Bailonz Street 13

“Do you really think they would leave her somewhere this obvious? She might not be here at all. What will you do then?”

The steps groaned slowly and quietly as they sensed the intruder. Enjoying the trembling beneath his feet, Liam Moore turned to look at Owen Cassfire. His eyes, now a peculiar shade of lavender, glinted strangely.

“If she’s not here, I’ll turn all of London upside down to find her.”

Owen Cassfire shuddered. “You’re insane.”

With each step on the stone staircase, there came a sound like an impure wailing. The noise seemed to be a warning from the darkness, alerting to the arrival of a new presence from the surface.

“Do you think they’re keeping something inside?”

Owen, startled by the noise, asked. Liam merely shrugged. Perhaps feeling even more uneasy from that nonchalant response, Owen continued in a hushed voice.

“I once ran into a strange tentacle creature because of you. If there’s anything like that here, I can’t fight it. I’m closer to a scholar than a gladiator. I can’t wrestle with monsters. You better understand that!”

Liam replied bluntly, “If you keep that up, I’ll leave you behind when the monsters show up.”

“Do you really think you could leave me behind?”

“Of course. I just need to run faster than you.”

Owen, quick-witted, immediately caught the meaning and shuddered. Watching the Greenwich sage curse under his breath, Liam clicked his tongue and placed a hand on the wall.

The structure of the place was peculiar. Unlike the smooth earthen walls at the entrance, the middle section turned into stone walls. The path was winding without any intersections, and the high ceiling made their footsteps echo eerily.

Noticing the unease that Liam himself was feeling, Owen grabbed his shoulder.

“It’s a downhill path.”

Owen’s observation was correct. The passage was subtly sloping downward. If one wasn’t sensitive to space, they might mistake it for flat ground.

Liam grabbed a torch from the wall and nodded. “Let’s keep going.”

＊ ＊ ＊

“They’re coming.”

When I woke up, Clara was sitting at my feet. Her previous decaying appearance was gone, and she looked like the ‘Clara’ I knew, albeit a bit weary. She was leaning her head back towards the ceiling with her eyes closed. I spoke up.

“Clara.”

“Why don’t you stop pretending to be Jane?”

Her black pupils turned towards me. The sharp, upturned corners of her eyes stared at me. I slowly rose, making sure not to avoid her gaze.

Honestly, I was scared. Maybe it was because I remembered how she had looked at me without any expression before.

“Your pretty detective is coming. Has he come to save you? Or to die with you?”

Liam? Has Liam really come this far?

I was momentarily lost in thought. In this unresolved situation, I wasn’t sure if I could face Liam. Could he meet Clara while she was here?

I bowed my head, staring at the cuffs and the pajamas. Liam would faint if he saw me like this.

Clara’s eyes, now a cloudy white, were glaring at the entrance. It looked deadly serious.

“Oh. But someone’s with him.”

“…With him?”

It’s understandable he wouldn’t come alone, that’s madness. But who else could it be? There’s only one person who would come here with Liam, and if my guess is right, that person is… not great at fighting.

Clara murmured, “Red hair… I know, I’ve seen him before. Yes…”

My guess was right. Owen was with Liam.

Now, I had to make a rational judgment about my situation. Maybe Liam would have to run around to save Owen and me. Please, come safely. Without meeting anyone.

Clara kept muttering to herself, lost in her own vision, but it was obvious what she was seeing.

“Let’s leave the path open. Let them come here… without any obstacles.”

“…Weren’t you trying to stop Liam from coming here?”

I asked. Clara, now fully turned away from me, was staring at the door.

“I told you. I want to see you completely broken. I want to see how you react when you face ruin just before escaping.”

“…”

“Now, let’s see. How quickly can your detective get here?”

She kept calling him “my detective.” These cultists are different. They treat people as possessions, attaching possessive pronouns to them. Why do they live like this? Well, that’s why they fall into cults. I’ve been thinking about nonsense.

As I sighed deeply, Clara looked at me irritably.

“Think seriously, Jane. If you had given in, you would be very comfortable now. United with our star…”

“Ugh. What? No way.”

Why does the word “comfortable” sound so unsettling from a cultist’s mouth? It feels like they’re saying it would be good for me after making me a living sacrifice. What does it mean to be united with the star? Why do they love poetic and ambiguous words here? Because it’s Shakespeare’s country?

“You have the opportunity to face a great and unfathomable existence directly, Jane.”

“No, I don’t want to. If someone expresses their opinion, you should listen.”

“With immortality that ordinary people can’t even obtain…”

“Ah, I can’t hear you. Cult talk doesn’t reach me.”

Eventually, Clara stopped talking to me, and I could finally think quietly with my eyes closed. The silence continued until I heard Clara leave the room.

With my eyes closed, I asked inwardly, ‘El. Are you there?’

Only the buzzing sound like an old fluorescent light answered.

‘I still don’t know how to restore the connection. Clara must have done something to the notebook.’

Still silence.

‘Wait a little longer. I’ll get out soon.’

A certain resolve formed. If I saw Liam, I might regret it a little, but I had to make a choice. I didn’t know if this was the right thing to do, but as long as I could defy Clara, it didn’t matter.

First, I had to figure out how much Clara could use my notebook.

I had used the notebook longer than Clara, so I knew more about its functions. Considering the information advantage, I had the upper hand. To confirm this, I needed Liam’s help.

There’s no other way.

I murmured, “This is the only way.”

＊ ＊ ＊

“…Jane, Jane.”

I opened my eyes to a hand shaking me awake.

It was Liam. Wow, he really came. His pale face looked down at me. Seeing a familiar face made my whole body relax, and I felt completely drained. Owen was next to him, his eyes widening when he saw my condition.

“Are you alive, miss?”

“Do I look dead?”

I replied curtly and opened my arms to Liam. The man who embraced me sighed deeply. He was warm. This place was a bit warmer than the surface, but it was still too cold to endure in just pajamas. Once I felt some warmth, I spoke.

“The first friend I made in London turned out to be a cultist who wants to use me as a sacrifice. Is this a disaster?”

Liam looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, his mouth opening and closing before he chose to laugh. He comforted me.

“We’ll get out of here, Jane. It’s okay. It’s over now.”

He doesn’t know what he’s talking about, does he?

It’s not over until it’s over. Clara and her cute little cult won’t let me go that easily.

How did things get so tangled? The more I tried to fix things, the more they got messed up. I sighed.

“Maybe I’m just a bit unlucky.”

“That’s not true at all. You’re not unlucky.”

“Honestly, if life was lucky, I wouldn’t be kidnapped, right?”

“That’s…”

That makes sense. Liam, agreeing, moved his hands to unlock my cuffs. Owen took off his coat and put it over me just in time.

“Thank you.”

“No problem. You need to be healthy for me to live long too.”

I chuckled quietly. Liam must have threatened him. That suited his personality. Watching me, Liam warned Owen.

“Quiet, Cassfire.”

“See? He’s threatening me.”

As I dusted myself off and stood up, I turned my head towards the door. The door was slowly opening. Beyond it, Clara Barnum walked in, holding something in her outstretched hand. I recognized it immediately. It was my gun.

I instantly sensed what would happen next.

‘Ah, you crazy bitch. You really are something.’

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