Mother

“So why are you telling me this?”

The Black Museum, Hotel Snark, Solomon’s secret. Everything was tangled together in a single thread. From the very beginning, within the same flow, nothing could be called someone else’s business.

In the end, all of it could be summed up in one word. Fate.

“You’re quite special, you know.”

— Keoheok, keok…!

Special. The blood-winged angel, the Faceless One, said. Even as he kept a grip on O’Neill’s throat with no intention of letting go.

“Special?”

“Yeah. Whether in a good way or a bad way.”

Whether the wheezing O’Neill suffered or not, he just kept talking, calm as could be.

“I had a feeling from the moment I first saw you. Now it’s not even something you can call a ‘feeling’ anymore.”

“…What did you see that made you think that?”

Solomon asked carefully. Setting aside how awkward it would be to say it himself, Solomon didn’t deny that he was special. Because he really was. To the point he couldn’t even count it all.

“Well, it’s hard to explain. It’s like a kind of intuition only beings like us can feel.”

Luckily, the being in front of him didn’t know the concrete nature of that specialness either.

His talent, the fact he was a bastard child between the patriarch of House Bale and a prostitute, or the fact that he was an ‘outsider’ to this world, and so on. There was no end to it if you listed them one by one.

“And I’ll stake my word on this. I’m sure the Great King has the same kind of ‘feeling.’”

“……”

He simply felt it. And his intuition was accurate. In other words, the reason Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies, took interest in Solomon, separate from whether he knew Solomon’s ‘secret of birth,’ was in the same vein.

“The same goes for why Oberon got involved with you. He talks rough, sure, but he’s not so bored that he’d get tangled up with a mortal for no reason.”

“I see.”

“No… come to think of it, he is a fairy with nothing better to do.”

“…He does look like it.”

In any legend or myth, the mortal who becomes the protagonist, with almost no exceptions, ends up tangled up with divine beings like angels, demons, or fairies.

Even the fact that the guide he met at the occult shop he visited for the first time happened to be the Fairy King wasn’t just dumb luck. …Separate from the fact that he was a fairy with nothing better to do.

“Either way, your specialness draws beings like us. In a sense, it’s closer to ‘attraction,’ you could say.”

The Faceless One said.

“Mortal beings who leave irreversible marks on history. Like King Arthur, or Guinevere.”

“That’s an exaggeration.”

At those names, Solomon quietly swallowed. The Faceless One didn’t care and continued.

“Well, believe it or not. Up to you.”

“So whether I believe it or not doesn’t matter.”

Solomon replied.

“…What matters is that everyone believes it.”

[Insight success!]

“That’s exactly it. No matter what you think, what matters is that we think that way.”

The Faceless One nodded.

“And think carefully. Every time some noisy incident breaks out these days, who is at the center of it.”

The things that had been revolving around Solomon over the past few days. “Coincidence” wasn’t even enough to describe it. It was clearly part of a flow happening with some kind of intent.

“This is advice I’m giving you for your sake, with an angelic heart.”

“……”

At that point, he could tell.

No matter what Solomon thought, the fact that they believed it mattered. And their belief itself was basically correct.

“So what, you want me to join your organization?”

“Why are you talking like it’s some other neighborhood’s business? Did you already forget what hotel you’re staying at?”

“…I’m just a guest.”

“Think whatever you want.”

The Faceless One shrugged, neither confirming nor denying. Only then did he let go of Dr. O’Neill’s nape, which he’d been gripping.

— Kehek, keoheok…! Heoeuk! Heoeoeok!

Only then, freed from the Faceless One’s grip, O’Neill sucked in ragged breaths. As if he’d forgotten he was a soul.

“How was the view after taking a trip far, far up to heaven, Dr. O’Neill. Want me to show you some more?”

— Hiiik! N-no, no! I-I’ve seen plenty!

“Good. Now let’s have an honest conversation.”

“……”

“Tell me, Dr. O’Neill. What kind of golden calf is in your head that all sorts of bastards in this city are going crazy over? Think I could hear it too?”

— !

The Faceless One said, opening his hand. Once again, O’Neill’s face went paper-white. Seeing that, Solomon realized it.

On Dr. O’Neill’s neck, which should have looked bluish in his soul form, a pure-white handprint remained.

“And who knows? Maybe there’s a job here that’d give you a reason to stay at this hotel. Honestly, how many places in this city can you stay without worry?”

Two cops overlapped on one face. Good cop and bad cop.

Silence fell. But it wasn’t very long.

— I-I, really, it just happened somehow…

At the end of the silence, Dr. O’Neill opened his mouth carefully.

— F-for academic and scientific ideals, absolutely, not for private desire or petty greed, truly, by a scholar’s conscience, I…

Long-winded and cautious to the extreme.

— I… transplanted a certain male corpse… into my body.

Only then did Solomon remember the disgusting appearance the man before him had shown while he was alive.

The Corpse Collector, the Body Splicer.

At this point, that didn’t matter much.

— A-a high-class male prostitute… from Raspberry Street.

[Raspberry Street is another name for Downtown District 7. It’s the city’s famous landmark, a holy land of every kind of entertainment and gambling, including casinos and the red-light district.]

At that name, Solomon frowned without a word. In the midst of a foreboding feeling, he was too tired to be shocked by every single thing.

“Ah-ha.”

As if he understood the gist of what was going on, the Faceless One made an intrigued face.

“Clearly he wasn’t just some host. Looks like he hid a golden calf in his head.”

— Inside his head… there was a roster.

A roster. A document with people’s names written on it.

— A roster of City Council spies… who worked as VIP host staff on Raspberry Street, including himself.

“So A Bourgeois’ agent of the City Council. And now it’s inside your head, Doctor.”

Dr. O’Neill couldn’t continue, hesitating with a trembling voice.

“Because there’s no way the Bourgeois would leave physical evidence that could bite them in the ass.”

The City Council. The Guild City’s Bourgeois who stood opposed to the Uptown nobles and the 「Ancient Council」. The Faceless One sneered coldly.

“Yeah. So there must’ve been a name in there worth going crazy over. Enough for the Great King to set his sights on it.”

— T-that is…

O’Neill answered carefully, squeezing his eyes shut like even he didn’t know anymore.

— There was… the Lady’s name.

The humor vanished from the Faceless One’s expression.

‘Lady?’

It was a name he’d never heard before. So Solomon tried not to make a big deal out of it. No, he tried to.

— The woman who, in the past, gave birth to Duke Bale’s child… and then vanished.

“……!”

[House Bale, Shadow Binders]

Solomon quietly swallowed. The Great King’s words surfaced in his mind.

「As you heard in that mansion, I am searching for a certain soul.」

[Bastard child]

Thinking even his heartbeat could give him away, he desperately cooled his mind down.

「And Dr. O’Neill is something like a stepping stone in the task of finding that soul.」

[Born of the red-light district]

Now, even what was inside Dr. O’Neill’s head wasn’t someone else’s business. It was Solomon’s story.

[Clue acquired! Mother]

“So that’s why everyone went crazy. I feel like my eyes are gonna roll back too.”

And the fact that this was his story was also a secret he absolutely couldn’t let slip.

“You said the Lord of the Flies, Beelzebub… is searching for that bastard child’s soul.”

Solomon spoke, turning that fact over again. Keeping a poker face more carefully than ever.

“Yeah.”

“It’s not like House Bale has no other bloodline. Why is he that obsessed? Over a mere bastard child, at that.”

“What, did you take an interest in playing detective?”

“Just curiosity.”

Solomon said, pretending to be calm.

“Well, unfortunately, there’s only one thing I can tell you.”

“…What is it?”

“You’re better off not knowing.”

The Faceless One answered flatly, with a voice devoid of humor.

“For your sake, too.”

That night.

[Welcome.]

When he opened his eyes, Solomon wasn’t in Room 204 of Hotel Snark. A room with a rectangular table. A tabletop room blocked off on all sides by velvet curtains.

“Game Master…”

[Time really flies, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t you agree?]

The Game Master was there. A deep shadow lay under the hood, hiding his face.

[Congratulations. Your subclass Reaper has leveled up. Would you like to learn a new perk?]

“……”

His main level hadn’t increased. But it was enough for his subclass to level up. He had taken down a Haunting House mage and no small number of hound wraiths.

―――
Subclass: Reaper

Acquired Perk List -
「Inescapable Fate」
: Gain 1 <Fate Die ⚅>

「Induce Excessive Bleeding」
: When a melee ambush succeeds, the status effect Bleeding lasts longer and does not fade easily.

…Available Perks:
→ Finishing Blow
→ Blade of Attunement
→ Crimson Harvest (New!)
―――

“Crimson Harvest.”

[So you’ve set your mind on the Bleeding route. Was that the build you had in mind from the start?]

“…Do I need to answer?”

[Fine, then.]

Among the countless dots embroidered like constellations, the words ‘Crimson Harvest’ began to shine brightly.

──
New Perk: 「Crimson Harvest」
: When attacking an enemy afflicted with the status effect Bleeding, Damage increases by 2.
──

Without a word, Solomon looked over his character sheet. Just as the Game Master said, a fair number of days had passed since he opened his eyes in this world.

Class, dice, traits… The text filling his sheet was proof enough.

──
Owned Dice List:

<Glass Die ⚅>
Tag - Special Die
: When attacking, roll this die to add additional damage, and when you are attacked, you take additional damage in the same way.

<Fate Die ⚅>
Tag - Special Die, Consumable Die
: If your dice roll is a critical failure during an ambush, you may consume this die to attempt a reroll.
: This die is classified as special and consumable, and up to 1 can be replenished on a rest.

<Big Shot Die ⚅>
Tag - Special Die, Non-consumable Die
: When dealing with a faction whose affinity exceeds +30, you may add this die’s value to social interaction rolls.
──

After the dice came the various traits he’d learned while leveling up.

──
Owned Trait List:

[Insightful]
[Survivalist]
[Mage Hunter]
[Potential Big Shot]
[Master of Ambush]
[Glass Cannon]
[Blade in the Darkn]
[Foul Mouth]
──

The trait list was so packed now that remembering them one by one felt overwhelming. And at the beginning were three backgrounds he could never forget.

[Bastard Child]
[Born of the Red-Light District]
[House Bale, Shadow Binders]

His story that he had written by his own hand.