The Museum Manager, Max (2)
Anyone could see he was panicking.
One look at his face told me exactly what misunderstanding he’d settled on. His eyebrows were trembling, and he looked as though his head was stuffed full of one ominous thought after another.
The way he was desperately shielding the control device as if it were some cherished treasure made it pretty clear he thought I was about to smash the thing to pieces.
Honestly, that was a rather reasonable assumption.
For the moment, I did want the seal to stay intact, but if things went south, there was no reason I couldn’t wreck it.
Whatever the case, once people had something to protect, they got weaker.
Of course, I did have to think about whether I could even call this one a person, but at the very least, the fact that he was frightened pleased me immensely.
Interesting.
Not just him, either.
Everything in this room was interesting.
The moment I stepped inside, my curiosity about the museum manager, Max, had already dropped sharply.
This is a treasure trove.
The hologram, apparently made out of mana, was easily the most impressive thing here.
In a world without video media or even recorders, it was only natural to feel astonished that technology like this existed at all.
As I looked at the magic circles glowing all around the room, I felt as though I could roughly grasp the principle behind how they worked.
I probably couldn’t recreate this from scratch, though….
At the very least, I could make use of what was already here.
Maybe I need authority.
I quietly checked with the Mind's Eye again, and information surfaced before me once more.
Crack Museum Control Device — Legendary Grade
Requires administrator authority.
Of course….
It was a little disappointing, but even aside from that, there were other fascinating artifacts that caught my eye.
Just thinking that the museum’s entire concentration of control technology might be packed away in here made it only natural that I’d keep looking around.
Apparently, that had come across as threatening to Max.
“I-I’ll never let you… let things go the way you want!”
That guy….
It was starting to feel downright cute how he was still misunderstanding everything.
And honestly, his appearance was cute too.
It was exactly the sort of face that made it easy to guess what kind of tastes the Crack Guardians had.
Blond and delicate, the kind of boy who looked like he’d snap if you touched him too hard—that was probably the phrase made for him.
The power I could sense from him wasn’t all that great either. The expedition members were preparing for combat, but that was only in case something unexpected happened.
To be blunt, there was no need to be this wary. Unlike the expedition members, who seemed convinced some threat might be lurking here, I couldn’t see a single danger worth worrying about.
The only thing guarding the manager’s room was a golem outside, and Max himself seemed like he could be classified as no more than a Heroic-grade monster at best.
In short, this was exactly the sort of situation where I could step forward and make my move.
When I’d first seen the dummy, I hadn’t thought much of it, but seeing his true body had triggered every sensor in my head screaming that there was prey nearby.
So of course, I pushed through the expedition members who were still locked in that bizarre standoff and opened my mouth.
And naturally, I did it with a bright smile plastered on my face.
“Oh my… and just who might this be? The museum manager himself, Max, guardian and heir to the Crack Museum?”
“Y-you!”
“Now, now, no need to get so upset, Manager. Seeing each other face-to-face really does change the vibe, doesn’t it? So this is what you look like in person, a little child. How about it? If you’ve got a moment, why don’t we have a little chat?”
“You… you filthy bastard! You filthy bastard! You—!”
“I don’t understand why you’re so angry.”
“You dirty servant of the Old Gods! Th-things won’t go your way!”
“I don’t know why you think we’re servants of the Old Gods, but… ahem. I will apologize for making things a bit complicated. But what else were we supposed to do? You were the ones who rigged the place first, and as for this museum expedition or whatever it is, we didn’t exactly have many choices if we wanted to survive.”
“Shut up! Shut that filthy mouth of yours! I never rigged the odds or anything like—”
“There are a few things I want to ask you….”
“Dirty humans! I should never have taken in guests like you!”
“No, seriously, can we talk? Why are you frothing at the mouth and charging me like that, Museum Manager?”
“G-get out! Right now! Wh-where’s the security golem…?”
“If you mean that useless pile of stone, I already dealt with it. Come on, let’s just talk….”
“I-Iiiiiiik!”
There was one problem, though: this was not the kind of situation where talking would get us anywhere.
If it were up to me, I’d transform this museum manager into a hidden boss and kick off a Max raid right this instant, but there was more to gain by not fighting than by fighting.
I can’t fight… I really can’t.
Obviously, nobody wanted the treasures in front of us to turn into a steaming pile of trash.
The value of the many devices contained within the museum control system was so astronomical it was almost impossible to quantify.
Depending on how it was used, it could even end up being worth more than the mythic-grade sword Kim Hyunsung would acquire.
No, scratch that—it wasn’t just “could end up.” That museum control device absolutely surpassed the value of Durendal.
The expedition members were still too rattled to have gone that far in their thinking, but if they actually faced what was in front of them through the lens of the Mind's Eye, they’d all come to the same conclusion.
At least to me, that thing is a treasure.
It was the first time since arriving on the continent that I’d wanted something this intensely.
In the end, I had no choice but to speak to Kim Hyunsung and Park Yeonju.
“Um, everyone, I’m sorry, but I’d like to negotiate with the museum manager. If you wouldn’t mind, could you leave this to me?”
Max was still shrieking about something, but I ignored him and kept going.
“It seems like it’d be more effective if it’s just the two of us instead of everyone together, so… please.”
“Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”
“Ah! If Dialugia stays with me, I think it’ll be fine. I think we’ll be able to get a satisfying result, too. That goes for Blue and for Black Swan as well. If Black Swan would allow it….”
“I don’t mind.”
I’d expected Kim Hyunsung to say exactly that, but the problem was Park Yeonju.
Looks like she’s picked up on it too….
“I’ll make sure the locations of the isolated personnel are reported back to you within ten minutes.”
By now, her mind was probably running at full throttle.
I didn’t know what conclusion she’d reached, but when she nodded, it seemed she’d decided to leave it to me.
Maybe she’d concluded that she had no better option, but I couldn’t help thinking it was nice that I’d built up enough trust with her beforehand.
“Yes. Then please.”
This is why your conduct outside matters.
That wasn’t exactly something that suited me, but from a public standpoint, the brand image of Lee Kiyoung had been built up rather well.
Everyone slowly began leaving the manager’s office, and only Dialugia remained behind, taking a position beside me with a slightly uneasy expression.
At last, a conversation space had been created where I could speak freely.
“Negotiate? Negotiate? You think I’m going to bargain with you people? Y-you think you can just make me disappear?”
I’d expected Max to keep flailing like that, so I didn’t really pay it much mind.
I took a breath, then opened my mouth, and a face that was clearly unsettled came into view.
He looked as if he didn’t know how to react to my sudden change in attitude.
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
“You don’t understand the situation yet?”
“W-what….”
“So our esteemed Crack Guardians really did teach you responsibility, but forgot to teach you any sense, huh.”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, but….”
“Shut up and listen to me, Manager. You keep going on and on about protecting the continent and all that, but… you’re not hoping that seal gets broken, are you?”
“Huh?”
“Ah, set aside that weird misunderstanding somewhere in the far corner of your mana-made brain. I’m not a servant of the Old Gods or whatever you’re imagining. Breaking the seal was just something we had to do to survive. Nothing more. Of course, the fact that things are working out this well does put me in a very good mood.”
“Stop saying nonsense and just… leave!”
He looked like he was about to scream again. Naturally, I had no desire to hear that shrill racket one more time.
“If that thing gets released… the continent will collapse, won’t it?”
The figure of the boy fell silent before me.
“I heard it from my wife. That’s right, isn’t it, Dialugia? That thing will keep slowly draining the continent’s life force and growing stronger… over, what was it, thirty thousand years?”
“In truth, it is somewhat shorter—”
“You seem to feel a great deal of responsibility for this continent, but unfortunately, I don’t. Frankly, whether the continent falls apart or survives after thirty thousand years has nothing to do with me. The future is for the descendants to build, after all… they can handle the cleanup themselves.”
“I-Is that really something you should be saying?”
“Is this a hologram made of mana? Looking at what’s showing here now, it seems the glorious and dignified fragment of the Old God is fighting desperately against some kind of backup program, hmm? Pfft! If my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me, the balance of power looks pretty even to me….”
“U-uh….”
“Now then. You’ve seen this before, haven’t you? What do you think happens if this potion goes boom right here? And what happens if one of those control devices over there gets smashed to pieces and the mana feeding the backup program gets cut off?”
“I-I won’t let you do that….”
“Oh. Don’t get too excited, Max. Dialugia, could you restrain him for me?”
The little figure lunged toward me, arm outstretched in panic.
But it went without saying that Dialugia caught him before he got anywhere near me.
With her body pinning him down, he struggled helplessly in her grasp.
“L-let me go! Let go of me!”
“I-I’m sorry….”
“It doesn’t matter if the others don’t, but you can’t be doing this! A being that protects the continent’s balance can’t take part in something like this! You! You’re a dragon! Do you even know what you’re about to do right now?!”
“I’m… sorry.”
“You have to protect the continent! If you’re a proud dragon, then crush that trash right now! That’s the only path for the continent!”
“I’m sorry….”
“Th-that can’t be… this can’t be happening! This can’t be happening!”
Dialugia’s face was twisted with unbearable guilt.
For some reason, she seemed to be blaming herself far too harshly.
Of course, I didn’t actually want the thing to be released either.
Like I’d said before, whether it was freed or not didn’t matter all that much to me, but between a monster like that being released and it staying obediently sealed, the latter was definitely less of a headache.
Still, for the moment, this was the right attitude to maintain.
Nice.
I hadn’t expected to be using the continent itself as bait, but Max’s reaction was so good that, honestly, I was getting pretty excited.
“This is going to be incredible. Absolutely incredible! The Crack Guardians are going to leap out of their graves! Alright then. Bombs away.”
“Don’t! D-don’t do it!”
“It looks sturdier than I thought, so one bottle might not be enough… If mana goes into this potion, then two seconds later—boom!—the continent is doomed!”
“Don’t do it! Don’t!”
“Hey now! Use honorifics when you speak to your elders!”
“P-please don’t!”
“No, no. Blowing it up with a bomb would be too easy. Sometimes you need the satisfaction of doing it by hand. Let’s see… where’s a decent stick when you need one.”
“G-ghh….”
As I picked up a nearby stick and started taking a few practice swings, I could see his face growing steadily more and more frantic.
Honestly, the idea that I could smash the control device with this stick was absurd, but if I wanted to rattle him, there was no better method than this little show of force.
Every time I made a bat-swinging motion toward the control device, his pupils quivered, and it was frankly hilarious.
Of course I raised the stick high overhead for a more dramatic effect.
“Alright then. In five seconds, the continent will be destroyed. Boom-cha-cha, boom-cha-cha!”
“N-no…!”
“Oh!”
“Please, don’t do this!”
“Five!”
Even Dialugia looked nervous by then, and she hurriedly called out to me.
“Are you really going to do it? You?”
“Proud dragon, hurry up!”
“Three!”
“N-no…!”
“Two!”
“Grrrr…!”
“Here I go!”
“W-what do you want!”
Just as I was about to start beating the control device with my stick, Max hurriedly shouted out.
He must have remembered the word negotiate from a moment ago.
Good. He was finding the answer.
My mouth curled upward before I could stop it. I spoke quietly, and I could see his eyes trembling.
“The museum.”
Even I could hear how firm my voice sounded.
“Huh?”