Chapter 504 – #107_Fish Tank (4)
#504
1.
There’s an idiom, “in the blink of an eye.”
It literally means something that happens in the brief moment of closing and opening your eyelids.
Then, what expression should be used for something that happens even faster?
I’ve been constantly training under my master.
That included the ability to sense danger, enter combat mode, and not blink when an attack is launched.
From the moment I deflected the unidentified blue marble with my gauntlet, I haven’t blinked once.
“……”
But somehow, the surrounding scenery has changed in an instant, like a quick-change mask.
When I came to my senses, the comfortable sofa, the wine glasses between us, the luxurious wallpaper and fireplace were all gone, and I was standing blankly on a street.
The time and season are different.
It was clearly the middle of the night, but now it’s broad daylight, and instead of white breath, a humid sea breeze brushed against my nose.
I know I shouldn’t let my guard down in an unknown situation, but I can’t help but gape in bewilderment.
“Where is this…?”
“Did Siwoo do this?”
“No. Then, it wouldn’t be Count Deneb either.”
As I looked around with a wary gaze, the surrounding scenery, which could be described as a ‘port,’ came into view.
To add a more detailed description, it would have to be described as ‘old-fashioned.’
On the sea, a fairly large sailing ship was fluttering its white sails, and many more ships, both large and small, were docked.
The stalls lined up near the pier were piled high with various ornaments and goods like spoils of war, while the road was bustling with carts.
“Siwoo, stand behind me.”
“Do you know what happened?”
Deneb spread her arms and put him behind her.
He was her son-in-law, for better or worse.
She raised her magic power to the maximum and looked around.
“No, not at all. But isn’t this too strange? It might be dangerous.”
It’s definitely strange.
There are too many strange things.
Leaving aside the fact that we suddenly moved to this bizarre place, a port of this size with sailing ships coming and going should be bustling with activity, at least during the day.
But the only thing floating around this pier is an eerie, uncomfortable silence.
There’s not a single sign of life, and except for the occasional sound of waves, it’s a completely silent zone.
“There’s no one here.”
“It’s not just people. There are no animals either.”
Deneb pointed to the fish piled haphazardly in the carts and boxes on the street with a low, calm voice.
As she said, instead of horses that should be tied to the carts, only harnesses and horse droppings were scattered on the ground.
Also, there wasn’t a single fly that should be commonly seen on the fish left like that.
It was as if all living things had suddenly evaporated.
“……”
“……”
But even after about five minutes of holding our breath and keeping watch, nothing changed.
There was no sudden appearance of a homunculus, nor a witch appearing with a hearty laugh, saying, ‘You’ve fallen into my trap!’
Only the beads of sweat running down my back in the unpleasant tension and silence were clearly felt.
“It would be better to look around while moving.”
“They might be waiting for a moment of carelessness.”
“Even so, it’s too open. It would be better to hide.”
“……”
Deneb looked around for about five more minutes without saying anything, then sighed, smoothing her disheveled bangs.
“Okay, staying like this won’t get us anywhere. Let’s look around.”
“Yes.”
“Siwoo, how do you always get caught up in strange things?”
“…I wonder that myself.”
2.
As expected, this place wasn’t Gehenna.
It was Deneb’s testimony, a native of Gehenna, so it couldn’t be wrong.
First, let’s look at the overall shape. The city that was built along the port formed a crescent shape along the pier.
The sea and pier were in the arc, and the city was inside the fortress built in a circle along the outer edge of the arc.
The firmly built stone fortress surrounded the entire city as if it were baring its sharp teeth.
“It seems like we’re under some strange magic.”
“Did we go back to the past?”
“I don’t think so. But it definitely looks like a city from that time.”
The location is, as you can see, a port city adjacent to the harbor.
Based on the surrounding lifestyle and the structure of the sailing ships, Deneb estimates that it’s from the mid-Middle Ages.
The two of them, still on guard, walked along the main road from the port to the city.
After passing the shops that were sparsely located along the road near the pier and the checkpoint where not a single soldier was standing, the city, which had been hidden by the walls, finally came into view.
“It’s narrow.”
“And small.”
It wasn’t the time to leisurely admire the view, but that was Siwoo and Deneb’s first impression of the city.
They had vaguely expected it after seeing the shape of the pier, but they didn’t expect it to be this small.
If Taro Town had created a fantasy-like representation of the lives of medieval commoners, this city felt like it had stripped away the word ‘fantasy’ and revealed its realistic bare face.
The main road where carts had to pass was relatively well-maintained.
However, the surrounding area was a black mud puddle full of horse droppings, and because of the stalls on both sides, it was so narrow that it was difficult for people to stand even if only one cart passed by.
What about the buildings?
Unlike the sturdy two- and three-story stone buildings in Taro Town, these were somewhat flimsy buildings with only the foundation and the first floor made of stone, and the second floor made of wood. Even these were considered quite good.
“Still, considering the era, having a decent stone wall means it’s a city of some size.”
With Deneb’s added explanation, I was convinced.
I hadn’t given much thought to the saying that ‘the Middle Ages were the Dark Ages,’ but just looking at this surrounding scenery, the Middle Ages were indeed the Dark Ages.
I don’t think I could live in this era even if they gave me a noble title and gold and silver treasures.
After passing through the narrow path of the checkpoint, the two were greeted by buildings that were closely packed together with narrow alleys and stalls that were scattered like mushrooms.
At first glance, the phrase ‘a destroyed world’ might come to mind.
Because there wasn’t a single rat in the city’s sewers, let alone people.
But despite the lack of people, the city was full of life.
There were inns where horses could be tied up, and taverns with their doors open, revealing the inside.
If you went a little further, you could see the permanent market in the square where various leathers, grains, and seafood were laid out for sale.
Although it might be lacking from a modern person’s point of view, it had enough infrastructure to live in.
By the time they had looked around the square, which was about one-third the size of the central square in Taro Town, both Siwoo and Deneb had relaxed their guard to some extent.
Even if you get caught up in a sudden accident, if the same scene is repeated, the tension tends to ease somewhat.
After that, they roughly explored the city, using the square as a starting point.
Everywhere was the same.
A quiet stillness without a single fly, a stopped city that looked dark even though the sun was shining.
Crucially, no magical activity was visible in any place reflected in Siwoo’s golden eyes.
“There really is no one here.”
Siwoo said, tapping the bread hanging from the eaves of what seemed to be a bakery with his finger.
The surface of the bread, hanging like cocoons, was dripping with honey that seemed to have been coated several times.
“Siwoo, don’t think about eating it. Have you heard the story of Persephone?”
“…Is this the underworld?”
“It’s not, but you never know.”
“I wasn’t thinking about eating it, but…”
It didn’t look particularly delicious, and above all, I’m not the kind of person who would pick up and eat anything in this situation.
Deneb took off the cloak she had been wearing over her shoulders and wrapped it around her waist.
She must have been quite hot until now, but she finally seemed to have relaxed her tension.
“Countess, now that I think about it, we haven’t looked around that alley yet.”
“I don’t think it’ll be much different… Let’s go.”
The alleys of this era were so messy that it was almost embarrassing to call them roads.
There were broken boxes scattered haphazardly everywhere, as well as muddy water flowing through crudely dug drains.
It was particularly disturbing to see discarded fish guts submerged and floating in the muddy water.
“Huh?”
Siwoo and Deneb, who were bravely moving forward while enduring the indescribable unpleasant smell, stopped simultaneously.
It wasn’t that something had appeared.
It was just that as soon as they reached the end of the alley, the scenery in front of them changed in an instant, as it had when they first arrived here.
It was the cathedral, which boasted the most magnificent appearance among the buildings in this city.
The chapel, built with solid white bricks and plastered with white plaster on the exterior walls, looked like it had used four or five times the construction budget on its own, so it was memorable.
The two, who had clearly been heading towards the end of the alley, were now facing the fountain in front of the cathedral.
“……”
Unlike Siwoo, who was horrified, Deneb had a knowing look on her face, as if she had some idea of what was going on.
“Follow me.”
Deneb retraced her steps.
Following her, what followed was a re-experience of what they had just experienced.
The cathedral with the magnificent fountain was gone, and they were back in the gloomy, musty back alley.
“How did you do that?”
“I didn’t do anything. It’s the characteristic of this space itself.”
Deneb continued in a calm tone.
“As you might have guessed, this alley and the chapel are located on opposite sides of the square. The chapel is to the east of the city’s central square, and this alley is to the west.”
“Is that so?”
“In short, this space is structured like a piece of paper rolled into a sphere. Because we went to the end of the paper, we ended up on the opposite side. If we go straight north through the city, we’ll probably end up back at the port where we first arrived.”
It was difficult to understand at first hearing.
The Earth is round, but the world appears flat because the Earth is so huge.
If a small space like this were to take a spherical shape, there would inevitably be curves, but there were no such peculiarities in this city.
Then, it must be a space separated by magic.
“So, you mean it’s a pocket space separated by a large-scale barrier, like Gehenna?”
“It’s much smaller in scale, but yes, for now. It’s amazing that there was a witch who could use this level of space magic besides Keter. Anyway, we need to find a way to escape.”
“Do you have any ideas?”
“No, but there is no pocket space without an exit.”
When Deneb, who had even forgotten her intoxication, showed a determined look.
-Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!
A loud bell rang out from the church’s bell tower, which overlooked the entire city.
Deneb and Siwoo held their breath and looked at the bell tower with the cross standing tall.
At any other time, they might have been momentarily impressed by the majestic sound, but the sudden change was only seen as the prelude to something ominous.
“The sun is setting.”
As Deneb said, the sky turned dark every time the bell rang.
Instead, torches lit up in various places as if welcoming the night, and faint streaks of light flowed from the tightly closed gaps in the buildings.
By the time the last echo of the bell, which had been ringing madly, faded away, the city was already in the middle of the night.
“……”
Deneb and Siwoo, who were breathing slightly roughly and looking around, felt the silence that had returned heavily, perhaps because of the bell sound that had made their ears ring.
-Flap flap flap flap
The sound that followed.
The direction was towards the sea where the pier was.
A sound like tens of thousands of carrier pigeons flapping their wings at the same time began to fill the city.
“I’ll go check.”
Siwoo immediately kicked off the wall of the alley and climbed onto the roof.
What came into view was a wide, continuous horizon, filled with black shapes.
Countless unidentified creatures, vaguely resembling flying fish, were flying towards the city.
