Raymond quickly took Luna and retreated.
Luna wailed and tried to go to the fallen Elliott, but Raymond stopped her.
Right now, he had to think rationally.
At the very least, he had to protect Luna.
“Just why are you doing this! What wrong has this child committed!”
“God above… another foolish soul has been bewitched by the witch….”
Raymond’s cry did not reach them.
The villagers were slowly approaching Raymond and Luna.
“…Please, I beg you. This child is innocent!”
He pleaded desperately and stood in their way, but soon he was stabbed and collapsed.
“You bastard! How dare you shield the witch. I’ll have to kill you here too!”
“No! Mister!”
Blood was pouring from Raymond’s abdomen.
Their days had surely been peaceful….
Why had it turned out like this?
Luna’s screams rang in his ears.
Grieving the loss of her father, drowning in guilt as someone who had fallen while trying to protect her, Luna sobbed.
‘Ha….’
Should he have just taken Luna and run away?
He should have been more wary from the moment the village chief made that request, but he had been far too complacent.
But Raymond’s thoughts did not continue.
Because his consciousness was gradually beginning to blur.
It felt as if he were floating on water, as if the boundary between reality and illusion was growing indistinct.
The sounds around him grew fainter and fainter.
‘This is… don’t tell me….’
Raymond recalled the sensation he had felt when he entered the illusion.
The sight before his eyes slowly losing its color, his body growing lighter and lighter.
‘Kaleido, you son of a bitch!’
Only then did Raymond grasp the situation.
At such an important moment, he was undoubtedly being pulled out of this place.
‘No!’
The thought of leaving the tragedy before his eyes behind and escaping alone was unbearably painful.
‘I’m sorry….’
But his words reached no one.
His vision slowly blurred, and his consciousness drifted farther away.
“…….”
“…….”
He could no longer hear Luna’s voice or the villagers’ shouts.
Raymond struggled to turn his head.
His gaze turned toward the adventurer.
‘Dambi… Rils….’
The male adventurer who had introduced himself as a half-blood vampire.
He didn’t know about him, but the woman beside him had said she was a mage.
Perhaps the two of them could stop the villagers.
With difficulty, he looked at them.
Please… please protect Luna, he wanted to say.
But no words came out.
“…….”
Just as his consciousness was about to snap.
Dambi’s eyes met Raymond’s.
“…….”
He still could not hear any sound.
But from the shape of Dambi’s mouth, he could faintly understand the meaning.
Don’t. Worry.
Yes, that was surely what the man had said.
No, that was what he had to have said.
Soon after, Raymond’s vision went dark.
* * *
“Haaah!”
Raymond shot upright with a cry.
“Welcome back. Did you enjoy exploring the illusion?”
The place that had been an inn had already returned to reality.
In front of him, Kaleido greeted Raymond with a broad grin.
“No… please send me back…! I beg you…!”
The moment Raymond came to his senses, he dropped to his knees and pleaded.
But all that returned was a cold refusal.
“Ha ha, the place where you stayed was merely an illusion.”
Kaleido’s curt answer.
But Raymond had no intention of dismissing the emotions he had felt as fake.
Even if it was an illusion, he wanted to go back in and finish things.
“Did I not tell you? You must not be devoured by the illusion. And more than anything, illusion magic is not something that can be used so easily. Compose yourself.”
At Kaleido’s continued persuasion, Raymond calmed his heart.
‘Right, it was only an illusion.’
Raymond straightened his clothes.
But then he felt something damp.
‘…Blood?’
There were faint traces of blood spattered on his clothes.
‘Where did this blood come from…?’
Only then did he remember that he had come here with his friend Ethan.
“Come to think of it, where is Ethan?”
Ethan was nowhere to be seen.
He had definitely come with him.
“Hmm… he said he had some urgent business earlier and left, so I’m not sure. To begin with, Ethan refused the illusion magic.”
Raymond nodded at Kaleido’s words.
Normally, he would have been suspicious, but right now he did not have the energy for that.
Exploring the world inside the illusion had exhausted him far too much.
More than anything, he was curious about what had happened to Luna, not Ethan.
He didn’t care what happened to someone like Ethan.
‘Then this blood….’
What was the blood on his clothes?
He had certainly been cut by a blade inside the illusion, but there was no way blood would splatter onto him in reality.
It was strange.
After being lost in thought for a long while, Raymond asked Kaleido one question.
“Was that really illusion magic…?”
It was only a small doubt.
Even Raymond thought it was an absurd question, but Kaleido smiled again.
“What do you think?”
The answer that came back was ambiguous, but Raymond started walking.
Because he would not be able to get a clear answer from Kaleido.
“Ah, as promised, I shall give you this.”
As Raymond tried to leave, Kaleido handed him a pouch.
Inside were countless gold coins and jewels.
“It is your reward for safely completing the exploration.”
Kaleido’s smile was like that of a child who had been given an amusing toy.
“…….”
Raymond snatched the pouch and immediately turned his back.
Normally, he would not have accepted it, but right now there was one thing he wanted to confirm.
Raymond then headed into an alley dark even by the standards of the underworld.
After wandering for some time, he entered a small shop.
The shop was filled with nothing but deep darkness, and there was a woman whose face was concealed.
“What do you need?”
This was a place in the underworld where information was bought and sold.
Raymond wanted to confirm one faint possibility.
“I came to buy information.”
He lowered his voice as much as possible and stated that he had come to buy information.
“Has there been any inn that was attacked recently?”
An inn that was attacked.
In the world inside the illusion just moments ago, Raymond had been attacked by the villagers at an inn.
“An inn that was attacked… That’s far too broad a range.”
Unfortunately, there were far too many inns for adventurers across the entire continent.
And just as many inns had been attacked by monsters, adventurers, or bandits.
If he had known this would happen, he would have found out which country that place had been in.
Why hadn’t he asked such a basic question while talking with Luna and the adventurers?
Blaming himself, Raymond made his question more specific.
“The inn was in a forest, no, on a mountain? Somewhere like that. And a village… no, a group of people carrying weapons attacked the inn.”
At Raymond’s question, the woman sank into thought for a moment this time.
Then she searched through a pile of documents and pulled out a single sheet of paper.
“Ah, there was one similar incident.”
As it happened, there was one incident similar to what he had experienced.
He felt his heart race, while at the same time hoping it wasn’t the incident he had experienced.
After all, it would be better for a story from an illusion to remain inside the illusion.
“It is similar to what you described, but there isn’t much information. First, the inn’s location was indeed on a mountain.”
But as the woman continued speaking, Raymond’s expression turned serious.
“According to the information that came in, bandits killed the innkeeper. The number of bandits is estimated to have been several dozen, but their exact identities are said to be shrouded in mystery.”
Up to this point, it was similar.
The inn being in a similar location.
And depending on the perspective of a third party, the villagers could also look like bandits.
“So what happened!”
If this incident had become known, there had to be a result.
Unable to hide his agitation, Raymond shouted.
“That is all.”
“What?”
It was absurd.
That was all she had to say?
“No, if the incident was investigated, there should have been a result. What is this supposed to—!”
The woman lowered her head slightly and whispered to Raymond.
“The next piece of information is uncertain. But because it is quite dangerous, the fee is expensive. Is that all right with you? I’ll say it again, it is not confirmed information.”
Raymond nodded and opened the pouch he had received from Kaleido.
From it, he took a few gold coins and jewels and handed them to the woman.
“I don’t know the reason, but this information is being controlled by the Seil Kingdom.”
“?”
Information controlled by a kingdom.
It probably seemed far removed from the information he wanted.
The story of Luna and the villagers he had experienced was definitely not an incident that would be controlled at the kingdom level.
Even so, he had already paid the information fee.
Refunds were impossible, so Raymond intended to hear the rest of the woman’s words and leave.
“Just let this pass through one ear and out the other. And don’t go around spreading it.”
What kind of information was it for her to go that far?
He had no intention of running around blabbing about it anyway, so he nodded at the woman’s words.
“To start with the conclusion, all of the bandits who raided the inn died.”
A sudden story came out.
All of the bandits who raided the inn had died.
Had some powerful adventurer been staying at the inn?
The image of the adventurer party suddenly came to Raymond’s mind.
“Well… I don’t know how the bandits ended up dead, but one thing is certain: they say it was far from the work of a human. According to the information, there is talk that it was the work of a vampire, but that is not confirmed.”
“A vampire…?”
“That’s right. A vampire. You may find it absurd, but if a vampire was involved, then the Seil Kingdom controlling the information is not entirely incomprehensible.”
Normally, he would have laughed at such a ridiculous statement, but Raymond’s expression was infinitely serious now.
‘Dambi….’
He thought of Dambi, the adventurer who had introduced himself as a half-blood vampire.
“More than anything, traces of magic being used were also found at the scene. But a combination of a vampire and a mage… it is simply an absurd story, so there is no need to take it too seriously.”
Raymond turned the information over in his mind.
An inn deep in a remote mountain.
A band of raiders who attacked it.
‘The location, the situation, and even the existence of a vampire and a mage….’
Every circumstance resembled what Raymond had experienced.
There was no way all of this was mere coincidence.
‘Right, it can’t be coincidence.’
Then another question arose.
Were the things he had experienced truly an illusion?
He recalled Kaleido’s final answer when he had asked whether it really was illusion magic.
—What do you think?
‘Kaleido, that bastard!’
A small doubt turned into certainty.
Already convinced, Raymond asked his next question.
“By any chance, was there also the corpse of a little girl there?”
Raymond’s tone changed again.
This question contained desperation.
At his question, the woman frowned.
But Raymond was already a customer who had paid the price for information, so the woman reluctantly continued answering.
“I’m not certain, but while there were corpses of the bandit group, the innkeeper, and those who had been staying there, I have never heard any information about there being the corpse of a little girl.”
Raymond sprang from his seat and ran toward the arena building.
Then he searched every corner, trying to find the place he had entered with Ethan.
But the place he was looking for did not appear.
“Sir, is something the matter?”
A guard managing the arena approached Raymond.
Raymond was unable to find the place where Kaleido had been until he was dragged out by the guard.
Only then was he able to realize it.
The world he had thought was an illusion was, in truth, reality.
Raymond believed so.
* * *
— All intruders who entered the satellite dungeon “Nest of Corruption” have been repelled.
— The satellite dungeon has been perfectly defended.
— A special reward will be given.
— As a special reward, the concealment attribute will be added to the satellite dungeon “Nest of Corruption.” Whether it is concealed can be set by the owner of the satellite dungeon.
— As a special reward, Kaleido’s (★★★★) magic will be enhanced.
— Kaleido’s skill “Eye of Illusion (A)” has been enhanced to “Prison of Illusion (S).”
— Eye of Illusion (A): Sends the target into a world within an illusion. -> Prison of Illusion (S): Traps the target within an illusion, making them unable to distinguish reality from illusion.
— Kaleido’s skill “Illusion Projection (B)” has been enhanced to “Illusion Distortion (A).”
— Illusion Projection (B): Projects the illusion desired by the skill’s caster as if it were real, throwing the target into confusion. -> Illusion Distortion (A): Disrupts not only the target’s visual perception but even their senses.