Chapter Sixty-Seven: Clues Gradually Intertwined

"Do you have any plans?"
Walking on the road back, the Bringer of Glory suddenly initiated conversation. "The Dark Guild has been destroyed. You shouldn't have any reason to stay in the lower district anymore."
The sword-bearer from the Order didn't reply; she simply nodded silently.
"I don't trust the Dice House, and I trust Dick even less." Amy paused, hoping to discern something from the girl's face, but, as expected, found nothing. "I'm thinking of trying my luck at the passage. What about you?"
"The same," Mia answered.
"Then let's go together." A smile appeared on the youth's face. Though he didn't believe Dick had reason to lie in this matter, he thought perhaps his death omen ability might allow him to discover something at Hemtica's Wall of Sighs. "When do you think we should depart?"
"Now?" The sword-bearer's voice carried rare uncertainty.
"Now? That works." The Bringer of Glory understood. From their first meeting, the girl had shown a fierce desire to return to the upper district and join the war against Chaos. Yet after the successive brutal battles, if they didn't rest, the chaotic situation in the upper district would make their position not only perilous, but their contribution would be minimal. "But let's make it clear upfront: we're just going to gather information. Even if the Dice House handed us false intelligence, we should still return and recuperate for a time."
"Mm..." With slight hesitation, Mia bit her lip and nodded gently.
"That's settled, then." Amy didn't give her a chance to reconsider. Having fought side by side, he didn't want the girl to recklessly plunge unprepared into the high-intensity battlefield of the upper district. "First, we'll go to the Wall of Sighs to learn what we can, then return to properly rest."
"Return?" The sword-bearer repeated. "Return... where?"
"Uh, that." The Bringer of Glory had forgotten—his house and deed had been mortgaged to the Dice House. But... that wasn't a big issue. As the ancients said, 'a crafty rabbit has three burrows.' His retreat had already been arranged from the start: he'd purchased a courtyard beside the commercial street in the northern district. "Follow me later."
"Okay." Mia replied quietly, then lapsed back into silence.
The Ildan mining district was vast, its tunnels labyrinthine. Getting lost inside was quite normal. But thanks to the marks left earlier, the two followed their original path toward the surface. Yet... even though their intended task was accomplished, their mood upon leaving remained heavy.
Not only because of the information revealed by the Dice House's apostle, but also everything they saw along the way.
The smell of blood and corpses—
Everywhere, and as they approached the surface, the nauseating stench only grew stronger.
"It must've been those monsters," Amy broke the silence first. He hadn't deliberately examined the bodies, but the bite marks on the shattered remains could only have come from the underground beasts. "A disaster, but at least we're the victors in the end."
He referred to the battle against the so-called Dark Earth Mother, a high demon.
That fight had been close—dangerously so.
Had the sword-bearer's final Wind King's Roar failed to destroy the demon's astonishingly tough body, the outcome would have been grim. Even if he could carve a bloody path out of the monsters' siege with his death omen power, the girl, suffering from its backlash, would surely have succumbed to death's fate.
Fortunately, supposition didn't matter.
The victors were him—more accurately, them.
They won.
They seized the final victory.
The nameless beast of chaos was reduced to dust, the endless horde of monsters vanished, and a catastrophe that could have swept the lower district was strangled in its cradle. Cause for celebration—if only it were so! The Bringer of Glory refused to deceive himself. If they hadn't stirred up the Dark Guild, this disaster wouldn't have happened. Perhaps these miners would one day become fodder for monsters, but certainly not today. He was, without doubt, the indirect perpetrator of their deaths; their fate was tied to his own.
Yet, to say he felt guilt was another matter. Amy Ulysses pitied them, admitted his involvement, but would never let it chain him, never wallow in self-reproach. What he would do was face his actions, confront his sins, and carry it all forward.
In a world where darkness drew ever closer, he had no time to hesitate.
Composing himself, the youth glanced at the girl beside him. He had to admit, the sword-bearer endured mental strain far better than he did. The shattered corpses hadn't affected her in the slightest; not a ripple marred her delicate face.
She still needed further tempering.
The young Bringer of Glory thought this—and then saw light.
The exit was near.
As for the guards who taxed minerals, there was no need to deflect anymore.
Because... there was no longer a need to conceal their identities.
—Wait!
The youth's eyes widened, then narrowed to a slit.
The guards were dead—in the literal sense.
Their throats were slit, crimson blood splattered everywhere. Their bulging, bloodshot eyes were frozen in terror, as though they'd witnessed something beyond imagination, beyond comprehension.
"It's been some time."
The sword-bearer knelt skillfully to examine the corpse. "It wasn't the monsters."
"Death by a sharp weapon, the body intact," Amy added. "From the body's posture and direction, it's clear the deceased tried to flee toward the mine. That means the danger didn't come from within Ildan, but from... an external intruder."
"Coincidence?" The girl raised an eyebrow.
"I'm afraid not." The Bringer of Glory paused for three breaths, then sighed softly. "Before we entered Ildan, didn't I ask you all if it felt like something was following us?"
"Yes."
"I think," the youth lifted his gaze from the corpse, looking out into the boundless mist, "we were marked even then—and Dick was probably his accomplice."
"Makes sense," the sword-bearer affirmed.
"We've been thoroughly played,"
The clues aligned. The Dice House's apostle had been planning to use him all along, wielding them like knives, sending them head-on against the Dark Guild's strongest, while assigning the one who followed them to invade the Guild's headquarters and perpetrate a horrific massacre. Of course, simple slaughter created no value; Dick's goal was likely the Guild's technology. But... he saw no need to inform Mia of that yet.
"Everything we've done has become someone else's wedding dress."
"Wedding dress?" The girl tilted her head.
"No... nothing." Realizing his slip, Amy had no intention to explain. He smoothly changed the subject. "I think I know who the intruder following us is. He's an old acquaintance of mine, you could say."
He emphasized 'old acquaintance.'
"An enemy?" The sword-bearer nodded knowingly.
"Yes. I nearly died at his hands." The Bringer of Glory didn't shy away. "He's a major reason I ended up against the Dark Guild—now that I think about it, even his attack on me was probably part of the plan."
Truly... he'd been played for a fool, run in circles like a monkey.
Unconsciously, he clenched his fist.
"Counterattack," Mia said, her voice cold and deadly.
"No, the environment of the Ildan caves restricts us too much." After a brief hesitation, the youth rejected the proposal. "But for him, it's ideal."
Hoping to catch the killer in the complex, unfamiliar environment of the misty night was unrealistic.
"Okay." The sword-bearer had no objection.
"But for now, it has little effect on us." Amy judged calmly, "The intruder is likely one of the murderous ghouls bred by the Dark Guild. Though I don't know why he turned, his individual strength isn't particularly troublesome. The threat he poses to us is quite limited."
He paused, then added:
"Still, we must beware his assassinations—especially while we're resting."
"Understood." The girl's answer was always concise.
"Then..." The youth's words stuck in his throat, his gaze lingering on a small grove nearby. He sighed softly. "Never mind, it's nothing. Let's go."
The sword-bearer followed his gaze, her gentle expression sharpening like blade's edge.
"May the Lord of All Good grant rest to the unclean."
With a low prayer, the girl honored the departed. In her emerald-clear eyes reflected the twisted, sinful shape lying in the grove.
It was the corpse of the little girl they had previously encountered, fully transformed into a demon.
Yes, she was dead.
Her limbs were twisted together like rope, her head forced upward to stare at the sky. The enormous eyes, taking up nearly half her face, still brimmed with unshed tears. Humiliation and despair colored her features as though painted by a master; merely looking evoked the perpetrator's blatant, profound malice.
Beast.
For the first time, anger overtook the sword-bearer's fine features.
Yet—
"Let's go." The youth's words were light, almost dismissive. Then, as if to ensure correctness, he raised his voice and repeated, "Let's go."
The girl didn't move, her fist clenched tightly. After a long moment, she watched the Bringer of Glory's receding back and asked, "Why?"
"There is no why," Amy Ulysses stopped walking. "I simply believe—"
He turned, his pitch-dark eyes seeming to burn with fire.
"He will come for me."