A Sense of Unease (1)

The liberated rift in Sendai, Japan.

Deep within it stood a Rift Stone like a growth of coral. The moment that stone was destroyed, a subjugation notice arrived, and with it the reward.

A fortune in Coins, and one small shard of stone.

A Rift Fragment. Gather seven, and they could be made into a Purified Rift Stone. Hanseong already possessed one of those—the Purified Rift Stone he had won at the VIP Auction Hall.

The notice was proof enough. For a moment he turned it over.

If I install it here...

A permanent Warp Gate would open between Japan and South Africa. The hesitation did not last. He decided not to install the stone. This rift had only two entrances, whereas the large rift he had cleared in Dandong, China, before coming here had five. If he wanted the most from it, a large rift would serve far better than a medium one.

So I'll use it later.

He set the decision aside.

He was on the point of leaving the rift when the Rift Stone's remains caught his eye, and with them a skill he had only recently acquired.

Mind Reading.

A skill that read a target's memories. What if he used it on the remains? Nowhere did the description say the target had to be alive. He considered it briefly, then turned Phantom around.

Worst case, I break even.

Worth a try. If it failed, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be it. With that light thought he moved Phantom's hand, designated the remains, and cast.

It worked. A smile was just touching his mouth when his consciousness sank deep into the dark. A moment later, beyond a vision gone black, fragments of the Rift Stone's memory unfolded.

That one...

The first thing he saw was the rift's master. Fresh from liberating the rift, the creature finished installing the Rift Stone and launched into a speech before tens of thousands of minions.

Was it the Hidden Piece, Language Master? Every word the rift's master spoke translated itself and streamed into his mind. Not perfectly.

Why? Because it's the first time?

Or because he was reading through Phantom. A skill cast by Soul Link applied at only twenty percent of its full strength. Whatever the cause, what mattered now was making out what the creature was saying. Hanseong listened harder.

As the voice climbed, the rift's host answered with a strange, ringing cry. And with that memory, Mind Reading ended.

His mind settled back where it belonged. Face calm, he went over what he had just seen. There had been something useful in it.

When the moon waxes full again.

Their main host would come. Read another way, it meant a new rift would open beneath the full moon. On reflex, Hanseong looked to the sky beyond the helicopter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠window. Night had already come, and a thin crescent hung there.

Then until the full moon...

About ten days. A little longer than that, perhaps, and a new rift would open. So he guessed. Learning that much was a considerable gain on its own, but one other thing still nagged at him.

The great Five Wings.

The last existence the rift's master had named. The strongest candidate, for now, was plainly the Fallen God—a transcendent being seeking to descend upon Earth through liberated rifts. Did they call it the Five Wings simply because five wings grew from its body? And if so, what did the thing even look like?

Questions chased one another, and then a notice flared before Phantom's eyes.

Hanseong shook the thoughts off at once.

...I'll worry about it later.

He didn't have enough to reason from yet. Brushing off a nameless unease, he sent Phantom out of the rift.

At that same moment, the crow shaman Kurogane Kotori was looking around in open shock. Phantom, the Fire-Lightning Mage she had been speaking with only a moment ago, was simply gone.

"Wh-what? Where did he suddenly—"

She looked back at Goto, but his face was just as lost. The whole thing was past all reason, and the two of them could only stare.

Kotori's gaze settled on the black helicopter ahead, the craft the mage was presumed to have arrived in.

Did he go back inside?

On that sudden guess she started toward it. The outer windows were built so you couldn't see in; she meant to get close and open the door herself.

That was when a warning came from the helicopter. A woman's voice, flat and dry.

"Don't come any closer."

Kotori pretended she hadn't heard and kept walking. She had five steps left when the door burst open, and a black-haired woman stepped out.

She looked about Kotori's age, and she drew her sword without so much as a greeting. The instant Kotori saw it, a chill ripped the length of her body. Instinct whispered a warning, and she obeyed without hesitation. In the same breath, the woman swung.

The cut came down with a shockwave. It shattered the asphalt as it tore past, grazing Kotori by a hair before it finally died.

That power...

If it had hit her clean, her duplicate would have been torn to shreds where she stood. The black-haired woman was already resetting her stance, as if a second cut were coming. Kotori threw both hands up.

"O-okay! I won't come any closer!"

Thankfully, the second slash never came. Kotori let out a breath of relief, looked at the woman, and smiled awkwardly.

"Shall we introduce ourselves instead?"

"..."

"I'm Kurogane Kotori. My class is crow shaman. On the Information Strategy Board I go by Crow."

An introduction no one had asked for. The black-haired woman, silent until then, let out a quiet sigh. She looked toward Kotori and dipped her chin a fraction.

"...Lee Jihye. I'm with the Suwon Provisional Government. I serve as the mage's escort."

"I see. And your class?"

"That's a secret."

Jihye shook her head, firm. Hanseong had once warned her not to give her class away lightly. If it got out that she was an alchemist, he had said, life would become tiresome.

"Well, maybe you just don't want to say. I understand."

Kotori let it go. From the way she swung that sword, the class was clearly built for close combat. An assault fighter, or a swordsman.

"If that's all, I'll take my leave."

"Ah, wait. There's something I wanted to ask."

"...?"

"Inside that helicopter, by any chance..."

Was the Fire-Lightning Mage in there? That was what she meant to ask. In that instant a notice appeared before everyone, Kotori included—a message announcing the subjugation of the liberated rift.

Kotori's eyes flew wide. She was not the only one. Goto, standing well back, and the other survivors all stared at the notice in open shock.

Jihye alone was unmoved. Face unchanged, she climbed back into the helicopter. Left by herself, Kotori stared blankly at the craft.

He didn't go inside...

He had gone to clear the rift? The rift was forty kilometers from here. How had he moved? Teleportation? Or did he, like her, have a way to clear a rift without ever entering it?

She was still turning the questions over when her eyes went wide again.

"...Huh?"

Where Jihye had been standing a moment ago, Phantom appeared without warning, motorcycle helmet and all. Just as when he had vanished, the mage arrived with no presence whatsoever. He tossed the words at her as if they weighed nothing.

"Cleared the rift, as promised."

The tone was as offhand as if he had stepped out for a short walk nearby. Kotori stared, blank, and then the question burst out of her.

"H-how did you even do that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You vanish out of nowhere, clear a rift in ten minutes, and come back. Did you use some kind of teleport skill?"

"Correct."

"Huh? R-really?"

"Yes."

More precisely, he had stored Phantom in Inventory and released it at the mouth of the liberated rift. Explaining in any detail was more trouble than it was worth, so he left it at that.

"More to the point, you had something to say to me."

"Ah! Right. I did."

Kotori smiled brightly, as if she understood exactly what he meant. She took two steps back, faced Phantom, and bowed with careful courtesy.

"Thank you. I'm alive because of you."

"Not that."

"...What?"

"The price of the deal. You asked for help. That's why I came."

At that, she remembered. Kotori nodded readily.

"All right. A promise is a promise."

For all that his power left common sense behind, the mage was a relatively sensible being. At least, the mage Kotori had seen so far was. He would not make an unreasonable demand. Of that she was certain.

"What do you want from me?"

"A million Coins."

And just like that, the certainty collapsed. She stared blankly at Phantom, then broke into a laugh and asked again.

"Ahaha, you're joking...?"

"Does it sound like a joke?"

She wanted to believe it was one. Unfortunately, the mage's voice was entirely serious. He meant it. Kotori's face said she could not believe what she was hearing.

"There's no way I have a fortune like a million Coins! Even if I emptied everything I own, two hundred thousand is the limit!"

"Then hand that over."

Phantom spread his palm wide. Kotori flinched. She had said she only had two hundred thousand, but now that it came to actually paying, the sum felt painfully dear.

"Th-then maybe something other than Coins?"

"Such as?"

"I could lend you my strength, or..."

"Just pay in Coins."

Kotori's face crumpled. The mage did not budge an inch, as if he had no intention of stepping back until he was paid. She chewed her lip.

I'd run, if I had my way...

Do that, and she would lose the mage's trust. Worse, she might earn his anger. She was not foolish enough to make an enemy of a monster who had slaughtered tens of thousands. In the end she sighed, long ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and resigned.

"...Fine. Then please come to Tokyo."

"Tokyo? Why there?"

"Because I'm in Tokyo right now."

What was that supposed to mean? Hanseong tilted his head, and then a guess cut across his mind.

Wait. Don't tell me...

Was she, like him, operating something other than her real body—something akin to a Replica? He used Detection at once, and the guess was dead on.

So that was it.

That was why she had told him to come to Tokyo. Hanseong nodded as if he understood, and at the same time a sudden irritation set in.

Two hundred thousand Coins.

A large sum, no question. But to collect it he would have to move in person, or send Jihye. He could not use Teleportation just now, either. He thought it over, then shook his head.

"I'll take something else instead of Coins."

"R-really? I mean, that works for me, but..."

Why the sudden change of heart? She was about to ask, puzzled, when a notebook and pen appeared in empty air. Hanseong had taken them out of Inventory.

"Write it here."

"Huh? Write what?"

"Every skill you have, and what each one does."

"Eh? Why all of a sudden...?"

Kotori tilted her head. Hanseong frowned.

"Should I just go to Tokyo?"

"I-I'll write it! Give it here, quick."

Afraid he might change his mind, she snatched the notebook and pen from Phantom's hand. Hanseong had only one reason for the order: to sort out which of Kotori's skills were worth using, and make a new Enchant Ring.

There was a useful one, actually.

Earlier, against the rift's host, she had raised pillars of black wood ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and seized the enemy's attention. Tens of thousands of them had packed in close together, and thanks to that Hanseong had wiped them out in a single Thunder Storm.

If she has anything else useful, I'll turn that into an Enchant Ring too.

He meant to squeeze at least two hundred thousand Coins' worth out of her. If that fell short, he could always collect the difference in Coins later. He was turning over a plan that would have made Kotori jump, had she heard it, when a voice cut in.

"...Mage."

Jihye had spoken without warning, her expression rather grave.