Why Would We Catch It?

"Why would we catch it?"

"Oh."

It had climbed far more than I expected. I was now a single step away from 110.

"If I hit 110, they'll probably hand out a title or something."

Having awakened once at level 100, the 110 milestone would most likely be capped off with nothing more than a title. Even so, as the first level 110, the raw stat boost wouldn't be anything to scoff at.

And I could reach 110 this very instant.

Tteokbokki — the consumable item I'd earned as the reward for clearing the Interference Dungeon. Its effect was simple: it raised your level by one, no matter what level you currently were. Since it was most efficient to use it at the highest level possible, I'd been putting off eating it.

"Hmm... it does feel like a bit of a waste, though."

Honestly speaking, using it at 110 was a little hard to justify. My level was already abnormal compared to other users, but I'd be climbing higher from here on out anyway. Ordinary dungeons barely yielded any experience at all, which meant using it at 120—or beyond—beat using it at 110.

But with the Great Cataclysm looming right around the corner, growing stronger by even a hair mattered too.

"...Let's check the rest first."

The experience had been a side benefit. The rewards didn't end there.

I flinched. My head snapped around on its own. Beyond the sorcery-woven barrier, I could feel the Kraken's gaze settling on me.

It's furious.

Fair enough—the avatar I'd taken down had been a fairly formidable specimen. I still didn't know how many stages or avatars remained, but that one alone had carried enough power to sink half a subcontinent. Worse, it was a creature that refused to die under almost any circumstances. If that avatar surfaced in Deoen right now, it was plain as day that everyone would be slaughtered unless a top-ten-ranked user stepped forward.

óctĭpes — 17.

If those numbers denoted order of strength... then sixteen avatars stronger than the one I'd killed were still out there. Then again, the numbers might mean nothing at all. More than thirty Sea Dungeons had already been discovered, and the count was climbing in real time.

"......"

No way to know. One thing, however, was certain: the Kraken was steadily stretching its claws outward, and the danger had arrived at the doorstep. I stared for a long moment at the spot where the Kraken floated, then turned away.

"Let's head back."

For now, home. My list of things to prepare had just gotten longer.

Chaaaaa...

The spot where the otherworlder, Lily Elbrit, had stood. Seated on a boat adrift in the crevice of time, the Sorcerer gazed upon the village through a peculiar power. The girl—no longer young Lily, but an ordinary child once more—had arrived at the harbor, laughing merrily as she played with her friends. Gio, who had never stepped into the crevice of time, hovered anxiously beside the wreck of a ship, watching and waiting. That place had survived; never again would the calamity strike it. The calamity itself, sealed away, would simply drift across the sea, and the villagers would live out their lives knowing nothing at all.

"......"

Well... the girl Lily had possessed would suffer the odd strange dream now and then. That much she could carry in her memory without any harm done.

The Sorcerer wrote Gio one final letter, telling him there was no longer any need to worry, sent it on its way, and rose from his seat.

To be precise, he had to rise.

Crackle...!

A small raccoon wreathed in golden lightning was floating right behind him. The raccoon glared up at him, its brow furrowed deep.

"Dragon. What exactly are you doing."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"What do I mean! I told you to do only as you were instructed! And you dared to 'interfere' with a user?!"

Currents surged and twisted around the raccoon's tiny hand. The lightning Jawol himself had wielded had been reasonably impressive, but the raccoon's lightning was something else entirely.

A different order of being altogether.

Power of that caliber could snuff out even an avatar capable of sinking half a subcontinent in a single stroke. The Sorcerer merely shrugged, as if to ask what the fuss was about.

"How strange, no? Were you not the very ones who bade us help the otherworlders stop the calamity?"

"You follow the established rules. The rules! Do you wish to be erased? Hm?!"

"It would be stranger still to hide anything after coming this far. She broke through every trap and arrived in the girl's own body—what, precisely, was there to conceal?"

"Then you should have taught her the technique and nothing else! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Why did you disregard the constraints of causality and hand everything over of your own accord?!"

"......."

"Hm? Do you have any idea how thoroughly I am being roasted by those above because of you? I only just got caught by Lord Hwanggwak, and it has been utter chaos—"

"Ah. You lot, you mean."

The Sorcerer fixed the raccoon with a grave look. The raccoons were truly extraordinary beings—'Administrators' who moved at the command of whichever unseen hand governed this world. Their power could slaughter even the calamity's avatars in a heartbeat, and they wielded the tremendous authority of bestowing the restraining force of annihilated worlds.

And beings like that rank as merely the 'lower tier.'

Compared to an organization, they were nothing but the errand-runners at the very bottom. Then what manner of beings must the ones issuing their orders be—and how extraordinary must the one standing above them all be? The Sorcerer could not even begin to guess.

"With power like that, taking down the 'true' calamity would hardly seem impossible. Why must everything proceed so roundabout?"

"What?"

"If you caught it yourselves—"

"Why would we catch it?"

The raccoon tilted its head.

"Our purpose is management, management. Slaying calamities and growing stronger is the heroes' business."

"......"

"What a strange question to ask, young dragon. The world does not turn so simply."

Tap, tap. The raccoon's tiny hand smacked against the Sorcerer's cheek. It didn't hurt, but it was a blow irritating enough to sour the mood. Then again, the creature was made so adorably that anyone fond of raccoons might actually have enjoyed it.

"This world is tailored to the users. I don't know what the one above me is thinking either, but that's how it is. So you would do well to move like a cog—brain switched off."

That is, if you want to live.

"You endured all those long years because you wished to survive, did you not?"

"......."

"If you understand, then keep your head down and help only the low-level users for a while. You have made my life a living torment."

Good grief—lesser creatures, every last one of them!

Crackle! The raccoon's form vanished, swallowed in a wash of golden current.

Left alone on the boat, the Eastern Dragon—Jawol—stared blankly across the sea for a long while, then set the vessel in motion once more.