Reincarnated as the Adopted Son of a Prestigious Swordsmanship Family

Chapter 60: Kua Holy See (4)

The necromancers were always mixed in.

In the laboratory, and in the research lab. And on the 1st floor, there were quite a lot of necromancers.

‘Because there are none inside here.’

That must be why the necromancers were located all over the place outside the steel wall.

Perhaps they were guarding this place.

He didn't know the exact location of the Black Tower, but it must have had a security system.

Simurtr remembered the necromancer who had died while trying to communicate with the upper floors.

Screeeech.

The sound of the steel door opening was quite loud. A fine defense. They must have put a defense on the hinges so that no one could secretly come and go.

‘Because spellcasters check what magic is engraved on a door first.’

They were people who mistook magic for the center of the world. As such, something simple and intuitive like this was surprisingly effective.

“What should we do?”

“I don’t know.”

“Sir.”

“…Sir. But would a kidnapped person use honorifics to their kidnapper?”

“If it were Sir Simurtr, wouldn’t he be cursing up a storm?”

Simurtr laughed inanely and scanned the front. A long wall on the left and right. A quite wide and long corridor running through it.

The structure was different from the basement. When he touched it, the wall was made of the same material as the entrance.

‘Steel.’

The purpose must be confinement. He had said it was a space for the successful test subjects. Probably including Beden. It must be a defense to prevent their escape.

If you followed the wall with your eyes, you would see things like doorknobs protruding here and there. As expected. They must be the rooms of the test subjects. If he opened those doors one by one, he would be able to find Beden…….

Simurtr checked his illusion. The bangs that hung down in front of his eyes were red. When he looked at Deban, he nodded his head. It meant his pupils were also well-maintained as those of a Bahab.

“Do you not need to change into a woman?”

“Let’s try it first.”

It was right to strive for perfection, but he really didn't feel like changing his gender. He also had a history of already deceiving Barote with just this.

“If it doesn’t work, then I’ll have to……”

Screak, screak, screeeak.

Suddenly, the sound of hinges grinding against each other echoed in the corridor. It wasn't just one place.

From the farthest to the closest room. The doors that lined the left and right of the corridor opened almost simultaneously.

“Waaah!”

“Morning!”

“Hello.”

What popped out from the doors here and there were all fully grown adults.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yep!”

“Me too!”

But all of them were incongruous.

The gap between their appearance and their speech and behavior.

“Barote?”

Simurtr and Deban uttered at the same time.

***

Had the sun risen?

‘It has.’

The question he had before opening the iron door was finally solved. He hadn't helped Deban bury his family members. That's why he had been so delayed.

‘But why is it so quiet?’

The necromancers’ time would be matched to Kua and the test subjects. There would be no inconvenience in their lives if they shared their schedule.

But it was quiet. He was constantly turning his head to look at the entrance, but not even a common sound could be heard.

He didn't know how much of a soundproofing effect the steel had, but it probably wasn't enough to block his magic-enhanced hearing.

“You said you came from the basement? Where? The Life Exploration Lab? The Life Planning Lab?”

They were the words referring to the 2nd and 1st basement floors, respectively.

‘Death penalty.’

He had been considering the possibility that they were victims of forced labor who didn't know the truth or were kidnapped.

Simurtr thought as he looked at the woman guiding them. The attire of a lay believer. This meant that even the lay believers of the lowest rank knew about and were complicit in Kua’s atrocities.

“I came from the Life Exploration Lab.”

Deban’s attire was that of a sub-priest.

If lay believers were in charge of miscellaneous tasks, a sub-priest was a rank that was directly involved in the research overseen by a priest.

“Ah. I see… But that person……”

Even so, a look of contempt flashed across the woman’s face. It seemed the believers on the ground floor looked down on the believers in charge of the chimeras in the basement.

‘Trashy bastards ranking each other.’

The usually glib Deban unconsciously bit his lip and clenched his fists. Simurtr secretly reached out and struck Deban’s hip.

“Ow. Ah, this is Lady Haryun Bahab, whom Barote… sir, brought this time.”

Deban hesitated for a moment.

How would Kua address Barote?

As he remembered, the Kua of the past had treated him comfortably. But Barote was a child born from Basor’s bloodline.

“Aah. Barote did?”

Wrong.

A hint of pride was visible on the woman’s face. She seemed to be pleased that Barote was doing his job properly. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on novᴇlfire.net

“So you call him sir there.”

Or she was intoxicated with a sense of superiority that she was different from the believers stationed in the basement.

Old slaves compare the size of their shackles, they say. The necromancers and Kua, who boasted about whose corpse had fewer wounds, were no different.

‘They get along so well, that’s why they’re living together.’

Momentarily, Simurtr met the woman’s eyes.

“It’s really red. How fascinating. I heard red eyes are rare.”

You’re surprised by that, not her gender? Simurtr held back his laughter. To not even know the exact personal details while planning the kidnapping of Haryun Bahab.

This must be the role of a lay believer. A nanny for the test subjects who only does what she is told from above, waiting for the reward of faith she will one day receive.

“But why is that……”

“I’m Jes.”

“Jes is bringing her? The mother body is managed here, isn't it?”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. It was the same as when someone put a spoon in another’s rice bowl.

“Sir Barote left her on the 4th basement floor. Perhaps he did so after being told to isolate them separately? Thinking there were no empty rooms on the ground floor.”

“Ah, that could be. Our Barote is so pure, you see. How is Barote? Does he seem to be doing well?”

Simurtr nudged Deban, who was about to answer. It was a sign to try to get something out of her, and Deban understood immediately.

“Yes, he was very happy to go to his father’s side. Since he is the founder, I think he is taking good care of him.”

“What? What do you mean by that? Father.”

The woman’s face contorted slightly.

Clear suspicion.

“You didn’t know? Sir Barote calls the founder father.”

“Ah, really? I didn’t know. We lay believers have never met the children we sent up.”

Nudge, nudge. Simurtr poked Deban again.

“Come to think of it, Sir Barote called the founder a grand mage. It’s the first time I’ve heard that the founder pursued magic.”

As long as the knowledge wasn't completely wrong, it would gain credibility even if you just made it up. The suspicion that had been in the woman’s voice was gone.

“Barote is pure, you see. Maybe it’s because a grand mage is the highest praise he can give? Since that child is a magician.”

The founder was not a magician.

This meant that the father and the founder were not the same person.

And the believers of Kua did not know the title of father.

Not a bad harvest. Simurtr no longer poked Deban.

“I see.”

“I’m jealous of Barote. We and our children should go to where they are soon too.”

***

When the woman left to find an empty room, Simurtr said.

“While I’m locked up, you go and find out about this place.”

In fact, there was no time to delay. The sun had already risen. He didn't know when the necromancers from the upper floors would swarm down.

If he had come alone, Simurtr would have killed all the believers on the current floor, found Beden, and gathered the test subjects together.

But Deban was with him.

“Do we have to? Aren’t you going to kill them all anyway?”

“Really? If you think about it, they’re your family.”

Deban’s body momentarily froze.

Family. He was talking about the test subjects that had been born, not the believers who were complicit in the atrocities.

“If you think about it, you’re the older brother. According to you.”

Deban had called the chimeras in the basement family. How much more so for the test subjects on the ground floor, who were born from the same experiment.

“The humans in the basement were probably older brothers or sisters than you. But it’s not the same here. Who in the world is born because they want to be born?”

For the chimeras who couldn't live a full life, death might be a form of rest, but it was not for the children here.

As proof of that, Deban had lived until now.

“Look at me, I’m an adopted son. Do you think I could have chosen my parents? We’re all the same humans. You and me, just the same. Just born.”

A child cannot agree to or refuse their birth. They cannot choose their parents. Exa of his past life was an orphan, and the reincarnation was not something Simurtr had wanted.

“You decide. Do as you wish. Just as you have done on the way here, I will not touch the believers of Kua as much as possible.”

“Yes.”

“You save the ones you want to save, and you kill the ones you want to kill. I’ll kill the ones that are out of your reach.”

“Yes.”

“But I’d rather you save them if possible. What sin did the young ones commit? All they need is a good education from now on.”

“…….”

Deban’s throat tightened.

Not because of the words that he wouldn't take away his revenge.

But because he was so happy with the fact that he was treating them as the same humans.

“Are you crying?”

“No.”

“Something dripped.”

“…Spit.”

***

“Here you go. You won’t have any inconveniences.”

The room the woman guided him to was located in the furthest corner of the facility.

“You’re on the quiet side. The mother body that came four days ago was so wild.”

The woman, whose guard was down, was quite talkative.

The mother body from four days ago. She must be talking about Beden.

Simurtr didn't rush Deban. It was information Deban would soon find out anyway.

“You’ve already had a physical examination, right?”

“Of course.”

“And a magic tool inspection by the magician at the 1st floor entrance?”

“Of course, I received it. There were a lot of things.”

“It may seem so, but I asked for procedural reasons. Our priest is very strict… meticulous.”

A sword was clearly hanging from Simurtr’s waist, but the woman didn't see it.

“Our priest has said something like that before too.”

“Ah, you were a sub-priest.”

Screeeech. The door closed loudly.

Looking through the narrowing gap, Deban was walking down the corridor in a friendly manner with the woman.

When the door closed, Simurtr examined the room.

The corner where the wall and ceiling met, a short cot, a low desk and chair, a hero's biography for children.

There was nothing special. They had confined him but didn't seem to be watching him. The door was locked, but he could get out if he wanted to. A steel door without magic engraved on it was no big deal.

‘Let’s wait.’

But Simurtr sat down on the floor.

If time was delayed, the necromancers would come down to the 1st floor, but that seemed to be fine in its own way.

‘Whether we fight upstairs or here. It’s the same.’

The possibility of the test subjects being harmed? Simurtr judged that it would be slim.

Those children would be the fruit of the Black Tower’s and Kua’s joint efforts. It would be a waste.

‘If things go south, I can just go outside the facility.’

Half of the 1st floor was empty. There were only clumsily hidden corpses.

Simurtr casually lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. Now all that was left was to wait for Deban’s signal.

“…But wouldn't it be fine as long as I don't get caught?”

How would he know when the signal would come?

It was too boring to just wait.

***

Phantasmal Ability was a truly useful means.

It was a fact that Simurtr, who had tasted it, had no choice but to admit.

But at the same time, it had clear limitations. A limitation that only Simurtr, who could not hide the presence of the Star-Breaking Style, possessed.

‘What is realistic is more realistic, but what is unrealistic cannot be expressed.’

The Phantasm Jiaren had once made such an evaluation after seeing Simurtr’s illusion.

If one were to implement what was revealed, the illusion of the Star-Breaking Style would make even Jiaren hesitate.

But if one were to implement what was not revealed, it would become conspicuous, contrary to the intention.

‘Because of the Star-Breaking Style.’

That terrible reality became a poison when it came to stealth.

He could hide his form if he wanted to. He wouldn't be seen. However, the space where Simurtr was would take on an enormous presence.

Because the authority of the illusion could not perfectly hide the magic of Star Breaker.

‘But shabby spellcasters and ordinary people are exceptions.’

Simurtr walked confidently down the corridor.

The believers he occasionally saw passed by without recognizing Simurtr.

It had been the same with the ones he had encountered so far. The dead necromancers had felt a sense of unease, but it ended with them tilting their heads.

‘No necromancers in sight.’

It seemed Kua was in charge of managing the test subjects’ hospital rooms.

Mother body. Where would Beden be? He, disguised as Haryun Bahab, was in a corner room. Then?

‘It must be a corner.’

The doors, installed at regular intervals, were all open. The rooms of the successful test subjects. They were probably gathered somewhere and playing.

‘But they didn’t include me. Beden would be the same.’

He had come out after forcibly breaking the lock.

This meant that the mother bodies were not included in the test subjects’ playtime. If he searched the entire facility, there would probably be a closed door. Beden would be inside.

“Something here……”

Just as he was about to pass, a believer suddenly reached out towards Simurtr. A rare, sensitive human.

Dodging the believer’s hand, Simurtr suddenly grabbed his neck and broke it. Ack. The death cry was not loud.

“Agh, shit.”

Simurtr looked at the limp corpse and clicked his tongue. The black sash slung diagonally from his right shoulder to his left side.

It was of a higher rank than the attire Deban had changed into. The attire that symbolized a priest. The strict priest the woman had mentioned earlier. The person in charge of this facility.

“I need to hide this.”

He had snatched away Deban’s share. If it was a priest, not just a regular believer, he would have been overjoyed.

Where should he hide this? He wanted to just throw it into any open room, but if he did, the child who would later return would see the corpse.

Simurtr tucked the corpse under his arm and walked. Magic flowed into the seal of Asha again. The priest’s corpse vanished along with Simurtr.

He found a closed door when he walked down the corridor that stretched east from the center of the facility.

Knock, knock. Simurtr walked, knocking on the closed doors. There was no answer from the door near the center, and no one inside was detected by the Sword Net.

‘The end.’

Knock, knock.

Finally, when Simurtr knocked on the last hospital room at the east end.

“Get lost.”

As expected.

Just as the hospital room assigned to Haryun Bahab was in a corner of the north.

“Sir Mectera Mother Body?”

“…I said get lost.”

Beden was in a corner of the east.