Chapter 98 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Entering the Catacombs
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"...."
Golden mana flowed from his fingertips.
With this, I could consider shaking hands with Marian Baum a success.
I wiped away the smile that threatened to form and pulled out the acting skills I'd rated perfect for fooling him one-on-one.
Marian Baum checked my expression and laughed as he shook my hand.
"Hard to believe, huh?"
"...."
"You're not thinking of backpedaling now, claiming you're not really a mage after all."
I shook my head.
Now that blood had been spilled, how could I deny it? Besides, there was no reason to.
"No, it's just… I was a bit surprised."
"It's not common for old humans to wield magic. Didn't you have any mages around you?"
"…I did. But I never expected to meet another one."
Marian Baum nodded as if he understood.
"Of course. We're all isolated."
Marian Baum suddenly jumped up from his seat and scooped the remaining water from the bucket, dumping it over me once more.
Splash—
I muttered as I felt a chill seep into every bone.
"Could you warn me next time?"
"Be glad there's water at all. If you wander around like this, the secret police will grab you."
Marian Baum took off his coat and draped it over my bloodstained clothes.
"Now, let's have a serious talk."
* * *
"You said you have a friend who uses magic?"
"Yes."
I answered, seated by the stove.
Leo's face was too well-known among the public for him to move around freely, but Elias—and even Naruke—could travel with me, though it was a bit risky.
Even if the Catacombs weren't a Pleroma stronghold, I couldn't let my guard down.
It was a place where I could die if they found out I was a new human mage.
'I haven't relaxed since the knife stabbed my gut.'
Just because it was Robert Mueller's base didn't mean I could nab him the moment I walked in.
To find clues, I'd have to go deeper, so I needed companions for the next entry.
As I stared into the fire, Marian Baum sat beside me at some point, staring right through me.
"Which school did you graduate from?"
"I graduated from the Hanover Gymnasium."
I answered, recalling the fake diploma and yearly records I'd prepared in advance.
"I thought so from your speech. Prussian through and through."
"Yes. I'm here on business."
"What do your parents do?"
"They were in trade while they lived."
"Hmm, sorry for prying."
He'd asked knowing the answer already.
He must have investigated me over the past few days.
No way he'd reveal himself as a mage otherwise.
As I silently watched the flames, Marian spoke again.
"Mr. Granah. How much do you know about the Catacombs?"
"Just that it's a group of commoner mages."
Marian grinned at that.
"You know nothing."
"...."
"Of course you don't. If you knew anything, it'd mean every noble from the emperor down knows it too."
Marian continued.
"As I said, the Catacombs is a gathering of commoners. Lately, about two hundred thousand mages have joined."
"Unimaginable. Do they all live there full-time?"
"Some do live there entirely, but those like me with lives on the surface pop in and out briefly."
"How do you get in?"
The key question.
Like Pleroma, the Catacombs' entrance wasn't known to the world.
"Do you want to go to the Catacombs?"
"There are people like me there. I want to."
"Once you enter, your name goes on the list for life. That okay? It means one more world hunting you down, on top of this harsh surface."
Chilling words.
But it was something Elias had accepted in the story.
Whether I did this or not, to stop Robert Mueller's plan and pull the Catacombs to my side before the emperor wiped them out, I could handle this much.
"I'm fine with it."
"Good."
Marian grinned.
"By the way, I met someone like you just yesterday. Similar age too, so make friends with him once you're in the Catacombs."
"Yesterday? What a coincidence."
"Isn't it? I saw some beggar sprawled on the ground in the snow, flipped him over, and felt mana in his pulse."
"…A beggar?"
"Yeah."
"...."
No way, right?
Marian clapped his hands, snapping out of it.
"Alright, shall we go take a look?"
* * *
We stepped outside, holding our breath as we climbed to the rooftop.
Snow fell from the sky, as it had all along.
"What are you doing?"
Marian had opened his pocket watch, angling the small mirror attached to it toward the sky.
Snow quickly piled on the mirror.
"We're heading to the Catacombs. Sun's rising just in time—should be a nice view."
Why shine it at the sky to enter the Catacombs?
He brushed the snow off the mirror and grinned mischievously at me.
"Ready?"
I nodded, and Marian grabbed my wrist, tapping the ring against the mirror's surface.
In that instant, the world flipped.
"…!"
Light flooded between my eyelids.
Regaining my balance, I cautiously opened my eyes to an unexpected sight.
"This is the Catacombs."
The space was encased in glass on all sides.
Clouds floated below instead of ground, and far off, the sun rose.
Light reflected off the surrounding glass, twinkling softly.
I looked around, from the pitch-black rear to the dawning front.
"…Aren't the Catacombs supposed to be underground tombs?"
Even if it was just in name, this was the sky.
With details like this, it could've appeared in the novel, but Elias had come half by force and hadn't had time to describe it.
"That reaction was intentional. Back when we first called ourselves the Catacombs."
Even the name originated here.
To make them search underground like rats.
'Smart idea.'
I liked it.
Then Marian shouted into the void.
"The right is wrong, and the wrong is right!"
The scenery shifted again.
No clouds overhead remained the same, but now I stood in a vast plaza.
'A second filter for outsiders.'
After that, Marian and I headed to the security office here.
I didn't know if it was modeled after somewhere or if they'd crafted this world originally—unlike Pleroma—but the landscape matched ours perfectly.
Except for the glass walls far off, with clouds floating just below eye level.
After drawing a vial of blood at the security office, Marian clapped my shoulder.
"You're registered now. If you've got nothing today, sightsee till six. Surface crackdowns are tightening; might not be able to live there much longer."
In other words, put down roots here.
I could feel his goodwill toward commoner mages.
'…Gotta finish my business and get out ASAP.'
Bitter using his kindness, but no choice but to come.
Instead of answering, I recalled his novel self and asked.
"Do you often bring commoner mages to the Catacombs, sir?"
"Yeah. Part of daily life."
"Not dangerous?"
"Very. High chance of getting caught on the surface, and bringing the wrong person messes up your standing here."
As I stared silently, he continued.
"In Prussia alone, five died last week. Know that?"
"...."
I couldn't respond.
Marian interpreted my silence and went on.
"Of course not. Our deaths aren't even newsworthy."
Right, nothing in the papers.
Couldn't advertise it, lest it spark unwanted sympathy.
Especially if the bourgeois commoners focused on "commoners" instead of "commoner mages" in the massacres—could backfire.
"The sun rises equally for all, yet they believe some deserve its light and others don't. How could we not bring you in?"
"...."
"No matter the burden, someone has to show we have a right to live. I survived that way too, so time to repay the favor."
"So you made it possible to see the sun from higher up."
"Haha, something like that."
He chuckled lightly and continued.
"Of course, other reasons too. The Catacombs needs power."
"Power."
"His Majesty Friedrich must be scared. Who knows which emperor will pay for generations of persecution."
That would be him, of course.
Elias topples him with Catacombs support.
"So they're trying to wipe us out sooner, but we won't die quietly. Catacombs needs every hand it can get now."
"I'll do my best."
"Heh, when the time comes. Hope it doesn't."
I smiled quietly in reply.
Then Marian stopped short.
"Ah, there's the one I wanted to introduce."
"Yes?"
Marian waved far off.
"Karl!"
A student poking around spotted us and came running, shouting at ear-splitting volume.
"Teach!"
"…!"
It was someone I knew well.
Black-haired Elias grinned ear-to-ear at me, then shook his head.
"Whoa, you really got messed up bad."
"What kind of greeting is that for a first meeting."
Marian scolded him.
I was too stunned to speak.
I clutched my nape and closed my eyes.
"…That…."
The beggar from yesterday was this guy?
Couldn't hold back a hollow laugh.
"Huh? Beggar?"
"I haven't said that yet."
"What's your name?"
"Dietrich Granah."
"Hmm, good. Call me Karl."
"Not much of a beggar name. Weird."
"I'm not a beggar~"
Elias grinned and slung an arm over my shoulder.
I shot him a look asking what he was doing in front of others, but Marian didn't care.
"This guy's pretty friendly. Gotta meet family, so I'm off. Call if you wanna leave."
"Yessir! Go quick!"
Marian already knew how to handle Elias and ignored him, vanishing.
To accept that as "friendly"—he wasn't ordinary either.
Taking advantage of the arm around my shoulder, I pressed his head down hard with my right hand.
"Hey, you bastard…."
"Ooh, first time you've cursed at me~ Feels fresh."
"Cut the crap? When'd you get here."
"Yesterday. Couldn't leave you here alone."
What, acting thoughtful?
He'd figured out Catacombs key figures and cooked up a scheme to catch Marian Baum's eye for early entry.
Disguising as a beggar.
"Exhausted. Thought my nose bone snapped."
"Wouldn't have worked anyway, no need to mope. You look too studious; beggar vibe would show."
Wasn't he denying being a beggar earlier?
"Anyway, Dietrich. More livable than you expected, huh? But no time for peacefully admiring buildings."
"Yeah, obviously."
Now in Catacombs, Marian gone—time to investigate.
Elias looped the city center, naturally leading me to a bar.
"Two Weisswurst and beers here~!"
"Coming up~"
"Came to eat?"
"I've got ideas."
Elias muttered to the owner, then sat in the darkest corner by the counter.
Even after soundproofing magic, he lowered his voice anxiously.
"Your target's still Robert Mueller, right? To stop big uncle's madness and crush the guy who gutted you, gotta start there."
"Yeah, that's why I came this far."
"So, yesterday I checked the radical anti-Pleroma groups here. If they're radical enough to kill Nikolaus over one Pleroma, figured."
"Hm."
Handy in that way.
I nodded for him to continue.
"But… they acted clueless about him. Checked three spots, all same. If anything, they'd kill Robert Mueller on sight."
"Really?"
"Those guys would hand over their lives if Nikolaus asked. Scary bunch."
Not anti-Pleroma then.
But couldn't give up yet.
Plenty possibilities left before concluding…
From how Elias put it, hard to dig more there.
"Then the next spot's clear."
"What?"
Elias crossed arms, grinning curiously.
What I'd say, he wondered.
"Let's approach the Pleroma in the Catacombs."
Unless top brass, low-level Pleroma wouldn't regret the Nikolaus attempt.
Low ranks didn't need to see steps ahead like leaders.
To them, Robert Mueller was a hero—likely collected more info on him.
Elias smirked, satisfied.
"Knew you'd say that. Think I've got your thinking down~?"
Staring silently, he flipped a receipt on the table.
Same phrase repeated in pattern.
[In the beginning was the Logos.]
John 1:1 from the New Testament.
Also…
From Faust.
I burst out laughing.
"You even found this."
"People here love codes~ We're grateful, though."
"Meeting spot?"
"Nah, gotta move again, but blood gets us there fine."
Elias flipped the receipt, muttering quietly.
"Wait. Till they come."
I nodded, lifting my beer.
Then, several in pitch-black robes entered the bar.
They showed the owner a small certificate.
"Catacombs vigilantes."
Gazing absently, I spotted a familiar face.
"…!"
The magic department guy from the festival poker game was here.
Elias noticed my expression change, looked, and stiffened.
'…Imperial Second Academy bars non-nobles, and vigilantes?'
They scanned the place, then told the owner.
"We got a report of a new human here. Mind if we check?"
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