Moving Fortress (4)

One of the arrangements System Eden had prepared.

The moment the true nature of one of the Nine Hidden Pieces was revealed, Hanseong tilted his head.

An ability that granted the languages of every dimensional realm. The instant he confirmed the engraving's effect, his first thought was a blunt why would anyone need this? Thanks to System Eden, humanity had already stepped past the barrier of language. He was still turning that puzzlement over when another guess struck him out of nowhere.

Wait. Every dimensional realm's language?

Did that mean he would be able to understand the speech of each rift's owner as well? On the off chance he was right, he recast the guess as a question. Jet gave him the answer he wanted at once.

"Yes. That is correct."

Jet affirmed the guess. Then it was a decent effect after all. Every rift owner Hanseong had met so far had been a being with a mind of its own.

If I could actually talk to things like that...

Couldn't he pull information about the rifts and the Fallen God out of them? They would hardly cooperate of their own accord, of course. He would have to capture them and resort to torture. Even so, the thought was tempting.

And I want to know what that special effect does.

Transmission. Taken by the name alone, it seemed to mean the conveying of words, but that told him nothing about the actual effect. Either way, he wanted to buy it. The others, however, were of a rather different mind.

"Even so, that thing is a bit..."

"It's an ability you can live without."

"Right. If it at least had something like a special effect, maybe. But it doesn't even have that."

What? No special effect? What were they talking about? It was written plain as day at the bottom of the detailed information. At first he assumed it was one person's mistake, that they had simply skimmed past it. Listening to the rest, he realized that wasn't it. Every one of them was grumbling as if there were no special effect at all.

Don't tell me...

Was he the only one who could see it? Now that he looked again, the line describing the special effect did seem unusually faint. Struck by the sudden suspicion, Hanseong turned it over for a moment, then tapped the shoulder of Seo Haeun in the seat ahead of him.

"...Sergeant Seo Haeun."

"Ah, yes! Mage. What is it?"

"Could you tell me the information you're seeing on Language Master right now?"

"What? Oh—yes! So, um..."

For an instant Haeun looked puzzled. It lasted only a moment. As if she had never doubted him at all, she recited the detailed description of Language Master exactly as he asked. A short while later, he understood that the guess he had just made was correct.

The special effect is visible only to me.

Haeun had explained the details down to the last particle. Strangely, her account contained nothing about a special effect. Hanseong tilted his head.

Why?

He turned over several reasons, but nothing he could pin down. Nor did he have the leisure to puzzle over it any longer. Jet announced the start of the auction.

"The opening bid for this item is 100,000 Coins, and the minimum increment is 10,000 Coins. Please begin your bids."

The words were barely out before the hall began to stir.

"What? The opening bid is 100,000 Coins?"

"Then there isn't even anything to think about."

"Looks like our coins are staying put."

The reaction, by and large, was negative. Even Kotori, who ought to have held the most Coins after Hanseong himself, was no exception. She had lost all desire to buy, and sigh after sigh left her. No one bid. A heavy silence circled the room.

"One hundred thousand Coins."

Hanseong opened the bidding. A few participants glanced his way, then wore expressions that said they couldn't understand it.

"What? He's bidding on that?"

"No matter how you look at it, it isn't worth that much..."

"Just how many Coins does he have?"

Hanseong, of course, didn't give a damn. Once the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bid was in, Jet nodded as if he had been waiting for it.

"Yes. Customer Twenty-Seven has opened the bidding. The current bid is 100,000 Coins. Is there anyone who wishes to bid further?"

No one answered. As with the bidding for the Purified Rift Stone, only silence came back. A minute slipped by without mercy, and then Jet spoke again.

"This arrangement of Eden has been sold to the customer in Seat Twenty-Seven. Congratulations."

The fifth Hidden Piece, Language Master, passed into Hanseong's hands. The arrangement appeared in the form of a scroll, and he stored it in his Inventory. With that, the auction was over. And then—

"Hah. If I'd known Eden's arrangement would turn out to be junk like that, I should have outbid you on the Dark Dimensional Essence earlier."

Kotori let out a sigh. She brought up the Dark Dimensional Essence Hanseong had taken, then asked, lightly, as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if it were nothing:

"Well? Sell it to me now?"

"Not selling."

"I can go up to fifty thousand."

"I said I'm not selling."

"Why not?! You don't even need it! There's a class restriction on it!"

She raised her voice as if she truly couldn't understand. Hanseong shook his head.

"I need it too."

It was a material required for making elixir. He had no intention of selling it. When he answered as firmly as if he were drawing a line, Kotori's face soured.

"Hah... fine. I'll just have to call this auction one step back, taken for the sake of the next one."

But that mood lasted only a moment. She sighed again, then turned the conversation elsewhere—to the rift that had been liberated over Sendai, in Japan.

"More importantly, come as soon as you can. We'll hold out as long as possible, of course, but if things turn against us ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we'll have no choice but to pull the defensive line back."

"Understood. I'll try."

His conversation with Kotori ended there. This time Haeun, seated in front of him, turned her body and looked at him.

"Um, Mage."

"...?"

"There's something I'd like to give you in return for the gift. If you have the time, could you come to the Special Mission Battalion headquarters?"

She said it while hugging the Shadow Weapon to her chest. What kind of thing? Curiosity stirred, and Hanseong nodded without a word. Once he left the Auction House, he would have nothing in particular to do anyway.

"Yes! Then I'll be waiting."

Haeun's face brightened at once. As his conversation with her drew to a close, Jet, up on the platform, turned to every participant in the hall and bowed with careful courtesy.

"This auction ends here. I look forward to seeing you all again at the next one."

With that familiar notice as the last of it, the bodies of every participant, Hanseong included, were wrapped in pure white light. Then came the sensation of his mind drifting far away, and his consciousness returned to reality.

The moment he opened his eyes at the base, the first thing Hanseong did was acquire Language Master, the piece he had bought at the very end.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"...!?"

The instant the notice appeared, Hanseong's eyes flew wide. A tremendous volume of information crashed over his mind like a tidal wave, and the savage headache that came with it wrung him without mercy.

"Kh—! Ghhk—!"

The shock was enough to bleach his thoughts white. It was a pain he had never experienced before, and he rolled off the wheelchair and onto the floor. How long passed like that? After a long, grinding stretch of endurance, the headache eased enough that he could finally gather himself.

"Hah...! Hahh..."

His breathing was ragged. His shirt was soaked through with sweat. Curled in on himself, both hands clamped to his head, he stayed that way for a long while afterward before the Collector helped him back up into the wheelchair.

"...Not something I'd do more than once."

An agony he never wanted to feel again. It had not been entirely bad, though. Once the headache was gone, the languages of countless dimensional realms were carved intact into his mind. Now, it seemed, he could understand whatever a rift's owner spat out—and even speak to them himself.

And one thing more.

The engraving's special effect had activated.

A special effect that suited him well. For most people, observable range meant the field of view in front of their eyes. For Hanseong, it meant the vast reach laid out across his map.

If there's a drawback...

It didn't allow them to answer. From what he could tell, all it did was deliver his thoughts one way, to a target he designated. Even that alone was more than welcome.

It'll be useful when I need to give orders.

If he ever had to command a large force, this was an ability he could put to good use. It looked to be well worth 100,000 Coins, and Hanseong smiled, satisfied. A little later, a memory he had forgotten surfaced.

"Ah, right. Come to think of it..."

Seo Haeun had asked him to meet her at the Special Mission Battalion, hadn't she? She had said she had something to give in return for the Shadow Weapon. Remembering it belatedly, he released the Phantom from his Inventory in front of the battalion headquarters. At the same time, he spoke to Jihye through the Blood Mark. He meant to hand over the dimensional essence, the core material of the elixir.

The short exchange was just ending when a familiar voice reached him through the Phantom.

"Mage!"

Seo Haeun, running in from a distance. She came trotting up like a puppy greeting its owner and was in front of the Phantom in no time.

"I'm sorry for asking you to come when you must be busy."

"It's fine. I only just left the Auction House. I'm not busy."

"Oh, that's a relief."

Once the formal greeting was out of the way, Haeun came to the reason she had called him.

"First, please take this."

"This is... a skill book?"

"Yes! It's loot from subjugating an elite monster, right before it turned into a champion."

Haeun answered with a bright smile. Hanseong accepted it through the Phantom and immediately stored it in his Inventory. Then, back at the base, he withdrew it and opened the detailed information.

Hanseong's eyes went round. He had assumed, once again, that it would be a skill book exclusive to mages. He had never expected an effect like this. He was a 5th Tier mage.

Which means, if I use this skill book...

He could randomly acquire one skill of the 5th Tier. Looked at that way alone, it was certainly a fine item. There was something that snagged at him, though.

"This is a universal skill book, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Then even if Sergeant Seo Haeun used it..."

"Actually, I was saving it to use once I reached five-star. But you gave me this, Mage. So I wanted to give it to you in return."

Haeun smiled, indicating the black short dagger at her waist. Understanding what she meant, Hanseong nodded.

Not a bad trade.

A 5th Tier skill book was considerably expensive. They started at a minimum of 50,000 Coins, and some ran past 100,000.

"I'm fine, so please take it, and don't feel burdened."

"All right. I'll accept it with thanks."

"Yes. Oh, and..."

"...?"

"From now on, please speak comfortably with me. The way you do with Captain Lee Jihye."

Haeun looked up at the Phantom, hesitant. Now that she mentioned it, she was the only one he still addressed formally. Unlike Jihye and the others, he had simply carried out fewer operations alongside her. Hanseong found casual speech more comfortable anyway, so he nodded the Phantom's head without hesitation.

"Got it. I'll do that."

"Hehe, yes!"

Haeun smiled, satisfied. She left a word that they should meet again next time, and departed. Hanseong left the Phantom standing where it was and used the skill book.

Mind Reading?

A skill he was seeing for the first time. He had never even come across it in the tower plaza. Curiosity caught, and Hanseong checked the detailed description at once.

A skill with excellent synergy alongside Language Master. Without Language Master, he would have been limited to using it on other humans alone.

Then I won't need to torture anyone.

He could simply read the target's memories whole and take the information. When he visited Japan's liberated rift in the near future, he would try it. For that to be possible, of course, the Moving Fortress would first have to be complete. Now that he thought of it, when had they said the helicopter's retrofit would be finished? He was groping back through the memory when his smartphone suddenly vibrated.

Brrt. Brrrrt.

There were two people who might call him. Seo Haeun, or Lee Minjae. He had only just met Haeun and parted from her, so it was probably Minjae. The moment he answered, the guess proved exactly right.

Minjae's voice, and Subin's. The two offered their greetings without preamble, then went straight to the reason they had called. The Power Source of the Steel Machine Golem had been successfully transplanted into the AH-64—the helicopter that would become the body of the Moving Fortress.