Chapter 37: The Dark Young

In the room surrounded by books, the oil lamp on the long wooden table flickered with a yellowish light. Four people—Prinn, Salser, Jeanne, and Astolfo—were engaged in conversation. The main speakers were Salser and Prinn, a dark wizard from an unknown school, but clearly not of the Demonology school, generously handed Salser the book 'De Vermis Mysteriis' and sat on a long bench to chat with the Dark wizard. Salser, still in his demonic form, sat on the other side of the table, facing the owner of the room. He took the book he had just requested but didn't rush to record or read it, instead inquiring about the city's situation. Jeanne sat to Salser's right, her golden eyes scrutinizing the person across from her, frowning. Salser had just informed her through the spiritual tentacles that this person was also a dark wizard, so she was somewhat displeased.

As for Astolfo, he sat to Salser's left, fiddling with a mechanical puppet, occasionally looking up to listen to their conversation. Prinn told them that this item was left behind by other residents of the city, representing the memories lost during the assimilation with the city.

"This isn't someone's dream," Prinn poured them some water, "This world is layered, and Zobeide City is just one of those layers. Honestly, I don't know where its upper layer is, but this city has indeed existed for a very, very long time. If my guess is correct, it should have appeared at the same time as that peculiar doll."

"Where do you think that doll comes from?"

"I believe she comes from another world," Prinn said, "Do you remember the history of the First Empire's disintegration due to the emperor's magic experiments?"

"Of course I remember, but didn't you forget everything about the past?" Salser looked at him with considerable suspicion.

"I indeed forgot everything about the past, however, the books I collected record some historical events," he explained with a somewhat sorrowful expression, "Let me briefly explain my understanding. Mister, after the Outer Gods and their servants, like the past gray elves and dark elves, invaded our world, some fragile beings and races completely perished in the war; some built their own Warrens after leaving reality—like the dragons did when they created the first Warren; and there are also some great beings that were not dragged into our world but curiously extended their tentacles here, like the God of a Thousand Forms, you understand, right? As for the Moon Goddess—or the controller of this Warren itself, I found that it did not appear in the war history after the disintegration of the First Empire. Why? I believe it, like this Warren, was created by Nyarlathotep, it's just a manager."

"How do you confirm that this Warren was created by the God of a Thousand Forms?" Salser was somewhat stunned, and the next sentence he sent directly through his spiritual tentacle—to avoid Astolfo hearing: "The research materials about it among our dark wizards are very scarce."

"I once made a doll that resembled the lady in my dream," Prinn said with a wry smile, "Then she was possessed—directly by the God of a Thousand Forms, it seemed to find that body quite good and decided to use her as a new incarnation. So, what was in front of me changed from a beautiful doll to a nightmare that made my hair stand on end with every word. As a reward, it gave me some information—including: this is a Warren it built imitating a so-called Dream Mirror; also, it can help me recover my past memories, but it will destroy everything I had in the past at the same time; finally, I cannot leave here unless I am willing to completely abandon reason and transform into a Moon Beast, a race of sadists."

He seemed to still harbor fears about it. His voice was calm, but there was a frightening tremble. He continued, "You have no idea what a bizarre thing it was, it just stood up in that fragile doll's body and looked at me, speaking in a soft, intoxicating female voice; but every word, every sentence, its language and its existence itself, all made me see a pitch-black illusion beyond imagination, made me feel that every inch of my body was rotting and molding repeatedly, even my five fingers were filled with wriggling maggots. After it completely left, I had nightmares for over a month."

Prinn emphasized the words 'rotting' and 'maggots'.

It seems that even the most rational Outer God is difficult to communicate with...

Salser fell silent for a while.

"What about the doll?"

"After that, I never tried to make a doll again," Prinn said, "As for the doll in my dream, I had several conversations with her in that cemetery. She claimed to miss a place called Yharnam, she also told me that her creator was an old man named Gehrman, her original model was a woman named Maria, and at the same time, she is now a servant of the Moon Goddess."

"Truth above, don't mention that Yharnam to me, I don't care about Maria or anything like that, I don't want to fall into another dream city," he added, "Are the people in this city all like you?"

"Actually, they are quite different," Prinn's voice remained calm, "My sanity is thanks to my wife, but most of the fallen in this city are close to madness."

"Wife... are you joking with me?" Salser picked up the water glass on the table, he was irrefutable, "How could human emotions withstand the pollution of an Outer God?"

"I agree with you..." he seemed quite patient, "However, she's not entirely..."

Prinn paused for a while, he didn't continue speaking, just shook the wind chime hanging on the side of the table.

After a while, a person came down the stairs from the second floor and walked towards Prinn.

It was a delicate, pale girl as docile as a lily.

She had a pair of beautiful emerald green eyes, an innocent expression, and smooth, waist-length hair like the tender sprouts of early spring grass, carrying a faint fragrance, casually falling over her bare shoulders.

She wore only a thin white dress, her delicate feet stepping directly on the ground.

She curiously looked around at the three visiting guests but didn't say anything, just quietly sat down—next to Prinn.

She looked quite young, about thirteen or fourteen years old, but her face showed no childishness.

Salser almost spat out a mouthful of water.

Jeanne didn't react much, Astolfo's gaze shifted from the mechanical puppet in his hand to this incredible pair, his eyes started to sparkle again.

But Salser was different, in the perception of a dark wizard—that thing was definitely not a little girl.

He connected the spiritual tentacle to Prinn, "Truth above—is this a Dark Young? How did you get involved with a Dark Young? Is your wife this Dark Young?"

"Yes, yes, you are right," Prinn sighed, "I really don't know what happened in my past, but after I was summoned by the Moon Goddess and assimilated with Zobeide City, when I was almost becoming a mad Moon Beast, when I mechanically day after day repeated the construction of this city, it was Saya who brought my books here to find me, allowing me to barely regain some sanity."

Prinn reached out and stroked Saya's head, she squinted her eyes, looking quite enjoying it, though not quite like the enjoyment a child would show.

"Sounds beautiful," Salser swallowed the water in his mouth, he couldn't refute this. He sent another message to Prinn through the spiritual tentacle, but the content didn't sound very harmonious, "I once named my Deep One Rick, but it probably won't come here to find me, after all, it only has the intelligence of a wild boar."

Translator's note:

The Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, sometimes abbreviated simply to Dark Young, are a fictional species that first appeared in the short story "Notebook Found in a Deserted House", by Robert Bloch, although the story's narrator refers to them as "shoggoths". Their name originates from the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu.

Yes, and Saya, it's that 'Saya'...

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