The Imperial Treasury (3)
The Puppet Master Batu's face flushed bright red. His expression was a chaotic mix of embarrassment, humiliation, and resentment.
"T-this is a groundless rumor! It's a slanderous accusation!"
"..."
"I-I don't even make lovers in the first place!"
It was a shout that bordered on a shriek.
At this, the Tentacle Woman raised an eyebrow in amusement.
She looked thoroughly entertained by Batu's temper tantrum.
"Why is it slander? Explain it to me."
"No, it just doesn't make any sense!"
Batu shrieked, continuing his rant.
"I have so many pretty puppets customized exactly to my taste! Does it make sense for me to leave them aside and fall for a lunatic like Doriko Shiro? Does that make any sense to you?!"
"But Doriko Shiro is cute and pretty, isn't she? Honestly, it would be hard to find a 'puppet' better than her."
"Huh? T-that's..."
He faltered.
The Puppet Master Batu froze.
The Tentacle Woman's words were entirely correct.
Even by his own strict aesthetic standards, Doriko Shiro possessed a beautiful appearance.
"And, Batu. You call Doriko Shiro a lunatic?"
The Tentacle Woman smirked, rubbing salt in his wound.
She was clearly just enjoying the situation.
"Honestly, you're not one to talk. Compared to Doriko Shiro, you're far more crazy—"
"No, I'm nooot!"
"...?"
"No! I'm not! You're wrong! Wrong! Wrong!"
He shrieked.
The Puppet Master Batu screamed at the top of his lungs, cutting the Tentacle Woman off.
His hands trembled violently as he cried out in despair.
"Puppets never betray me! They obey my every command perfectly, and they always show me beautiful smiles!"
"..."
"And yet, you think I would abandon my beauties to like a fickle, selfish brat like Doriko Shiro...?"
Trailing off, Batu shook his head violently from side to side.
"Never! Absolutely not! It's all a baseless rumor!"
"...Ugh."
The Tentacle Woman backed away with a disgusted expression.
"Hmm."
The Sphere Knight let out a low hum.
Unlike the playful Tentacle Woman, he had been treating the situation seriously and cautiously from the start.
"Then explain what happened that day, Batu."
"What?"
"What did you two talk about? There must be a reason why Doriko Shiro called you a 'creepy bastard.'"
"No! There isn't! We didn't even have a weird conversation in the first place! I just went to protest!"
"...Protest?"
At the Sphere Knight's question, Batu hurriedly explained.
"D-Doriko Shiro said Gaon and I could be good friends! So I believed her and tried to have a friendly conversation!"
"..."
"But friends, my foot! That bastard tried to kill me on the spot! He even shattered the puppet I cherished so much! It can't even be restored! It's completely ruined!"
"..."
"So I went to demand answers from Doriko Shiro! I was just angry because her advice was absolute garbage!"
Hearing this, the Tentacle Woman sighed, disappointed.
"Sigh, what? That was it...?"
Resting her chin in her hand, she muttered in a bored voice.
"I thought it was something major. We already knew Gaon was a dangerous figure, didn't we?"
"T-that's..."
"In the first place, Gaon is the guy who killed Camilo von Taribas and the Transgressor, and even triggered the descent of the Second Apostle."
"..."
"Thinking you could actually become friends with a guy like that is entirely your fault. You're the fool for believing someone with a head full of flowers like Doriko Shiro."
"N-no! That's not all!"
Batu shrieked back.
"Breaking the puppet I cherished is fine! It's common for things you use for a long time to break! B-but..."
Pant, pant.
Pausing, Batu gasped for breath.
His face began to turn pale in an instant.
His lips trembled violently, as if he were recalling a horrific memory. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his eyes temporarily lost focus, wandering aimlessly in the air.
After standing like that for a long time, Batu finally spoke in a trembling voice.
"That bastard... inflicted direct damage even to my real body..."
"...?"
"...?"
They froze.
At those words, the playful atmosphere instantly vanished.
The Tentacle Woman's eyes narrowed, and the Sphere Knight sat up straighter, his demeanor turning much more serious.
Until just a moment ago, Batu's complaints were merely the whining of a loser. But the moment he mentioned his real body being damaged, the situation changed completely.
"Whew..."
The Tentacle Woman sighed and shook her head.
"...Why did that crazy bitch Doriko Shiro leave out such an important detail?"
She looked at Batu and asked.
"So? Why did you call us all the way here? You didn't summon this meeting just to let us know Gaon can damage your real body."
"I-I need help."
Fidgeting with his fingers anxiously, Batu glanced up at the Sphere Knight and muttered.
"C-could you... protect me just until this auction is over...? Please...?"
"..."
"..."
[Hidden Message: Causality is warping.]
[Hidden Message: The encounter with Sphere Knight R????@????!????$??????&????????P????????!?????????%????? is brought forward.]
"Are you sure it's right to take only these three...?"
Marcus Koshat asked in a doubtful voice, looking at the treasures in my hands.
The faces of the others were also filled with regret.
And for good reason—the treasury was packed with items that took one's breath away just by looking at them.
Staves radiating unusual mana. Swords so magnificent they made one's eyes widen. Various accessories emitting a mysterious aura.
It was filled with treasures that anyone would covet.
Yet, all I had chosen were a worn-out compass, a hand mirror, and a tacky-looking pendant.
It was only natural for the others to react with skepticism.
But I had no intention of changing my mind. As I had said earlier, these three were the only things we truly needed right now.
"Are you doubting me?"
"...A-ah, no! Absolutely not!"
Marcus hurriedly waved his hands.
Of course, lingering regret still flickered in his eyes.
Smacking his lips, he looked around before his gaze locked onto a specific spot.
Rumbleeee—!
"..."
It was an exceptionally out-of-place space, even within the treasury.
A door tightly sealed with thick talismans and barriers.
Beyond it, a sharp energy leaked through the crevices.
Marcus hesitated for a long time before his curiosity got the better of him, and he spoke up cautiously.
"By the way..."
He looked up at Emperor Tarosk and asked.
"What exactly lies beyond that sealed door?"
[......]
Tarosk stiffened.
At that moment, the Emperor's face hardened.
He wore a deeply displeased and uncomfortable expression, as if forced to drag up a past he wished to forget.
[A treasury is not merely a place to store valuables. Sometimes, it becomes a place to eternally seal things that must never see the light of day.]
"..."
[What is imprisoned there... is the remnant of the "culprit" that dragged this great empire into the abyss of ruin.]
Emperor Tarosk's voice sank even lower.
[That remnant is not a trial to test a challenger's qualifications. There is no reward. What slumbers inside is ruin itself, condensed from pure malice.]
"Ah..."
Hearing those words, they all sighed and averted their eyes in unison.
It seemed they decided such a trial wasn't even worth attempting.
But...
...Naturally, it was precisely these kinds of vicious challenges that made a veteran player's heart race.
And above all else.
Knowing what the "real reward" hidden in that trial was, my excitement could only double.
Yes.
From the very beginning, I had come to these ruins of Rashutku to clear that trial.
Originally, it was an area one could only set foot in during the mid-to-late game.
A trial that could only be challenged with perfect equipment and thorough preparation.
In the game, just surviving was considered a success, but...
Now...
A "perfect clear," on a completely different level from back then, might be possible.
Swoooosh—
A serene place where time seemed to have stopped.
The ruins of a destroyed temple floated in the air, defying gravity.
Broken marble pillars and cracked floor tiles were scattered across the void like constellations.
[......]
Thump—
At the center of all the debris, a woman curled in on herself.
From head to toe, she was entirely pure white.
Her skin was as clear and soft as freshly fallen snow, and her feather-light shoulders and delicate body lines resembled a pure white statue sculpted by a god.
Thump, thump!
A thin, transparent lace dress faintly enveloped her silhouette, and countless particles of light danced ecstatically around her.
Thump, thump, thump!
The sound of the heartbeat grew louder and louder.
And then...
[Ah.]
...Finally, a low, clear voice echoed.
Rustle—
The woman slowly opened her eyes as if waking from a long slumber.
The eyes that gradually revealed themselves were filled with a pearlescent white glow.
Even her pupils were dyed in pure white light, creating an eerie emptiness, but deep within them, an unspeakably holy and mysterious energy pulsed.
The woman whispered with a gentle smile.
[......The day has finally come for me to awaken once more.]
"Hmm."
Ruins Stay Hotel.
A luxurious accommodation located in the center of the dark city of Dungard.
In the lavish parlor of a top-tier suite with five rooms, two merchant group leaders sat facing each other.
The Hairy Merchant took a sip of his tea and glanced at the man opposite him.
"Hey, Jack. We just met yesterday, why did you call me over again?"
"..."
One-eyed Jack.
They had known each other for a whopping thirty years.
He was a fellow merchant who had shared joys and sorrows from the very bottom, and one of the few friends he could actually call a comrade.
"You got a new escort knight overnight? Did you call me to brag about that?"
At the Hairy Merchant's question, One-eyed Jack replied.
"You know how terrible the security in this dark city is, don't you? It's especially dangerous when the secret auction is held. It wouldn't be strange for wealthy merchants like us to get ambushed at any moment, so I hired a new expert."
"Hmm, well, that's not wrong..."
The Hairy Merchant glanced at the escort knight again and continued.
"But still, keeping him fully armored even in a place like this? You're being unusually fussy, unlike your normal self."
"...What?"
"I mean, I don't see why you need to keep his helmet on even inside the hotel..."
"S-so what! It's m-m-my choice!"
"...?"
The Hairy Merchant paused.
He couldn't help but twitch his eyebrows.
One-eyed Jack's reaction was somehow off today.
He was usually a guy who took jokes in stride, but today he was reacting sensitively to even the most trivial remarks.
...Well, I guess something bad happened to him.
Shrugging it off, the Hairy Merchant asked casually.
"So, why did you want to see me today?"
"Well, it's nothing else..."
One-eyed Jack replied.
"I called you because I was curious if you knew anything about the upcoming Heavenly Dragon Bird auction."
"...?"
The Hairy Merchant froze.
His expression turned strange.
He asked back, his voice tinged with confusion.
"What is wrong with you today? Why are you asking the same question you asked yesterday..."
"No, no, no, no."
One-eyed Jack shook his head violently in frustration.
Thud!
Pointing a finger at himself, he muttered something incomprehensible.
"The one who asked you yesterday was 'this guy.'"
"...?"
"And right now, 'I' am the one asking, you fucking dense, hairy bastard."
The Hairy Merchant flinched.
In that instant, goosebumps broke out all over his body.
The sight of One-eyed Jack screaming in madness...
For some reason, it filled him with a terrible dread, as if he were facing a completely different "something" rather than his familiar friend.
"A-are you..."
The Hairy Merchant muttered.
"...really Jack?"