“Please explain, Rex. Even though we set out on a mission to rescue the Nameless, why did you prioritize battle over rescue?”
“······.”
This must be what they mean by going crazy and jumping around.
With his head bowed before the Priestess, Rex had to think hard to choose his words.
Well, the truth is, while fighting, I got excited because the opponent’s skill seemed extraordinary?
I thought if I missed this opportunity, I’d never grasp the Martial Arts Secrets, so I couldn’t help myself?
No matter how I think about it, it all sounds like excuses.
And it was indeed an excuse.
“It was a result of acting on instinct.”
“······.”
But it couldn’t be helped.
At that moment, it just felt like I had to act.
It wasn’t a hasty decision led by the thrill or impulse of battle.
Rex, deciding this was a chance to reveal the identity of the unseen opponent, charged forward, but only ended up empty-handed.
Or maybe it wasn’t empty-handed after all.
Memories were wiped again.
Once more, someone had played a prank.
In other words, something monumental had happened in between that warranted erasure.
This was definitely the truth.
Even now, after causing a ruckus, Rex still thought this way.
“Sigh······.”
Faced with the confident Rex, Mia could only place her hand on her head in silence.
Certainly, Rex’s instincts were sharp in certain aspects.
Prior report after action.
The alliance was operating such a system only for the executives.
They were appointed based on trust, and having appointed them, one must trust them.
Whether Rex’s instincts were right or wrong, until the conclusion was fully drawn, they could not be ignored.
The water had already been spilled.
The fact that all memories of those present here were cut off for about a second after Rex made the mess was true, so it was better to focus on the changes that occurred in the meantime.
“Mana Stone. And capturing the Great Demon······.”
As the screams of the Great Demon beyond the door turned into mumbles, Mia sighed deeply again.
The events that occurred in that brief moment were as follows.
First, the unknown enemy facing Rex and the Nameless opened a space and teleported.
Second, a black Mana Stone appeared in Rex’s hand, without him knowing when he had grabbed it.
And third, the Great Demon was stuck in some sword, embedded in the ground······.
“Ah. I really have no idea what happened······.”
With her hands covering her face, Mia turned her head slightly.
Now that she thought about it, there was something she had to do.
“Linda. Please erase all records pertaining to today for now. It has to be designated as top secret and kept as handwritten documents.”
[Yes. Understood.]
After commanding data deletion, Mia spun around and sat back down on her chair.
Honestly, it was a series of events full of mysteries.
Just a few hours ago, she had been anxiously wondering what the Great Demon was scheming by landing.
Now, the Great Demon was being captured in a pathetic state, undergoing vicious interrogations by the Frost Duchess, creating an enormous disconnect.
And what was this Mana Stone?
The Frost Duchess clearly said it was something Yoo Jin carried around, but Mia couldn’t believe it at all.
After all, the Frost Duchess was the very woman Yoo Jin was repulsed by and kept avoiding.
How could she conclude this was Yoo Jin’s just by sniffing the appearance and scent of a Mana Stone she had seen only for a few days over three years ago?
‘Sorry to say, but the chances of this being a misunderstanding are high.’
It’s something she wouldn’t say out loud, but it was likely the Frost Duchess was mistaken.
That person wasn’t the kind to remember everything perfectly just because she’d seen it once; that sounded absurd.
Of course, even if it wasn’t Yoo Jin’s Mana Stone, something about it was definitely suspicious.
A Mana Stone that appeared just when everyone’s memories were erased?
Could there be anything more suspicious than this in the world?
“Um······.”
Looking at it like this, she was reminded of Yoo Jin, who had vanished without leaving a corpse.
Suddenly disappearing means he could appear unexpectedly, right?
This sense of expectation was truly rare.
During the first year after Yoo Jin’s disappearance, she hardly slept a wink each day, inflated with hope.
Wondering if he might return alive.
With a growling stomach, thinking perhaps he’d come back with a casual smile, asking what there was to eat when he was hungry?
But as the second year rolled around and then the third, that hope gradually flickered out.
The only one left who could still joyfully talk about the “What if Yoo Jin came back~” was the Priestess.
No, that person was someone who seemed like she might soon wither up and hang herself if she didn’t manage to deceive herself with such tales.
As for Mia······.
“Ugh.”
“Priestess, have you caught a cold?”
“It’s nothing like that. Soon, the Priestess will issue a decree, so as soon as we receive it, let’s search for the Nameless and that unknown enemy within the alliance’s influence. They must certainly be caught if they are inside the current world.”
“Yes. I’ll do that.”
Mia forcibly swallowed her tears.
She couldn’t even jokingly say she was fine.
Of course, it was because there were people whose lives appeared ready to collapse at any moment, so she couldn’t show it.
On the contrary, it was precisely due to that that Mia had to stew over her heart.
‘All three of them seemed to have been close to Yoo Jin······.’
While she already knew about the former Priestess, Yulia, the revelations about Priestess Jill Diner and Frost Duchess Yerina Frost were too unexpected.
In fact, it was still hard to accept.
Did that man have a fetish for strong, high-status women?
At first, it was absurdity that left no room for other thoughts.
He was just that kind of man.
She recognized he was somewhat of a playboy, so she thought he got through life fine.
‘But why did he approach me.’
‘Was he friendly even to someone he had no interest in?’
‘The closeness with an outsider, especially with the Priestess of the World Tree, is simply too intimate. No matter how I think about it, that man must have thought of me in some way.’
Yet, as time went by and days turned into sunsets and sunrises, bizarrely enough, she found herself thinking about Yoo Jin more frequently.
Typically 80% complaints.
He had already died and vanished, so whenever he came to mind, it was only natural to think of his heroic deeds and good points, right?
Strangely, every time Mia opened her eyes, one or two complaints about Yoo Jin would float up.
It wasn’t her first time feeling such complaints.
They had surely been accumulating inside her since the moment she first met him.
But she had never even vocalized nor consciously considered them; they were just buried deep within the abyss of her subconscious.
That was the Priestess.
In her communion with the World Tree and spirits, intimate thoughts became entirely meaningless.
Having gotten used to that life, Mia never spoke recklessly inside her head, nor had she entertained any impious thoughts.
That was the backlash.
The buried resentment, dissatisfaction, and annoyance towards Yoo Jin erupted uncontrollably from her subconscious.
What had been suppressed beneath began to swell and boil.
It was something she had never felt in her life.
She had thought she had been completely suppressing her inner feelings up until now.
But for the first time, ‘bad’ things buried deep inside her were backfiring······.
“Haha······.”
Mia, sitting alone lost in thought, let out a hollow laugh.
A smile unlike any she had shown before, one of bitterness and freshness blended together.
It wasn’t a smile a Priestess would typically show.
“I understand now······.”
Until now, she’d accepted everything in the world, only selecting the ‘good things.’
The ‘good things’ stayed in her conscious mind, easily retrievable.
While the ‘bad things’ were crammed into her unconscious, not even getting a glance.
Had the inventory of her subconscious reached a limit?
That was not the case.
What was overflowing was solely Yoo Jin’s ‘bad things.’
It was then that she realized.
It was a frustratingly simple story.
Mia found that she could no longer avert her gaze.
She wanted to know and think about not just Yoo Jin’s ‘good things,’ but also his ‘bad things.’
She wanted to affirm all aspects of him.
As a person, she wanted to confront him.
“I was in love, wasn’t I······.”
To put it simply, she liked Yoo Jin.
Her feelings for him had grown so large that she couldn’t hide them all in her subconscious.
Realizing this only now was painfully late.
Three years had passed since Yoo Jin’s disappearance.
A point far too late.
Tears rolled down from under the hands covering Mia’s eyes.
.
.
.
“Cough! Cough, ugh······.”
“Master, Master!”
SasaSasaSas.
Seo Gong’s short, numerous legs moved swiftly as he ran with a cup of water on his head.
Where Seo Gong headed was deep into a dark and gloomy rocky cave.
There, large fox ears fluttered weakly, and a hand reached out to grab the cup.
The delicate hand trembled, barely able to hold onto the small cup.
“Thank you······.”
With a smile, she gently patted the head of the giant centipede.
In the darkness, a large scar was barely visible on her cheek before it disappeared back into the shadows.
“Uh······?”
“It was sent by the Frost Duchess.”
When she noticed a note attached below the cup, she let out a groan.
Top Secret.
It meant it contained critical information that must never leak outside.
But does a note scribbled on thin notebook paper with a single stamped seal really constitute a top secret······? she swallowed the question and began to unfold the note to read it.
“What the hell—”
“Master?”
Before reading even half, curses started to escape.
Summarizing the content, it was as follows.
1. I am the Frost Duchess.
2. I’m very sorry.
3. I sincerely apologize.
4. I’ve got something I need your understanding for.
5. Don’t be too surprised as you listen.
.
.
.
41. We lost the enemy. The Nameless is missing.
“Shut the hell up, you idiots······!”
“Master! You’re going to spit blood! No, what should we do!”
It was news of her second disciple and first disciple’s closest friend getting into trouble.
Even though she had suffered serious injuries and was weakened, the intense fury emanating from her remained as fierce as ever, coloring the entire mountain.
