The impromptu "interrogation" unfolded in an unexpectedly relaxed atmosphere.
Josef and his n suggested breaking a limb or two, but Yeomyeong rejected the idea.
Was it because of Balagu's connection to the knight? That might have been part of it, but mostly, it was thanks to Dovan, the knight in question, willingly spilling everything he knew.
There was no need for torture, not even a broken finger—he began divulging sensitive information the mont the alcohol hit his bloodstream.
“Uh… sothing strange? The Court Lord… hic... is always strange, though.”
“I don’t an that. I an if he’s done anything particularly unusual recently, like appointing a stranger or starting an unexpected project.”
Yeomyeong poured Dovan another beer as he asked.
Dovan, his nose bright red, glanced at the beer mug, took a bite of a potato, and responded.
“A strange person? Maybe… Ekaterina?”
“...Ekaterina? And who’s that?”
“A knight with a spear as big as a person’s torso… She’s really strong, beautiful, and…”
“And?”
“No matter how I think about it… she seems like an Earthling.”
“....”
An Earthling? The na Ekaterina was already Russian-sounding, so it wasn’t hard to imagine she might be from Earth.
Before Balagu could interject, Dovan added,
“The Court Lord hates Earthlings… so it’s really strange.”
“....”
“Sotis it even looks like he’s groveling to her… Maybe she’s from so important family…?”
As Dovan’s ramblings dragged on, Balagu interrupted,
“Forget about her for a second. What about the Court Lord himself? Has he been acting strange?”
Dovan shrugged.
“The Court Lord… he’s always strange. He doesn’t care about the city; he only focuses on the imperial palace. Oh, right!”
Suddenly, he slamd his mug onto the table.
“Now that I think of it, he didn’t prepare anything this year.”
“Prepare what?”
“The Emperor’s Celebration.”
Yeomyeong imdiately recognized the term.
The Emperor’s Celebration was a public holiday in the empire beyond the dinsional gates, marking the birthday of the reigning emperor.
“Every year, he’d send extravagant gifts, enough to drain his coffers, but this year… hic... he was freaking out about ordering dinosaur bones, then ended up preparing nothing at all.”
“...Dinosaur bones? That’s certainly peculiar.”
“Well… it’s lucky, I guess. Hic… This year, the train was destroyed, so he couldn’t have sent anything anyway.”
“....”
Yeomyeong’s golden eyes grew cold.
So cold, in fact, that Balagu, sitting nearby, felt a shiver run down his spine. But Dovan, oblivious, buried his head in his beer mug and continued rambling.
“That guy… luck’s definitely on his side. If you want to climb to a high position, you need luck. It’s almost like he knew the train would be destroyed ahead of ti.”
At that, Dovan reached for a can of spam and began scooping chunks out with a spoon, the greasy sll wafting through the room.
While Yeomyeong mulled over sothing, Dovan’s gaze shifted toward Seti, who was sitting across the inn.
“…Even the staff here are gorgeous. Hey, miss! Bring a beer, will you?”
Balagu grimaced at the comnt, but Seti wordlessly grabbed a beer bottle and approached the table.
The mont she got close, Dovan reached out toward her backside and asked,
“Pretty thing, how much for a night?”
In this city, such behavior was par for the course.
But the people gathered here weren’t ordinary city dwellers, and their reactions were anything but typical.
The instant Dovan’s hand was about to touch Seti’s rear—
Bang!
Yeomyeong grabbed the back of Dovan’s head and slamd his face into the table.
The force of the impact cracked the old table, and Dovan slumped over without so much as a scream.
Startled by the sudden noise, Josef and the others turned their attention to Yeomyeong, but he nonchalantly dumped Dovan’s unconscious body onto the floor.
“…Is he dead?”
Balagu asked, looking down at his unfortunate companion.
Yeomyeong shrugged.
“He’s not dead. We got so useful information… though he’ll have a nasty hangover in the morning.”
“Well, that’s a relief. Would’ve been a waste to lose him like this.”
Yeomyeong muttered that it would be best to et sowhere else next ti and stood up.
Despite the heavy atmosphere, Seti smirked and poked Yeomyeong in the side.
“You really don’t know how to hold back, do you?”
“…That was holding back.”
The two exchanged words as they ascended to the second floor.
Once they were out of sight, Neti, still peeling a potato, remarked dryly,
“Seriously, it’s tough being single around here.”
*****
Yeomyeong awoke in soone else’s dream.
He realized it imdiately.
He had closed his eyes in bed but opened them in the dark, damp sewers.
Why was he suddenly inside soone else’s dream? Could it be Mignium’s doing? The thought crossed his mind but was quickly dismissed.
Mignium’s taste leaned more toward the grandiose than filthy sewers.
"Well, let’s see who’s playing tricks."
As Yeomyeong wandered through the dreamlike sewers, a voice called out from the darkness.
“…So it connects after all.”
A red-haired, one-ard elf erged from the shadows.
What was his na again? Yeomyeong tilted his head, and the elf added,
“I’m Pinel. Yeomyeong.”
“…Pleasure to et you, Pinel.”
“You don’t seem too surprised. Are you used to things like this?”
Was he asking if Yeomyeong was accustod to entering other people’s dreams, or eting others in dreams? Either way, it was a vague question.
Yeomyeong shrugged instead of answering.
Pinel stared at him for a mont, then sighed.
“This is the World Tree’s dream. Only elves or those recognized by the World Tree can enter here.”
“…I’m not an elf, nor do I recall receiving the World Tree’s recognition.”
“Exactly. That’s the problem.”
Pinel turned away without another word. Though he didn’t tell him to follow, Yeomyeong trailed leisurely behind.
The sound of water splashing echoed as Pinel asked abruptly,
“Yeomyeong, do you know what the World Tree is?”
A big tree? Yeomyeong swallowed the words that rose to his lips and shook his head.
“I only know the na.”
“The World Tree… hmm, I don’t know if this is the right way to put it, but it’s like a bridge connecting reality and unreality.”
“....”
"Elves use the power of the World Tree to share their dreams. Because of this, we can fundantally understand one another in a way humans never could."
This was new information—sothing neither docuntaries nor textbooks had ever ntioned.
"...Why are you telling this?"
"Because our dreams are connected. For a human recognized by the World Tree, this much is worth sharing."
"...?"
"You look confused. Haven’t you already shared dreams with another elf before?"
Dreams connected with another elf? Yeomyeong shook his head—he had never...
But then, a mory surfaced: the dream where he faced his own killing intent. In that dream, his killing intent had taken the form of Miridis, bearing an uncanny resemblance that seed far too intentional to be re coincidence.
"...."
Yeomyeong fell silent, but Pinel continued explaining.
"Well, you’re not the first of your kind. Before Arica invaded us, the World Tree sotis recognized beings other than elves."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. The last one to be recognized was the Border Count."
The Border Count. Yeomyeong could believe it. The man was a legendary hero who defended the land against the United States.
Though, ironically, the land he protected had ended up in France’s hands with nothing more than a signed docunt.
"So, what’s your reason for connecting dreams with ? If this is about leaving the Eastern Court Lord’s proposal, I—"
"...No, it’s not that. Vikoff might’ve been disappointed, but it’s none of my concern."
None of his concern? Did that an they weren’t allies? Yeomyeong narrowed his eyes.
"Then why?"
"To spy on reality through a dream, it’s better to have two than one. Like having two eyes."
"...Spying on reality?"
Yeomyeong stopped walking, puzzled.
At that mont, a bright light suddenly flared in the distance, illuminating the sewer.
Reflexively shutting his eyes against the blinding flash, Yeomyeong reopened them to find the dreamscape transford.
The sewer was gone, replaced by a stark white room.
The walls were lined with massive glass cylinders, reminiscent of a cheap horror film’s laboratory.
But what stood out most was the source of the earlier light.
"...The World Tree Crystal."
Suspended in the center of the room, it was far larger than the fingernail-sized fragnt he had received from Dalma in Manchuria.
This one was at least as big as a basketball, possibly larger.
Yeomyeong, srized by its pale green glow, instinctively reached out, but Pinel grabbed his arm.
"Don’t touch it. You’ll wake up."
"...."
Without further explanation, Pinel silently examined the room, particularly the glass cylinders lining the walls.
Following his gaze, Yeomyeong noticed the creatures floating within.
Long-snouted, covered in black fur, with grotesque tails and massive front teeth—they were rat beastn.
They looked exactly like the ones he had wiped out in the sewers recently.
No, upon closer inspection, they weren’t just similar—they were identical.
"Clones...? Or should I say, cloned beastn."
As Yeomyeong tried to piece things together, Pinel stopped in front of the last cylinder and muttered,
"Just as I thought. They’re cultivating beastn using the World Tree’s mana."
"...Cultivating beastn? Why bother with sothing so pointless? It’s not like they’re planning to sell beastman at."
"If it were for at, it’d actually make more sense. These are soldiers."
"...Soldiers?"
It hit Yeomyeong then. In the sewers, the rat beastn had been walking in neat formations.
They hadn’t just been gathering—they were...
"...Marching?"
Why? What purpose could a beastman army serve? Even the modern U.S. military had abandoned the idea as inefficient.
As these questions filled Yeomyeong’s mind, Pinel spoke defensively.
"Now that I think about it… the rat beastn, the sll of their blood mixed with the World Tree’s mana—it’s no wonder I suspected you."
"...."
So this was his excuse for the ambush? Yeomyeong narrowed his eyes and replied,
"How is that relevant to your attack? And co to think of it, I never received compensation after your apology."
At the ntion of compensation, Pinel shrugged his lone shoulder.
"Compensation? If you want it, go see our leader later and get it directly."
"If you didn’t want to give anything, you could’ve just said so."
"No, I’m serious. Since it’s been a long ti since a human was recognized by the World Tree, our leader would—"
"Would...?"
"Would—"
"Would—"
"...?"
Suddenly, Pinel’s voice was drowned out.
To be precise, all of Yeomyeong’s senses were overtaken by a single sound. His vision blurred, and his body bristled with a familiar sensation.
Yeomyeong frowned and turned toward the World Tree Crystal.
Though the crystal had no eyes, Yeomyeong felt as though it was staring directly at him.
And in the next mont—
"Who are you? Are you the new anomaly?"
The strange voice that spoke was identical to the one Yeomyeong had heard after consuming the World Tree fragnt in Manchuria.
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