Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 110

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 110. The Sephiroth Magician – The Laughing Murderer (4)

Upon entering the Corpse Storage Facility, the Morgue Manager remained absorbed in his reading, unaware of our presence.
The mask’s perception-inhibiting ability was responsible for this.
When I touched the mask and deactivated the perception-inhibiting magic, the Morgue Manager finally noticed us and jumped in surprise.
“We are Shadow. We’ve come regarding the disposal of the aberrant monster known as the Murderous Clown. The victim’s corpse should still be preserved, correct?”
At my words, the Morgue Manager nodded nervously.
“O-of course. I never expected Shadow to visit… Ah, allow me to guide you.”
The Morgue Manager retrieved a key from a drawer and led us to where the corpses were kept.
The mortuary chamber, filled with a cold so intense it was almost painful, contained corpse storage units arranged like cabinets in rows, exactly as one would see in a film.
“Let’s examine the most recent victim first.”
At my words, the Morgue Manager checked some documents, then pulled open a drawer located in a corner.
A corpse storage bag emerged from within, and when I unzipped it, puncture and laceration wounds from a dagger were immediately visible.
When I became a mercenary, I thought I’d simply be hunting down aberrant monsters, but I never imagined I’d end up examining human corpses like this.
I couldn’t tell if this was mercenary work or detective work.
“Let me see… there’s no magical energy present.”
At my words, the Morgue Manager’s pupils trembled.
“Let’s examine one more corpse.”
“Th-that other corpse has already been laid to rest at the victim’s request—gack!”
Andromallius seized the Morgue Manager by the throat.
“Are you unaware that corpses of those killed by aberrant monsters must be preserved and stored until the aberrant monster is eliminated?”
“Ack! Hack! Hack!”
As the Morgue Manager struggled for breath, Andromallius released his grip.
“Y-you can’t use violence against a civil servant, no matter if you’re a city contractor—aaaah!”
Andromallius shot the Morgue Manager’s thigh with a mana pistol.
While mana pistols are said to have less power and range than rifles, they still pack considerable force as firearms.
Though blood flowed, the fact that he wasn’t penetrated suggested Andromallius had controlled the mana bullet’s power.
Mana bullets could be fired gently enough to cause no pain at all.
“Now, a question: why do you think I attacked this man?”
“Because he’s either harboring the Murderous Clown, or he’s helping someone who’s harboring him in exchange for bribes?”
“Correct. Since harboring aberrant monsters is the greatest taboo in the City, in such cases we have the authority to interrogate criminals by any means necessary.”
At Andromallius’s words, the Morgue Manager cried out desperately.
“I-I’m a third-class citizen! Even if I’m in a place like this, I’m a third-class citizen!”
“For your information, Shadow has the authority to execute citizens of second-class and below when justified cause exists. Of course, justified cause is required, but when it doesn’t exist, we sometimes fabricate one and execute them anyway.”
At those words, I spoke to him through magic so only he could hear.
-Isn’t that impossible for our Family?
The authority “False Judgment” carries the risk of being unable to lie while using the ability, but the essential authority “Scale of Sin” prevents one from committing evil deeds ordinarily.
The “Scale of Sin” authority weighs one’s own sins against the target’s sins on a scale, imposing various debuffs and restrictions on whichever side bears greater sin.
Naturally, the fewer misdeeds one accumulated in daily life, the more advantageous it became—which meant the Andromallius Family had to live morally.
If the Scale of Sin were ever cast upon an innocent person, the user himself could end up afflicted with a debuff instead, and the greater the disparity in sin, the more devastating the debuff could become.
There were even cases where the target’s sin ran so deep that using the Scale of Sin would kill them outright, and this ability was essentially the natural predator of Berial, one of the other 72 Shadows.
After all, Berial’s risk required committing “misdeeds” as a necessity.
That was why Berial was so desperate to kill Andromallius.
Andromallius answered through magic as if it were nothing.
-But this person doesn’t know that.
While lies were sins, depending on the target and the reason and method of their use, they could transform into virtuous acts rather than transgressions.
The servile magic “Andromallius” possessed far more flexibility than one might expect.
-And I’m not speaking without basis. When necessary, the other Shadows often employ such methods as well.
The manager trembled with a face twisted in fear, gasping through the pain.
“Actually, this makes things easier. If the traces had been erased at the scene, it would be different, but the fact that this corpse—difficult to clean up—was disposed of so quickly suggests this person is connected to the incident.”
Golden light flickered in Andromallius’s eyes.
He activated lie detection.
Though the mask had no eye holes, one could perceive the gaze—because a person’s eyes were a crucial means of communication.
This mask served as both an identification badge for the Shadows and as a supplementary magical device equipped with night vision, photographic capabilities, and telescopic functions.
I questioned the manager.
“Did you erase the traces?”
At my question, the manager shook his head, his face drained of all color.
“N-No!”
Andromallius nodded. He was speaking the truth.
“Do you know who erased the traces from this corpse?”
“…I don’t know.”
“That’s partially false.”
At Andromallius’s words, I rephrased my question.
“Do you have any suspicions about who it might be?”
“….”
As silence fell, Andromallius fired the pistol holstered at his thigh once more.
“Ahhh!”
This time, with increased force, the bullet pierced clean through the leg.
“Answer.”
“I don’t know! No, I mustn’t know! Please, save me! I beg you, save me!”
At the manager’s pleas, Andromallius spoke as if enraged.
“If you wish to live, answer. Otherwise, I have no choice but to kill you and interrogate your soul. Your sin is not yet so deep. So seize this opportunity while it’s offered.”
Andromallius even invoked the Scale of Sin to apply pressure.
Wait—he was using lie detection while saying he’d have to kill him and interrogate his soul?
That means he’s serious!
“Hey, Manager. This person is serious, so I think it’s best you just answer honestly. But your sin level exceeds ten thousand—is that really not considered deep?”
The Scale of Sin possessed an ability to quantify the target’s sin as a numerical value.
Before activating the ability, one could observe the target’s sin and use it if their sin score exceeded one’s own, and the Corpse Storage Facility Manager’s sin as measured by the Scale of Sin registered at a score of “10,210.”
Isn’t a five-digit number quite substantial?
“This is actually on the lower end. Most of these points likely accumulated from cooperating with those harboring the Murderous Clown. His cooperation delayed the suppression of the Murderous Clown, and the sin deepened proportionally to the mounting death toll that resulted.”
Indeed, this score reflects indirect murders as well. Such knowledge could only be gained through experience.
“Even though he accepted bribes and kickbacks, they didn’t result in deaths or despair severe enough to warrant a higher score. Of course, the accurate assessment is that he lacked both the power and capability to cause such harm.”
What corruption could a Morgue Manager possibly commit?
At best, he’d squeeze money from grieving families.
Those living comfortably in ambiguous circumstances rarely commit grave sins.
A person of power can plunge countless souls into misery with a single careless word, while the impoverished, living hellish lives day after day, become too worn to feel guilt.
But the common citizen has limits—their vessel is too small. When they commit sin, conscience and remorse still live within them.
“Regardless, this score is sufficient to warrant punishment.”
The Morgue Manager, weighed by the scale of sin, broke into cold sweat and seemed to struggle even breathing.
Andromallius’s sin score was negative.
Setting aside his typically naive—or rather, benevolent—nature, it was natural given his consistent charitable donations and good deeds.
When Andromallius brought his revolver to the center of the manager’s brow, the man cried out in terror.
“Spare me! I’ll talk! Please spare me!”
“Speak.”
When the manager hesitated again, I put another hole through his thigh and continued.
“You have ten seconds. Ten, nine, eight….”
“The Magic Tower! It was the Magic Tower!”
At those words, I tensed and looked toward Andromallius.
The 33 Magic Tower was the ruler of this city.
Even as Shadow operatives, we couldn’t easily interfere with the Magic Tower’s affairs.
But Andromallius spoke without concern.
“Interesting. So you truly believe that.”
“What? It wasn’t the Magic Tower?”
To my question, Andromallius replied calmly.
“Don’t worry. The Magic Tower doesn’t operate so sloppily. In cases like this, impersonation is far more likely. Even if it were a Magic Tower affiliate, it would probably be an individual’s deviation from protocol.”
Besides, if the Magic Tower were behind this, the Andromallius Family wouldn’t have received this contract in the first place.
The Magic Tower knew well the nature of the servile magic ‘Andromallius’.
“If it’s an individual’s deviation, we could execute them based on circumstances and field judgment, but ideally, we should capture them alive and hand them over to the Magic Tower.”
“Would there be problems if we killed them?”
“No. They’d receive proper punishment that way. The only ones we cannot handle are first-class citizens or high-ranking Magic Tower officials.”
High-ranking Magic Tower officials received first-class citizen status, making their positions essentially equivalent.
For reference, bloodline inheritance of status only extended to second-class citizens.
First-class citizenship was granted according to the needs of the Magic Tower and the city’s upper echelon.
Those in the Magic Tower who failed to reach executive rank were mere cogs in society’s machine.
They were treated as replaceable parts—a world where status mattered little, good or bad.
“So what now? Should we continue patrolling?”
“To prevent further victims, it would be best to….”
As I spoke, Andromallius turned his head toward the entrance.
“Unfortunately, it seems we no longer need to wait.”
While we were here, the Murderous Clown resumed his activities, and a confirmed victim was sent to this facility.
Using magic to observe outside the building, I saw the Delivery Person toss the bag containing the victim’s corpse as if handling mere cargo, then drag it inside on a cart.
“Delivery. I need your signature here….”
The Delivery Person froze upon seeing the Morgue Manager crawling across the floor with blood streaming down his legs, and us in black clothing so concealing that not a patch of skin showed, masks covering our faces—then, without even screaming, he simply bolted away.
Is this how people survive in this dystopian city?
“Let’s examine the victim first. Fortunately, it appears the Murderous Clown hasn’t yet erased the magical traces.”
Even without opening the bag, an alien magical aura rippled from within the corpse bag.
After examining the interior, I turned away with a dry heave.
“Ugh!”
The victim’s condition was absolutely horrific.
Andromallius, understanding my distress, patted my shoulder and spoke.
“Let’s catch the clown quickly so no more victims appear.”
I withdrew a complex magical artifact resembling an electronic dictionary—a Device—and extracted the magical essence.
Then I immediately cast a wide-range detection spell.
“I’m picking up a signal 1200 meters from here.”
The movement speed was quite fast.
Andromallius withdrew the Scale of Sin from the Morgue Manager, who was clutching his leg, and spoke.
“You were fortunate. There are still things I need to hear from you. I’ll return shortly, so don’t run away. Otherwise, I’ll have you hunted down and arrested.”
At Andromallius’s words, the Morgue Manager nodded vigorously, tears streaming down his face from the pain.
For a mere Class 3 citizen, he’d apparently learned magic and even treated his own leg wound.
Leaving the Morgue Manager behind, I headed outside to pursue the aberrant monster—the Murderous Clown.

(Continued in the next chapter)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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