Chapter 319
Chapter 319
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 319
Chapter Title: Black Tower Lord Mersian
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Black Tower Lord Mersian was practically known as the master of the Deep Sea.
The reason was obvious.
The Black Tower held the greatest power in the Deep Sea. In this world of darkness, they were the greatest darkness of all.
Yet the actual lord of the Black Tower, Mersian, was here taking care of children.
Mersian, arms crossed, asked Soo-hyuk, who was watching him.
"Would you like to play with them?"
His smile looked utterly distant from any notion of darkness, no matter how you saw it.
"The kids seem to like you."
"Sure."
Soo-hyuk rolled up his sleeves as if he had all the time in the world.
Playing with the children turned out to be more exhausting than expected. Some were mischievously playful, pulling pranks, while others burst into tears at the drop of a hat.
You couldn't underestimate them just because they were young. Anyone who hadn't raised kids wouldn't know how much stamina they had. And there were tons of them here.
Still, playing with the children without a care in the world was surprisingly fun. The chaos made time fly by.
"Come to think of it, I haven't asked your name."
As a mischievous child clung to Soo-hyuk, tugging at his cheeks, Mersian spoke up.
"What is your name?"
"Kim Soo-hyun."
Soo-hyuk used a name similar to his own. If someone called out to him, a name too different might not trigger an instant reaction.
"And you?"
"I'm Mersian."
Soo-hyuk, who had been playing with the kids, was startled.
It wasn't because of his identity. Given the location, he had expected Mersian to hide it, but he didn't.
"Surprised?"
"Are you the Mersian I think you are?"
"Yes. Black Tower Lord Mersian. That's me."
If he hadn't known beforehand, Soo-hyuk would have thought the man was insane. Mersian was the last person you'd associate with an orphanage.
Soo-hyuk glanced at the children laughing and playing around them.
"Is it okay to say that here?"
"Of course. Kids?"
"Yes!"
Mersian called out to the children as if to prove a point.
"Do you know who the Black Tower Lord is?"
"No!"
The children answered in unison, and Mersian smiled contentedly.
His smile said it all: See?
"That's why I like kids. They don't even know who I am."
In that moment, Soo-hyuk got a puzzling sense about Mersian.
What kind of person was he, really?
Just a man who genuinely loved children, as he appeared? Or a mad black mage amusing himself while awaiting the day he could slaughter them?
Maybe neither. Perhaps he had multiple personalities or something.
"Being here lets me set aside my obsessions. The children's purity cleanses me."
"What obsessions do you have?"
"Everyone has them to some degree. The compulsion to appear as a total villain."
Soo-hyuk looked surprised. The master of the Deep Sea and lord of the Black Tower obsessed with seeming like a bad guy?
"Isn't it usually the opposite? People try so hard to act good."
"Human nature has both good and evil. Do you think people only strive to seem truly good? No. The opposite urge is just as strong."
Soo-hyuk thought it over and nodded. It made sense.
People sometimes wanted to be seen as bad. They mistakenly thought it made them look stronger.
But being evil and rotten wasn't strength at all.
"You're one of the latter, then."
"Yes. Whenever people hear 'Black Tower Lord,' they expect the worst villain. I'm only this bad, but I have to act even worse. I put extra force into my glare. It's exhausting."
Mersian pretended to glare intensely, then burst into laughter.
"Is there a reason you have to try so hard?"
"This is the Deep Sea. As you know, it's full of bad guys."
And he was the worst of them, Mersian shook his head with a weary expression.
"If they see even a hint of weakness, they'll try to take my place. I'm just doing this to survive."
As he complained, a child fell asleep in his arms. Impressive, given all the noise.
Mersian gently laid the child on the floor and spread out a bedding mat as he asked.
"What kind of person are you, Soo-hyun?"
Soo-hyuk pondered for a moment.
Did he avoid seeming either way? Did he judge himself without favoring good or evil?
He was just himself.
But if forced to choose, Soo-hyuk considered himself good. Not because he was a saint, but because nine out of ten people would see him that way.
And this Deep Sea was where that one out of ten gathered.
"I don't think I'm a villain."
Mersian smiled as if that were the right answer.
"Now you're being honest."
His expression said: What is a guy like you doing here?
He even asked it outright.
"Why are you here?"
"The orphanage?"
"No, the Deep Sea. You seem to be visiting for the first time today, and coming straight to the orphanage suggests you're not trying to fit in here."
Those who came to the Deep Sea were one of two: villains who couldn't mix with normal folk, or criminals rejected by the world for their crimes.
But Soo-hyuk was neither.
"I'm looking for someone."
"Looking? Who in a place like this?"
"Not sure. All I know is they're children."
Soo-hyuk watched Mersian's reaction closely.
But Mersian showed no particular response. So Soo-hyuk added,
"You seem to like kids too. Could you help?"
"Do I seem like I like kids?"
In that instant, whoosh—a wind blew.
Soo-hyuk sensed the surroundings growing darker than before. At the same time, the arms of the child on his back tightened around his neck.
Kwak—.
It was pressure that could snap a normal person's neck. This wasn't the child's strength; it was Mersian's.
The eyes of the nearby children turned pitch black. As their gazes converged, the kids felt like ghosts.
"Did I ever say I liked kids?"
He never had.
The air grew chilling, and eerie ghostly wails echoed off the ceiling.
Mersian had finally proven he was the Black Tower Lord. All these illusions were the product of his momentary magic.
Even amid the terror, Soo-hyuk remained calm. Mersian let out a light sigh of admiration. Staring into the children's blackened eyes, Soo-hyuk asked,
"If you and I fought, whose weakness would these children be?"
Mersian's eyes curved like crescent moons.
Why such a reaction to a simple comment about liking kids? Soo-hyuk interpreted it this way:
"I know you're doing this to protect the children."
Soo-hyuk gently pried the child's hands from his neck. He laid her on Mersian's bedding and looked at the others.
"Don't worry. At least I won't be the one hurting them."
"You're the opposite."
Mersian laughed as if amused.
"Everyone sees me as the world's worst villain. Worse than I really am. But to you, I must look like one of those fools outside."
"Good, kind, righteous. If that's what makes someone a fool, then no. I don't see you that favorably."
Just because he liked kids and smiled warmly now didn't make the Black Tower Lord a good guy.
Soo-hyuk didn't buy it. There were far too many vicious rumors about the Black Tower Lord.
"I'll judge you exactly as I've seen so far. It's not enough to think well of you—after all, as you said, the Black Tower Lord is too much of a villain."
"You have a talent for saying things pleasantly."
Whoosh again, and the world returned.
All the children were asleep now, without Soo-hyuk even noticing when.
Sunlight streamed in from outside, and seeing the kids sleeping soundly made it feel like a dream.
"You should go now. They're all asleep."
Turning away from Soo-hyuk, Mersian added one last thing.
"Come with that face next time too. They won't recognize you, even if I do."
As expected.
He had seen through Soo-hyuk's disguise. Someone of the Black Tower Lord's caliber couldn't be fooled unless it was Ye-ryeong.
Worried about waking the kids, Soo-hyuk whispered,
"Then I'll be going. See you next time."
"The children you're looking for."
As he turned to leave, Mersian stopped him.
"They arrived this morning. They've probably gone to the third tower by now."
"...!"
Soo-hyuk whipped his head around, having just taken a step.
The third tower?
It was one of the ten towers making up the Black Tower. Laura's siblings had gone to the Black Tower.
Mersian scooped up a stirring child and lulled her back to sleep, smiling gleefully.
"I wonder if those kids are still alive?"
Then he mouthed the words:
Run.
Si-woo, who had entered the Deep Sea, strolled through the streets.
He didn't do anything special. He walked, bought tasty snacks when he saw them, and had a cup of coffee.
Ordinary daily life.
But even then, Si-woo was searching for someone.
More sensitive to heat than anyone, to cold and hot alike. He reacted to those subtle changes more keenly than any animal.
Searching was Ye-ryeong's specialty. She would scour every corner of the Deep Sea's depths.
So Si-woo decided to focus on one thing.
The original reason they came here.
The Red Tower.
'They have to be here.'
Red Tower mages had a heat they couldn't hide no matter how hard they tried. It was the nature of their magic.
Anyone else, maybe not—but asking him to find Red Tower mages in this vast Deep Sea? He'd bet against Ye-ryeong on that.
"Isn't it a bit cold?"
"Yeah, kinda creepy."
Just as Si-woo sought Red Tower mages by their heat, the people around him felt a cold chill from Si-woo.
That's why those who accidentally met his eyes sometimes shivered. Si-woo exuded an eerie coldness unlike ordinary people.
How long had he walked?
As expected, Si-woo sensed a blazing heat different from normal folk.
Dormant, not yet erupted. A familiar, scorching heat.
Turning toward it, his sky-blue eyes caught black-robed figures brimming with hot mana.
Red Tower mages who had entered the Deep Sea in disguise.
Si-woo's eyes sparkled.
'Found them.'
Si-woo turned and began tailing the robed figures.
They were heading to the Black Tower's third tower.