Chapter 54: Nightworld Remnant: The Fogshore Guards
Rast’s consciousness sank into the thickening darkness of night.
He had no idea how much time had passed. When his awareness returned, the first thing he noticed was the cold metal floor beneath him.
Rast opened his eyes and surveyed the world around him.
The surroundings were pitch black, with the only source of light being a single kerosene lamp.
Compared to the electric lights common in the present world, the kerosene lamp’s illumination was clearly much weaker. Its dim glow could only light up a very limited space.
This seemed to be a lighthouse, typical of coastal regions. He was inside a narrow, shadowy room within the lighthouse.
Not far away, the outline of a wooden ladder was faintly visible in the darkness, seemingly leading to the higher part of the lighthouse where the optical lens system for guiding ships was located.
Whether it was the kerosene lamp, or the manually maintained optical system atop the lighthouse…
These were technologies long since obsolete in the current era.
In other words, the lost history reflected in this Nightworld Remnant… its level of civilization was not modern. At best, it dated back over a hundred years, to an era akin to that of Deep Blue Port.
As that thought took form—
“Rast?”
A familiar voice called out beside his ear.
Rast turned his head and saw the sword-wielding girl step out from the darkness, beyond the reach of the lamplight. Her chestnut hair shimmered like flames in the dim glow.
Her right hand rested on the hilt of the 「Shimmering Morning Star」, poised to draw the blade at any moment.
After seeing Rast’s face clearly, the stern expression on Shiltina’s lovely face eased slightly.
However, the tension in her sword grip did not relax at all.
“Rast, don’t come any closer. The chances are slim, but a similar case occurred during a previous Nightworld Remnant strategy…”
“After entering the Nightworld, someone we believed to be our teammate was actually replaced by a corrupted entity from the Remnant, perfectly imitating their appearance.”
“Due to the Remnant’s unique properties, even the usual rule forbidding disclosure of the Nightworld to natives can partially fail… Not only did the imposter mimic their appearance, even their voice was identical. They didn’t expose themselves until the very final node of the mission.”
“In the end, the entire strategy team was wiped out because of it.”
Shiltina’s voice echoed in the silence. “Answer my question.”
“When we first met at the bar, what two drinks did you mix for me? How much did you charge in service fees?”
“I only mixed one drink for you at the time—『Infernal Flowing Sand』. I also recommended 『Amber’s Embrace』, but in the end, I didn’t make it.”
Rast replied, “Also, I didn’t charge you anything.”
He smiled. “After all, back then, Miss Shiltina was just a penniless nobody in Deep Blue Port.”
Hearing his answer, Shiltina finally let out a small sigh of relief.
But then, she saw Rast raise his iron-moon revolver and point it at her.
“My turn to ask a question.”
“Miss Shiltina, how many hamburgers can you eat in one meal? Ten or twenty?”
Shiltina froze. The cowlick on her head visibly twitched.
“I don’t even have hamburgers in my usual diet…”
“And don’t you think asking a lady if she can eat ten hamburgers in one meal is incredibly rude?”
“Exactly.”
Rast thought for a moment, then holstered his revolver. “That was a secondary test. After all, aside from imposters replacing companions, there’s also the possibility that the person in front of me was created by some illusion based on my memories.”
“Before entering the Nightworld, I implanted a mental suggestion into my subconscious—telling myself that Miss Shiltina was a glutton who could eat ten hamburgers, twenty pieces of fried chicken, and drink ten cups of fizzy cola in one meal.”
“If you were really a person born of my hallucination, you’d admit to being a glutton.”
“Of course, since the mental suggestion didn’t modify the details of my memory completely… the contradiction would eventually surface and tip me off.”
Shiltina: ……
Even if what you’re saying makes perfect sense, why do I still feel like punching you?
And just as Rast and Shiltina spent that effort verifying each other’s identities—
A series of sapphire-blue text lines flashed through Rast’s mind.
【Nightworld Mission — 「Nightworld Remnant: The Shoreguard」 has begun】
【Era Introduction: Nearly a century has passed since the outbreak of the disaster known as the 「Iron Cross Plague」 in Deep Blue Port, which swept across the continent.
Even though the Iron Cross’s spread raged for over a decade, a civilization was eventually founded by this new race and its expansion slowed.
However, starting with the plague, disasters great and small descended relentlessly—evil gods, natural catastrophes, corruption, pollution, beast tides…
The once-rapidly advancing civilizations came to a screeching halt. Countless prosperous kingdoms shattered in the chaos, and millions of civilians were left displaced.
To this day, compared to a century ago, human civilization hasn’t progressed but regressed. The population is less than a tenth of its former peak.
The surviving humans cling to life in scattered, fragmented nations.
Land routes have been severed by the Iron Cross and beast tides.
Sea routes became the only lifeline connecting survivors, allowing human settlements to trade and sustain the skeletal structure of civilization, preventing its total collapse.
And along the coast, watching over the last sea routes…
In the shadow of foreign races, cults, and evil gods, a mysterious organization holds the line, preserving the last spark of civilization.
They are known as—
「The Shoreguard」】
【Mission Introduction: Frostwater Town, a small seaside village, located on what was once the “Golden Coastline” and now the “Shattered Coast,” is a key node in the sea routes of modern humanity. The Guards have long stationed members there.
But one month ago, the town was shrouded in heavy fog, and the stationed Guards lost contact…】