The Last Conscience

“……!”

The Rune Stone of Grand Explosion. It no longer mattered what intent the City Council’s Bourgeois had when they gave this to Solomon.

One thing he could be sure of was that this explosion was not the kind you could stop with some half-baked defense.

Even by common sense, that was true. In a place where you couldn’t cleanly cut the line between material and immaterial, the client wouldn’t have handed him an explosive that could be easily blocked.

In a way, they likely trusted this rune stone’s ‘problem-solving ability’ even more than they trusted Solomon.

That was why Solomon trusted the rune stone’s power as well. More precisely, he trusted the Bourgeois’ belief in the rune stone.

And as if responding to that belief, Elise spat coldly.

“You’re doing something boring.”

“Whether it’s boring or not, you’ll have to see to know. Looks pretty damn exciting to me.”

“Hmph. You think that little bluff will work?”

“Hmm. Does this look like a bluff to you?”

Solomon asked back evenly. And it really was.

Cold sweat ran down his back, and in sync with his pounding, unsettled heart, the rune stone’s light… flickered more vividly. That was proof.

“…Stop, Hector.”

— As you command.

The moment she saw that flicker, Elise’s expression, too, gained a clear hint of something you could call color over her corpse-pale skin. It wasn’t a good kind of color.

The moment he caught that, dice clattered brightly. Insight success.

‘She’s shaken.’

Solomon’s high Insight didn’t miss that flicker. And he could tell something else too.

‘She’s young.’

…It was a phrase with room for misunderstanding, but he meant it literally. Separate from her level as a mage, the way she negotiated with Solomon wasn’t skillful at all.

She couldn’t easily hide her emotions, and she was showing her agitation.

“Hand over the soul over and get the hell out. Your life isn’t even worth taking.”

“I can’t do that.”

The fact that she offered Solomon a ‘compromise’ right there was proof. It was basically the same as saying Solomon’s threat had worked.

“I’m taking Dr. O’Neill’s soul.”

“Why should I comply with that unreasonable demand?”

“There’s no reason you have to.”

Solomon answered smoothly.

“There’s also no reason for us to all die together in harmony.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

There was no longer anything you could call composure in Elise. That meant the Rune Stone of Grand Explosion’s power was that certain. Just how certain did it have to be?

‘…….’

At this point, Solomon was starting to feel the pressure himself.

“You think every time you come in holding that, we’ll give you what you want? What a ridiculous delusion.”

Haunting House, the Spirit Binders. The ‘girl’ who claimed the direct line of one of the Five Great Houses said it.

“I have no reason to care about the next customer. Want to know what I do care about? Exactly two things.”

Solomon stayed hardline. In truth, whether this girl was good at negotiating or not wouldn’t change anything. There simply wasn’t any room for negotiation for Solomon from the start.

“Either we all die, or we live.”

“……”

A brief silence.

“I…”

At the end of the silence, she opened her mouth.

“I am Elise Haunting, Spirit Binder, of the proud Five Great Houses.”

As if firming up some determination, she puffed out her chest proudly. From Solomon’s perspective, it didn’t feel like a welcome determination.

“I won’t yield to the threats of those filthy, disgusting Bourgeois bastards.”

At that resolve, Oberon cut in like it was absurd.

“Well, well, would you look at this young lady? You think some potbellied Bourgeois is threatening your chastity or something? Your head’s a flower garden… no, it’s basically an R-rated magazine rack.”

“W-what nonsense are you spouting!”

“And say that conscienceless bastard over there blows up and we all die together. You think that’s some kind of Haunting House victory? It’s just everyone getting fucked together. Those potbellied Bourgeois uncles would be cheering.”

It was hard to fully deny.

“I swear on the Fairy King’s name. Just let us go here. The moment we leave this place, I’ll dismantle that damn rune stone and smash it so it can never be used again.”

“How am I supposed to believe that?”

“Where are you gonna find a fairy who loves love and peace like me?”

It didn’t sound very convincing. In another sense, you could say it was.

“Besides, I’m not exactly thrilled about weapons from the Great War wandering around either.”

“Hmph. So now you’re feeling some sense of responsibility?”

“Think whatever you want.”

Leaving behind a conversation Solomon couldn’t fully follow, Oberon continued.

“It’s like reducing the Bourgeois’ nuclear weapons stockpile by one. So in the end, it’s not really a loss.”

“…There’s logic to that.”

Even Solomon couldn’t just let that pass.

‘Wait, did I hear that wrong?’

[Clue acquired! The Great War and nuclear weapons]

Unfortunately, he’d heard it right.

It wasn’t just ‘a big explosion.’ Paradoxically, it was faithful to the meaning of ‘grand explosion’ to the extreme.

“Second.”

Then Elise said.

“Not just the Rune Stone of Grand Explosion he’s holding. Promise you’ll reduce one more ‘Great War weapon’ the Bourgeois are holding.”

“What? No…”

At that, Oberon couldn’t answer easily and trailed off.

“Fine.”

Solomon said it, cutting the fairy off.

“As promised, I’ll get rid of one more weapon they have, rune stone or whatever it is.”

At those words, Elise sneered in a cold voice.

“That’s not something the likes of you get to decide.”

“That’s something we’ll see.”

“A Bourgeois dog like you talks without knowing his place.”

Solomon didn’t care.

“The moment we leave here, two Rune Stones of Grand Explosion will be disposed of. Believe it or don’t. That’s up to you.”

“You expect me to believe that bluff?”

“Uh, no… it might actually be possible.”

Then Oberon, as if realizing something, accepted it.

“I swear on the Fairy King’s name. Let’s trust it here.”

“…I’m supposed to trust you?”

“You really want to see that bastard’s conscience turn into a mushroom cloud? Fine. Let’s light it up properly!”

“That’ll be very exciting.”

Solomon nodded. A short pause. In the frozen silence, a sound rang out.

Degurur…

It was the sound of dice rolling. Invisible dice.

[Negotiation: Great Success!]

“Get out of my sight. Now.”

With those words, the swamp mire that had settled over the area vanished like a lie. Along with the unbeatable formidable foe there, the Knight of the Swamp.

“And I swear on Haunting House’s name, if you break your promise…”

Elise said, her face between ash-gray hair now overflowing with too much color, flushing red, then going livid.

“I’ll chase you to the ends of the Nine Hells and make you taste the ‘worst hell’ your soul can imagine. To the point you’ll beg me to kill you, and even death will feel like a luxury.”

“Oh my, how scary.”

“……”

At Solomon’s mocking words, a newly lively vein popped on Elise’s forehead.

‘Ah, fuck. This damn tongue of mine.’

After speaking, he realized it was a mistake. He could tell his trait 「Foul Mouth」 had triggered on instinct.

“No, I mean, I really meant it was scary.”

“Of course! Seeing a little girl get all hopping mad really makes me want to piss myself.”

“……”

Solomon widened the distance without hesitation. Then he left the mansion without looking back. Not through the back door, but through the front, more boldly than ever.

He exited the mansion straight away and faced the black, dark scenery of Ghost Town beyond it.

Haunting House’s territory, Baskerville Street 221B.

Even that utterly gloomy gray-zone scenery felt like an incomparable symbol of liberation to Solomon.

— Ah, aah…!

Dr. O’Neill, who had followed behind him in silence, cried out as if he might float up at any moment in his bluish soul state, raising his voice in irrepressible liberation.

— F-freedom! Freedom!

Sseuk.

Toward the rejoicing man, Solomon silently aimed the bone blade that could cleave spirit bodies.

“Freedom, my ass.”

— ……!

A blade that could reliably strike a spirit body. And with his other hand, he aimed the automatic crossbow coated with Doom Poison.

Recover Dr. O’Neill’s soul and present it to the client.

It wasn’t over until it was over. That had been true up to getting here, and returning wouldn’t be an exception.

Once again, with Oberon’s help, Solomon crossed Ghost Town’s streets.

At last, it was a place you could call the ‘tail end’ of this long, hellish request.

At Ghost Town’s edge, even among the ash-gray streets, a street clearly different from Baskerville Street or Haunting House’s territory, one closer than anything to the light, greeted Solomon.

“So you finally came.”

— Hic!

Along with the group that welcomed Solomon and Dr. O’Neill’s soul as if they’d been waiting.

— B-Bourgeois bastards…! Why are you here!

‘The City Council.’

He could tell who they were the moment he saw them. And the number and scale of them coming to meet Solomon. Even that made it easy to guess the value of the information believed to be inside Dr. O’Neill’s head… the soul Solomon had brought.

For one, the Rune Stone of Grand Explosion they’d handed Solomon wasn’t just some magic stone that exploded a bit bigger.

The Great War and nuclear weapons. Words that couldn’t be brushed off lightly.

“You carried out the job very well, Mister Solomon.”

A man with a somewhat fat build, dressed neatly in a suit, spoke as the group’s representative. Behind him were men and women in uniform, armed with weapons like swords and automatic crossbows. There were quite a few of them.

The police who nominally protected this city’s order. The Sword Watch. And their true nature was ultimately nothing more than the Bourgeois’ private army—another set of hounds.

— W-wait! You said you’d let me go!

“No, I said I’d get you out of there. Who said anything about giving you freedom?”

Dr. O’Neill’s soul protested late. The hippie fairy on Solomon’s shoulder shrugged his wings.

Chwareureuk!

Then a chain flying from somewhere wrapped around Dr. O’Neill’s soul. As if it sprang up from empty air or the ground. Soon it became clear that chain was the binding of a medium there.

— Aaaagh, you tricked me! You disgusting Bourgeois bastards! You cursed City Council bastards…!! Mmph, mmph!

The chains didn’t stop at restraining him. Before long, they wrapped around his mouth and bound it, suppressing his voice.

“The job has been completed safely, Mister Solomon.”

The mustached man representing them saluted Solomon without even twitching an eyebrow.

“By contract, the City Council’s ‘protection’ will be enacted immediately. Of course, separately from that, it also includes the compensation that must be paid to you.”

“Thanks.”

“As it should.”

At a glance, his attitude seemed very polite. Even so, Solomon could tell. It was subtly different from the politeness a person showed to another person.

“The privilege we bestow upon you is not something just anyone can enjoy.”

Not acting emotional or rude toward beasts was not a matter of respecting them. The attitude the man before him displayed was closer to that of someone looking down on an inferior, almost to the same degree.

“I’m moved to tears by the honor.”

Either way, it wasn’t Solomon’s concern. The request was resolved. With this, what he was supposed to receive, and the threat of the faceless villain tormenting him, the Black Museum and the Curator, would be resolved as well.

Thinking that, his guard loosened just a little.

“Oh, well now.”

Thud.

Almost at the same time, a sound rang out and snapped his guard back into place.

The sound of a cane tapping the ground.

“To think I’d see you here again.”

And… the sound of flies beating their wings.