12 O’Clock Marionette

Chapter 15

“Ugh, I’m so bored, so bored, so bored.”

A high-pitched, frivolous voice echoed.

A woman’s voice dragged on like melted cheese sticking to a surface.

“The 10th Elder, I haven’t even been able to sleep. I’m bored to death. How much longer do we have to wait?”

The 10th Elder?

Elder councils were common in most prominent families, but...

I wanted to see Cruello's expression, but all I could see was his broad back.

“There’s less than 20 minutes left. And please, don’t shout like that outside.”

“Ugh, I’m already irritated. Don’t start nitpicking.”

I carefully lowered my body and glanced down at the floor.

Through a small gap, I could see two people.

Their physical characteristics were so distinct that I reflexively thought of the Book of Fate.

One was a woman with a sharp, irritated voice.

She looked to be in her late 40s, with orange hair cut short enough to reach the back of her neck.

The 9th Elder, Qudil, had a manner of speech akin to a back-alley thug. She ran the White Desert merchant guild and had no qualms about handling illegal goods. She also served as a bridge connecting the capital and the Duke's territory.

"We don’t know when the pursuers might arrive. If information leaks, the higher-ups won’t just sit idly by."

“Bullshit. Are the higher-ups your weapon? I’m the one who outranks you.”

The man standing in front of her was a giant, easily approaching 2 meters tall.

He wore a mask, so his face was hidden, but his body was huge, like a bear, with stiff black hair that spilled over the mask.

The 10th Elder, Ares, was the youngest of the Elders, but he was as strong as someone who could crush rocks with pure physical strength. Despite his size, he was incredibly stealthy, and had secretly assassinated many people.

They were definitely members of the White Desert Elder Council.

Neither of them was at the top, but both were powerful enough to be counted among the five strongest.

What were they doing here?

"Stop overthinking it. I...”

Suddenly, the 10th Elder, Ares, made a large motion with his upper body.

A blade shot upward.

It pierced through the ceiling and headed directly toward us.

Right in front of me!

Thud.

It was so close that I couldn’t even focus on its shape, but soon enough, I could make it out.

A dagger...

“Huff.”

I took a shallow breath.

Luckily, I wasn’t injured, and no blood dripped through the ceiling’s cracks.

The first reason was that I reacted quickly, and the second was because Cruello had pulled me in.

In that narrow space, somehow, I ended up in his arms.

Shocking.

“What are you doing?”

“...Nothing, I just didn’t feel right.”

“I thought you were showing off your strength again.”

“Would I do that?”

“Stop being so sensitive and stay in your place. I’ve wrapped the detection magic around us. If a rat enters, don’t you think we’d know?”

Two things larger than rats have already entered.

I glanced sideways at Cruello.

Since I hadn’t done anything to infiltrate, the reason we weren’t detected was likely because of Cruello’s magic.

His skill was impressive, something I had already understood just by looking at The Book of Fate, but why did he go to such lengths to get us here?

Another question formed in my mind.

"I'm so bored, and now my mood’s ruined. Hey, I’m leaving."

“Guild Master.”

“You handle it. I’ve already done my part. The original person in charge is holed up in the mansion, so why should I be the one running around like this?”

“The task was delegated to you. Disobeying orders is a grave crime.”

“Yeah, yeah, go tattle on me.”

Qudil picked at her ear and headed toward the door.

Ares called out to her a few times, but she ignored him, and soon the sound of the door opening echoed.

The man left alone gritted his teeth.

"Really, unbelievable."

Ares glanced at his watch.

Then, he began walking inward.

As he disappeared from sight, I began to feel uneasy.

There were two Elders here, and we couldn’t even capture them for interrogation?

If only Cruello had arrived a little earlier, I could have escaped from the prison.

Then, maybe we could’ve done something.

A late sense of regret began to build inside me.

“Why the long face?”

Cruello whispered, his voice so soft it almost seemed like a breath.

Ah, I was still in his arms.

Turning my head, I found myself face-to-face with him, much closer than I had expected.

His eyes were strange.

It wasn’t the look of someone looking at a person, but more like the gaze of someone observing an object, devoid of heat. Instead, what replaced it was... a curious interest.

“‘I can’t miss this,’ that’s what you’re thinking, right?”

“…No.”

“Do you know them?”

“I’ve heard of them. Do you?”

I swallowed hard before asking, and Cruello smiled.

His beautifully crafted expression was almost angelic, but it was just as artificial.

He answered nonchalantly.

“I don’t know.”

“Liar—”

“Well, you know, if I lie, it’s obvious right away. But why pretend not to know?”

Cruello tilted his head and slowly brushed off the dust from my shoulder.

“The knife came flying, but you weren’t even scared and moved strangely fast.”

“...”

“Darling—”

At that moment.

A deep, rumbling vibration filled the air.

The source of it was mana waves.

The power was so strong that my body’s hair stood on end.

It had been intense at first, but now, every second, it was getting stronger.

What were they doing? At this rate...

“The people in the capital should be feeling it too.”

I glanced up briefly.

Then, I remembered something I had forgotten.

A massive magic circle was operating in the capital right now.

The fireworks show was a performance done with magic, and so the mana flow would be particularly active.

In other words, they chose this exact day.

To conduct their schemes right under our noses.

“The passage down from here is—”

“Shh.”

The moment Cruello placed his finger to his lips, footsteps echoed from below.

It was Ares again.

Having activated some kind of device, he left without looking back.

His footsteps were heavy, military-like, and soon they faded into the distance.

As the vibrations grew stronger, they began to shake me from the inside.

The ominous sensation reached its peak.

I didn’t want to act like this in front of Cruello, but...

“Move.”

I pushed Cruello aside and kicked the gap in the ceiling, breaking it open.

Landing lightly in the revealed space, I quickly dashed toward the direction Ares had gone. There, a massive door came into view.

The door had a groove, and complex magic radiated from that part.

Do I need to cast a spell in front of Cruello too?

At that moment, Cruello reached out behind me, and with a clink, the door opened.

“What did you do?”

He showed me a unique symbol on a token.

Where the hell did he steal that from?

“Qudil’s weak points make it easy to steal things.”

He quickly passed by me and began walking.

I hurried to follow.

Once we crossed through the door, the air grew stifling and hot.

Beyond it, a long spiral staircase descended.

As I moved further down, I felt my heart tighten.

Finally, at the bottom of the stairs, a massive magic circle covered the floor and walls.

It was slightly smaller than the one in the square, dark red in color.

Above the circle, glass tubes stood vertically, filled with a murky green liquid.

Inside the liquid were divine creatures.

“Ugh.”

They were all mythical beasts.

Without realizing it, I let out a heavy breath.

And then—

A violent headache struck, as though a storm had exploded in my head.

My vision swirled like waves, and suddenly—

[Save them.]

A divine message echoed in my mind.

The words were etched into my brain clearly.

Countless emotions flooded through me—anger, sadness, despair, and resignation from the divine creatures.

They weren’t my emotions, but they hurt so much that my eyes began to burn.

Tears flowed down my face as I walked toward the magic circle like a sleepwalker.

Just before I stepped inside—

“What are you doing?”

Cruello grabbed me by the arm.

He was squinting, his expression tight.

“You don’t look well. Do you really want to see how bad it can get if you step in there?”

“…What is that?”

Cruello seemed confused, and a little angry, but he remained composed otherwise.

The divine creatures were in agony, and I could feel my divine energy rising, yet Cruello, a mage, was unaffected.

This confirmed for me that the magic circle was connected to divine power.

More specifically...

“Is this a magic circle that extracts divine energy?”

“….”

“You brought me here to see if I would react, didn’t you?”

I wasn’t sure how he knew, but had he suspected that I was connected to the temple’s people?

Cruello paused for a moment before nodding.

“…I needed to be sure you weren’t one of the Elder Council’s people.”

If I had connections to the temple, I wouldn't be aligned with the Elder Council.

Now it all made sense.

I was finally convinced that Cruello wasn’t on the Elder Council’s side.

I wiped my eyes, which had filled with tears, and suddenly, my mind felt much clearer.

On the other hand, Cruello seemed a bit more anxious.

“Let’s leave first. We need to stop the magic circle and talk.”

“It’s too late.”

Even if the magic circle stopped now, they wouldn’t survive.

The moment I spoke, a sound like breaking glass filled the air.

I turned my head to see an animal I vaguely recognized.

A small, palm-sized, light blue cat.

The winter lynx had lost its color and turned into frozen white particles, as if it had been turned to ice.

I had seen something like that before, far away.

“Is that a Beatitudo?”

“…You’ve got a good eye.”

It was the smuggled item that Viscount Genum had handed over at the puppet theater.

The very object that was doubly banned by both the royal family and the temple.

It made sense now.

The essence of divine creatures, extracted and solidified into an energy source.

Beatitudo was the transformed divine power made usable by humans, something that couldn’t be obtained through normal means.

The realization made me scoff.

And then, once more—

[Save them.]

The words burned into my mind like a brand.

Alright, I get it.

I pushed Cruello’s hand off and stepped into the magic circle.

As soon as I entered, nausea surged up.

I felt like I was going to throw up.

I had to fix this quickly.

Though Cruello was right behind me, what could I do? The divine had commanded it.

Even without the divine message, I would have ruined the Elder Council’s plans anyway—there was no escaping this.

“What are you trying to do?”

Cruello’s voice called out to me, but I answered calmly.

“I’m going to reverse the sins of man.”

I knelt before the magic circle.

With both hands on the circle, I closed my eyes.

The heat from the magic circle burned through my palms.