## Chapter 316 – 316. God’S Atlantis
-Your reaction is a bit slow. Is someone next to you?
A chill ran down my spine.
I was indeed a bit slow to react because I was looking at Owen next to me. But it was only for a brief moment. In terms of time, it was only about 2-3 seconds.
‘Just because my reaction was slow, you can tell someone’s next to me?’
For a moment, I thought of Yuria. Although her name, voice, and appearance were nothing alike, Elena and Yuria were similar in one aspect: they were both geniuses beyond my comprehension.
I glanced sideways and saw that Owen’s face was also stiff.
“Are you perhaps hiding nearby?”
-Don’t be ridiculous. Do I look that free?
“…Owen is next to me.”
“Oh, I’m Owen! Mirror-nim!”
-…Mirror, huh. You. Did you perhaps mention me?
“I only said the codename.”
-…Hah. Even so, to think you’d actually say it.
“There was no instruction not to say it.”
-Even so, to just blurt it out… I may seem like this, but I adhere to mysticism… Don’t tell me, you! You’re not the type that needs to be told everything from A to Z, are you? …Are you?
“Enough with the jokes.”
-It’s not a joke… Well, let’s talk about this matter later.
“What should we do? We don’t have enough space-time scrolls to go to the originally planned area.”
-I see. Your current location is in area 1,122, right?
“That’s right. Area 1,122, the Forest of Hoz.”
It was an area near the Osten Prison, but it wasn’t part of Baron Osten’s territory. However, it was by no means a safe place. If we lingered here, Osten’s knights could track us down.
-Go to area 1,591, west of area 1,122. We’ll meet there.
“Meet? Are you really planning to come to area 1,591 yourself?”
-I have something to ask that person named Owen. I was originally planning to meet in person, so just think of it as the location has changed.
Click.
The connection with the conch shell was cut off.
I turned my head to the side. Owen’s face was stiff.
“Why are you so stiff?”
“…It’s just that meeting an executive feels real… And… why does the executive named Mirror want to meet me in person? Now that I think about it, I don’t know the reason.”
“Isn’t it because you’re an informant? And if you’ve worked in hell for 13 years, isn’t it time to meet an executive? Maybe it’s a promotion.”
“Promotion… Could it be that I’ll become an executive?!”
“No way.”
“Ha. Haha. That’s right. There’s no way I could become an executive even if I get promoted. But I can still expect to be a branch manager, right?”
Thinking of a branch manager, Pesika came to mind. I remember her being quite high up in Helten.
“…Well, if you get promoted, it would be around that level.”
I took Owen and his companions and headed west.
***
After walking for two hours straight, we arrived at area 1,591, the Ruins of the Giants.
The Ruins of the Giants was an area with broken temple pillars scattered everywhere. There were no people or animals around.
And I didn’t know much about this area either. It didn’t appear in the original work, and there was no information about it in the setting book.
“You’ve arrived.”
Elena, who was wearing a cloak and a mirror mask, was waiting for us, leaning against a broken pillar.
She strode towards us. And she said to me.
“Good work. This is the reward I promised.”
I received the bright pink pill she handed me.
「Cherry Blossom Spirit’s Gratitude
A bead containing the power of the cherry blossom spirit.
Increases mana by 3 when consumed.
Only effective upon first consumption.
Type: Consumable
Rank: A」
The name was a bit strange, but it was a rare elixir that increased mana. I immediately put the elixir in my inventory.
“Aren’t you going to eat it right away? I thought you’d put it in your mouth without any hesitation.”
“I’ll eat it later.”
“Hmm.”
I was planning to enhance the elixir with the Light Ascension Technique before consuming it.
‘It wouldn’t be bad to eat it in the real world, but it would only increase my mana by about 1.’
Besides, if I didn’t eat it in this world, Elena might suspect something.
I had also thought about giving it to Yuria, but such an elixir wouldn’t be of much help to her, who was already an Aura Master and had reached the level of Archmage. It would be more efficient for me to eat it.
“Are you Owen?”
“Yes, yes. I’m Owen Tailrond. Mirror-nim.”
Owen bowed nervously. His four companions nearby were looking bewildered and greeted Mirror like Owen. I had originally planned to leave them, who had nothing to do with Helten, elsewhere, but Elena wanted to bring them all.
“Owen Tailrond. Do you have any idea why I tried to save you?”
“…I’m not sure. I’ve been locked up in prison for over three months. The only reason I can think of for saving me from prison is for a mission… If it’s a mission I can do, there’s no way others can’t do it.”
“That’s right. It’s not to give you a mission. I just had something to ask you.”
“…What question is it?”
“It’s about why you deliberately went to prison. Actually, I thought about taking you out two months ago, but I figured there must be a reason why an expert like you went to Osten Prison, so I left you alone.”
Owen hesitated slightly.
I understood how Owen felt. He was feeling uneasy about the mirror mask Elena was wearing. It was strange to be looking at someone while being reflected in their mirror mask.
“Ah… It’s nothing much, really. I work as a troubleshooter for the public.”
“I know.”
“I received a request from a loan shark. There was a case where debtors ran away to Osten Prison after skipping out on their debts, but the loan shark asked a guard to torture the debtors to death.”
“That’s common. People sometimes think of prisons as a refuge. Especially those who have been exiled.”
“The request was to find the assets the debtors had hidden in the prison. The loan shark was convinced that the debtors had converted their assets into goods and hidden them in the prison. I judged that it was impossible to investigate the prison and escape alone, so I called four of my colleagues who were doing similar work.”
“That’s an interesting story. But I’m more curious about how much you received as a commission.”
“…I received 30 million penny as an advance payment. The method was to receive an additional 30 million penny if the request was successfully completed.”
“So, did you find the debtors’ treasure?”
“No. It was the loan shark’s misunderstanding.”
“That’s too bad. You won’t be able to receive the 30 million penny you were supposed to get as a reward.”
“Yes. The loan shark is ruthless. But it’s okay. 30 million penny in three months… If we split it five ways, 6 million penny is a pretty good income.”
6 million penny.
Converted to Korean won, it’s 60 million won. As Owen said, it’s quite a lot of money for three months of hard work.
“Mirror-nim. Have your questions been answered?”
“Yes. Enough. But as I was talking to you, another question came up.”
“What is it? If it’s a question from Mirror-nim, I will answer it with all my heart.”
“It’s okay. There’s no need to go to that trouble. I’ll find out myself.”
“…Yes?”
Elena took off the black cloak that was covering her body. A white uniform was revealed. Even then, Owen seemed clueless.
Then, Elena took off her mirror mask. Her coolly fluttering blue bobbed hair and her beautiful face, smiling arrogantly, were revealed.
Owen’s eyes widened as if they were about to tear, and his mouth dropped open.
“The Illusion Duke…!”
A Helten executive had revealed herself.
What did that mean?
Owen, who was quick-witted, shouted at his companions.
“Run!!!”
But Owen’s companions couldn’t move. They had been caught in Elena’s illusion the moment Owen uttered the word ‘loan shark’, and were drooling with idiotic expressions.
“You crazy! Illusion Duke! What are you lacking that you’re in Hel…, ten… uh…”
Owen’s face changed like his companions. His eyes glazed over, and he drooled.
He was probably seeing a hellish illusion right now. If not, he might be recalling old memories.
“Wouldn’t it have been better to do this from the beginning?”
“I gave him a chance. If he had told the truth, this situation wouldn’t have happened.”
“If he had told the truth, would you have spared him?”
“No. I would have given him a happy death.”
“…What is that happy death?”
“A dream where he achieves everything and lives the life he desires. And a peaceful death without any pain. …Hmm. Now that I say it myself, isn’t this a beautiful mercy that would move an angel to tears?”
“Are you drunk?”
“I don’t drink much. Even though I look like this, I’m weak to alcohol due to my family history.”
“Then what kind of illusion are these guys seeing right now?”
“Torture. They are constantly repeating the torture. They’ve probably died about 30 times by now.”
“Is that possible?”
“It’s an illusion. It’s easy to increase the speed of consciousness and change 1 second to 1000 seconds.”
“…….”
No, that’s definitely not easy. I can swear to that.
Elena asked Owen, who was under the illusion.
“Why did you go to Osten Prison?”
“…His Highness the Crown Prince ordered me to confirm the truth of the rumors.”
“Hoo. So you were a spy for the Crown Prince?”
“…Yes. I entered Helten as a spy for His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Really? You’ve clearly been working as a low-level informant for 13 years. You’re incompetent. Ah, I’m not talking about you. I’m saying the Crown Prince who used you is incompetent. If it were me, I wouldn’t have made an incompetent guy like you a spy.”
“…….”
“What was the truth of the rumors you confirmed by going directly to the prison? Was it true?”
“It was true. There is a monster living in Osten Prison…”
“What information do you have about that monster?”
“…It eats prisoners alive every Friday…”
“Is that all? I see.”
A faint blue light appeared around Elena. The butterflies fluttered around. I kept my distance, being careful not to touch the blue butterflies.
The butterflies passed by Owen and his companions.
Then, Owen and his companions reacted strangely. They stood in a circle and stretched out their hands to the left and right, grabbing the necks of the men next to them. And they all strangled each other and fell to the ground, dead.
The blue butterflies gathered around her and hovered.
“Cheonma. Are you scared of me?”
In the original work, most of the people who knew the power of the Illusion Duke feared her. Even the protagonist, Kang Myungjin, was wary of her.
If I didn’t have the mental resistance trait, I might have been afraid of her too.
“No. You’re sexy.”
“…Sexy? That’s the first time I’ve heard that. Heh heh.”
Elena chuckled, seemingly not offended by my rude words.
“What are those rumors?”
“It’s nothing much. It’s a rumor that Baron Osten is raising a monster in the prison that feeds on humans. It’s quite a famous rumor in the Empire’s high society. The Crown Prince had them investigate the truth of the rumors… It’s probably because Baron Osten is a member of the noble faction, so he was just being cautious.”
A monster that eats people?
There are plenty of monsters that eat people in this world. In fact, monsters that don’t eat people are rarer.
“It wasn’t a big deal at all. More than that, I think I’m a bit hungry. Would you like to go for a drink?”
“That’s a proposal with obvious ulterior motives. I’m sorry, but I have things to do, so I’ll go first.”
Elena used a space-time scroll and disappeared.
I smacked my lips, feeling a sense of disappointment.
‘How can I get Elena to fall for me?’
Elena seemed open-minded, but she was also a thoroughly conservative woman. I tried to think, but I couldn’t come up with any ideas.
‘Should I try to seduce her with information from the original work?’
I shook my head. Elena is an amazing woman. If I tried to hit on her carelessly, I might end up being sucked dry.
‘I don’t know. I’ll get her someday. No, I will get her.’
I took out a space-time scroll from my inventory. The corpses here? The beasts nearby will take care of them.
