Chapter 504
Chapter 504
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 504
Chapter Title: The Fish Tank (4)
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1.
There's an idiom: "in the blink of an eye."
It literally means something that happens in that fleeting instant when your eyelids close and open.
So, what expression would you use for something that happens even faster than that?
I've been training consistently under my master.
That training included a rule never to blink—from the moment I sense danger and shift into combat stance, right up to the instant an attack lands.
In other words, from the second I smacked that mysterious blue orb away with my gauntlet, I hadn't closed my eyes even once.
"……."
But somehow, the scenery around me had flipped in an instant, like the mask of a transforming sword.
When I snapped back to reality, the comfy sofa was gone. The glasses between us, the lavish wallpaper, the fireplace—all vanished. We were standing blankly by the roadside.
Even the time and season had changed.
It had clearly been the dead of night, but now it was broad daylight. Instead of frosty breath, a muggy sea breeze kept brushing my nose.
I knew I shouldn't drop my guard—not when I had no idea what might happen next—but bewilderment kept my mouth hanging open.
"Where... is this place?"
"Did you do this, Si-woo?"
"No. Then it probably wasn't you either, Countess Deneb."
I scanned our surroundings warily. The view fit the word "harbor" perfectly.
To be more precise, it was an "ancient" harbor.
Pretty big sailing ships plied the sea with white sails billowing. A greater number of larger and smaller vessels were docked.
Near the pier, stalls stretched out in a row, piled high with colorful trinkets and goods like war trophies amid the clutter of wagons jamming the streets.
"Si-woo, get behind me."
"Do you know what's going on?"
Deneb spread her arms, ushering me behind her.
Friend or foe, she couldn't tell.
She cranked her mana to the max and peered around.
"No, not a clue. But this is way too weird, right? Could be dangerous."
It really was.
So many bizarre details, it was unsettling.
Forget how we got dumped in this random spot— a harbor big enough for sailing ships should be packed tight during daylight hours.
But all that floated over this pier was an eerily oppressive silence.
No hint of human presence. Perfect quiet, save for the occasional wave crash.
"No people anywhere."
"Not just people. No animals either."
Deneb pointed calmly, one by one, at the fish dumped haphazardly on wagons and streetside crates.
As she said, no horses where they should've been tied to the wagons—just scattered harnesses and manure rolling on the ground.
Not a single fly on those abandoned fish, either.
It was like every living thing had suddenly evaporated.
"……."
"……."
Even after five minutes of holding our breath and staying vigilant in all directions, nothing changed.
No homunculus popped out. No witch burst in laughing, "You've fallen right into my trap!"
In the tense hush, all I clearly felt was sweat trickling down my back.
"Better to move and scout around."
"They might be waiting for us to let our guard down."
"Even so, this is too exposed. Hiding would be smarter."
"……."
Deneb scanned the area in silence for another five minutes, then smoothed her messy bangs and sighed.
"Fine. Staying put won't solve anything. Let's look around."
"Got it."
"How do you keep getting tangled in this weird stuff, Si-woo?"
"...Beats me."
2.
As I'd guessed, this wasn't Gehenna.
Deneb was a Gehenna native, so her word was gospel.
The city sprawled in a crescent along the harbor.
The tips of the crescent hugged the sea and pier. Circular stone ramparts ringed the outer curve, enclosing the urban core inside.
Those sturdy walls jutted up like bared fangs, wrapping the whole city tight.
"Looks like we've been hit with some bizarre magic."
"Did we go back in time?"
"Doubt it. But it sure seems like a city from that era."
The spot was a port city right by the harbor, as you could see.
Deneb's guess, based on the lifestyle vibes and ship designs, pegged it as mid-medieval.
We walked the road from harbor to city, still on high alert.
We passed the odd shop sprouting along the way from the pier, slipped through an unmanned checkpoint, and finally the city came into view, shielded by the walls.
"It's cramped."
"Small, too."
Not the time to sightsee leisurely, but that was Si-woo and Deneb's first take on the city.
Seeing the pier, I'd vaguely expected as much—but not to this degree.
If Tarot Town turned medieval commoner life into fantasy, this place stripped out the "fantasy" to bare gritty reality.
The main drag was at least maintained for wagons.
But the sides? Black mud pits full of dung, stalls crammed so tight a single wagon left barely room for pedestrians.
And the buildings?
Not the solid two- or three-story stone jobs like in Tarot Town. Just stone foundations and first floors, rickety wood stacked above. Even those were on the upscale side.
"Still, for the era, having proper stone walls marks it as a decent-sized city."
Deneb's added commentary sealed it.
I'd never given much thought to "the Middle Ages were a dark age," but this scenery made it ring true.
No noble title or gold could make me want to live here.
Past the checkpoint's narrow pass, tight-packed buildings flanked skinny alleys, mushroom stalls popping up everywhere to greet us.
At a glance, it screamed "post-apocalypse."
No people, not even a sewer rat.
But despite the emptiness, the city brimmed with lived-in vitality.
Inns ready for hitching posts. Taverns with doors flung open, insides lit up.
A bit farther, a permanent market square hawking leather, grain, seafood, and such.
Crude by modern standards, sure—but plenty of infrastructure to sustain life here.
By the time we'd scoped out the square—about a third the size of Tarot Town's central plaza—Si-woo and Deneb had eased up a bit.
Get dragged into enough freak accidents with the same scenery, and the tension loosens.
We poked around the city from the square as a hub.
Everywhere the same.
Eerie stillness without a buzzing insect. Dim despite the sun, like a frozen city.
Crucially, Si-woo's golden eyes picked up no magic traces anywhere.
"No one's here for real."
Si-woo flicked a finger at loaves dangling from what looked like a bakery's eaves.
Honey, slathered thick and repainted, dripped from the pupa-like loaves.
"Si-woo, don't even think about eating. You know the Persephone story?"
"...Is this the underworld?"
"Not exactly, but you never know."
"Wasn't planning to..."
Didn't look tasty anyway. And I'm not the type to munch random finds so casually.
Deneb shrugged off her cloak from her shoulders and tied it at her waist.
It'd been sweltering till now. Finally, she looked relaxed.
"Countess, we haven't checked that alley over there yet."
"Probably no different, but... let's go."
Alleys here barely deserved the name "road"—total messes.
Shattered crates scattered everywhere. Crude ditches channeling filthy runoff.
Fish guts dunking and bobbing in the muck grated especially.
"Huh?"
Si-woo and Deneb halted dead, choking back some indescribable stench, pressing on stoically.
Nothing had appeared.
But the moment we neared the alley's end, the scenery flipped—just like when we'd first arrived.
It was the cathedral, grandest building in town.
Built of solid white bricks, plastered smooth on the outside—like it'd hogged four or five times the architecture budget. Stuck in memory.
We'd headed for alley's end, but suddenly faced the cathedral's fountain square.
"……."
While Si-woo gawked in shock, Deneb pursed her lips tight, like she had a hunch.
"Follow me."
Deneb backtracked the way we'd come.
Tailing her replayed the last experience.
Gorgeous fountain and cathedral? Gone. Back to the dank, musty back alley.
"How'd you do that?"
"Wasn't me. It's the space itself."
Deneb continued calmly.
"As you probably guessed, this alley and the chapel are opposites from the square.
East side chapel, west alley, with the central plaza as pivot."
"Really?"
"In short, it's like rolling a sheet of paper into a sphere. We went to one end, popped out the other. Head north straight through, and we'll hit the harbor where we started."
Tough to wrap your head around at first.
Earth's round, but seems flat 'cause it's huge.
A space this small going spherical would warp visibly—but no such bends in this city.
So, definitely a magic-sealed pocket dimension.
"So, like Gehenna—a pocket space cut off by a massive barrier?"
"Way smaller scale, but yeah. Amazing—a witch besides Kether wielded space magic like this. Anyway, we need an escape plan."
"Any leads?"
"Nope. But no pocket space lacks an exit."
The sober Deneb steeled herself.
-Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
A massive bell tolled clear from the church steeple overlooking the city.
Deneb and Si-woo held their breath, staring up at the cross-crowned tower.
Any other time, that majestic peal might've drawn awe—but this sudden shift felt like an ominous overture.
"Sun's setting."
With each ring, as Deneb said, the sky darkened.
Torches flared along the streets like welcoming night. Faint light leaked from shuttered buildings.
By the final echo lingering in our ears, the city was deep midnight.
"……."
Deneb and Si-woo panted lightly, scanning around.
The silence hit heavy after the bells' ear-ringing din.
-Flap flap FLAP flap
Then the sound that followed.
From the harbor sea direction.
Like millions of pigeons beating wings at once, filling the city.
"I'll check it out."
Si-woo kicked off the alley wall onto a roof.
What met his eyes: vast horizon packed solid with black shapes.
Countless mysterious critters—like flying fish—surged toward the city.