Chapter 84

[That was truly amazing!]

The old sketchbook that had been used before was on the floor, swept away by the lightning just moments ago and disappeared. Kana pulled out a new sketchbook from her bosom and began writing forcefully.

Erica, who would have been curious about how Kana had managed to carry a new sketchbook around, instead weakly turned her head and nodded at Kana’s actions.

Rebound from protection activation. Even though it hadn’t caused unconsciousness this time, Erica’s already fatigued body from the school trip grew even more exhausted because of it.

『I have a lot I want to tell you, since I don’t know when we might part ways again.』

However, the original owner wanted Erica to listen to their words, regardless of whether Erica’s body was tired or not.

The wall that prevented Erica’s words from reaching this individual might reappear at any time, so this was the moment to speak.

Yet, the one who lent money might feel urgent, but the borrower doesn’t feel the same unless the lender exercises coercion.

Not knowing when they would part again translates to not knowing when Erica’s voice might be heard again. For this reason, Erica first checked if any alarms explaining the current situation had appeared.

The system, which had been unusually quiet lately, continued to show no text at all, as if it had nothing to say about this situation.

Thus, Erica could focus on the current situation.

Either the doll was watching or this woman had lured her into a trap. There was a woman with an unknown identity and the voice of a soul that wanted to tell her the price of a deal.

“Guh… my head…!”

The only way to resolve this situation was to feign unconsciousness.

If Kana acted like she was helping to move Erica after feigning unconsciousness, Erica could have a conversation with the original during that time. It seemed like a very reasonable choice to Erica.

If Kana’s smile had not been visible in Erica’s eyes as she raised her hand to her head pretending it hurt, Erica might have collapsed immediately. However, sensing an ominous vibe from that smile, Erica simply swayed a few times uselessly while keeping her hand on her forehead before finishing her act.

Having a gut feeling that truly feigning unconsciousness would put her in danger.

Seeing this, Kana, who had been wondering when Erica would collapse from exhaustion, and Erica, who had no intention of collapsing in front of Kana, were suddenly interrupted by a blue-haired girl performing backflips from the space Kana had observed earlier.

“Wow~. Escorting such a troublesome woman? Must be that the branch manager has gone mad~.”

The girl, who spoke in an awkward dialect, dusted off her hands, clad in a water-drop-patterned dress.

Erica, exhausted from the overuse of her protection ability and suddenly startled by this mysterious girl’s intrusion, readied herself to invoke an instant bad ending, while Kana, unlike before, prepared to charge toward the intruder with a chilling demeanor.

The successor of the Busan branch manager — a representative revolutionary of Busan. The hidden powerhouse who had been observing everything happening on the ship’s rooftop from inside the ship thought everything had come to an end but then intervened in this situation.

But Erica, unaware of the situation, thought it was as if the dolls set by the dollmaker were a bait, indicating that the latter had deployed their full power.

To Erica, the dolls couldn’t be seen as dolls at all — perhaps actual humans remade into dolls or maybe a terrorist group member brought in by the dollmaker who was allegedly collaborating with a terror organization.

“C’mon. C’mon~. You’ll only end up harming yourself~.”

‘Why does she use such different dialects regionally? Something seems off in the way it’s awkwardly done—annoying.’

『That’s because Busan, in exchange for the revolution, was discriminated against in many ways, with one of the notable examples being that their dialect was erased.』

When Erica felt curious about the girl’s voice awkwardly imitating different regional dialects, the original owner provided answers.

Dialects were erased.

That was slightly complex terminology.

It wasn’t simply about imposing restrictions so people couldn’t use dialects in job hunting or controlling the internet to erase records and prevent its use.

It went deeper.

A person with the ability to manipulate language combined with someone who could manipulate memories to erase Busan’s dialect from everyone’s memory and remove it from the world’s informational infrastructure altogether.

This was a massive operation that required considerable sacrifices, but the country, terrified of Busan’s revolutionaries, was willing to endure anything to punish Busan.

Dialects symbolize a sense of belonging, and one of the reasons why the Busan revolution nearly succeeded was due to the strong regional sense of belonging among the revolutionaries. Therefore, it made sense for the country, which wished not to repeat the revolution, to impose the punishment of erasing dialects.

Although actions of Busan citizens weren’t controlled on a daily basis like during the military regime, the penalty of erasing dialects removed the unique character of Busan. This excessive punishment by the government definitely impacted Busan.

This girl, who subconsciously kept bringing up barely remembered dialects thinking she’d someday recall her region’s dialect, seemed, according to the original owner, to have a romantic idea of reviving dialects wiped out in such an era.

…How the original owner knew this information was unclear, but Erica had already done a lot of research on Busan since the theme of this school trip was the revolutionaries of Busan, by checking online extensively.

Thinking she had learned enough, Erica didn’t know that the country had erased dialects due to its anger toward the revolutionaries of Busan.

Then how did Erica come to know this piece of information?

By borrowing the wisdom of someone nearby? Or perhaps using the power of her older sister associated with the association?

Though there hadn’t been another attempt to reclaim her body yet, Erica felt she shouldn’t fully trust the original owner.

At least not until the original reveals all the cards she’s hiding.

During the time Erica heightened her guard against the original, and the original seemingly read her thoughts and acted confused,

“Tch, never thought I’d meet ones who don’t care at all. Keep ignoring me, and you’ll regret it.”

The Busan Girl, whose dialects, accent, and tone kept changing, had one reason for not clearing up misunderstandings:

Because she had observed from inside the ship.

Where Kana’s gaze had lingered before retreating – the dolls, and the person being protected surrounded by powerful lightning who couldn’t act rashly.

Although it would be foolish to confidently conclude that Kana is a dangerous person —a dollmaker— based on that alone, it was undeniable that she should still be monitored.

In other words, labeling Kana as a dangerous individual and presuming her to be a dollmaker is a poor strategy.

If Kana acted rashly to protect the target, ‘they’ might end up dead before deploying their powers. On the other hand, persuading the target to join in opposing Kana was also risky.

If Kana were truly a dollmaker, the situation would likely be one where she couldn’t display her full power while watching the target’s reactions.

The prudent strategy would be for ‘them’ to reveal themselves and use force to subdue Kana after understanding her and then protect the target themselves. But given that the target had already demonstrated their prowess, this wouldn’t end up being the best approach.

“Hmm, if you can’t understand because I’m using dialects, should I just resort to standard Korean?”

“Please use standard Korean.”

Erika frowned while speaking. Concentrating on the situation was difficult because the girl insisted on using awkward dialects. At that moment, Busan Girl nodded slightly.

While attempting to write something in her sketchbook, Kana hesitated upon hearing the sharp voice, “Stop that, and lift your head.”

Busan Girl’s eyes, which were dark blue, unlike her awkward dialect, glinted fiercely, as if ready to pounce at any moment.

Kana could be writing in the sketchbook as part of her ability activation. Although Erica, who could see the term “enhanced instant power,” was certain it wasn’t the activation condition, the name of the ability could also be fake. Thus, from Busan Girl’s point of view, it was only wise to be cautious about everything.

The woman with long seaweed-like hair held up both hands while dropping the sketchbook. The strange smile that Kana exhibited was only making Busan Girl more suspicious, even though Kana was in a state where she couldn’t draw her weapon.

“Didn’t you say you won’t use dialects anymore?”

“Hmm… Alright. Alright. Is that enough?”

Although her tone still carried undertones of dialects, Erica nodded.

Even though her use of dialects didn’t seem natural, it was clear that further use of dialects would make it impossible to have a proper conversation.

Erica hadn’t understood why using dialects from other regions would help her search for Busan’s native dialect, even after hearing from the main body, but that comprehension could wait. Her continuous use of dialects could also be revisited later.

“I came because the school contacted me. They desperately asked me to prevent any possible mishaps during the school trip.”

“So this girl said you were watching me, right?”

“Well, since there was someone getting harassed the moment you entered the building, it was only natural to keep an eye on you, wasn’t it?”

The best course is to use persuasion while hiding one’s full strength.

Erica hadn’t strictly demanded that Busan Girl stop using dialects, but her words had undeniable logic.

“…Then why didn’t you act earlier, only doing so now?”

“Well, don’t you have to discern who’s the enemy and who’s your ally? Besides, why the informal language? Despite the looks, I’m hundreds of years old.”

It had been less than a few decades since the world became one of superpowers. Of course, this was Busan Girl’s joke to ease Erica’s heightened tension.

“Aha, ma’am.”

Is it an unspoken secret of this world? Could this be some strange lifeform surviving since before the rise of superpowers?

Thinking this way, Erica earnestly acknowledged the figure in front of her as an elderly woman.

“…Are you trying to k*ll me?”

“Please save me, Grandmother.”

Showing respect to the grandmother was no trouble at all for Erica, whose gaze momentarily shifted to Kana, who was absent from the conversation.

If the surveillance was for protection rather than monitoring, then those dolls weren’t summoned by Kana but appeared to bring down this grandmother, was it?

Curious about the grandmother, Erica finally noticed the screen hovering above the Busan Girl’s head, which she had temporarily forgotten while keeping guard and communicating with the original.

[Busan Girl, Han Hye-ri.]

[Role: Main Heroine (Busan Side)]

[Ability: Revolution (Inheritance)]

The main heroine on the Busan side.

The wording indicating the inheritance of such a grandiose ability as “revolution” was concerning, but more crucial was her status as the main heroine of the Busan side.

Since there’s no reason for a heroine to attack Erica without a cause, this instantly clarified things.

Conveniently, Erica possessed the power to instantly grasp fragmentary information about her opponent.

This was Erica’s overwhelming advantage since entering this world.

‘Interesting.’

With a raised fist ready to strike Erica’s head for the earlier joke, the Busan Girl chased after her, while Erica, already tired but further burdened by running from someone older, fled, harboring a sense of frustration.

Watching these two, the lady unaffected by Erica’s “advantage” smiled gently.