Chapter 252 – The Road to the Present.
“My God, how are you?”
He clutched his head in disbelief and repeated his muttering. Usher looked at him, then walked up behind Krikaliev and touched him.
“Mister, what happened?”
He knew him as Krikaliev. Why does that man call him by any other name?
“Well, there are various circumstances.”
Usher wanted to say more, but he couldn’t.
“No! You can’t be a Yakaf! How can a guy who goes upstairs be downstairs?!”
Because the man who kept muttering after hearing Krikaliev’s words scratched his head, shook his head, and shouted like that. And she took out something. It was the first time he had seen it, which looked like a small iron bow placed on a wide stick, but Usher kept his mouth shut because it looked dangerous even at first glance.
“And he died over ten years ago! Why are you pretending to be him now?! Tell me the truth!”
“How are you?”
In fact, Krikaliev, whether the tip of the arrow loaded above him or not, began to approach him.
“Don’t come closer! Stand still! Can’t you hear me?!”
“It sounds good. So shoot it.”
He even provokes in a precarious situation.
“You think I can’t shoot!?”
Sure enough, the man pulled the trigger with his lower finger. The wind brushed through his hair as Usher closed his eyes in surprise. Along with the sound of the string supporting the arrow being released, it was the sound of metal colliding with iron. Come to think of it, Krikaliev’s body was similar to that of a golem, so let’s open our eyes, remembering that an arrow would be okay. I could see the arrow falling behind the man and rolling on the floor with a thumping sound.
And in front of him was a man with his eyes wide open and Krikaliev with a Zweihender around his neck. Even though the man was in a situation where the sword could decapitate her at any moment, she gazed at the side of the sword and muttered softly.
“…It’s Barisah.”
“It’s a cumbersome name. Can’t you believe it?”
The man took a step back from her as if her legs were getting weak, then sat down.
“Yes, believe it. Even if Barisada is like that, she is the only one who can do such a thing with a useless heavy sword like that woman and you.”
Krikaliev held out his hand to him.
“That temper doesn’t go anywhere. Tadaeo.”
“Ha, only you?”
The man stood up holding his hand.
“So what the hell happened? The guy who said he would contact me when he went up didn’t hear anything, so I thought he was dead.”
“It’s a bit long, though.”
“Then, of course, it should be long. Follow me because I know a good place.”
While Usher is watching them go ahead, Krikaliev gestures for him to follow. Erica whispers as she hurriedly packs the bag she had left in the secret base and walks after them.
“Ugh, so are those two close? Aren’t they close?”
“Oh, maybe they’re friendly?”
“But you fought?”
“It is, but.”
As he pondered whether to explain to her what she was, Tadeo, who was walking in front of her, trembled at her startled.
“I was distracted for a moment and forgot to ask. Erika, how’s everything going?”
Seeing him ask that question, the girl nodded her head.
“Yeah, because nobody really cares.”
“That’s right.”
He smiled bitterly at Erica’s dry answer, then turned her head and went ahead. He wondered if there was something wrong, but he had no time to answer the question. Because they soon entered the inner part of the village. The crowd wasn’t too big, but Usher and Erica, who were small, could have been caught up in it.
“Eri…”
“Hee hee, Usher is warm as expected.”
“Ugh, holding hands is nice. Don’t fidget.”
Erica holding Usher’s hand and Thaddeo’s voice are drowned out by the noisy crowd. He assumed that he was talking to Krikaliev and continued to follow them. Thinking that Thaddaeo, who glanced back at them, was just worried about the girl. Then, the place I arrived at was near a huge wall. Behind the fishermen in blue uniforms as well as the guards wearing iron pieces around their waists, there was an iron structure that climbed up the wall.
The guards were just standing there silently, but with the exception of Erica and Thaddeo, they had entered this place on their own, so I was naturally nervous. However, even though they are approaching the place they seem to be guarding, Krikaliev seems surprised as they are puzzled because they do not show signs of stopping.
“Huh? What kind of yekrani have you become?”
“It’s been a while since this happened.”
It was when Usher tried to step in, following them as they soon entered the inside of the structure. He realized that Erica, who was holding her hand with him, was not following him. Feeling that she wouldn’t follow her even if she tried to pull it herself, Usher turned around and found that she didn’t budge from the structure.
“Erika? Won’t you follow me?”
“Ah, Erika…”
“Can I follow Usher?”
Thaddaeo seemed to be about to say something, but Erica spoke faster. She wondered if it was necessary to ask for her permission, but she couldn’t ignore the stares she sent with her gray-haired desperation, so she nodded her head.
“Then fine!”
“Hey, hey! It’s dangerous!”
Upon his permission, the girl enters the structure and hugs him. So while she blushed at the touch of the bumpy hill against his chest, her subtle gaze was fixed on him as she received Erica.
“But I wanted to ask you earlier. What is he doing?”
“Just a disciple.”
“Kek, again? How come you don’t get tired of it?”
“I also didn’t intend to be accepted as a disciple from the beginning.”
Thaddeo shook his head and lifted his handle from the structure’s wall. Then he makes a giggling sound and the structure moves.
“Eh, what is this? It’s suddenly moving?”
Thinking that the structure might collapse at that unfamiliar sensation, Thaddaeo looked at Krikaliev.
“It’s strange… If you look at the outfit, you look like a child from the Pavilion Sector, but you’re not familiar with the lift?”
“Of course. This guy was brought from the ground in the first place.”
“What!!?”
Usher was startled by Thaddaeo’s shouting voice, and when he looked at him, he shut his mouth with an expression that looked as if he was several times more surprised.
“There were humans on the ground? No, before that, you said you would tell me when you get on the ground?!”
Krykalyov, in an effort to grab him by the collar, lightly punched him in the head.
“100 million?!”
“Calm down. I’ll speak slowly. That’s why you won’t understand.”
“Yup, yeah, we should talk about this over a drink. But no matter how much I think about it, I think I’m stronger than before.”
“Eomsal, even if you look at it like this, it was easy.”
That’s how Tadao was suffering. The structure carrying them passed by between the cogwheels, and I wanted to pass through the dark wall for a while, but soon a bright light filled my eyes. I can’t open my eyes because of the sudden light, so I hear the sound of a quarrel.
“Eh, tsk, how come nothing has changed here?”
“This baby! If you come back to your hometown, even if you are glad to swear from the shortboard!”
“Hey, aren’t you tired of living here?”
As Usher rubbed his eyes, he finally adjusted to the light and opened his eyes. The sight he saw was a sky full of pale scarlet, like the sky at sunset, and houses, large and small, lined up. Is that all? A wide lake, a mountain full of trees, and a wide field.
“Did you come up to our surface?”
A house with faint smoke rising, and the noisy voices of people walking through it. The sunset-colored city, which looks old but is full of vitality, was welcoming them.
“Sorry, but not above ground.”
“Yes?”
Usher couldn’t believe Krikaliev’s words. This place seemed so wide that there would be no problem even if several of the estates where they had lived in Lantua were placed next to each other. Unlike the underground, where only cold light was shining and it was always cold and could not drive out all the darkness, it even felt like it warmed the body. Above all else.
“Is that a lake?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a mountain and a forest.”
“Draw.”
“But it’s not on the ground?”
How else can we explain this place, where lakes, mountains, and even trees are growing fine, other than on the ground?
“Even if you don’t believe it, it doesn’t change the fact that this place is underground.”
Still, his answer did not change.
“And what time do you see now?”
“Because the sunset is setting. Isn’t it evening?”
“Okay. Tadaeo. What time is it?”
“It’s lunch soon.”
When Usher looked at Thaddaeo in surprise, he too was looking at him with a strange face.
“Now, wait a minute. Then why is the color of the sky like that?”
“It’s always like that here. Anyway, since the holy map is old, there are some flaws.”
Even so, when he looked around in disbelief, Krikaliev spoke again.
“If you don’t believe it, take a closer look at the sky. Is there anything strange?”
“It’s strange. Nothing…”
And Usher could barely realize. The sky was clear without a single cloud. At this level, it was a sight that could be seen often on a regular basis.
“…There is no sun.”
Clearly, the light of the sunset permeated the mountains, forests, fields, and lakes, as well as everywhere in the city, but the sun shining its light could not be found anywhere. Thaddaeo was still watching them in disbelief.
“So this is a good place you know?”
After a while, Krikaliev asked, looking up at the wooden signboard with the inscription on top of the house Thaddaeo had brought him to.
“Yes, here it is.”
The place he was brought to looked like a tavern. Krikaliev stared at the problem, then shouted at Thaddaeo.
“Hey! You bastard! It’s just a place I used to come often in the past!”
“Where do you think there’s a place like this? A guy who’ll be annoyed if I take him far anyway!”
“Then why don’t you make people look forward to it! Are you making people faint!?”
It must have been a place they were all too familiar with. Because of this, the eyes of those passing by were gathering.
“What a fuss in front of the store!”
The old man who seemed to be the owner of the store opened the iron sliding door and shouted, as if he had heard them arguing.
“Ah, this bastard knows a good place and is unnecessarily familiar, but I brought him.”
“Shouldn’t we say hello?!”
“You can come later! Come later!”
“You can think of it as saying hello!”
The old man slammed the door open, blinking his eyes in order not to match the spirit of his shouting, watching them bickering.
“Huh? Usher?”
“Wait a minute.”
The old man hit Krikaliev on the head with the ladle he was holding in his hand.
“Devil, go away!!”
Kaaang! The sound of the ladle crashing against his head made them stop bickering and look at the old man.
“Old chief, did you get senility while you didn’t see it?”
“…You corrected it until yesterday.”
“…Yes, you guys! Stop fighting in front of the store and come in!”
As the old man led them into the store, seemingly embarrassed, Usher led Erica right after him. The inside of the store looked older than it looked from the outside. The shiny but rusty seams and faded handles seem to remember the hands of countless people who opened the door. The wallpaper, which has turned yellow, looks tough with the broth and oil stains of the years. Yellow lanterns lighted sparsely on the desks of the store were telling the story of the years by illuminating the sloppyly patched menu boards.
“Huu, I couldn’t believe it, but are you really a Yakaf?”
The old man sat them down and served them steaming hot soups on the brown desk that creaked out of proportion.
“Isn’t the old man really going to have to recuperate?”
“You bastard! It’s still ten years away!”
Even though the old man was shouting in anger at Krikaliev’s suspicious words, he somehow seemed amused, so Usher quietly sipped the soup that came out in front of him.
