episode_0283

“Ahh… … !!”

“Don’t look, Carla. Just let’s go.”

Seeing Carla’s face turning pale after seeing something, Lucas seemed to look depressed as he held her hand.

When they encountered signs that seemed to match their thoughts to some extent, they couldn’t help but be excited and happy.

It was fortunate that the direction of the investigation was well decided, but it did not prevent the tragedy that was hidden.

Traces of the ever-increasing struggle were found everywhere along the path they took.

“He’s dead… …

There is no need for this…

There wouldn’t have been… ”

As Yui cries out as she measures the pulse of a man lying bleeding on the floor, the other two can’t hide their uncomfortable looks and just turn their heads.

Of course, it may not be what they would say as they were taking advantage of that gap, but at least that was their thinking.

Even as boys and girls in the prime of their lives with many dreams, they were able to acknowledge that there was an unfortunate tragedy in the world.

It’s not that I didn’t learn that this is a world like this.

“Ah… … mister… … ”

Meanwhile, upon discovering a dead body, Carla’s expression hardened and she ran towards it. Lucas could not catch her and could only follow her.

“Mister… … Hmm… …

Come to your senses… !! hurry… … ”

A gangster from the Zebi faction that Yui had encountered while volunteering to follow Yui.

He was the one who told the women who were working hard to help him about his amazing and unique experiences in the back alleys and told them to come visit again next time.

It would not be true that they had no evil intentions at all, but they would also have been friendly towards the girls who helped their family.

Carla’s voice was crying as she held and shook his body, which had at least shown itself to be good in front of them.

“Carla… … Already dead… … ”

Although she may not know what kind of relationship she has with this man, Lucas, who placed his hand on the shoulder of the sad Carla, was waiting for her to relax.

“Why… Why… … ”

At least for a moment, I saw these human beings and learned that the back alleys were not all bad places, but that was essentially what the back alleys were.

Proof that even though the framework of the kingdom is established, the kingdom cannot solve everything.

To be exact, it may be that they just don’t want to do that.

It has been several hundred years since the entire human race first joined forces in a retrieval operation.

As so many centuries have passed, the catchphrase of the preservation of humanity and perfect defense of the homeland has long since become a thing of the past.

Wasn’t the evidence the tragedy right before their eyes?

Yangji is ruled by the royal family, including the king, and they try to block monsters from entering the country for the safety of them and the nobles.

In addition, places where the light could not reach, such as back alleys and other dark places, became places where cartels waged bloody struggles.

“There is no need to fight like this… There isn’t one… … Ugh… ”

These too were people with desires.

Even if there is a king, everyone has the desire to stand above people.

Since he couldn’t directly oppose the royal family, which was in charge of defending the kingdom, did he want to play king in the dirty and damp back alleys?

The kingdom’s law, which enforced harsh punishments even for minor crimes, must have had the same purpose.

It was probably one of the choices the kingdom had no choice but to make, knowing that if it failed to establish the authority of the law, the entire country would quickly fall into ruin.

Right now, far away at the border, someone would be fighting for his life with monsters even today and at this very moment.

If these sacrifices are reduced and everyone joins forces, perhaps as another century passes, the safety of the land they live in may become even more secure.

Even in the midst of this confusion, the reason they felt sorry for seeing this tragedy may have been because they wanted to offer hope, saying that it could be fixed somehow.

“Carla, let’s go.

we… There’s something you need to find… ”

“Black… Ugh… … ”

In the end, it was only after Yui came running after looking at the condition of the bodies that Karla was able to wake up.

‘The thugs there… …

What on earth have you planned… … ‘

Yui, who couldn’t help but worry about too many thoughts coming to her mind while trying to get Carla up, had no choice but to shake off the similarly complicated thoughts in her head and just focus on moving forward.

Like Carla, Yui was also a gangster she knew.

As far as she knew, he belonged to the Swallows group, where Vivian worked.

And what she can guess is that the swallow wave moved.

That is, the fact that Vivian moved, and that led to the fact that Enik moved.

“Really… … perhaps… … ”

The fact that he may have caused this disaster or may be behind it.

How long had it been since I strengthened my faith in him, that something like this had already happened again?

‘You’d better explain quickly, Kazunomi… !!

Now it may not be just you and me… !!’

Perhaps, as Hye-ryeong said, she simply believes what she wants to believe.

“Let’s go… For now… … ”

In the end, their walk through Mademoiselle’s basement continued.

How much time has passed like that?

Carla and her group, who were searching through various rooms for materials, were busy looking for any traces of alchemy as they passed through the kitchen, warehouse, etc.

Fortunately, thanks to Carla, who put aside her sadness and began to have a firm sense of purpose, the search was further accelerated.

“I don’t think this is the one!!”

“Not here either… … ”

“Uh… It doesn’t seem like it’s here either… ?”

However, Carla and her group, unable to find any special traces in the basement, ended up gathering again instead of splitting up to search various rooms.

“Was it really the upper floor? ”

“Maybe it was like that… …

Well then, shall we try going up again… … ?”

“Ugh… Then, be careful again… … iced coffee… !!”

As the gathered group members exchanged their opinions, they eventually came to the conclusion that they should return upstairs as they had come.

“Wait a minute… … !!”

The others were calling out to her in embarrassed voices as they saw Karla, who opened her eyes wide as if she had discovered something, suddenly started running somewhere as if she was possessed.

“Uh… Where… … !?”

“Carla… … ? Carla… !!”

In the end, they started running after Karla, and as a result, they ran for several tens of meters, going through various corridors and corners, following closely behind Karla.

What they found was a wall made of a single brick, and Karla standing in front of it, panting and staring at the wall.

“What… ? What is it… ?”

As Lucas stepped forward and asked a question, Carla took a moment to catch her breath, then approached the wall and gently touched the wall.

“Here… After this… … It’s empty… … ?”

In response to Carla’s question, who was pounding the brick wall with her cute fist, Lucas, who had a bewildered expression on his face, pounded the wall with his fist a few times, then opened his eyes wide and shouted at Carla.

“That’s right… !! I don’t know what’s there…

For now, it’s empty behind here… !!

Maybe there is a passage?

How did you find it, Carla?”

“That… … After this… … ”

Karla lowered her head gently, looking down at the Mk-1 spiders covering her body, and soon her eyes were looking into the gap in the bricks.

“First, let’s open a passage.

It seems difficult to break down the wall… …

If you have a device…

Wouldn’t it be quicker to destroy it?”

Lucas, who was taking out various medicine bottles from the bag on his waist, then put the substances into a cup rolling next to him and appeared to be preparing some kind of chemical compound.

And Lucas, who was looking around the wall, started spraying the compound from the cup into some of the cracks between the bricks.

Soon, the brick wall began to emit a sound of metal being tightened and crushed, something that was not normally heard there.

“It was good… !!

It was true too?

Stay back!!”

“Wow… … !!”

The brick wall in front of the group that was retreating fell forward with a loud sound, like a plank falling.

Soon, melted hinges and simple mechanisms were beginning to corrode behind the wall.

Originally, it would have been a door that opened with a structure similar to a sliding door, but now that the structure that supported the door had collapsed, the brick wall could no longer function as a door.

The people looking at the secret passage, which was literally completely disguised as a wall, seemed unable to hide their excitement, like boys and girls of that age.

“The finish is so neat…

You couldn’t help but think it was just a wall, right?”

“I guess it’s here… … !!”

“Yui thinks so too, right?

Let’s go quickly… … !! Come on!!”

If we think about the route they took, it was a place located deep underground.

Moreover, there is even a secret door that was made with so much effort.

Wouldn’t it be rather strange that there would be nothing in a secret room created in an optimal location to hide something?

It was Carla and her group who were carefully taking steps toward the stairs visible behind the collapsed door.

“Ah… … The smell of medicine… !!”

“Are you sure?

Then it must be somewhere around here… … ”

At the words of Carla, who gently wrinkled her nose at the smell coming down the stairs, Lucas appeared to be confident as he stepped onto the last step.

The place they arrived at was a small cave in the basement.

There was a pipe connected to the ceiling, possibly a ventilation system, that was absorbing the smoke rising from all over the place.

Colorful flasks containing various liquids emitting smoke were boiling on a heating table, and experimental tools and other things installed here and there clearly showed the atmosphere of a place called a ‘workshop’.

Moreover, the eyes of the group were drawn to the fact that parchments that appeared to be some kind of material were scattered on the tables here and there.

However, seeing the materials from various fields mixed together, Lucas smiled and ran over there first, picking up the parchments.

When he saw that although the contents of the parchment were different from those of Karla, it had alchemy-related contents written on it, he was waving the parchment and calling out to Karla and Yui.

“It was good… … !! Carla!! Yui!!

Let’s find one of these quickly!!”

“Yes!! uh… … ?”

But before they could even pick up the parchment, Carla turned her head again.

A silver arrow passed right next to her face and hit the wall on the other side, causing her hair to flutter, and a solid red line that seemed to have grazed horizontally on her cheek.

“Ugh… … !!”

“Carla!! who is this… !! Reveal your identity!!”

At the shout of Lucas, who ran straight to her and wrapped his arms around Carla, footsteps began to be heard from the corner of the workshop.

The sound of two people’s footsteps exactly overlapping.

And as the finger draped in the shadows twitched, from the point where the silver arrow was stuck behind Carla, the arrow began to melt and flow down to the floor.

Soon, the melted silver liquid crawled along the floor as if passing by Karla, and came to a stop next to the footsteps that were making noise.

The being that Karla had chased after as if possessed, after discovering it crawling on the floor from above.

The very being that helped me notice the existence of the space behind the wall by watching it seep into the brick wall.

And, the drone made of liquid metal, Karla’s work, is currently protecting Karla’s entire body like a thin film.

“That… that… … !!”

Following Karla, her other companions were also surprised for a moment, as everyone’s expressions turned pale at the strong tone of the returning voice.

“Pretty girl-chan. I didn’t know I could avoid this.”

“to… Eh… … ?”

I wonder if the sight of Carla and Yui flinching without realizing it at the appearance of those chubby figures reminiscent of Humpty Dumpty, the egg brother, was a bonus.

“But this one can’t be avoided!!”

“Our brother’s big, white work…

If pretty girl-chan wants to accept it, then take it!!”

With the words from Lucas that ended the meeting, the encounter that was expected to some extent was proceeding like that.

“Crazy… you damn bastard…?”