Chapter 77

Chapter 77 : Forgotten Being (4)

I nervously raked through my hair and moved away from the fountain. After putting enough distance between us for a conversation, I roughly took a seat.

Once I left a certain range, the mist dyed blue disappeared as if nothing had happened, leaving only a faint spray behind.

It seemed an activation condition was necessary. For example, perhaps two or more people were required.

Come to think of it, though it was late, there was not a single nose to be seen in the Greenhouse.

“Was I the one caught in the net?”

“Fishing is fun. The part where the prey bites the bait on its own and gets dragged right in front of me.”

“If there is anything you are hiding, confess it now.”

Let me try to understand the traitor issue. Back then, I was something that could not clearly be defined as Sek.

Do they not say one small lie snowballs?

Let me also set aside how, when I asked if he had ordered Pering to do it while talking about him not long ago, he boldly said no.

When people are flustered, they sometimes cannot distinguish what they should and should not say and just throw words out.

Still.

From the moment I first took some unidentified medicine from Pan, I had unconsciously laid down trust in that bastard.

I could now understand that it was a kind of trick left by Sek. After that, the fact that I had let my guard down because of his consistently unhesitating attitude was also my fault, and yes―

I had forgotten that bastard was the scheming second male lead from the Original Work, the one whose personality was ruined.

“Um…….”

“What?”

“When you look at me that frighteningly, I feel burdened.”

“Is there something weighing on your conscience?”

“…….”

There is. There definitely is. There has to be.

During this preparation period for Ariti going to the Underworld, Pan had spent quite a long time away from the forest.

The Original Work must have progressed steadily. It would have been the beginning of the heroine and second male lead’s long journey, not knowing when they would meet again.

Calling it simply seeing her off did not fit, since he would have stayed beside her the entire way from the Spring to the Underworld, and I judged that this was not something that ended with romantic feelings alone.

Pan himself had said it was still “reverence.”

In terms of the flow of the Original Work, this was still the early part, so there should have been no reason for anything too elaborate yet.

But what was that attitude? Why did it feel so unpleasant?

Most of the Original Work I had seen so far had mainly focused on Ariti and Karon’s romantic scenes, or Pan and Karon’s independent actions.

Strictly speaking, the heroine, who was the protagonist, had a noticeably low share of scenes, but I had skipped over that, judging it would not help my survival. I had, but…….

What if that had been intentional?

‘What kind of ability would that bastard have to toy with the system?’

The system was the system, and Pan was Pan.

He might have influence because of his position as “second male lead,” but he should not be able to do something to the system itself.

I shook off the unpleasant thought and breathed in the air of the Greenhouse, which had grown suitably cool at night.

Unlike usual, Pan looked anxious.

I did not care what he was thinking while rolling his eyes, but if he had another purpose major enough to lay even the Pering issue as groundwork, it would be better for him to spit it out quickly instead of dragging his feet.

Mm.

“If you have nothing to say, I am leaving.”

“It is about Ariti.”

“Romantic advice is not my specialty.”

“I told you it is not that?”

I shrugged and urged him to continue.

Pan frowned at one eye and hesitated, then scratched roughly through his hair and said something strange.

“It is Karon.”

“Was this not about the Ruler of the Spring?”

“……It is similar.”

“Go on.”

“He looked as though there was something else he wanted from Ariti.”

There is.

Just as Karon coveted Sek’s power, there was a kind of power he wanted from Ariti too.

I had not dug further into that because I thought that part was not important, but had things already progressed enough for that to become an issue?

Or was this simply the second male lead’s intuition?

I had been thinking that perhaps it was the production method, since Woldeer had told me Ariti had it.

“Karon’s state looked unstable. The biggest reason is probably that you, the true owner, are alive.”

He had certainly been searching hard.

“I heard that the Underfolk’s succession procedure is different. Since the person involved is alive, there is no way it was completed properly.”

Was that why Karon had been searching for my corpse?

“I thought perhaps what he wants from Ariti is something that will fill that lacking part.”

Why would Ariti fill in the lacking part of the Underworld Lord’s problem?

Ariti did possess the production method, but that was…….

“Has he lost his mind?”

“……?”

Karon was looking for production methods. A production method was a material for making a Phantasmal Species, but its fundamental power was the source of the Forgotten Beings, the Sovereigns.

Karon intended to eat that production method himself. To fill the lacking part that way.

“He is treating her like a consumable.”

“A consumable?”

I sighed as I looked at Pan, who wore an innocent expression despite having wondered about it and sensed it was suspicious.

Should I say this or not?

Karon intends to scrape Ariti down to the bone and eat her.

“Mm…… if Karon wants that special power the Ruler of the Spring has, then in order to take it…….”

I stopped speaking when I saw Pan’s expression hardening more and more. Was he about to overturn everything after hearing this?

I recalled that, when I had seen the Original Work, Karon had not gone that far out of control.

If I needlessly scratched at this and made a mess, it would become even harder to predict.

“Why did you stop in the middle of talking? You know something, do you not?”

“Weeell.”

For a moment, I was conflicted by the thought that if I overturned it this time, perhaps I could ruin the Original Work and reach an ending.

“Hey, why not spit out everything you know? If this side is coming out with the truth, should you not be hiding nothing too?”

The reason I could not speak rashly even though I knew Ariti and Karon’s relationship had been all right in the Original Work was, as expected, because of that title.

I needed to gather points and hurry up with Designated Viewing or something.

Blocking Pan, who looked ready to stand up and shout at me at any moment, I said,

“Could there not be…… another direction?”

“……?”

“Like Karon having fallen for the Ruler of the Spring…….”

Only after I said it did I realize my mistake.

Right. He was the second male lead.

---

The flickering streetlamp light pierced through the dark mist and illuminated the narrow Dock.

I pressed hard against my hollow eyes after a bad night’s sleep, glanced at the still-unrepaired streetlamp, then leaned back against the bench.

“Why do you look half-dead?”

Pering, standing a good distance away, asked with a composed attitude.

“Because I could not sleep, thanks to someone.”

“Not because of me, but because of Hanger-Ons No. 1 and 2?”

Do people tell you that you are shameless often?”

“Not at all?”

Pering, who had handled the mess after Pan lost his mind, came looking for me and nagged me all night.

As it turned out, Pering knew nearly everything too. The fact that Karon had ulterior motives toward Ariti.

Even if I had no excuse because I was the one who had pressed the surprisingly simple Pan’s switch.

Listening for ages to Pering’s nagging while he had that hollow complexion brought me nearly to enlightenment. Enough that I understood 200% why Pan was sick and tired of Pering’s nagging.

That bastard’s mouth was basically AI. A terrifying bastard who made even the will to refute the facts pouring smoothly from his mouth go limp.

Thanks to him, my thoroughly beaten mind gave up on proper thought and decided that water was water, and nagging was music.

“I will contact Karon and tell him Riwin is leaving the house.”

This bastard.

I openly made a displeased expression and lamented Pering’s shamelessness.

“What a traitor-like move. And you even go out of your way to tell me.”

“Did my lord not explain everything? There is no particular reason to hide it, and since you know, you should cooperate.”

“You treat another person’s life quite lightly.”

“What problem could there be? Sky’s Domain is not so easy.”

It was pretty easy, though.

Sir Pering, who spent quality time with Karon in the former Sky’s Domain.

―was not something I could say, so I pressed my mouth shut.

I had seen it in the Original Work, but there was no way to tell him that.

I folded my arms and gave up trying to fix what had already happened.

It will work out somehow.

“Since it is Karon, we probably cannot block him completely. The Ruler of the Sky is in an unstable state, so at least return within ten days.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Well, it is not as if you will die.”

I shrugged and let Pering’s calm words pass.

Pering, who had become certain I was Sek, had subtly changed his attitude. He still looked at me pathetically, as before, but in a strange way, he treated me roughly.

Do you have many complaints? We were good, were we not?

I roughly waved a hand, telling him to leave already, when Dimel crossed the Gate and walked out carrying a large bag.

“Oh, you came first.”

It was Konu’s father.

“Then I will go now. Do not forget to return quickly.”

“Oh, are you leaving? Ah, you must be busy! We will come back soon!”

Pering had been speaking to me, but Dimel answered instead and bowed. The large bag on his back looked dangerously close to spilling forward, but the spirited Dimel did not budge.

“Thank you for accompanying me.”

After Pering crossed the Gate, Dimel turned to me with a neat motion and greeted me again.

“I have business there too, so it works out.”

Dimel was a merchant who traveled between the Sky and the forest. Because Sky’s Domain was settled in the limited space of a Gigantic Phantasmal Species, merchants played an important role.

Last time, when he had entrusted Konu and Chiru to us and said it was his tenth-anniversary trip, he had said that in truth, he had slightly extended his schedule while going to the Sky for work.

“To think I got the right to monopolize Riwin’s tea because of that first commission. You really never know what will happen in life. Ahaha.”

That was right. The special tea that had conquered the forest had expanded its business all the way to the Sky, becoming a very profitable private pocket.

It also happened to be time for me to visit Blue, stabilize that Gigantic Phantasmal Species, and finish everything now so I could feel at ease if I wanted to keep an eye on the rampaging Pan.

Dimel had happened to send word asking to accompany me, so I had gladly accepted.

It would have been perfect if not for Pering going on about me leaving the house and all that.

“Good things are good, are they not?”

I smiled brightly and moved onto the Magic Circle, since the time had come.

After familiar light and a familiar lurching sensation—

The Sky I returned to after so long was even livelier and more crowded than before.

Just as I was flustered by the wave of tourists, which left barely any room to step, Dimel, swept away by the crowd, waved from far away and shouted loudly.

“Let us each handle our business and meet again! I will find lodging and wait!”

The thunderous voice drew nearby gazes, and those gazes turned toward my pitch-black hair.

‘Ah. Please show some consideration for social minorities.’

I quietly waved my hand and hurriedly left the area.

A few curious gazes followed, but once I pulled up my hood and walked away for a while, they quickly faded.

“I nearly got caught by Etel from the very start.”

I let out a relieved sigh and was looking around for the Gate to the Second Domain when someone grabbed my shoulder firmly.

Was this an ambush that struck while it was difficult to properly grasp the red energy because of the crowd?! I turned with that attitude, only for my eyes to narrow on their own at a familiar face.

“Why does your expression rot the moment you see me?”

“Because you are someone I did not particularly want to meet?”

“The passion from last time, when you entrusted life and death to me, has not even cooled ye― mmph!”

I forcibly covered Hwipone’s mouth, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him toward a place with fewer people.

The fact that this bastard had come meant Etel had caught my visit exactly as it happened, and that meant the flame scam from last time had been exposed.

My plan to quietly meet Blue and return was over.