Ghost Bride
Ghost Bride
Humming a tune, I jumped down under the mast.
Ujijeuk.
The wooden deck is so old and rotten black that it wouldn't be strange if it crumbled at any moment, but through experiments, I've already confirmed this ship's durability is better than most ironclad ships.
Even now, the floor bends deeply and then immediately returns to its original state, bouncing me like a trampoline.
While I was bouncing boing-boing a few times, Hati flew in from somewhere and slammed her crown into my solar plexus.
Agony.
Since being reborn, I rarely feel pain, but occasionally Hati gifts me with this kind of unexpected damage.
Puck.
Hwik.
Kung.
Teolseok.
Helsi approached me as I fell face-first to the floor after being slammed into the mast and asked.
"Soi-nim. I calculated it, and the total mana amount is 4,371."
I spun my body around and looked at the sky.
"Is more than half in the engine room?"
I held out my hand, and Helsi placed a notebook in it.
"Yes. And since nearly 2,000 is being utilized in the communication room, practically all the mana is being used in those two places."
It was a hand held out to be helped up, but...
Well, reading while lying down is fine too.
I received the notebook and flipped through it; it was more interesting than I thought.
The Ghost Ship we are riding.
To be precise, a carrier of the 'Automatic Transport System' made a very long time ago.
I couldn't understand the operating principle of this thing at all, so I had no choice but to measure the mana consumption, and it was more efficient than I imagined.
Furthermore, the mana it mainly uses is dead spirit mana.
In the sea where there is a large amount of biomass, there wouldn't be a more efficient energy source than this.
'It's almost perpetual motion.'
Fortunately, the Ghost Ship was on automatic navigation.
In other words, there must be at least one facility related to the system at the destination.
If I compare the carrier's circuits recorded here with the facility's circuits, the operating principle might be revealed.
I got up.
Footsteps heard from behind.
Tadadadadat.
I easily dodged Hati, who was attempting another headbutt, and climbed onto the figurehead.
Kung!
Hati, who had slammed her head into the mast, used the Ghost Ship's unique elasticity to target me once again.
"This is why you have to choose toys carefully."
I muttered a lament with no one to listen and stood up.
Looking at Hati's crown flying at high speed, I made a resolution.
'Let's never make a trampoline for her.'
The beach we arrived at was unique from its appearance.
A beach that at first glance looks like a terraced cliff with high floor heights.
The height of the lowest step was approximately 3 meters, protruding in a form perfectly suitable for the Ghost Ship to dock.
But it wasn't a pier.
There were no buildings, and no people.
The shape of the cliff was too neat, but this much could sufficiently be made naturally.
A plain fault zone that even an explorer wouldn't have thought was a trace of civilization.
The Ghost Ship touched the fault.
A heavy mechanical sound was heard from the stern.
Kung.
The following noise was the sound of the anchor dropping.
Chwararararak.
With this, it became clear.
This place was indeed part of the Automatic Transport System.
In the distant past, it must have been decorated at least like a bus stop.
Expectation rose.
My whole body felt stiff, but my footsteps were light.
I hopped down to the fault, and Helsi asked from the deck.
"What should I do with Hati-ssi?"
I looked up at the deck.
Helsi lifted Hati up.
Saegeun-saegeun.
Seeing Hati sleeping while grinning, clearly satisfied, made the fatigue accumulated in my body feel heavier.
She'll probably cause a ruckus again when she wakes up, but the Ghost Ship might depart.
"Bring her."
I answered reluctantly and moved on.
I went around the lower fault of about 200 pyeong and entered between the cliffs that were formed like a valley.
This too was a terrain with nothing particularly special.
'Did the uplifted strata split because they couldn't withstand the tension?'
It could have been uplifted in a split state, either way, it's ordinary.
The place where the non-ordinary part was discovered was a dense forest that became visible after passing completely through the cliff.
The large boulders visible here and there were quite alien.
The boulders were covered in thick vines like trees.
I was about to slice my palm to draw some blood, but changed my mind.
I made a dagger out of blood tears.
I approached slowly and stabbed the vines.
Puk.
The blade went in without resistance.
While slowly pushing the blade in, I focused my attention on sensing mana.
A moment later.
The moment the tip of the blade touched the stone.
[System Activated]
Mana circuits flashed inside the stone, and vivid information flowed in through the blade.
[Master Key: Key of Heta]
[Searching for User Name]
[No Matching Information]
[Freezing Protocol: Requesting Initial User Registration]
[Destiny Check: Passed]
[Terminal Check: Passed]
[Access Authority Granted: Archon]
The mana that flowed in last was so aggressive that I was worried my brain might be getting hacked.
[Initial Operation: Reset System Name]
Furthermore, it was too solid.
A thought entity that blocked the signals sent from the brain to the body and demanded an answer.
To clear it, I gathered all the mana in my body and swung it around, but nothing worked.
If there was a fortunate point, it was that the thought entity was just a 'lump of information'.
There was no magic circle that serves as the basis for the spell, and no additional energy being supplied.
In other words, there is no chance of magic being activated inside my body.
'If it intended to harm me, it would have killed me already...'
If I gained authority, it seemed like the investigation would become easier.
'Let's give it a try.'
I made a decision and moved my mana.
For some reason, I created a message in the other party's language, which I could understand immediately, and sent it to the tip of the blade.
[Name: Heta]
I didn't agonize over it.
The first magic book I read after being reborn was 'Introduction to Heta Astrology', and the name Heta also appeared in the information that was forcibly pushed into me just a moment ago.
So it must have been a very natural naming.
The Adel family mansion in Brington City.
Marisa, who was reading a ledger in a bedroom where someone had achieved a beautiful finish, muttered.
"I forgot."
She got up from her seat and came out into the hallway.
Deep night.
A dark hallway lit by a few candles.
The expressions of the maids waiting in front of the door were extremely solemn.
"They say the chief steward who managed the Glasswall estate died four years ago."
Adel, who had been glaring out the window with narrowed eyes at the maid's report, nodded.
"Search up to the 8th degree of kinship. Make sure to capture those within the 4th degree alive."
"Understood."
"And."
Marisa took out a small communication orb from her pocket.
"I need to send one trustworthy person to the Karla annex."
The maid asked, narrowing her brows.
"Do you think they are alive?"
Marisa answered while handing over the communication orb.
"No. But it's a waste to give up already."
"We are also very short on manpower."
"If you do it slowly, everything will work out."
When the maid let out a faint sigh, Marisa giggled.
"Slow is actually better. Think of it as boiling a frog alive. Take your time, leisurely."
The maid who received the communication orb bowed and withdrew.
Marisa said to the maids following her as she walked.
"Go about your own work. I will be in the study."
The maids scattered.
When Marisa entered the study, there was no one around.
There should have been no one.
The cane Marisa always keeps in her bosom.
The folding cane with a red gem embedded in it was a self-defense weapon and a sensor to detect enemies.
If there was someone nearby, especially if it was a strange entity not registered on the cane, there was no way Marisa wouldn't have detected it.
But until the moment the voice was heard, the cane did not operate.
"Hello. I am the dollmaker Rodwell."
It was a girl's voice with almost no inflection.
Adel turned toward the direction the voice was coming from.
A dark room because the lights hadn't been turned on yet.
Only the silhouette of a small woman was barely visible in the corner where the display cabinet was.
The moment Marisa opened her mouth, thunder flashed.
The girl's face illuminated for a moment.
When the suddenly pouring rain began to tap on the window, Marisa asked.
"Are you the Hekate Cult?"
The girl let out a strangely long silence and asked back.
"Why did you think so?"
From the moment the cane didn't work, Marisa was already prioritizing survival.
She had no intention of using shallow tricks or lying.
If there was one thing she was aiming for besides survival.
Cooperation.
"Because the timing matched well. The behavior of the security forces was also strange. Perhaps the subjugation didn't end cleanly."
Marisa, who walked forward and stood in front of the desk, turned on the desk lamp.
Examining Rodwell's face illuminated by the soft light, she waited for a reply for a moment and continued.
"Perhaps I might be able to help you. Just as Soi-ssi helped me."
Rodwell nodded and then raised her right hand to her solar plexus.
When Marisa focused her attention with doubt and vigilance,
Rodwell, who snapped her fingers, said.
"That's fortunate."
Marisa couldn't help but widen her eyes.
The wall surface that the desk lamp's light didn't reach.
Dolls were packed tightly in that place, still encroached by pitch-black darkness.
Only after they emitted red glares did she realize their existence.
The blood that started dripping from the ceiling only now gave off a fishy smell.
She slowly raised her head.
A chandelier made by weaving dozens of necks.
Because they were woven so their faces were facing downward, she recognized them immediately.
They were all people who had connections with Marisa.
Rodwell revealed their cause of death.
"Please think of it as a down payment."
Marisa's thoughts changed.
'I might have messed with the wrong person.'
But she couldn't turn back now.
She had walked too many paths.
Swallowing dryly, she raised the corners of her mouth.
"You're quite bold."
The extreme exhilaration she felt for the first time in a very long time brought out her bright smile.