Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 55: The Missing Person

Around noon, Salaar and Myss returned to Mr. Anti’s—no, to Tass’s—residence.

“…So what exactly does that professor want?” Father Kalen asked when he heard the important part. He held his breath, even forgetting to pet Cinnamon in his lap. Cinnamon rammed his hand insistently with its head and let out a dissatisfied series of meows.

“He never gave a direct answer. He just said he was offering us an easy chance to make a lot of money,” Myss blurted out. His mind was still full of Professor Gentry’s elephant Magibase.
That Magibase had been huge and powerful, so enormous the reception room could barely contain it. Its trunk swung back and forth while the top of its head disappeared into the ceiling.

“His implication was obvious.” Salaar answered an entirely different question. “He saw us fighting the Perfected Creation—most likely the battle in the first-floor hall. He knows we possess unusual abilities, and that we know something about the Abnormal Fruit.”

“And now he wants us to go with him, probably to figure out what force we belong to, and whether our intentions are malicious.”

“Isn’t that a bit too roundabout?” the priest frowned, scratching Cinnamon behind the ears again.

“Not really,” Salaar said. “My guess is he intends to take us somewhere extremely dangerous and use that as a test.”

If they simply kept a low profile and meant no harm, then if Professor Gentry chose not to report them, he would earn their goodwill. If they did have ill intentions, he could deal with them in an environment tilted to his advantage.

And if they flatly refused, Professor Gentry would absolutely report the matter to the Aufon Royal Family and make sure the Karns family learned where he was. From the hints in that Archmage’s words, he clearly knew about the Karns family’s plot of hiring assassins.

…If they wanted to keep investigating in peace, their options were severely limited.

“And we asked to add people.” Myss was still thinking about their Abnormal Fruit haul. “We demanded that you come along as well, Kalan. Come with us this afternoon and sign the contract.”

“It’s Kalen,” the priest corrected patiently.

Professor Gentry hadn’t refused their request to add more people, though he wouldn’t pay extra wages. Fortunately, Kalen didn’t need gold rings.

“Would you like to hire me too?” another voice suddenly cut in.

Tass dropped down from the gemstone chandelier. He still looked a little dispirited, his soft rose-gold hair in complete disarray.

Tass had no ability to search for Abnormal Fruit, so Myss pretended not to hear him. Salaar, however, grew interested—

Father Kalen understood how to move through alleys and streets, but given his background, he truly lacked insight into the upper echelons of society.

Tass Ga was the exact opposite. Not only did he understand how nobles lived their daily lives, he also knew a fair number of their secrets. And compared to the priest, who mostly relied on brute force, he was much better at magical surprise attacks.

“Why? We don’t have anyone we want dead,” Salaar asked bluntly.

Tass forced a smile. “Tracking and investigating a target is a very important part of assassination work. I questioned Father Kalen while I was searching for that letter from V.O.R.”

“Antis left me quite a substantial inheritance. Killing him wouldn’t cost anywhere near that much.”

His voice gradually grew softer. “I’m a very responsible assassin, so I plan to use V.O.R’s death as supplementary compensation. If it weren’t for that damned bastard, Antis would never have become that kind of monster!”

“Then you can just follow us for free,” Myss suggested.

Tass: “That’s a separate issue. Working with me costs extra, because I’ll be responsible for the safety of all three of you.”

Myss immediately turned to Father Kalen, who shook his head. Clearly, hiring a revenge-driven Dragon Fae as a bodyguard didn’t count as a “reasonable investigative expense” in the Order of Shadows accounting.

Salaar, however, kept going. “How much do you want?”

“Salaar!” Myss bristled. They had fought together the whole time. Half the money in Salaar’s pocket was rightfully his.

“You picked Father Kalen as your teammate, so I get to pick one too. That’s only fair,” Salaar said. “Unless you’re willing to handle all the annoying infiltrating and investigating yourself. In that case, forget I said anything.”

Myss considered it. The fierce look on his face slowly collapsed.

That was true. Tass could do the grunt work for him. And besides, they had just gotten five hundred gold rings. They were hardly poor—

“You seem to have five hundred gold rings, so I’ll only charge four hundred ninety-nine. That will cover until you find V.O.R.—no time limit.”

“And incidentally, I need a lot of gemstones for work. I’ll take care of those myself.”

Tass wore an expression that said they were getting the better end of the deal.

“Four hundred ninety-nine?!” Myss nearly jumped out of his skin, his face twisting into an expression of utter disgust—as if he’d just stepped in a pile of crap.

Wouldn’t that leave them with only six gold rings? And five of those were the leftovers of their earnings in Rosha City.

“Deal.” Salaar smiled and reached out to shake Tass’s hand.

Tass clasped his finger. “Take me to Professor Gentry this afternoon. I need to follow you openly this time… I don’t want to offend a Kingdom Archmage.”

After the agreement was reached, the Dragon Fae actually seemed a bit more spirited. A glint returned to those emerald eyes, though it was edged with coldness.

Myss, meanwhile, stared darkly at the finger Salaar had used for the handshake, as if he wanted to bite it off.

Their money was in there. Salaar had spent almost all of it on his own authority. How were they supposed to live now?!

“This expedition’s profits, my entire share goes to you. A thousand gold rings a week,” Salaar said in a low voice, as though he could read his mind.

That’s more like it. Myss grunted, and his mood immediately improved again.

After that exchange, his heart sped up and slowed down by turns, tormenting him until a thin layer of sweat broke out across his skin.

The negotiation came to a pause, and Salaar started glancing at him from the corner of his eye again, as though thinking about something. Myss immediately turned his head and stared right back with all his might.

Salaar curled his lips. “What do you want for dinner?”

“As long as it’s not currants, anything,” Myss grumbled.

……

That evening, the group went once more to the Red Amber’s reception room.

Several days had passed, and the Red Amber had completely returned to normal. The gallery still hadn’t reopened, however. Planning for “Perfect Love” was apparently still underway.

It was Kalen’s first time coming in through the official entrance, and his eyes swept all around with evident curiosity. Whenever he saw any painting that was too revealing, he immediately averted his eyes uncomfortably. Tass, in contrast, was quite composed, despite having once been trapped in that cursed place.

Coincidentally, Professor Gentry also had two more people with him.

A man and a woman, both under thirty. Their appearances were ordinary, but their clothes were exceptionally tasteful.

Even though they wore plain travel attire designed for exploration, the fabric still practically smelled of gold rings, far finer than anything Truman had ever worn.

At the moment, they stood beside Professor Gentry in relatively relaxed postures.

Myss had no interest in human scraps of cloth. What interested him were their Magibase—

The young woman’s Magibase was a glossy-furred tiger, its massive tiger eyes sweeping across the room.
The young man’s Magibase, meanwhile, was a lion, currently sitting silently in a corner.

Both Magibases were huge, and both were rare beasts of prey. In sheer visual presence, they lost nothing to the elephant in the room.

It seemed this expedition wouldn’t be too boring after all. Myss found himself narrowing his eyes.

“These two are my students, and also members of the Ruins Preservation Association.”

Professor Gentry’s gaze flicked quickly over Kalen and Tass, his smile as warm as ever.

“Let me introduce them. This lady is Beverly Ittinger, who specializes in explosive magic and appraisal magic.”

Beverly had a head of especially fluffy short golden hair, which actually made her look even more lion-like. Her face was round, and she wore a cautious expression that was almost evaluative, though there was little malice in her features.

She folded her arms and gave the group a quick once-over, her gaze lingering slightly on Salaar’s blue eyes and Myss’s face.

“Such young assistants,” she said with a friendly smile. “My, there’s even a Dragon Fae. This trip is bound to be lively.”

“And this gentleman is Asp Dunhill, who specializes in natural growth magic and restoration magic.”

Then she introduced the other assistant for her teacher. “He’s a very reliable logistics specialist. He just doesn’t like talking to people much.”

Asp was tall and thin, with chestnut hair, brown eyes, and sallow skin, as if a layer of dust covered him. He nodded vaguely, never once making eye contact with them.

Myss quietly split off a thread of magic and poked the lion in the corner. The lion shifted its sturdy body and rumbled in confusion.

Asp lifted his head blankly and looked around, and only then did Myss get a clear look at his face—a completely unremarkable long face. Yet another uninteresting human.

“You really frightened us by suddenly postponing the departure.” Having finished the introductions, Beverly said, turning to the professor, her concern utterly genuine. “A whole month! I thought you’d been injured… If I’d known Semper was such a hassle, we would have come with you.”

“Those damned investigators just kept saying ‘people in Semper like following trends, you’re being overly suspicious.’ I knew something was wrong here. I’m going to write a complaint the moment I get back—”

She rattled on without pause. If one ignored the actual content of her words, her tone was almost aggressive.

“It was only one month, not winter yet,” Asp muttered toward the floor, sneaking a glance at them before jerking his eyes away as though burned.

“If it’s before winter, it’s manageable. Some pests can be avoided. But humidity will matter. The magic artifacts will need recalibrating, Professor…”

“Ah, sorry, sorry.” Professor Gentry scratched his head and gave a chuckle. “I didn’t expect to be delayed this long. I was only planning to stop by and take a look on the way.”

“But I did gain something from it. These young people are very capable.”

“Yes, I believe you. You wouldn’t casually drag some youngsters off to their deaths,” Beverly sighed.

Asp snorted out a laugh, then immediately stiffened his face as though it hadn’t been him.

Professor Gentry: “…”

Professor Gentry sighed. “…In any case, that’s the current composition of my team.”

Salaar let out a dry laugh. “Would you mind elaborating on the ‘drag off to their deaths’ part?”

“Of course. Since you are joining the team, I have to be clear.”

Professor Gentry’s expression turned serious, and his tone sounded just like a real professor’s.

“We are preparing to explore an uncharted underground ruin. It isn’t far from Semper, and it is at least the size of a small city. For the moment, we’re calling it the ‘Rabbit Hole.’”

“We don’t know what is inside. Every previous exploration team that entered vanished without return. That includes the team of my finest student, Roman Gerard.”

At the mention of that name, Beverly pursed her lips, while Asp’s eyes welled up with tears and his head dipped again.

“The place is radiating extremely abnormal magical fluctuations. Even a world-class explorer like Roman Gerard failed there—Roman’s status crystal has already shattered. We intend to bring back his body, and while we’re at it, determine what exactly is going on in the Rabbit Hole.”

“Even I may end up trapped underground. I cannot guarantee everyone’s safety, so please think carefully.”

For that last sentence, Professor Gentry was looking specifically at Father Kalen and Tass.

Salaar understood.

Professor Gentry was one of the seven Kingdom Archmages. His finest student undoubtedly deserved the title of “world-class,” whether in scholarship or magical prowess.

If the Rabbit Hole had swallowed someone of that caliber, and Gentry still wanted to hire them… Could there be an Abnormal Fruit underground too?

But Father Kalen’s divination had said there should be no ominous presence of that level nearby.

Salaar couldn’t quite make sense of it.

“What era is the ruin from?” he asked, falling back on objective facts first.

Beverly answered before anyone else could. “The tail end of the Night Scourge!”

Her rapid-fire speech started up again.

“Underground ruins from the Night Scourge era are all enormous. There’s still a complete underground city beneath the capital from that period. The named underground cities have mostly already been explored. It’s the smaller underground cities like this one that are more dangerous.”

“Most underground ruins from the last three hundred years are just tombs. They’re nowhere near this complicated…”

Salaar: “…”

He lowered his gaze, uncharacteristically avoiding eye contact with Myss.

Myss gave his head a sharp twist and stared back at him on his own initiative.

The tail end of the Night Scourge—wasn’t that exactly the era Salaar had been born in?

As the creator of the Night Scourge, the feeling was rather strange. Myss suddenly wanted to go see that underground city—not because he cared about the human world, but because he wanted to know what kind of environment could produce a human as infuriating as Salaar.

“I don’t care either way.” Myss was the first to raise his hand and raise his voice.

Only then did Salaar finally look at him again, and nothing in that glance betrayed what he felt.

Father Kalen, clearly, also didn’t care very much. He signed the contract readily enough, his face showing not the slightest fear. It was obvious that he trusted the Shadow Relic’s divination result completely.

Tass, however, hesitated and flew around the contract several times. He looked several times at Archmage Gentry, then stole a few glances at Myss. After dragging things out for a full five minutes, he finally signed his name.

“All four of you are coming? What remarkable courage.”

Professor Gentry gathered up the contracts and tapped their edges neatly against the table.

“In that case, we leave tomorrow at seven in the morning. Food and necessities will be prepared on our side. If any of you don’t feel at ease, you may bring extra supplies yourselves.”

“Understood.”

At last, Salaar spoke again.

That night, Tass packed up every gemstone he could find in the house as all of his luggage. As long as he had gemstones, he could heal his wounds, replenish his strength, and survive a very long time without food or drink.

Meanwhile, Father Kalen still ran outside to help Cinnamon search for its owner. He said he would ask Miss Claws to keep an eye on the house and also look after Pinecone the puppy.

While those two were busting about with frenetic energy, Myss and Salaar, by contrast, seemed utterly idle. The two of them hadn’t slept well the previous night, so this time they returned to the bedroom early, intending to conserve their energy.

Myss had the vague feeling that Salaar’s mood was somewhat low, even though outwardly Salaar looked exactly the same as usual.

It was hard to describe. Perhaps he had stared at Salaar for too long, long enough for the shape of the man to have imprinted itself into his subconscious.

“You should be happy instead,” Lord Archdemon declared forcefully. “This is your perfect chance to present to me the ‘evidence of your crimes.’”

Salaar looked at him silently for a while. “And then what? Ask you why you breathe? Seriously, would you care?”

“No.”

“So why would you think I was planning to show you something like that?”

Myss’s eyes shifted aside, his gaze slipping away.

“I already told you to forget the nonsense from those bards,” Salaar said, refusing to let him off the hook. “Maybe their Saint Salaar would desperately try to move you… Listen. I’m not going to let you use me to understand the human world. I know better than anyone that you have no interest in it.”

If one didn’t understand love and happiness, naturally one would not understand hate and pain either. From the beginning, he had never harbored any hope for Myss.

“Then why do you think I have no interest in the human world?” Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Myss threw the question back in an exaggerated tone. “‘I know better than anyone’… Tch. You don’t know that at all.”

Salaar had been holding a cup while pouring water. At those words, his hand froze, and he stared straight at Myss.

That face of inhuman beauty was steeped in firelight, the pomegranate-red eyes bright and clear. Myss wasn’t joking. More accurately, Myss would never joke with him like this.

Why? What had touched Myss? Salaar’s thoughts nearly turned chaotic.

Surely it wasn’t about Antis and Iver. Could Professor Gentry have done something? Could Myss have grown the slightest shred of humanity? …Or was Myss trying to understand the destructive power of the Night Scourge so he could use it later as a psychological weapon?

“I have to correct your ridiculous misunderstanding.”

Myss hugged a blanket and made his declaration with solemn grandeur.

“It’s true that I have absolutely no intention of ‘using you to understand the human world.’ What is the human world supposed to matter?”

“…But I would want to use the human world to understand you.”

Then he tipped up his chin and struck the pose of a victor. “In the end, I will take the initiative to understand the human world, you arrogant bastard.”

Thunk.

Salaar’s hand jerked, knocking over the glass water jug on the bedside table. Water instantly soaked into the carpet.

The carpet was dark-colored. The soaked patch turned nearly black, like a pool of blood.

Good. Salaar’s gaze had returned to him again. Myss was thoroughly satisfied.

That was more like it. When Salaar’s gaze nailed itself to him, Myss felt an odd sense of security, as if he had grabbed hold of a leash tied to his enemy, as though he had slipped an invisible collar around his enemy’s neck.

“…Well. That certainly is news.”

After a long while, Salaar finally spoke again.

“Mm.” Myss was satisfied. He threw back the blanket and patted the mattress. “I want to sleep. Hurry up and lie down.”

Salaar: “…”

Salaar drained the rest of the water in the cup and let out a long breath.

“Fine,” he muttered, and threw himself violently onto the mattress.

He moved too hard, and the mattress was too soft. Myss almost bounced off the bed. By the time the Archdemon scrambled up in anger, Salaar was already asleep.

“Forget it,” Myss muttered too.

In any case, over the next few weeks they wouldn’t be sleeping on a mattress this soft.

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The author has something to say:
Salaar: (stares intently)

Myss: (stares intently)

Myss: If I don’t look at him, how will I know he’s looking at me? Keep staring!

And so the staring contest continues— [dog holding rose]

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