Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Chapter 42: A Corner of the Truth

Nora silently lowered her head.

It seemed the enemy was even more troublesome than she had imagined.

Nora tightened her grip on the flail in her hand. She had originally thought she would witness a gathering of cultists, and at most, she might have to deal with one or two sea monsters.

However, she never expected that this place would be filled entirely with monsters.

She closed her eyes in despair. Could she really accomplish her original goal?

Even though she was a Burier and had brought all her equipment, facing this number of monsters...

And Hughes had actually released them.

That madman! Did he not realize these creatures had no sanity?

What am I thinking? Cultists are madmen to begin with.

Nora gritted her teeth and tried to press her back against the rocky wall.

She believed she understood Hughes' intentions now. The monster before her was merely a test.

Only by defeating it would she qualify to negotiate with him.

Damn cult leader!

Nora raised her tower shield, waiting for an attack that never came.

She cautiously moved the shield aside a little, using her peripheral vision to observe the creature's movements.

She was wearing the thickest Bone-White Raven heavy armor, and she had brought a shield used only for charging.

She was confident she could take any attack head-on, even from that massive creature.

If it’s just one...

No problem. I will win.

Nora encouraged herself.

At that moment, the voice of the six-armed creature came from above her. "Hello, my name is Ash."

It spoke?

This, how was this possible? Did it still retain its sanity?

Impossible. It was a monster from the sea.

Nora gripped her shield tighter, but the expected attack never came.

She hesitated. After a long moment, she slightly moved her shield aside.

When she removed the tower shield, the first thing she saw was Ash’s slightly puzzled face.

Seeing Nora remain motionless, Ash decided to crouch down to talk to her.

Just as he was about to speak, Ash suddenly looked at the smoke drifting beside him in surprise. He sniffed the air and took a deep breath.

"Smells so good, like the seagrass in coral reefs... Hmm, what do you need to know? About pollution? Or about the Abyssal Trench below?"

Nora froze. Only then did she realize that her censer was still burning.

She looked at the censer, then at Ash.

"Not polluted!?"

Ash gave her a strange look and nodded. "Yes, only Monica has been polluted among us."

She had been crouching for a long time and was a bit tired, so she straightened up again.

Her towering figure blocked the distant view of the sunset over the sea.

Nora dazedly looked up at Ash as he stood up. Then—

Clang!

The back of her helmet knocked against her armor.

Annoyed, Nora removed her helmet. She looked at Ash, full of doubt. Logic told her that the purification censer wouldn't make mistakes, and the other party didn’t seem to have lost his sanity. But she simply couldn’t understand.

Biting her lip, Nora couldn't help but ask, "How have you remained unpolluted?"

Ash looked at her in confusion, stepped aside, and pointed at Monica. "Only she has been polluted. We are fine. The only one who needs your treatment is her."

Nora glanced at Ash. No matter how she looked, she couldn’t see madness or brutality in her eyes—only bewilderment?

"This is impossible."

Nora took a deep breath of the censer’s purifying smoke. Hmm, a sweet orange scent.

When she looked up again, everything was still the same.

Could all of this be real?

This creature from the sea wasn’t insane? It was even... friendly?

No, no, something must be wrong.

A sudden panic surged in Nora's heart. She carefully turned around, watching Ash warily as she slowly backed toward the sea.

The flail swung, spreading the smoke. As it touched the seawater, the smoke seeped in like coffee powder dissolving in a cup.

The Sirens exchanged glances. Although they looked hesitant, they did not avoid it.

As the smoke dispersed into the sea, it spread around the Sirens.

"Hmm, it smells a bit like sweet shrimp."

"No, only pearls from giant clams have this scent!"

"This is clearly the smell of sunlight in coral!"

The Sirens began quietly arguing. Their opinions varied, but they all agreed it was a pleasant fragrance.

Hughes stood to the side, looking at the scene with a strange expression.

How bizarre. Can scents even be perceived underwater?

He wondered absentmindedly. Although Nora’s behavior was odd, he didn’t stop her.

He knew this was her method of dealing with pollution.

The first time he met Nora, the censer had conveyed similar knowledge into his mind.

Wait, could that be a missionary censer?

Hughes glanced at Nora’s flail with an odd expression.

Swinging a flail to hammer doctrine into someone's brain, this counts as preaching?

Well, it certainly worked. At least Hughes had learned quite a bit about the Silent Sanctum now.

If only the process were a bit gentler...

As he watched the Sirens quietly discussing, Hughes’ eyes suddenly lit up.

He noticed that the pollution on Monica was slowly halting.

The black, leech-like substance that had been wriggling nonstop now seemed to be frozen in ice water, gradually ceasing its movement.

Monica’s face also showed a hint of pain.

It worked!

As expected of a Burier from the Silent Sanctum, she really could counteract pollution!

"Look!"

"Monica seems to be getting better!"

"Look at the pollution on her!"

"The pollution... it's retreating!"

"It actually worked! Land-based treatments are so strange!"

The Sirens began looking at Nora’s flail and tower shield with reverence.

Although they looked unusual, they had actually proven effective.

Nora blushed. She now felt like her vigilance had been a joke.

She had calmed down and looked Ash and the Sirens over, pausing for a moment on their scales before finally turning to Hughes. "They come from the sea? They’ve always lived in the ocean?"

"Yes," Hughes replied, also sensing that something was off. "Recently, pollution has appeared in the sea, driving creatures insane, so I came—"

"You said the sea has been polluted?"

"Yes, look at Monica. Her body—"

"I know," Nora interrupted, her expression incredibly complex, as if she had just realized something inconceivable.

She seemed to want to say something but hesitated, finding it too unbelievable.

Even Hughes and the Sirens sensed her strange emotions.

"I know Monica is polluted. I also know the sea is polluted."

Hughes and Ash exchanged confused looks.

But Nora’s next words left them completely stunned.

"But this pollution has lasted for over a thousand years."