448 - Time to Recharge #2

Around my Temple, there are living spaces for the Nymphs.

They are like temporary lodgings made of wood and stone, but since they were diligently crafted by Dwarf masters who were paid quite a lot of money, they were perfectly fine as living quarters.

However, among them was a space of my own that no one knew about.

My room.

My pantry, which I had taken from Paranoy, had somehow become a breakroom for everyone.

Because of that, driven by the desire to have a man-cave, a Hassan-Cave, I had tucked one more room for myself between the Nymphs' dwellings.

Of course, calling it a room was a stretch; for now, a single bed was all it had.

Still, for what I intended to do with Antiope, a single bed was more than enough.

"What are you doing? Close the door and come in. It's cold outside. The draft is coming in."

"R-right. Okay."

At my words, Antiope closed the door and stepped into the room. For some reason, she looked incredibly nervous; I suppose entering a man's room was a bit unfamiliar to her.

I spoke casually to help ease her tension.

"It's nothing major, I just have a favor to ask you, Antiope-ssi. There's something that only you can do."

"Something only I can do...?"

"Yeah."

"B-but, wouldn't everyone be waiting? Hassan, if you and I... go out like this and don't come back..."

"It's fine. It won't even take a minute. It'll be over soon. But, you have a point. Anyway, for now, could you try lying face down on that bed over there?"

"W-what do you mean by that?"

"I want to see your back."

"M-my back!?"

Antiope asked back, startled. Was she always the type to overreact like this? Then again, I suppose asking to see someone's back out of the blue could cause that.

So, I pulled out the phone I had tucked into my inner pocket.

"This thing, it charges with electricity. I was wondering if maybe, just maybe, you could charge it."

"Ah, charging. Electricity. Ah. Electricity. So that's why the back."

Only then did Antiope nod as if she understood my words.

On Antiope's back, there is a large lightning-shaped tattoo that I drew for her.

The brilliant idea that I might be able to charge this phone I'm carrying with that had taken over my mind.

Once I reached that thought, I simply couldn't stand not trying it.

"Anyway, I'm just going to test it for a moment. Just show me your back."

"I-I see. I just have to show you my back, right?"

"Yeah."

Antiope finally lay down on the bed hesitantly.

Ji-i-ik-.

After that, she opened the zipper covering her front to reveal her back.

On her back, the same lightning pattern I remembered was clearly drawn. I slowly lifted the phone and placed it on her back.

Di-ri-ring-.

Then, with a clear sound, the screen lit up.

- Fast Charging -

- 18% -

- Estimated time to full charge: 45 minutes -

Holy shit, it actually works.

And it's even fast charging.

It seems Antiope is currently acting like a wireless Bluetooth charger.

She was a friend like an electric mouse.

Freed from the stress of not knowing when the phone might die, I feel like a long-standing congestion has been completely cleared.

"Hassan, um, how long do I have to stay like this...?"

"Maybe about ten minutes for now? Why? Is it uncomfortable?"

"No, it's just, the feeling is a bit strange. It feels a bit weird..."

"It feels weird? How exactly is it weird?"

"Just, um, my body feels tingly...? It's not unbearable, but... if it's about ten minutes, I think I can endure it..."

I wonder if it feels like electricity is leaving her body.

Anyway, Antiope's attitude had softened a bit. She must have realized I wasn't going to do anything suspicious to her.

Since Antiope had quite a track record in many ways, even my conscience pricked a little.

About five minutes had passed like that.

Suddenly, Antiope spoke as if she had remembered something.

"Ah, um, I tracked down that Snow Monster that supposedly kidnapped Meteriol's grandfather."

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For a moment, I wondered what she was talking about, but then I remembered there was a tracking mission I had assigned to Antiope.

The famous blacksmith, Geppetto.

The Snow Monster that supposedly kidnapped him.

I had set Antiope on that, and it seemed she had some results worth reporting.

"So? Did you find out anything?"

"There were quite a few people who saw a monster with fur as white as snow in winter. Everyone's testimony is similar to that Nymph named Meteriol. White fur, red eyes. A beast that walks on all fours-."

"Hmm-."

"And, they said it had something like a bell hanging from its neck."

"A bell?"

"Yeah, like the bells that pets wear. Which means the Snow Monster was someone's pet. So, I started investigating from near Sodomora. And I found three people who fit the criteria."

"Who are they?"

"Pyrospro, a merchant at the West Gate who keeps a killer rabbit, and Katrena, a trainer at the South Gate who keeps a giant marten."

Both are names I've never heard before.

"And finally, Nemea, an astrologer at the West Gate who keeps a strange magic beast."

But the last person Antiope mentioned was someone I knew all too well.

A white beast, a bell hanging from its neck.

Geppetto, the craftsman who created the Key of Pluto, and Nemea, who was mentioned here.

Is it a stretch to think there's a causal relationship?

I asked.

"Any other unusual details?"

"There was a person whose daughter was a victim of a disappearance. The missing person supposedly said this: 'The Genesis of Chaos has arrived.' With those words, they disappeared along with the Snow Monster."

"Genesis of Chaos?"

"Hassan, do you know anything? Honestly, the more I investigate, the more it feels like there's something massive I don't know about, and it's almost scary."

"Genesis of Chaos..."

Chaos and Genesis.

I feel like I've heard those two together before. What was it? It's on the tip of my tongue, which makes it a bit frustrating.

Antiope adds more.

"Ah, and I got this emblem. The missing person's daughter gave it to me."

Just then, Antiope moved her body with a rustle-rustle.

"Ugh-. It's all tingly, it feels weird-."

Antiope, who had been rummaging between her breasts with awkward movements, soon held out a small piece of cloth to me.

It was an emblem, just as Antiope said.

A hexagon with an eye drawn inside it.

It's quite a bizarre pattern.

"What is this?"

"They say it's the symbol of the New Heaven Testimony Tabernacle Temple. It seems to be a sect that worships Titans or the primordial ideological Idea from before that. I don't know the details either-"

Antiope continued her explanation, but her final words didn't reach my ears, as if a mute button had been pressed.

The reason being.

I also knew something about this New Heaven Testimony Tabernacle Temple.

What came to mind was a crude advertisement video I had seen through a screen.

━Brothers and sisters of the world. Would you believe it if there were a single steering wheel for this chaotic world? Here at our New Heaven Testimony Tabernacle Temple, along with the bright side of life-.

The video quality looked as if it had been rushed in a single day for a group project.

━The primordial firmament, Chaos-nim, is the light of the new heaven-!

The content was the very essence of the cult advertisements often seen in front of stations.

Many things connect in my head.

The witch Nemea and the whitey she kept.

And the cult missionary, the woman with pointed ears, who had preached a bizarre religion to me.

My phone, which I recently got back from the Elves.

Prince Pride Friedrich, who was associated with the Elves.

The Gigas associated with such a prince.

The Gnostics related to the Gigas.

The dawn of a new world-.

The blessing of chaos.

Points that seemed unrelated to each other connect one by one to form lines and planes.

Perhaps the answer to my curiosity isn't that far away.

"Hassan, are you listening?"

"Ah, what did you say?"

At that moment, Antiope spoke as if to wake me up, and I snapped back to my senses.

"I said the New Heaven Testimony Tabernacle Temple doesn't seem like an ordinary heretical sect. It's been officially approved as a religion by the Kingdom. Its power is also formidable. The head of the Temple Knights is a member."

"The head of the Temple Knights?"

"Yeah. Lockheed, the strongest of the Temple Knights. He's a being whose identity no one knows except for Prince Pride Friedrich. That guy is involved with the Tabernacle Temple."

"I see..."

"If it's the Prince, you mean that Gigas guy. Not the current Princess. Hassan, this is just my opinion, but it might be better to bury this matter in the winter snow. I feel like we'll be in danger if we keep digging."

The bellicose Antiope was expressing concern.

That must mean the situation is quite serious.

With the expedition to the underworld ahead, acquiring a massive amount of information makes my head spin. But Antiope's opinion was also reasonable.

If Antiope kept digging any further, her own life might be in danger.

"Understood. For now, stop the investigation there. It could get dangerous."

"S-so can I get up now? My body, it feels, the feeling is strange..."

Di-ring-.

Just then, a sound came from the phone.

It was the sound indicating that the battery charging was complete.

"Hyang...!"

At the same time, a rather peculiar sound came from Antiope's mouth.

* * *

To catch a tiger, you must enter the tiger's den.

Therefore, I was planning to enter the lion's den to catch a lion.

Looking up at the sky, two full moons were floating there.

The two moons that first let me know this land was different from the world I lived in.

And I was going to meet that woman again on a late winter night, the one I first met when the two full moons rose.

This is the street of pseudo-workshops located in the Slum, west of Sodomora. Finding a Cabin located there, I slowly knocked on the door.

Tok, tok-.

A steady tempo, neither slow nor fast.

In response, a presence is felt from inside.

━Come in-. It's not locked-.

It was a voice that carried quite a bit of languor.

━Today is the double full moon-. I knew a strange guest would come-.

A bizarre stickiness that one could never forget once heard.

After shivering once as if to shake it off my body, I slowly opened the door of the Cabin and stepped inside.

Then, the musty smell of drying herbs and the strange, erotic scent of liquids in flasks everywhere wrapped around my nose.

Candlelight flickering dimly.

White hairs visible nearby add to the sense of reality.

This is Nemea's Shop.

I had visited a few times, but it was the first time I had come with such tension.

To think I'd come here on my own without Friede or Luna.

But as I said before, to catch a tiger, you must enter the tiger's den. I thought it best to quickly finish what I could handle before performing a great deed.

Therefore, with my club drawn, I poked my head into the lion's den.

"I thought a friend would come-."

In front of me, I see the red-haired Witch sitting as if reclining on a long sofa, smiling languidly.

Her pupils, illuminated by the lantern, were vertically elongated like those of a feline beast.

It's eerie.

"Pulling out a club and everything-. Surely-. Friend-. You're not planning to kill this Nemea, are you-? I'm scared-."

Contrary to her words, the Witch's attitude is relaxed.

It's probably because she knows I won't harm her.

But just in case, I set the club next to the table and sat on the opposite sofa, thinking I might have to use it.

"If you knew I was coming, do you also know what I'm going to talk about?"

"Well-. The stars don't tell me that much-. What the stars tell me is-, that a precious guest will come today-, that's about it-. So friend-. What is it today-?"

"I have something to ask you."

Seureuk-.

I held out the emblem I had received from Antiope, the symbol of the New Heaven Testimony Tabernacle Temple, in front of Nemea.

"Heuu-ng-."

Nemea's expression flinches for a moment as she looks down at it.

She was maintaining her poker face as always, but it was impossible to deceive my transcendental senses, which had reached level 46.

I said.

"Nemea-ssi, are you associated with this?"

"Well-."

"Then I'll ask more point-blank. Nemea-ssi-."

I paused for a moment to catch my breath.

Because I thought that if I asked this question, many things might change.

What to gain and what to lose.

After quickly weighing the two, I soon made up my mind and asked.

"Nemea-ssi, are you the one who brought me to this world?"