Treasure Hunt (7)

[A voting meeting for the rollback has been held.]

Wasn't it only the main author who could request a rollback or a reset?

But it feels as if there was never such an absolute rule, as a mocking sequence of letters flickers in front of me.

Thunder started to rumble in the sky, which was becoming overcast with dark clouds.

[Main Author: Have you completely lost your mind?]

In the past, humans couldn't understand natural disasters with their cognition, so they believed that the anger of the gods caused the disasters. It's a story that doesn't hold in the modern world, but at least in the world of the story, that proposition is not false.

But in the end, he's just a sub-writer. Looking at that sharp glare, it was obvious even without looking. Surely the main author and the assistant writer would oppose it…

However, Sub-writer 1 was nothing but confident. Like someone who had already grasped everything that was about to happen in their hands.

[Sub-writer 1: If you oppose it, you have to give me a reason to back off.]

And the vision is shattered into small pieces.

***

A few hours ago, Celestina had seen smoke and flames suddenly rising in the pitch-black night. She could hear whispers, speculating that a petty thief had slipped in while the castle was in disarray.

Then, not long after, there was another uproar, this time saying that it had appeared from the Nidum Tower.

Raindrops began to fall lightly, drawing streaks across the window. The torrential rain that suddenly poured down quickly extinguished the fire on the warehouse, but Celestina's mind was unsettled as she gazed up at the sluggish sky.

"Celestina."

Someone called out to Celestina, who had been sitting on the couch, gazing out the window. It was Ferdinand, wearing his armour, which he typically donned when facing monsters after leaving El Dante. He had an unfamiliar, stoic expression on his face.

"…Weren't you at the Nidum Tower?"

Not understanding why Ferdinand, who should have been leading the charge against it at the Nidum Tower, had returned to Rondine Tower, Celestina asked. However, Ferdinand spoke in a way that seemed out of place.

"Don't go outside tonight if you can avoid it."

"…What do you mean?"

"There are intruders. Stay quiet and keep to yourself."

As he said this, Ferdinand didn't even look at Celestina. His gaze seemed distant, as if it were wandering somewhere far off. The coldness in his demeanour felt strange, and Celestina clenched her fists tightly.

Above all, Ferdinand had never spoken to her in such a way before. As she heard his heavy footsteps moving away, Celestina ran down the hallway, calling out after him.

"Where are you going?"

"…"

"How about Father… the southern tower is close to the Nidum Tower, and not far from the warehouse fire. Is it really safe there? Are the knights protecting him right now? Big brother, big brother!"

Ferdinand, as if he couldn't hear her at all, kept walking away. Celestina watched his back for a moment, then made up her mind. She would disregard Ferdinand's strange advice lightly.

'I am also an Ertinez.'

She pulled her cloak tighter and grabbed a lantern. As she left Rondine Tower, she saw knights moving swiftly toward Nidum Tower. Celestina hid in the bushes, and when they turned a corner and disappeared from view, she sprinted after them.

'This is strange. No matter how I think about it, it's strange.'

The king visited El Dante, her father was trapped in the tower because of it, and Ferdinand was acting unusually. Celestina bit her lip and pressed her feet into the ground.

True to the Ertinez family's reputation for swordsmanship, her movements were swift. As she neared the southern tower, she was certain her instincts had been right.

'There's no one here!'

Even though the trial of fasting was ongoing, this was a place where a lord should stay. Not a single knight was guarding it. She quickly scanned the area before running toward the tower. With a flicker of doubt, she grabbed the door handle and pulled.

The door creaked open smoothly.

'Huh…?'

Though the knight guarding the door had stepped away, Celestina had assumed the door would be locked. However, it opened far too easily.

At this rate, if an intruder were to rush in and attack her father, no one would be able to stop them. Moreover, her father, weakened from the trial of fasting, likely hadn't been able to eat or drink properly, leaving him in a frail condition.

Celestina quickly slipped inside, hoping no one would see her.

Then, something caught her foot.

"…!"

A barbed spear, with a small swallow insignia stamped on the handle. The swallow emblem was the mark used on all weapons supplied to the soldiers of the Ertinez family. 

It wasn't uncommon for some unscrupulous knights to sell weapons to pay off their drinking debts, and this insignia was a way to prevent that. So there was no mistake. Celestina picked up the spear and immediately made a judgment.

'Someone must have attacked the Count's knights guarding the door!'

Just then, a disturbing sound came from above: Crack!

Thinking of her father locked in the upper floors of the tower, Celestina immediately bolted up the stairs. The weight of the spear in her hand and the dizzying spiral staircase, poorly lit, faded into the background.

When Celestina arrived, panting heavily at the top floor, the room was a scene of devastation. The lock had been smashed, and the door was wide open. Inside…

"Father!"

Her father, barely managing to fend off an attack with a broken table, was gasping for breath, collapsed on the floor. Over him stood a royal guard, sword raised.

"Celestina, be careful!"

As the guard reflexively turned toward her, her father, clutching the leg of the broken table, struck the knight's head from behind.

In the moment the knight lost his balance, Celestina instinctively swung the barbed spear she had been holding. The muscles in her shoulder clenched and contracted, her body shifting backward due to the heavy spear. 

Then, she drove forward, falling down with the motion.

Crack!

Whether it was luck or misfortune, the knight's helmet absorbed the worst of the impact, sparing her from having to see the gruesome sight. The helmet, however, crumpled and cracked open like a flower bud at the moment it was about to bloom. 

Celestina gritted her teeth, pulling the spear free again. As she watched, a sickening red foam bubbled up… and then the royal guard slowly began to disintegrate, starting from his extremities. As his body collapsed, his armour fell apart in a loud crash, scattering across the floor in a cacophony of noise.

"Celestina, are you hurt anywhere?"

Her father, with a look of urgency she had never seen before, rushed over to her and inspected her. His cheeks were slightly gaunt, his hair disheveled and hanging over his forehead, but it was undoubtedly her father.

Celestina nodded, recalling the strange sensation that lingered at her fingertips. She felt as though she would never forget this moment, but she believed she would be fine. Because she was no longer afraid, thinking of what she had been able to protect.

"What happened? Why did the royal guard attack you?"

"That… more importantly, why are you here? Is something happening outside?"

"There was a fire outside. Those wretched people… no, first of all, Ferdinand—"

Just as Celestina was about to explain, footsteps echoed up the stairs. The heavy clatter of armoured footsteps mixed with a strange, slithering sound that could hardly be attributed to a human.

She wanted to believe that it was the Count's knights, coming to investigate the disturbance, but instinctively, she knew that wasn't the case. Celestina gripped the spear tightly, her face hardening. Her father, too, gripped the broken table leg, staring at the door.

Until now, Celestina hadn't known how to explain the situation, but now, she understood.

'Ertinez Castle is under siege.'

As the sound of footsteps spiraled up the winding staircase, echoing like a vortex, Celestina steeled herself. This was the moment when she had to fight back in order to protect what mattered.

***

[Sub-writer 1: Like father, like daughter, huh? Quite the talent. It would be a shame to lose it so soon.]

I, floating above the southern tower, gazed down at the earth from the vast sky, letting time drift by. However, I soon found myself clutching my head in the grip of a dizzying headache.

The scene I had just witnessed… Through the eyes of 'Sub-Writer 1,' I had observed where Celestina and the Count were.

'Dizzy.'

The intense burning sensation in my eyes felt as if they were about to melt, and the nausea building from the vertigo of my shifting vision between the sky and the ground was overwhelming.

"Hah, ugh…"

I doubled over, vomiting, my stomach heaving. The air trapped in my lungs seemed to escape all at once, leaving me with the feeling that my insides were being violently squeezed.

[Sub-writer 1: Ah, was it dizzying? My apologies. This is my first time sharing vision like this, so I'm not quite used to it.]

As I read the message, the dizziness intensified, so I tried to shut my eyes tightly.

But then, I felt a cool hand.

Before I realized it, that thing had approached from behind, its cold, bluish hand—like that of the dead—gripping my chin and lifting my head.

The touch of a statue, humanoid in shape, gently caressing my neck. It was slick from the rain, slightly slippery, with a hard, marble-like texture.

Its face was half-mangled, leaving only emptiness above the jawline and lips. Water droplets from the rain fell through the void, trickling down its cheeks. The cold rainwater ran down my face and gathered at my lips, warming uncomfortably.

The posture was enough to strangle me, but it didn't. Instead, it smoothly curled its lips and whispered.

"But what should we do? I'll do it once more."

The voice sounded gentle and affectionate, but it was ultimately a smile armed with arrogance. Just as I thought I had seen that smile somewhere before…

"Isaac!"

Leonardo's voice calling my name grew muffled, as if submerged in water, fading and becoming more distant with each passing moment.

And then, my vision flipped once again.