Bailonz Street 13

Chapter 176. Reality and Unreality (3)

“Let’s see.”

With one gesture, a shelf suddenly jutted out from the distant row of bookcases. The archivist explained.

“These are incidents classified by year. You’ll need to look through them separately though.”

“…Thank you so much.”

“You can bring materials to read at this desk, then leave them here.”

“Okay.”

It was similar to a library. I went to the protruding shelf.

The shelves were packed with various items. There were documents and boxes. Some objects in display cases were covered in dust. I thought it was a library, but it felt more like a museum. Walking a bit further, there were rows of books. Handwritten volumes.

When I awoke in Jane’s body. And when I left her body. I gathered all records from November 1870 to February 1871.

I hadn’t stayed long, so why did it feel like such a long time? Was it because I got tangled up in so many incidents during that short period? That’s how I could become so close to Liam.

And get involved with the past Liam too…

I shook my head to clear away needless sentiments. Regret washed over me.

I borrowed paper from the archivist and began writing down the incidents I remembered one by one.

Old Paradise, the auction on the train, the Dahlia incident, the altar in the Devil’s Land, the Ullrich tomb…

And February 1871. The London mist.

* * *

‘How much time has passed?’

When I lifted my stiff eyes, Lily had long since fallen asleep, exhausted from examining records. Being underground, I’d lost track of time. I had no idea how long I’d been here. I slowly checked my phone’s clock.

“The time…”

It was eight in the evening. Well past London’s rush hour. I looked up, worried that the person in charge might be staying late because of me. However, they were just calmly sitting at their desk drinking coffee. The archivist blinked.

“Found much?”

“Am I keeping you…”

“No. I live here. Protecting these records is my role.”

I gathered the documents and walked over. Awkwardly, I spoke.

“…Um.”

“Hayley.”

“What?”

“My name. Hayley.”

“Yes, Hayley. About the February 1871 mist…”

That was all I could find. It was an incident recorded both in blogs and magicians’ documents. Therefore, this must have definitely happened. Something straddling reality and unreality.

“The cause isn’t written anywhere.”

Hayley looked at the document I held out with a serious face, then tilted her head.

“Jane, are there any more related documents?”

“No. Just this one line. ‘Large-scale mist occurrence in February.'”

“Is this related to the person you’re looking for?”

I nodded. Hayley started typing on her keyboard for a while. She seemed to be searching for something. Then she looked up at me with a troubled expression.

“Strange. These are files we can’t access. Since when did we have something like this?”

“…They’re restricted?”

“No, the records are erased. Redacted, you could say. Like what intelligence agencies do. That’s what happened.”

It was strange. What was this? Why was this record, of all things, so blatantly erased? The final clue that might be directly connected to Liam Moore.

As I was frowning, Hayley stood up and firmly gripped both my arms.

“It’s late, so let’s head back. Tomorrow, either I or Lily will pick you up at your hotel.”

“Okay…”

“I’ll keep the materials here, so come back tomorrow to look again. Meanwhile, I’ll try to find out more about this incident.”

Hayley gestured. Following her motion, an orb of magic appeared before me with a flash. The small light circled around me once, then flickered gently. As if saying hello.

“Follow that to get out. It’ll help you exit on the first floor.”

I left the archive.

Having always used the elevator between the underground parking and archive, I’d never seen what the outside looked like. After all, I was a foreigner who didn’t belong here, so I never had the chance to look around.

The light still floated in front of me, leading me somewhere. It looked like an ordinary office interior. The lobby area was dark with all lights off and no staff around, making it eerie.

Thud!

That’s when it happened. While my attention was caught by my surroundings, I crashed hard into someone. The impact was strong enough to make my shoulder jerk back, and I quickly apologized after regaining my balance.

“I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional.”

“It’s fine.”

I heard a curt response. When I looked up, the person I’d collided with had already disappeared into the distance.

Rubbing my sore shoulder, I walked out onto the street. Once that unpleasant dizziness subsided, I could see my surroundings.

It was quiet. Occasionally, a few cars passed on the main road in the distance. Despite it not being late enough to be this quiet, there was no one around the ‘company.’ Not just here, but none of the neighboring buildings had any lights on either. Wasn’t this London’s largest financial district! There should have been at least a few people working late.

I took another step forward. And felt something was wrong.

Because a wolf’s howl echoed through the heart of London.

* * *

I was being chased.

I was running through London’s night streets, panting. But strangely, no matter how far I ran, this road wouldn’t end. It felt like running in place. After seeing the same building about five times, I realized I was trapped in this unidentifiable street.

The mist was thick. White mist so dense I couldn’t see ahead, and behind me came the endless sound of a four-legged beast pursuing me. Whenever growls echoed and red eyes flashed, every hair on my body stood on end.

‘Just like Hyde Park.’

The difference was, rather than targeting me…

Yes. It seemed intent on eliminating one magician coming out of that building. I’d just unfortunately gotten caught up in it. A trap targeting London’s magicians.

I covered my mouth to prevent my breathing from being heard while carefully exhaling through my nose. After several broken deep breaths, my ragged breathing gradually calmed. My pounding heart quieted.

My head cleared. Finally, I could think properly.

Should I draw my sword? But drawing it in this mist would be like announcing my position. The faint blue light emitted by the sword would draw the monster’s attention.

‘Then what should I do?’

I calmly looked around.

This had to be a space separated by some kind of barrier. Though I couldn’t tell its exact boundaries, there must be limits to how far it could extend. It would take someone of Liam Moore’s talent, or failing that, a sacrifice on the level of human offerings to display such power. Therefore, it must be a very limited space.

In that case, I thought it would be faster to find a weak point and tear through it to escape. With this sudden solution in mind, I crouched low and focused on the magic circulating through my body with my blood.

A warm sensation slowly spread from my heart. I carefully drew that sensation up to my eyes.

‘Show me. Please show me.’

It was reckless to directly affect my corneas with magic. Who knows what could happen to my eyes. But I didn’t want to fight an unknown monster either. If I was going to die here anyway, I might as well try this.

I wish I’d asked Liam even once how he read magical traces. If I’d just known how he tore through Clara’s barrier, I wouldn’t be in such a predicament now.

My vision became hazy, as if covered in oil. The fog rippled constantly like a heat haze, making me dizzy. Like looking through a kaleidoscope…

“Ugh.”

The fragmenting vision made me retch involuntarily.

Dozens of viewpoints merged into one with a flash. Numerous magical traces appeared in different colors. Blue, purple, red. I could even see faint traces mixed in the air and traces of magic constituting daily life.

I used too much. I hadn’t meant to see this much.

─Grrrr.

An eerie howl came from not far away. When I turned my head in that direction, I could see a bright red wolf’s form moving back and forth through the gray mist. Just like an infrared camera.

‘I can see it.’

It wasn’t a very large barrier. A barrier that covered one block, clouding perception and making people walk in circles. It was right in front of me. To think the escape route was right there and I hadn’t known!

I slowly pushed my fingers through the hazy gap in the barrier. Then my shoulder, then my head.

And when I completely emerged, I realized I was standing in a place I knew well.

It was Hollowedon.