12 O’Clock Marionette

“Gasp!”

Caught off guard by Cruello’s sudden action, I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath.

The water wasn’t even deep enough to reach half a person’s height, yet it felt strangely bottomless.

I was completely submerged.

But I didn’t have to hold out for long.

“Puhah?”

The water pressing against my body suddenly disappeared.

Rubbing my eyes with my fingers, I cautiously lifted my eyelids.

Droplets fell from my eyelashes, landing on my cheeks.

“Where is this…?”

Had there been a gate beneath the fountain?

The space around me was entirely different from the park I had just been in.

It was pitch dark, making it hard to see, yet an odd sense of familiarity crept in.

Cruello spoke.

“You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”

“Here? I… wait a minute, this place—!”

The moment he said it, I remembered.

Whipping my head around, I saw a long corridor and magical lamps scattered across the ceiling, glowing faintly.

“The information guild from before? What the hell? Why is this connected here?”@@novelbin@@

“Of course, I linked it. This guild belongs to me.”

I was at a loss for words.

Cruello stepped away from me and snapped his fingers.

The darkness vanished, and the room was instantly bathed in light, revealing the space’s full layout.

“What kind of reckless guild would dare sell my information just because someone recited a cipher?”