Chapter 22
The underworld had appeared suddenly one day, a very long time ago.
According to the records passed down, it had originally been a small territory belonging to the Palen Empire.
The territory, with its dense forests, fields, and beautiful streams, had been peaceful.
The most tumultuous event was shepherds shouting as they herded their sheep.
The curse descended in a single instant.
One day, black flowers and thorny bushes suddenly sprouted and covered everything in an instant.
People trembled in fear.
Fortunately, the black flowers and thorny bushes disappeared after just one day.
However, nothing remained there.
No green trees, no verdant fields, no sparkling stream waters.
All that was left was sand and stones.
No life could grow there.
In the barren wasteland where no plant could sprout, only dry sand winds blew.
Everyone fled in fear, believing it cursed.
Thus, it became an abandoned land.
It was only natural, in a way, that trash began to settle in this barren place where no one lived.
Those who couldn’t blend into the ordinary world started claiming spots one by one.
They built houses on the sand and created their own society.
As more trash gathered, it soon became a place teeming with a number of people that couldn’t be ignored.
The nations of the continent left the abandoned land untouched.
They didn’t want to get entangled in the endless crimes and corruption happening there.
A neutral zone belonging to no nation, a lawless area.
People began calling this place the “underworld.”
“So this is what it’s like.”
At the words of his adjutant, Darren, Hailon shifted his gaze indifferently.
The underworld was bright even at night, with lights that never went out.
The streets formed a city of eternal night, bustling with people, and instead grew quiet in the broad daylight.
Then, as the sun began to set, they would start opening for business one by one again.
It was a sight befitting the name “underworld.”
The streets were lined with shops selling all sorts of bizarre and strange items.
All the buildings were made of stone, giving the atmosphere an even more unique feel, and the passersby were far from ordinary.
Having large scars on their faces or bodies was the norm.
They wore odd decorations, hideous masks, or carried weapons of shapes never seen before.
Hailon, draped in a black robe, and his subordinates were dressed in the most unremarkable attire.
“I’ve heard countless stories, but since it’s my first time here, it’s fascinating.”
Darren chattered on somewhat loquaciously with his assessment of the underworld.
Unlike Darren, who was marveling at the unfamiliar sights, Hailon walked the streets with familiarity.
The Holy Empire does not interfere with the underworld.
Where there is light, shadows are bound to exist.
Even if eradicated, it would only disperse into other evils, so there was no need to dip one’s hands into filthy waters—that was the unspoken principle.
However, today Hailon was about to commit the first exception.
He stopped in front of a small shop.
His blue eyes scanned the letters on the worn but tidy sign.
<Hata’s Hat Shop>
On the signboard in front of the shop, there were drawings of a hat, a puppy, and a floral pattern.
Hailon knew very well what the floral pattern signified.
It was the same pattern that rested above his own collarbone.
A scoff escaped his lips before he even realized it.
She seemed desperate to advertise that he was the witch’s dog.
Beside the signboard, there was also a small flower pot.
Since this was a land where life couldn’t grow, the more green plants one had, the more it symbolized wealth.
In that sense, the flower pot could be considered a luxury item.
His gaze turned toward the display case beyond the wide window.
The hats visible through the glass window looked quite plausible in shape.
They were of a quality that could be placed in a high-end boutique in the bustling streets of the Palen Empire.
From beside him, Darren murmured unwittingly.
“Glass, huh? The witch’s notoriety must be truly formidable.”
A faint admiration tinged his voice.
And rightly so—in the rough underworld, leaving a clear glass window without even iron bars was an expression of confidence.
The reason no burglars targeted a shop set up like this was simple.
Because this place belonged to the witch Lichesia.
The residents of the underworld absolutely did not want to become her prey.
Those who couldn’t distinguish between courage and foolishness had already been chopped up by Lichesia as examples.
“Wait here.”
“Yes.”
After giving the order to his adjutant, Hailon entered the shop alone.
Ding-a-ling, the bell attached above the glass door let out a cheerful sound.
A faint floral scent was the first to stimulate his senses.
“Just a moment!”
A voice came from inside.
Hailon removed the hood of the robe he was wearing and scanned the interior.
Among the displayed items, there were a few he had seen Lichesia wearing before.
Hats and accessories she often cherished and wore.
All of them were crafted by the dog beastman known as ‘Hata.’
He had long known of his existence, but this was the first time he had come all the way here.
Until now, there had been no need for it, but at this moment…
Hailon thought of the one whose whereabouts still eluded him entirely.
“Welcome!”
Finally, the shop owner burst out.
The man, who appeared no older than seventeen at most—neither boy nor youth—possessed an adorably cute features.
His light tawny hair was fluffy like clouds.
His purple eyes were as clean and luminous as glass marbles, with large pupils and drooping corners that gave him a slightly mournful expression.
Of course, such an appearance stirred no particular emotion in Hailon.
The excited dog beastman who had come bounding out halted abruptly in front of the counter.
His round, endearing face twisted into a fierce scowl.
“…White hair?”
It was Hata, the witch Lichesia’s dog.
Hata immediately bared his sharp teeth and charged forward.
In that instant, a gust of wind whipped up, sending the hats displayed in the shop flying in chaotic disarray.
As the black robe billowed long, revealing the inquisitor’s uniform concealed beneath the fabric.
White chains extended like spiderwebs throughout the small shop.
The chains ensnared Hata.
“Urk…!”
Hata thrashed about, but there was no escaping the Chains of Condemnation.
He glared at Hailon.
“Why, even to the underworld…!”
Noting the plump cheeks that showed no trace of gauntness, Hailon curled his lips in a smirk.
If something had befallen Lichesia.
This wretched dog beastman would have long since withered away, his form emaciated, the shop doors shuttered as he languished in misery.
But Hata was utterly unscathed.
Hailon fixed him with a steady gaze and spoke.
“I’ve heard you’ve been traveling back and forth between the capital of the Palen Empire and your shop in the underworld lately.”
“Because I have to sell hats!”
He widened his eyes and babbled his excuses.
“The hats Hata sells are incredibly popular! Lots of people seek them out. There’s a branch in the capital too, so that’s why I go there.”
It sounded convincing enough.
The capital and the underworld weren’t that far apart.
Even by carriage, half a day was more than sufficient for a round trip.
Until now, most people would have nodded in acceptance and let it slide.
However, to the inquisitor who had interrogated countless individuals, it was nothing but an endlessly clumsy excuse.
“Not delegating deliveries as you used to, but handling them personally?”
“…”
Hata, who had been so smug, wore an expression as if he’d been caught off guard.
It seemed he hadn’t prepared an excuse for this far.
“The witch Lichesia.”
The hand clad in black leather gloves slowly caressed the bracelet on his wrist.
A subtle glow shimmered over the white bracelet.
“Has inscribed a spell allowing her servants to move near her. And the reverse is possible as well.”
Though with certain conditions attached, it was a spell designed so that they could locate each other at any time.
That fact had always grated on him.
In the past, it had been like a rose thorn pricking his finger, but now it felt like being tightly ensnared in a thicket of thorns, so irritating that he could scarcely endure it.
Especially now, when he knew absolutely nothing of Lichesia’s whereabouts.
“To do this to me!”
The dog beastman, who had been stubbornly insisting he knew nothing, shook the chains violently and barked furiously.
“Lady Lichesia will come to save Hata! White hair, she won’t let you off easy!”
“Probably so.”
Unfortunately, that was precisely what Hailon desired.
A twisted smile crept across Hailon’s lips.
“I wonder when your master will come to rescue you.”
As if the words were utterly unexpected, Hata’s eyes grew wide with shock.
The blue eyes gazing at the startled puppy were steeped darkly in a murky obsession.
“Let’s wait together, witch’s dog.”
