Ch.29Marcy (1)

“Do you like little kids?”

Following me, she pokes my side with her tail. I didn’t particularly want to respond, but.

“Is that kind of child your type?”

Or.

“Are you a pervert?”

Or.

“Pervert.”

After hearing that, I couldn’t just stay quiet. I had too many counterarguments.

“First of all, Melody is an adult.”

This was closer to an assumption, but there was a high probability it was true.

The time difference between Grim Darker’s first work and second work was 1 year, and between the second and third was 3 years.

Melody, who appeared from the second work, was 15 years old, so I thought she must be at least the same age as me by now.

Of course, if there was no time difference between the third main story and DLC, and not much time had passed since I was possessed, that would be a different story.

Anyway, I firmly believed Melody was an adult.

“Second, I never said Melody was my type.”

“You’re already calling her by name. You like small girls like that, don’t you?”

There she goes again. I sighed but couldn’t say anything.

Considering how many times this conversation had repeated, it was understandable. It took superhuman patience just to avoid sighing.

But who am I?

Wasn’t I the warrior who struggled up the highest and most honorable lane among teammates who felt even more like orphans than me, leading them to victory?

I barely held back, just as I had before getting chat-banned, and said:

“I told you to call her Mel. The fact that I don’t call her that should be proof enough, I think.”

Indeed, Isla seemed to have no response to that. She quieted down and just kept poking my cheek with her long finger.

“Then do you like me, or do you like her?”

What a blatant question. I deliberately chose not to answer. Isla was annoyed by this and kept bothering me, but.

Even that had to stop eventually.

Before we knew it, we had reached the city.

The wind that blew was salty. Somehow strangely humid, and also strangely stinging.

It was an unfamiliar wind to me, who had never been to the sea in my life, but I could infer what it was from descriptions I’d heard.

The sea.

The only city in the New Continent with a coastline, and a port deliberately developed for expeditions to the New Continent.

We weren’t even close yet, but I could tell the sea was there. Even I, who had never been to the sea in my life, could tell.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

As Isla said, unless you were like me with “express delivery” through the sky, everyone had to pass through this port.

Because of that, various aspects of the city revealed themselves from its outskirts.

Mages, mercenaries, killers.

People who looked like beastkin but might be shapeshifters, and even nobles who seemed to have been driven from the continent for political reasons.

It was different from other places I’d been to in the New Continent.

It didn’t feel narrow or confined to a single faction.

A vast city that could be called a melting pot, with various factions and diverse human groups.

That was Marsi, the only port city in the New Continent.

“Leave it to me. Unlike that woman who dumped you, I’ll take proper care of you.”

For some reason, Isla was burning with rivalry toward Melody and tried to prove her usefulness to me, but.

She never got the chance.

Contrary to her claim of knowing the place well, things were different from her memories right from the entrance.

“Two silver coins.”

Despite what she said about there being no administrators, there were gatekeepers collecting passage fees from the entrance, and.

“That inn? It burned down and disappeared long ago.”

The inn where Isla said she knew people who could provide information and lodging had been gone for a long time.

“Those guys either fled or were killed, probably.”

Even the people Isla said she had crossed the sea with and settled here with had disappeared.

By sunset, Isla’s ears, which were usually perked up, drooped as she wore a gloomy expression.

“I’m useless.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“That woman would be more useful than me.”

“…Well.”

“Why aren’t you denying it? Should I cry?”

Unfortunately, all the information and supply networks she had in this city had been neutralized.

If she were an extremely famous person, this could be considered an attack targeting her, but considering the political situation of the New Continent.

I thought this was closer to simple elimination of the weak. That’s how the port city of Marsi was coming across to me, quite differently from my first impression.

It was evident just by looking a little deeper into the city.

Everyone walking the streets was on edge and vigilant.

Sometimes they were wary of each other, and sometimes of some power they couldn’t suppress.

In any case, it was clear they were ready to fight at any moment.

It was unfortunate for Isla, but even just the tense atmosphere explained a lot.

This place reminded me of the Empire in the midst of civil war.

A place where violence was common and those who couldn’t protect themselves died first.

I didn’t think we could get information under friendly conditions.

It was also an unfamiliar type of environment for me.

Whatever my current body was like, I had lived in places with good public safety, and the place I had been possessed in for a year was like a greenhouse where violence was removed.

I didn’t know how to behave in a place like this.

I had experienced civil war in the second series, but I couldn’t act the same way as in the game.

Because I could see the actions, heartbeats, and expressions of the people passing by.

I was immersed in this situation. Because I was experiencing it firsthand.

I couldn’t kill passing people for experience points like in a game, nor could I just listen to their circumstances and move on.

Plus, there was what I had experienced recently.

The experience of thinking I was luring black mages, but actually being led on myself.

And how Melody had used my mistakes as information.

There were many constraints preventing me from acting rashly. Constraints I had placed on myself.

This time, I wanted to approach as perfectly as possible. Without flaws, without making mistakes.

That’s why I had relied on Isla, but.

“I’m sorry.”

Isla said with her ears drooping.

What could I say to that? I sat with Isla in front of a broken fountain and patted her shoulder.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. It’s not like you could have predicted this.”

We knew nothing about Marsi. Only that it was a port city and that the intelligence department had been annihilated.

Isla’s information network had been completely neutralized, and I had no experience with the New Continent to use my game knowledge.

I thought there might be parts I could infer, but even that was ambiguous.

We were at a complete loss. While I was racking my brain about where to start.

Suddenly, a commotion spread from the square. The commotion, extending in the direction of the sea breeze, had a directionality to it.

A commotion that seemed to lead to the sea. I took Isla’s hand, got up, and led the drooping snow leopard toward the sea.

Loud noises, people’s shouts, busy conversations, and chaotic air.

I cut through the bewildering scene. With Isla’s tail tickling my wrist and her cold hand firmly in mine, I pushed through the crowd.

I didn’t know why. I just instinctively felt that something was waiting for me at the shore.

But I couldn’t ignore the voices I heard while cutting through the crowd and procession.

“A ship. A ship has arrived.”

“A ship from the Old Continent! An Imperial ship!”

“The Empire?”

“Shouldn’t we run away?”

“Run!”

Despite the chaotic sounds, no one was actually running away. The reason soon became clear.

When I finally reached the shore, my vision was filled with a massive sailing ship.

A huge sailing ship decorated with the Empire’s flag, made of quality wood and magic.

I stopped, feeling crushed by its enormous presence. But thinking about it, I quickly realized that wasn’t it.

What was crushing me and giving me a sense of intimidation wasn’t simply the docked ship.

It was something that had split the ship in two and was lodged in its center.

It was too unfamiliar to recognize at first glance. Only after looking at it for a long time did I realize it was some kind of projectile.

A huge arrow that could only be shot from siege weapons like a ballista or siege crossbow. It had split the ship in two and was sinking it.

What about the people who had been on board? Turning my head, I could see the fate of the crew as well. They were “displayed” not far from the ship.

And I immediately recognized who they were.

“Luwellin.”

The gloom in Isla’s voice lifted. It was more like she couldn’t afford to be sulky anymore given the situation.

The situation was serious. Anyone could see that.

But it was especially serious for us.

“…Fuck.”

Though the word didn’t come from my mouth, it was truly a situation that warranted cursing.

I looked at the countless corpses displayed on skewers at the dock.

Standing upright, they had their heads cut off or severed, and some humans looked as if their heads had exploded completely.

Their attire varied, but it was easy to see this was intentional.

The annihilated Imperial intelligence agents, their supposed auxiliaries, soldiers and mages sent from the Empire.

They were all dead, displayed like decorations on the dock.

With agonized expressions, impaled from bottom to top on spears.

The horrific display, regardless of gender or age, had one thing in common.

They had all been alive until they were displayed here.

It was the work of unimaginable, monstrous strength.

Only then did I understand what had split the ship in two.

It was a spear.

A massive and powerful spear that no human could launch, surely a miracle that only a being beyond human could wield.

After staring at it for a while, I belatedly took Isla’s hand and left the place.