Volume 7 Chapter 1 Part 3 (1/2)

”Here we are.”

s.h.i.+n and Schnee parted ways with Lilis.h.i.+la and were now in Bulk's residence.

s.h.i.+baid had already purified all the miasma, so it looked like any other room.

s.h.i.+n and Schnee's honed detection-type abilities, however, revealed the presence of miasma-emitting items -miasma stones- scattered throughout the room.

”I see, all these miasma stones explain why Bulk was like that.”

”What do you mean?”

”Bulk's body was actually in a really nasty state. The miasma's corruption had entered its final stage.”

During Bulk's interrogation, s.h.i.+n found out that more than half of his body had already turned black. If this was still the game era, he would have been far beyond salvation.

”In a state as advanced as that, I bet he barely felt pain anymore. Looks like he himself hadn't realized it, though.”

That time, Bulk wasn't paying the slightest attention to his own body. Even seeing its blackened appearance solicited no reaction in him.

It appears that another effect of miasma contamination is the loss of the ability to perceive such abnormalities.

It would be impossible for anyone to not notice the oppressing miasma leaking out every time the room's doors opened.

”These are all the ones in this room, then.”

”Adding the other room and the hidden room, it's become a considerable amount, hasn't it?”

Schnee spoke while looking at the small mountain of miasma stones in the center of the room.

The stones, each half the size of a fist, were 11 in total. A large number for just one room.

According to s.h.i.+n, even just one stone would have been enough to fill the room with miasma.

”With so many stones, even if Palmirack's functions worked, purification would be pretty difficult.”

”That could have been their goal.”

Even if Palmirack was not fully functional, the miasma acc.u.mulated near its core was a very small quant.i.ty. That influenced the purification mechanisms Palmirack was equipped with.

The walls of Chimeradite composing Palmirack are a combination of several different structures.

The walls of all rooms and corridors are made in Adamantine mixed with Chimeradite. In certain locations the walls were built by also using Mithril, which can easily transmit the effects of magic. If it detects the presence of miasma, it will automatically perform a purification on the miasma.

The Orichalc.u.m used to coat the walls also possessed the ability to purify miasma, thus Palmirack itself made it difficult for miasma to acc.u.mulate within its walls.

However, if a large quant.i.ty of miasma was created in one spot, like this time, purification would be difficult even if all functions were alive. Schnee's prediction had fully hit the mark.

”There's nothing else worthy of note here. Let's go to the next room.”

After completing their investigation of the first room, s.h.i.+n and Schnee moved to the next.

Roughly the same number of miasma stones had been placed in the adjacent room as well. They could imagine how the room must have looked dark and stagnant because of the miasma.

”By the way, could you gather any information from Bulk?”

”He believed himself to be completely sane, but his memories were full of holes. He remembered about the ritual and the sacrifices, but the couldn't say anything specific about the headquarters or the other central members. He remembered that a woman with blonde hair was supposed to come for him, but couldn't even remember her name.”

s.h.i.+n had used a mind-type skill while interrogating Bulk. He could force him to confess the information he knew, but in the end what he could gather was not much.

s.h.i.+n didn't know if it was because of the miasma's effects or some other factor, but it appeared as if he had made preparations not to leak any information in case something happened to him.

There was not, however, the possibility that he had been controlled via an item or skill.

The reason being that he was talking about his ridiculous desires fluently. Maybe it had to be expected, but he had solid foundations for his current state.

”The man who was with himEline, was it? It didn't seem like he had been subjected to the miasma.”

”He was an upper-cla.s.s chosen one after all, I guess he had high resistance? He had decent items too, and his weapon was Exvaine after all. I do think he was subjected to other things, though.”

It might not have been Filma's original weapon, but Exvaine was a powerful sword. Compared to other weapons of lower level, it might have helped resist the miasma's effects.

Thinking about how perverse Eline's personality was, however, suggested that it might have been formed by the explosive combination of Bulk's education and the miasma's corruption.

”Alright, we've checked this room too. For a leading member of the Faction, there isn't anything of value here.”

Bulk's residence was impregnated with miasma, yet nothing of importance was found except the miasma stones.

Considering that things related to the Faction were not hidden, but simply not there, one could start doubting that Bulk's a.s.sertion of being one of the Faction's central members.

”Maybe he was simply deluded that he was a lead member, or it was an illusion induced by the miasma.”

”That's possible. He was just a kidnapper after all.”

Bulk was a p.a.w.n, used for gathering sacrifices through his position as priest. That was s.h.i.+n and Schnee's theory. But even if it was the truth, Bulk's acts forbade any pity.

”Next is the hidden room, then.”

”If anything is to be found, I suppose it will be there.”

s.h.i.+n activated the room's controls and opened the doorway to the room.

He then grimaced at the foul stench emanating from it, much as s.h.i.+baid had done.

”.this is far beyond being just ”stinky”.”

”What an awful smell.”

s.h.i.+n and Schnee proceeded through the corridor, enduring the nauseous odor. After reaching its end they opened the door without hesitation.

”Splattered blood doesn't go away, does it.”

”So it seems.”

When they visited the a.s.sa.s.sin several days before, Lilis.h.i.+la told s.h.i.+n about how corpses disappear. He thought that their blood would vanish as well, but one look at the horrible state of the room made him change his mind.

The floor, the walls, even the ceiling were stained with what appears to be blood.

”But even so, Schneedoes this look like a drawing to you too?”

”It's quite disturbing that it was drawn with blood.”

s.h.i.+n and Schnee were looking at the drawing of a snake coiled around a half-broken mask, which occupied an entire wall.

Maybe because it had been painted with blood, the impression it gave to the viewer was a gruesome scene.

”I feel like I have seen this before”

”This is the emblem of a dark guild. If I remember correctly, it was quite a large organization.”

s.h.i.+n, his head c.o.c.ked to one side, was trying to grasp an elusive memory. Schnee answered with confidence.

The ominous drawing before their eyes was not a completely new sight.

”Do you know the name of the guild?”

”The guild is called ”Ouroboros' Hollow”. It's famous for accepting any request if the reward is adequate. On one hand, they undertake even criminal acts such as a.s.sa.s.sination and thievery, on another, they will take down other dark guilds or catch criminals if rewarded amply enough; in a way, they can be useful to society. That's why all countries have a difficult time dealing with them.”

”I see, a true jack of all trades. I feel I heard that name somewhere before.”

”.that's because it stems from a PK guild from the game era. It was formed by members of guilds you crushed, s.h.i.+n.”

”That explains it.”

Schnee had p.r.o.nounced the last sentence with a slightly stiff expression, but s.h.i.+n's answer was short. Compared to Schnee, his tone of voice was much more casual.

The actual problem was that, looking at the picture, s.h.i.+n simply thought that he had seen it somewhere before. The reason for this was he didn't feel it was worth remembering PKs after cutting them down.

PKs simply caused damage to other players, without a reason or a cause. s.h.i.+n spared the least amount possible of his resources for such people.

He hated them. He resented them. But he never thought of keeping in mind the PKs he killed or the PK guilds he destroyed.

Even if he were questioned about feeling remorse after taking people's lives, or how he could forget about people he killed, s.h.i.+n would not care in the slightest.

There were some players who felt guilty about killing PKs, but s.h.i.+n could not understand that sentiment.

”Even if they were offered heaps of money, gathering sacrifices would be too much even for them, don't you think?”

”It is said that if the reward is enough, they will undertake any mission, no matter the content. Rather, there is the possibility that they are actively involved. Those who share a connection with players can cause the spread of miasma, and there were also quests where if the player didn't stop it in time a Demon would appear. On the contrary, it is also possible to lead things to failure. In the past, I have partic.i.p.ated in an expedition to bring down a group who tried to do just that, so I don't think it's impossible.”

”That really happened? Well, the ones I crushed were all players, so there's no doubt that are support characters such as you exist. If there is game era knowledge, it's possible I suppose.”

Quest disruption by PKs happened during the game era too. Causing the birth of powerful Demons was possible.

There was the impression of a slight discrepancy with the Summit Faction's goals, but considering the miasma found in Bulk's quarters, it could be concluded that the organization had its share of internal conflict.

”I suppose Bulk must have acted on his own too, for his personal agenda. A reason to conclude as such, was that he was secretly connected with the underground guild ”Immoral Sacrifice” too, after all.”

”That guild could be no more now. After all, ”Ouroboros' Hollow” does not tolerate multiple contracts with other guilds.”

Schnee had heard that in the past, someone who had a contract with Ouroboros Hollow had bound a contract with another dark guild, thus causing that guild's annihilation.

For Ouroboros' Hollow, contracting another guild means that its own strength was being doubted. Needless to say, the contractor had been targeted too.

”As expected of a major organization. That's some grand scale planning.”

s.h.i.+n spoke with a sigh. There was nothing to laugh about.

”So there aren't any clues here either?”

”What we have now is only the shadow Tiera saw and the messenger Bulk talked about, I suppose.”

”Better than nothing, I guess. Let's focus on the day after tomorrow first.”

s.h.i.+n decided to make preparations in order to gather as many clues as possible.

s.h.i.+n and Schnee completed their investigation of Bulk's residence and returned to Lilis.h.i.+la's room.

s.h.i.+n thought he would find someone inside, but maybe because their search ended rather quickly, no one was there yet.

s.h.i.+n ran a search using Palmirack's functions and found that Tiera, Wilhelm and Millie were in the same room.

Lilis.h.i.+la and s.h.i.+baid were on the verge of breaking into one of the rooms in the residential section. It looked like they had already captured several rooms. They were likely fighting against Bulk's allies.

”Looks like everyone's doing fine for now.”

”s.h.i.+baid is with Lilis.h.i.+la too, so I doubt anything bad could happen.”

s.h.i.+n nodded in agreement to Schnee's words and headed to where Tiera and the others were.

As s.h.i.+n and Schnee entered the room, Millie noticed and ran up to them.

”s.h.i.+n-nii!!”

”Hey there, good morning. How are you feeling?”

”All good!”

s.h.i.+n caught Millie as she jumped to him and checked her status. Her HP and MP were completely recovered and she did not appear to have any status conditions.

The status screen can not show everything, but at the very least she had no visible aftereffects.

”Have you heard from Tiera?”

”Yes.”

Millie nodded, smiling. Tiera, walking behind Millie, nodded too after meeting s.h.i.+n's eyes.

”There's no time to lose then. After all, Ras.h.i.+a and Thoria must be worried sick.”

s.h.i.+n spoke while patting Millie's head.

They had previously contacted Vizzy to let her make preparations, so they could leave right away.

They asked Vizzy to protect Millie until s.h.i.+n's party had stopped the ritual.

Wilhelm with his powered-up equipment, Vizzy and the Elder Dragons she had gained control of, even if enemy hands approached them again, they would not go down easily.

”Are you departing?”

”Yes, there are people worried about Millie. They deeply regretted not being able to protect her, you see.”

”I understand. It is best to hurry, then.”

Hermie showed a relieved smile after speaking. Hermie had been used in the past for the abilities granted by her t.i.tle, so she was glad to know that Millie, who shared the same t.i.tle, was cherished.

”We have already made the necessary preparations. We were thinking of leaving now, actually.”

”Understood.”

s.h.i.+n nodded at Hermie's words and faced towards Wilhelm.

Wilhelm too could use the item box, so he could leave right away without needing time to prepare. Millie had been kidnapped with only the clothes she had on, so she obviously had no luggage to speak of.

They decided to wait for s.h.i.+baid to come back and leave once they were all together.

s.h.i.+n's party left Sigurd momentarily, to see Millie and the others off.

The carriage they rode on blazed through a wasteland heading to the meeting point with Vizzy at a slightly ridiculous speed due to the power of Kagerou's pulling.

Normally the carriage would be shaking violently, but the shock absorbing mechanism equipped on the carriage's cabin worked perfectly, preventing the pa.s.sengers -especially Millie- from feeling sick.

”Will, Will!! Look outside! It's like we're flying!”

”Easy now, or you'll fall from your seat.”

Millie's eyes were sparkling looking at the scenery breezing past them much faster than in a normal carriage, and Wilhelm cautioned her. She was not being careful about her foothold, so a stronger shock could have sent her flying out of her seat.

”Some things don't change no matter where you go, huh.”

s.h.i.+n felt as if he was looking at a kid excited to be riding a train and let that remark slip. Even when he had gotten used to the game world, he would sometimes remember the real world.

”Did you recall something about your homeland?”

”Eh?”

Tiera asked the question as s.h.i.+n was gently looking at Millie.

”You looked like you were thinking about something far away. Usually people think of their homeland when they look like that, no?”

”I really looked like that?”

”Well, that doesn't apply to everyone, butI get the feeling I was right this time, wasn't I?”

”Well, not too far from the truth, let's say.”

Tiera asked for confirmation and s.h.i.+n replied after some thought, his head c.o.c.ked to one side.

One could say it was his homeland, but strictly speaking it really wasn't. Since it was in another world.

”I was thinking of the past though, that's for sure. I was thinking that kids act the same everywhere, you see. I've seen children act the same way as Millie, so”

”I see, there was a time when ”things like these” were normal, then.”

Tiera a.s.sumed that s.h.i.+n was talking about the world before the ”Dusk of the Majesty”. She imagined that there once were carriages this fast running through city streets.

”Children don't change, no matter the times we're in. Yes, I can see that.”

”The things we do are pretty much the same, after all. Hunt monsters, forge weapons or armor, create buildings, do research, go on adventures, or do battle. Some people play dirty, others work diligently. We're all living beings, there aren't many differences.”

In THE NEW GATE, the playstylesthe ways to live were too many to count. All players had a different one, and this world was no different.

”A world packed with High Humans like you, right? I don't even want to think about it.”

”Hey now, there weren't many at my level. Abilities included, there were only 6 at the same level as me.”

”It's insane that there were even 6! I'm really glad I wasn't born in that era, for sure!”

Wilhelm says so light-heartedly with his legs crossed and back leaning on the carriage's wooden part.i.tion.

The carriage was protected from outside noise via magic, making its interior quiet; everyone could hear the others talk.

Almost all members knew that s.h.i.+n was a High Human, so they could talk without reserve.