Chapter 504 – #107_Fishbowl (4)
#504
One.
Among the idioms, there is an expression ‘in the blink of an eye’.
It literally means that it happened in the moment when the eyelids were closed and then opened.
Then, what expression should be used for something that happened in an instant?
I have been constantly training from my master.
It included the moment of detecting a crisis and entering a battle posture, and the law of not blinking the moment an attack was made.
It means that he has not closed his eyes even once since the moment he struck the unknown blue orb with the gauntlet.
“…….”
However, the surrounding scenery is changing in an instant like the mask of a sword changer.
When I came to my senses, the comfortable sofa, the drinking glasses between the two of us, and the luxurious wallpaper and fireplace were all standing on the side of the road.
Time and season are different.
It was clear that it was the middle of the night, but it was broad daylight before I knew it, and instead of a white breath, a warm sea breeze brushed my nose.
Even though I know that I must be vigilant as long as I do not know what will happen, my mouth keeps opening in desperation.
“Where are you… ?”
“Did Siwoo do it?”
“No. Then Count Deneb probably didn’t do it either.”
Looking around with a vigilant gaze, the surrounding scenery, which is appropriate for the expression ‘port’, comes into view.
If I were to add a detailed explanation, the modifier ‘once upon a time’ would be added.
On the sea, a fairly large sailboat flutters its white sail, and a larger number of smaller and larger ships are anchored there.
The street stalls lined up near the marina were crowded with wagons while various accessories and goods were piled up like trophies.
“Siwoo-kun, stand behind me.”
“Do you know what happened?”
Deneb spread his arms and sent him behind his back.
Miu or Gou or son-in-law.
He looked around him with his mana raised to the fullest.
“No, not at all. But isn’t that just too weird? It might be dangerous.”
It’s definitely weird.
There are too many strange things, so it’s a ride.
Aside from suddenly moving to such an odd place, if it is a port the size of a sailboat, at least while the sun is up, it should be busy.
However, all that lingers on this dock is a strangely uncomfortable silence.
It is a completely silent zone, except for the occasional sound of waves, let alone a single glance.
“There are no people.”
“It’s not just people. There are no animals.”
In a low, composed voice, Deneb pointed out the wagons and fish piled haphazardly in crates on the street.
Instead of horses that should have been tied to her carriage, only harnesses and horse dung are scattered on the floor.
In addition, there is not a single flying insect that is often seen in fish left like that.
It seemed that all living things had suddenly evaporated.
“…….”
“…….”
However, even ifheheld his breath for about 5 minutes and watched the four weeks, nothing happened.
There was no sudden appearance of a homunculus, nor a witch who appeared with a big smile saying, “You fell into a trap!”
In the eerie tension and silence, only drops of sweat dripping down my back are clearly felt.
“It might be better to look around as you move.”
“Maybe they’re just waiting for a moment to catch their guard.”
“Even so, it is too open. It would be better to hide.”
“…….”
Deneb looked around him for another five minutes without saying anything, then sighed as he straightened his tousled bangs.
“Okay, just because it’s like this doesn’t mean that there are sharp numbers. Let’s look around.”
“Yes.”
“How does Siwoo-kun get caught up in strange things every time?”
“… I am curious about that too.”
2.
As you might have guessed, this was not Gehenna.
The testimony of Deneb, a native of Gehenna, could not be wrong.
If you look at the overall shape first, the city that was created across the port was drawing a half-moon shape along the marina.
In the arc part, there is a sea and a marina, and a fort built round the outer edge of the arc, and a city is located inside it.
The solidly built stone citadel wrapped around the entire city as if sharpened teeth were exposed.
“It looks like it’s under a strange spell.”
“Did I go back to the past?”
“It won’t be like that. But there is no doubt that it was a city at that time.”
As you can see, the place is a port city adjacent to the port.
According to Deneb’s guess based on the surrounding life and the structure of the sailboat, it seems to be in the middle of the Middle Ages.
The two of them walked along the highway from the port to the city, still not relaxed.
From near the dock, through the sparsely populated shops along the road, and past the checkpoint where no soldiers were standing, the city that was hidden by the wall was finally seen.
“It’s narrow.”
“It’s small too.”
It was Siu and Deneb’s first impression as they gazed at the city, thinking it might be time to leisurely appreciate it.
Looking at the shape of the dock, I vaguely expected it, but I didn’t expect it to be this much.
If Taro Town embodies the lives of ordinary people in the Middle Ages in a fantasy-like way, this city feels like it has stripped away the word ‘fantasy’ and revealed its real bare face.
The roads where carriages had to pass were at least well maintained.
However, the area around it was black mud covered with horse manure, and the stalls on either side made it so narrow that people could hardly stand even if a carriage passed.
What about the building?
It was not a two- or three-story stone building that was built up like Taro Town, but a rather flimsy building with only the foundation and the first floor made of stone and the second floor raised with wood. Even these were on the pretty good side.
“Still, when considering the phase of the times, it is a city of scale from the fact that it has stone walls.”
I was convinced with Deneb’s commentary.
I didn’t think much of the word ‘the Middle Ages was a dark age’, but if you look at the surrounding scenery, the Middle Ages are a dark age.
I don’t think I can live in this era even if they give me a noble title and gold and silver treasure.
After going through the narrow streets of the checkpoint, the narrow alleyways with buildings close to each other and stalls scattered here and there like mushrooms greeted the two.
At first glance, the word ‘destroyed world’ might come to mind.
Not even a single mouse could be seen in the gutter city, let alone a person.
However, apart from the lack of popularity, the city was full of vitality.
An inn where you can tether a horse, and an tavern with an open door that lets you see inside.
If you go in a little bit, you can see the permanent market in the plaza where all sorts of leather, wheat, and fishery products are lined up and sold.
Even though it is lacking from the point of view of modern people, there was enough infrastructure to live in it.
By the time they had even scanned the plaza, which was about one-third the size of Taro Town’s central plaza, Sioux and Deneb had let their guard down to some extent.
Even if you get caught up in a sudden accident, if you watch the same scene over and over again, the tension will be somewhat relaxed.
After that, I looked around the city from the square as a starting point.
It was the same everywhere.
Quiet silence without a flying insect, a frozen city that looks gloomy despite the sun beating down like this.
Crucially, no magical action appeared anywhere in Siu’s gold eyes.
“There really is no one.”
Siwoo said, tapping the bread piled up on the eaves of a store that looked like a bakery with his fingers.
The surface of the bread that hung like a chrysalis was dripping with honey as if it had been painted over and over again.
“Siwoo-kun, don’t think about eating. Have you heard the story of Persephone?”
“… Are you the underworld here?”
“It’s not like that, but you don’t know.”
“I didn’t mean to eat, but….”
It doesn’t look particularly appetizing, and most of all, he’s not careless enough to pick up anything in this situation.
Deneb removed the cloak from his shoulders and wrapped it around his waist.
She must have been quite hot up until now, but she seems to have let go of her tension.
“Come to think of it, Count, I haven’t looked around that alley yet.”
“I don’t think there is much difference, but…. Let’s go.”
It was such a mess that it would be a pity to add the expression that an alley in this era is a road.
Not only the broken boxes scattered indiscriminately everywhere, but also muddy water flows through the crudely dug drainage channels.
I was especially concerned about the repeated entrails of discarded fish that were submerged in muddy water and then floated up again and again.
“Uh?”
Siwoo and Deneb, who had been steadfastly advancing while enduring the indescribable unpleasant smell, stopped at the same time.
It didn’t appear or do anything.
However, as soon as I thought I reached the end of the alley, the scenery in front of my eyes changed completely without my knowledge, just like when I first came here.
It was the cathedral that boasts the greatest majesty of the buildings in the city.
The chapel, built with solid white bricks and covered with white plaster on the outside of the building, is memorable because it looked like I had spent four or five times the construction budget alone.
The two of them, who must have headed to the end of the alleyway, were facing the fountain in front of the cathedral before they knew it.
“…….”
Unlike Siu, who was frightened, Deneb bit her lips tightly as if he could guess something.
“Follow me.”
Deneb goes back the way he just came.
What followed was a re-experience of an earlier experience.
The cathedral with a splendid fountain is gone, and it returns to the gloomy and musty back alley.
“How did you do it?”
“I didn’t do anything. It is the nature of this space itself.”
Deneb continued with a calm tone.
“As you might have guessed, this alley and chapel are placed in the opposite direction from the square. Based on the square in the center of the city, the east side is the chapel, and the west side is this alleyway.”
“Is that so?”
“In short, this space is a structure in which a sheet of paper is rolled into a sphere. It came out the other side because we went to the end of the paper. If you go all the way north of the city, you’ll probably end up in the port where we first arrived.”
At first glance, it was a word that was not easily understood.
The earth is round, but the world looks flat because the earth is so huge.
If a space as small as this is in the shape of a sphere, curves inevitably occur, but there was no such singularity in this city.
If so, it must be a space separated by magic.
“So, you mean a pocket space separated by a large-scale barrier like Gehenna, right?”
“It’s much smaller than that, but it’s like that. It’s amazing, that there were other witches besides Keter who could use space magic to this extent. Anyway, I need to find a way to escape.”
“Do you have any straws?”
“No, but there is no pocket space without an exit.”
When Deneb, who had forgotten how to get drunk, showed a strong appearance.
-Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!
From the bell tower of the church overlooking the entire city, a large bell rang out loudly.
Deneb and Siu held their breath and looked at the bell tower with a cross standing tall.
At other times, I would have spit out exclamations of exclamation at the majestic reverberation, but the unexpected incident is considered only a prelude to the ominous.
“The sun is going down.”
As Deneb said, the sky turns dark whenever the bell rings.
Instead, as if to greet the night, perches rose from all over the street, and soft rays of light streamed through the cracks in the tightly closed buildings.
It was already midnight in the city when the last ringing of the frantic bell rang in my ears.
“…….”
Deneb and Siu looked around while breathing lightly.
Perhaps because of the deafening bell, the silence that came again feels heavy.
-Pud-pud-pud-pud-pud-pud
Sound that followed.
The direction is towards the sea where the marina is located.
The sound of tens of thousands of passenger pigeons flapping their wings at the same time begins to fill the city.
“I will check.”
Siwoo immediately kicked off the wall of the alleyway and climbed onto the roof.
What catches my eye is a wide horizontal line, a black shape that tightly fills it.
At first glance, unidentified monsters resembling flying fish were flying toward the city countless times.
