"What do you mean?"He glanced at me, the lantern in his hand scattering sparks of light.
Seeing that, I spoke with a faint smile.
"I mean… I know you've always wanted to use me to escape this place. Am I wrong?"
"…"
"You know, I'm not that foolish," I laughed softly when I saw his hesitation.
After all, I was cautious by nature. I wouldn't forget all the little inconsistencies just because of a few smooth words.
One must never let their guard down, right?I tossed the coin once more before slipping it back into my pocket.
"Oh, don't mind that. It's just something I do to calm myself down and stay sharp."
I answered calmly while looking at his lantern.
"…Why do you think I need to leave this place?"He hesitated before asking. At that moment, my eyes lit up.
"Easy. I'm not finished yet."
"…What?"
"Besides, you're not as careful as you think."
"…Huh?"
"There are many things within me that I don't even understand myself," I continued, my gaze fixed on his face."I know they're causing severe destruction to my body, and I suspect the cause lies within my true core…"
I took a deep breath and pressed on, my impatience threatening to break my composure.
"But when I reconsidered everything, I realized—you might know something as well. Don't tell me you don't know how to look into someone's core. What are you, too young to know?"
Then I added,"The true core is the soul, isn't it?"
"Half right. Half wrong," he replied calmly."But for you, it's essentially the same."
My heart pounded—not with fear, but excitement—as I continued.There was a strange thrill in seeing his unease revealed through such subtle reactions.
"And once I realized that my true core allows me to resist the deathly miasma here—because, upon analysis, it's directly linked to my soul… that was after you made sure I had grasped the concept of the core."
I circled around him, my face free of fear or panic, speaking steadily.
"And you—someone who constantly pushed me toward my core, urged me to seek it the moment I arrived here. After I woke up, your tone became noticeably calmer, even amused. You stopped scrutinizing me like before."
I turned back toward him, stepped closer, placed a hand on his shoulder, and spoke mockingly.
"Oh, and you didn't provide full information from the start. You didn't even bother properly deceiving me. You held back, revealed nothing too early—and you even said, 'The dead never lie.'"
"…And you actually believed that?"He brushed my hand away, stepped back, and leaned against a smooth stone pillar in the hall.
"No. But I have enough evidence to prove—"I was cut off.
"Indeed," he said calmly, in stark contrast to his earlier tension,"the dead cannot lie. That much is obvious."
"It stems from the nature of a corpse itself—absolute honesty. It always tells the truth about its own death."
"…Hah."
"Alright," I said, my expression hardening."I understand what you mean. Then tell me—what did you see in me?"
"…Memories," he whispered, so softly it was almost inaudible.
"Memories? What memories?!"I jolted at the word, fear creeping in. This was one of the things I had been most worried about.
Though… there's also a sense of disappointment.I had hoped he would see the true reason behind my decay—no, I wanted him to confirm my own hypothesis.
"Your secret," he continued, watching me closely."About what you are… but I couldn't dig any deeper. Every time I got close, your subconscious resisted—forcefully blocking me from reaching a complete answer."
He looked uneasy. But this was the death realm—violence meant nothing here.
Hearing his words, I wiped the cold sweat from my face and asked,
"I see. I won't press further. Everything's already been exposed anyway."Then I added,"But tell me—why did you do it? And what do you want?"
"…Freedom," he answered.
Then, in a tired voice, he continued,
"Everyone here accepts the death realm. They live here. They have no desire to leave. But I do. I want to go outside."
"…"
"You wouldn't understand," he said quietly."I can't accept being trapped here forever. What you've seen is only a tiny fragment of the death realm—never its entirety."
He stared at me, silent for a moment, before continuing.
"There is no ruler over death. Yet death itself is the ruler. It is law. Everything here is bound by it. No one escapes. It is the freest concept of all—and also the strongest chain."
"The only way out is to find someone who can help me. I intended to ask you the moment I saw you step into this place. But I couldn't afford to be careless."
"Not very careful, though," I scoffed."The fact that you're even talking to me proves that. After all, the key point right now is that neither of us can harm the other, isn't it?"
He didn't reply.
"So," I asked, following the guiding sparks with him close behind,"how do you plan to do it?"
"Interesting," I said quietly as we walked over bones that had long turned to dust.
We exchanged glances. No words were needed. Neither of us intended to continue the conversation.
…
Step. Step.
We continued in silence, unsure how much time had passed.
In the quiet, gloomy space, only a few faint lights illuminated the corridor where shadows moved.
I looked around. The walls were adorned with paintings, relics, and furnishings. Finely carved stone statues and rusted suits of armor lay scattered everywhere.
I couldn't help but feel stirred—this place was breathtaking, perfect enough to be captured in a masterpiece.
Passing by a room, I felt saliva gathering at the corner of my mouth.
Treasure was everywhere—gold coins, golden armor, gilded swords thrown about carelessly.
"Don't touch them," the one beside me warned."They're not meant for the greedy."
Only then did I restrain my urge to steal.
At the far wall blocking our path, I looked down and noticed a dust-covered object lying haphazardly on the floor.
I picked it up, brushed away the dust, and immediately recognized it.
Moon-Boned Wraith.
A pure white skull, faintly glowing—the remnant of an unnamed great being from a bygone era, capable of granting its wielder an ability deeply bound to the body.
I raised it and brought it closer to the wraith guardian.
"This will give you a temporary body—just in case," I said with interest."If you have this, you won't need to live inside my mana core anymore, right?"
"…I accept," he replied."I don't have the luxury of choosing."
Originally, he intended to reside within my mana core to feed on death mana—but now, he had no room to bargain.
"Perfect," I said, smiling slyly."But we can't form the pact yet. There's no natural mana here to seal it."
"So why don't we start by discussing the terms?"
"…I would appreciate it if you restrained yourself a little, human—no, honored guest," he replied dryly.