Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

“…”

“…”

Somewhere in the spire, at a table.

Piercing Blood and I held a brief staring contest, but I was the one who blinked first.

In the end, I was the one to lose.

“Sorry about that. At the time, I couldn’t think of any other way.”

“Hoo…”

At my words, Piercing Blood let out a deep sigh.

If I woke up to find the situation already over and a bump on my head, I’d be angry too. But true to his role as the leader of a group, he visibly fought to calm himself despite the irritation on his face, then shook his head.

“There’s no need for an apology. In the end, you did what needed to be done and proved yourself to us.”

“I appreciate you seeing it that way.”

“Dark Night is definitely dead?”

“Yes.”

I didn’t bother mentioning that it was actually a puppet mimicking Dark Night, a World in disguise.

Piercing Blood’s expression relaxed slightly with relief. He settled into a more comfortable position and glanced around the room.

“Well, looks like you really did climb your way into the Upper Tier. How is it up there? Did you find what you were looking for?”

“No. Still searching.”

“I hope you do. We actually came to ask you for a favor.”

“A favor?”

I tilted my head.

Of course, he wouldn’t have come all this way just to ask why I’d knocked them out.

He must have had some purpose in coming here.

I nodded to indicate I was listening, and his expression turned serious.

“Find out where the World-Sealing Pills come from.”

“World-Sealing Pills?”

“Yes. We know for certain that Upper Tier produces them, but…”

Piercing Blood tapped the desk with irritation.

“We have no idea where they’re made or what ingredients they use.”

“I did hear they’re difficult to produce.”

“It’s beyond difficult. We’ve turned over nearly every corner of the Lower Tier searching, but we can’t figure out what materials go into them. We can’t even find where they’re being made.”

“Hmm.”

I nodded in understanding.

“So this was the real reason.”

“I’m only telling you now, but yes. We’re extremely uneasy having our lifelines in the hands of these lunatics.”

It seemed that sending me to the Upper Tier had largely been about discovering the source of the World-Sealing Pills.

Honestly, I couldn’t say he’d been a huge help, but it was true I’d used him without proper explanation, and this was something I needed to investigate anyway.

“Understood.”

If the Empire could begin mass-producing World-Sealing Pills, they’d have a means to draw in Fallen from the Lower Tier.

That meant they could bind the Crimson Circle’s hands and feet. At minimum, if I could just identify the ingredients, Dersia could handle the production herself.

That was the calculation behind my decision, but Piercing Blood seemed to think I was doing this for their sake. He looked moved as he nodded.

“Thank you. This is more than enough to forgive you for knocking us out and selling us to that damned woman.”

“One more thing.”

“Hm?”

“There’s something I’d like to ask of you as well. It’s also related to the World-Sealing Pills.”

“Of course. Just say the word and we’ll move out immediately!”

The moment I mentioned the World-Sealing Pills, Piercing Blood readily agreed.

Then again, if he was feeding a group of Fallen this large, no amount of contracts would ever be enough.

Especially since I’d left them unconscious for quite a while. I waved my hand beneath the lamp light.

“Do you know about this Dark Veil? The phenomenon where shadows move on their own?”

“Mm, I heard it was a plan the Upper Tier carried out while we were dealing with Dark Night.”

Piercing Blood furrowed his brow and glared at the shadows.

“Spreading burdens across the World… I don’t even know what these people want anymore. Have you heard anything as a member of the Upper Tier?”

“I’m still in a probationary period. I need to find out what the Lower Tier Fallen did in relation to this plan.”

“It was a designated mission, so it didn’t even appear on the mission board. The Upper Tier must have issued contracts to people they’d selected in advance.”

“I have reason to look into the details. Can you find out?”

“Sure. That’s not difficult.”

Piercing Blood rose with a bitter smile.

“We know who was involved. If we rough them up a bit, they’ll talk. But I believe it was more of a transport operation than killing or kidnapping anyone.”

“…Transport?”

“Yes. The ones who were resting during that period specialized in moving things. They probably carried something from the far side of the continent to here. All we need is to find out what it was.”

“I see. When you have the information, come back here. I’ll have something on the World-Sealing Pills by then.”

“Now that’s reassuring.”

I saw him and his companions off, then went back to reading the history texts.

“…”

“Undercurrent-nim?”

Something registered on my Current Sense.

“I’m going to head down to the basement for a moment.”

“Ah, yes.”

Cheon-hwa, who had said she would handle matters related to the Deep Sea, occasionally read through catalogs or searched through books. When she had questions, she called for me.

But her method of calling was rather peculiar.

Whenever she wanted to summon me, she wrote letters on her desk.

Come down, it said.

“…Doesn’t that bother you at all?”

The hinges creaked as I opened the door and descended to the basement, asking that question with some resignation. Cheon-hwa looked up from her papers.

“Does what bother me?”

“This is almost the first time I’ve explained my Current Sense in detail to anyone. Honestly, if I were you, I’d tell me not to use it anywhere near me.”

I cleared my throat and tried to phrase it delicately.

My Current Sense was called a sense, but in practice it was more like installing an ultra-high-performance CCTV system across several hundred meters that could pick up even the sound of breathing. An overwhelming invasion of privacy.

If I had to live near someone with an ability like this, I’d want at least an entire city between us. But Cheon-hwa seemed unbothered as she tapped her documents into a neat stack.

“If I’m not doing anything shameful, it doesn’t matter. It’s actually convenient not having to go upstairs.”

“Ah, yes.”

We hadn’t spent that much time together, but I had enough sense to tell that something about Cheon-hwa’s personality was a bit off.

“Why did you call for me?”

“I’ve finished organizing. I need to go to another Spire to conduct some experiments.”

“…Experiments?”

“Yes. I can’t do it alone.”

“What exactly are you doing?”

“I need to bring out your kin and observe how they survive.”

In other words, she intended to interfere with my World.

I immediately furrowed my brow.

“Is that possible without Void?”

“Yes. Interfering with a World itself isn’t particularly difficult. You’ll be able to confirm the details when we get there.”

“…This sounds extremely dangerous.”

“Every member of the Upper Tier has faced their World in that place. You need to do the same.”

Cheon-hwa cut me off coldly and handed me the stack of documents.

“Show this to them, and they’ll tell you everything you need to do.”

“Who am I looking for?”

“Phantom. He’s in the Upper Tier like you.”

“I’ve never heard that name before.”

“Of course not. He never goes outside. But you should have seen his World recently.”

“His World?”

Cheon-hwa’s expression turned slightly self-deprecating as she spoke.

“Phantom’s World is the Dark Veil.”

“…!”

The Dark Veil. The plague currently tormenting the Empire.

I kept my thoughts from showing on my face and asked carefully.

“He’s not dead?”

“Of course not. If he died, he wouldn’t be able to spread his World’s burdens. We have to keep him alive by any means necessary.”

“I see.”

It seemed fortune had fallen right into my lap.

If I could confirm this information and possibly find a way to kill him…

Nothing could be better. I nodded and picked up the documents.

“Where do I go?”

“Open the door and walk through.”

At first, I took it as Cheon-hwa making a joke.

But then my Current Sense suddenly couldn’t detect anything beyond the door, and I narrowed my eyes.

“…”

I carefully opened the door. Pitch-black darkness greeted me.

Clearly not normal.

“So it’s a system where you can only go if you’re invited.”

“It’s just a few steps, so don’t worry.”

Unlike Cheon-hwa’s casual tone, I was quite disappointed.

If this was how it worked, ambushing wherever his main body was located would be nearly impossible.

I was thinking I’d have to look for something else once I got there when…

“Undercurrent.”

“Yes?”

Cheon-hwa suddenly called out to me.

I waited for what she was going to say. She seemed about to speak, her expression haughty as always, but then she shook her head.

“…Never mind. You should be fine. Walk straight ahead.”

“? Yes.”

It wasn’t as if I had the option not to enter.

The moment I stepped forward, it felt like surrendering my body to smoke that had weight. I was almost certain I wouldn’t be able to breathe inside.

Of course, that didn’t apply to me. My body didn’t need to breathe.

After a few steps, the surroundings became engulfed in pitch darkness, just as I’d expected.

The days of finding darkness frightening were long behind me, so I kept walking.

“What?”

The path didn’t end.

No, it was hard to even call it a path.

After wandering for a while through an abyss where I couldn’t even tell which direction I was going, I began to understand what Cheon-hwa had tried to warn me about.

“Playing games, are we…”

It seemed this Phantom character wanted to test me.

Of course, what he’d miscalculated was this: my Current Sense still worked in here.

In this place where I couldn’t see a hand’s breadth in front of me, I closed my eyes and focused. I detected a door some distance away.

When I walked toward it, the door slid away, trying to escape.

“…”

I was so exasperated that I used water pressure to lock the door firmly in place, then approached and wrenched it open.

With a click, the door swung wide. Beyond it lay a space that looked exactly like the basement of the Spire.

The only difference was that instead of Cheon-hwa, a brown-haired man who looked barely in his early twenties sat there.

I wasn’t really one to talk, but still…

He’s so young.

Far too young to believe he was the owner of the World that had plunged the Empire into terror.

Could he be hiding his real age? While I concealed my tension, Phantom checked the watch on his wrist and let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha.”

“Undercurrent. Should I have wandered around a bit longer before finding my way here?”

“…One minute. So you’re the real thing.”

Despite my slightly sharp greeting, Phantom smiled and stood before me.

“I assumed it had to be a misunderstanding, but… the Deep Sea? This is impossible. How can something like this actually exist?”

“Wait…”

“This is impossible. How are you even alive? Normally, you would have been crushed the moment you fell!”

Phantom handled me like I was some kind of toy, turning me this way and that.

“How many are submerged in there?”

“What are you talking about?”

This wasn’t the personality I’d expected at all.

I shook myself free with some effort, and he asked, unable to contain his excitement.

“The corpses drowned in the Deep Sea. There must be some, right?”

“…?”

This was the first I’d heard of it.