Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Child of the Abyss (1)
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The deepest recesses of the Abyss.
No one knew how far the twisting tunnels burrowed or what lay within.
Only stagnant underground water and darkness roiled there, as they had for ages.
Thud... thud... thud... thud... thud...
Today, that place teemed with footsteps.
The Abyss's guards sweated as they hauled their loads.
Crates and carts brimmed with all manner of goods.
Firewood, oil, bundles of straw.
Some guards carried parched moss and mushrooms.
All shared two traits: they burned fiercely and billowed thick smoke.
...Crackle! ...Crackle! ...Crackle! ...Crackle!
Soon, crates piled high at the cave mouth.
The guards set them ablaze in unison.
Snap! Snap! Snap! Rumble-roooar—
Flames leaped to the oil-soaked straw.
White-hot blaze pierced the smoke and gloom.
Splash— splish!
The guards sprinkled water here and there to tame the blaze.
Each time, vast clouds of smoke erupted.
Ssssss...
Heavy, humid air pinned the smoke down instead of letting it rise.
A colossal serpent of smoke slithered into the cave, where only darkness and water stagnated.
The guards' torches pierced the gloom mere steps deep.
Whoosh-roooar—
The smoke from the flames drifted slowly into the endless tunnel.
"This'll drive it out without letting it surface anywhere else."
One-eyed Hadley declared with brimming confidence.
Federback stood beside him, arms crossed.
"So this is your plan to catch the escapee? Just smoke?"
"Not just any smoke, Warden. Behold."
Hadley held out desiccated mushrooms and moss to Federback.
Strange growths native to the Abyss's walls, floors, and ceilings.
Hadley grinned wickedly.
"Burn these, and the smoke's unreal."
"Still just mushrooms and moss."
"No mere fungi. A thumbnail's worth smokes out a whole hut. See for yourself."
Federback followed Hadley's gesture.
Indeed, the smoke snaking into the cave was massively thick and long.
So dense and acrid, watching guards shed tears and snot from afar.
Cough— cough— cough—
Even tough Hadley hacked repeatedly from the fumes.
But.
"......"
Federback stood unmoved amid the haze.
Hadley gaped.
"Whoa, Warden. Doesn't sting your eyes?"
"Not really."
Federback replied flatly.
He'd breathed far worse on battlefields.
Not from mushrooms or moss.
From pyres of family and comrades' corpses, the choking gunpowder haze.
Federback closed his eyes, recalling the scent.
"Anyway, I know little of this escapee. Report just calls it 'prisoner's child.'"
"Ah, I know all about that."
Hadley launched into explanation, voice soft and eager to impress.
"Long ago—fifteen years back—an administrator served House Meursault. His wife too."
"Before I was born. Both administrators?"
"Aye. Vile scum, they say. Endless villainy: bribes, embezzlement, plundering underlings' wealth. Filthy to the core."
Hadley spat as he spoke.
"Then a righteous administrator snapped, whistleblowing. 'Even for kin, this crosses lines,' he charged. His stand ended that wretched pair's reign. Right here in the Abyss."
"That righteous whistleblower. A friend of yours?"
"Back then, sure. Now? Ages ago, lost touch..."
Hadley trailed off awkwardly.
Then changed tack.
"Anyway, locked here, they never reformed. Taught prisoners seditious drivel whenever they could. Scorned us guards."
"Scorn guards with whips and clubs?"
"Outrageous, right? But they did. Whips and clubs never broke those sneers. Pitiful cock-pity stares. Should've gouged 'em out..."
Federback cut in.
"They taught other prisoners?"
"Aye. Math, philosophy, war arts—bullshit. Even sang in huddles. Gah. Wanted to slaughter 'em, barely held back. Vermin aping humans."
"Was our escapee among them?"
"Spot on."
Hadley lowered his voice.
"Dangerous one. Brainwashed by parents' radical rot, plus every crook here taught crimes."
"How do you know?"
"Interrogated its close inmates. Pickpockets to gang bosses—all schooled it."
"In what?"
"Trifles: pickpocketing, lockpicking, safecracking, body-hiding. Then org-building, ledger-faking, tax evasion, fists and blades... Typical gutter plots."
Federback nodded at Hadley's disdain.
'Petty to heavy crimes, even org-running ideology.'
Makes sense for rebellion.
Federback recalled his past life.
The Abyss riot.
Its leader: wild hair, gaunt frame, killer eyes dripping menace. Monstrous.
Taught light by elite parents, dark by Abyss kingpins.
United inmates, subdued guards, even flipped some.
'Cost House Meursault a third of our power.'
While battling Demon King's forces ahead, betrayal struck from below.
Forced retreat to quell it. Crushing blow.
Had he known the spark smoldered...
'...Rebel chief 'Rorschach Roshek.' This life, we'll meet sooner.'
Federback gripped his sword hilt, waiting.
Then.
Patpatpatpat!
Footsteps echoed from deep within.
Cough— cough— cough—
A shadow tumbled into the cave mouth, hacking.
A small thing gasping, clawing for clean air.
Hadley's eye bulged.
"The escapee!"
He outran guards and hounds, scenting it first.
Hadley shoved past, lunging.
A scrawny, long-haired child fell into his brutish grasp.
It wriggled futilely.
"Got you, ghost!"
Hadley snarled.
"Your nightly wails near barracks gave us chronic insomnia! Tonight, I sleep sound!"
Ecstasy, hatred, ancient contempt blazed from his eye.
Then.
...Stab!
Blood sprayed from Hadley's forearm.
The ghost. Escapee. Child of the Abyss.
This tiny being gripped a jagged stone, stabbing.
Hadley ignored it, slamming the child down.
"Kek!"
It sprawled on hard stone.
No time to scream—Hadley's boot crushed its throat.
Through tangled hair, hate-filled eyes glared.
Hadley sneered.
"Wait just a bit. I'll butcher you like your parents."
"......!"
The child's glare intensified, murderously feral for its age.
Hadley mocked on.
"Your dad glared just like that before dying. Unlike your mom, who adored me. Makes sense—I favored her nightly. Your dad probably hated me. Or was he even your dad? Time-wise, maybe I am...?"
"Shut up."
The child spoke.
"Insult my parents more, and I won't stay quiet."
Voice raspy, starved, faint.
But enunciation crystal clear.
Hadley smirked delightedly.
"And what'll you do?"
"......"
"Huh? What? Squirm like a bug underfoot? What can you do?"
"......"
Crushed, the child ground its teeth to near-breaking.
Hadley raised his club.
"First, smash that impudent glare. Don't worry—'by the book' suppression."
Then.
"Hold."
A voice halted the club.
Thud... thud... thud...
Federback approached.
Hadley snapped to.
"Ah, Warden. Caught it. Was about to restrain since it tried fleeing..."
"Slightly different matter."
Federback eyed Hadley.
"That 'righteous administrator' you mentioned—Yuda?"
"......!"
Anxiety flickered on Hadley's face.
Federback nodded slowly.
"Hm. From what I know, Yuda was far from righteous or conscientious."
"I-I don't know admin circles well..."
"If Yuda framed him as a thorn, likely innocent and pure."
To stunned Hadley, Federback continued.
"The Roshek couple, wrongfully assassinated on your orders."
"W-Warden? What...?"
Hadley's face blanched.
Federback drew an old ledger.
"Let's see. Yuda's ledger records it clear: fifteen years ago. Cost to send rival to dungeon, arrange murder by warden."
"Wh-what do you mean, Warden? I don't..."
"Equivalent to a first-class guard's twenty years' pay. Huge sum then."
Federback snapped the ledger shut.
"Twenty years' salary upfront? No complaints sticking at second-class forever."
"......"
Byron Hadley, perennial second-class from stalled promotions.
He wiped cascading cold sweat, fidgeting.
Federback pressed on.
"On-site execution."
"......!"
Hadley looked up, trembling.
A cold blade slipped under his chin.
"Second-class guard Byron Hadley. For abuse of power, embezzlement, bribery, contract killing, and 91 further crimes, sentenced as follows."
Crimson fountain sprayed, streaking the wall.
"Death."
Federback sheathed his spotless blade.
"......"
One dazed gaze fixed on him.
Federback turned.
Ghost.
Escapee.
Child of the Abyss.
Beyond aliases: Rorschach of House Roshek.
The child stared openly.
Past-life foe, house's dagger-wound.
Federback extended a hand.
"Rise."
This life, he'd claim that fearsome foe as ally.