The Moving Fortress (2)

The haze over his mind cleared all at once.

As the darkness before his eyes brightened with it, a familiar scene opened in front of Hanseong: a modest room of a little over thirty square meters. A private chamber of the VIP Auction Hall.

"Welcome, valued customer."

"It is a pleasure to see you again."

The voices were familiar too. Figures in masks marked with a question mark and an exclamation mark bowed their heads—Ruin and Vain, the hall's guides.

It had been some time. Hanseong answered with a wave, and as he did, a notice of familiar contents appeared before his eyes.

The bar's gone up since last time.

A month ago, he was certain the thresholds had been fifty thousand acquired and thirty thousand held. The standard seemed to climb with every visit. Not that it was any concern of his. Hanseong cleared every mark by a ridiculous margin.

His holdings alone were overwhelming—the rewards of rift subjugations and achievements, and the result of hunting champion monsters as casually as other people ate their meals.

He checked the sum before the auction and suddenly remembered something he had let slip.

Right. I should look over those achievement rewards.

The Fragment of the Rift, an ether crystal, and the Watcher's Ring given as an extra reward. All of them had come from the achievement for being first to subjugate a liberated rift. He had already given the ether crystal to Jihye, so only two items remained to inspect.

Hanseong opened his Inventory.

First...

The Fragment of the Rift. A shard of stone about the size of his palm. Unidentified characters were carved across its surface, and beyond that he felt no special power—nothing like ether.

A Purified Rift Stone?

And what was that supposed to be? If they wanted him to gather the pieces, they could at least tell him what the thing did. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hanseong's face went blank with disbelief.

Look as he might, there was nothing that could be called a clue. He gave up and tossed the Fragment of the Rift into a corner of his Inventory.

I'll have a use for it someday.

The thought was vague, and he left it there. Next was a silver ring—an antique pattern engraved in the metal, the weight of long years worn into it. The moment he slipped it onto his finger, its information appeared.

The effect was simple. Without ever stepping into a liberated rift, he could watch the Fallen God's summoning progress as it happened. Hanseong's face hardened at once.

...It's gone up.

The last time he had checked, the figure had been 0.08 percent. In the meantime it had nearly doubled. The liberated rifts still standing in Japan and Russia were almost certainly to blame, and if he left them alone, the number would climb in a steep curve.

Once the Moving Fortress is finished...

He would start with the nearest and erase the rifts. He had just clenched a fist around that resolve when Vain and Ruin, waiting nearby, addressed him.

"Valued customer, your time is up."

"Shall we escort you to the auction hall?"

"...Ah. Yes. Please."

"Understood. This way."

Vain opened the door onto the corridor, and Ruin offered a mask along with it. Hanseong declined with polite courtesy, then drew the White-Faced Ghost Mask from his Inventory and put it on.

A moment later, the body of his visiting consciousness had become A, administrator of the Mage's Tower. One thing, though, was different from the last time he had worn the face.

She has eyes.

Golden light gleamed in the mirror. The copied appearance must have updated itself to the latest information. A face with no features at all had been more mysterious, and he had preferred it that way.

Eyes or no eyes, there was no real danger of his identity coming out. He shook off the stray thought and left the private room at once.

A red carpet ran the length of the corridor. At the end of that long hall, a figure in a gray suit appeared.

"Welcome, valued customer."

A black veil hid the face. He was fairly sure the name was Dane. Hanseong nodded, and Dane drew a small card from inside the jacket and held it out.

"For this auction, your seat is number twenty-seven. Relative to the stage, it lies on the right. Please take note."

Clunk. Creeeak.

The door swung open before the words had even finished. Ruin and Vain, who had guided him this far, bowed with perfect courtesy, as if from here only Hanseong was permitted to pass.

He left the two behind and stepped into the hall. He was walking toward where seat twenty-seven ought to be when a mutter reached him.

"Hey. Look over there."

"It's the Fire-Lightning Mage."

The whispers spread, and the people already inside turned, one after another, to look.

Their eyes were nothing like last time. Then, curiosity had made up most of it. Now the looks were largely full of awe—no doubt thanks to the many feats Hanseong had shown of late.

"So he's come to this auction too."

"Of course he has. The higher the level, the more Coins he's bound to be holding."

"If another of Eden's Arrangements turns up, I'll feel better just giving up early."

Eden's Arrangements. The Nine Hidden Pieces. At those words, Hanseong's eyes lit.

The high rune he had won last time—Untitled—had been an enormous help.

Will one show up again?

If it did, he meant to buy it no matter what. A Hidden Piece was worth that much. He was inflating his own expectations when seat twenty-seven came into view, and he had just walked over and sat when the person beside him spoke.

"Heh. We meet here again."

"...!?"

A familiar voice, riding a laugh. For an instant Hanseong's eyes went wide. The owner of the next seat wore a shape every bit as familiar as the sound of her.

"You..."

A black dress, and a crow mask. The crow shaman, Kurogane Kotori. She had been seated beside him again, it seemed—though that was not, in the least, why he was startled.

"Weren't you dead?"

"...Excuse me. Why are you killing someone who's perfectly alive? I'm completely fine, you know."

"No—I heard the rift in Sendai had been liberated, so of course I assumed you were dead..."

A few days ago she had said it herself: that she would stop the medium rift opened over Sendai City, one way or another. When he pressed her on that, the answer was not one he had expected.

"Well, that's because I didn't go in."

"You what...?"

"I'm not birdbrained enough to charge into a fight I have no chance of winning."

Kotori shrugged. He had never imagined she would simply stay out of the rift, and he was still wearing a look of pure disbelief when she changed the subject.

"Oh, before that—I saw the post you put up."

The post about liberated rifts. She brought up the Rift Stone and the Fallen God, and the voice that usually ran high sank a little lower.

"If even you, of all people, felt that kind of fear, then this Fallen God has to be a monster of ridiculous power."

She understood how serious it was, and so of course she meant to help. Kotori said as much without hedging. Even so, her face was dark.

"I just can't cooperate right away."

"What? Why not?"

"Right now, just dealing with the enemies pouring out of the liberated rift is more than we can handle."

The medium rift liberated in Sendai. Unlike the others, jellyfish-like monsters had spilled from it—and they were a far more troublesome enemy than zombies. Kotori sighed, and sighed again.

"If they'd been zombies, we'd probably be pushing into the rift by now. At least zombies don't spray neurotoxin all over the area."

Jellyfish the size of a grown man. They traveled in packs of at least eight, and if you drew near they sprayed a toxin that paralyzed a living body. That was not the only trouble. Once they had a paralyzed victim, they melted the body down with acid, then absorbed the liquid to heal their own wounds.

"In the end the survivors built for close combat lost the will to fight and fell back, and the line collapsed. We've been pushed all the way to Fukushima."

He could understand it well enough. Watch a comrade you had been fighting beside a moment ago turn to liquid and become a jellyfish's meal, and anyone would lose the will to go on.

"Then you'll have to take them at range."

"Exactly. That's why I asked you for help. But..."

He had refused her. At the time he had no way across the sea, and the distance had been far too great.

Not anymore.

Once the helicopter was finished, and the Moving Fortress came into being as a stronghold that could move, Japan would be well within reach. He was about to say so when ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Kotori spoke again.

"Um, so, about that..."

"...?"

"Could you store a skill in this for me?"

What she held out was a crow's feather. Hanseong tilted his head.

"What is that?"

"A rook's feather. It can hold a skill of three stars or below."

From the sound of it, the effect was something like a single-use Enchant Ring. He nodded as if he understood, and Kotori pressed on.

"If you can, please store a skill with a wide area. I'll pay you properly."

"No. There's no need to go to all this trouble."

"Huh? What do you mean..."

"I'm going to Japan soon anyway."

"...What?"

Kotori echoed him in a dazed voice. She sat with her mouth open a moment, then asked again in a tone anyone could have heard was flustered.

"H-how? Last time you definitely said it would be difficult..."

"I found a way across the sea."

He had not tested it yet. Even so, Japan at least ought to be comfortable. If he ran short on ether, he could drink potions as he went—and more than that, he had the convenient movement magic called Teleportation.

At the news that he was coming, Kotori chattered on in a voice that had brightened considerably.

"If you come, nothing could be better. Whew. That's one weight off my mind. Then, on behalf of everyone, let me thank you in advance."

She rose, caught the hem of her skirt, and bowed with formal courtesy. Hanseong, who had been watching her steadily, answered as if tossing the words aside.

"Don't plan on settling this with a thank-you."

"Huh? What's that supposed to—"

"I'll be taking payment, obviously."

"...Tch."

Kotori clicked her tongue, low, as if she regretted being caught when she might have let the matter slide. She smacked her lips, then nodded as though she had no choice.

"Fine. I'll give you whatever you want."

"Whatever?"

"Yes. If it's something I have, anything... Hk!"

She sucked in a sharp, empty breath, wrapped her arms around her own shoulders, and abruptly put distance between them. Then she looked him up and down.

"Don't tell me you're after my body...?"

"Don't worry. Even if you offered that for free, I wouldn't take it."

"...Excuse me?"

Kotori scowled. The mask hid it, of course. Hanseong answered with silence, and she raised both hands and let out a long sigh.

"Haa. All right. Jokes end here. When can you get to Japan?"

"Two days if it's soon. Four at the latest."

"Mm. If it's about that... All right."

Kotori nodded.

"When I get back, I'll tell the defense force in Fukushima. The Fire-Lightning Mage is coming to help, so hold the line as long as you can."

"Do that."

Better if the line held. He would have to enter the rift and destroy the Rift Stone regardless, and not drifting too far from Sendai would save time. He was nodding in silence when a voice came from the seat directly in front of them.

"...The Fire-Lightning Mage?"

A girl about middle-school age, only just about to sit, looked their way all at once. A puppy mask covered her face, and her voice was dazed.

"M-Mage? Is it really you...?"

Who was she? He had heard that voice somewhere. More than that, there were not many people who called him Mage. He was about to start working it out when she suddenly took the mask off.

"It's me. Seo Haeun."

"...Sergeant Seo Haeun?"

Hanseong's eyes widened a little. It really was her. The face was somewhat youthful, but it was unmistakably Seo Haeun. And when she heard the word sergeant, she broke into a bright smile.

"Ah, so it really is you, Mage."

Just as few people called him Mage, there were not many who called her Sergeant Seo Haeun.

"I never thought I'd see you in a place like this... No, if you think about the entry requirements, of course. Your level is high, and you must have plenty of Coins."

Haeun nodded as if it all made sense. Beside them, Kotori—who had been quietly listening in—slipped into the conversation.

"You know the mage?"

"Ah, yes. We're comrades."

"Really? Then there's something I'd like to ask..."

Kotori, seizing the moment to dig. Hanseong looked at Haeun and shook his head without a word. Quick on the uptake as always, she seemed to understand and bowed her head to Kotori.

"I'm sorry, but I can't answer. I don't want the Mage to dislike me."

"Tch. What a shame. If I'd known a little sooner, I would have asked before you got here."

Kotori clicked her tongue. Only for a moment, though. She dropped her interest as if it hardly mattered, and Haeun was laughing awkwardly at the abrupt change when a mechanical voice came from the speakers around them.

The interior of the hall dimmed, and the central stage lit bright.

"A pleasure to see you all."

A short while later, a figure in a suit appeared. The square helmet bowed at the waist and offered everyone an elaborate greeting.

"Some of you I am seeing again, and some I am meeting for the first time. First, my sincere thanks to everyone who accepted the Dimension Merchant Guild's invitation."

The auctioneer, Jet End. He finished his greeting to the hundred or so customers, then went straight to the point.

"Allow me, then, to explain how today's auction will proceed. As before, ten lots in total have been entered."

This auction, like the last, did not say what the goods were. With a single exception.

"..."

One of the Nine Hidden Pieces. The instant Jet finished, every gaze in the hall poured onto Hanseong—sighs and wariness, jealousy and envy, eyes steeped in all manner of feeling.

"Hmph. This time I am absolutely not losing."

Kotori showed a fierce will to fight as well, as if she was grateful he would come to subjugate the rift in Sendai, but that and this were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠separate matters. Hanseong answered with no reaction at all. Even if, by some chance, Kotori held more Coins, the one who won in the end would be him.

"Then let us begin the auction."

With those last words from Jet, the second VIP auction began.