Episode 26 – The Mine (5)

The Mine (5)

Silence filled the car. Occasionally, the leather seat creaked, and the stale air circulated.

“……Sigh.”

A soft sigh.

Soon, he spat out a sentence laced with a hollow laugh.

“I know. You’re the son of Dale Ascal, the fallen star of Libra. Shion Ascal, who grew up in the Libra Orphanage for 13 years.”

“That’s enough reason, isn’t it?”

Thud- Belingham closed the file. He put his sunglasses back on.

“Yes. Shion, your judgment and actions were clumsy. But the higher-ups might appreciate it.”

“……That’s very kind of you.”

I extended my hand to Belingham. It was a handshake. Seeing this, he twisted his lips.

“Well. Since you say you’re a person of Libra, let me add something.”

“Are we not at the handshake stage yet?”

I spoke instead. Belingham, who had his line stolen, rubbed his nose and just nodded.

I withdrew my hand.

“Have it your way, then.”

I immediately opened the car door and stepped out.

As I was about to walk away alone, a car with its engine running sped towards me.

“What now?”

As I glared, the driver’s window rolled down with a whirring sound.

“Here.”

Belingham handed me a thick envelope. I took it and asked.

“……What’s this?”

“It’s what you call a gift card.”

Libra Department Store gift cards. Ten of them, each worth 500 Ren.

“There’s one more thing? Something like a card.”

There was even a black card in the envelope. A simple card engraved only with LIBRA and a celestial symbol.

An unlimited black card, perhaps?

“Every holiday season, Libra runs a program. It’s usually for college students, but students from Endex can participate as well, if they have a recommendation card.”

The Libra Development Program. Under the guise of nurturing future talents, it’s an opportunity for super-elite education, training, and competition provided by Libra.

“Libra is a Libra. They always give back.”

After saying this, he closed the window.

Vroom——! He stepped on the accelerator as if to speed away, and the police car raced down the mountain road.

I muttered while watching its rear bumper.

“Always rewards, my ass.”

But it’s a result, nonetheless.

The card I now held in my hand. It’s not as impressive as an unlimited black card, but with this, I can take a big step closer to Libra.

“……But.”

Belingham Kantar.

He was one of the most awkward opponents I faced while dealing with Libra.

A super-elite who passed the [Supervisor Qualification Exam], known as the final boss, as a current senior knight from Edsilla National University.

“He wasn’t that far away after all.”

Before my regression, during the days when I was known as a sniper of Libra, it took me a full eight years to face him one on one.

Now, I’ve confronted him even before graduating from high school.

I chuckled at the absurdity.

Snap-

Then someone snapped their fingers. Startled, I turned to look.

It was Elise.

Why does she keep, appearing out of nowhere?

“Again? What Now?”

At that, Elise’s face contorted as if she had smelled trash.

“……You really are incredibly stupid, aren’t you? A goldfish?”

She handed me a duffel bag the size of a thermos.

“Oh, right.”

I had forgotten about this.

I took the duffel bag, but I was still in a state of confusion.

“You’ll have to undo this.”

“It’ll undo itself in 30 minutes, so stop venting out your stupidity.”

Elise frowned and turned away.

She started to walk down the path, but then she suddenly stopped in the middle. She repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists, then turned to look at me again.

“……Why aren’t you coming down?”

“What? Why?”

“Don’t you have to go? Are you going to stay here forever?”

I don’t know why she’s suddenly acting like this. Did she eat something wrong?

“Ah.”

Suddenly, a fact dawned on me.

I checked the time. I looked around at the surroundings.

8 PM, a dark forest leading to a mine. The path itself is wide enough for a car, but the trees are densely packed on both sides, and the chilly surroundings give off a creepy vibe.

“Go ahead first. I’ll follow.”

I said and started walking down the path. Only then did Elise start walking again.

From behind, even her simple walk seemed perfect and aristocratic.

She, who seemed flawless, actually had a fatal weakness.

A claustrophobia and panic isolation disorder that was almost like a disease.

She can’t be alone in confined spaces, and even in open spaces, she can’t stand places that feel ‘closed off’ like night, sea, and mountains.

“……”

So even now, as she walks, she keeps glancing back.

Because she can’t be alone.

When our eyes met a few times, I said,

“I won’t run away. Go ahead without worring.”

“……Run away? I don’t understand what you’re saying. With your goldfish-level intelligence, you might get lost-”

“I get it.”

I waved my hand dismissively. Elise snorted and walked ahead.

I walked down this path aimlessly. But there was always a gap of ten steps between Elise and me.

Probably a distance maintained by Elise. Neither too close nor too far.

After about 30 minutes of walking,

I saw the headlights of a luxury sedan not far away.

It was Elise’s chauffeur waiting for her.

“There it is. Are we good now? I’m going ahead.”

“……’Are we good now’? What’s supposed to be ‘good’?”

Elise asked back. I was about to leave her without a word, when suddenly,

“Oh, right. This.”

I pulled out a doll from my pocket.

It was a rabbit doll with one ear torn off.

“Is this yours? I found it.”

“……”

At that moment, Elise swallowed. She stood still for about 10 seconds, as if buffering.

“……Is it mine?”

Elise shook her head.

“Is that so? Then it must have belonged to the skeleton.”

I threw the rabbit on the ground. Elise’s eyes followed it.

Well, even the future political prodigy is just an eighteen-year-old high school student now. Her poker face is severely lacking.

“Take care. Today’s event, let’s bury until we die.”

“……You mean ‘bury it until we die.’ What language is ‘bury until we die’?”

“Go.”

I passed her and turned on my smartphone. I accessed a certain website.

[The Dark Web]

The famous site developed and launched directly from the infamous underworld, the community where everything from the underworld gathers, is the ‘Dark Web’.

Right now, I’m only using it to cash in department store gift cards, but it’s possible to hire experts in almost all fields, such as laundering, auctions, errands, etc.

Dark WEB

[Lv.3 Easy Cash]

[Accept Mission / Issue Mission]

[DP Owned: 900]

Easy Cash is my ID, and DP is the currency of this Dark Web. The exchange rate is 1:1 with the Edsilla currency, Ren. The 900DP is from cashing in the gift card I received for doing Raye’s task on her behalf.

I clicked the [Issue Mission] button.

[Issue Mission: List of missing persons from 15 years ago. (500DP)]

The mission cost is a whopping 500DP.

It’s like life to me, but well.

Thanks to you guys, I earned 2,500 Ren.

Let’s consider it a conversion.

* * *

A smoothly advancing luxury sedan. Inside, the driver glanced at the young lady and asked,

“Was the task okay?”

“It was fine.”

Elise answered vaguely.

Right now, her attention was focused elsewhere.

“……”

The rabbit doll on her lap. The torn cookie.

Right now, a certain discomfort is blooming in her mind.

It’s not because of this rabbit.

Just 15 minutes ago.

The meaningful words Shion Ascal gave before he left.

“……’Are we good now’?”

“Yes?”

The driver looked back at her. Elise waved her hand.

“Look ahead, ahead.”

“Ah, yes.”

Are we good now.

His words have a strong nuance that he has ‘done’ something for her.

Was it necessary to say such a thing? He just walked down with her.

“Could it be……”

Because of this rabbit he picked up, she keeps having excessive thoughts. She ends up speculating.

Elise closed her eyes for a moment. She replayed Shion’s words.

‘There it is. Are we good now? I’m going ahead.’

Those three words, they fit too perfectly.

If by any chance…

“Sigh.”

She sighed. She shook her head.

That’s impossible.

Except for Petra’s closest aide and her attending physician, no one knows about her trauma.

So it’s a needless worry.

She must be too sensitive because it’s her senior year.

In the first place, Shion Ascal is not someone she should care about. He looks like an ape and has the intelligence of a goldfish.

“I’ll sleep a bit. Tell me when we arrive.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Elise leaned her head on the headrest.

“……Zzz”

She fell asleep immediately.

* * *

Saturday afternoon.

Taking a high-speed train called ML (Mana-Liner) from the capital of Edsilla, it took an hour to reach a rural village called ‘Sanperu’.

Looking around the scenery here, rather than apartments, luxury villas, or lavish mansions, small houses are tightly packed along the coast like barnacles.

If you walk the streets at noon, you can occasionally hear the sound of waves, and the grass on the not-so-high hills is tousled by the sea breeze.

I found a small house in this peaceful village. I pulled my cap down low and compared the address.

「Edelyn, San Prue, Yan Street, AO 59」

This is the place.

I raised my hand and knocked.

Knock, knock—

After a brief wait, the door swung open without hesitation.

Quite surprising.

“Who… are you?”

A man in his late twenties tilted his head as he looked at me.

“…Ah. Hmm. Are you Eden Zolden?”

“Yes. But, what’s the matter?”

I peered inside the house. His mother, wife, and what appeared to be his son and daughter were gathered in the living room.

It was a typical weekend in a family home.

I spoke to him.

“I’m from the Edsilla Post Office. Mr. Eden Zolden. Is your father Hans Zolden?”

“…huh?”

Eden seemed taken aback by the sudden question.

I asked again.

“Is he not?”

“Ah, yes, he is.”

“Yes. The remains of Hans Zolden have been found on Mount Dakan in the capital of Edsilla.”

I said it as dryly as possible.

I had appropriately altered the factual details.

From the Limto Mine to Dakan Mountain, a 20-minute distance.

“What, what do you mean…”

Perhaps it was too sudden. Eden gasped for breath. His lips were parched, and his arms and legs trembled weakly.

I delivered the lie to him.

“It seems he fell while climbing the mountain and could never get up again.”

Sometimes, a lie can be easier.

It can be better to be deceived.

After all, before I knew the cause of my father’s death, I was happiest showing my allegiance.

“So, this, this coffin…”

Tears welled up in Eden’s widened eyes.

“It’s Hans Zolden.”

He immediately ran outside and knelt in front of the coffin. His mother, who had followed him out, gasped for breath as she looked at my face.

“Ah. I, I am, the wife of Hans Zolden…”

“I see.”

Pretending to be a civil servant, I handed her some documents.

“Then, please sign here. This is a dental record analysis…”

The [Darkweb] guys are so perfect that they do all this if you give them money.

“…Father!”

Then Eden opened the coffin.

Inside were a miner’s uniform and a skeleton.

Only the name tag ‘Hans’ on the chest defined him, the skeleton I had barely assembled.

The moments that followed, how should I describe them?

Hans’s son was sobbing, clutching the coffin, Hans’s wife was clutching her chest, sitting down crying, and the grandchildren who knew nothing just blinked their eyes.

…Thank you.

Suddenly, I heard Hans’s son muttering.

A word of thanks.

I hesitated for a moment because I didn’t know what he was thankful for, but soon I understood.

If.

Just if.

If someone found my father’s remains for me.

The traces of him that I can’t even find now, the traces that he was ‘with me’.

Wouldn’t I feel a similar emotion and say the same thing?

Knowing that, isn’t that why I came here?

“…Yes.”

I quietly looked at the remains.

There was no expression on the skeleton, but somehow it seemed to be smiling.