EP.142 Goodbye, Tantalus
"…A perfect plan, you say. For something like that."
Jiseon, having poured a drink, spoke to me again.
"You seem to be wearing a regretful expression."
"Pardon?"
"Why is it that you threw me away, yet still harbor regrets? Do you have lingering attachments?"
I let it show a little, didn't I.
Tch, Jiseon. Don't try to read the face of a mind-reader. Reading minds is my specialty.
"Well, just a little."
People pretend to despise those who indulge in extravagance, yet secretly envy them. They project themselves onto those who casually do what they cannot, and derive pleasure from it.
That extravagance isn't limited to money alone. The more precious something is to me, the higher the value of that extravagance.
Especially if it's something as precious as life… it goes beyond envy, becoming downright captivating.
"But I can't help it. Unlike them, I really do die easily. I have to be more careful."
"You say your life is precious with your words, yet I cannot understand it at all. Lord Hughes. Allow this humble one to ask."
Jiseon, having finished bowing twice to the Grand Master, suddenly looked up at me. Behind those calmly settled eyes, intent and emotion were surging violently.
"This humble one was not chosen by the Grand Master, yet Lord Hughes forced a choice upon the Grand Master. Thanks to that, this humble one lost both an arm and justification. The efforts all this time have come to naught."
Jiseon glared as he spoke.
"Why should such a person spare Lord Hughes's life?"
A question thrown at me with killing intent enough to send a chill down my spine. I smiled ambiguously.
If you were going to kill me, you'd have done it already.
There's also no reason to kill me for nothing.
Your original goal was the destruction of the Abyss, wasn't it?
I'm the one who appeased the Grand Master's spirit.
Many reasons came to mind, but I chose the one the other party would like the most.
"If you spare me, I'll eventually expose the Seonghwangcheong for you."
"…Hah."
Whether the tension momentarily left him, blood slightly seeped from his severed shoulder. It was that unexpected a proposal.
Jiseon wrapped his only remaining arm around his shoulder and chuckled with his head down.
"…Seriously?"
"I can't guarantee such a thing will happen. Since neither of us are prophets, we can only see what's right in front of us. But someday, when I discover the Seonghwangcheong's dirty secrets. I'll use this clan of destruction to make things difficult for them."
"Tempting. If it actually comes to pass, that is."
"Want to pinky-swear? Oh, that might be difficult for someone missing an arm."
The area above the pit grew noisy. The soldiers who had been suppressed were regrouping and starting to move again. Jiseon glanced toward the sound and spoke.
"Rather than pretending not to see, I should actually help you."
"I'll find my way out on my own. Just don't report me."
Immediately after, the soldiers who had regained their senses all rushed toward the outskirts of the Abyss. I hid among the corpses, avoiding their gaze.
With the searchlights gone, they only had dim illumination. Having thrown their lights inward, they were horrified to see the corpses the Abyss had hidden.
"Aaaah! Bodies!"
"I know. This is the burial ground of the Hegemons! Their corpses must have remained here…! I remember learning this in school!"
The commanding officer shouted.
"Lower the ladders!"
"I-inside there?"
"Yes! Without searchlights, we have to go down and check ourselves! Anyway, who was the one talking back just now? Since when did anyone talk back to lawful orders?"
The soldiers hastily lowered the ladders. The commanding officer shouted at the slow-witted soldier as he climbed down the ladder.
"Search thoroughly! Don't be afraid of stepping on corpses! If you're scared of stepping on them, you can't make them either…! That's why you were so helpless earlier!"
'He was helpless too, though….'
A nearby soldier thought while glancing at the commanding officer. Fortunately, that thought remained just a thought.
Continuing their search by lantern light, they eventually reached the top of the corpse mountain. The commanding officer, recognizing Jiseon, rushed over.
"Loyalty! I am Captain Keioshin of the Wasteland Search Unit! Reporting to the Brigadier General…! Oh my! Good heavens! Brigadier General, your arm…!"
When the soldiers arrived, Jiseon, who had been kneeling reverently before the Grand Master, staggered to his feet.
"Pay it no mind. A minor injury."
"That can't be…! First, emergency treatment!"
Good. Now.
While everyone's attention was fixated over there, I climbed up the ladder they had lowered.
A soldier who had remained in the rear shone a dim light at me and asked.
"Hey, what's going on?"
I shouted, pretending to be urgent.
"The Brigadier General is critically wounded! Medic! Get a medic, quick!"
"Medics? They're tending to the wounded right now."
"You idiot! Brigadier General Jiseon's right arm is gone! If this continues, Jiseon, who built this nation, will die of blood loss! Are you trying to bring such disgrace upon us? Quick, call all the medics who are tending to the wounded!"
Overwhelmed by my forceful demeanor, the officer grumbled as he stepped back to call the medics. Then, shaking his head, he returned and demanded.
"Hey, but who are you to speak so informally? I'm the unit commander…"
But I was no longer there. The deputy tilted his head in confusion.
Abandoned automatic carriages filled the area. Vehicles with thick wheels, designed for patrolling the wasteland. Humming to myself, I walked along popping each wheel one by one.
The outer part of the wheels is sturdy, but the inner part is relatively soft. Every time I passed, an automatic carriage would slump to one side.
Boarding a carriage I'd kept my eye on, I tossed my backpack inside and started the engine. Rattle. The sound of wheels engaging with the steering wheel reached me. The chassis vibrated roughly. I whistled as I pressed the pedal.
I'd popped all the other wheels on the way here, so even if they noticed something was off, they wouldn't be able to give chase. Glancing back, it seemed they didn't even have the presence of mind for that anyway.
"Alright. I pulled off one thing at least."
It's a fine vehicle that can roll even without roads, but being military-issue is a flaw. If I take this onto a road, it'll draw all sorts of suspicion. It's just a shame I have to abandon it after going a reasonable distance.
Tantalus, risen above ground, came into view. I circled around Tantalus, blocking my line of sight, savoring the speed.
"Now then. What should I do next…"
Actually, what I needed to do was already decided.
In this merciless world, you can't even obtain an identity without money. Whether going to another country or laundering your identity to hide, money is demanded in the process.
Money is the oxygen of today's world.
First, I need to go to the back alleys of Amitengrad, the capital of the Military Nation, and retrieve my hidden assets. I need to liquidate them too.
And there are things I need to look into.
Alright. The decision is made. Since the destination is set, I should just enjoy the scenery for now.
A structure massive enough to be compared to geographical features filled my left field of vision. A concrete floor of about one story, and the tragically shattered prison building atop it looked desolate.
I looked up at the nearby building and fell into sentiment.
All sorts of things happened in that building. Eating, sleeping, playing with Ajirang, occasionally fighting, then sleeping soundly again.
Hmm, thinking about it like that, nothing special happened.
But isn't that collection of uneventful moments what living is? Is there really a need to赋予 such special meaning to life? Isn't being happy just from that what truly constitutes a real life?
The broken prison now seems to try to hold not my body, but my heart. Though I won't enter it again, it will forever imprison a fragment of my memories.
Goodbye, Tantalus. The place containing my special experiences….
Bang.
Then I collided with something. The automatic carriage jolted violently up and down, and the engine stopped. Having slammed my head into the steering wheel, I quickly opened the driver's door and shouted.
"Ah, shit! Watch where you're driving!"
I shouted reflexively, but no answer came back. Come to think of it, there wasn't really anything else nearby to collide with.
What on earth did I hit? Did I run over something strange?
Going around to the back of the vehicle, I discovered a strange object.
"What's this, a signpost?"
A signpost that had risen from the ground was snapped limply from the middle.
Where have I seen this before? There's a sense of déjà vu, but it's not quite coming to me. I struggled for a while before recalling the memory and snapped my fingers.
Ah, right. The officers escorting me. They saw this signpost and stopped, didn't they? It was the signpost that marked the end of the road.
I definitely heard a signal corps member's voice from here, and the guards threw me down below according to that order.
"Hmm. Come to think of it, it was Inspector Evian of Edelfight. I completely forgot."
How dare they swing a steel rod at me? Just recalling it makes my bones go cold. The suppressed resentment crept out little by little.
Alright. I have a place to go before returning to Amitengrad. Let's drop by Edelfight first and beat up that inspector.
It was when I was about to get back in the vehicle. Near the signpost, I saw the ground cracked in a grid pattern. It seemed oddly artificial to attribute it to the ground splitting when Tantalus flipped over.
Could it be?
I approached that direction, grabbed the grid-patterned cracked ground, and tore it off. The ground lifted as easily as a layer of skin.
As expected, it was fake ground. Did it get exposed by the impact when Tantalus collapsed?
There, beneath what I had peeled away, was an ugly, crumpled square metal structure.
The design was closer to a box than a building. It looked like a box hidden underground had slipped out from the impact when the tilted Tantalus crashed into the ground.
"What's this? Did they hide some treasure?"
Judging by the size, it looked like a large room, but no one could live in something like this. Who would live in a metal box buried underground? They must have hidden something inside.
My hunting and gathering instincts kicked in for the first time in a while. I drew out my pick and climbed atop the box. Clang, came the hollow sound of metal.
"Checking a gift box is always fun."
I wonder what's inside. Whistling, I inserted the pick into the crumpled gap and began my work.
However, no matter how much I pried, I couldn't open the box. The lock showed no response no matter how much I prodded, and though I shoved the pick into the crumpled gap, nothing caught. I clicked my tongue and threw the pick aside.
"Tch. What's the point of reading people's hearts if I can't read a lock's heart."
Come to think of it, I've never picked a lock from scratch. I've either stolen keys or figured out passwords.
Tch. It's a shame to just leave it like this…. What should I do?
Steel crumpled by a massive impact. I can peek inside through the twisted joints.
Hmm. If I had just a bit more strength, or if I were heavier, I could probably open this.
"Shall I test it just once."
I placed both hands on the steel box.
It was originally an Earth Art of the Jimoshin Church that could only be used when one's mind-scape connected with the Earth Mother God. Therefore, only the Earth Mother God's devotees could use it.
But now that the Grand Master's secret has been revealed to the world, I can probably use it too. Like formulaic magic or basic qi techniques.
I concentrated my mind and recalled Jiseon and the Grand Master.
To them, the earth flows. From the life dwelling within it, it is a existence that moves through myriad transformations by the great flow of nature. An Earth Art is a technique that brings about changes in the earth that would normally take decades, thousands of years to occur.
It may be steel, but it originated from the earth. I grasped the faintly felt sensation and cast Earth Art toward the steel door.
"Heup!"
Crash.
The door panel collapsed. My body fell to the ground according to the law of gravity. Having suffered a mishap, I tumbled across the hard floor.
"Owowow."
Groaning, I stood up, and what met my eyes was a space overflowing with signs of life.
Or rather, should I say it has signs of life, or should I say it doesn't?
"It really was a room."
Someone had definitely lived inside this box. The furniture filling the narrow box was all thoroughly worn from use.
But what kind of person could possibly live confined in such a narrow space? In that sense, this overflowing sense of livelihood instead felt like an absurd drama.
"Set, Lux."
Anyway, there might be something I could scavenge even from here. I illuminated the dark interior with formulaic magic and proceeded.
"Huh."
As I continued searching, something caught my eye.