“……!”
Ferris opened his eyes, gasping for breath.
Cold sweat ran down his forehead, and his back was already drenched.
The sight before him was terribly familiar.
A quiet, dark space.
All sorts of weapons were displayed around him, and countless marks remained on the walls.
“Wh-what is this?”
It felt as though he had dreamed of something.
And yet he could not remember what the dream had been about.
Only that it had been a nightmare, something horribly twisted.
“Phew. Maybe I’ve been too tired lately.”
There had been far too much going on recently.
With disaster breaking out in the Kingdom of Seil, the situation had been nothing short of chaotic.
Thanks to that, Ferris, an information broker, had more work than ever.
‘Come to think of it, I need to find out what happened to Malcolm, too.’
With Malcolm missing, there were many things to concern himself with.
And as his workload increased, the strain on his body must have been considerable as well.
‘Once this matter is over, I should get some rest.’
Ferris idly toyed with a dagger.
This was his private space.
It was the place where all information was reported, and at the same time, a location that boasted thorough security through barrier magic.
In other words, a safe space.
This place, like his own secret kingdom, was an impregnable fortress no one could enter or leave without permission.
Unless someone dragged him out and harmed him, perhaps—but Ferris was not the sort of man to fall for such tricks.
“…….”
Ferris closed his eyes.
Then he drew in a deep breath.
He felt the unpleasant feeling left by the dream slowly fade away.
After a moment, Ferris opened his eyes.
“Come in.”
Ferris’s voice echoed through the space.
At his answer, one of his subordinates cautiously revealed himself.
The subordinate knelt before Ferris with an expressionless face and bowed his head.
Ferris turned his gaze toward him.
“So, have you found out anything about Malcolm?”
His first question concerned Malcolm.
After the last meeting of the Hand of Jet-Black, Malcolm had disappeared, so Ferris had taken action.
No, there had been rumors that Malcolm was dead, but he needed to confirm it himself.
For some reason, however, he had a strong feeling that Malcolm had indeed died, just as the rumors said.
“Yes, Lord Ferris. Upon confirmation, it appears Lord Malcolm’s death is true, as rumored.”
The subordinate continued speaking bluntly.
That Malcolm had personally challenged the monster arena and died, and that a new figure had appeared in Malcolm’s territory.
And that this new figure was also said to be operating the monster arena.
Reports related to Malcolm continued.
‘Malcolm, you stupid bastard.’
Ferris wore a grave expression as he listened to his subordinate’s report.
A new figure had appeared in Malcolm’s territory.
The Hand of Jet-Black was a coalition of several organizations.
Its structure consisted of six representatives, each leading their own territory, and the fact that a new figure had appeared in Malcolm’s territory was not a good sign for Ferris.
To him, who intended to seize control of the Hand of Jet-Black someday, it was no different from an uninvited guest barging in.
“The monster arena, huh….”
Recently, the monster arena had been at the center of attention, so Ferris was well aware of it.
He had heard so much about it that he could almost delude himself into thinking he had visited the monster arena in person.
“So, I assume you’ve brought information on this new fellow?”
Malcolm’s death no longer mattered.
What mattered was who had replaced him.
“Yes, I will report. Lord Ferris. The one who has taken over Lord Malcolm’s territory is operating under the name Necros. However, he always wears a white mask, so we could not confirm his true appearance. It is highly likely that the name Necros is also an alias.”
At the subordinate’s report, Ferris closed his eyes.
The monster arena.
Necros.
A white mask.
‘A mask….’
He wore a mask.
‘A white mask.’
A being who wore a white mask.
Why was he trying to hide his appearance?
It was an incomprehensible situation, and yet, in some ways, one he could understand—a contradiction.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Master’s true face either.’
Master always attended meetings wearing a black mask.
No, even when Ferris had sent informants to secretly gather information, they had said he was always wearing a black mask.
Looking at it that way, Master and this man called Necros, who had taken over Malcolm’s territory, shared the common trait of wearing masks.
‘Interesting.’
But Ferris’s expression was stiff.
The fact that he had even taken over Malcolm’s territory meant this Necros was no easy opponent.
At the same time, what kind of place was the monster arena?
Was it not a place where real monsters and people fought duels with their lives on the line?
‘He’s skilled enough to capture monsters alive.’
Come to think of it, Master’s strength had been no trivial matter either.
The other five representatives had attacked Master simultaneously, yet none of them had managed to harm him.
‘This has become troublesome.’
He had not even uncovered Master’s identity, and now another unidentified figure had been added to the mix. It was only natural that this would be a headache.
‘I’ll bring this matter up at the emergency meeting later.’
As it happened, an emergency meeting called by Master was scheduled for today.
He could bring up the information he had obtained then.
Ferris set aside his thoughts about Necros and moved on to the next topic.
“So, what is the situation with the other representatives?”
For him, who sought hegemony, grasping his comrades’ movements was essential.
“Yes. Lady Laila has recently been having difficulties with human trafficking. With the kingdom’s crackdowns intensifying, the situation does not look favorable. Because of this, she is planning to expand into regions outside the Kingdom of Seil.”
The subordinate’s report continued.
Laila, who ran her business through human trafficking, was said to be struggling recently due to the Kingdom of Seil’s intensified crackdowns.
In the end, she was making plans to turn her eyes to other regions besides the Kingdom of Seil, though whether that would go well remained to be seen.
‘Still, this is unexpected. To think they even found out information like that.’
Ferris’s informants had always been capable.
However, monitoring fellow representatives was a highly difficult task.
The other representatives also knew Ferris was an information broker, so they would have prepared accordingly.
If he tried to investigate any deeper, he would surely have his tail caught instead.
‘Then everything would come to nothing.’
Now was not the time to make enemies.
In that sense, monitoring those on the same side required utmost caution.
In such circumstances, uncovering Laila’s plan was quite a major gain.
Viewed from another angle, it could be said that Laila was secretly building up a private force of her own.
‘This could become a rebellion.’
Depending on how this information was used, Laila could be called a pioneer expanding into a new distribution network, or perhaps be made into a woman plotting rebellion by building up forces behind the scenes to bring down the Hand of Jet-Black.
Of course, he had no intention of releasing this information immediately.
Information exerted its greatest power when held in one’s own hand.
“Very good. Then what about Annabel?”
In a better mood, Ferris moved on to the next question.
Annabel, who was in charge of cultivating and distributing narcotics, was the wealthiest of them all.
“It is the same with Lady Annabel. Most of her narcotics cultivation sites have been discovered, dealing her a heavy blow. It seems a large-scale investigation is underway under Queen Irena’s protection. And… we have obtained information on Lady Annabel’s secret cultivation site.”
“Hmm?”
Following Laila, there was also a major gain in the information concerning Annabel.
If handled properly, it was information significant enough to cut off Annabel’s source of funds.
‘I’m unusually lucky today.’
Things were going well. Too well.
Normally, when things went this smoothly, one ought to be suspicious at least once, but Ferris merely nodded.
The kingdom was in turmoil, so the representatives likely had many things to worry about as well.
In the process, holes must have opened in each of their activities.
Believing that, he moved on to the next agenda item.
It was the matter concerning Queen Irena.
“Yes, Lord Ferris. This matter is also connected to Master.”
“Master?”
Why would Master come up in an intelligence report concerning Queen Irena?
When Ferris looked puzzled, the subordinate quickly opened his mouth.
“That is correct. Circumstances have been detected indicating that Queen Irena met with Master, who wore a black mask.”
“……?”
For a moment, he was so shocked that no words came out.
Surely that could not be.
How many informants had he placed on Master until now? Every single attempt had failed.
Master was an extremely thorough individual, and there had been no way to obtain deeper information on him.
And now Master’s movements had been revealed?
‘And he even met Queen Irena?’
It made no sense.
Two possibilities surfaced in Ferris’s mind.
‘Either it wasn’t Master, or it’s a trap.’
Just because someone wore a black mask, it was difficult to conclude that they were definitely Master.
It was more credible that the information was mistaken.
But if it really was Master?
‘If it’s true, why did he move so openly?’
His head grew complicated.
‘Don’t tell me he knew I was watching him and set a trap?’
It was entirely possible.
The fact that he had remained quiet until now and then suddenly moved was unnatural.
‘If I take the bait of this information and bring it up at the meeting….’
Rather, Ferris found it burdensome to bring this information up at the meeting.
Before Master even had to explain why he had met Queen Irena, Ferris would have to reveal why he had been monitoring Master.
If that happened, the others would become suspicious too.
They would wonder whether, if he was monitoring Master, he had not also been monitoring them.
On the other hand, Master had far too many ways out.
He could deny it from the start, or excuse it by saying he had made contact in order to monitor Queen Irena.
Of course, one could ask why he wore a mask when meeting the queen, but if it was Master, he would slip away easily.
‘I’d better bury this as it is.’
Information became more valuable when one could handle the opponent.
If he clashed ambiguously like this, he would likely be the one to suffer instead.
And so Ferris ignored the information concerning Master.
“Indeed, that is a wise choice. Even if you bring it up at the emergency meeting later, Lord Ferris, nothing good will come of it.”
At the subordinate’s words, Ferris nodded.
That was certainly true.
If he gained nothing from attacking half-heartedly, it could hardly be called information.
“Good. The report ends here—”
Ferris suddenly stopped speaking.
He had been about to say, Let us end the report here. I must attend a meeting soon, so withdraw.
Because he needed to start preparing soon in order to attend the emergency meeting hosted by Master.
That was what he had meant to do.
‘How does that man know about the meeting later?’
A strange sense of incongruity swept over his entire body.
The subordinate clearly knew about the emergency meeting.
Meetings were attended only by the representatives, so they were notified directly.
That was Master’s policy.
But now a variable had appeared.
“…….”
It felt as though a chilling sensation was crawling up his spine.
The first thought that came to him was the possibility that information had leaked.
No, if that were the case, then the subordinate before him should have reported it to him.
But he had naturally brought up the meeting to him?
Could he be a spy?
Even so, it made no sense that he had been bought by another representative.
The situation itself was simply wrong somehow.
‘Where did it go wrong?’
Suddenly, he remembered the dream he had had earlier.
When he had just awakened, he had not been able to remember the dream, but now it came back vividly.
‘Annabel appeared in the dream.’
Annabel had said something, and then her head twisted grotesquely.
Thinking back on it now, it had indeed been a nightmare.
But at that moment, a thought flashed through Ferris’s mind.
He did not know why the thought occurred to him, but Ferris spoke to his subordinate.
“By any chance… has a letter arrived for me?”
A tremor was mixed into his voice.
“Ah, as it happens, one letter has arrived addressed to you, Lord Ferris.”
Ferris accepted the letter the subordinate handed him.
At the familiar texture, he narrowed his eyes.
‘Was it an invitation?’
He had not even opened the letter, yet he had a guess as to what would be written inside.
When he finally read the contents of the letter, goosebumps rose over his skin.
It was exactly as he had thought.
The letter was an invitation sent by the man called Necros, who had taken over Malcolm’s territory.
As he stared at that invitation, his head began to ache as though it would split apart.
“Guh!”
At the same time, countless scenes flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.
—Ah, I made a mistake, didn’t I?
The words that had come from Annabel’s mouth.
But the voice that came from her mouth was not Annabel’s.
The sight, which should surely have been a dream, felt vivid.
And that was not all.
- Master, why are you wearing a white mask?
In the scene inside her head, Ferris herself was speaking.
Even though she had never said such a thing.
The scene continued to flow on.
- Ah, I forgot.
It was not Master’s voice.
Like water flowing through a valley, another scene appeared.
- I left out the person called Darkmore, didn’t I?
This time, Laila spoke.
Naturally, it was not Laila’s voice.
In another scene, Annabel and Laila spoke to each other.
- Isn’t Master trying to sell us off?
- Right, right. How about we strike Master first?
But Ferris knew.
Even when all of us rushed at him together, we were subdued by Master, so how could we attack him?
At Ferris’s words, Annabel and Laila merely looked at each other and smiled.
But their eyes were not smiling.
- We failed, didn’t we?
Their mouths moved at the same time.
An eerie laugh echoed from all directions.
The Ferris within the scene backed away in terror.
But from within the darkness, sharp nails stretched out and seized her arm.
The scene kept changing.
- Now, this place is the monster arena.
The monster arena in Malcolm’s territory.
And before Ferris’s eyes stood a figure wearing a white mask.
- I am Necros.
The scene changed once more.
Now the scenes were becoming jumbled together.
The Master she had seen at the meeting removed his black mask, and a white mask sprang out.
- I am Necros.
Why?
Why was Master introducing himself as Necros?
- Now, this place is the monster arena. I thank you for accepting my invitation.
And before Ferris’s eyes stood Master, wearing a black mask.
- I am Necros.
When Master removed his mask, a skeletal face was revealed.
What is this? What is this?
Her mind was chaos itself.
Strange sights, impossible to distinguish as reality or dream, unfolded like a panorama.
Annabel and Laila, Master and Necros….
Their faces mingled like a kaleidoscope.
If she thought any further, it felt as though her head would burst.
The skeleton opened its mouth.
I am Necros. I am Master. I am Necros. I am Master. I am Necros. I am Master. I am Necros. I am Master.
“Hah!”
Ferris came to her senses.
Before her eyes, her subordinate was still kneeling, head bowed.
‘Was it a dream?’
But something felt off.
Ferris slowly opened her mouth.
“You. What’s your name?”
“…….”
The subordinate said nothing.
“Raise your head.”
Ferris carefully gripped the dagger lying beside her.
Then she watched the subordinate as he lifted his head.
“……!”
At the subordinate’s ghastly appearance, her heart seemed to stop.
There was nothing on his face.
His eyes, nose, and mouth had all vanished, leaving only skin behind.
A startled scream rose all the way to her throat, but she could not even make a proper sound.
Only the hand holding the dagger trembled violently.
“What a shame. I thought it would succeed this time, but it seems I approached you too hastily.”
“W-what is this!”
The chilling voice struck Ferris’s ears.
“Ferris, your mental strength is quite impressive, isn’t it? Annabel and Laila have already come over, you see.”
The creature was spouting incomprehensible words.
“This is your twenty-sixth exploration of the illusion, so let us meet again soon in the twenty-seventh.”
Far away in the darkness, she sensed eyes flashing red.
At that sight, Ferris clenched her teeth.
Her vision grew distant.
A fear that felt as if it would drive her mad wrapped around her entire body.
“P-please….”
Only then did she remember.
She had definitely taken Necros’s invitation and headed to Malcolm’s territory.
When she examined the memories that surfaced again, Annabel and Laila had been beside her.
Master and Darkmore had not been there.
Just where did the truth begin and end?
Could she even trust the memory that had just surfaced?
“Please… stop.”
A wave of nausea rose from the headache.
Even as she struggled to escape this place, she only sank deeper and deeper into the mire.
Black mist covered her vision.
Her consciousness gradually blurred.
Cold hands sprang out from the darkness and strangled Ferris’s neck.
She could not breathe.
“I don’t want to die….”
The darkness was slowly swallowing everything.
Soon after, a voice came from within the darkness.
“Now, from this moment on, you will explore within the illusion.”
………
……
…
“……!”
Ferris opened her eyes, gasping for breath.
Cold sweat trickled down her forehead, and her back was already soaked through.
The scene before her eyes was terribly familiar.
A quiet, dark space.
It was indeed the place where she stayed.
“…What was that just now?”
It felt as though she had had some kind of nightmare.
But she could not let her work be ruined over a single dream.
Ferris collected herself and tried to proceed with her duties.
“Come in.”
* * *
“Lord Necros. I apologize. Unlike Laila and Annabel, this one’s mental strength is extraordinary.”
Kaleido bowed his head toward Necros.
Necros looked at Ferris, who had fallen into a deep sleep.
It had begun with Laila.
After hearing from Celia that women within the kingdom were being abducted, Necros made his move.
And he realized that Laila was behind it.
He kidnapped Laila and used Kaleido’s illusion magic to extract information.
Through Laila, he learned of Annabel.
After Annabel came the current Ferris.
“Clack, clack, clack.”
Necros said something.
Kaleido relayed Necros’s words exactly to Annabel and Laila, who stood beside him.
“You two are to return to your duties. I will contact you later.”
“Understood. Master.”
Annabel and Laila bowed their heads toward Necros as they answered.
Necros was currently wearing a white mask, but they called him Master.
They had awakened from the illusion, but the nightmare was not yet over.