Chapter 69, Moving (2)
“...What kind of book is this supposed to be?”
Hwa-ryeon, who had stuck close beside me and was reading the book with me, laughed in disbelief.
Judging from its appearance alone, it looked fairly convincing.
But once I saw the contents, it was ridiculous.
Even the numbering of the section titles was wrong, which made it hard not to laugh.
Still, just in case it was a Mystery, I opened Lucy.
No new Mystery had been added.
My interest immediately vanished, and I set the book down in a corner.
Arlin approached and opened the book I had put down.
After reading it, she showed a reaction similar to Hwa-ryeon's.
“Still, it could be dangerous. So far, it seems to have only spat out useless things, but I think we should be careful from now on. It could suddenly spit out something like a bomb.”
“Fine. Then we're taking this one too?”
“Taking it?”
Confirmation Bias asked at Hwa-ryeon's words.
Come to think of it, we hadn't told her yet.
I briefly explained everything that had happened to Bias.
I also told her that we were moving, so she should pack every necessary item into the bag.
After hearing everything, Bias nodded happily.
And so, we began moving our belongings.
It didn't take long.
There wasn't a single difficult part about moving.
I already had the Mystery known as the [Infinite Bag], and inside that bag was a subspace that was practically infinite.
All we had to do was shove every item we wanted to bring inside the bag.
That was enough to finish preparing for the move.
It took less than thirty minutes to pack most of the furniture and belongings from the house.
I slung the bag, which remained just as light as ever, over my shoulder and left the apartment with my companions.
Before leaving completely, I stopped in the hallway and looked through the wide-open front door.
The apartment looked so barren and empty that it was hard to believe someone had been living there just moments ago.
We really did take everything.
“Still, it's a little disappointing. I got pretty attached to this place.”
“Personally, I'm delighted that we're moving. Waking up every dawn to inspect the defensive spells was not particularly enjoyable.”
Hwa-ryeon looked reluctant to leave, while Arlin seemed happy about it.
Until now, Arlin had been responsible for installing and inspecting defensive magic throughout the house every dawn in preparation for possible intruders.
The Inner World we were moving into was a place where intruders simply couldn't appear.
For Arlin, it meant one annoying responsibility was finally gone.
“Dad! What kind of place are we going to live in now?”
“Hmm... It's difficult to explain. You'll understand once you see it.”
I answered Bias, who was showing her excitement with her entire body, as we got out of the elevator.
Then the doors opened, revealing the scenery of the apartment complex I had seen so many times over the past several years that I had grown tired of it.
Today would be the last time.
Perhaps because it was dawn, a strange early-morning sentimentality rose inside me.
All kinds of memories from the apartment flashed through my mind.
The anticipation I had felt when I first moved into this expensive apartment after making money through investments.
The relationships I had built while getting acquainted with my neighbors.
The days of meeting those people, talking with them, parting from them, and sharing countless emotions.
Various incidents had happened while I lived here.
There had been hardships too.
At the time, I had spent quite a lot of emotion on those things.
But looking back now, all of it felt trivial.
No matter how serious something had been before the apocalypse, there was no way it could compare to meeting a Dragon or gaining an angel as a companion.
Once again, I realized just how much had changed.
My companions and I slowly walked toward the apartment complex's main entrance.
We could have entered the Inner World immediately, but for the last time, I took my time looking around and savoring the memories.
Then I sensed someone waiting for me.
“I greet the Great Flame...!”
I had expected everyone to be asleep at this hour, but somehow, one follower of the Church of Nihility was waiting for me at the main entrance.
No matter how many times I saw someone kneel and bow the moment they looked at me, I couldn't get used to it.
But the follower's face was familiar.
I remembered him.
He was the old man I had met just before heading to the Order's branch.
The very follower who had awakened purple divine power.
Unlike the golden divine power used by the Order's followers, Lee Yeonhee, and Eriel, that purple divine power had been shocking enough that the sight had firmly remained in my memory.
“Please stand up. And what are you doing here?”
At my words, he stopped bowing, immediately stood, then lowered his head.
He stood with a stiff and restrained posture as he answered.
“I heard that the Great Flame had just returned to the apartment, so I waited here.”
“...What would you have done if I hadn't come outside immediately and decided to rest inside?”
“Then I would have waited here until the Great Flame came.”
“You could have simply contacted me.”
“How could I dare request an audience with the Great Flame...? I can only rely on coincidence and hope that I might be blessed with the chance to behold the Flame.”
I stared into his eyes, speechless.
The fanaticism inside them was far deeper than when I had seen him a few days ago.
It seemed he hadn't neglected his divine power training either, because the kind of radiance I had only seen from the Order's followers could now be seen around him.
The old man wore a strange and mysterious purple radiance around his body like clothing.
Unlike the light of the Order's followers or angels, however, his gave off a disturbing feeling rather than a sacred one.
If he had been a stranger, I probably would have ignored him and passed by because of the uncomfortable atmosphere.
