------------------
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
------------------
Chapter 183: Ghosts (6)
“Hmm?”
As Oscar stepped out of the abandoned building, he blinked in confusion.
No wonder—Neil Brion was sprawled out in the middle of the street.
‘A trap, perhaps?’
Was this meant to lure him into complacency for a surprise attack?
Approaching cautiously, Oscar nudged Neil’s limp body with the tip of his boot.
“Ugh… uuh…”
The man groaned in a dazed, semi-conscious state.
Oscar’s eyes narrowed.
‘…Someone definitely interfered here.’
Thud! Thud!
To confirm, Oscar kicked him a bit harder this time, but Neil remained unresponsive.
It was clear—he was under a magically induced slumber.
‘Which means… someone else was here while I was fighting Dirje.’
But who?
While pondering, Oscar drew in his mana without hesitation.
‘I can just find out.’
After all, he was strong enough to do that now.
Stomp.
He lightly stamped his foot, sending out a pulse of magic that rippled through the surroundings.
A moment later, the returning wave brought him a wealth of information.
‘Two people. One of them… feels vaguely familiar…’
Where had he felt this mana before?
As he rifled through his memory, Oscar suddenly froze.
‘…Kaya Lockwood?’
Killian's sister, whom he had met in Baran City.
The mana signature was unmistakable—it was hers.
His narrowed eyes grew even sharper.
‘If she deliberately sought out this location, she must have business with me.’
The fact that she left without making contact suggested one thing:
She likely witnessed his world liberation.
Oscar glanced down at the still-slumbering Neil Brion.
‘I suppose… this counts as a gift?’
Oh well.
Honestly, he was too tired from exerting himself to care.
If Kaya had a reason to meet him, she’d find him eventually.
Hoisting Neil over his shoulder, Oscar made his way back to the White Tower.
* * *
“Oscar! You’re safe!”
The first to greet him upon his return was Commander Grace.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I was worried you were in trouble. Where on earth have you been? And…?”
Grace’s eyes shifted to the unconscious man slumped over Oscar’s shoulder.
“Who’s that?”
“The culprit.”
Thud.
Oscar unceremoniously dumped Neil Brion onto the ground.
“The culprit?”
“Yeah. He’s one of the two behind this incident. Keep him bound tightly.”
Upon hearing that Neil was responsible for the recent crisis, Grace’s eyes flared with indignation.
“Seems we’ll have much to discuss. Leave him to us—we’ll make sure he doesn’t try anything foolish.”
“Sure. By the way… did anything happen while I was gone?”
Oscar glanced around at the bustling tower, sensing the tense atmosphere.
Grace’s expression hardened slightly.
“...It’ll be quicker to show you.”
Without further explanation, Grace led Oscar to the storage chamber.
Inside, around twenty people were bound with thick ropes, their mouths gagged.
A single glance was enough for Oscar to grasp what had happened in the city during his absence.
“Of course.”
“You recognize the symptoms, don’t you?”
“…Yeah.”
It didn’t take much deduction.
The drug used by the Salvation Cult was manufactured by NewTech.
And one of NewTech's executives was none other than Neil Brion.
‘So while I was being lured away, they released the drug into the city to distract the White Tower’s mages from pursuing them.’
Oscar’s fists clenched instinctively.
The thought of resurrecting Dirje just to beat him senseless again flashed through his mind.
“Apologies, but stabilizing the city had to be our priority,”
Grace said with a grim expression.
“I understand.”
Oscar realized, from those words alone, that Grace was likely part of the Dark Pursuers.
She had immediately identified the symptoms and taken swift action to prevent the drug’s spread.
Oscar stared at the trembling, drooling victims and asked softly,
“Are they all accounted for?”
“Yes. These are the only ones.”
Only twenty people.
But the thought of how quickly that number could have multiplied made him feel cold.
‘Still…’
Oscar bit his lip.
Even if it was just twenty, they were still citizens of this land—people the White Tower was responsible for protecting.
If the imperial family found out, they would undoubtedly send forces to dispose of the victims, just like last time.
Turning to Grace, Oscar asked cautiously,
“What do you intend to do with them?”
“…Relax.”
Thud.
Grace lightly patted Oscar’s shoulder.
“The White Tower and Sirin aren’t just your concerns. I want to save them too, if possible. But… is that realistic?”
“It is. But first, we need to take care of something else.”
Oscar’s eyes grew sharp.
He urged Grace to seize control of the media immediately.
“We need to make tonight’s incident look like a drunken brawl—nothing more.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ve already taken care of it.”
Grace smirked slightly, as if to say, “What, you thought I’d overlook the obvious?”
“If word of this reaches the imperial court, we’ll be dealing with another purge, just like last time.”
“…Oh.”
Oscar was genuinely surprised.
He hadn’t expected the White Tower to still have such competent individuals remaining.
‘Well, the leader of the White Watchers has always been a capable mage.’
The fact that she had taken preemptive measures without being told made Oscar’s evaluation of her hit the highest mark.
“Then, what about the witnesses?”
“Ironically, the recent ghost stories have been quite helpful. Fewer people wander around outside at that hour.”
“That’s good. Then our next task is…”
“A cure.”
Commander Grace stared at him.
“We need a cure to remove the demonic energy from their bodies.”
“…Don’t worry about that.”
After all, he had already made it twice before.
------------------
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
------------------
* * *
The twenty patients quickly returned to normal after drinking the medicine.
As expected, Commander Grace erased the memories of that day from their minds.
“Do you really remember nothing at all?”
“I-I really don’t remember.”
“Do you have any idea how much trouble our Watchers went through to stop you from throwing up in the streets and causing a commotion?”
“I-I’m so sorry. But I really don’t remember anything…”
A member of the White Watchers glanced at Grace and gave a subtle nod.
When Grace returned the gesture, the Watcher let out a faint sigh.
“Alright. Just take it easy with the drinking next time. Drink too much, and you’ll start blacking out like this more often.”
“I-I’ve never experienced anything like this before… I’m truly sorry.”
The patients, who had just been released from the detention center, wandered home in a daze.
At the same time, Grace issued orders to the Watchers.
“Keep a close eye on them for a while, just in case.”
“Yes, sir.”
There was still a chance the symptoms could resurface.
Finally finishing the task, Commander Grace slumped into a chair.
“It's done.”
“There’s still one left.”
The interrogation of Neil Brion.
At those words, Commander Grace asked cautiously.
“You’re the one who captured him, but if you want, I can handle it instead.”
“I’m fine.”
Grace wasn’t trying to steal his credit.
Her expression showed genuine consideration.
“…No matter how much you torture him, he won’t talk. He hasn’t even asked for food despite being starved for days. That’s how tough he is.”
“Do you have time to watch?”
Oscar’s casual question made Grace grimace slightly, but she nodded.
The two of them made their way to the prison hidden beneath the White Watchers’ hideout.
Inside, Neil Brion sat on the floor, handcuffed, staring vacantly.
In just a few days, he had become gaunt and disheveled.
“Wow, you’ve really fallen apart.”
Oscar casually approached and opened with a remark.
But Neil Brion’s dull, fish-like eyes remained fixed on the ground.
“In my memory, you were a sharp-dressed man with neatly combed hair and a refreshing scent of mint.”
“…”
“There’s no one here to save you. Dirje is dead. Did you happen to witness it?”
“Just kill me.”
Neil Brion muttered weakly with his eyes closed, as if he had already resigned himself.
He looked like he no longer cared what happened to him.
Oscar smirked at the sight.
‘A textbook loyalist.’
This kind of man would never break easily.
He valued his loyalty more than his own life.
The more he faced death, the tighter he would shut his lips.
People like this often took a twisted pride in ‘remaining loyal even in the face of death.’
Oscar nodded.
“Okay. I get the type. I’ll handle it my way.”
As he slowly summoned his magic, Neil Brion smirked.
“Do as you please. I have no intention of—”
“Shut up and hold this for me.”
“?”
Neil Brion instinctively caught the object Oscar tossed to him—a magic engineering watch.
It was a state-of-the-art device that displayed not only the time but also the date and year.
Staring at it blankly for a moment, he furrowed his brow.
“What is this?”
“Can’t you tell? It’s a watch.”
“…Why are you giving this to me?”
“The time wouldn’t change when I put it in alone. I was curious if having a living creature inside would make a difference.”
Put it in?
The time didn’t change?
Baffled by Oscar’s cryptic words, Neil Brion opened his mouth.
“What the hell are you—”
“Subspace opening.”
Crack!
A space split open like the jaws of a beast, swallowing Neil Brion whole.
Oscar watched with a slight nod of satisfaction.
‘It’s still incomplete, but my mastery of spatial magic has definitely improved since reaching level six.’
Just now, he had pulled the strings of space thirty times.
That meant he could now create a subspace—a pocket dimension—with his own magic.
In the past, he could never have dreamed of this.
But now, creating such a dimension barely fatigued him.
‘More than anything, I was just too curious.’
Using such a remarkable ability merely as a storage vault felt like a waste.
He had wondered if time would flow differently inside the subspace.
If it did, it could be used in countless ways.
“…”
Exactly five minutes later, Oscar reopened the subspace.
The space split open and spat out Neil Brion.
“Gah! Hah… Haaah…!”
The man gasped for air, disoriented, before glaring at Oscar.
“You bastard… what did you do to me?”
“Shut up. Let me see the watch.”
Snatching the watch from him, Oscar checked the time.
Precisely fifty minutes had passed.
A 1:10 time ratio.
One hour in reality was equivalent to ten hours in the subspace.
“Oho, it flows.”
When he had placed only objects inside, time had remained frozen.
But the moment a living being entered, time began to move.
Excited by the discovery, Oscar stroked his chin.
‘By default, time doesn’t exist inside the subspace.’
At least, not until something is placed inside.
Until then, the dimension remained in a state of stasis.
But once a being entered, time began to flow.
After much deliberation, Oscar concluded that the reason was due to the presence of an observer.
‘…Perhaps time is not an absolute concept, but one that interacts with the observer.’
In other words, the moment a lifeform entered the subspace, its perception of time activated the dimension’s own temporal flow.
In short, the subspace was not ‘a place without time’ but rather ‘a place where time remained dormant until triggered by an observer.’
By placing something inside, time could be set in motion.
‘If that’s the case, could the flow of time inside be deliberately controlled?’
As Oscar pondered the thought, Neil Brion seethed with rage.
“You bastard! What the hell are you—”
“Then, what if I create another subspace inside the subspace?”
There were still many experiments left to run.
Casually tossing the watch back to Neil Brion, Oscar opened the subspace again and asked nonchalantly,
“Oh, by the way. You’re still not planning to talk about the Black Fingers, right?”
“…Just kill me.”
Staring into Neil Brion’s defiant eyes, Oscar smirked.
“I figured as much. Thanks. Personally, I’m hoping you hold out for a long time.”
After all, keeping a living being inside for an extended period would be impossible unless they were as resilient as him.
------------------
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
------------------
