Ch 182
“…Wait.”
Klana.
She was in the moment of fully drawing up Sensation with all her power for the full-fledged Sparring Match with Lisir.
“Klana?”
“…”
She gently closed her Eyes.
A little time passed in that state-
“It’s too quiet.”
“Quiet, you say?”
Lisir looked around at those words.
He and Klana were practically renting the wide Backyard.
If it was quiet, it was natural that it would be, but-
‘Given Klana’s Personality, she wouldn’t be trying to say something so trivial.’
Lisir quickly grasped the Situation.
It seemed like an unusual Situation.
“This isn’t a suitable Situation to say that I’m diverting the Conversation because I’m afraid of Sparring Match with you.”
“Yeah. You better be glad. If it weren’t for that, I would have made it so you couldn’t even meet this body’s Eyes.”
“You just said it was too quiet, but in what way is it quiet?”
“I’m talking about the state of the presences felt around us.”
“When you say around us, from where to where are you talking about━”
“Where else would it be? I’m obviously talking about that unnecessarily large building.”
Lisir looked at the building located in front of them.
The Guest House where the Guests of Goose Manor stay.
He was talking about that huge building with dozens of guest rooms.
To sense the presences of that entire building from where she stood.
Lisir said with a surprised face.
“No way… Is that even possible?”
“Are you one to talk?”
“?”
“Anyway. To be honest, I’m a little confused myself. I’m not used to this body yet. I can’t bring myself to tell you to listen to my Opinion.”
“Still, please tell me. I’m ready to listen to Klana’s words in almost any case.”
“The words of a Murderer? You’re going to be in big trouble.”
Klana clicked her tongue, but she seemed to be in a good mood somehow.
She opened her Eyes again and continued speaking.
“You remember the place we stopped by before coming here, right.”
“Duke Pallag’s Office, you mean?”
Klana raised her head and looked up at the building.
One window.
Her Gaze is focused on the point where Pallag’s Office is located.
“That Woman named Halona seems to be there.”
“Ms. Halona is in the Office?”
“Yeah. She was probably inside even when we visited.”
“But, she didn’t react to our knocking. Was she too focused on something to hear us? Or was she taking a break━”
At that time.
Lisir recalled what Klana had said before.
“It’s too quiet… By any chance, did something happen to Ms. Halona?”
“That presence. That Woman is definitely awake right now. But, at the same time, she’s also asleep. What should I call this…”
Ah.
Klana, who had been worrying, said as if she had remembered something.
“By any chance, have you ever seen those guys who became Living Corpses after being hit in the head wrong?”
“Vegetative State…?”
“Vegetative State? That’s a good expression. Yeah. They’re definitely alive and have their Eyes open, but their Mind is empty and they’re no different from Plants.”
“…You’re saying Halona is in that state right now?”
Lisir’s Expression gradually darkened.
He was worried about Halona, who had helped them, of course-
It was clear that if something went wrong with her, Klana’s Resurrection Ritual would also be disrupted.
Thus, Klana’s following answer gave Lisir an even bigger shock.
“It’s not just that Woman.”
“Yes…?”
Klana’s Gaze left the window of Pallag’s Office and roamed around the building.
“Right now, there are more than one or two things in that building that have become Vegetative State.”
If I’m not mistaken.
Klana added, looking at Lisir’s serious Expression.
“They’re coming just in time.”
Klana and Lisir’s Gazes turn towards the corner of the building.
An Elder with a look of urgency appeared from there.
The Elder, who was approaching with quick steps and fluttering his abundant beard, was Pallag.
“Lisir, you were here!”
Haa!
He let out a sigh of relief as if catching his breath after finding Lisir.
“I was worried because you weren’t in your room! No, in this Situation, should I say I was relieved that you weren’t in your room!”
“In this Situation… Duke Pallag, you know something?”
“You too, seem to have vaguely noticed something!”
“Yes! I heard it from Klana. It seems like something unusual is happening at the Mansion━”
“It’s just as you said. Lisir. Something unusual is happening at the Mansion.”
Dream.
It was a word mentioned from Pallag’s mouth.
“Dream…?”
“Yeah! People can’t get out of their dreams while they’re awake!”
✦✦✦
“…Huh?”
Halona.
She, who had been lying on the Desk, got up and looked around with a dazed Expression.
‘Was I asleep…? When did I fall asleep?’
Halona, as a Scholar, valued efficiency.
Even if she had to stay up all night due to heavy workload, she tried to maintain the best possible state of Mind.
For example-
Halona almost never fell asleep at her Desk while staying up all night.
‘What was I doing before I fell asleep…?’
Halona felt a sense of incongruity and retraced her Memory.
“…”
Her Expression contorted.
A headache came the moment she tried to retrace her Memory.
It was a very strange Sensation of a headache.
It was as if two hands were tightly holding the brain so that it couldn’t move.
“Damn it.”
Halona spat out as if chewing on the words.
‘Was I too reckless while preparing for the Murderer’s Resurrection Ritual?’
She concluded that was the Cause of the abnormality that occurred in her body.
There was no other Cause that came to mind, and she was aware that she had been unusually reckless while preparing for the Murderer’s Ritual.
“…Ha.”
At that time.
A Chuckle appeared on Halona’s unique haggard Expression.
“Even when I think about it again, it’s absurd.”
As the thought progressed, she recalled The Man, who could be said to be the Cause of all this.
‘To repeat being born and dying as a Guardian Saint in order to practice the method of descending as a Guardian Saint.’
The deaths of numerous stars observed at the same time.
It was a major Event that would be a crisis for those who wanted Peace and an opportunity for those who wanted Confusion.
For such a major Event to end like this.
‘When I started the investigation, I couldn’t have imagined it would turn out like this.’
Halona was still-
And struggling to accept the Existence of a Man named Lisir.
“He has the Identity of a Guardian Saint and receives the Interest of the Grand Sorcerer… He receives the favor of the Talent Scout and Frozen Breath… On top of that, he commands a Murderer with power comparable to Wongeom… At that age…”
Slurp.
Those dry lips, muttering to Herself, sipped warm tea.
It was Halona’s way of starting the day.
As soon as she woke up, she would prepare tea-
And in the process of brewing and drinking it, she would organize her Mind, which was full of all sorts of thoughts.
Until recently, those thoughts were mostly related to Sorcery.
That power, which seemed to be closely related to Magic but was completely different, was the subject that the current Scholar Halona was most interested in.
However.
Halona’s thoughts were now completely free from the subject of Sorcery.
“Lisir…”
Halona, holding a Teacup, muttered as she looked out the window.
“That’s right. Pallag. There’s no Reason for that guy to settle down in a place like Bondales for no Reason.”
A moment later.
Halona put the empty Teacup on the Desk.
“Okay.”
It was the moment when Scholar Halona’s first Routine was decided.
‘I need to go to The Man, check on the Murderer’s condition, and meet Pallag to hear about The Man.’
Thus, Halona left the room to visit Lisir and started walking down the hallway.
“Huh?”
Soon, she looked around the surrounding hallway.
‘Something… is quiet?’
It was already completely bright.
It was time for everyone, including the Servants of the Mansion, to start their activities.
However, she didn’t encounter a single person while passing through that long hallway.
Silence was lingering inside the Mansion.
An indescribable, ominous, and strange Silence.
“…”
Halona thought of several possibilities due to Anxiety-
She immediately discarded them.
This is the Mansion where the Archmage Frozen Breath is sitting with his Eyes wide open.
For such a Mansion to be in an abnormal state due to an external Attack?
It’s impossible.
Halona did not doubt that the sense of incongruity surrounding her was a Misconception.
“Haa…! Haa…!”
But for some Reason, her breath was getting heavy.
Before she knew it, Halona was almost running down the hallway with quick steps.
Her footsteps, which were supposed to be heading towards Lisir’s room, were guiding her to the room where Pallag was staying.
‘Why am I doing this?’
Halona was a rational person.
Most of the Emotions she felt came after reasonable thought.
If she felt Emotions such as ominousness or Fear-
It would be after she had come to a corresponding conclusion.
Therefore, she thought.
Me right now.
Why am I so uneasy?
No matter how much she thought about it, she didn’t know.
An unknown, vague ominousness was driving her.
As if forcing Fear.
“Okay… I’m almost there…”
But it’s okay.
Because there’s almost none of that left now.
Thump!
Thump!
As Pallag’s room got closer, Halona’s heartbeat began to intensify.
Halona regarded it as a sign of relief.
A strong Faith that she would be able to resolve this Anxiety by meeting and having a Conversation with Pallag.
That was what was calming Herself down.
Pallag’s room, which she finally arrived at.
Bang bang!
Strength naturally entered her arm.
Halona knocked on the door as if clinging to it.
“Pallag! Are you inside? Can we have a Conversation for a moment!”
Halona violently threw the door open before an answer could return.
“Ugh…!”
Halona, who had entered the room like that, unknowingly covered her nose with the back of her hand.
The fishy smell of blood, as if gushing out from a freshly cut neck.
The rotten smell, like that created by a corpse that has been left unattended for a long time.
The two smells mingled and stabbed at Halona’s nostrils.
Halona possessed vast Insight.
She knew what the smell of fresh blood was like.
She knew what the smell of a rotting corpse was like.
She knew better than anyone that the two could not coexist.
“Pa, Pallag…”
Even so.
Halona did not sense the unnaturalness contained in the smell.
The environment and Situation surrounding Herself.
Halona was completely consumed by the Emotion that it was forcing.
Her heavy breathing had reached the point where it could not be distinguished from sobbing.
The arm covering her nose and mouth was trembling as if convulsing.
“No way… This is impossible…”
Pallag was murdered.
Also, brutally.
There was not a trace of the Archmage’s dignity or Dignity left in that thoroughly violated and damaged lump of flesh.
It was now nothing more than an Abomination that fueled ominousness and Fear.
Halona’s body staggered.
She barely endured the fact that her legs gave way and she was about to collapse, and immediately turned around and ran out of the room.
“Lisir…!”
A desperate Voice cried out that name.
Halona thought.
He might be able to overcome this Situation.
No.
He will definitely be able to overcome this Situation!
“Lisir! Don’t be surprised and listen! Right now, Pallag is━”
Halona, who had arrived at his room, kicked the door open violently.
“…Lisir?”
The light quickly faded from her Eyes.
What was waiting for her was Lisir, who was dying while bleeding blood and entrails.
Halona didn’t have time to do anything.
“Halona… Run… away…!”
Lisir struggled to leave those words behind, and then died.
“Ah.”
Halona finally collapsed on the spot.
What happened.
And what is going on.
Halona still couldn’t understand the Situation.
However.
This much was clear.
“It’s over…”
A swamp of Nightmare that she could never escape with her own power.
It was swallowing Halona.
✦✦✦
There was no smell of rotting corpses there.
Just the smell of fresh blood.
And the smell of a subtle fragrance.
The two mingled and bloomed a Nightmare.
It was the scene of a Ritual that made people fall into a Nightmare.
The Man was watching the Ritual from a step away.
“What on earth are you worrying about?”
The Elder, who was performing the Ritual, checked The Man’s Expression and said.
“High Priest. Didn’t I clearly say it? Right now. Countless stars are dying in this land. Is there a more suitable time for the birth of Confusion than this?”
“…”
“Or, do you doubt That person-the Power of the Embracing Nightmare?”
“Just tell me how the Situation is going.”
“Heh heh heh. How impatient. There’s nothing to worry about. That person’s Power has already been done. It’s only a matter of time before the City falls into an eternal Nightmare.”
The Elder carefully stroked the Crystal Ball he had placed on his hand.
“It’s impossible for a mere Mortal to escape That person’s embrace…”
✦✦✦
At the same time.
“Li, Lisir…!”
Dray.
He was in the same Situation as Halona.
He witnessed Pallag’s death in the sudden ominousness he felt-
Now, he has even witnessed Lisir’s death.
Dray’s Eyes, looking at his corpse, were slowly losing their light.
Thus, it was the moment when the Noble was about to be swallowed by the swamp of Despair from which he could not escape.
“…Wait.”
A Doubt arose on Dray’s Expression.
The light slowly returned to those Eyes.
“Lisir?”
A Doubt that arose from the forced Despair.
It stopped the encroachment of Despair.
✦✦✦
“…!”
The eyebrows of The Man, who was watching the Elder’s Ritual, twitched greatly.
“Hey━”
He pointed somewhere with a flustered look.
“Hmm? What is it now.”
The Elder, who was focused on the Ritual, checked the place The Man was pointing at as if it was a hassle.
At the place where his fingertip was pointing, there was the Elder’s Crystal Ball.
“…What is this━”
Thus, the Elder, who belatedly checked the Crystal, made a boiling sound of groaning.
The Energy contained in the Crystal was fluctuating unstably.
✦✦✦
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