Gun of Ashes

These few unfamiliar faces stated their purpose for coming, but there was still one stranger who remained silent. He had been hiding in the shadows the whole time, and Bola could just barely make out his gray robe. Though he couldn’t see the man’s features, Bola felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if he knew this person.

The thought quickly dissipated as Bola realized something.

You could say that the people gathered here right now represented all the power structures of Old Dunling, or even the power blocs that controlled the whole of Ingwig.

So who did that guy hiding in the shadows represent?

Bola thought of that name that was everywhere and yet never remembered.

The Cleaner.

”So, is there some important mission you’re handing to me? You actually pulled together such a big lineup.”

Bola no longer felt any excitement. There were only two voices left in his head. One of them was screaming, ”We’re gonna die! We’re gonna die! This damned mission is definitely gonna get us killed!”

The other voice was answering back in boundless excitement, ”Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”

Bola felt he might be in need of legal aid, though he wasn’t sure if the Laws of Ingwig could even apply to people like this.

”It has to do with a mission. But before that, I want to ask a question.”

Arthur spoke slowly. Dim sunlight fell from the glass dome above; the vertical beam of light stretched the shadows across his face, making him look like some terrifying Dead man.

”Bola, you’ve been to the Silent Sea, haven’t you? According to your mission records, nine years ago, shortly after you joined the Purification Mechanism, you were assigned to a naval operation. During that operation, you pursued your target and, in the middle of a storm, mistakenly entered the Silent Sea. You were almost completely wiped out, and afterward, because of your outstanding performance, you were assigned to a long-term mission in the Lower City District.”

Bola nodded, his face expressionless.

The moment Arthur spoke the words ”Silent Sea,” Bola’s expression vanished, like a man drowned in the deep ocean, while in his mind the almost-forgotten past came roaring back.

”The Silent Sea… that really isn’t a good place.

Back then you were entrusted with importance precisely because you managed to come out alive. People whose willpower isn’t strong enough simply can’t walk out of there. Even if they do, they end up as lunatics in Black Mountain Hospital.”

Bola kept silent, but his hand couldn’t help sliding toward his waist, where a holster hung, and in that holster there should have been a silver-white Revolver called Funeral Bell.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t here now. Before entering the Broken Dome, Bola had handed over his personal weapons.

Now he felt a bit irritable, as if only the cold of Funeral Bell could calm him down, if only for a while.

”So what do you need me to do? Go back to that damned place again? What could possibly be worth it there?”

Bola asked, puzzled.

”Of course there is. There always has been. You just don’t know about it.”

Arthur didn’t explain what that thing was, instead continuing.

”We will be assembling a fleet later. You will be one of its members. We need your experience facing the Silent Sea.”

”The Silent Sea…”

Bola murmured, his voice squeezed out from between his teeth.

Probably understanding Bola’s current state of mind, Arthur said,

”I know this is difficult for you, that you’re deeply resistant to it. But there’s something we urgently need that lies beyond the Silent Sea.”

”But… that’s the Silent Sea we’re talking about. Doesn’t the Purification Mechanism’s internal data already say it? That cursed place is the only out-of-control zone we can’t get a handle on.”

His memories of the Silent Sea howled past, threatening to swallow Bola whole.

”We’re aware of that. Which is why this time, new technologies of the Armor of Original Sin and the Perpetual Motion Pump will be going with you.”

The representative of the Cleaner, the one who had been hiding in the shadows all this time, spoke.

His voice was hoarse, but Bola still picked up a faint hint of familiarity in it.

”Silent Sea, Land of Silence, Sea of Death, Domain of Storms and Silence, Realm of the Dead… the Vikings have too many terrifying words to describe that sea. Every ship that sails into it never returns. They’re torn to powder amid lightning and thunder. Even if a survivor somehow makes it back alive, he’ll be burdened with a permanent curse and die in madness.”

Hidden in the shadows, he sounded like he was reciting some ancient, savage tale.

”In fact, these legends have a basis. According to the Purification Mechanism’s research, that sea region is shrouded in an unbelievable Erosion. The intensity of the Erosion isn’t high, but the area it covers is terrifyingly vast. Most crucial of all, the Purification Mechanism has never been able to find a way to bring it under control. After all, we don’t have the power to directly evaporate the entire sea or seal it off. We also don’t know how long it has existed. Under such prolonged Erosion, some bizarre lifeforms have emerged in the dark depths. Creatures like that appear often in Viking legends.”

”So now we have a way to control it?”

Bola felt himself getting more and more agitated, but as a qualified Upper-Rank Knight, he couldn’t let it show yet.

”No… but maybe. That depends on how well your crew performs.”

Arthur drawled, his icy expression suddenly twisting into a faint smile—or more accurately, a nasty smirk.

It’s over. Completely over.

Arthur hadn’t cared about Bola’s opinion from the very start. He’d already been appointed. This operation had long since been planned out; they were only here to inform him.

”My crew?”

Realizing he wasn’t getting out of this, Bola’s mood turned somewhat self-destructive. He only hoped that when he died it wouldn’t hurt too much. Best to make it quick.

”We’ve already said it, haven’t we? We’re going to assemble a fleet. You’ve spent time at sea yourself—one person can’t sail a whole ship.”

”Then who are my crew?” Bola asked.

”The list is still being drafted. We’re short-handed as it is, and this operation also requires some disguise. The disguise aspect is still under negotiation and will be handled by Nordro. They’re currently mediating the interests between the Viking states and the Stuart family.”

Nordro, the Viking states, the Stuarts…

Hearing these words, Bola felt even more on edge. The last time this many forces were entangled together, the result was the bombing at Maruri’s harbor. So what was he supposed to do this time? Blow up the Viking states along with the Silent Sea?

”Of course, we also understand that this mission will be extremely difficult. Even with all these new weapons and the Armor of Original Sin supporting you, the risks remain considerable. That’s why we’re in talks with another person to bring him into your crew.”

”One person? Lorenzo Holmes.”

A single individual whose power could rival a regular army—Bola could only think of Lorenzo.

”His intentions are still unclear at the moment; we’re trying our best to persuade him. But judging from the response from the Platinum Palace, Mr. Holmes will agree to this deal,” Arthur said.

”You’ve already tricked Lorenzo once. Getting him to risk his neck again must cost a fortune.”

Bola didn’t feel reassured in the least. Ever since Lorenzo came back from Gaulunaro, he’d given the Purification Mechanism no end of trouble.

”Yes, the price is steep—downright extravagant. If that lunatic decided to play dirty, he might well seize the most precious treasure in this world.”

Thinking of this, Arthur also grew a bit troubled. The thought that Lorenzo might reach that sacred place, combined with Lorenzo’s unsettling unpredictability, filled him with a vague sense of dread. He felt this was a bad decision, but more regrettably, he couldn’t find anyone capable of standing in for Lorenzo.

”So if we’ve paid such an enormous price and dragged so many people into this, what exactly are we going to do this time, Arthur?”

Shoving aside all the scattered emotions, Bola asked Arthur seriously.

Arthur fell silent at first. After a long moment of thought, he spoke in a low voice.

”There is a sacred place in this world. It lies beyond the Silent Sea, in the Far North. That place… is very mysterious. I’m not even sure how to describe it. In short, it’s wrapped up by the Silent Sea. The omnipresent Erosion disrupts communication and measurement; there’s no precise coordinate that can fix its location.

The only thing we can follow is the ancient sea route left by those who went before us. But as time has passed, even that has grown less and less reliable. Three years ago, Merlin tried to reach it. He followed that ancient route, but still couldn’t find it, and in the end he almost ran out of supplies and stayed there forever.”

Arthur took a deep breath and spoke the name deliberately hidden by history.

”Your destination is that sacred place. We call it the ’World’s End.’”