12 O’Clock Marionette

Chapter 14

How does he know it’s a divine beast?

I can’t use memory loss as an excuse—only Minuet knows about that. And I definitely can’t reveal that I can sense divine power.

I quickly searched for an answer.

“Well, uh… I think I read about it in a book.”

Our temple barely had any books on divine beasts—it was an under-researched field at the time—but surely such books existed in the outside world.

“Oh? Do those books also include what divine beasts look like as babies? That seems hard to find.”

“Have you read every book about divine beasts? Are you interrogating me?”

“That’s not my intention.”

Cruello lazily tapped his chin with his index finger, stretching out his words.

Then, as if he’d come up with something brilliant, his eyes curved in amusement.

This is bad.

“I’ll give you two options.”

“…What are they?”

“One, you hand over that kitten without resistance and go home.”

“I’ll take the second one.”

“…Really?”

Obviously. Just look at the keywords here:

Divine beast. Illegal activity. Cruello’s personal business.

Knowing all this and just going home to sleep? My god would smite me.

If I were actually in danger, I’d have no choice but to pick the cowardly option, but that wasn’t the case.

I stared at Cruello with unwavering determination, and he smiled.

“Don’t regret it.”

***

And now—

“Get in there, properly!”

Siora Bonetti, 20 years old, thrown into jail.

“Damn, if we hadn’t gotten that tip-off, this whole operation would’ve been screwed.”

With a loud clang, the iron door slammed shut.

Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?

I stared blankly at the iron bars before me.

How did things turn out like this?

To summarize:

• We needed to find the location where illegal activity was happening.
• There wasn’t enough time to grab someone and interrogate them.
• The people we were tracking were already after something.
• If their target was captured, we could easily find their base.

Conclusion: Cruello sold me out.

Hah… hahahaha…

“You filthy traitor!”

He actually reported me for stealing the winter lynx!

If I had known this would happen, I would’ve chosen option two sooner.

I banged my forehead against the bars. The cold metal seeped into my skin.

The weight of the handcuffs on my wrists made the situation all the more real.

What would happen if I just stayed here?

“Would I die?”

Even if I did, it wouldn’t be me dying—the world would fall, not me.

I’d just return to my original body.

For some reason, I couldn’t summon any motivation. Maybe that puppet show got to me.

My original body…

Had I been possessing others for so long that my past memories were fading?

In outside time, 12 years had passed. To me, it felt like 4 or 5 years.

There’s always a time gap when I switch bodies.

When I die in one, it feels like I wake up instantly in the next—but in reality, years pass.

So when I die in this body, I’ll probably wake up to find everything already over.

And there’s not much time left for this body either.

“Not even a year left.”

Calculating the dates made me realize just how tight the timeline was.

And there was no guarantee the White Desert Elders wouldn’t change the day of their grand plan.

I didn’t know why they chose that specific date or if it had to be that day.

Sigh. I let out a deep breath and stood up.

“Time to work.”

Now, for my handcuff removal magic trick:

1. Gather divine power.
2. Break the chain.
3. Snap off the cuffs.

“Easy, right?”

I tossed the shattered remains of my former handcuffs into the corner and stretched.

I hadn’t been in here long, but the cold seeped into my bones.

The locked iron bars stood before me, but really, were they any different from the cuffs?

If I just pulled them apart with force…

Creak.

The outer door swung open.

“……”

I locked eyes with the person who had just entered.

Red eyes.

Oh.

“I expected you to still be locked up.”

His gaze flickered from me to the iron bars I had just pried open—then to the pile of broken cuffs in the corner.

When his eyes met mine again, I instinctively blurted out an excuse.

“The equipment here is faulty. The bars are too soft.”

“Oh, really?”

Cruello strode over and knocked on the bars.

Once. Twice.

On the third tap—snap!

A section of the bars broke off completely.

“See?! It’s defective! Is this a twig or a prison cell?”

“Hm. I suppose it’s strange for iron bars to break under elephant-level force.”

You bastard.

“Oh, whatever. I’m just that strong.”

“This is beyond strength. Can someone without mana do this?”

“I did, so obviously, yes.”

“Come to think of it, you also noticed the magic artifact at the puppet show without me saying anything.”

“No, it just sparkled, so I looked at it.”

“The object inside someone’s coat sparkled, huh?”

“…Are you here just to nitpick?”

“Well, no. Anyway, being independent isn’t a bad thing.”

Cruello finished bending the bars and reached out as if to help me up.

I was grateful for the topic change and grabbed his hand.

But the moment I did—mana surged into my body.

This guy…!

“You really have no mana.”

Of course not. My divine power is locked within my soul.

Cruello tilted his head slightly in curiosity.

“Wow, did you grab my hand just to scan me? Your personality is seriously—”

“Anyway, I found something interesting.”

“If you’re trying to change the subject that obviously, it better be really interesting—”

I couldn’t finish my sentence.

Because Cruello walked to the corner of the cell… and knocked on the ceiling.

I squinted suspiciously, wondering if he had lost his mind.

But then—

“W-Wait, the ceiling?!”

A section of the stone blocks shifted, revealing an opening the size of a full-grown person.

A secret passage?

Cruello turned back to me with a grin.

“Exciting, isn’t it?”

Cruello smirked, which was infuriating, but I couldn’t exactly deny the truth.

I quickly made my way to the newly opened ceiling passage.

Excited, I nearly jumped up right away—but then hesitated.

The ceiling was about two meters high, and since I’d already been suspected earlier…

“I can’t reach. Give me a lift.”

Now was the time to act weak.

“Now, of all times?”

“Unless you’d rather fetch a ladder?”

“…It’s obvious you’re lying.”

Cruello narrowed his eyes but still smiled.

Then, without warning, he lifted me up.

One arm supported my back, while the other held behind my knees.

I had expected him to haul me up like luggage, but the way he did it caught me off guard—I almost screamed.

“For my dear love, I’ll play along.”

With a light jump, Cruello leaped upward.

My heart nearly exploded!

***

“…Three adult three-horned reindeer, two pairs of winter lynxes—including cubs—have been secured.”

Deep within the underground levels of a hidden building—third basement floor—Cruello and I had infiltrated an office.

Inside, a middle-aged woman lounged lazily in a chair, reclining as if she had no interest in sitting up properly.

Her name was Qudil — one of the Nine Elders of White Desert and the one in charge of extracting divine energy from sacred beasts.

A fountain pen dangled precariously between her fingers, as if she might drop it at any moment.

“Seriously? Couldn’t they have left the cubs out of it? They just had to go and collect everything.”

Qudil clicked her tongue in irritation.

The one reporting to her was Ares — the Tenth Elder of White Desert.

“Hey, I let one go. Otherwise, how do you think that tiny thing managed to escape?”

“This was a direct order from above.”

“Not everything they order needs to be followed blindly. If we start collecting cubs too, where are we supposed to find divine beasts in the future? They’re resistant to forced breeding, you know.”

“Bring it up in the next meeting.”

“You really know how to piss people off, huh?”

Ares merely smiled politely.

At that moment, a subordinate burst into the room, yelling frantically.

“B-Bad news!”

“Look at this guy.”

Qudil glanced at Ares with an exasperated smirk. Without hesitation, Ares stepped forward.

“You should know better than to enter without permission.”

“S-Sorry, sir—urg, but this is urgent—”

“No matter the urgency, the rules remain—”

“Hey, hey, it’s fine. Let him talk.”

Qudil waved a hand, gesturing for Ares to release his grip.

The subordinate collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath.

Qudil crouched down in front of him, patting his head like he was a child.

“Well? Spit it out, friend. I gave you air, so start talking.”

“T-The thief—! The one we locked up in the prison—h-has disappeared!”

“…What nonsense is this? Ares, you know anything about this?”

“He’s talking about the thief who stole the winter lynx. We received a tip and had them imprisoned. It should’ve been in my report.”

“Oh. That paperwork I was using as a pillow earlier?”

“So… did you handle the informant?”

“I ordered them to take the report and act accordingly.”

“And yet the thief was left alive? Should’ve just killed them on the spot.”

Such rigid idiots.

Qudil let out a long sigh as she stretched and stood up.

“Ugh, we’ve already completed the sacred beast delivery. Why am I still dealing with this nonsense?”

“T-Tracking has been deployed, so they couldn’t have gotten far—”

“Forget it, my friend. If they’ve already slipped away, that means they planned this from the start. No way we’ll catch them now.”

She gestured at Ares.

“Let’s go. Wrap this up quickly—we need to disappear before the Imperial Knights get involved.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

With that, they left the office.

***

Clang. Clang.

This was the sound of metal plating under my feet.

What kind of idiot builds a secret passage that makes this much noise?

If we had entered the normal way, we would’ve been caught instantly.

Thankfully, Cruello had reactivated his magic artifact—so at least the sound wasn’t echoing beyond the tunnel.

But even with that problem solved, reality was nothing like the romanticized idea of secret tunnels.

The prison was underground, and our destination was even further below.

We had to exit one passageway at intervals and switch to another, and the conditions were getting worse by the minute.

It was cold, smelled of dust, and was incredibly narrow.

Wide enough for a single person to squeeze through, and just barely taller than me.

Because of that, Cruello had to hunch over as he walked ahead, making it difficult for him to look back.

Actually… was that an advantage?

I took the chance to speak.

“So, about bringing me to the Harvest Festival.”

“Yes?”

“That was just to spread rumors?”

“What else would it be?”

“…Did you, by any chance, set the winter lynx up?”

The way it just happened to run to me at the perfect moment still felt suspicious.

At my probing question, Cruello hesitated.

I jabbed his back.

“Don’t stop. Keep moving.”

“…Me? Why would I?”

“To get me involved?”

“And what would I gain from that?”

“No idea!” I answered confidently.

If Cruello had personal business and didn’t want me to find out, he would’ve been more discreet.

Instead, the winter lynx escaped right when I was nearby, and it chose to jump into my arms.

Wasn’t it more logical to assume that there was a bigger plan at play?

“Darling, why are you always so reckless?”

“Because everything else about me is perfect. I need at least this much humanity—”

“And what if that recklessness gets you killed?”

Cruello’s voice was calm, but in the confined space, it sounded eerily cold.

Hmm.

I wasn’t scared.

—Internally, I repeated once again, even if I died…

“Then the world will collapse.”

“…You’re still saying that?”

“I mean it. I have nothing to lose.”

“But that—”

Cruello suddenly cut himself off.

A noise came from further down the tunnel.