Ch.68Reunion (1)

The battle was over.

In the silence that fell over the vast cavern, I knew this but couldn’t move.

It wasn’t particularly because I was exhausted. Certainly, my body was limp from the grueling fight, but not to the point where I couldn’t move.

The reason I couldn’t move was solely because of the words I’d heard and the status window that had prominently appeared.

I’ve always had good intuition. Even on the day my sister disappeared, hadn’t I felt anxious and uneasy all day?

It was the same now. I sensed that something was wrong.

But not knowing exactly what or how it had gone wrong, I could only stare blankly at the status window.

My level had increased by two.

Perhaps because the enemy was a Blood Mage at level 20, and probably deeply connected to the DLC’s story.

I should be happy about that, but I wasn’t particularly pleased.

Rather, the words the Red Beast had said at the end were eating at me.

‘Beware the Emperor.’

Emperor. There was only one being in this world who could be called Emperor.

The one who was supposed to be safest under the Guardian General’s protection in the Old Continent, supported by the council of five Grand Dukes.

The master of the Empire.

And simultaneously, the most direct collaborator with the Inquisition.

Perhaps that’s why I turned my eyes from the status window to look at Melody.

She elegantly shook her sword clean before sheathing it, then smiled awkwardly at my gaze.

The thought I had almost considered earlier came back to me.

She had been in the port city of Marcy.

Marcy belonged to the Empire, and agents of the Inquisition were helping her cultivate the city into complete Imperial possession.

Probably that axe still stuck in the ashes, the Screamer, was something she had obtained and brought from there.

But the questions that arose from this wouldn’t easily disappear.

“Melody.”

Hearing her name called, Melody changed her awkward smile to a bitter one. Unusually, she opened her eyes and met my gaze.

“How were you able to come here?”

The place where I was now couldn’t be reached directly unless through the Pantheon.

Even at a glance, this city was underground, and unless coming through the Pantheon’s teleporter, it would be difficult to guess that I would be here.

Even for Melody, an outstanding spy excellent at gathering information, there were limits.

She was skilled at drawing conclusions by compiling countless pieces of information, not creating something from nothing.

“How did you know I was here?”

Islah and Lorian approached. Lorian looked tired with a pale complexion, and the armor made of blood was flowing down from her body, staining her clothes red.

Islah was somewhat better, but only “somewhat” at best.

She looked like she could collapse into sleep at any moment. But seeing my serious expression, she covered her mouth as she yawned and gripped her crossbow firmly.

As the escaped vampires gradually gathered around, I tried to organize my confused thoughts with my back to them.

Too many people had died. If I hadn’t become a monster myself, I might have considered them non-human since they were mixed-blood vampires, but after seeing them talk, think, and move, I couldn’t do that.

I couldn’t even hate the Red Beast who had killed them. Though murder under control was still murder, it left a bitter aftertaste.

But I knew that this question was more important than all of that.

Melody stroked her arm while looking at me. Her eyes were filled with complexity.

And I wasn’t being hasty, just not stupid.

“What happened to the Inquisition, or rather, to Marcy?”

At my final question, Melody smiled. With a forced smile, she sighed and said,

“You caught me.”

A somehow familiar expression. It was the face of someone who had lost almost everything.

Sure enough, she said,

“The Empire has betrayed us.”

*

Islah and Lorian didn’t come along.

Because they needed to recover Edilum’s body, bury the dead mixed-blood vampires, and someone had to talk with the mixed-blood vampires about what to do next.

I thanked Lorian, who insisted I go ahead and have the important conversation, and immediately left.

Because there were things I needed to hear.

And rightfully so. Hadn’t she said the Empire had betrayed them?

Islah didn’t care whether it was the Inquisition or the Empire, and Lorian, being of the Blood Clan, had no use for such information.

Naturally, that left me and Melody. I forced my creaking body into a chair, and Melody stared at me blankly.

“We could rest a bit first. I’m not going anywhere.”

“If I have something on my mind, I can’t sleep, and homunculi don’t need sleep anyway.”

“Men who push themselves are my type, though.”

“Don’t deflect with jokes. Tell me.”

As I leaned forward, Melody quietly laughed.

Last time she would have been embarrassed, but the situation was so serious that she showed no such signs.

Still, she gently pushed me back as if my closeness bothered her, yet even that pushing hand was warm.

“What do you mean the Empire betrayed you?”

But my question was relentless. The information was so important that I had even refused to help with the cleanup.

Melody understood this well.

“I know you’re in a hurry, but rushing will only lead to misunderstandings. So calm down… take a deep breath.”

At her short plea, I was about to argue but took a deep breath instead.

“That’s right. Good boy.”

It slightly bothered me that Melody was treating me like a child, but the deep breathing definitely helped.

Seeing my heart settle a bit, Melody leaned forward in the chair where Edilum had once frequently sat.

“That vampire from earlier. Was he someone you knew?”

“Not well. We were just about to become allies.”

“Allies… What happened?”

I briefly wondered how much I should explain, then decided to tell her everything.

Hiding things didn’t suit my temperament anyway.

The Pantheon I found, my face carved there, and my connection to the being called “Father.”

The three clans were searching for this “Father,” which meant my existence was something they sought to reclaim.

The rest was easy to infer.

Melody deduced it all and her expression darkened.

“Father… I’ve certainly heard that a few times. My sister… I saw her investigating that being several times. She even asked me for help.”

“…The Guardian General?”

“There wasn’t much yield, but I could confirm that it was related to the three clans, as you said.”

Melody silently counted on her fingers without continuing. Her golden eyes were soaked with fatigue.

“But that’s not what’s important right now. What’s important is… why I’m here and what it means that the Empire betrayed us, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll tell you in order. If anything confuses you or you don’t understand, let me know.”

Melody chattered with her small mouth. However, the words she was now uttering were far from her usual energetic and relaxed demeanor.

“The Guardian General, my sister, has fallen from power.”

“…Fallen?”

“They say she plotted treason. That’s what was written in the imperial edict issued by the Emperor himself. Additionally, he disbanded the Inquisition she created and ordered the arrest of all its members.”

All its members. That naturally included me and Melody. As I stared blankly, Melody smiled broadly.

“You don’t have to look at me like that. I’m still alive.”

“Then.”

“Servan betrayed us too, but I managed to escape somehow. My first thought was that I needed to find you.”

Was she worried about me? I quietly waited for her to continue, and she directed her golden eyes to the ground before speaking.

“While searching for traces, I found the Pantheon you mentioned. During my exploration, I also found the Mourner you left behind and the creature used as transportation. Thanks to them, I was able to come here.”

She forced a smile and asked if she’d done well, but she didn’t look very happy.

I stared at her blankly, and she awkwardly withdrew her smile.

“Since it seemed safe, I set up camp around that structure. The Mourner was worried because you hadn’t returned for so long.”

“Thank you.”

“No need for thanks. I’m just a good superior who looks after her subordinates.”

She tried to joke, but I didn’t feel like laughing.

“So… what happens now?”

Melody evaded my question. She pretended not to hear, seemingly wanting to skip over it.

But I couldn’t let it go. It was an important issue.

Perhaps more important than any other problem facing me right now.

I grabbed her wrist, and though she flinched in surprise, she didn’t pull away.

Beyond not having the strength to do so, she didn’t even try. Instead, she squirmed closer and buried her face in my chest.

This wasn’t what I had intended. Melody pressed close, sighed deeply, and inhaled.

The ticklish feeling left me speechless, and after a while, she pulled away. Her face was slightly flushed.

“My sister isn’t the type to plot treason. She has no desire for power, and though she sometimes acts in incomprehensible ways, those actions usually bring about the best results.”

I know. My sister was that kind of person.

“There’s no way she plotted treason, and even if she did, there would be a reason.”

Her eyes rolled to look at me. Her upward gaze was clear.

“That vampire was quite strong. Someone like that wouldn’t speak carelessly. He told you to beware the Emperor, right? That’s why I said the Empire betrayed us.”

I thought so too.

In fact, thinking about it, there were many strange points.

This was a place where major incidents that couldn’t be resolved without a player’s intervention happened one after another.

The five Grand Dukes were murdered, civil war broke out, and events that could shake and plunge the entire Empire into chaos occurred.

Yet the Empire remained intact. The impact of such events was minimal.

Before a player stepped in, they didn’t even show any intention to resolve these issues.

Yet within the Empire, there were many who were subtly influenced by the three clans and defected.

The Cannibal Baron’s cloak I wore proved that, didn’t it?

Above all, the attitude of the three clans was also strange.

They weren’t unified, and though they were somewhat aligned with the goal of Father’s return, they didn’t genuinely cooperate with each other.

As with Lorian, Hertol, or Edilum, they could betray their clan for Father’s return.

It was also strange that such beings were so aggressively confronting the Empire.

It wasn’t at the level that could be explained simply by wanting resources or such.

If it was about resources, the Northern Tribal Union, with a longer history than the Empire, would have more.

There was something strange about the Empire.

So what should be done?

What about the “protagonist’s companions” who were still part of the Empire?

Above all, what about Guardian General Lucilla, the most central figure in the world?

In the deepening contemplation, I met Melody’s eyes.

“I think it would be best to bring Guardian General Lucilla here first. Though I don’t know how…”

“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that.”

Melody smiled reassuringly.

Looking at her expression, I realized who I was worried about.

Of course, Lucilla was level 20.

And not just any level 20, but the protagonist and the only homunculus with magical power.

Still, I thought it might be difficult to swim across the continent, so perhaps we should prepare a ship or something.

“Oh, I didn’t tell you.”

Melody smiled as if she had just remembered.

“She’s already arrived.”

“…What?”

Melody searched her belongings and pulled something out.

It was something like an elongated steel checkerboard, with letters engraved in each square.

The moment I saw it, a translation appeared over my status window—the letters of the Grim Darker.

[Arrived in New Continent. Please resend camp location.]

The letters had a stiff feel, perhaps because the squares were limited. As I stared blankly at Melody, she explained.

“It’s a magical item that only my sister and I have. We couldn’t use it when we were on different continents, but now that she’s here, we can.”

The statement that my sister had come to this new continent.

I closed my mouth and squeezed my eyes shut.

I wasn’t mentally prepared yet.

I didn’t know how to act when we met.

It had been almost 2 years since I’d seen my sister. No, had it been over 2 years? I couldn’t even calculate properly.

It felt like meeting her after almost 10 years.

Moreover, I wasn’t even sure if she was really my sister.

If she wasn’t, I would be disappointed, and I wasn’t ready to handle such disappointment yet…

As I finally opened my mouth amidst these thoughts,

Melody concluded with a fresh attitude.

“She’s probably waiting at the Pantheon now. We can talk in detail when we meet.”

I felt my vision darken as I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath.