Chapter 225: The Distant Sea That Will Come Someday.
Chapter 225: The Distant Sea That Will Come Someday.
“Yes, it is Grix.”
The one who answered was a being with purple skin, looking at me with a single open eye while the rest of his numerous eyes remained closed. It was Grix.
“…Are you also something I discarded?”
Everything that had bubbled up until now had been exactly that.
The things I had cast aside in order to move forward.
If so, the Grix appearing now would be no exception.
“Even if that were so, what of it? I might be something you discarded, or I might not. Does it truly matter?”
Grix spoke with a dignified voice, a small chuckle escaping him.
Before I knew it, he was seated upon a Silver Throne that had manifested out of nowhere.
“Why don't you take a seat as well? It lacks the splendor of mine, but it looks far more comfortable.”
Take a seat? What was he—
Reacting to his words, I followed Grix’s gaze and looked behind me.
There stood a sofa.
A single-seater sofa upholstered in brown faux leather, complete with armrests.
It was an object so mundane that I didn't know how else to describe it.
The only peculiar thing about it was how old it looked.
The leather was cracked in various places, and the surface was peeling away.
Though it was suspicious as well, I quietly sat down on it.
Why?
Perhaps it was because, even if this was a lie, it was an opportunity to speak with Grix.
And so, I threw myself onto the sofa, sinking into a sensation that hovered somewhere between strange softness and discomfort. Feeling that ordinary texture, I opened my mouth.
“I’m sorry, Grix.”
“For what?”
“Your death.”
“You needn't worry about that. I was prepared for death the moment I rose from my stone throne.”
Grix’s attitude was perfectly nonchalant, as if he truly meant it.
“No. If we hadn't come, you would have lived much longer. And even if you were going to die soon, you probably wanted to see the Demon Train you built with your own eyes.”
If we had done a little better, if we had looked a little further into the future…
At the very least, he could have closed his eyes in peace after seeing his race carve out a future for themselves.
But we failed.
Somewhere, something had gone wrong.
“Hmm. So that is how you think. However, that is not a burden for you to carry.”
“…What do you mean?”
“I am saying that my death was not because of your choice, Lee Ha-ram. I chose to believe in you entirely, and I bet myself on that choice. Though I lost my life because I lost that final gamble, did I not win a massive pot? My life is not a burden for you to bear. I gained what I desired in the gambling den, and I simply vanished as the price of victory. That is all there is to it.”
It was a long, flowery, and ultimately meaningless speech.
Perhaps he wasn't the real Grix. Perhaps he was just a form of self-justification created by my own mind.
But I suppose I really am a weak human being.
Just hearing Grix say those words made my heart feel a little lighter.
At least it seems there's a little more room left in the warehouse of my heart.
I decided to throw out a random question.
“Do you know anything about this place?”
“The Deep Otherworld. The deepest abyss of the Otherworld. The place where time and space end. The final vortex where souls are swept in. Even this place is merely the outskirts of that unimaginably distant abyss.”
…?
“…Can I ask you one thing?”
“Anything.”
“In our contract, you said you’d tell me what you saw inside me if the reformation of the Demon Train succeeded.”
“I failed to keep that contract because I died. But yes, I did.”
“Then, is it alright if I demand you fulfill that contract now?”
“I shall fulfill it.”
“Then tell me. What on earth did you see inside me?”
Those red eyes.
What those countless Magical Girls were.
“Are you still dwelling on such meaningless things?”
“Meaningless? Something I don't understand is sleeping inside me. If that’s meaningless, then what on earth is meaningful—”
“Let’s see. There were several beings that looked similar to you, and there was a giant, Red-Eyed Colossus with power rivaling an Avatar… but they were all you.”
“What?”
“Did you mishear me? I shall say it again. Whatever anyone says, what was inside there was you. The deepest layer of a person's subconscious. Only one's self can exist there. Even at the very end, even for one who has reached the pinnacle of Mental Magic… the final interior of a Sentient Being, the ultimate place where will springs forth, belongs entirely to that individual. Of course, something far more bizarre than I expected appeared and caused me to faint.”
“I didn't ask to hear some vague, philosophical nonsense. I want precise information. What you saw inside me and its true identity.”
I stood up from the sofa and pressed him, but Grix’s expression didn't change.
Instead, he began to say something even stranger.
“Surely you don't think that what is inside you isn't your own power? That something so strange and repulsive couldn't possibly be a part of you?”
“….”
Those words mirrored my own thoughts.
Those ominous red eyes.
Those noisy, chattering Magical Girls.
That clinging sensation. I wanted to believe they weren't me.
“What do you think a Sentient Being is? Let’s take the 'Strong One' as an example. Looking at the Otherworld as a whole, they are beings as small as dust. Nevertheless, they radiate their will to rebel against the vast Otherworld and build their own worlds.”
“What kind of abstract talk is this?”
“The important thing here is not the 'Strong One,' but that every beginning is just a Sentient Being no different from a speck of dust. We are so obsessed with power and will that we forget where their source lies. Even I only realized it after coming here.”
Something was wrong.
This Grix was saying things I couldn't possibly know.
“Then, what do you think the essence of a Sentient Being—the soul—is? It is the seed of a world, the beginning of all things. It can become anything, and it is something that even 'The End' cannot reach. That is what is inside you. Compared to others, its appearance and structure are extremely distorted, but its foundation remains unchanged. And yet, do you still deny yourself? Merely because of an ominous feeling?”
These were words I could never have produced using only my own memories and thoughts.
“…You, are you perhaps—”
The moment I started to speak.
“The way out is over there.”
Grix raised his hand and pointed somewhere.
Reflexively, I turned my head.
There stood a strange building made of concrete.
A small, single-story building that looked like a warehouse.
The exterior walls were cracked everywhere, and the corners were rounded as if weathered by sea spray. Parts of the walls had even collapsed, exposing the steel framework.
It was a building that wouldn't be surprising if it collapsed right this second.
But what was attached to the exterior wall was even more bizarre.
A steel door, bearing the emergency exit sign and pictogram common in our world, was announcing its presence by blinking its 'EXIT' light as if it were short on electricity.
“My questions aren't finished yet.”
“The tide will be coming in soon. If it does, you won't be able to return. Is that question more important than your journey?”
Just as I was about to retort, asking what kind of nonsense he was talking about now—
A cold sensation climbed up my feet.
Startled, I looked down. The Blue Sea was rising, swallowing me up to my knees.
When did this…?
Then, my thoughts jumped back to the emergency exit, and I quickly turned my head.
The building with the exit was already half-submerged in The Sea. It was a wretched sight, with the waves slowly breaking apart the exterior walls and carrying the fragments away into the ocean.
“….”
“Go. If you delay any longer, you'll be stuck talking to me for the rest of eternity.”
Even as Grix’s voice reached me, the building was being swallowed by The Sea bit by bit.
And so, I made my choice.
To run toward the emergency exit. To not stop my journey.
Leaving the reunited Grix behind, I headed for the exit that was on the verge of being submerged.
“Yes, that will do.”
Along with the voice from behind, I grabbed the door handle and turned it.
Creeeeeak.
A chilling sound that shouldn't have been audible underwater echoed in my ears.
The Blue Sea could not rush into the opening created by the door, as if blocked by an invisible wall.
As soon as I threw myself toward the exit, a massive force began to pull on my arm from the door handle I was holding.
It wasn't that the door itself had become heavy and difficult to close.
Rather, it was the opposite.
The moment I pushed my body into the exit, the door began to slam shut with immense force.
“Wait! I still have things I want to say—!”
I struck the door with all my might to keep it from closing.
But there was no reaction.
It felt like hitting a thick sponge; there was no counter-force against my hand, and the door I struck didn't budge, continuing to push me out without a tremor.
I dug my feet into the ground and tried to stop the door from closing.
Even that was a futile struggle.
The door didn't stop, relentlessly pushing me inside the exit.
Through the narrowing gap of the door, I saw him one last time.
Just before the door closed, through the tiny sliver of space, I saw him waving his hand at me.
Even as his body was swallowed by the Blue Sea, he waved at me.
“…Grix….”
Clang.
The door shut, and the world was plunged into darkness. As it always was.
* * *
“Are you awake?”
I opened my eyes to a familiar voice.
“…Al’shel.”
“How was the Deep Otherworld?”
“…I met Grix.”
“…I see.”
Al’shel spoke calmly, as if it were something that was bound to happen.
He looked down at me, black Magic Circles on both hands forming black orbs.
“Where’s Un-ho?”
“Over there, talking in his sleep about how he can't eat any more snacks.”
Turning my gaze, I saw a fool indeed, scratching his belly and mumbling.
I wanted to throw that idiot out, but exercising great patience, I used his hairy body as a footstool for my Paloma Note and then tossed him into a corner.
His mental fortitude to seek food in his sleep without waking up was impressive in its own way, but I didn't have the slightest desire to emulate it.
“Are we out of the Deep Otherworld?”
“Yes. I had to use up all the mana I’d gathered to do it, though….”
I see.
Then, the next question.
The question of why Al’shel had joined us so late.
“The Core?”
“It has been successfully installed. I had some concerns, but it seems the faint will remaining inside successfully synchronized with the Demon Train’s core.”
That’s a relief.
The risk we took was worth it.
“Then, do you think the mana will hold until we reach the Magic Kingdom?”
“Hmm. It will be tight. If it comes down to it, I may have to consider waking Lord Un-ho and extorting his mana.”
“And for the way back?”
We don't even have a Reality Anchor anymore.
Since we went and shoved it into The Core…
Thinking back, it was the best decision, but it’s made things awkwardly inconvenient for us.
A way for Al’shel not to die and for the Demon Train to remain functional.
A source that provides a small but infinite supply of energy, and someone with expertise in technology or magic.
In other words, a Reality Anchor using the Curator’s heart as an energy source.
We had attached that to The Core.
The moment I suggested it, Al’shel honestly confessed he hadn't thought of that method.
But he soon showered me with praise, calling it a brilliant move.
According to Al’shel, we wouldn't have to worry about the Curator’s ego waking up.
Instead, The Core would grow by absorbing the memories and knowledge the Curator left behind.
“Well, once my mana is fully recovered, I think we can manage somehow… but let’s worry about that later.”
“It’s not like we haven't winged it before. If all else fails, we can just threaten that Queen of the Magic Kingdom or something.”
Like telling her to open a portal for us, the way she did when she sent Un-ho.
“It would be nice if that worked out.”
Al’shel gave a thin smile at my words, but it held no contempt or disdain.
If anything, it felt like a sign of friendship.
Being friends with an octopus… I’d rather pass on that.
Still, Al’sophia did ask me, so I suppose I’ll maintain the connection.
And so, we drifted slowly through the Otherworld, entrusting ourselves to the black bubble.
Believing that we would soon reach the Magic Kingdom.
Of course, in the meantime, another worry began to fill my head.
‘What kind of excuse am I going to give the Librarian for this?’