Chapter 168

Of course, my life hadn’t always gone as planned.

Even if some new problem arose, there shouldn’t be any issue with escaping—

‘There are a f*ckton of them!!!’

If it weren’t for this situation, I would have screamed my head off, thrashed around, and expressed my anger with my entire body.

“This really isn’t easy.”

Leaning against the prison wall, I stared at the damn system over and over, but the text saying movement was impossible never changed.

Alright, I’m screwed. Completely screwed.

The only thing I had to rely on was using the ‘I am the Writer’ skill with my fingers, healed by the Self-Heal skill.

《Is there a problem?》

“…I can’t escape.”

《We’re screwed.》

Could you please not say it out loud?

I wanted to wipe my face with my palms, but my hands weren’t free.

First, if I can just get these chains off, I might be able to escape with teleportation magic, so let’s start with the chains.

「Release the chains on my wrists.」

Fortunately, there were no other notifications from the system this time.

Even if Iris had somehow blocked skill-based movement, it seemed she couldn’t block such trivial things.

Should I be grateful for that much?

My wrists, which had been bound in chains for hours, were stained red and stung.

Would they have bled if not for Self-Heal? Or was Self-Heal too busy healing my forcibly bent fingers to even touch my wrists?

Either way, the objective was to escape quickly.

Should I try teleportation magic first?

I tried to forcibly tear open space, but as if she had prepared for that too, the space wouldn’t tear.

“Tsk.”

Once system movement was blocked, I expected it would be difficult to move with magic as well.

“Can you let me know if someone approaches?”

《Who?》

“If it’s Iris Viden, immediately.”

《That would be difficult if it’s Iris Viden.》

“!!!”

Why? How many times had I been surprised today?

The fact that it was all because of one person, Iris Viden, made it even more annoying.

“Because she’s turning into an Ouroboros?”

《Yes, that is my antithesis.》

“But you’re a demon?”

Antithesis, that was the first I’d heard of it.

At my question, Albedo uncharacteristically clamped his mouth shut.

It seemed to be related to some ancient, hidden truth that was difficult to explain to me.

I’m so damn curious. What is this so-called ancient truth!

《…I suppose I can say this much. Yes, she is the enemy of all beings with a will in this world.》

“Wow.”

My head throbbed at Albedo’s peculiar expression.

The final boss of Part 1, the Ouroboros, wasn’t actually featured that prominently in the game.

In fact, there was an element of it appearing quite suddenly.

When the announcement that Part 1 was about to conclude suddenly came out, the thought that came to my mind wasn’t ‘Part 1 is finally over!’ but ‘What the hell did we even do for Part 1 to be over?’.

But now, hearing Albedo’s explanation, I couldn’t help but think it was more than just a boss to be consumed and done with in Part 1.

“Ppippit!”

Just then, Lou, who had been holding his breath quietly in my pocket, quickly jumped out.

《Aha, the Light Spirit would know.》

“Really?!”

“Ppii, ppibit!!”

That was him showing off. It almost looked like he was teasing Albedo a little.

Seeing Albedo’s expression sour slightly, that must have been it.

“Then let’s not hesitate any longer and move right away.”

Who knows when Iris might show up again.

Sigh, it’s not like I’m dealing with a ghost. I swallowed a sigh and moved forward.

* * *

The wound, which had been so carefully stitched up, burst open again due to Iris’s ruthless touch, staining the white bandage red.

Mordegard, who had been staring blankly at it, unhesitatingly poured disinfectant on the wound.

A normal person would have screamed, perhaps even fainted from the pain, but Mordegard’s expression remained unchanged.

It wasn’t that his body couldn’t feel pain from the start.

However, everything becomes dull in time, and the total amount of pain Mordegard had received was too great for him to writhe from a pain of this level.

“…….”

After pouring the disinfectant and wrapping the wound with a bandage once more, Mordegard thought of a certain young man in the underground prison.

Theo Lisitoel, who spoke of the Ouroboros and possessed a great deal of strange knowledge and information.

‘I must kill him.’

His thoughts remained unchanged.

There is no information without a source, and unknown information from an unknown source is the domain of fear.

Theo Lisitoel was clearly in the domain of fear.

In the first place, having kidnapped a noble invited by the Emperor, Golden would not escape questioning, but it could somehow be smoothed over.

Even though they had attacked the Descendant of the Hero in the Imperial Palace and poured a cursed potion on him, if Mordegard took all the blame as a scapegoat, Golden would be safe.

Although he himself would not be safe, as long as his master, Iris, was safe, Golden could maintain its current position.

In the first place, Golden was a merchant group that wouldn’t exist and couldn’t even be established without Iris.

However, the moment Iris’s secret—the Ouroboros—was revealed, everything would be over.

Iris would be immediately excommunicated and hunted down as a monster.

Then Golden would be finished too.

That, he could absolutely not let happen.

Therefore, Theo Lisitoel must die.

‘It’s fine.’

If he killed Theo Lisitoel, Mordegard too would die by Iris’s hand.

Iris would never forgive anyone who went against her will.

But even that was fine.

In the end, it would be Mordegard who died, not Iris Viden.

After roughly tying up his wound, Mordegard immediately left the room and headed for the underground prison.

He had confirmed that Iris was in a deep sleep.

Iris, who couldn’t sleep for long periods since cursing herself, instead took frequent, short, deep naps.

She wouldn’t wake up for at least another hour. That was more than enough time to dispose of one person.

‘The problem is….’

Iris would not have been unaware of this fact. For what reason did she know everything and yet not order Mordegard not to touch him?

“…….”

There hadn’t been many times Mordegard could fathom Iris’s heart, but this was the first time he had felt it to be so unpredictable.

From the back alleys to becoming the Empire’s top merchant group, Mordegard, who had assisted her with everything by her side, was the only one who could somewhat gauge Iris’s emotions and actions.

But now, he really didn’t know.

No, this wasn’t important.

“The only things that matter are Golden and my Master.”

Mordegard swept his hair back with his remaining hand and headed straight for the underground prison where Theo Lisitoel was being held.

He would carry all the sins himself.

His objective was simple and clear.

Currently, there were no people in the mansion where Mordegard and Iris were staying.

They couldn’t hire just anyone and risk the safety of Iris, who fell into deep sleep frequently.

In truth, that was all just an excuse. He just couldn’t show Iris’s current state to others.

Iris, in her deep sleep, repeatedly and rapidly shifted out of her human form and back again, and he couldn’t let others see that.

“…For what purpose.”

The reason Iris Viden, who could enjoy everything as the Master of Gold, had become like that was probably… Theo Lisitoel.

Iris had changed drastically since that damn boy took Lerwon, the toy she cherished the most.

The more he thought about it, the more the thought that Theo must die filled his head.

As if he were being guided to think that way.

“Hey, if you’re only telling me now—”

A voice that shouldn’t be heard here rang out.

What he found on the stairs of the underground prison was the man Mordegard intended to kill, his face etched with dismay.

“Crazy!”

Theo Lisitoel willingly threw himself off the stairs, falling backward, and quickly assumed a posture as if writing something with his finger.

Now is my chance. If I say I killed him after discovering his escape, even Iris will have to accept it!

Just as Mordegard was about to reach out, he felt the golden chains strongly bind his only arm.

“This is—”

“Whoa, that was close.”

Theo Lisitoel, having landed safely on the floor with a breakfall, let out a sigh of relief and looked up at the stairs.

“Alright, I’m screwed!”

Theo Lisitoel said with a nonchalant smile.

* * *

The structure of the underground prison itself wasn’t very complicated or wide.

However, the thought that Iris Viden could appear at any moment made me so tense that I couldn’t move quickly.

The only good thing was that I had finally found the stairs leading up from the underground prison.

I would get out of this underground prison, and the moment I entered an area where I could use teleportation magic or the Writer skill, I would escape.

It was the moment I was quickly climbing the stairs.

《Theo, it’s a person!》

“Hey, if you’re only telling me now—”

What do you want me to do! Why did it have to be Mordegard of all people!

“Crazy!”

His aura was menacing.

Those were the eyes of someone who had decided to kill.

Great, just perfect for driving a person insane! There was only one place to run.

For now, I have to trust the breakfall I learned as a kid!

As I threw myself backward off the stairs, I quickly activated the Writer skill.

「Strongly bind Mordegard with chains」

Chains shot out in an instant, binding Mordegard tightly.

“Whoa, that was close.”

All that was left was to land safely on the floor with a breakfall.

Drawing on my memory, I managed to land safely, albeit precariously, at the bottom of the stairs.

To my taekwondo master, I’m sorry for inwardly cursing you for teaching me something so useless. Breakfalls are the best!

Barely catching my breath, I slowly looked up.

The stairs of the underground prison were so narrow that only one person could pass at a time.

Right now, Mordegard was blocking the only passage.

And judging from his eyes, the fact that Mordegard came alone, without Iris, meant his purpose was to kill me, 500%.

“Alright, I’m screwed!”

They say laughter comes out when a person is too dumbfounded, and that’s exactly how I felt right now.

How could things get so twisted! I was so annoyed that I couldn’t help but laugh.

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