Mission Change

According to original history, several hundred ghouls wandered around the perimeter of the city to terrorize it for four days before finally storming inside. Relying on their keen sense for living beings, they hunted down and slaughtered nearly every living person. By the time the army entered the city, only seven out of over eight thousand people remained alive.

This was the narrative compiled from the two previous tests—an ordinary and simple tragedy of the Dark Age, not even considered particularly gruesome by the standards of that era. The testers' attention had been focused primarily on the cultivation of the human-faced fruit, never delving deep into the truth behind the tragedy of Noran.

Across those two tests, in one instance after the massacre began, two mid-tier experts relied on the Authority of the Earth to bury themselves deep underground, evading the ghouls' search. In the other instance, they took the opportunity to slip into the deep woods outside the city, hiding within the two-hundred-meter perimeter of activity permitted outside the walls. The ghouls had searched and killed only inside the city and failed to discover them. Instead, they nearly ended up clashing with the army that finally entered the city. Fortunately, Old Sven found his daughter's corpse according to the trajectory of history, bringing the mystery relic's memory to an end and allowing the two to barely escape.

Thus, Lynch's prior understanding of the memory had remained at this surface level. Only after performing a deep reading of the relic's memory did he realize that some unknown truth was likely concealed behind this piece of history.

Even before the ghouls launched their slaughter, someone in the city appeared to have already begun stirring up trouble, preparing to use a ritual to transform everyone into ghouls, just like the female reporter Maya in the past. It was only because their focus lay elsewhere that the previous testers hadn't noticed, and the ritual had been terminated prematurely by some unknown event, allowing those testers to survive unscathed and completely unaware.

But Lynch had read it now, realizing that a ritual encompassing every single person in the city—including the four of them—was currently underway in secret.

Only by stopping the ritual could they exit the memory early. If they failed to stop it, the situation would most likely follow the course of the previous two tests, requiring them to find a way to endure for five days before being able to withdraw.

But would events truly unfold that way? Could the previous two tests have been the anomalies, where they had unwittingly done something to affect the ritual's outcome, whereas the normal course of development meant the entire city turning into ghouls together?

Even if history was truly meant to proceed along the lines of the tests, bizarre variations had already potentially cropped up this time for unknown reasons. If things continued, would it really follow the historical trajectory?

“Ignorance is bliss.”

Lynch rubbed his glabella and let out a deep sigh.

Had he not read this information, it wouldn't have been so bad—they could have stumbled through five days and let fate decide whether they lived or died. The problem was that he now knew, and clear deviations had already begun to emerge...

‘Neighbor, could the changes have occurred because we entered?’

【Of course. You are the only variable. If there are changes, it could only be because you entered.】

‘I don't mean us. I mean “us.”’

【Your train of thought is correct, but my entry will not cause any influence.】

‘Whereas with other gods or evil gods, that might not be the case, right?’

【...】

‘I see. It seems some other strange will has entered.’

【No.】

‘Huh?’

【Even a manifestation grade mystery relic cannot contain even a shred of a supreme will. A supreme will infiltrating it would directly destroy the relic. My current state is a special exception.】

Well, that was interesting.

Lynch narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment. Letting out a soft breath, he tapped on the dining table and spoke to the three ladies:

“Although there's no evidence for now, I believe a real change has occurred this time. Based on my speculation, some supreme will must have indirectly interfered with this relic's memory through means beyond our comprehension, causing events to deviate from the course of history. I'm not entirely sure whether this degree of deviation will cause us to turn into ghouls before we can exit the relic. Personally, I don't really want to gamble on it. Is anyone else interested in taking that chance?”

“With things like this, no one plans around the best-case scenario; you always prepare for the worst,” Officer Natalie said, glaring at him. “Don't always think about gambling like those fools playing with lizards.”

“Yes, yes, you're absolutely right.” Lynch immediately wiped away his smirk and said in all seriousness, “In accordance with Officer Natalie's guidance, I suggest that starting now, we temporarily set aside the original historical course and no longer restrict ourselves solely to the human-faced fruit mission. Instead, let's shift more of our attention to this ritual and root out the troublemaker behind the scenes...”

The front door was pushed open, and Ms. Stephen Sven returned.

“How is the situation, Ms. Sven? You look exhausted. Is he badly injured?”

The moment Dr. Sven approached, Lynch caught a faint scent of blood, realizing the wounded man's condition was far from good.

“I managed to save his life for now, but whether he wakes up depends on him.”

Ms. Sven sat back down at the dining table with an air of weariness. Paying no mind to the fact that the vegetable soup had grown a bit cold, she dunked the white bread into it and wolfed down more than half in one breath. Only then did she remember people were watching. She offered an embarrassed smile—her first since they had met—before... gulping down the rest of it.

This made Lynch's favorable impression of her increase substantially. Waiting until she finished eating, he asked, “Is that the soldier who went for reinforcements? How was he wounded?”

“Ghouls did it. Seven wounds in total across his chest and back, all giant bite marks and claw gashes. The deepest claw gash nearly severed his spine. If the other soldier hadn't fought desperately to pull him away, he probably would have been torn to shreds.”

Dr. Sven mimed tearing something apart, even making a ripping sound with her mouth:

“The two of them were attacked this morning. They were only halfway along the road when two ghouls caught up from behind and first attacked Kemitt, who was at the rear. The other soldier, Leonard, used the horses to draw the ghouls' attention and brought him all the way back. Both their lives were spared, but reinforcements probably won't be coming now. Not that it matters—asking for reinforcements was only—”

Lynch marveled inwardly at how formidable Dark Age soldiers were to escape alive after facing two ghouls. Had it been him right after transmigrating, the grass on his grave would already be tall enough to weave mats.

“What exactly are these ghouls you speak of? We've never seen them in Middle Earth.”

“Nothing more than monsters born from the influence of the evil gods on the other side,” Dr. Sven described briefly. “Not having seen them is a blessing. If you do run into them, escaping alive like those soldiers won't be anywhere near as easy.”

“Oh? They're creations of evil gods too?” Lynch adopted a curious tone. “Then do they worship that evil god as well?”

“Probably. Seems like a monster called some 'King' or another, though I'm not clear on it either.”

“I see.” Lynch currently viewed everyone with suspicion and didn't dare place full trust even in Dr. Sven, the anchor of this memory. Unwilling to do something foolish like alerting the enemy, he could only probe obliquely, “Earlier you mentioned there's a ghoul tribe nearby. I assumed those of you living in the city would know quite a bit about ghouls and their evil god. I'm just a little curious.”

“I haven't heard of anyone who understands those monsters. If you're truly interested, you can go ask at the tavern beside the threshing floor. But there's really nothing to be curious about with such creatures. Besides, haven't you seen them before? As I recall, Middle Earth has ghouls too.”

“His horizons are rather narrow; the rest of us have seen them,” Miss Diana interrupted smoothly, shifting the topic. “However, when you went to treat that soldier just now, I didn't see you bring any medicine or tools. How did you manage to treat the wounded man?”

“I'm no apothecary; I have no need for such things,” Dr. Sven said, suddenly animated. “Potions are utterly useless—slow and ineffective. Only those stubborn stones use potions. Real treatment is done with arcana, of course.”

Saying so, she flipped her palm, and a cluster of icy mist rose from her hand.

???

Lynch was taken aback. Was this woman the arcanist President Gulman had mentioned?

Just how many secrets were still hidden within this memory that they knew nothing about?