NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
#128. Element of Destruction (1)
In the space where mana had been sparking like sparks, only a terrible silence flowed.
‘I didn’t know you’d get involved.’
Yellow mana rushed out of Ray’s bowl.
It was because the excitement was ruined by being interrupted at the moment of information extraction that was long awaited.
“… … .”
How should we hold them accountable?
The boy returned to a state of emotionlessness and carefully analyzed the situation.
‘I thought you were some kind of traitor.’
Ray diagnosed Curiosa’s behavioral tendencies into two main categories.
First of all, he had no loyalty whatsoever to his own organization.
“You want to see the doctor? Then take down the executives one by one. If the organization falls apart, the doctor will have no choice but to show up.”
‘It went beyond a simple lack of loyalty, it seemed like they had an intention to use me to bring down the organization.’
The second behavioral tendency was that this side was extremely reluctant to obtain information about Murkred.
As can be seen from the attempt to kill Madame Lenia, who had met the doctor.
‘To keep me from getting any information about the Doctor. That way I’ll have an advantage in the next information exchange.’
How to manipulate emotions.
That was the information Curiosa was desperate to know.
Ultimately, Curiosa’s two behavioral tendencies contradicted each other.
If you really want to hit Murkred, you should give him information, but at the same time, to satisfy his curiosity, you should hide the information as much as possible.
‘Is this for the latter purpose? To withhold information?’
But I clearly gave you a warning during our last encounter.
If you interfere with the acquisition of information, there will be no more questioning in the future.
He took a deep breath and said.
“I think it was you who told us to take down the executives.”
Curiosa, who had been silent for a moment, answered.
“Don’t kill Alleghen.”
At those words, the man gasped for breath and cried out in a fit of convulsion.
“Shannon…! You’re Shannon, right! To think that guy could kill me, how ridiculous…!”
For a moment, the man’s body swayed like a tidal wave and then reappeared a little way behind.
Curiosa said.
“Allegheny. Don’t call me by my old name, which is now thrown into the scrap heap.”
“Shannon…! Yeah, that’s right. Shannon! That doll’s clothes and mask…! The cowardly Shannon who always hid in the closet…! She didn’t change at all except for her body…!”
The emotions of a man running wild without rest.
Ray didn’t think that was all that strange.
Because all the Murkred wizards I’ve encountered so far have displayed some degree of madness.
but.
‘Curiosa was like that too.’
He tilted his head.
Now Curiosa was surprisingly calm, unlike our last few meetings.
Did Curiosa, like me, have a great talent for acting and imitate madness with some unknown intention?
‘… No. I’m sure my emotions were greatly affected.’
Perhaps the current calm was due to a man named Alleger.
Ray urged a response.
“Answer me. Why did you interrupt me?”
“Kid. Get rid of that magic first.”
Magic meant the electric current that surrounded Ray’s entire body.
Her tongue was flickering, ready to shoot out at the man at any moment.
And then, before we knew it.
“The moment you do something with it, I’ll blow your head off too.”
The space around Ray’s head was also shaking ominously.
As if wearing a transparent helmet.
It was like a situation where each person was pointing their gun at their target.
But Ray was calm.
“Curiosa. You can’t kill me or hurt me.”
“… … .”
“Because at that moment, the answer you want will be erased forever, or it will never come out into the world.”
“… … .”
“Also, I won’t allow you to run away with Allager. Even at that moment, the questioning will be stopped.”
Curiosa was furious.
“Nonsense─.”
“If you don’t like it, kill me.”
“… … .”
“Kill me if you can. The moment you get even the slightest bit injured, I will be silenced forever.”
Thud thud.
It wasn’t a lie or a bluff.
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The tiny fragments of emotion remaining in the boy’s heart were not showing any tremors.
…the compatibility is not good.
I never thought that not being able to properly tie the knot in a relationship during our first meeting would come back to me as such a huge blow every moment.
Ray said it casually.
“The executives said they hadn’t seen each other for a very long time. Now that they’ve seen each other, have they changed their minds?”
Ray combined the information he had to deduce Curiosa’s motives.
The first thing that came to mind was the photo I found in Walter’s basement.
Six children with a man who appeared to be a doctor in front of the orphanage’s main gate.
Walter, Ups*x, Vicious.
Lazy. Curiosa, Allegheny.
Judging from the names written above their heads, it was assumed that the children had grown up and become current executives.
‘Something else to note, other than the names, is that some of the kids were stuck to each other.’
Curiossa and Allegheny.
A boy and a girl of about seven or eight years old were holding each other’s hands preciously.
‘We might have been friends.’
Then we can understand Curiosa’s intervention to some extent.
Because a friend is someone who helps each other without expecting anything in return.
And the results of examining the emotions expressed in Curiosa’s bowl.
“… … .”
The guess seemed to be correct.
Behind the huge curiosity, colorful bundles of small mana were peeking out.
Strangely enough, Ray was reminded of his younger siblings when he saw that sight.
Whenever he passed by another gang’s street, he would always stick his face out of the alley and keep an eye out.
Ray put aside the memories of the past that came to mind and continued his analysis.
‘These are the feelings towards Allegheny. Starting with the first, regret, sympathy, apology… and the last, the scarlet lump… .’
affection.
It was easy to identify Veronica and Philip with the feelings they always had when dealing with this side.
Curiosa’s voice was heard at that time.
“Don’t kill Alleghen.”
“… … .”
“Don’t kill Allegheny.”
“… … .”
“Don’t… kill Allegheny…”
The voice, repeating without any ups and downs, clicked like the hands of a broken clock.
Ray looked up and saw Curiossa’s mask.
The black dots and lines that usually indicated facial expressions were not visible.
“Allegheny… Don’t kill me… .”
“… … .”
The muttering continued.
When something happens, I feel like a child who is ahead of his time but doesn’t know how to solve the problem and just keeps repeating the same thing over and over again.
“Are you a friend?”
“Kill… Allegheny…?”
“Are you a friend?”
Curios was momentarily taken aback by Ray’s sudden question and fell silent.
What is the intention behind this question?
First, I answered, remembering that lying to each other doesn’t work.
“He’s my little brother.”
“Little brother.”
Ray was lost in thought for a moment.
Soon, a brilliant idea occurred to me to hold him accountable for ruining the mood.
“Okay. I won’t kill Alleghen.”
The black dots and lines reappeared.
I drew a surprised expression on the mask.
“You won’t kill me? Really?”
“There are conditions.”
“What, what conditions?”
“The space you appeared in. I should go in there too.”
Black dots and lines depict an expression of extreme bewilderment.
“What are you talking about…?”
“Your lab. Show me.”
A crack in space that appears when Curiossa appears.
The slit opened and closed at a speed that was difficult to observe, but Ray’s keen body vision did not miss the scenery beyond it.
It was a small room.
The bookshelves lining the walls were filled with all sorts of magic books.
The desk was filled with odds and ends that appeared to be magic-related paraphernalia.
In one corner, there were things like beds and sinks, although they looked like they were just for show.
Ray’s overall impression was.
‘Research space.’
In particular, various materials, including photographs and documents, were pinned to the wall board with thumbtacks.
“A, a lab? My, my room isn’t meant for that… Oh, no! There’s no such room in the first place!”
At Curiosa’s urging, Ray recited the words he had seen in the material.
“Doctor, the bastard who will tear you apart, the rainbow, the ruins, the magic tool, the homunculus, the invention, the old era, the doctor’s purpose.”
Ray cut off mid-sentence.
“By now you should know that I’m not talking nonsense. Don’t waste any more time.”
Curiosa was speechless.
It felt like I’d been hit in the head with a hammer.
‘You saw that? In that short time?’
Although spatial magic has been used countless times, no one has ever been able to perceive beyond the gap.
Even doctors.
…a secret that no one knows.
But the little boy in front of him not only saw the secret, but also figured out that it was a laboratory.
Curiosa cast a gaze that was a black line.
─What is it? How did you see it?
The boy answered with an indifferent look.
─Who would appear so close?
The boy’s voice rang in Curiosa’s ear as she was trying to calm her confused mind.
“The longer you delay, the worse it will be for you. If you don’t treat Allegheny quickly, there will definitely be serious aftereffects.”
Many emotions were swirling around in Curiosa’s bowl.
“Shannon…! There’s no need for me to beg for my life from that bug─!”
Curiosa looked at him.
The space surrounding Allegheny was rippling.
────!
──────!
There was no more screaming, as if the sound had been muted.
Curiosa looked at Ray again and said.
“You want to come into my room. It sounds like you want to steal information. What kind of information do you want exactly?”
“All of the information I just told you about.”
A moment of silence.
At the same time, a slap was heard from behind the mask.
Wooooowoooo───!
The space surrounding Ray’s head shook violently.
“Cheeky. Little brat. When I say let’s see. Because I want to die.”
A voice that was chewed and spat out, word by word.
Ray didn’t respond.
I just silently stared at the red anger rapidly rising in Curiosa’s bowl.
‘Things aren’t so bad anymore.’
Beyond the space, it was a known fact that there was a hospital room for patient number 2 with voyeurism.
today.
It was only thanks to the gap that appeared right in front of my nose that I was able to become completely sure.
‘I wanted to see it anyway.’
It was clear that this was a place where the information and magical tools that Curiosa had painstakingly collected were piled up like a mountain.
Let me be a little more direct.
In the boy’s eyes, it looked like an ownerless charity event site.
‘That’s good. There just hasn’t been a chance to invade, no, visit, until now.’
Feelings of excitement and thrill began to seep into the boy’s soul again.
Today, an invitation arrived.
Of course I had no intention of refusing.
Rainbow, Doctor, Murkred.
It doesn’t matter who you get the information from, Allegheny or Curiosa.
Because when I think about the lab environment, I think the latter would actually have better quality information.
“Give me all that information. You shameless brat. Last time, you exchanged information for 3 to 1.”
Thud thud!
Behind the mask, the sound of teeth grinding could be heard.
The moment before the rapidly expanding anger surpasses the sum of his curiosity about Ray and his affection for Allager.
“If you want.”
Ray opened his mouth.
“I’ll leave out some information. I already know what information I need right now anyway.”
“… … .”
“Except for historic sites.”
“… … .”
“I will exclude the keywords ‘invention’ and ‘old times’ from there.”
“… … .”
“Also, I’ll use healing magic on Allager. Something you can’t do.”
Curios’ anger subsided with a push.
“Hmm… If it’s that kind of deal… .”
Ray had no intention of getting all the information from the beginning.
I just made strong demands at first, following the principles of negotiation.
Curiosa nodded, not knowing that she had been tricked by the same trick as last time.
“Kid. I will accept your offer. In exchange for releasing Allager, you will be allowed to enter my room once and give me some information.”
‘… … ?’
Ray had a moment of doubt.
Why do you think it’s just once?
Anyway, the situation itself was satisfactory.
As a result, information about Curiosa became available in a form other than question-and-answer exchange.
In other words.
The story is about how you can gain valuable information without diminishing Curiosity.
‘The reason Curiosa can’t kill me is purely because of her curiosity about me.’
I had to be very careful not to pass on this information and let my curiosity wane.
Of course, I followed him around and did some obeisances, but… that wasn’t a problem.
Even if we do that, we’ll only be able to find out superficial things.
anyway.
‘That’s a great deal.’
An apparition of Philip appeared in the air and gave Ray a thumbs up.
Ray also nodded towards Philip.
“Okay. I’ll use my healing magic on Allager first. But before that.”
“Before that?”
“I was wondering if you knew of a way to destroy a circle. Or something like that.”
Curiosa paused for a long moment, confirming that Ray’s gaze was on Alleghen.
and.
“I don’t know of such a method. It probably doesn’t exist in the world.”
“lie.”
“… … .”
“You know that. We can’t understand each other when we lie.”
The current surrounding Ray’s entire body began to grow stronger.
Philip’s welcome was met with a grin.
Oh, wait a minute, Raya.
Crackle───!
Light filled the space.