Chapter 84

Winte placed his hand on the barrier.

Nothing lasts forever—the barrier’s cohesive force was loosening too.

There were two reasons.

First. The absence of the goblin who needed to continuously supply salt and nark.

Second. The part-timer’s efforts who needed to brew coffee.

Collapse was near.

Once they escaped this place, what would Quilbion do?

There would be some fun in observing.

The balance of power had been more or less achieved. He no longer felt the need to intervene.

The god had departed on a long vacation, and the tracks the god had laid down had become a mess and lost their function.

The age of complete creatures would soon open.

It was something to look forward to.

What would intelligent beings use as their guiding light in an age where fate had been lost?

He tore away the sorcery forming the barrier and stepped inside.

The surface realm vibrated with a musty odor.

After watching the barrier that recovered in an instant, he lifted his body.

The coffee beans he’d obtained this time were quite promising. Coffee beans harvested in a method similar to Luwak. It would be even better if there were civet cats like the Designer had mentioned before, but they didn’t exist in this world.

The dormitory entered his field of vision.

Was the experimental subject still alive and well?

“Hm?”

Winte looked down at the rooftop while hovering in midair. His head tilted involuntarily.

First of all, there were two experimental subjects.

One was a creature with physical substance, and the other was a mental entity.

The problem was that the one who could be called the main body was crawling around the rooftop on all fours, while the mental entity was trembling with its head buried in the ground.

It was a creature with a peculiar mental structure, but not to the point of crawling around on all fours.

Had it lost its intelligence while he’d been away?

He descended to the rooftop.

The creature running on all fours suddenly charged at him.

“Kiaaaaak!”

It made bizarre sounds from its mouth.

He grabbed its neck and looked into the experimental subject’s eyes.

“……Why is there only a shell?”

The soul that should have ruled the body was absent. What currently dominated the experimental subject’s body was one of the sorceries it had devoured.

The main body’s face distorted, then antennae sprouted from its forehead.

Its form began to warp.

Centipede legs grew all over its body.

He bound the main body with threads of mana and tossed it on the ground. The main body twisted its entire body while screaming.

Ignoring it, he approached the mental entity still burying its head in the rooftop floor.

“Are you an ostrich?”

The mental entity snapped its head up.

He looked into its eyes as well.

“……What the hell is this now?”

“P-please spare me. I don’t know where this is, but I have no money. Please let me go. Even if you kidnap me, I’m completely……”

When was the last time he’d experienced something called a headache?

Winte found himself laughing at his throbbing head. What an incredibly unlucky creature.

“First, sit down.”

He created a chair and placed it before the mental entity. The mental entity glanced around cautiously before sitting on the chair.

“Your name?”

“Qu-Quilbion.”

“Your age?”

“Thirty.”

“What do you do?”

“I work at a woodshop. I really have no money. I’ll repay the debt somehow, so please let me go.”

The body that could be called the main body had been taken over by a centipede, and an unrelated Quilbion had entered the mental entity he’d cultivated and raised.

Then where was his part-timer who needed to brew coffee?

“If this goes wrong, my precious part-timer will disappear.”

Winte looked at the coffee beans he’d brought.

That can’t happen.

I need to brew that deliciously.

“Excuse me, I’ll really work hard to repay it. I’ll never go to gambling dens again. Really!”

Winte flicked his finger. The mental entity stood up and approached closely.

“Can you brew coffee?”

“Pardon?”

“Can you brew coffee, I’m asking.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Try brewing some.”

Until his part-timer safely returned, he would have to be satisfied with a substitute.

It was unfortunate, but what could he do.

This too was a result of fate that had gone astray.

“Excuse me, if I just brew coffee, will that be enough?”

“Yes.”

“Then will you let me go?”

“No. You can’t leave here.”

“……Are you going to kill me? No, rather than killing me, wouldn’t it be better to make me work? I’ll earn money. Please.”

“Don’t beg and just brew the coffee.”

He waved his hand. With a scream, the mental entity flew beyond the railing.

“There’s equipment down there, so handle it well on your own.”

After transmitting his voice into the mental entity’s head, he looked at the still-growling main body.

“You stay put. When he comes back, I need to brew coffee with that body.”

Winte created a rocking chair and sank into it. Creak, creak—while feeling the comfort of the chair rocking back and forth, he spoke quietly.

“Work hard, part-timer.”

*

Fucked.

Quilbion thought as he removed his work clothes.

“Quil, let’s go for a drink.”

Kim, who belonged to the same work crew, approached while rubbing under his nose.

“A drink sounds good. But not today.”

“What’s with you? You never refuse alcohol and cards, no matter what.”

Kim slung his arm around Quilbion’s shoulder and grinned.

“Your wallet’s been tight lately, hasn’t it?”

“It has.”

Not just his wallet—his entire life was on the verge of being completely screwed.

“I found a really good spot. Blackjack with a minimum bet of 90 levils. If you go for double down, it’s 3x. Blackjack is 4x. Plus, if it’s a tie, the player gets 1.5x. This isn’t just any spot. It’s an event spot…… Hey, Quil.”

Quilbion left Kim to his chattering and put his work clothes in the cabinet.

He went outside and put a cigarette in his mouth.

“Are you really not going? Can you repay that debt by working diligently?”

“It’s not about the debt.”

“Then what’s the problem? What’s more important in this world than money? Come on, I know you’re stressed, but that’s exactly when you need to clear your head and hold the cards with a sharp mind.”

Quilbion took two puffs of his cigarette and threw it on the ground.

“Fine. I’ll be resting at home, so come get me when you have time.”

“Yeah! That’s the Quil I know. Take a good shower and wait with a clear head. Today will be different. We’ll recover everything we’ve lost and make it the day we turn our lives around, so look forward to it.”

Kim slapped his back repeatedly before walking away.

His mouth felt bitter. He gathered saliva and spat it out before heading home.

It had been a week since he’d opened his eyes in this place.

He’d been caught by a crack.

When he’d first opened his eyes, he’d only been a little surprised. He was supposed to leave the gray world and arrive in reality, but instead he’d been drawn to a crack again.

But since it was such an unknowable world anyway, he’d accepted it.

Was Sheryl in this place too?

He’d decided to wait about a day. If Sheryl opened her eyes, he’d know whether he wanted to or not.

He’d been faithful to Quilbion’s life working at the woodshop. He’d worked until sunset and returned home.

It had been an ordinary day without any particular incidents.

The problem erupted that night.

Sleep poured over him. He’d struggled with intense drowsiness again, thinking he’d spend another night with open eyes, but when he came to his senses, it was morning.

He’d felt so refreshed it pissed him off.

His head was so clear it gave him chills.

He’d slept.

The deep sleep that hadn’t visited for over a hundred years had suddenly come.

He’d immediately held his breath.

His vision turned bright yellow and his body reached its limits.

His mouth opened and his lungs violently gulped down air.

After rolling on the floor, he wiped his mouth stained with saliva.

A hollow laugh came out.

He couldn’t return.

Just like when he’d first met Sheryl in a crack.

One day became two days, two days became three, four days, and then it became a week.

“Well, you’re finally here.”

Quilbion lifted his head. Someone was in front of his house.

The moment he saw the face, his memory came alive.

The mustache and the bulk.

It was the loan shark who’d lent money to ‘this place’s’ Quilbion. The hopeless bastard who was me had reached out to a loan shark to gamble.

“I know, I know. When you first borrow money from people like us, you feel wronged and irritated. I fully understand that feeling. That’s why our company doesn’t charge interest until the second week, considering our customers’ feelings.”

The mustache approached. A strong perfume smell wafted over. Banana?

“But Mr. Quilbion, you’ve passed the second week and will be entering the third week the day after tomorrow……”

The mustache pushed his smiling face forward.

“You’ve prepared the interest, of course, right? You’re a diligent person, so I’ll accept early repayment of the principal too. I quite like you, Mr. Quilbion.”

“I’ll try to prepare it.”

“Yes, yes, you should. We also want to work with smiles.”

The bulk approached and bowed. He had rusty knuckles on his hands with blood on them—looked like he’d just half-killed someone.

“Then the day after tomorrow……”

“Since you’ve come all this way, how about at least some tea?”

“Pardon?”

The mustache blinked.

“Don’t you like tea?”

“No, I like it. But this is the first time. A customer offering tea.”

“Please come in.”

He unlocked the door with his key and went inside.

Looking at the neatly organized interior, the mustache exclaimed, “Hoho.”

“As expected Mr. Quilbion, you live properly. You can tell a person’s mental state by looking at their home, and I’m relieved about the overdue payment.”

“Please sit.”

He offered them seats.

“It’s a cozy place. Did you purchase it?”

“It’s a monthly rental. It’s cheap because it’s a workers’ rights housing.”

“National strength comes from labor. We’re also pleased to be a strength to fine laborers like Mr. Quilbion.”

The mustache and bulk smiled while facing each other.

Quilbion left the two of them in the living room and headed to the cramped kitchen.

He took out two glass cups and grasped the medicine he’d kept in the cupboard. After sprinkling white powder into the teacups bit by bit, he poured in the coffee he’d brewed that morning.

He stirred well with a teaspoon and set them down before the two men.

“I don’t have anything else to offer.”

“Oh my, coffee is enough. We also ate before coming, so there’s no room for anything else.”

They’d brought out coffee but didn’t readily touch it.

Quilbion hesitated deliberately before opening his mouth.

“Excuse me, this is a bit embarrassing to say.”

“What’s embarrassing? Please speak.”

“I’d like to take out an additional loan.”

At those words, the mustache’s eyes curved into crescents. But he soon removed his mask of greed and returned to his courteous appearance.

Of course, Quilbion could see right through the mustache and bulk’s true nature.

Both of them were honest men.

In a bad way, that is.

“Ah, an additional loan.”

Only then did the mustache reach for the cup with relief. After taking a sip of coffee, his eyes widened. The bulk, receiving the mustache’s chin gesture, also put the coffee to his lips.

Both exclaimed in admiration while continuously gulping down the coffee.

“This is really delicious.”

“Is it?”

“You could open a cafe. Instead of woodwork, you should be a barista……”

The mustache smacked his lips. Then he slowly opened his mouth, but no sound came out as he gaped.

The bulk wasn’t much different.

Clatter—the coffee cup the mustache had dropped fell to the floor and shattered.

The two collapsed on the floor, then rolled over like frogs on the verge of death with their bellies toward the ceiling.

Their chests that had been rising and falling unevenly gradually settled.

Quilbion wiped up the coffee spilled on the floor with a cloth as he spoke.

“You see, I need to go back but I can’t. It’s driving me crazy. I want to leave right now but I can’t. So it looks like I’ll have to stay here for a while.”

He looked down at the mustache lying there blinking only his eyes.

“But if you guys exist, my life here gets tangled. So I’m conflicted. It’s convenient for now to kill you and bury you, but after I leave, the original Quilbion who’ll take over this body will suffer like hell, won’t he? It’s quite a headache, isn’t it?”

The mustache trembled as he listened.