“Citizen Broadcast: Mercer Mansion Incident.” The amplified voice booms. “This is a city-wide alert. Security Services confirm a catastrophic event at the Mercer Mansion. Upon arrival, security units discovered extensive structural damage and, tragically, 249 fatalities.”

The broadcast continues, listing the casualties: mansion staff, security, an Astralis Table associate, and even Lawrence Mercer. Caesar Mercer remains missing. Citizens are advised to be vigilant and report anything suspicious. The broadcast repeats.

“Citizen Broadcast: Mercer Mansion Incident…”

They’re all dead?!

No way. Their wounds… they all closed when their memories were taken. How… how is this possible? How did they all die?!

My hair didn’t even flare up. It didn’t pull me into the afterlife dimension. They can’t all be dead.

A wave of dread and regret washes over me. I hurry back towards the mansion, keeping my distance as I stare at the dome.

The entire dome is completely surrounded. Some bodies have already been moved, but most are still there. Hundreds of people scream and cry on the lawns of the mansion. Their wailing rings in my ears.

Extending my senses into the dome, I carefully check each body for wounds and possible cause of death. Nothing. No blood, no wounds, nothing. I even look for common signs of poisoning. They are all dead without any visible injuries… it’s like they’re sleeping, but without a heartbeat, not breathing…

“Do you know what happened?” I ask Rexy, perched on my shoulder. She shakes her head.

“They were alive when we left, right?” I ask, desperately needing confirmation. Rexy nods reassuringly. I sigh in relief.

However, I’m immediately dragged back into the vortex of emotions. A woman cries and screams, clutching her husband. Elderly parents sob beside the body of their son. Children stare blankly at the body of their mother, not understanding.

Glimpses of the memories from the past day still linger in my consciousness. I know they were all someone’s parents, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers. For some, their entire family’s livelihood rested on their shoulders. The abyss of emotions… if it were my loved ones who had died so suddenly… I’d probably go insane.

Why… Why did this happen…? Who is responsible…? Is this blood on my hands?

“What do I do now?” I mutter to myself, slapping my hands on my face, hoping to wake up from this nightmare.

If only I’d stayed a little longer. Maybe things would be different. If only… These two words are popping into my mind way too often in this isekai.

“No, Master Caesar! Where are you?” A voice cries out.

“Why, harbingers, please protect Master Caesar.” Another calls out.

Caesar! Where is Caesar?! He isn’t among the dead. My senses scan the whole dome, even extending underground. Nothing. Caesar is not in the dome.

The dark, cloudy sky casts a long shadow over the entire dome city.

After changing my appearance again, I dash through the shadows of the city, restlessly extending my senses into every home, every corner to find traces of Caesar, but I come up empty-handed.

What went wrong? I’m sure they were alive when I left. What in the world could kill so many people so quickly? Why?! Why kill all these innocent people?! Is Caesar responsible?!

A hundred possibilities race through my mind, but none of them explain what happened. Unless there’s unintentional damage from memory extraction…

But there’s no way I could have killed them, right?

And two things still don’t add up. First, if there’s damage from memory extraction, Rexy’s perfectly fine. Second, where did Caesar go? He was the one who had the most memories extracted.

Unable to find or think of any logical explanation, I lean against a wall, sighing. “Whoever’s responsible for this…” I mutter, clenching my fist.

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As rain begins to fall outside the dome, I find myself in front of an unfamiliar building. I notice a massive sign that reads “Vault” above the reinforced-looking entrance.

What is this…? It reminds me of a certain post-apocalyptic game I played back in my teens.

This is… where Dante said Bailey left all his stuff!

After entering the building, a humanoid robot quickly approaches. “Hello, how may I assist you?” its robotic voice inquires.

“Could you tell me about this place?” I ask.

“This vault is a neutral storage facility operated and owned by the four great dynasties. No one can access the personal vaults without the owner’s permission, under any circumstances,” the robot replies. “Anything else I can help you with?”

Well, looks like I’m out of luck until I find Bailey.

On a whim, I decide to try something. “I’d like to access a vault for… Val.”

“One moment, locating client information,” the robot says, then freezes for a second. “Client found! The owner requests an answer to a security question to access the vault. How many times does one press the image of the Adamantine Bar? You have one chance. An incorrect answer will lock the vault for five years.”

This has Bailey written all over it.

“Four!” I answer without hesitation.

“Thank you. Please follow me,” the robot says in its monotone voice.

Alright, buddy. What did you leave me? Hopefully something to save your skin.

I follow the robot deeper into the building. Several checkpoints, each guarded by heavily armed human guards. The inside resembles a massive, highly secure storage room, lined with giant metallic doors.

We finally arrive at Vault B25048. Inside, hundreds of smaller storage cells fill the space. The robot opens one, retrieves the bag I left with Bailey, and hands it to me.

The robot leads me out of the vault. Leaving the vault building, I find myself with nowhere to go, so I head back to the business district to find a temporary place to stay.

A luxurious, hotel-looking building stands on the corner. I walk in and am immediately greeted by a hostess, who leads me to the front desk. I ask about a room, and she quotes me a price.

“Fifty Adite for a presidential suite?!” I stare at the elaborate decorations in the lounge. I expect it to cost way more, considering how fancy this place looks.

“Yes, would you… like that?” The woman at the front desk seems startled.

“Yes… that’ll do,” I say calmly, pretending to be high-class, of course.

She pulls out the familiar-looking card machine when I request the presidential suite. Ding!

I wonder how much I have left. I probably blew a fortune at the bar during that whole Dante fiasco.

Reaching my room—a full-on loft, no less—I promptly collapse onto the bed. Oh my god! Even though this body is practically an indestructible cage, the moment the mattress embraces me, I feel overwhelmingly emotional today. Rexy curls up on a nearby pillow.

I haven’t experienced this level of desperation since… well, since my reincarnation. Even though my body doesn’t technically need sleep, I’ve discovered my mind definitely needs a break.

Lying there, my thoughts begin to drift. My consciousness slips away, and before I know it, I’m blinking awake. It’s late afternoon.

I actually fell asleep… That’s the first time since, you know, being reborn and all. I guess this is really happening. Not a dream.

Carefully getting up—Rexy’s still fast asleep—I tiptoe over to the table and rummage through my bag.

There they are. Two massive bars of Adamantine. Still safe and sound. Bailey even thoughtfully packed some clothes for me. And finally, two things that definitely weren’t there before: a notebook and a letter from Bailey.

____________________________________________________________________________

Howdy Val,

Knew you'd pull through! Since this is the closest town, I left your gear here. Asked a pal to keep an eye out for ya, not sure if you two crossed paths.

Anyways, looks like I've got someone on my tail, so I gotta make a quick getaway. That's why I stashed your things in the Vault – gotta travel light, you see.

I made a copy of Master Keyser's notes for ya. The real deal's given off some kind of radiation, too dangerous to keep in the Vault, they said, so I'm finding another spot for it.

Not sure which way I'll go just yet, gotta shake this fella tailing me. But I'm planning on heading towards Crythala. If you happen to be heading that way or nowhere else to go yourself, maybe we can meet up there.

Been right glad to have met ya, and I'm hopin' we'll cross paths again soon. Haven't forgotten about that meal I owe ya, nor the promise to travel together!

Best,

Bailey

__________________________________________________________________________

What a useless letter! How am I supposed to help him if that’s all he left me with?!

I read the letter a couple more times, hoping for some hidden message or maybe even invisible ink. I even held it up to the light. Nope. Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all.

As the sunlight starts to fade outside, Rexy finally wakes up and crawls up onto my shoulder again. She must have had a good nap.

After discreetly securing all my belongings—including the Adamantine bars and a little pocket home for Rexy, courtesy of my handy nanobots—I leave the hotel.

The plan to befriend Lawrence is no longer an option. No matter how much I hate to get more involved with Raven, she’s the only person left who might have some answers.

Wilfred waits diligently outside the auction house, clearly expecting me.