Memoirs of the Returnee

Opportunity Cost, Sunk Cost (4)

The scenery reflected in my eyes is serene.

Somehow, it feels gentle and cozy.

Soliette suddenly had that thought.

This must be underground, in the middle of nowhere.

It’s just supposed to be a descent to detonate the Bottle of Souls and find the Knightmare.

Yet, the underground space gradually blooms with color, spreading like paint.

Natural features begin to appear, and the climate changes vividly.

“…It really is never-ending.”

That was Jared’s comment. Soliette wiped the sweat and sand from her forehead.

The scene, now whipped by a hot wind, has become a complete desert.

“That’s true. But it seems we’re not far off. It must be the Bottle’s defense mechanism.”

Soliette spoke out such thoughts.

They were all her own speculations.

“It seems to weave these landscapes to protect from the explosion.”

“…….”

It was then, as Jared was forming a faint smile.

Kwa-gwa-gwa──!

A massive form surged from the desert floor. Sand rushed in like a tsunami.

It was a house-sized scorpion─a giant scorpion.

“!”

Soliette and Jared quickly took up battle stances. The scorpion struck first with its tail.

───!

The stinger, like a pillar of stone, thrust forward. Soliette blocked with her sword, but her body was pushed back. The weight of the tail carried on the blade was heavy.

Whirl──!

At that moment, magical roots sprouted from thin air, entwining the scorpion’s tail. Sharp arrows followed, rushing into the gaps in its exoskeleton.

It was simultaneous support.

“?

Soliette looked at the support with a puzzled face.

Soon, people landed.

There were four of them.

“What are you looking at, friend?”

They all had different faces from before, but she recognized them instantly by their manner of speaking.

Soliette’s initial party.

Each one, [Kal], [Hans], [Jenny], [Chris].

“…….”

Soliette smiled silently.

Indeed, a party is needed for an adventure.

“Mr. Jared. These are my companions.”

Soliette introduced her party to Jared.

“I see.”

Jared nodded.

“Let’s save the chit-chat for later!”

[Kal] moved first. The scorpion swung its pincers, but [Kal]’s sword blocked them. [Chris] detonated his arrows. [Jenny]’s magic supported them.

With skilled cooperation, they easily hunted the scorpion.

“……Phew.”

Situation over.

After dismantling the scorpion’s body, the party used its carapace to build a small shelter.

Gurgle-

A rumble came from Soliette’s stomach.

“Just wait a bit. Scorpion meat is surprisingly tasty, you know?”

Catching the sound, [Kal] spoke up. Soliette scratched the back of her neck and looked at Jared. Jared’s face was lost in thought.

“…….”

Suddenly, Soliette was struck by a strange question.

Eating in Bethune doesn’t affect reality. No matter how much food she consumes here, it doesn’t translate to nutritional intake in the real world.

Yet, she has been in this place for quite some time.

Clearly, she’s been filling her sense of fullness with meals from here.

Is it because souls are gathering in Bethune? Or has Bethune already become a part of reality?

It’s an unsatisfactory explanation, but…

It could be possible.

Just like Jared is breathing and living right before her eyes.

* * *

Edsilla Sanrama district.

Ten minutes before midnight on Saturday, as specified on the ‘cue card.’

Ludeniel set out for a walk with mixed feelings. He walked a dark path not far from the mines.

“…….”

Tension gripped his entire body, but he walked nonetheless.

According to that consultant, he had nothing to lose.

After all, there was nothing left to lose…

Exactly at midnight.

Thump─.

A small tremor echoed through the mountains.

──Aaaaah!

A thin scream drifted in.

Ludeniel flinched in surprise but immediately ran towards the source.

It was indeed the community mine.

“……How could this be.”

A sudden landslide had blocked the tunnel. A fire had also broken out outside.

It was the scenario from the cue card.

Ludeniel looked around the area. A small crack was visible at the end of the tunnel.

That’s the spot.

……Gulp.

Swallowing his saliva, he activated his Magic Body. It had been so long since he last used it that pain surged through his veins, but he pushed his body into the crack first.

Swoosh- Swoosh-

Just like the consultant said, it was smooth, like swimming.

Ludeniel crawled for almost an hour to get inside the tunnel.

“……There!”

When he emerged from the crack, about a dozen miners were huddled together. They looked exhausted and turned their gaze to Ludeniel.

“……Ludeniel?”

Someone calling his name, someone he knew.

“Balta. Is that you?”

His old schoolmate, Balta.

“…….”

He was too pale to continue speaking properly.

“Is this all the survivors?”

“Inside, there are two more……”

Two more. Ludeniel dashed to where they pointed. Following the breaths of the lagging miners, he hoisted one over his right shoulder, the other over his left.

Then he returned and set them down.

“Tie yourselves to me!”

Just in time, there was a sturdy rope on the ground.

Was this also a prepared item?

Ludeniel took the lead, tying the miners’ bodies in a line like sausages.

“……We’ll exit through this fissure. I’ll break the way open. You just need to crawl and follow. Stay alert!”

Slap!

He slapped the cheeks of those whose eyes were closing from the lack of oxygen.

“Follow me, everyone! Unless you want to die like dogs!”

Ludeniel led them, inserting his body into the fissure that led outside. The miners followed his example.

Like worms wriggling, they squirmed through the walls.

Squirm. Squirm.

They crawled through the gaps of the collapsed tunnel. Ludeniel constantly encouraged the miners behind him.

“Move! If you want to see your families, keep moving! Look out for the person behind you!”

How many hours had they advanced like this?

Finally, fresh air flowed in.

Ludeniel reached out towards it. He planted his hands on the ground and pulled himself out.

Crunch──!

Breaking through the soil, he escaped from the tunnel.

Outside, people had already gathered. Ambulances and fire trucks, residents, and the families of the miners.

They ran towards them, calling for their fathers, brothers, friends, husbands. The miners, with tired faces, embraced them.

Among them, Ludeniel stood alone.

He had no family.

“……Ludeniel.”

But then, one by one, footsteps approached him.

Miners smeared with soot, blood, and tears.

Their families.

An old schoolmate who had betrayed him in the past now hugged him tightly. He apologized through tears.

“……It’s alright.”

Ludeniel looked over the shoulder of his classmate to see someone.

It was the consultant from [Jean Consulting].

He was smiling at him.

* * *

Beep─ Beep─

The alarm clock woke me up.

I looked around the Quantum Mechanic factory.

“……Yawn.”

Synthetic mana stones were everywhere. It was the result of Grawl and me running the equipment quite diligently for three days.

“Maybe it’s time for a break.”

I stepped outside the factory.

“Are you leaving?”

Of course, there was a security guard.

“I’m going to take a little break now.”

“Yes. You’ve worked hard for three days. We will escort you.”

They offered to escort me to the vehicle with great care, but I smiled and shook my head.

“No, it’s okay. I just need to go home.”

“There was an order from the boss.”

“What… Alright then.”

I might as well disappear anyway.

I got into the car.

The security guards took me to a villa that Jesco had used before.

The villa wasn’t bad, but Jesco’s portrait in the middle of it all was unsettling.

“…Narcissist.”

Jesco is the epitome of a desert dweller. Long red hair, a sturdy and muscular tanned body. But he had glorified it so excessively that showing it to Jade would be a death sentence.

Drrring-

Just then, a call came in.

─Master!

“Don’t call me master when you phone.”

─Yes, sir.

Grawl cleared his throat with a cough.

─Mr. Shion. It’s Jake.

“Yeah.”

─The proceeds from the mana stone sale have been sent to the desert, to the hometown, under the name of Belkman.

I nodded.

After all, ‘Belkman’ was the name of a real person who lived in that desert.

He actually came up from the desert, lived as a homeless man, and then died.

“Operation over.”

Now Belkman would disappear without a trace, and Quantum Mechanic would fall into internal strife and suspicion, leading to its demise.

* * *

“Hey! Break’s over!”

While Quantum Mechanic was distracted by its expansion, Lithium Corporation had grown rapidly. They had secured a robust mercenary connection in preparation for battle and introduced extreme mana stones, which were at least twice as efficient as synthetic mana stones.

“There’s a dinner party tonight, so let’s wrap up quickly and go!”

R&D was also a success.

Thanks to that, Lithium’s catalog now included not just simple handguns but also magic knives, magic bullets, and various other portable weapons…

Like the future before my regression, no, we’re advancing even faster than that.

[Manager’s Office]

I knocked on the door of the manager’s office.

Knock knock-

The door opened immediately.

“Ah, you’re here. Chaser Shion.”

Sonya smiled. I sat down in a chair.

“Yes. Quantum Mechanic is about to be divided.”

“Is that so? I’m looking forward to it. We’ve also finished everything. With the stock we’ve prepared, we can swallow up the Midwest.”

I nodded and looked at the TV in the corner. The 9 o’clock news on Edsilla was broadcasting.

“Ah, how’s the election strategy going?”

“Just a moment. It should come up even if it’s just a brief segment.”

I pointed at the TV screen.

That bitch, she’s definitely cozying up to Frank.

But seriously, no matter how much there is to gain, would she really want to fuck that old man?

“……”

Erent silently corrected the manuscript, and suddenly her eyes caught the company’s name shining in LED lights in the middle of the hallway.

[Edsilla Post]

Seeing those letters brought on a sense of disillusionment.

She didn’t study her ass off in college for this. How long does she have to rot here, just polishing manuscripts for seniors who are in bed with the bald boss?

──That’s when it happened.

“Courier delivery.”

“Ah!”

Startled by the sudden voice, Erent shuddered. It was a person wearing an Otto bike helmet.

He placed a thick envelope on her desk.

“…Who are you?”

“Courier delivery.”

The courier quickly left, and Erent blinked at the envelope.

“……?”

There were no markings on it.

No recipient, no sender, just a plain red envelope.

Erent cautiously opened the flap and shook out the contents. A small cell phone and a stack of documents fell out.

She picked up the documents first.

[Syrimus Report]

Syrimus Report?

As far as she knew, Syrimus was a regional Senator from the Sanrama district. A man who was gaining prominence in politics these days with the backing of the Voltac family. Someone whose election was already 90% certain…

“……!”

Her eyes glued on a particular part of the document. Her hair stood on end with shock.

“Who the hell could have──”

No, there’s no need to get this worked up.

Erent quickly calmed herself down.

The most important virtue for a journalist is fact-checking. If you get blinded by non-facts, your career in journalism evaporates into a puff of smoke.

The content is just too unbelievable. This kind of trash belongs in a brokerage firm, not here.

“……Ahem.”

She glanced around cautiously.

Fortunately, no one seemed interested in her. They were all busy moving around due to the election season, or on the phone, editing articles.

Drring-

Suddenly, the cell phone rang.

“……”

Erent looked at it.

Drring-

The ringtone came from the small, ladybug-like phone.

With trembling hands, she answered the call.

─Have you received the information?

A calm voice soaked into her ear.

Erent quietly asked back.

“……Who is this?”

─The information delivered to you is all factual. Ms. Erent.

“……”

Her breath hitched slightly at the mention of her name.

She couldn’t even utter questions about why this was being sent to her, who the person was, or who the source was─ nothing came out.

Click-

She hung up the phone without realizing it. She stuffed the envelope into her bag and hurried onto the Elevator.

As she was about to close the doors of the Elevator on the 57th floor.

“Ah. Hold on a moment.”

A man stepped inside.

He was tall.

A man in a suit that matched well with his blond hair and blue tie.

Erent, without realizing it, glanced at him and pressed the button to close the doors to the first floor.

Whirring……

On the descending Elevator, the man suddenly said something odd.

“It’s an uncommon opportunity.”

“……What.”

Erent’s face hardened. She turned to look at him with wavering eyes.

The man continued, his gaze focused only on the doors of the Elevator, that is, straight ahead.

“Don’t you want to rise, to go up?”

Ding─

In the meantime, the Elevator reached the first floor.

“The value of that information depends on you.”

The man walked straight out.

Erent couldn’t say anything to him, and he blended into the crowd in the building’s first-floor lobby and disappeared.