Chapter 13. Rollar Coaster
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Peter was walking in darkness.
He was underground now.
From up ahead came the sound of a lighter being opened and closed, click, click.
“Stop.”
A man with a rough face stood there.
“State your name.”
Peter Garrett shrugged and answered:
“Peter.”
“Did you receive an invitation?”
At that question, Peter pointed to the bag slung over his shoulder with an exaggerated gesture.
“Well, you know me. I’m always the welcome letter carrier.”
The way he wrinkled his freckled nose bridge looked quite cute.
But the doorkeeper frowned as if he had seen something unseemly.
“…Go in.”
“Why do you always put on airs, Joaquin? When you pretend not to know me, it just makes me want to tease you more.”
Peter grinned.
Joaquin snapped back, unconcerned with Peter’s sociable attitude:
“Get lost.”
Peter shrugged and walked inside.
Joaquin would wait for the next attendee, intimidating them while showing off his stylish Zippo lighter and shoulder tattoo. That was what he lived for.
As for Peter, he didn’t particularly like Joaquin.
‘We’re all in the same boat, what’s the point of acting high and mighty?’
The pipe seemed to stretch endlessly. However, after passing the iron door Joaquin was guarding, sounds of singing and boisterous conversation could be heard from a distance.
Long ago, illegal immigrants who arrived in the Spring Continent discovered a path underground.
Climbing down a half-broken ladder, they found cylindrical pipes wide enough for several people to walk through, stretching endlessly. Water flowed in the middle, but there were paths on either side.
Though parts had collapsed, the immigrants repaired them as they moved and discovered a wide open space deep inside.
According to records found throughout the connected pipes, it seemed these had been used as underground waterways long ago.
But now, the Barrel Society’s flea market was being held here.
Bright orange lighting that was almost painful to the eyes created a vibrant atmosphere.
The illegal immigrants had gone to various places but couldn’t easily belong anywhere.
Some couldn’t forget their homelands, and many were rejected in the places they settled.
For them, both good times and bad times had become nostalgic.
When these people, who had left with determined hearts, began to waver, they first opened this “flea market.”
They displayed items they had brought from their homelands and held a festival.
Given everyone’s circumstances, it was mainly bartering. The flea market had been held consistently from when it first started until now.
Peter had once traded old canned food that probably tasted like metal here.
‘Back then, I missed the taste of that food in spicy broth.’
Now, as he passed the canned food stalls that he could afford to buy several of and moved deeper inside, people recognized Peter and greeted him from all around.
“Peter. It’s been a while since you attended.”
“Hello, Mari.”
“You’re not surrounded by kids today, Peter.”
“I’m not on babysitting duty every day, you know.”
“Peter. Peter. They’re selling interesting plants over there.”
“Hey, Laura. As I’ve told you many times, I’m only interested in edible crops.”
“Ah! Peter’s here. Do you happen to have plans to go to the Autumn Continent?”
“If you want me to deliver a letter, give it to me now, Julius.”
Peter received all kinds of welcome as he crossed the flea market.
Of course, very few people knew that he was the “locksmith.” Still, word had spread that Peter delivered letters to families living far away. Some even called him the postman or the letter delivery boy.
That was a nickname Peter really liked. To the extent that he thought if, later, much later, when the world no longer needed the Barrel Society to exist, he would retire and become a postman.
“P-Peter…”
A small hand grabbed the hem of Peter’s clothes as he was passing by a stall, deep in thought.
He stopped abruptly and immediately bent down.
“Gianni? Have you been well?”
The young girl nodded her head repeatedly. This child’s parents both had to work, so she was often left alone. In the Barrel Society, there were many children in similar situations to Gianni.
No matter which continent, people had to work to make a living. Illegal immigrants needed to build new foundations in a new place, which meant they had to earn money without rest.
‘If only their wages weren’t so cut, things would be better than this.’
Peter thought bitterly as he stroked Gianni’s hair.
“Why are you alone today?”
Children in similar situations usually stuck together, but for some reason, she was alone today.
“A-Andy… said let’s play hide and seek.”
“Hide and seek?”
Peter slightly wrinkled his nose. From the circumstances, it seemed Andy was trying to tease Gianni again. Andy enjoyed bullying and teasing the timid Gianni. Despite being scolded and reasoned with, he showed no signs of changing.
“I-I’m it. Everyone’s hidden, and I can’t find them.”
Gianni hung her head and her shoulders trembled. As Peter tried to comfort her gently, the child looked at him and said in a desperate voice:
“Can you help me find them?”
“Hmm. Well…”
Peter contemplated.
He had come to the flea market because of a new guiding drug called “Fake Guide.”
If what the guiding establishment employee Chris had found said was true, if there was a drug that could make an ordinary person appear like a Guide…
‘If this spreads widely, the situation for illegal immigrants will worsen.’
It was clear they would be pushed into establishments, not being told to work hard because they had no money, but to sell guiding instead.
Peter planned to check the drugs circulating within the Barrel Society first.
Not all illegal immigrants lived honestly. Some became involved in crime. When no one in the light would accept them and they would only face rejection despite a lifetime of labor, they eventually turned to the shadows.
The Barrel Society, after much wavering, decided to turn a blind eye to everything except selling out “comrades.”
Therefore, it was inevitable that some people dealing in illegal items would hide in corners of this flea market.
Peter glanced beyond with a look tinged with regret, then said to Gianni:
“I’ll find them quickly for you.”
Regardless of Peter’s purpose, it would be enough to find them quickly and then attend to his business. The flea market continued for up to three days at most.
So what great trouble would it cause to spend about thirty minutes?
“This way, this way.”
Gianni led Peter. They passed mountains of precariously stacked goods, hangers full of secondhand clothes, and appetizing stews cooked with ingredients of questionable origin.
“You said hide and seek, but we’re going quite far.”
“W-well, adults don’t like us playing over there…”
Gianni mumbled in response. Peter nodded in understanding.
While some people are generous to children, there are also those who take out the fatigue of their difficult lives on these little ones.
‘…It seems they’re acting up again while I’ve been busy moving around.’
He could just give them a quick scolding before leaving.
“It’s here!”
Gianni approached one of the pipes connected to the open space. Just as Peter was being pulled along, unable to resist without using force, Gianni suddenly shouted:
“I-I brought him! Peter b-brother. Give Andy and the other children back!”
Suddenly, his instincts screamed from his nerve endings.
This sense of danger rising from his spine.
“Duck!”
Peter wrapped his entire body around Gianni.
BANG!
BOOM!
With a thunderous noise, an acrid smell hit them. Raising his head while hiding Gianni behind him, Peter saw the flea market engulfed in red flames.
“Kyaaah!”
“Help!”
“Here, Meredith is trapped here!”
“Fire, fire!”
The screams and groans of people were mixed together. Amidst this chaos, a second explosion occurred.
BOOM!
The wooden boxes that the flea market vendors had stacked exploded in all directions, spraying flames.
“Gianni. Hold tight.”
He couldn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be a third or fourth explosion.
Having assessed the situation, Peter immediately ran and opened a “door.”
“Everyone evacuate this way!”
He pushed Gianni through to the other side first. Seeing this, people hesitated, afraid that the black hole might swallow them.
But when something cracked behind them with an acrid black smoke approaching, they closed their eyes tightly and jumped in.
Peter wiped his forehead.
No matter how loudly he shouted, not everyone could hear his cries in this chaos.
“Please stay here and guide people to go through this door.”
“Y-you want me to stay?”
Hearing the question from someone who was just about to step into the door, Peter gritted his teeth.
“Anyone.”
“Go. I’ll stay.”
Mari, who had torn her skirt, pushed her companion’s back. She shouted loudly:
“Come this way! Go through this door! You can cross to a safe place! Two o’clock direction!”
After confirming that people nearby were frantically going through the door, Peter dashed toward the fire.
“I’m counting on you.”
At those words, Mari nodded slightly. Her look suggested that an explanation would be needed, but given the circumstances, she would let it go this time.
“A transportation door has been created at the two o’clock direction waterway! Run away!”
“My father is trapped here!”
Peter drew a circle under the collapsed pillar. There was a sound of the pillar sliding with a creak.
“Quickly pull him out!”
Cold sweat instantly soaked his brow. Three strong men immediately jumped in and pulled out the old man. The young man hastily carried his father on his back and tried to thank Peter.
“Door at two o’clock direction!”
“Got it, Peter.”
Leaving the young man who had answered instead of thanking him, Peter started running again.
“No, no.”
He saw a merchant frantically gathering their belongings inside their stall instead of fleeing. The sight of them struggling, picking up their pockets, then boxes, trying to somehow save everything, tugged at his heart.
“Mrs. Grandis, run away quickly! There’s a door open at the two o’clock direction that leads to a safe zone!”
“N-no. I took out a loan. If I can’t repay it, I’ll die anyway…!”
“Please.”
At Peter’s plea, the middle-aged woman dropped her pocket, her face wet with tears.
“…I don’t want to start all over again.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
