Chapter 69: S1. A Fish That Can Only Live in Muddy Waters (2)

[69] S1. A Fish That Can Only Live in Muddy Waters (2)

Betelgeuse Laboratory,

an underground world located beneath the Gala Horn mountain range in the north.

In this sunless place, time was practically meaningless, especially for the test subjects.

It was simply a repetition of being dragged to the lab, and if you were lucky enough to come back alive, then you’d collapse from exhaustion.

Days and seasons were irrelevant to this routine. All that mattered was that tomorrow wouldn’t be the day you died.

It is a man-made hell, a metaphor for a cruel life, a nightmare you can’t wake up from…

…That is, if you’ve given up hope.

It was the one day a week they were allowed some time in the sun.

Shafiq, shackled with restraints twice as heavy as those of the other test subjects, stepped outside.

Two golems were behind him, and a magical device hovered in the sky, watching him.

Treatment befitting a ‘Special Test Subject.’

And besides, this ‘time in the sun’ wasn’t exactly relaxing.

As I said before, the Betelgeuse Laboratory was located in the Gala Horn Mountains. And the only entrance was halfway up the mountain.

Meaning, it’s damn cold.

Shafiq chattered his teeth, shivering, and then looked around.

The other test subjects, too, were shivering from the cold. However, among them, there were some who seemed different.

For example, there was a man with white hair crawling on the ground, all while shivering violently.

Blind, he was feeling around with his blunt wrists, moving around.

Shafiq, looking at him, felt a surge of disbelief, but he quickly pushed it down.

I’ve already agreed to do it, I thought.

At least, I should do my part properly.

Shafiq stopped in his place and took a deep breath.

[Elf, keep moving. You need enough sunlight or your bones will…]

“For Mother World Tree!!”

And then, Shafiq slammed his shoulder into one of the golems with all his might.

The golem stumbled.

The chains that were binding Shafiq to the golem’s hand slipped off.

But Shafiq didn’t run toward the cliff.

“The grudge you’ve made me carry for 300 years!! I’ll have my revenge!”

He climbed onto the fallen golem and then started pounding on its body with his shackled arm.

Of course, it didn’t even leave a scratch on the golem. In fact, it was more painful for him than the golem.

But, gritting his teeth, he hit it even harder.

He needed to buy enough time.

[Halt, Elf. If you continue, we’ll have no choice but to…]

“Shut up, you tin can bastard!!”

Shafiq swung his restraints at the approaching golem, the golem’s heavy body tilted again, then crashed onto the ground with a loud bang.

At that moment, he felt a surge of joy for the first time in a long time. It was as if all his bottled-up anger was being released.

And what followed that was baseless confidence.

Shafiq raised his fist and shouted,

“Come at me, you bastards! I am Shafiq de Fasitao Rodiner si Olaminea kun… Uebebebebeb!!”

Eyes rolling back into his head, his body convulsing violently.

Then, he collapsed onto the ground.

A lightning magic circle was now hovering above the back of his neck.

The golem, picking up an unconscious Shafiq, said in a strangely tired voice,

[Crazy elf subdued, returning.]

Then it walked towards the entrance to the laboratory.

…Not noticing a prisoner swallowing something in the corner.

***

The golem tossed Shafiq onto the floor of their cell.

He landed face first, ungracefully.

But even after the golem was gone, he couldn’t bring himself to get up.

The reason for this was simple.

[You okay?]

The man, no, Rem, holding a piece of charcoal between his teeth, was writing on the wall. Shafiq looked at him and then down at his limbs.

His arms and legs were bent in directions they shouldn’t.

Shafiq grimaced and replied.

“Not really.”

[I thought they’d be less harsh on Special Test Subjects…]

“Special Test Subject, my ass. To them, I’m already a used-up item they’ve already researched as much as they can. They’re just keeping me because I’m hard to replace.”

And that too is probably coming to an end. Shafiq added cynically. Then he looked at his arm.

To be precise, at a small hole in his arm.

He didn’t know what it was for, but it was definitely not a good sign.

[I’m sorry. If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve been the bait instead…]

“For fuck sakes. Did you get it?”

Rem shrugged at Shafiq’s question and then shoved his wrist into his mouth.

“You son of a…! ”

Shafiq instinctively turned his head away.

Then came the sound of someone gagging.

“…You done?”

He heard a sound of tapping coming from the wall as a response. Slowly, Shafiq turned to look back at Rem.

Rem was wiping his mouth, and in front of him, a pile of herbs soaked in vomit.

Rem nodded and began to rummage through the herbs with his foot.

Shafiq, once again, turned away at the disgusting sight.

Staring at the darkness beyond the iron bars, he let his thoughts wander.

In the end, he had decided to join Rem’s plan.

And there were three reasons for this.

First, Rem’s plan wouldn’t put him in danger.

Meaning, even if the plan failed, Shafiq wouldn’t be labeled as an accomplice. Rem’s plan was one where he would be taking on almost all the risks.

Second, Rem was the most capable person he’d ever met among humans so far.

He’d seen talented thieves, alchemists, and mages during his time here,

but Rem was the first who was good at all three.

He could create potions by mixing weeds and excrement without hands,

and could steal anything from the labs, despite being blind.

He had even managed to disable all the magical security systems, despite being mute.

To be honest, Shafiq couldn’t even understand how he had been captured.

And last but not least, the third reason…

“You know you’re crazy, right?”

Shafiq turned back around.

Rem was crushing herbs with a stone.

“You’re saying you’re going to pretend to be dead to escape? And then come back and rescue me? Not even a madman would come up with something like that.”

Rem’s feet stop.

Then, he picks up a piece of charcoal with his foot and writes on the wall.

[To begin with, isn’t just trying to escape from here insane?]

Shafiq chuckled. He had no words to refute.

Rem also grinned, then wrote with the charcoal again.

[And besides, I have to go back.]

As he wrote this, There seemed to be a lot more meaning in the charcoal words and in his expression.

Shafiq stared at him, and then, without realizing it, asked,

“What are you going to do when you get out?”

A bewildered expression spread across Rem’s face. It was the same with Shafiq.

He wasn’t the type to ask such a thing. To him, others were just potential corpses.

It was the same when he’d plotted an escape with other test subjects.

Shafiq had only provided information, he didn’t get directly involved. And on the day of the escape, he had turned back, abandoning the others.

Back then, he’d excused himself, saying that it didn’t seem possible.

But the truth was…

Shafiq shook his head, pushing the thoughts away. He asked gruffly,

“What, I can’t even ask that?”

Rem had a strange look on his face.

Then he picked up the charcoal and started writing.

[I’m going to apologize.]

“Apologize?”

[Yeah, there’s someone I didn’t properly apologize to.]

*You’re risking your life for something like that?*

Shafiq, unable to understand, asked,

“And after that?”

Rem’s face suddenly darkened, but only for a moment. Then, he slowly wrote on the wall.

[Come back here.]

For a moment, Shafiq doubted his own eyes. But an elf’s eyes couldn’t be wrong.

Without realizing it, he shouted,

“Are you really fucking crazy?! You’re saying you’re going to go through all that to escape and then come back here?! What kind of crazy nonse…!”

[This is where I belong.]

“Bullshit, what kind of person would do something worthy of ending up in this hellhole…”

[I killed people.]

A bitter smile spread across Rem’s face.

[72 people, the way people are killed here.]

Then he lowered his head, and continued writing weakly with his foot.

[So I have to stay here…]

“Why did you kill them?”

Rem looked at Shafiq in surprise. But Shafiq simply replied nonchalantly.

“You idiot, you think I don’t know? Of course you’re a criminal. Only those kinds of bastards end up here. Of course, I’m an exception.”

Betelgeuse Laboratory,

it’s a man-made hell.

Murderers, swindlers, and cultists.

A place where the worst criminals, carefully selected by the Magic Tower, are punished.

Shafiq, who’d been rotting away in this place for 300 years, knew that very well.

In the first place, that was one of the reasons he didn’t associate with other test subjects.

“But, from what I’ve seen… You seem like a bastard with a reason, so I’m asking. Why?”

It seemed like it was the first time anyone had asked Rem that question.

His arms tremble, and his expression crumbles.

But after a moment, he picked up the charcoal again with his foot.

[Because I was hungry.]

[And because others did it too.]

Shafiq raised an eyebrow.

Rem continued to write on the wall.

[I lived in the slums from the day I was born.]

[It was a place where killing people was as natural as breathing]

[For a piece of bread, for a few coins, to protect their pride.]

[I can’t even remember how many times I was stabbed with rusty knives.]

[And I can’t remember how many times I gave in to threats and gave them the food I had.]

Rem’s foot stopped,

but soon it started moving again.

[Of course, I tried to get out.]

[I was adopted once, and I even sought refuge at a church.]

[But I guess my life was destined to be a mess.]

He showed his blunt wrist and his empty eye socket, a testament to those lessons.

[In the end, I always ended up back in the slums.]

[I moved from one city to another, but slums are similar everywhere you go.]

[I tried to live honestly, at least.]

[I can’t say that I’ve never committed a crime, but I tried not to kill anyone.]

[I didn’t want to cross that line.]

Rem’s foot trembled.

[But one day, I reached my limit.]

[It was during a famine in winter, and the city’s boss had it out for me.]

[He said a blind, handless cripple like me was defiling the city.]

[And his methods of harassment were pathetic.]

[Whether I begged for food or picked up scraps from the ground.]

[Those beggars would come find me, beat me up, and steal it from me.]

[For two weeks.]

Shafiq’s face darkened.

[Do you know what happens to a person when they starve for two weeks?]

[You can’t even think properly.]

[It’s like… your brain is glued to your stomach.]

[What’s worse, your body doesn’t have any strength left.]

[I was lying there, feeling myself die.]

[And then a devil came to me.]

Rem’s face contorted.

[He came up to me and poured a potion down my throat.]

[It gave me energy, but it didn’t fill my stomach.]

[Then he said he’d give me food if I brought him a beggar, any beggar.]

[If it was too hard to bring them, he told me to use this whistle to call him once I found one.]

A long sigh escaped Rem.

[When I came to my senses, I was standing in front of a beggar.]

[It was the one who tormented me the most.]

[And I had a stone in my hand.]

Rem’s foot stopped again.

This time the pause was long.

The letters he started to write again were clumsy and crooked, full of emotion.

[I tried to go back.]

[But then suddenly I had this thought.]

[Why do I have to live like such an idiot?]

[Those bastards just kill and steal without a second thought.]

[Just yesterday, I saw someone kill another just because of standing in the way.]

[So why should I hesitate?]

[Why am I being such a stu…]

*Snap*. The charcoal broke.

It was the moment when Rem’s contorted expression became blank. Then, with a sad expression, he picked up another piece of charcoal with his foot.

[The first time is always hard.]

[And the devil kept his promise.]

[Not only that, but he promised even more rewards.]

[So I didn’t stop.]

[It got easier and easier.]

[The guilt faded.]

[Everyone else was doing it anyway.]

[And even those who weren’t… they would have done the same if they were in my position.]

[I didn’t want to live like an idiot and then die.]

[And the more I killed, the more I was able to get things I’d never even dreamed of.]

[Power, fame, friends, recognition, money.]

[Even love.]

[That’s how I killed 72 people.]

Rem looked like he was on the verge of collapse.

He barely managed to continue writing.

[And then… my friend died.]

[Because of what I did.]

[It was then that I realized.]

[What it meant for a human to die.]

[And what it meant to kill someone.]

[The weight it carries.]

[What a terrible monster I had become.]

Then, with much difficulty, he wrote,

[So… that’s why I have to come back here.]

*Thud*, the sound of the charcoal falling from his toes.

He lowered his head silently.

And Shafiq was speechless.

He’d thought there would be some kind of reason, but he hadn’t imagined it to be so complicated. And he didn’t know what to say.

Shafiq didn’t know anything but this hellhole.

Comfort and encouragement. They were foreign concepts to him.

[Well, that’s the gist of it.]

But thankfully, it seemed that Rem didn’t expect him to say anything.

He shrugged and picked up another piece of charcoal. Then he wrote,

[What are you going to do when we get out?]

It was an unexpected attack.

“…Me?”

[Don’t you think it’s unfair for you to just sit there while I tell you everything?]

Shafiq was speechless.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally sighing and saying,

“I don’t know.”

[This bastard, you’re shameless. I told you everything, but you can’t even tell me…]

“No, I really don’t know, you idiot.”

Looking at the ceiling, Shafiq continued,

“I was brought here when I was a child. Even by your human standards.”

300 years, that’s a long time, even for a long-lived species.

In fact, Shafiq couldn’t even remember how he was captured anymore.

All that remained were the faint pain and fear, like old scars.

It was the same with his other memories.

He couldn’t remember, or even imagine, anything outside this hell.

All that remained was,

the scenery of the world tree that he saw in his dreams.

“So… I don’t know.”

Many things were hidden within those few words.

Would anyone even remember him, if he were to return to the World Tree?

No, is the world tree even the place he remembers?

Could it be nothing more than a fantasy, created by pain and suffering?

Is the outside world really the place he desires?

Shafiq shook his head, pushing the thoughts away, and said,

“But still, I don’t want to die here. Okay?”

Then he turned his back on Rem.

“I’m going to sleep.”

One of the advantages of talking to Rem was that he could just turn his head and ignore the conversation.

Sighing inwardly, he closed his eyes.

Then, suddenly, a thought came to mind, and he muttered without realizing it.

“… They say that some fish can only live in muddy waters. Pathetic, isn’t it? ”

Silence.

Then came the sound of charcoal scribbling across the wall.

But instead of turning around, Shafiq gave into sleep.

He didn’t need consolation.

That night, for the first time, Shafiq didn’t dream of the world tree.

Instead, he dreamed of a fish, suffocating, dying in clean water.

…

…

…

And then came the day of the escape.