Dark Fantasy’s Extra Chapter 126

I returned to Order headquarters with the trainees after another three days of walking.

“Good work, everyone. Get plenty of rest today.”

Everyone was completely exhausted, their bodies aching from extreme fatigue since they couldn’t even rest for a day at Scale Bay. 

After the trainees returned their weapons and went to wash up, only Hilde and I remained.

“That concludes your first mission too.”

“It feels… somewhat anticlimactic.”

Hilde said.

“What did you expect? If anything, what you did as a trainee hunter was probably more challenging.”

“That’s true… So many things happened back then.”

“Don’t worry, there will be plenty more to come. Well, I should get going now…”

“…”

Hilde looked at me with an expression that suggested she wanted to say something.

“…Yes. See you next time then.”

But she just bowed her head with a slightly bitter expression.

“Um… let’s get a meal together sometime when we’re both free.”

“…! Yes!”

Hilde smiled brightly again.

Seeing that smile made me feel complicated.

The reality that I couldn’t reciprocate even when she showed such honest affection.

A situation straight out of those love songs that saturated my past life on modern Earth had happened to me.

Of course, what’s at stake here is this world itself.

It’s no exaggeration to say countless lives hang in the balance.

Hilde is a noble-born mid-ranked hunter, and her eventual promotion to higher-ranked hunter is a foregone conclusion.

I shouldn’t become an obstacle on her path to that brilliant future.

My role was sufficient as just a stepping stone from the start.

It would have been better if it had ended that way.

“Sigh…”

After parting with Hilde, I let out a sigh, showered, changed into fresh clothes, and headed straight to the administration office.

“Oh? You’re back already?”

Hera asked with wide eyes since we’d returned a day earlier than scheduled.

“I have something to report. I need to speak directly with Sir Crowty or his assistant rather than you – are they around now?”

“They should be in the office. As you know, they rarely come to administration these days.”

I left the administration office again and went to Crowty’s office.

When I knocked, the assistant came out after a moment.

“What brings you here?”

“Is Sir Crowty inside? I have an important matter to report…”

“Come in.”

The assistant opened the door and I entered.

“…Welcome.”

Crowty, who had been reviewing documents at his desk, raised his head to greet me.

His workload had exploded recently due to accepting large numbers of new trainees.

Though I hadn’t heard the exact numbers, there must be at least 200 new trainees since they added about 10 more 8th-rank hunters like me who each received 20 trainees.

Dark circles were starting to show under the eyes of even Crowty, who stood at the pinnacle of all hunters except the Saintess and her direct guard, the 1st-rank hunters.

Thanks to my office work experience in my past life, I could understand how brutal Crowty’s current workload must be and felt genuine sympathy.

“Ah, hello sir.”

“What brings you here? Weren’t you scheduled to return tomorrow?”

“Yes. But something urgent came up that I needed to report, so we returned immediately after reaching Scale Bay.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about Blanc.”

“…Tell me everything.”

Crowty’s eyes sharpened again despite his fatigue when the behemoth’s name was mentioned.

I explained what had happened with Blanc at Scale Bay.

“You say Blanc was talking with someone…”

Crowty rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.

“What did they look like?”

“A woman with deep pink hair and yellow eyes.”

“…!”

Crowty started in shock.

He must know about Rusalka as well.

Of course, not being part of the 1st rank or Heresy Inquisition Department, he probably didn’t know about the other witches until recently.

But now behemoths are crying out about witches in the heart of the Order, and the breaking of their seals has entered the countdown phase.

The Saintess probably decided perfect information control was no longer possible and shared at least a general overview of what threats to expect, minus the core worldbuilding information.

New directives had also come down from above after the Pinocchio incident to report anything suspicious immediately.

“Explain in more detail. What exactly did they discuss?”

“Well… I actually couldn’t hear their specific conversation. I sort of ended up getting involved…”

“How does one ‘sort of’ end up involved in a conversation between those two…? Anyway, tell me everything you heard, whatever it was.”

“Yes.”

I explained everything, including how Rusalka had invited me to become her subordinate.

Normally I would have omitted such dangerous information, but given Rusalka’s collector tendencies, others would likely receive similar invitations going forward.

The Saintess and Heresy Inquisition Department must know about this trait of hers, so they probably wouldn’t make too much of an issue over something like this.

Better to be honest and help facilitate their response.

Though the Heresy Inquisition Department is fearsome and we have many bad ties, they’re still allies rather than enemies.

“…You really are something else. To suddenly receive such an invitation.”

“Haha…”

I had nothing to say to that.

“Anyway, good judgment. We didn’t send you there thinking anything would be at Scale Bay, so bringing everyone back was the better decision. And how was Hilde? Many people are interested since it was her first mission.”

“Nothing happened. I was alone when I met Blanc and that strange woman, and I deliberately didn’t call for Hilde.”

“Phew… that’s fortunate then. You really accomplished something big. Bringing Hilde back safely was the most important task. Though the trainees are important too…”

Crowty couldn’t hide his bitter expression.

He probably doesn’t realistically expect the trainees to properly grow and survive well either.

Rather, ensuring promising talents like Hilde survive properly can save more people in the long run.

“Anything else to report?”

“No.”

“I see. Good work.”

“I only did my duty.”

“…That’s exactly what makes it impressive.”

“What?”

“No, never mind… Go get some rest.”

“Yes…”

…Crowty must have a lot on his mind too.

I left the office and headed next to the building housing the Magic Research and Development Department.

While most people born with magical power become hunters, some take a different path.

The most representative example is becoming a mage – they used to be treated basically as walking siege weapons, but their treatment changed somewhat after the appearance of Ozwald, the legendary Great Mage.

Still, since it’s equally dangerous, all mages live in this building.

“What brings you here?”

The guard at the entrance asked.

As it houses mages, entry is controlled.

Though not as strictly as the Heresy Inquisition Department, it’s still not a place just anyone can freely enter.

“I’ve come to check on Oscar, Sir Ozwald’s disciple.”

“Ah… is that so?”

A hint of sympathy crept into the guard’s voice.  

“Go ahead in.”

I entered the Magic Research and Development Department building.

Being filled with mages who possess innately powerful magical power, I could feel the air quality was different just from stepping inside.

To be specific, the air felt heavy.

Of course, it wasn’t that the air literally gained weight, but rather the presence of magical power emanating from the mages created a sense of density.

If I were a Beast craving magical power, I probably would have been drooling uncontrollably.

I walked with familiar steps deeper into where Oscar stayed.

The deeper I went, the more the density and quality of magical power changed.

Simply put, it felt more dangerous the deeper I went.

And at some point, I arrived in front of Oscar’s room.

“…”

It’s an unpleasant door no matter how many times I see it.

Though several holy artifacts and talismans blocked the flow of magical power, the wooden door had still turned black from the magical power inside the room.

It was definitely a lighter brown color before.

A mage’s room door can’t be opened carelessly from outside.

If someone suddenly enters while something is being experimented on or a ritual is in progress, startling the caster could instantly lead to a major accident.

Instead, there’s a small window in the door to see what’s happening inside.

You check through this first to see if it’s okay to enter.

While it would be easier to manage if they could research magic together in workshops like weapon development, the magical power flows could dangerously interfere with each other so they have no choice but to use individual rooms.

“Hmm…”

Nothing special could be seen through the window.

Magically glowing lights, shelves packed with books, and someone in a white dress with black hair sitting at a desk reading.

I opened the door with mixed feelings.

“…Who is it?”

“It’s me. Eugene.”

“What brings you here?”

“I had some time so I just came to check on you…”

My heart ached seeing the resemblance to Hilde in the long black hair and blue eyes.

“Where is Sir Ozwald, Oscar?”

“In a meeting.”

Oscar got up from the desk and approached as he spoke.

“…I see.”

Oscar had… become a completely different person after returning from Cheshire Village.

He went insane from Grinning Cat’s mental torture and became incapacitated, but fortunately Maia was able to help.

However, that help didn’t mean returning him to his original state.

Maia said that on Swamp Island, madness is called the moon’s blessing.

Because it grants qualification to advance into completely new territories.

It was an area even Maia didn’t understand originally, but she gained some understanding thanks to returning from being Thumbelina, a complete monster.

Based on that understanding, she ‘organized’ Oscar’s madness to save him from being incapacitated, but…

The problem was that since the madness itself didn’t disappear, he hadn’t returned to normal.

The changed Oscar strayed from the orthodox path of mages and began researching new magic in an area even the Great Mage Ozwald couldn’t understand.

He had become what was known as a ‘magus’ – a kind of hidden build that was difficult to master even in Blue Paper Moon.

“…So, how is the research going?”

Finding the awkward atmosphere unbearable, I asked something generic.

“Fine.”

Oscar’s response was emotionless.

In the past he would have answered either confidently or unable to hide his irritation, but his voice was so dry it was hard to believe he was the same person.

“I see… Keep up the good work.”

“Okay.”

And above all, what was most unsettling was the change in his appearance.

Oscar had dyed his red hair black and kept growing it.

In just a few months, his neat short red hair had transformed into long black hair.

Instead of his usual shirt and pants, he wore a white dress and sometimes even a white wide-brimmed hat.

That was… imitating the appearance of the moon maidens we’d seen at Vile’s old laboratory.

Maia said that traces of the mental attack received at Vile’s laboratory must have been burned like a scar deep in his unconscious mind, then burst out due to the Cheshire Beast’s torture.

Even Ozwald was severely shocked by this transformation.

“…Well, I’ll get going.”

“Goodbye.”

And I… felt something unsettling deep in my heart whenever I saw that appearance.

That day, Luna Sephirot and the moon maidens had tried to tell me something.

Though I was bothered by what that something was, no matter how much I pondered, nothing came to mind.

Except for what the seeker had said before disappearing.

…Why is the moon blue?