The salty chill of the ocean breeze whipped past them as Bisky and Shizuku followed Liam toward the eastern edge of town. A line of single-family homes bordered the street, their wooden facades bleached and peeling from years of salt and wind. The cobblestone path was nearly deserted, leaving the dilapidated buildings looking entirely abandoned.
"Are you sure about this?" Bisky asked, feeling a strange sense of unease. But Liam did not hesitate, and seeing his confident strides, she kept walking behind him.
They stopped at what used to be the lobby of a residential building, now haphazardly converted into a makeshift tavern. The air inside smelled of stale alcohol and unwashed bodies. Empty liquor bottles littered the floor, dregs dripping from their open mouths to stain the floorboards. The shelves lining the walls were almost completely stripped bare. Under the dim, flickering glow of a single ceiling light, a group of men drank and shouted over one another. They were a bizarre bunch, dressed in drab labor-camp uniforms topped with ridiculous pointed clown hats. Among them sat Issei that Liam had encountered earlier.
"Hahaha, it wasn't me, I swear—huh?" A massive, heavily muscled fat man abruptly stopped laughing. Hearing the creak of the door, he turned his bulk toward the entrance. Liam led the two women inside, his face completely nonchalant.
It was a look that immediately grated on the large man's nerves. He eyed Liam, then glanced at Shizuku in her black sweater and bizarre moon-white tiger skin skirt, and finally looked down at the small blonde girl.
Issei slammed his drink down. "Didn't I already tell you? I've never heard of this damn Razor you're looking for"
Bisky's eyes welled with large, shimmering tears. "Please don't be so cruel," she whimpered, looking utterly heartbroken.
Without warning, the heavily muscled fat man Bopobo hurled his heavy glass bottle straight at Shizuku's face. The glass spun through the air with a vicious hum. Shizuku did not even blink. Before the bottle could make contact, Liam smoothly reached out and plucked it from the air. He held it casually, as if Bopobo had simply tossed it to him to share a drink.
"Ah?" Bopobo scowled, his thick arms flexing.
The noisy tavern instantly went dead silent. Every man in a pointed hat turned to stare at the newcomers. Bisky dropped her crying act and looked at Liam.
Liam weighed the half-empty bottle in his palm. "I am just looking for someone."
"Get out. The person you want isn't here," Bopobo growled. He stood up, rolling up his drab sleeves to reveal arms thick with trembling muscle.
Suddenly, Isse stood up from his stool. "Wait a minute. I think it's fine to take them to Razor."
"Bopobo, this goes against the rules."
"This isn't what we agreed on," other patrons muttered.
Issei raised his voice. "While they do not meet the normal conditions, this young man already knows Razor. Since they are friends, we can make an exception." As he gestured, his sleeve slipped back, revealing a faint, rose-gold pentagram stamped into his skin right where Liam had grabbed him earlier.
Bopobo slammed his fist on a table. "Have you completely lost your mind? Even if you take them there—"
He never finished his sentence. Both Liam and Issei turned their gazes on Bopobo. The fat man's shouting died in his throat. The restless murmurs of the other men vanished in an instant.
Just seconds prior, six small, translucent aura bubbles, each holding a glowing pentagram, had drifted silently across the floorboards. They brushed lightly against the ankles of the men in the room, sinking in and searing the Star Mark into their flesh.
Liam let out a quiet sigh. He waved his hand toward the door. "Let's go. Lead the way."
Bopobo's eyes widened in sheer terror. His legs moved on their own, turning his heavy frame toward the exit. The other men fell into line right behind him, moving like clockwork puppets.
"What the hell did you do to us?" Bopobo yelled, his feet continuing a steady march outside.
"Shut up," Liam said.
A fresh wave of panic washed over Bopobo's face as his jaw snapped shut. He strained and flexed his jaw muscles, but his mouth simply refused to open. No matter how hard he pushed, his body was no longer his own.
"Actually, you come back here for a second," Liam said, gesturing for the large man to return.
At the same time, Liam released his hold on Issei. The scrawny man blinked, suddenly regaining his senses, only to find himself marching down the street toward Razor's lighthouse with the rest of his crew. A cold sweat broke out across his back.
Bopobo spun around and marched stiffly back to Liam, his eyes burning with furious rage.
"Don't you like drinking?" Liam asked. He tilted the bottle he had caught earlier, dumping the remaining cheap liquor directly over Bopobo's face. The liquid dripped down his nose and chin. "Why aren't you drinking?"
Bisky gave Liam a dry look. "Didn't you just tell him to shut up?"
"Ah. Right. Open your mouth," Liam commanded.
Bopobo's jaw unhinged instantly. Liam casually wedged the neck of the empty glass bottle between Bopobo's teeth. He gave the man's chubby cheek a gentle pat. "Alright, let's go. Keep leading the way, and make sure you do not drop that."
Bisky fell into step beside Liam as they followed the silent, marching line of prisoners. "You hold quite a grudge, don't you."
Liam chuckled, the ocean breeze catching his hair. "So you better not offend me, Aunt Bi. I just might keep a notebook full of grudges."
Hearing the word notebook reminded Bisky of something. She looked over at the black-haired girl walking quietly beside them. "Speaking of which, Shizuku. That day in the back of Battera's car, what exactly were you writing and drawing in your notebook?"
Shizuku looked over. "I was compiling your training instructions, Bisky. I plan to give them to another member of our group so they can learn from them later."
Liam looked at Bisky with an easy smile. "Aunt Bi, do you want to join us? We put together a small organization. We do not allow non-elites to enter."
Bisky let out a short, scoffing laugh. "No non-elites allowed? That sounds awfully familiar. Oh right, the Hunter Association. Do you remember that I am already a Professional Hunter?"
"Is it alright if we share the knowledge you taught us with our friends?" Liam asked.
"I don't care," Bisky said with a dismissive wave. "As long as you don't broadcast it to the entire world, you can do whatever you want with it."
She paused for a moment, shifting her gaze to the men in pointed hats walking mechanically ahead of them. "Being a Manipulator must be incredibly convenient. But tell me, how did you know that we didn't meet their conditions? And how could you be so sure these specific guys knew where Razor was?"
It was obvious from the exchange in the bar that Liam had been speaking through the scrawny man the entire time.
"I just guessed," Liam said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "And I happened to get it right."
He was lying. Bisky's intuition flared immediately. She watched his relaxed profile and thought it over. Even if this kid knew the secret trick to finding Razor, he could have just said so out loud. Why bother lying about it? She did not think this guy was the type of person to lie just for the fun of it anytime, anywhere.
A short walk later, the group arrived at the lighthouse.
To call it a lighthouse was a stretch. The structure had been heavily modified into a squat, reinforced fortress. It looked less like a defensive bunker and more like a massive spatial expansion, likely built just so Razor had somewhere spacious to pass the time.
The line of men in pointed hats marched straight into the fortress, pushing open a heavy iron double door. Blinding white light spilled out through the widening crack, cutting through the dark night. Inside was a massive, fully equipped gymnasium.
But the moment the men in the pointed hats stepped fully into the bright stadium light, something bizarre happened. One by one, they simply vanished into thin air.
"Huh?" Shizuku stopped at the threshold. She stepped closer to the doorway, peering carefully into the brightly lit room.
The floor space was large enough to fit two full basketball courts side by side, complete with hoops at either end. Right in the middle stretched a taut volleyball net. A vaulting horse and several heavy weightlifting barbells sat neatly along the sidelines. Aside from the sports equipment, the space was entirely empty. The men had evaporated without a trace.
"I guess that settles it," Bisky said, crossing her arms. "It looks like that castle we were searching for earlier was actually in the right place all along."
Liam walked straight through the doors and into the gym, completely unbothered. Bisky and Shizuku followed close behind. Their footsteps echoed sharply against the polished hardwood floor, making the absolute emptiness of the massive room feel even more profound.
"It is a dual space," Liam said, looking up at the high ceiling. "According to what you taught us, Bisky, creating a unique, separate space and establishing absolute rules within it falls squarely under the domain of Conjuration."
Shizuku wandered over to the sidelines, picked up a basketball, and gave it a quick spin on her fingertips. The rubber slapped against her hand. "Do you think the people in the other space are watching us right now?"
...
In an identical gymnasium, Razor stood perfectly still with a volleyball tucked under his arm. He stared silently at Liam and the two women standing directly in front of him, separated by an invisible barrier. He lowered his gaze to the card pinched between his fingers.
SS-007 "Sandbox": Game management members can use this card to create a mirror space that only those with permission can enter.