Episode 385 < Garden of Time. (1) >
One.
I slowly began to go down the stairs, where the sand curtain was split to the left and right.
Plop, plod.
The stairs of unknown material supported me reliably. Every time I took a step, a sound that bounced me back filled the air.
The place where I spoke with the princess was on the 90th floor.
Below that was naturally the 89th floor, my sanctuary.
“…….”
A garden of rotten flowers. I set foot there.
The vassals of the Four Kings who played the role of gardeners were walking around. They were all neatly dressed in uniforms designed by Duke Ivancia’s exclusive tailor and woven with silk thread by mermaids of the Aegim Empire. In their hands were scissors, shovels, water jugs, and other things they needed to tend their gardens.
‘Eek.’
Among them, when I saw Sylvia coming toward me holding garden shears, I quickly ducked behind a rock.
-Death King, what are you doing?
The princess looked at me as if she saw something very strange and asked.
I scratched the back of my head with a sheepish look on my face.
– No what? Wouldn’t it be a bit embarrassing if someone asked me why I had already come down after going up after taking all the necessary precautions and shaving my head… what. As I was talking, I kept my mouth shut.
– Uh… hmm? The state of my voice… ?
What came out of my mouth was literally a whisper made by just touching my lips, no, it was a sound that seemed audible but inaudible when I imagined the sound in my head.
– uh… .
That wasn’t all.
I took a step back and realized that I couldn’t even hear my own footsteps.
– huh?
It was the same even if I tried walking in place a couple of times.
There was no sound from the floor, which until a moment ago had been making sounds equivalent to my body weight.
– Hehe.
I tried the sergeant jump right in place.
There was no sound of jumping or a thud when it fell.
Not only is there no sound, not even a single grain of sand or a single leaf moves.
– no way?
– huh. That’s right.
The princess smiled brightly. Only then did I realize that her voice and movements were not having any effect on those around her.
So I noticed.
– Right now, the princess and I are in the same situation as the Geomje nobleman, right?
– huh! that’s right.
The princess nodded. I turned my body this way and that in a curious mood, then looked at Sylvia who was coming towards me.
– And that means… .
“Ugh.”
Sylvia sighed in front of my nose.
“It’s been about two hours since the head of the family came up.”
I knew it.
Sylvia didn’t recognize me at all!
“driving me crazy. It’s going to turn. Ah, kinda. “I wonder if they are going up and making a fuss because they have something to gain.”
Sylvia was squatting on the floor, turning over a lot of dirt with a trowel and complaining.
Someone received Sylvia’s words.
“Uger, Chamberlain. “Why are you talking behind my back if someone hears me?”
These were the words spoken by Uburka, dressed as a gardener, as he walked with a large bucket on his bald head.
Sylvia shrugged her shoulders.
“Heng. There is no one listening except you. “Anyway, since they’ve already done that much groundwork, I’m just talking behind their backs.”
“Ugor. “Are you sure?”
“It’s like that. I am a person who was abused twice at Sormwin Academy. He even voted for Duke Ivan Sia once. So what does this mean? “Your wit is at its peak, that is to say.”
Sylvia said that in a proud manner.
‘I’m listening right in front of my nose.’
It was a moment when Sylvia’s confidence became as sad as the existence of Sylvia, but it probably meant that my stealth function was perfect at the moment.
‘Anyway, this is fun.’
I circled around Silvia and Uburka.
Sometimes I just walked around, sometimes I did it while standing on my head, sometimes I did somersaults, and sometimes I did a Cossack dance.
Bae Hu-ryeong showed a rare, embarrassed expression.
– It’s a zombie… Why are you going crazy and goosebumps, like a rover who has a bone of charcoal grilled ribs in front of you?
– Thank you for feeling that way. This is exactly what you did while I was struggling to learn Aurors. What I am saying is that I felt the same way you feel now.
– That’s right, you bastard… . I didn’t know that. Now that I found out, I reflect on it very deeply, but apart from that, do you really want to write about it if you did the same thing that I did? It is always up to juniors and students to break the chain of evil.
– I also wanted to break that chain of evil… But I couldn’t do that. The monster that lives deep inside my heart, the snake coiled in my heart, keeps whispering to me like this… [Try the same thing. Are you just going to live with it? Go ahead and do it. Now is your chance to repay me…] I give in to the devil inside me time and time again. In other words, that could be said to be my incompetence and incompetence… .
– I lost.
– Victory Achieved.
Even while we were talking like that, Uburka and Silvia didn’t seem to notice us.
At this point, I really feel a bit embarrassed.
– Princess. Geomje nobleman. So what else should I do here? Roughly where are the keys?
– Hmm, okay? How about taking a look around the places you want to visit?
The princess said that while smiling.
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hmm.
‘Hearing things like that with a face like that makes me feel a little uneasy… .’
I suppressed that anxiety.
I left Uburka and Silvia, who were still chatting, and started walking.
-Where are you going, Myeongcheon?
– No, what… Are you telling me to start by looking around? That’s what I’m going to do.
– It’s active! Yep. It’s a good thing. Good things.
Those were very unsettling words, but I held on and walked on.
First, I planned to visit the director.
2.
By the time I arrived, the director was just giving instructions to Kim Yul.
“Mr. Kim Yul. “Please gather the gardeners.”
“Sure.”
Kim Yul gathered the gardeners according to the director’s instructions. Esther was the first to run, and the guardian goddess came down flapping her wings. Silvia and Uburka, who had been hanging out in a corner, were also brought in without notice and made to stand in front of the director.
The director said.
“hello. “I have been entrusted with the management of this flower garden.”
The director started talking in his characteristic quiet voice.
“This person is lacking a lot.”
“…….”
“Just by bringing you all together in one place right now, no, we’re asking you to hold a regular meeting… And there may be people who will disapprove of it. At times like that, I just think, ah, an older person… No. Compared to you, I’m not old. “I would appreciate it if you could take pity on me and say, “I am a person with shortcomings.”
The people gathered showed no reaction to those words. To be precise, it would be more accurate to say that it was not the kind of reaction that was clearly visible on the outside.
Just like me.
-Director… .
I muttered with a heavy heart.
Of course, the director didn’t recognize me. I just continued talking to the people in front of me.
“As you may have heard, Confucius went up to the next floor today.”
“…….”
“When it comes to hunters, I’m someone who can’t even be called a novice. Even if you put him on the second floor, it would be difficult for him to come back alive. So I don’t know what kind of place the 90th floor is. “Does anyone here know that?”
There was someone who raised their hand to that question.
It was Esther.
“I know very little about the 99th floor. I can’t tell you the details because of the contract I signed with TOP… … .”
“Is it dangerous?”
“… … Yes, very much.”
Esther said.
The director took off his glasses, pressed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger, and spoke.
“Can you come back?”
“If the matriarch decides to come back, right away.”
Esther said that and slightly lowered her head.
“However, in that case, I understand that you basically won’t be able to try again. That is also the reason why most of the most powerful constellations are stuck behind without being able to reach the 100th floor.”
“okay… .”
The director sighed lightly.
“It’s a relief to know that I can come back as soon as I want to.”
“Yes, I think so too.”
“But he will never come back.”
The director’s sigh became deeper.
Esther, the guardian goddess, and Uburka all sighed in a similar way… Uh, what is this Four Kings’ Great East Unity?
“I was a very stubborn child from a young age.”
The director said.
Sylvia perked up her ears.
“How was it?”
“Chief Chamberlain. “For some reason, I feel an uneasy feeling from that curiosity.”
“No, advisor. Aren’t you looking at me so negatively? I’m sorry. I’m just curious what kind of gentleman the owner of our family is. And the advisor like that, hmmmm? “You’re looking very curious, aren’t you?”
“As an advisor, I just want to get to know Gaju better.”
These vassals… .
“I’m a little curious too. Ugh. What was Abby like as a child? “No, did she even have a childhood?”
This son Naemi… .
“Everyone is curious about Confucius. “It’s worth it.”
The director smiled wryly and put on his glasses.
While most of the family members were looking at the director with bright eyes, perhaps, no doubt, coveting my dark history, the director proved that he was not a specialist who had been taking care of children for decades.
“So, let’s continue this story at the next ordinance.”
“Ah.”
Just when curiosity was aroused, the retainers who stopped talking made a sad sound.
“are you okay. “Please wait leisurely.”
The director said with a smile.
“Because we’ll be seeing each other here forever.”
That’s how the ordinance ended. I looked at the gardeners walking away with a regretful look on their faces, then raised my hand and wiped my forehead.
– I need to get out of here quickly… Preferably today.
– Hmm. No matter what, I don’t want my dark history to be exposed in front of my eyes, right?
– Yes. hmm. So… Uh, the key.
I looked around, but couldn’t see anything like this.
I searched the director’s arms to see if anything, but the same thing happened.
– … There’s nothing here?
– I know. I guess it’s not here.
The princess said that while smiling brightly. This was also a tone that stimulated anxiety.
The voice of the Geomje was heard as if driving a wedge there.
– It’s a zombie.
– yes?
I looked back at Geomje.
And then I saw Geomje with a pitiful expression on his face.
– cheer up.
Uh… … .
– Geomje nobleman. What does that face mean now?
– What do you think?
– It looks like shit… .
– okay… .
– Oh, no, no. Wait. Why don’t you get a little more angry… What is it? Are you upset because I played a prank earlier? If that’s the case… No, why does his real expression look like that! I’d rather just laugh at it… .
Geomje said nothing more.
They just look at me with a face that looks like they are looking at something pitiful.
‘This is really a feeling of anxiety creeping up like the smell of dumped manure… .’
eww.
I hit my palms together loudly. Then, after catching my breath, I started walking.
– Anyway, this is not the area around the director. hmm. Then it’s probably there.
My sanctuary is a world, but it is not that large as it is newly created. If you look through each and every part, you will find a key or something… . That was the thought.
To conclude, it was a wrong idea.
3.
My sanctuary, a garden of rotten flowers.
I said with a blank face as I was squatting on the beach with the red waves rolling in.
– I was wrong.
Actually, I don’t know if it’s really a straight face. Because I was not reflected on the surface of the sea water.
And it wasn’t just because the waters of my sanctuary were red. A greenhouse was set up here for flowers that needed warmth, but my appearance was not reflected at all in the glass of the greenhouse.
– Ugh. You’re really quick-witted, zombie.
The Geomje sat cross-legged next to him and picked his teeth with the tips of his fingernails.
– I realized that in just [a week] at most.
Yes.
A week has already passed since I entered this place, which should be called the 89th floor, or rather the 91st floor!
– no! Why is there no clue at all!?
I shouted with a burning feeling… shouted? Damn it. Even that feels ambiguous here, where you can’t actually speak your voice.
Is it as if existence itself has become ambiguous? Just like the facial expressions that seals and Shiba Inu usually make!
– I thought something would happen if I went next to the director. Or, I thought that if I stood in front of the Constellation Killer flower, the lily of the valley that I first planted, the surroundings would just sparkle. But this… Do you know how I feel right now?
– [This looks like something that was thrown onto a test map without any event processing.]
These were the words the princess said as she jumped up next to me.
– Some climbers used that analogy.
– Who are you? The climber.
– Mahos.
Is this the same constellation called the warhorse of the eternal plains?
– That guy speaks in that way… .
– Ugh. Myeongcheon thinks he doesn’t want to treat the inside of the tower as a game, so he might be upset about that analogy… .
– Yeah… no no. I know how it feels. You know Geomje nobleman well, right?
– Well, you know, zombies. Why don’t you know?
Geomje was lying down, supporting the back of his head with his bare hands.
Angular clouds were floating in the sky, which was dyed red by the shattered glow of the sunset.
– Right now, I’ve been going through that shit for 140 years.
etc,
