a stainless-steel cup of the sort used in a school cafeteria.

"I believe this is our first meeting."

The Tower Master sat formally and bowed her head.

"I'm Ja Sujeong, a third-year student in Class A at Sinseo Middle School."

"Ah."

Come to think of it, I hadn't introduced myself either.

"My name is Kim Gongja."

"Yes, Mr. Kim Gongja. What did you wish to discuss with me?"

"..."

How should I put it? You seem to be the master of the Tower, and I'm curious why you're here? I'd like you to tell me how you came to create the Tower?

But...

"Um."

The question that left my mouth was of an entirely different kind.

"You said your name was Ja Sujeong..."

"Yes."

"May I ask what it means?"

"My surname is Ja, from the Central Plains."

The Tower Master took a notebook from her briefcase.

Ja Sujeong: Ja, meaning compassion; Su, water; Jeong, crystal.

A sharply pointed pencil embroidered the blank paper in black.

'So this is the Tower Master's name.'

Perhaps it was a name used only in this world. Even so, I was the first person in our Tower to see her name.

'Ja Sujeong.'

I silently rehearsed its pronunciation. I must never forget it.

"Do you have any other family living here?"

"No. I lived with my uncle until last year, but now I live alone."

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened...?"

"An intruder broke in and murdered my uncle. Three men who were with him at the time were also murdered. The investigation has not yet concluded, so I can't tell you much."

There wasn't a grain of emotion in the Tower Master's words. No, she had been expressionless all along, from the moment we met until now.

"Have you heard of the [Tower]?"

"Which tower do you mean?"

"The Tower of Babel. It suddenly appeared in our world one day, and if you simply think you want to go there, you can enter after a few formalities. A whole new world opens up inside... Hmm."

I grew a little embarrassed as I spoke. I sounded exactly like a cultist. I cleared my throat.

"Anyway, you haven't heard of it?"

The Tower Master quietly shook her head.

"No, I haven't."

"What about the word [Pillar]? Have you ever heard of [hunters]?"

"I assume the words you've just used have meanings different from their usual ones, Mr. Kim Gongja. I understand pillar and hunter only as common nouns."

"... I see."

How could I describe it? The longer our conversation continued, the stronger the sense of incongruity grew.

'She has no memories at all of being the Tower Master.'

The girl before me truly knew nothing about the Tower.

'Only her voice is the same. Everything else about her is completely different.'

A god who had lost her memories. Whatever circumstances lay behind it, the child sitting before me had neither the Tower Master's powers nor even her memories. She was simply living the life assigned to her in silence.

"..."

Questioning her about the Tower now would get me nowhere. I redirected my curiosity.

"You've been answering every question I ask. Is that really all right? You said an intruder even broke in here. Um, what would you do if I were a criminal who meant you harm, Miss Ja Sujeong?"

"It's all right."

The Tower Master slowly parted her lips.

"If you were a criminal, Mr. Kim Gongja, you would have tried to approach me somewhere other than that intersection."

"Pardon?"

"I pass through two underpasses on my way home from school. One is deserted. Its lights are broken, making it dark, and there are recessed spaces here and there. Someone planning a crime would assault me in that underpass, or lie in wait there and attack."

She spoke without changing her formal posture.

"When I looked at your face, I saw no signs that you would commit an impulsive crime. Your gaze remained on my face throughout. In particular, you met my eyes. If you were worried I might flee, you would have looked at my lower body; if you expected resistance, my hands; if you were after me physically, you would mainly have looked at my body. But you observed only my face. That is behavior often displayed by someone searching for a person they know."

"Uh..."

"Just now, too, what drew your attention was my name. That is evidence that you're curious about my personal information. Even when I left to fetch water, you didn't examine the inside of the house in detail. A criminal would have taken time to check whether a third person was present and to study the layout."

The Tower Master lifted her stainless-steel cup with both hands. A sip of water wet her mouth.

"None of your behavior fits that of a criminal. Therefore, I judge that you are not a criminal who means me harm."

"..."

"So, to answer your question, yes. I'm all right."

BZZZZZZ—

The cicadas' cries echoed across the wooden hall. Dazed, I listened to the sound of summer stretching out.

'... Ah!'

I abruptly came to my senses.

"Y-you're very articulate. And intelligent."

"Yes."

The Tower Master agreed matter-of-factly.

"I am intelligent."

"..."

I realized that even if she had lost her memories, the girl before me was no ordinary person.

"U-um, excuse me, but may I use the bathroom for a moment...?"

"It's around the back of the house. Be careful on your way back."

During my trip to the pit toilet, I belatedly understood why the Tower Master had said ["Be careful on your way back"] rather than ["Have a safe trip"]. It was when I came out of the bathroom.

"Huh?"

I sensed a faint presence in a shed on one side of the backyard.

The presence showed no sign of moving. It simply crouched motionlessly beyond the shed wall.

"..."

What was that? Despite the sweltering summer heat, the hairs on my nape stood up. When I stared at the old shed door, the presence remained silent and still, as though meeting my gaze head-on.

'Seriously, what is it?'

I moved closer. With every step, the presence grew stronger. A slow, gliding sensation—the feeling of a cold hand groping along my nape—became distinct.

'Hey. No, what the hell are you?'

I fired some aura at it just in case, but there was no reaction. Far from diminishing, the presence drew closer and closer.

One step.

'What the fuck?'

I swallowed hard. Just as I cautiously grasped the shed's door handle—

"No."

Something caught my clothes from behind.

"Don't go in."

I turned to find the Tower Master looking up at me expressionlessly. When had she come here?

"Pardon...?"

"You'll startle the [children] if you go in, Mr. Kim Gongja."

Children.

"Uh, by children... what sort of children do you mean...?"

"Please wait here a moment."

RATTLE.

The Tower Master opened the shed door.

As the door opened, the presence swelled sharply. Until now, it had felt at most like something stroking my nape. Now it felt as if nails were raking across it.

"..."

"I'm sorry. A guest came to visit."

Bundles of curtains lay strewn inside the shed. When the Tower Master lifted a curtain, there was nothing behind it but a single full-length mirror. The moment it was revealed, the presence vanished completely.

"Behave yourselves."

She picked up a nearby towel and wiped the mirror's surface. Left standing alone behind her, I could only watch.

"Th-that mirror. Isn't there something strange about it?"

"Yes. It's a strange child."

"It seems like it might hurt people..."

"This child no longer harms people."

The Tower Master put away the cloth and covered the mirror with the curtain again. I could still sense the presence, but it was less fierce than before. It felt as though it were crouching quietly.

"But it might hurt someone in the future, couldn't it?"

"The same is true of humans."

"..."

MEOW.

A cat's cry sounded at my feet. At some point, a [stuffed puppy] had climbed onto the top of my foot.

"..."

MEW.

From a stuffed puppy that should have had neither a mouth nor vocal cords came, unmistakably, undeniably, the cry of a cat.

"Wh-what is this?"

"It's Meow."

That was not a name anyone should give a stuffed puppy.

"You must never pet its head because you think it's cute."

"What happens if I do?"

"It will keep meowing inside your head every six seconds until it finds its next owner."

"... Seriously?"

"Yes."

"That's fucking insane."

"It's quiet now because I've housed it in a stuffed puppy. It's so busy wondering whether it's a cat or a dog that it's put finding an owner on the back burner. It's a child who considers its own identity before relying on someone else. Very conscientious."

"Th-this still seems plenty dangerous to me."

"It's all right. Once it establishes its identity, I plan to move it into a stuffed squirrel."

"Pardon...?"

"Then it will spend about another year wondering whether it's a squirrel. As long as I change its body every ten to thirteen months, it's safe. Now, Mr. Meow. You mustn't trouble our guest. Come here."

The Tower Master picked up the stuffed puppy by the scruff.

MEOWWW.

The stuffed animal pondering its identity was placed on a shelf.

"Good God."

Stunned, I looked around the shed. Countless unidentified objects were displayed on the shelves. A picture frame hung on the wall, and when I looked at it, the photograph inside changed to Raviel.

"... What is that?"

"A child who shows you the person you love most."

The Tower Master was matter-of-fact, as though it were nothing special.

"Don't watch it for too long. The longer you look, the fainter your memories of the person you love become. In direct contrast to your fading memories, the photograph grows more and more lifelike. Once all your memories of that person disappear, it shows a photograph of the person you love second most."

I hurriedly looked away.

"Wh-why do you collect things like these?"

"They trouble people if they're elsewhere."

"A-aren't you afraid? They're essentially ghosts, aren't they?"

"That's an odd question."

The Tower Master tilted her head.

"You have a ghost with you too, Mr. Kim Gongja."

I blinked.

"... Pardon?"

"There."

The Tower Master raised a finger and pointed behind me.

"There's a heavily muscled ghost with you."