Chapter 190
Chapter 190
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: Monsters of the Sacred Ground (1)
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“Aaaaaahhh!”
A piercing scream echoed across the beautiful beach.
Blood, blood, blood spread from the cross-section of a melted lower body.
The crimson blood spread through the emerald water like a drop of ink.
“S-Someone's dead!”
“Wh-What happened?!”
Tourists, who had been enjoying a leisurely vacation, heard the commotion and ran over, only to scream at the sight of a corpse with its lower body melted away.
“Oh-jin?”
“What's all the commotion, brat?”
Ha-eun and Riak, who had been playing nearby, heard the noise and approached Oh-jin.
“…I don't know.”
Oh-jin shook his head, examining the corpse of the woman, who was only a torso.
The woman, who had been thrashing and struggling in the water just moments ago, was now horrifically dead, her eyes rolled back and her tongue lolling out.
‘So that struggling earlier...’
What if she wasn't struggling because she was drowning, but because something in the water was 'chewing off' her legs?
“Let's get out of the water first.”
“O-Okay!”
Oh-jin dragged the corpse onto the beach.
The crowd that had gathered like a cloud stared at him with terrified eyes.
Oh-jin spoke calmly to the people who were looking at him with wary expressions.
“She was already dead when I found her.”
“Don't tell me you...”
“No! H-He heard me scream and went to rescue that woman!”
The woman who had shouted to Oh-jin that someone was drowning defended him.
Well, common sense would suggest that no one would commit such a conspicuous murder in a place with so many people.
“Then who on earth...”
“I believe it was a monster.”
“A monster?”
Oh-jin nodded.
The only explanation was that something hidden in the water had killed her.
And the only thing he could think of that could 'melt' a person's lower body to death was a monster.
“I-I'll call the Colagrande family's manager!”
“Didn't the Saintess of Rome just come here a little while ago?”
“How did this happen...”
While the panicking tourists were causing a commotion.
[My child.]
“Yeah.”
Oh-jin dipped his hand into the seawater and focused his mind.
‘Hound of Vega.’
A blue electric current spread from his fingertips, fanning out into the water.
“Tsk.”
Oh-jin, who was scanning the water with Hound of Vega, frowned.
Ha-eun, watching him from the side, looked down at the seawater with pieces of entrails floating in it and asked.
“Did it get away?”
“No, I can't even find it in the first place.”
Was it because this was a Sacred Ground?
The tracking function of Hound of Vega wasn't working properly due to the influence of the magic spread throughout the seawater.
‘And since it's seawater, there's no way a scent would remain.’
Oh-jin looked at the sea with a troubled expression.
The clear, emerald sea was perfectly calm, as if nothing had happened at all.
“I shall go in.”
Riak volunteered to be bait and entered the water.
“Come right out if you sense anything!”
“Hmph. Who do you take me for, lizard woman?”
Riak grinned at the worried Ha-eun and splashed his way into the deeper parts of the sea.
He lingered for a long time around the area where the woman's body was first found, but...
“It seems to have fled.”
*Splash!*
Riak emerged onto the beach, frowning and clicking his tongue.
He had even suppressed his magic to try and lure the creature out, but the monster hidden in the water did not reveal itself so easily.
“Maybe it didn't react because you're not human? Should I go in?”
Ha-eun swung her arms and started to walk into the sea.
Oh-jin shook his head and grabbed her shoulder.
“I don't think we need to get involved.”
“Huh?”
“Look over there.”
Someone must have reported it, as three or four vans of the same model as the one Oh-jin's group had arrived in pulled up on the shore.
“What happened, Mr. Oh-jin?”
Isabella, who had been resting in the van, heard the commotion and came out.
Oh-jin calmly explained to her what had just happened.
“...So you're saying something presumed to be a monster attacked a tourist?”
“Yes.”
“I understand. My family will investigate this incident, so please go back and rest, Mr. Oh-jin.”
“Are you sure you don't need help?”
“It's fine. This is our family's business.”
Isabella's eyes glinted coldly as she spoke in a firm voice.
Just as she said, the Colagrande family was in charge of managing San Fruttuoso.
There was no reason to meddle when they hadn't asked for help.
“Alright.”
“When you return to the mansion, there's a hot spring made with water drawn from the sea here. Soaking in it will allow you to continue healing your internal injuries.”
Isabella said this and turned to the Colagrande family employees getting out of the vans.
“Close the beach immediately and evacuate everyone. Then, reconfirm the first witness's testimony and search the water for any traces of the monster.”
Her commands flowed out without hesitation.
The Isabella who had acted like a gentle lamb in front of Oh-jin was nowhere to be seen; in her place was a queen, commanding the scene with charismatic eyes.
‘So this is why she leads both the Leech Faction and the Colagrande family.’
Oh-jin let out a short sigh of admiration as he watched her swiftly take control of the situation.
Flawless commands, quick judgment, and a charisma that naturally made people follow her.
While Oh-jin could also quickly assess a situation and give orders, leading people with such sharp charisma was impossible for him.
“Hmm.”
Oh-jin's eyes sparkled as he looked at Isabella.
If he could bring her to his side.
If he could grasp her in his hand.
It wasn't hard to imagine what a great asset she would be.
‘I guess we should head back for now.’
There was no reason to get in her way here.
“Mmm... I feel kinda uneasy just going back like this.”
Ha-eun scratched her head, glancing back at the beach.
“It's better than staying here and just getting in the way.”
“True. They're the managers, so they'd know best.”
Ha-eun shrugged and nodded.
Oh-jin took Ha-eun, Riak, and Vega and walked back to the mansion along the road they had driven down.
“It's empty.”
“They must have all gone to investigate the incident.”
Oh-jin entered the mansion, which was filled with a desolate silence.
“Wh-Where is Lady Isabella?”
Just then.
A middle-aged man walked out from within the silent mansion.
It was Guilford, Isabella's maternal uncle.
“She's commanding the scene.”
“...Is that so?”
Guilford nodded, his face tense.
He must have heard about the incident at the beach.
And yet he, the highest-ranking manager of this island, was planted firmly in the mansion.
“The Colagrande family will handle this matter, so you all stay out of it.”
He spoke in a brusque tone, then spun around and disappeared into his room.
Ha-eun frowned as she looked at Guilford's door, which, unlike the others, was gaudily decorated.
“Is that bastard really part of the Colagrande family?”
“Well, strictly speaking, he's not even a blood relative.”
“You said he's the head manager of this island, right?”
“Yeah. That's what I heard.”
“Hmph. I see now why something like this happened.”
Ha-eun, clearly displeased with Guilford, frowned and snorted.
“...I wonder.”
Oh-jin trailed off, staring at Guilford's firmly shut door.
It was true that he seemed so incompetent it was hard to believe he was from the same family as Isabella.
‘But this is an island where not a single accident has occurred until now, even under the management of such an incompetent fool.’
For an incident to happen on the very day Oh-jin's group arrived.
He felt like he'd become an incarnation of disaster who brings incidents and accidents wherever he goes, like Conan or Kindaichi.
‘Well, if Isabella is investigating, something will turn up.’
For now, it seemed best to leave this case to Isabella and focus on healing his internal injuries.
“I'm going to the hot spring, then.”
“Heehee. Should I join you?”
Ha-eun smiled shyly and gently hugged Oh-jin's arm.
“I'll wash you all over, every nook and cranny.”
Her voice was thick with a sticky desire.
Oh-jin chuckled and lightly flicked her forehead.
“Let's treat my injuries first.”
“*Groan.* Alright. I'll be resting in my room, so come out for dinner.”
“Ah, I'll eat dinner at the hot spring. Please bring it there.”
“Huh? You're going to eat there?”
“I feel like I need to heal my injuries as quickly as possible.”
“Mmm. Okay. I'll bring the food over then.”
Oh-jin nodded and entered the hot spring, which was said to be made with water drawn from the sea of San Fruttuoso.
As he soaked in the hot spring, a warm energy enveloped his body.
‘The effect is a bit weaker than the sea itself.’
Still, because the water was drawn directly from the sea, the magic of the stars had seeped into the hot spring.
Oh-jin soaked in the hot spring, which was over thirty meters long, and gently closed his eyes.
With his eyes closed.
He pictured the corpse of the woman, her lower body melted away, her entrails spilling out horribly.
‘I don't know what the hell is going on, but...’
To deal with this unknown incident, the first priority was to get his body into optimal condition.
The warm energy seeped into his injured magic circuits, soothing them like a warm compress.
* * *
And so, three days passed at the Colagrande family's mansion.
Isabella, apparently busy with the investigation, did not return to the mansion and continued her work, while Oh-jin spent most of his time in the hot spring, focusing on healing his internal injuries.
If the effect was weaker than soaking directly in the seawater, it was a problem that could be solved by soaking for a longer time.
With a mindset of quantity over quality, Oh-jin even ate and slept in the hot spring, recovering from his injuries while soaking for three full days.
“Your skin is going to get all pruney at this rate, you know.”
Ha-eun, wearing a swimsuit, came up next to Oh-jin and touched his wrinkled skin with a worried expression.
“Still, this is the best way to heal as quickly as possible.”
“Didn't you say there's been no news for three days anyway?”
“That's why it's a problem.”
It would be one thing if they had found something.
The fact that nothing had turned up despite the Colagrande family and Isabella giving it their all meant this incident couldn't be taken lightly.
“Isn't it just some underwater monster that drifted in from far away, took a bite out of someone, and ran off?”
“If that were the case, it would have been caught by the barrier the Colagrande family set up.”
Oh-jin recalled the Colagrande family's warning signs floating like buoys when he had gone far out into the sea.
Those buoys weren't just inscribed with a simple warning not to go any further; they also had a barrier that separated the inside from the outside.
“Hmm. I don't know. Ah, more importantly, are your internal injuries all healed?”
“Yeah. I think they're almost completely healed now.”
Oh-jin lightly caressed the Stigma on his left chest and nodded.
Thanks to soaking in the hot spring for three full days, his internal injuries were almost gone.
“Then.”
Ha-eun's eyes glittered like a cat's as she deftly pulled on Oh-jin's arm.
Their soft skin touched through the thin layer of her swimsuit.
“Want to... come to my room for a bit?”
She gently stuck out her tongue and licked the nape of his neck, her hand stroking his chest with a soft touch.
“Or... should we just do it here?”
Whispering a melting temptation in his ear, the hand that had been caressing his chest slowly moved down.
It was just past dawn, the sun about to rise.
The gently rising sunlight made her wet hair and body sparkle.
Oh-jin swallowed dryly at her breathtaking beauty.
What man could resist such a wicked temptation?
Just as Oh-jin was about to slowly reach for her.
*Kwoooooooosh.*
A sound reached his ears.
The sound of a massive wave.
“...Huh?”
This was a mansion built atop a sheer cliff.
Even in a violent typhoon, the sound of the waves far below shouldn't reach this far inside.
“What was that?”
Oh-jin and Ha-eun sat up and looked around.
Were there clouds? The shining sunlight suddenly vanished, and their surroundings grew dark.
‘No.’
Just five minutes ago, the sky had been clear and blue without a single cloud.
“O-Oh-jin. Wh-What is that?”
Ha-eun's voice trembled.
He turned in the direction Ha-eun was pointing, her mouth agape.
There.
“......Holy shit.”
Something.
Was absurdly massive.
Something impossibly vast, far surpassing the scale of any living creature.
Was rising from the sea.