MBOMEN 35

Chapter 35. Secret Game (4)
The one who called for Yustar was a man named Gallen Thott.

He was short but sturdily built and took charge of the team near the capital when Yustar was absent. In a way, he served as Yustar’s lieutenant.

“What is it, Gallen?”

“There’s something you need to check. It came from Adiac.”

Yustar furrowed his brows slightly, like someone deliberating.

“Is it urgent?”

“It seems so.”

He let out a sigh without realizing it. Just moments ago, he had been heading to Layla’s room, but now his steps suddenly felt as heavy as if he were dragging chains.

He’d have to see her anyway, but sharing dinner would’ve been preferable…

Lost in uncharacteristic thoughts, Yustar suddenly looked up as if someone had snapped a rubber band against his back. A puzzled look crossed his face.

“Yustar-nim?”

Gallen looked at him as if wondering what was going on. He had seen Yustar countless times, but never with such a dazed expression.

Yustar shook his head.

“No, it’s nothing. Things are off to a clunky start, that’s all.”

“What’s… clunky, exactly?”

“That we won’t be able to have dinner together.”

To Gallen, it was becoming more and more incomprehensible. Yustar slapped both cheeks with his hands and turned to Gallen.

“Go fetch Miss Layla Krisrad. She needs to come with us. She should be in Amberdew.”

Amberdew was the name of the residence where Layla stayed, with rooms and bedrooms decorated in amber. As Gallen nodded, Yustar immediately headed toward the annex where the Cersita headquarters was located.

“I’ll go ahead and check things. Bring her quickly.”

“Understood.”

Gallen hurried off toward Amberdew.

After crossing the god bridge and entering the annex that housed the Cersita headquarters, Yustar absentmindedly acknowledged greetings from his subordinates while powering on the communication device used between branches.

As energy flowed in, the base of the device gave a low hum and vibrated faintly. A deep, ocean-boiling sound erupted, and a gray cube materialized in the previously empty space.

From the corners of the cube came a faint light and a voice. It was gentle, yet somehow melancholic.

—Your Highness, Prince, I hope you are well. This is Marnach. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to hear you returned safely. May Cersita bless your path. The reason for this transmission is due to a Sync that has appeared here. Though it seems to be of grade 1 or 2, its influence is extremely strong regardless of size. I request your personal investigation.

A snapping sound, like a thread breaking, followed. The light of the cube vanished, and then the cube itself disintegrated into dust.

This machine, like other devices used in Tentenella, was a magical artifact based on magic.

‘Though the mages call it a pile of junk.’

Yustar smirked inwardly as he turned the power off.

“What happened?”

Layla’s voice came from behind. Turning around, Yustar gave her a faint smile and motioned with his chin toward a small break room.

“Go change your clothes, Layla. We’ve prepared something that should fit you perfectly.”

Without a word, Layla did as he asked. She was already somewhat used to things related to Tentenella.

After getting the hang of the rules and how things worked, it no longer felt as unfamiliar. Even she was surprised by how quickly she had adapted.

‘Well, at least it’s a relief I got used to this much.’

Layla thought to herself.

She opened the door and stepped inside, greeted by a spacious table and a rather messy interior. Perhaps because it was a shared space, it felt far more lived-in than anywhere else she’d seen in the palace.

Swallowing a sudden wave of vague longing, Layla looked around for the clothes Yustar had mentioned. She spotted a neatly folded uniform on a clean chair.

She took off the dress she’d been wearing and put on the shirt and trousers one by one. Though she’d found it awkward at first, it didn’t feel strange now—perhaps because she’d worn it once before or due to nerves.

She fumbled slightly while fastening the buckles and buttons, but securing the trousers and attaching the various pouches to the leather belt was easy.

She had once roamed the mountains of Rizikus during harvest season, wearing a similarly handmade belt to gather mushrooms and berries—those memories served her now.

Lastly, she donned the jacket and straightened the chain accessory on the buttons, then stood still, staring at her reflection in the mirror.

Not a single item—from the shirt and trousers to the gloves—was ill-fitting. It felt like clothing made solely for her—though she didn’t know, that was precisely the case.

Yustar smiled proudly when he saw her emerge.

It was a satisfaction like unveiling something he had carefully prepared for the first time. He didn’t say it aloud, thinking it might make her uncomfortable, but that’s exactly how he felt.

Sensing his gaze, Layla awkwardly touched the back of her neck.

“So… where are we going this time?”

“We received a transmission from Adiac, near the Elshic region.”

From his explanation, Layla only understood “Yes” and “Adiac.”

She had never heard of Elshic, and “transmission” made little sense to her. Still, Yustar didn’t explain further but continued:

“They say the Sync isn’t large in size, but I think it’s best if we both go.”

Layla blinked silently for a moment, then nodded calmly and asked,

“Alright. I understand… sort of. But, where is Elshic?”

“It’s a city in the western part of the kingdom. The largest one in that area. It’s a bit far from the capital, but fortunately, we don’t need stepping stones for branch-to-branch travel. We can go in one move.”

Stepping stones. Layla repeated the term inwardly.

When Yustar first used a portal with her, they had to travel to the first branch’s portal before heading to the palace. It seemed using an intermediate portal was called a “stepping stone.”

Layla asked another question, sounding like a diligent student:

“When you say stepping stones aren’t needed for branch travel… does that mean outside portals can’t cover long distances at once?”

“Exactly.”

“Why is that?”

Yustar answered simply.

“Because of the difference in condensed magic. To explain briefly, each branch of Tentenella is built on a spot where a large amount of magic gathers. Magic attracts other magic—it repels if the nature differs, but these facilities were built after all those experiments. So portals at branches can handle large energy usage and rarely suffer overloads.”

Layla nodded. So it was a difference in baseline power.

Yustar continued.

“But like you said, external portals require artificially gathered magic. So if you use too much energy, they can overload, explode, or hurt the person traveling. Does that answer your question?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Layla answered in a calmer tone. The trembling girl who once sat on a bed in fear was gone, replaced by someone with determination.

“Let’s hurry. Gallen?”

“Setting the coordinates now.”

At his gesture, a crew member with short, spiky hair began preparing the portal.

Standing close beside Yustar, Layla briefly worried about motion sickness. More than that, she dreaded having to eat another “orange.”

“Yustar…”

Layla looked up at him.

“This time too… is it… another monster?”

Yustar calmly shook his head with his eyes closed, as if the portal’s low hum were music.

“No, Layla. This time, it might be your area of expertise.”

Layla tilted her head slightly with a puzzled look.

“I mean… ghosts aren’t exactly my specialty.”

“You could say that. You deal with ghosts; I deal with monsters and other things. I think we make a pretty good pair, don’t you?”

Layla didn’t respond, but if you looked closely, her cheeks had turned a little pink.

The humming grew louder. Layla thought it wasn’t just in her ears anymore—it felt like it was piercing her skin.

Invisible walls seemed to close in, compressing the sound toward a single point…

“It’ll probably take three days to resolve Elshic’s problem.”

Oddly, Yustar’s voice rang clear. Layla snapped back to herself from a daze.

“That long?”

“Three days is the minimum. We need to investigate the Sync from the beginning, and figure out what kind of incident it is.”

“But in Rizikus last time, it didn’t—”

Layla’s voice cut off briefly. The humming had become too loud. She wasn’t even sure Yustar could hear her anymore.

“—take that long!” she shouted.

Sound! It was too loud. But—wait. The humming was gone.

Instead, it was… a chorus?

It sounded like hundreds of people singing the same note simultaneously… horribly. It was a terrifyingly bad chorus. Covering her ears was useless. It pierced her skin.

“Yustar! Do something about this noise!”

Unable to bear it any longer, Layla screamed. But before her words even ended, she realized—the endless noise had suddenly vanished, as if it had never been.

Her sharp voice echoed like a shout off stone walls. Then, Layla doubled over and dry-heaved.