Floor 23: The Sword That Never Returned (1)

"Now that I've found my Guide, allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Comet Dret, last Apostle of the goddess, the Blue Dawn Wind."

"...I'm sorry, what?"

What on earth was he talking about now? The last apostle of the Blue Dawn Wind? Comet's sudden declaration short-circuited my brain for a moment. I shook myself and forced my thoughts to move again.

So, in other words, the low-tier mercenary Comet had actually been the Blue Dawn Wind's final apostle all along?

Which meant that the person I'd really been escorting this whole time wasn't the caravan master or the slaves — it was Comet himself?

Come to think of it, he had struck up conversation with me from the very first day, and kept talking even when I gave him nothing back in return.

'Even that weird song he told me about.'

Every one of his actions had a reason behind it.

Hold on, though. Hadn't they said the last apostle of the Blue Dawn Wind went missing somewhere in this desert?

Comet, who had been watching my expression shift, spoke again.

"Forgive me. I concealed my identity out of necessity, to protect the secret."

"Wait, wait a second. Didn't everyone say the last apostle of the Blue Dawn Wind disappeared here?"

"Yes, that's correct. The last apostle before me, that is."

"There's still something I don't understand. Let's say that's all true. But why would you need to hide as a low-tier mercenary of all things? Couldn't you have just come into the desert alone?"

It made no sense to me.

With mercenary activity so tightly restricted between nations, becoming a mercenary meant leaving a trail of travel records behind you.

And joining a slave caravan shackled his ability to search the desert for the sacred relic.

Comet had no reason to draw attention to himself by posing as a bottom-rung sellsword.

Comet gave a bitter smile.

"The Dumie Desert is both a trade route and a national border. No one may wander it without authorization. Though I've never once crossed paths with them, soldiers from both nations patrol it on a regular cycle."

"Ah..."

"Had I not joined the slave caravan, I could never have entered the desert at all. And even if I had, crossing it alone would have been its own ordeal."

"I see."

"And the greatest problem was that I had people hunting me. In fact, the bandit raid today happened because of me. This desert has no bandit gangs precisely because of the patrols."

As Comet spoke, the caravan master's words from earlier in the day floated back to me.

Right. Now it all made sense — why nearly every mercenary the caravan had hired was low-tier.

If they'd been carrying anything truly valuable, or if this route were genuinely dangerous, they would have hired far more reputable men.

The caravan had been utterly risk-free right up until Comet joined it — and his presence was what drew the raid.

Still, one thing refused to add up.

"But you said it was a secret. So how did the raiders find you? And why would they interfere with the work of the continent's only faith, anyway?"

"It's a bit of a long story, but the desert night is deep, so I'll walk you through it slowly."

Comet turned his gaze toward the sand. He was suggesting we talk sitting down rather than standing.

I nodded and dropped onto the sand, and Comet settled down beside me as it slid gently away beneath us.

"I was a priest of the Blue Dawn Wind's order, in Ehrenheim."

"Knowing the order's secrets, you clearly weren't an ordinary priest."

"No, well — that's not the important part, but..."

Comet's voice trailed off and his expression grew troubled. The mood had turned grave, so I waited for him to go on.

"The reason you and I met like this, Kwon Suhyeok — everything that happened today — began the day the goddess vanished from the continent."

"You mean fifty years ago?"

"Yes. Exactly one month after the goddess disappeared, her last apostle vanished in this very desert."

That much I'd heard from Comet earlier that day. What he really wanted to say started now, I figured.

I leaned in and listened.

"Then, at some point, heretics began to appear. The first discovery came in Lumeln, a small city at the far western edge of the continent."

"Heretics?"

"Yes — people who worship a god none of us had ever heard of. Believers of our order in Lumeln began to vanish, and when we assembled an investigation and uncovered the truth, we found heretics among us. They were performing human sacrifice — offering the goddess's own followers up as tribute."

Human sacrifice...

My brow furrowed of its own accord. Comet pressed on.

"Naturally, we purged them. Human sacrifice is something that cannot be tolerated under any circumstances. But somehow — we never learned how — this heretic sect's influence only kept growing."

"It got that out of hand even for the continent's only faith?"

"Yes. They clustered together in the shadows, and fifty years have passed since then. And at some point, even a portion of the high nobility became heretics."

Heretics, right under a vanished goddess's nose...

Something about it bothered me.

Changing religions is difficult even in the modern world. And this was a medieval age besides. For believers of the continent's one and only faith to convert was next to unthinkable — especially when they could witness the power of a real, living god with their own eyes.

"Why did they become heretics at all? Was it because the goddess vanished?"

"Yes, precisely. While the goddess's power drained from the continent, the heretics' god showed them his power whenever they offered up sacrifices."

"...If another god's power was genuinely real, they had plenty of reason to abandon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their faith."

"They do. They claim that the heretics' god, the Stilled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Terror, is the one who killed the goddess — that this is why her power vanished from the land..."

Memories of what I'd passed through flickered across my mind.

The goblins who had their god stolen from them. The Sobo continent, overrun by another god's armies.

It seemed this was the same story all over again.

Comet must have taken my silence for agreement with the heretics' claims, because he hurried to speak.

"But that is not the truth."

"You mean the goddess still lives?"

"Yes. It was her words that brought me here."

Even though only Dobby and I were anywhere nearby, Comet glanced nervously left and right.

"Barely two months ago, during dawn prayers, I heard the goddess's voice."

Comet whispered as quietly as an ant's footsteps, but there was strength packed into every word.

Comet met my eyes. For a moment, our gazes crossed in the dark.

"And so I became the goddess's last apostle. And the instant I first laid eyes on you, Kwon Suhyeok, I knew that you were the Guide."

Hm. Honestly, given that my clothes looked nothing like any other mercenary's, that didn't seem like much of a leap...

But I didn't want to spoil the mood, so I kept quiet.

"Still, I could not be entirely certain before such a great cause, so I simply kept watch over the situation."

"But I never heard any of that from the goddess myself."

"Where the Guide walks, a road ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠soon follows. Those were the goddess's words to her last apostle fifty years ago. Wherever you go, Kwon Suhyeok, the road I seek will be there."

Through Comet, I finally grasped the full story of Floor 23 — though it wasn't much practical help. Comet didn't know the precise location of the hidden mission's path either.

Hm... what should I do?

While I deliberated, Comet's earlier words resurfaced unbidden.

"You said the ones who attacked us were heretics, right?"

"Yes."

"How were they able to track you, then?"

"I have told no one about any of this. My guess is that the heretics' god is granting them revelations."

When he finished speaking, Comet closed his eyes briefly and offered a prayer to the goddess.

"If the goddess gave you a revelation, though, couldn't you have brought the whole order with you? Why come alone?"

"Whatever the destination, a man traveling alone travels fastest. ...There may also be a traitor within the order itself."

It seemed that last remark was the one he truly meant.

A traitor within the order.

Had the heretic problem really grown so vast, spreading so deep in shadow, that it came to that?

Comet let out a long, heavy sigh.

"Everyone who left under the heretics' attack died because of me. I cannot face the goddess."

The ones who had died in the greatest numbers were the low-tier mercenaries. The small folk of this world.

Whether their faith was strong or weak, every one of them would have been a follower of the Blue Dawn Wind, so I could understand, a little, the guilt Comet carried as their priest.

I offered him comfort in silence instead.

'Anyway — what do I do now?'

If Comet was right, then to find what remained of the goddess, I needed to start moving, and fast.

But the surviving mercenaries and the other people were the problem.

Could they cross the desert to their destination without me?

The enemies supposedly received divine revelations to launch their attacks, but that wouldn't happen in real time.

If we vanished, the odds were high that the enemy would turn on those left behind.

'But if I escort them all the way to their destination, I'll have less than three hours left.'

It was another moment of choice.

It would be nice if some ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠remnant of the goddess lay along the way, but what were the odds of that? And even if it did, what if we came under attack at the site itself...

My thoughts chased themselves in useless circles. But the conclusion had already been settled.

'First, get the survivors somewhere safe.'

I couldn't throw this many people into danger for a hidden mission I had no guarantee of ever finding. It wasn't as if hidden missions were something I was desperate for beyond all reason.

If we happened to discover something along the way, I'd weigh the situation then and there.

"Since I don't know the way, I suppose we'll have to head for the original destination."

"Do as you see fit. I will follow you, Kwon Suhyeok."

"I don't have much time left. If I fail to find any remnant along the road to your destination, I won't be able to help you any further."

"Go wherever you wish, Guide. Move as your heart moves you."

Contrary to all my worrying, Comet looked completely at ease. He genuinely seemed to believe that following me was all he needed to do.

Well — the god he believed in had given him a revelation directly, after all.

Perhaps he had every reason to trust me, root and branch.

And just then, Dobby shrieked as if possessed.

"Kkiik! Right side!"

"What?"

Half-afraid enemies had appeared without me noticing, I whipped my head around — but there was nothing to the right. Only moonlit ridges of sand filled my view.

"What is it, Dobby? What's wrong with you?"

"Kkiik! The right! Fenrike said so!"

Fenrike said so?

This was a first. Dobby's sixth sense had kicked in a few times before, but Dobby had never once communicated directly with Fenrike.

Something must have changed... but that wasn't a question for now.

'If Dobby says it like that, I go right first and ask questions later.'

Still, the remaining people gave me pause. There probably wouldn't be another dawn raid, but you never knew.

Hm... should I leave Dobby here? If it came to that, he had the portal — that seemed the safer call.

Just then, Comet spoke up, looking puzzled.

"Is something the matter?"

"One moment. Dobby, you've got the signal device, right?"

"Kkiik! Got it right here!"

Among the supplies Ha Heejung had given me was something called a signal device — press the button on one half, and the other half vibrated. I'd handed it over to Dobby.

With the portal in place, all Dobby had to do was send the signal the moment danger struck, and I could return here whenever needed.

"The second anything happens, you press it. Right away."

"Kkiik! Understood! Don't worry!"

In case it had malfunctioned, I checked the signal device one last time, then turned to Comet.

"Let's go. To the right."

"Whatever for, if I may ask...?"

"Dobby is a saint of a god from another world. That god appears to have sent him a signal."

"A god from another world?"

Comet frowned.

Ah — of course. To Comet, born and raised on this continent, the mere existence of another god would mark me as a heretic. And here we were, in the middle of a heretic sect claiming the Blue Dawn Wind was dead, no less.

Mentioning Fenrike had been hasty of me.

I hurried to add an explanation.

"As you know, we came from another world. The god Dobby serves, like the Blue Dawn Wind, has suffered his own share of hardships like this. He's probably helping out of a sense of kinship."

"...I will place my trust in you, Kwon Suhyeok, the Guide."

What a relief. He still looked dubious, but it seemed the goddess's words were what made him willing to believe.

And so I set off to the right, together with Comet.