Retire 496

496 Moby (2)

They were on the verge of extinction.

The memories of once having been powerful enough to rule over everything remained only as dreams. It had been a long time since any children were born. Those who still lived were all so old that they could no longer bear offspring.

This species would go extinct.

Along with the world.

There was little desire to run. What was the point of dragging an aged body through hardship? Even if one succeeded in settling in another world, death would soon follow. Simply because they were old.

Still, there remained a small desire. As with all living things.

No, for a species that fed on desire, they could not help but be sensitive to their own.

Let our deaths not be in vain.

No one wants to die for nothing.

That was why they made such a choice.

The species would go extinct anyway. So someone suggested: why not help another species that had chosen to survive?

Who had said those words was unclear in memory.

It must have been one of the younger ones left. Only someone young could have spoken with such enthusiasm.

But…

Looking back now, something about it seemed strange.

“Why is it that there are survivors?”

Han Taekyung spoke in a low, ominous voice.

Han Taekyung, who usually left it to Hope to explain conversations with Moby, claiming he could never be sure he understood the unfamiliar way of communicating, had grown more accustomed to it after days of following Hope and prying stories from Moby. He still could not speak as Hope did—or perhaps, even if he could, there were some things he simply refused to say.

“Hm. Not all the blood was needed, apparently. But since no one wanted to die without meaning, they agreed, and it turned out there were still quite a few left.”

“Grandma was one of them. She didn’t go into this much detail, but…”

“You get the sense of it, don’t you?”

“…So, when you say they agreed…”

Hope nodded emphatically.

“They made an artifact that could turn back time.”

Hope had once explained that the item required a sacrifice—an immense amount of blood.

It might have been better if it had been a single-use item. But whether it was the extraordinary magic used to create it, or the blood paid as a price, the item continued to send users back into the past. No one knew how many had used it. But considering how many monsters Father had killed, it was at least dozens.

“If more survived than expected, does that mean the item was made wrong?”

Our biggest variable right now was not Noah Michel’s whereabouts, nor Henry Lehmann’s injuries. The fairy of Mont Saint-Michel was even less of a concern.

In fact, that last issue was the most stable of the three. Whatever happened, once a monster left the dungeon, its days were numbered.

So the best course was still to pressure Gamble into revealing how to close the dungeon from the outside. With more support than last time, maybe it was possible.

“I don’t think that’s it. Grandma just didn’t want to talk about it…”

“I think she sensed, instinctively, that something was wrong and pulled back.”

“Something was wrong, you say.”

“What exactly did that monster say?”

I frowned, questioning both Hope and Han Taekyung.

“She didn’t tell you two in detail, right? Did she say it was an item that could turn back time?”

“Uh, no, not exactly. She just said they prepared a way to get a second chance in case they failed.”

“That’s enough to figure it out. It’s obvious what they made.”

To escape from inescapable time and rewrite the future, clinging to the hope of doing better.

“…But she said she felt something had gone wrong while making it.”

“No matter how excited you get in wartime, I doubt anyone would suggest making something like that.”

“And you said you don’t remember who brought it up?”

“That’s what makes it stranger.”

“……”

“She said she still doesn’t know why anyone would want to create something so dangerous, something that could trap you in time forever.”

I’d had similar thoughts before. In fact, I’d thought them often, especially as I learned more about the fairy of Mont Saint-Michel.

About the fear of living through time, knowing nothing, gaining nothing, with no meaning at all.

If what I’m doing now is just like that, what then?

I was so sure I was the last. But what if I’m not? The monsters that attacked Father must have thought they were the last, too. They could never have imagined that others, even humans, would come back after them.

…The same goes for me. The monsters succeeded in escaping the dungeon. They wouldn’t have done so knowing they had only three months to live. Since they had won, there was no longer any need to return to the past, and so I was certain that I, a human, was the last to come back.

But… what if that’s not true? What if I simply want to believe it, and so I do?

What if everything I’m doing now is nothing more than a repetition of what’s already been done, ending only in failure and death? And what if, in this endlessly repeated time, someone is going through the same motions, again and again, without end?

Clap.

“…!”

Father clapped his hands loudly, drawing all attention to himself.

“Alex mentioned it earlier, didn’t he? What is it we’re supposed to do?”

“…Do what we can now?”

Kim Chaemin answered cautiously, glancing at me, worry in their eyes.

Maybe Hope and Han Taekyung hadn’t noticed, but Kim Chaemin and Father certainly had sensed my unease.

…Damn. I thought I was past being shaken by things like this.

“That’s right, Dr. Kim!”

Father grinned exaggeratedly. If I hadn’t seen his trembling hands at the hotel meeting not long ago, I might have been fooled.

But he wasn’t as tense as he had been then. Not that he wasn’t nervous at all, but now there was a confidence, a resolve not to be swayed by such things.

“Alex said it before we started, remember?”

“…Ah!”

“Even that kid doesn’t act without thinking anymore.”

“I don’t always act without thinking, you know?!”

I stared blankly at Father. He reached out and pressed down on my head.

“Do you remember what Alex said?”

“…Yes.”

I pulled myself together.

“Yes.”

That’s right. It wasn’t just a guess anymore; I now had a way to find out if I really was the last.

“You said we could get the item out?”

Father grinned at Hope.

“You think Grandma will give it to us if we ask?”

“Nothing to lose by trying.”

“Exactly.”

“What will you do if you get it?”

“Well…”

Father paused, then, as if seeking my permission, or perhaps my understanding, spoke slowly.

“Destroy it.”

“…What if.”

Kim Chaemin started to ask something, then stopped.

The hesitation on their face made it obvious what they wanted to ask. Father and I were probably worrying about the same thing.

Even Han Taekyung, who for once wasn’t making jokes, and Hope, now so uncharacteristically quiet, were both clearly troubled.

Everyone here was thinking the same thing, sharing the same worry, but no one dared to voice it.

What if I don’t have the item?

“Hahaha!”

Father laughed, as if to shake off the anxiety. I shook my head and steadied my voice.

“If the monster refuses, we’ll just have to think again from there.”

“……”

“Either way, what we have to do doesn’t change.”

To shake off the creeping unease, I repeated the words to myself, as if brainwashing myself.

The phrase I’d started using to clear my mind and focus on the present now weighed on us all with a different heaviness.

---

We decided to wait until we’d found the dungeon before asking Moby about the item. Find the dungeon, and if possible, put the monster inside it.

That way, if it changed its mind, we’d still have control. We could just destroy the dungeon core.

So, the tasks were:

First, find the dungeon the fish came from.

Second, investigate what Michel did inside the dungeon.

Third, put the fish in.

Every time the guild held a meeting, I wondered if this was really the right way…. What would it take for this guild to be properly organized? First, we’d need more people, I suppose.

But despite our rough conclusions and to-do list, we hit a snag right at the first step.

Moby had told Hope where its dungeon was. However it had done so, Hope, who now had to explain it to us, looked quite troubled.

It was a monster that had never intended to come outside. The dungeon’s entrance was hidden. But if there was no door, not even a monster could get out.

What that meant was—

“…Michel blew it open?”

“He’d have to open the entrance to get inside, right?”

“…I haven’t heard of any recent explosions in the desert.”

“If there had been, the Americans would have noticed right away. They’re still combing the desert even now.”

I frowned and asked,

“You still haven’t found it?”

“Hmm. They said there haven’t been any new gates.”

“How did they even find such a dungeon…?”

I trailed off.

“Was there some important enemy in that dungeon in the future?”

“Could be.”

“Damn it. Hope, did you hear anything else? About what’s inside the dungeon?”

“…Water?”

Not helpful.

“I’d hoped we could go in on our own, without help…”

“It’s impossible in this situation. Dr. Kim couldn’t slip away even if she tried.”

“What? Are you blaming me now?!”

“Same goes for me. And Han or Heejae, and you too—we’re all drawing attention, so sneaking out isn’t an option.”

“Hmm… What about Hope?”

“Everyone knows about the masked person wandering around. They’re just pretending not to notice, trying to avoid getting involved. Even the ones who see you on the rooftop are probably just keeping their distance out of courtesy.”

“No one would think you’re talking to a monster…”

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

It was Hope who broke it.

“Anyway, it’s that way. I don’t know how far, though.”

“If it followed the scent of lake water, there shouldn’t be any water nearby… Daniel said the US military is searching, right?”

“Yeah. So we can’t move in secret.”

“I get it, you don’t have to say it again. Still, I wish we could be the first ones in.”

“The master is the one in charge, so maybe that’ll help.”

“Right. And Dr. Kim is with us.”

“I never wanted this, you know!”

I folded my arms, organizing my thoughts. We couldn’t find it on our own, and the Americans were searching too.

Maybe if we just waited, they’d find it for us.

After all, they couldn’t leave that huge thing in the city forever. If we asked for help moving it into a dungeon…

But how did something that size suddenly appear over Las Vegas in the first place? It said it came through the desert, so there shouldn’t be a gate near the city.

“…It came through the desert?”

“Hm?”

“It was wounded by Michel in the dungeon, right?”

I pointed at Moby’s empty eye socket, visible through the window.

“It said it came through the desert.”

“…Uh-huh?”

“But its bleeding only stopped after it got here and we supplied vapor, right?”

“Oh.”

Kim Chaemin’s mouth fell open.

“That means its blood fell in the desert!!”

Blood infected with parasites, at that.