Opening the door to the location Harley had given me, I watched as he froze for a brief moment before immediately rushing toward the other side.
The moment he stepped through and realized that he was truly somewhere else, his legs gave out beneath him.
He fell to his knees and began sobbing again, facing me as though I were some kind of savior.
"Oh... Lord... Thank you. Thank you, Lord Moon! Thank you so much... I swear I’ll worship you every day for the rest of my life. Thank you..."
The corner of my mouth twitched.
...Where the hell had that title of "Lord" come from?
Harley continued sobbing on the ground, repeating his thanks over and over again.
Seeing him like this, I almost felt bad for interrupting him, but there was something I needed to warn him about first.
"Before you do anything else, I suggest you visit a cathedral. Your fate is deeply entangled with something supernatural. Unless you want to end up in the same situation again, I strongly advise you to seek help."
"Y-Yes! Of course, Lord Moon! I’ll do as you say! Thank you... Thank you so much!"
Hm.
He wasn’t saying anything about saving his girlfriend.
When someone finally found a way out after being trapped in that place for so long, shouldn’t their first thought be to beg their savior to rescue their loved ones as well?
Well, whatever. It wasn’t my place to judge.
I didn’t bother speaking to him any longer and simply shut the door.
Sigh. It seemed like I’d have to test my luck with someone else.
Was everyone I encountered in this place somehow connected to A.E.G.I.S.?
Ugh... Maybe I should tell the next person I met to give me an address that wasn’t anywhere near their headquarters.
Hm. Yeah, that sounded like a much better idea.
With that in mind, I continued descending the staircase. Another fifteen minutes passed before I encountered something unusual.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The sound of something repeatedly striking a hard surface echoed through the staircase. It didn’t take long for me to find the source.
An old woman stood beside the wall, dressed in a faded gray cardigan and a long, worn-out skirt.
Her silver hair was tangled and unkempt, and her thin frame trembled with every movement.
She seemed completely oblivious to her surroundings as she repeatedly slammed her forehead against the wall while counting in a monotonous voice.
"432,523,522..."
BANG!
"432,523,523..."
BANG!
"432,523,524..."
Jesus Christ.
How long had this woman been counting?
That was already the equivalent of more than five thousand days, wasn’t it?
Worse, the wall she had been striking was visibly dented, and blood had spread across its surface, staining the area around her forehead.
I couldn’t help walking over to her. Standing beside her, I tilted my head slightly and asked.
The old woman stopped counting and slowly turned toward me.
Her eyes were vacant, almost completely devoid of emotion.
It was as though an unbearable boredom had settled so deeply within them that nothing in the world could stir even the slightest reaction.
She stared at me for a few seconds before turning back toward the wall.
"432,523,525..."
...Right. I supposed that answered my question.
She had been trapped here for so long that counting had become the only way she could pass the time.
Perhaps it was the only thing keeping her mind occupied in a place where everything else remained the same.
Seeing that she seemed too exhausted to even acknowledge my presence, I gently reached out and took her hand.
"Granny, your sentence in this place is over. I’ll take you home."
After hearing what I said, her vacant eyes showed a hint of movement.
She froze, staring at me as though she had heard something beyond her comprehension.
It took her several long seconds to process my words before her cracked lips finally parted.
"...Home?"
Her voice was so raspy that it sounded as though she hadn’t spoken a single word in years.
Perhaps, aside from counting, she truly hadn’t.
She looked at me with trembling eyes, a faint glimmer of hope slowly emerging from the emptiness in her expression.
"You’re... real?"
I didn’t answer immediately. Instead, I carefully wrapped my arms around her frail body and lifted her from the ground.
That was when the old woman finally broke down.
She clung to my suit and sobbed quietly against my chest, her frail shoulders shaking as though all the emotions she had suppressed for thousands of days had finally found a way out.
I stood there and let her cry.
...Good grief.
Even after I helped her calm down and introduced myself, the old woman’s eyes remained dull.
She seemed to have difficulty processing everything that was happening, as though she had spent so long trapped in this place that she could no longer believe in the possibility of escaping.
Instead of saying anything, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a photograph. With trembling hands, she held it out to me.
"My grandson... He has done nothing wrong. Mr. Moon, I beg of you, please... he’s somewhere in this place as well. If you can only save one of us, then please, let it be him."
She begged.
"I’ll serve his sentence in his place. I don’t mind staying here for the rest of my life, so please... just let my grandson go home."
I couldn’t help feeling a little sullen.
Indeed, the universe of [Arcana] was a morbid and cruel place.
To trap a grandmother and her grandson here for who knew how long...
I looked at the photograph before giving her a small smile and gently guiding her towards the next staircase.
"I promise I’ll do my best to find him. For now, though, it’s time for you to go home as well, Granny."
Unfortunately, my words didn’t seem to comfort her much.
She stared at me with her dull eyes before quietly asking,
"You said you’ll find him soon enough... But, Mr. Moon, how long is soon enough? A hundred years? A thousand?"
I fell silent.
I couldn’t give her a definite answer. I didn’t even know whether I’d be able to find her grandson, let alone get him out of this place. New chapters come out on g.com first.
Who knew how many people were trapped in this endless staircase?
For all I knew, he could be somewhere on the other side of this seemingly infinite structure.
"Everything will be alright."
I said, trying to sound reassuring.
"No one can die inside this staircase, Granny."
The old woman slowly nodded.
"Yes... I know. I’m just worried..."
She lowered her gaze toward the photograph in her hands.
"If he ever comes back... will he still be a little boy?"
I didn’t know how to answer that.
And honestly, I wasn’t sure there was anything I could say that would make her feel better.
In the end, I could only do what I had promised and help her leave this place.
After a little more persuasion, I finally managed to get her to tell me her home address.
"12 Willowmere Lane, Edinburgh, Luitem..."
I memorized the address before opening the door to her destination.
Unlike Harley, the old woman, whose name I still hadn’t learned, didn’t immediately rush toward the other side.
Instead, she approached the doorway slowly, hesitating with every step.
She kept glancing between the open door and me, as though she were afraid that everything in front of her was merely an illusion that would disappear the moment she reached out to touch it.
Eventually, she gathered her courage and stepped through.
Once she was safely on the other side, she turned around and bowed deeply in my direction.
"Thank you... Mr. Moon. Thank you for letting this old woman go home..."
I watched her for a moment before closing the door.
Hm. Strange.
If I were in their position, and some strange entity suddenly appeared out of nowhere to offer me freedom after years of being trapped in an endless staircase, I probably wouldn’t trust them so easily.
I’d suspect they were the very reason I’d ended up there in the first place.
Yet neither Harley nor this old woman had shown much suspicion toward me.
Perhaps, after years of isolation, fear and resentment eventually wore away, leaving behind nothing but exhaustion and a desperate desire to escape.
Or perhaps they had simply been trapped for so long that the possibility of someone genuinely helping them had become too precious to question.
...Well, whatever the reason, I wasn’t complaining.
I glanced at the address I’d memorized.
Edinburgh, Luitem...
That was certainly much farther away from A.E.G.I.S. International Headquarters than Harley’s address had been.
I’d keep this one in mind for when I eventually needed to leave the staircase myself.
For now, though, it wouldn’t hurt to save a few more people while I still had the chance.
With that thought in mind, I continued down the stairs.