I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents-Chapter 43: Escort (7)

Ophelia was fully aware that this was a dream.

For a mage of Sixth Rank or higher, that wasn’t exactly a difficult realization.

And she also knew exactly when this dream was taking place.

There weren’t many times when Elena de Brinier—the "Sword of Light"—was this genuinely enraged.

Elena opened her mouth, her face and body smeared with blood and bits of flesh.

There had only been a few instances where Elena's gaze had ever sunk this dark and heavy.

Ophelia was certain:

This dream was depicting the aftermath of clearing Floor 66 on Hard Mode.

"Was I wrong, Ophelia?"

The Archmage.

Ophelia shook her head.

Just like back then, her answer would be the same in any situation.

"You did everything you could, Elena."

And Ophelia could already predict Elena’s response as well.

"...It’s not about whether I did everything I could, Ophelia."

Even at the time, Ophelia had thought that people like Elena—so cold and terrifying—were truly rare.

"We lost. That means we lost to the Tower."

Ophelia remembered the deep fury she had felt at Elena’s words.

"From now on, we have to make sure something like this never happens again... we need to create a detailed manual and post it in the Gallery. Make it look like it was always part of the system, so players after Floor 30 won’t question anything."

That day, Ophelia saw something for the first time.

"We need to push the idea that lower-difficulty floors should be cleared solo, not in parties."

She saw Elena calculating everything down to the last detail.

"And the survivors of Floor 66... they need training. So they don’t get swept up in pointless deaths."

As soon as Elena finished speaking, Ophelia felt her consciousness rapidly fade.

And she knew better than anyone that this sensation meant she was waking up from a real dream.

What greeted Ophelia as she opened her eyes was a field of pure white.

"...Ugh."

She carefully gathered the white papers that had fallen on top of her head and set them on the desk.

She had been researching a spell to give to Han Yuseong, the only climber in the Transcendent Gallery.

And apparently, she had dozed off.

"Hmph, guess I really did stay up too long. What, five days straight now...?"

Ophelia wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth.

Sometimes, when she focused too hard, she could stay awake for far longer than she ever expected.

"Haven’t dreamed about climbing the Tower in a long time."

Back when she was climbing, she used to have those dreams all the time—dreams of ascending the Tower.

But ever since she cleared the 100th Floor and returned to the original world, she hadn’t dreamed at all—until now.

She didn’t think the reason for this sudden dream was far off.

That post yesterday, announcing a new attempt at climbing Floor 66 on Hard Mode.

Ophelia figured that was what had triggered the dream after all this time.

"There are always gonna be people who break through."

Hard Mode existed specifically because it was possible—however low the odds.

"But... more of them will die than we did."

The posts written by Sword of Light, just before Han Yuseong joined the Transcendent Gallery, had been spot-on.

This generation of Hard Mode climbers lacked individual combat power.

Letting out a shallow sigh, Ophelia turned her attention back to her research—finding a way to cast magic using only aura circuits.

***

Splash—

I poured a low-grade healing potion onto the abdomen of the man collapsed on the ground.

"You feeling a little better?"

The man glared at me.

"Kh... What do you plan to do with me?"

"Dunno yet."

He was still breathing, which meant it was time to get some answers.

"You know how many enemies there are?"

The man shook his head.

"I’m just a scout."

Bet he had a rough idea, though.

"Then give me the rough idea. Tell me and I’ll let you live."

"I told you! I don’t know!"

I glanced over at Rengel, the mercenary who had approached while I wasn’t looking.

"Hey, if I pull this thing out, is he gonna die?"

I pointed at the short spear embedded in the left side of the man’s abdomen with my right index finger.

Rengel furrowed his brow, inspected the wound closely, and then slowly shook his head.

"He’ll bleed a lot, but if you pour a potion on it and wrap it with bandages, he should be fine. Though we’ll have to toss him into a healer’s hut before the day’s over."

According to Karmin Everhart, Rengel was a mercenary who had survived in the field for a long time.

So he probably knew his way around wounds like this.

"Got it. So, if I yank this out and treat him right away, he lives, he suffers, and I get my spear back nice and clean, yeah?"

At my words, Rengel’s mouth twitched like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

"...Yes, he won’t die."

Without hesitation, I reached for the spear and pulled it out.

"AAAAAARRGH!"

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

A loud scream burst from the man’s mouth as he lay sprawled on the ground.

Just when I was starting to think I might need to tear off his fingernails to get him talking, I’d remembered a quicker way to cause pain.

I poured the healing potion directly onto the wound and wrapped it with a bandage.

The guy kept groaning and glaring at me.

Then I heard Rengel’s voice again.

He had apparently taken a small pouch from the man’s belt and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Take a look at this."

Rengel held out the paper to me with both hands.

It was a map.

It showed the forest we were currently in, the city beyond it, and the roads leading from that city to the academy.

"You give me a map like this, and you still expect me to believe you don’t know anything?"

I looked back at Rengel.

"You ever pulled out someone’s fingernail?"

"Yes."

"...What?"

Wait, he has?

Rengel stared blankly between me and the man collapsed on the ground.

"But fingernails and toenails don’t regenerate with healing potions. You know that, right?"

Nope. I had no idea.

"It’s more efficient to dig into the skin between the nail and the flesh for torture. If you rip out the nail or the toe, that’s it. But the skin under and around the nail—that can heal even with low-grade potions."

Shff, shff—

Rengel suddenly started putting on gloves.

"Shall I begin?"

Uh... what the hell.

Is this guy a real expert?

Or just really good at pretending to be one?

The body of the man on the floor visibly trembled.

Without hesitation, Rengel grabbed the man’s right arm and pulled out a thick needle from his pouch.

"AAAAAAAGH!"

He stabbed it in, without even blinking.

Yeah, nope. I’m not watching that.

Rengel, this guy... he’s scary.

"I-I’ll talk. I’ll tell you what I know."

Turned out the guy caved a lot faster than expected.

"In the city of Intenes, just beyond this forest, knights and mercenaries from the Raphael Count family are stationed right at the entrance."

His lips quivered as he continued.

"And... they already know you killed a Fifth-Rank Knight. I saw it from afar and reported it. They’re still planning to kill you. Of course, they’re also after the Everhart girl. At the very least, the Raphael Count family has zero intention of letting you two live."

So... I killed a Fifth-Rank Knight, then a bunch more, and they still sent reinforcements.

I looked down at the man still lying there.

"Rengel, keep an eye on this guy. Hey, what’s your name?"

He looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

"...Beron."

"Alright, Beron. Stay put and behave."

I turned my gaze to Rengel.

"Yes."

He nodded at me, though I didn’t completely take my eyes off him. I couldn’t afford to trust him that much yet.

"Karmin, let’s talk for a moment."

"Y-yes...!"

I motioned with my chin and moved away from Rengel and Beron.

At this point, it was impossible not to be suspicious.

Karmin Everhart was definitely hiding something from me.

If this were just some noble family lashing out over a broken engagement, the level of force they were using was way overkill.

"There’s more, isn’t there? About why the Raphael Count family is chasing you. It’s not just about the divorce."

Karmin hung her head low.

I continued.

"I killed a Fifth-Rank. That guy had to be one of their top military assets. And yet they’re still coming for us like they won’t stop until we’re dead. That’s not normal. So what do you know? About the Raphael Count family... or Vitor Raphael?"

If everything could be solved by just killing people, life would be simple.

But to survive, I’d have to use my brain too.

In this damn Tower.

Just as I was about to press her again, Karmin finally spoke.

"I found out that Vitor always heads to the basement of his annex whenever I fall asleep... or on days when he goes out for long periods. I couldn’t help but get curious. About what was down there. About what he was doing."

The basement.

Yeah, that already sounds shady as hell.

"What was in the basement?"

"He was using live humans to experiment with chimera research. I think... it might be connected to a dark mage, too. I don’t know if it was just Vitor acting on his own, or if the entire Raphael Count family was involved."

I threw a few more questions at her.

"Did Vitor know? That you found out?"

"I’m not sure... but since that basement was used for chimera research, I assume it has at least some sort of defense or detection measures."

Yeah, that tracks.

"Why didn’t you tell me this from the start?"

"...I didn’t think you’d believe me. And I couldn’t fully trust you either, Yuseong. I’m sorry."

I watched Karmin bow her head, gears turning in my mind.

This thing was officially a lot bigger than I thought.

And something like this—

This was a weapon.

If I sent this information to Ventura Academy, which wasn’t under the influence of the Raphael Count family...

I pulled out the binding scroll and reactivated Veil of Secrets.

Then I pulled out the device and logged into the Transcendent Gallery.

Title: Is there a place in Intenes where I can send a letter to Ventura Academy?

User: ㅇㅇ*

- Raphael's eldest son Vitor's been doing chimera research using live people. If I get this out, Ventura Academy might actually come out to meet us.

Also—are mercs usually this good at torture?

I asked one if he ever pulled out fingernails and he says that’s inefficient, then goes on about how you have to dig into the skin between the nail and the finger, and just casually starts torturing the guy like a pro 😮😮

ㄴ That level of torture is basic training. You should start learning it too.

ㄴ For real. There will come a time you need it.

ㄴ Our climber's still such a pure newbie 😢😢😢 so cute 😢😢

ㄴ Sword of Light: Just turn your aura into ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) a needle and stab the thigh a few times.

ㄴ Gutter Swordsman: Uh... yeah, that works. Just be careful—you mess up the pressure and you’ll end up killing them.

ㄴ Ice Queen: Frozen! Freeze them a little and they listen real good! Just chill their head for a moment and release!

ㄴ ㅇㅇ:* Wow, yeah, no way someone wouldn’t talk after that.

ㄴ LOL they’d be spilling secrets like a fountain

ㄴ Holy crap, you guys are scary 😮😮

ㄴ Archmage: If it’s Intenes, head to the Belfetor General Store on the outskirts and say, “I’ve come to forge a bond under a strange night.” If the timeline’s after our generation, it might still work. Belfetor’s a front for the info guild.

ㄴ Archmage: Though fair warning, Belfetor might not even exist anymore. Or they might’ve cut ties with the guild. Or the passphrase could’ve changed.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ:* Thanks, I’ll check it out. Or maybe I should ask Karmin... think she’d know?

ㄴ Doubt it.

ㄴ That kind of info’s way above a baron’s daughter’s pay grade.

ㄴ Chances are it’s still there. Info guilds don’t go down easy. It’s probably a generation or so past the world we climbed in.

Worth asking, at least.

As expected, Archmage-sunbae always drops the best info.

Got a lead now. Temporary, but it’ll do.