Chapter 104: Choice (1)
TL/ED – Miso
There are a few things I’ve come to know while being here.
In the end, Crimson Circle is also just a place where people live.
Not sure about the Upper Tier, though.
“So you’re called Undercurrent.”
“?”
It was during my seventh mission.
Since Damyu only had 500 World-Sealing Pills, I went to find the Warehouse guy who was said to carry thousands. Then suddenly, he started talking to me.
Until now, the other Warehouses would just hand over the pills without a word, as long as I showed proof of completing the mission. (The first proof was Lemin’s head.) So this was the first time something like this happened.
When I glanced back, Damyu was swallowing hard and retreating. The meeting place was a plain. Even when I ran current sense, there were no people lying in wait for an ambush.
Since I was confident, I decided to engage in conversation.
“For starters, I tried to come up with a name based on the way you people do it. Is there a problem?”
“No. It’s not like I have the position to say anything about it.”
The one who looked like a wrinkled old man in his seventies stared intently at me, then suddenly said something strange.
“How many do you take per day?”
“…?”
“I mean the World-Sealing Pills. Judging by how you keep taking on these life-risking missions, it seems like you need quite a lot.”
What is this guy talking about?
“I don’t take any.”
“Hmm, seems like you don’t want to talk.”
The old man slowly nodded, then continued.
“Piercing Blood has acknowledged you. Apply only for missions with 3,000 or fewer units.”
It was only after he left that I asked Damyu, who had been trembling quietly behind me.
“What was that guy saying?”
“P-Piercing Blood is a member of the Lower Tier’s top assassination group.”
“So what business does he have with me?”
“Piercing Blood recruited you into their faction! This is a huge deal, it’s been barely two weeks…”
Damyu made a huge fuss as if it were her own business.
“Piercing Blood can handle missions in the ten-thousand unit range with ease. The fact that they limited it to 3,000 this time means they’re planning to give you a mission like that soon, and want to see what kind of person you are… it’s like an entrance test.”
“A faction within Crimson Circle? I’m not interested.”
Neglect, in other words, means freedom.
It seemed that in the Lower Tier, they formed factions among themselves and did all sorts of things.
But honestly, I didn’t care. The ones I needed to impress were the ones in the Upper Tier.
If I got involved in some elite group like that, all my personal achievements would just become part of the group’s, and be buried. That’s the wrong move.
What I was curious about was something else.
“More importantly, what was that thing about how many I take per day?”
“Ah, that’s because of the pill resistance.”
“…Aha.”
That so. Dersia said something similar once.
Since it’s in the form of a medicine, every time you take it, resistance builds up. Yeah, if one could endure it infinitely, just distributing those World-Sealing Pills would solve most of the issues with the Fallen.
“They say the veterans have to take dozens per day just to barely suppress the Burden. Of course, some are strong enough to gain even greater rewards with that… but most eventually get devoured by resistance and crushed by the Burden.”
“I see.”
No matter how many times I turned it over in my head, it was clear this system had been running for a very long time.
Crimson Circle must have been operating like this long before stepping onto the front stage.
To create Fallen like me, to place Burdens in the world and make more Fallen.
Dersia said it was a foolish method to reach the Celestial Realm. A desperate flailing, thinking it would bring them salvation.
“But…”
There’s something missing in that logic. Even if it seems connected, there’s one part that doesn’t fit.
While I was pondering that, Damyu cautiously asked.
“S-So… are you really going to refuse?”
“What? Refuse what.”
“Piercing Blood’s offer. If you accept it, you really won’t have to worry about the World-Sealing Pills ever again…”
“I don’t need it… No, wait.”
I handed all the World-Sealing Pills I’d just received from that Warehouse to Damyu.
“You keep these. Take them if you need to.”
“Y-Yes? Yes???”
“In return, let’s make one promise. Even if it’s a life-threatening…”
“I’ll do it! I’ll do it I’ll do it I’ll do it!”
“…No, listen till the end. Even if it’s a life-threatening mission, always put your name down. Also, sometimes we’ll need four people for a mission, so get your friends to be able to write their names down too. Lastly, even if I give you a strange command once in a while, follow it immediately.”
“Understood!!”
Damyu barely even listened.
Well, without the World-Sealing Pills, it’s the same as dying. For someone like her, who nearly died after losing just one pill, this was an offer she couldn’t refuse.
Leaving behind the one smiling limply, I realized that the promised time was drawing near before the next mission.
“There’s no real base of operations in Crimson Circle, right?”
“No. If we had something like that, we’d get caught. More importantly, most of the members can’t be together.”
“Why not?”
“Because World-Sealing Pills are extremely scarce. No matter how many pills a member has, they have to constantly take on missions to survive.”
“…And what does that have to do with it?”
“Well, to be honest, there’s something easier than missions.”
Damyu shrugged her shoulders.
She didn’t continue speaking, but I could roughly guess. Killing weaker members would be a far easier way to obtain the pills.
I’ve heard it before, but really, there doesn’t seem to be any sense of camaraderie among the members.
“I’m a Warehouse, so even though I only carry a small amount, I’m especially at risk. I wouldn’t hand them over even if I died, but… they wouldn’t see it that way. They’d probably kill me first and then look for a way to retrieve them from the swamp.”
“So there’s no sense of belonging among members of the same organization. Well, if there were, you wouldn’t have set up that welcome ceremony for me the moment you saw me.”
“I’ll guide you to a nearby lodging!”
As soon as the conversation took a turn for the worse, Damyu immediately changed the subject.
When I opened the book to report that I’d completed the mission, a new mission appeared as if it had been waiting for me.
[Kidnapping of a Black Magic Tower apprentice]
[Special Notes: None.]
[Quantity: 3,000 units.]
[Equality.]
[9/10]
“…Heh.”
Other names were written a few times, but they were erased in an instant.
As if they were waiting for someone.
From the request to the quantity, it was so blatant it didn’t even make me laugh.
I quietly closed the book and followed behind Damyu.
Let them wait for the rest of their lives.
*
Night, a hut on a plain.
While Damyu was asleep, I slipped out past the rear mountain that was being used as a hideout.
Then I scratched off and peeled away the transparent cloth attached to the back of my hand and let it fly into the swirling wind.
“…”
Had it been about thirty minutes standing there?
Several hawks flew down from the sky, and one of them began circling over my head.
[Kaa-]
A crow.
A crow nearly as big as my own body gradually descended and then plopped down with a thud.
[Kaa.]
Not intimidated by the black eyes of the monstrous crow, I immediately opened the book and showed the mission section.
“These are the missions Crimson Circle is currently conducting.”
[…]
The crow blinked and pretended to scan the book, then let out a rasping sound while shaking its beak at the sky.
[Ah, ah- can you hear me?]
“…Yes.”
[Good. It’s been a while since I used animal manipulation, so it’s not easy to control.]
“What tier of magic is that?”
This kind of manipulation magic, I’d never seen it before. It was incredibly fascinating.
[Sixth-tier. But more importantly… hmm. These don’t seem like particularly serious missions.]
“I agree.”
I agreed with Dersia, who had taken the form of a crow.
Of course, they were terrifying things. Kidnapping apprentices, assassinating members of rival organizations, destroying the Tower’s defensive barriers, and so on.
Even doing just one would provoke pursuit from the Empire, a horrific act of terrorism.
However.
“These things are really just trivial, aren’t they.”
[It seems the more important missions in Crimson Circle are carried out exclusively among the upper echelons.]
“Speaking of that…”
I explained to her the ecosystem within Crimson Circle that I had heard about from Damyu.
The structure divided into Upper and Lower Tiers. And the food chain that had formed among them.
Listening quietly, Dersia nodded her head, or beak, in admiration.
[World-Sealing Pill… is that what it’s called? It certainly seemed effective as a means of controlling those called the Fallen.]
“However, there’s something odd.”
[What is it?]
“So… their goal is to create Fallen and recruit them, right? But once they actually bring them in, it doesn’t seem like they care all that much.”
Letting low-ranking members be devoured and die, for one.
It was like… a deranged fisherman obsessed only with catching fish, but once he caught them, he just tossed them carelessly on the roadside to rot.
“Of course, they say that Fallen with high utility value, including those with Great Worlds, are taken to the Upper Tier and put to use… but even if their plan works and they spread the Burden of the Three Evils across the world to create a multitude of Fallen, most of them will end up being treated like this.”
[That makes sense.]
“If you think about it simply, maybe they’re just picking humans through a selection process. Once they confirm someone is a Fallen, if their world isn’t strong, they discard them. But even so, I still don’t understand the goal. I get that they want to gather strong Fallen, but then, what is that for? I understand that their objective is to reach the Celestial Realm. But what do they plan to do once they reach it? How exactly do they intend to overcome the Burden, and in what way… hmm…”
[Hmm.]
Dersia clicked her beak, helping cool off my overheated thoughts.
[First, calm down. Right now, you don’t even have the minimal information required for that kind of speculation. Thinking too hard will only lead to confusion. To properly investigate, you’ll need to go to the Upper Tier you mentioned. That’s where you’ll be able to get real information. Though, it seems there’s still a lot to learn even in the Lower Tier.]
“Such as?”
[How the Fallen actually fall, also, I’d like to hear more information about the Three Evils.]
“True, Damyu didn’t seem to know much, but maybe someone else does. I’ll try to find out.”
[Of course, the most important thing right now is whether or not there’s a chance to reach the Upper Tier. What do you think?]
“It’s definitely possible.”
I answered with conviction.
“The missions are relatively low in difficulty. Missions involving thousands of units would be tough, but the Warehouse I’ve got, Damyu, is practically non-combatant. If I keep completing two-person missions, I think it’s more than possible to get their attention.”
[I was thinking something along the same lines.]
With the restriction of Water Barrier lifted and my Inner World now free to unfold, I could handle most missions with ease.
It was practically just a matter of time before I received a love call from the Upper Tier.
[Well then, Jern. Let’s meet again at this time next week. I’ll relay everything from today’s conversation to the Princess.]
“Understood. And, by any chance… Elysia or Linmel-”
[…You’ll have to sneak over and visit them later, somehow.]
“Got it.”
Dersia wouldn’t say something like that lightly.
With renewed resolve, I watched her fly away.
“About two months… maybe.”
I checked through the book and confirmed all the most difficult missions that could be done with just two people.
One week.
That was how long it took to get a recruitment offer from groups like Piercing Blood, said to be the best assassination squad in the Lower Tier.
Then, for someone like me, who had caught Decay’s attention, how long would it take for the Upper Tier to offer recruitment?
“…No, one month.”
That should be enough.
I closed the book and returned to the hut where Damyu was sleeping.
Wondering how the Upper Tier members would reach out, and how I should respond.
*
Time passed.
A little, or perhaps a lot, actually.
“Undercurrent nim! Piercing Blood, Fragrant Thread, and Hidden Needle have all said they’d be happy if you’d even work with them just once! If you help even a little with this request, they’ve promised twenty thousand World-Sealing Pills! It’s an enormous amount, enormous!”
“…”
“And a bunch of members who want to join your faction came with huge bundles of World-Sealing Pills! They brought 500 each per person!”
“…”
“Oh, and lately for some reason, angry crows have been throwing embers onto the roof from above the mansion. I wonder if it’s the work of other Fallen. Should I investigate?”
“D-Damyu.”
Gripping my dizzying head, I called to her from the yard of what was once a hut, now a mansion.
“Yes?”
Unlike when we first met, her complexion was several times better now. She was writing something in the book and replied with a bright smile.
“Ah, yes. You said you weren’t accepting any factions, right? I rejected all of them for now, but was there anyone you liked?”
“…How long has it been since we met?”
“Pardon? Um… about ten months… no, isn’t it almost a year now?”
“…”
This is… troubling.
I took a deep breath and wiped my face dry, trying hard to swallow down the genuine, overwhelming feeling of embarrassment.
…Why?
Why on earth?
“Still… has no one from the Upper Tier contacted us?”
“Pardon? No. I mean, it’s not like we’ve done anything to get their attention. We’ve just been diligently completing requests.”
“……”
I had, never been scouted. Not even once.
There hadn’t even been an approach.
“What is this…?”
“Oh, have you been frustrated lately because there aren’t many missions? Just in time, a bunch of new two-person missions got added! What should we do first? Steal weapons from the Princess’s knight order? Take over the underworld of a city owned by a count’s family?”
Instead, all we’d done was…
Terrorism.