33 — Hoist By His Own Petard

The Sewer Tower’s master, Lord Bowery, was there.

And Roach’s new partner openly bowed and scraped toward the head of the mage tower he belonged to.

At first it was confusion, and after the confusion, he couldn’t hide the joy of a clearly dependable ally appearing.

‘So he was an underground mage.’

An underground mage belonging to the Sewer Mage Tower.

It wasn’t hard to guess what he was. At the very least, it was obvious that the rudeness and confidence he’d shown in front of Solomon came from the fact that he was a mage.

“L-lord, y-you came at the right time! Just now, that fucking bastard…!”

“Fucking, fucking who?”

“Th-that guy!”

Like a kid tattling in front of his parents, the Sewer Tower mage pointed at Solomon and shouted. Not even trying to hide the smug superiority of thinking he’d already won.

“Oh, that guy. That guy! So, you know that guy?”

“W-well. He’s one of the bottom-feeding contract killers in the Lowlands! I-I do a little side work, and that fucking guy…”

“Shh, now that’s a properly fucked situation!”

“Heh, hehe, right?!”

So Lord Bowery also deliberately played dumb and looked at Solomon. Taking heart from that, the Sewer Tower mage grew louder and louder.

“By the way, there are a few things I need to correct.”

Lord Bowery shrugged as he spoke.

“That ‘fucking bastard’ you’re talking about isn’t Lowlands sewer scum. He’s a contract killer from Hotel Snark.”

“Y-yes…?”

“Hotel Snark. Don’t tell me that’s the first time you’ve heard of it?”

“!”

Hic.

At those words, the Sewer Tower mage swallowed.

“Hic!”

Along with a hiccup he couldn’t hide.

“And honestly, this part is more important. That fucking… that man is actually ‘my brother,’ someone I dearly cherish and respect.”

“Y-yes…?”

“For your information, I came here to see my bro. Oh. Don’t tell me you thought I came all the way here because of some idiot moron like you? I don’t even know who the hell you are!!”

“Y-yes, y-yes…?”

Roach’s new partner, the Sewer Tower mage, parroted it back. In the repeated hiccups, his face quickly turned ashen.

“By the way, how many words did you just yap?”

“…Yes?”

“I’m asking how many words you yapped.”

“Y-yes? F…?”

“Doesn’t look like four words. You can’t count?”

“Y-yes…?”

“I’m asking if you can count, you fucking bastard!”

“Yes!!”

“Then you understand what I’m fucking saying!!”

“Y-yes? I, I…”

Seureung.

Right after, a spike rose from the shadow beneath his feet and aimed at his eyes, nose, and mouth. Hanging on by a gap of just a few millimeters.

And it wasn’t just one like before. Dozens, even hundreds of spikes rose up from every direction.

“Say ‘yes’ again. Say ‘yes’ again!! I’m seriously, seriously seriously warning you, you fucking bastard! Say that fucking ‘yes’ again!!”

“P-please forgive me, lord…!”

As he panicked with tears welling up, Lord Bowery stopped being stern and cackled.

“Oh, my man. Forgiveness? What would I even have to forgive you for!”

“Y-yes? I— ah, no, th-thank you…! Thank you!”

“You shouldn’t be begging me for forgiveness. You should beg the brother there.”

“…?”

Saying that, Lord Bowery finally pointed at Solomon. At the one watching their conversation like it was someone else’s business.

“From now on, right in front of my bro who works as a contract killer for Hotel Snark!! I’m putting ten million krona, paid in full, on your head!!”

“!”

After laughing, he shouted with a straight face. Veins bulging as his face flushed red and blue with rage.

‘He’s completely lost it.’

Watching that, Solomon also thought in disbelief.

“That’s enough. I have no more business with him.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. Even the ten million krona on his head isn’t needed?”

“I don’t have the leeway to waste anything more on useless crap.”

At Solomon’s answer, Lord Bowery shrugged.

“Then let’s do this. Hey, broker man over there!”

“Y-yes…?”

He pointed at the hog, Roach who was there.

“I’ll introduce you to some reliable contract killer buddies who work under me! Go tell them this, I’ll pay ten million krona to whoever cuts that bastard’s head off and brings it back fast!”

“Lord, please, please…!”

“They’ll jump up out of sleep and come running!”

“Boo-ya!! Of course!!”

Only then did the hog, Roach, shout in delight and spring to his feet. Forget loyalty to his partner and all that, his eyes were more alive than ever.

‘They sure know how to have fun.’

Watching that, Solomon thought like it was someone else’s affair.

“L-lord, I’m begging you like this! I-I really won’t do it again!”

“For your information, you’d better shut that mouth. For every single word that comes out of your mouth, the krona on your head is going up by a million!”

Lord Bowery snapped at him as he dropped to his knees like he was begging.

“L-lordI’m-begging-you-like-thisI-really-won’t-do-it-again! It’s already up by twenty million, damn, shit! You’re walking around with a fucking dazzling golden head, huh! Makes me want it, yeah?”

“…!!”

Gasp, he finally covered his mouth. Murmur, murmur. Even among the people in the Dawn Skylark Tavern, a flame of desire they couldn’t hide began to blaze at that amount. Even Solomon felt tempted inside.

But for Solomon, right now, it was a situation where he had to worry about his own ‘head,’ not someone else’s.

“We need to talk.”

“I’ve been waiting for you to say that, ma bro!”

Lord Bowery said, raising both arms high. At the same time, a sound echoed from far away.

Degururu.

‘…!’

The sound of dice rolling. The moment he realized that, another sound followed.

Kwa-jik.

When he realized it, Solomon realized his surroundings were swallowed in pitch-black darkness.

As if he’d entered the belly of a shadow….

[Insight Success!]

‘…Why does this succeed?’

He thought it was a metaphor, but it wasn’t.

“Ever lived in a whale’s belly? It’s not as awful as you’d think. Ah, don’t worry. I’m not saying this is a whale’s belly.”

Before long, Lord Bowery’s voice came from the darkness. Clearly revealing his presence in lightless dark.

“Where is this?”

“The belly of a shadow.”

“What…?”

“Shadows are everywhere there’s light. And at the same time, they’re nowhere!”

Lord Bowery spoke in the dark.

“So either way, it’s the perfect place to talk quietly. In this city, wherever you go, it’s overflowing with fucking eyes and ears.”

“I see.”

Lord Bowery finding Solomon at the Dawn Skylark Tavern hadn’t been luck. He’d probably been watching his every move from the start.

Solomon was reminded anew that the man before him was a master of espionage magic, a mage steeped in the cunning of one of the Five Great Houses, the Bale House. So trying to clumsily hide his hand in front of him was even more meaningless.

“I won’t talk in circles. You probably already know my situation. Thanks to those overflowing eyes and ears.”

“Yeah, I… sorta know.”

Lord Bowery cackled.

“Like the fact you’re screwed.”

“Figured as much.”

Of course.

“How bad?”

“Open your eyes wide and look closely. Don’t you see it? Oooh, that huge, beautiful fuck-you like a mountain!”

“Goddamn it.”

Solomon clicked his tongue like it wasn’t surprising.

“Those guys… look like they know Black Museum pretty well.”

“They know a lot.”

At Solomon’s question, Lord Bowery burst out laughing like it was ridiculous.

“Even things you wouldn’t dare imagine.”

“As for that organization, I heard the rough outline from someone called Lord Bernier of the City Council.”

That was why Solomon answered without hiding it.

“I heard they’re a criminal cabal with demons involved.”

“You’re just wasting your breath saying it.”

“…As you know, I was warned that my life would be in danger at the hands of a curator of the Black Museum. Through foresight. Got any idea why?”

Lord Bowery didn’t answer right away. A short silence.

“Once upon a time….”

At the end of the silence, Lord Bowery spoke.

“Once upon a time, a merchant in Baghdad sent his servant to the market, and that servant came back pale, trembling.”

“…What?”

Out of nowhere. Solomon blinked, but Lord Bowery didn’t care and continued.

“The servant returned trembling and told the merchant, I was just at the market, and—”

I bumped into a woman in the crowd, and when I turned to look, that woman was 「Death」.

She threatened me! So please lend me a horse.

I’ll flee this city to someplace Death can’t find me, all the way to 「Samara」 by tonight!

“The merchant pitied the servant and lent him his most prized horse, and the servant safely fled straight to Samara. Some time later, the merchant went to the market, found ‘Death,’ and asked her.”

Why did you threaten my servant this morning?

“Then Death said, I did not threaten him. I only flinched in surprise. She—Death said.”

I have an appointment with him tonight in 「Samara」, and I was only surprised to see him in Baghdad.

Solomon listened in silence. It was a fable he’d heard before. The point was, why tell it to him now?

“…Why are you telling me that now?”

“Because your tragedy started the moment you got on the horse and ran to Samara!”

Lord Bowery cackled.

“…What?”

“You said you asked Lord Bernier for information on the Black Museum.”

“Yeah.”

“Unfortunately, ‘Lord Bernier’ of the City Judicial Bureau Special Task Office has been missing for over four weeks now.”

“…Did I hear that wrong?”

Solomon blinked. His heart dropped. At first, even hearing it, he couldn’t understand what it meant. More precisely, he didn’t want to.

“His corpse was unearthed during construction at dawn today.”

“Ah.”

Even so, he had no choice but to understand.

“And on top of that, that corpse had… flies clinging to it that you wouldn’t easily find in this land. The ones called ‘king flies.’”

[That name… does not refer to a king fly or assassin fly of the order Diptera. Strictly speaking, by biological classification, they are not even insects.
They are tiny demons from the deepest part of Hell, swearing loyalty to their king.]

No wonder the name alone sounded ominous. It was absurd.

“Lord of the Flies….”

“Consider it fortunate. Beelzebub at least… is a demon that knows the dignity of a king.”

The dignity of a king. That didn’t comfort him at all. Why? Because the fact it was a king was the problem.

“I’m going to lose my mind.”

Even “my heart sank” wasn’t enough. It felt like his head had been joyfully hammered dozens of times.

That day, the Lord Bernier who came looking for Solomon saying he’d give him a chance was already a fake by then. From the start. And in the meantime, Solomon had been the most excited one, babbling about the Black Museum. Enough to create interest where there was none.

“So, how does it feel to have ridden the Samara express train?”

“I want to open the window and jump out right now.”

That Lord Bernier, more precisely, King Beelzebub wearing his skin, had said that in front of Solomon.

—You will receive far more than you can imagine from us as compensation.

The paradox of prophecy. The appointment in Samara. The puzzle pieces finally fit together. In the worst way imaginable.

The warning Yuri, the elf broker with a monocle, had given Solomon was, paradoxically, the trigger that shoved Solomon into danger.

—We value your achievement more than anyone… more precisely, the value of your ‘irreversible achievement.’

The trigger had already been pulled. By no one else, but by his own two hands.

Directly.