Chapter: 113
A strange girl stared back at Roderus Redburn from the mirror, her expression one of utter disbelief. She was so taken aback that her jaw practically dropped to the floor.
Gone was his crimson slicked-back hair, replaced by long, neatly styled hair that cascaded down to her waist. Beneath long eyelashes, her red eyes blinked, and her chest had puffed up to create a gentle curve.
Her fingers and wrists were delicate. While she didn’t appear malnourished, she certainly looked fragile, and the well-toned warrior muscles that had been built through years of training had evaporated.
The calluses on her palms had vanished, replaced by smooth, soft skin. Touching her skin sent a delicate, almost stimulating shiver down her spine. She involuntarily flinched at the sensation.
Her skin was sensitive. Each time the loose fabric of her clothing brushed against her, goosebumps crawled over her body. Just a bit more pressure, and it would feel like she was being hurt.
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
If she were to be tortured in this state, screams would definitely escape her lips. And this wasn’t even torture—just a gentle touch would likely produce sounds.
Unless some wicked sorcerer had cast a spell through this mirror, this was reality.
“Damn it!”
Her voice was annoyingly refreshing. It was a pleasant, yet slightly cute sound that struck just the right chord in one’s ears.
Hearing that lovely voice emanate from her own vocal cords made her rage flare up and subside in an instant.
What on earth happened? What had befallen her?
Just yesterday, Roderus had been a perfectly normal man, desperately searching his memory for the start of all this. The whole ordeal began with the ruckus on the hillside last night. And then…
Beeep—Beeep—♪
Accentuating its presence, the Transformation Device (Dreaming Mirror) lay on the table, clearly displaying a large crack down the center.
He was certain he had returned it. Why was it still here?
Crash!
Roderus picked up the transformation device with both hands, glaring at it as he gritted his teeth. Last night, he had used this damn artifact to transform into a girl. There had been unavoidable circumstances.
But he distinctly remembered being told that the transformation would wear off over time!
“Get out here, you damn furball! Why the heck am I still stuck in this girl’s form?!!”
The wail of someone who had lost their masculinity rang out.
The scene flashed back a few days earlier.
===============================================================
It is only natural that failure brings punishment.
Roderus Redburn had been imprisoned in the underground prison as punishment for failing his mission. The interior of the prison was managed poorly, and the walls were damp and growing mold.
There were no windows, no lights, and not even a common torch to brighten the darkness. With nothing to gauge the passage of time, he had no clue how many days he had been locked up.
No meal was provided. If he needed moisture, he had to lick the moldy walls, and catching a passing cockroach would have been considered luck.
Before he was thrown in the prison, his body had ached from the lashes he received. Some wounds had not healed properly, still oozing blood.
‘You are worthless.’
The voice of Duke Redburn echoed relentlessly in his head. His head throbbed, and a wave of guilt rose within him. He should have completed the mission somehow. There was no value in me for having failed.
Having grown up under the duke’s blade, he had nowhere to place his heart. In a world devoid of memories, friends, love, or friendship, he was left with nothing but the blind ambition to be “the duke’s right arm.”
At one point, perhaps there had been a small star in his empty heart that provided a semblance of comfort, but… now he had forgotten. He couldn’t even recall what it was.
Thus, he had survived thus far solely on a meager pride.
“Damn it… all for a lowly commoner…!”
Noble blood.
Noble blood that is superior by nature.
Next time will be different. I’ll put forth my true efforts next time. If I hadn’t been careless, I would have won. In the end, it was only a thin margin that made the blade miss.
Conversely, if I had just done a little better, the victory would have been mine. Therefore, I… was not in the wrong.
Crouching in a corner of the underground prison, Roderus sought sleep.
In those moments of slumber, he could escape from pain and be free. In dreams, no one oppressed him. So he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to turn away from the throbbing pain.
However…
“AAAHHH—!!”
Now even dreams were beyond his grasp.
Roderus awoke with a scream, roughly rubbing his tear-streaked eyes like a broken faucet. Once again, he lost his family in his dream.
“Abraham, no… that’s not true… I’ve never even seen that old man…!”
It was all an illusion. All of it was an illusion.
After being struck by the black arrow known as The Breaking Heart Mysterious Arrow, he began to have nightmares every night. In his dreams, Roderus was sometimes a man, and sometimes a woman, but he was always waking up after losing something dear.
It was a nightmare.
It was dark as pitch. He couldn’t even tell if his eyes were opened or closed. Consequently, he could not differentiate between reality and dream. Both realms were horrifying.
“I am Roderus… Roderus Redburn. I am…”
In both dreams and reality, all he could do was cling to the rapidly decaying shell of his former self.
It was on the seventh day of his imprisonment that something strange began to occur. He started to have very bizarre dreams…
===============================================================
A meteor.
Roderus was a meteor.
He saw a sparkling night sky. And the ground rapidly approaching beneath him, but everything felt different.
The world he looked down upon while falling was utterly strange. The land did not resemble the continent’s shape he had learned, and the buildings were oddly shaped.
There were countless towers taller than the imperial palace and the Golden Magic Tower. There were so many that it looked like a forest built of bricks.
As he got closer to the ground…
People were dressed in various fashions and carried odd rectangular devices stuck to their ears. The roads sparkled with an unknown black material, and silent carriages rushed by.
Roderus understood that this was, quite literally, another world. There were too many things he either had not experienced or seen.
Then, Roderus collided with a hillside with few people around.
===============================================================
Having plummeted from such a height, he should have been dead, yet somehow Roderus found that all his limbs were intact.
“⋯⋯What the hell.”
His voice emerged perfectly. When he placed his bare feet on the ground, he felt the rough texture of the earth. His fingers moved, too.
Is this a dream?
It couldn’t be. He felt the wind playing with his hair. Breathing deeply, he could feel the cold air filling his lungs.
He didn’t feel any pain. All the wounds from the lashings had healed.
Then how did he end up like this?
Had Duke Redburn decided to dispose of him? Had he been tossed into an unstable rift while he slept?
If that was the case… what on earth should he do?
In an instant, Roderus’s mind went blank. If he had neither orders nor goals… what was he supposed to do…?
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
Rustle. Rustle.
While Roderus was hesitating without an answer, he caught the sound of rustling and the reaction of magical energy in his ears. He reflexively reached for his rapier, but his waist was empty.
All he had on him was a shabby prison uniform.
Hop!
From beyond the thicket, an odd furry creature jumped out. Following closely was a girl dressed mostly in yellow.
“This way! There’s a massive surge of pure energy… a man?!”
“A meteor fell, so now a new mascot appeared— a man?!”
Upon seeing Roderus, the girl and the furry creature froze in shock. Roderus quickly scanned the unfamiliar beings.
The furry creature, resembling some sort of spirit, walked on four legs.
The girl was dressed in a dress adorned with all sorts of ribbons and frills. She also held a wand encrusted with jewels in her right hand. There was a faint magical aura surrounding her.
Roderus felt that he could defeat them in a fight.
Though unarmed, his amount of magical energy gave him an intrinsic advantage.
His ability was the materialization of magic. If he summoned and solidified his magic, he could create a magical rapier even without weapons.
Therefore, if he could merely move…
Move…?
“⋯⋯⋯⋯?”
There was no magic.
There was no magical energy that should have been coursing through his body. As a bead of cold sweat trickled down Roderus’s forehead in panic, the girl began to look around and asked,
“Hey, mister. Have you seen any weird-looking animals around here that resemble this? Something like a soft, fluffy bun?”
“I don’t look weird—!!”
A “mister,” huh?
And judging by her choice of light-hearted vocabulary, she certainly didn’t seem like high-ranking nobility. Roderus’s contempt towards commoners flared up.
“⋯⋯What a farce. You lot can keep your pointless chit-chat to yourselves, commoners.”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯!!”
The girl looked as if she’d been struck by lightning.
“Wow, a complete asshole. Sounds like a character straight out of the ’00s.”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
While Roderus couldn’t fully comprehend the meaning behind her words, the undertone contained no respect for nobility, sparking his indignation. He snapped back at the lowborn mongrels.
“I am Roderus Redburn. Show proper respect to nobility!”
“⋯⋯Looks like this guy was ‘a meteor’.”
“⋯⋯Seems like it.”
After clearing her throat loudly, the girl spoke.
“This isn’t a class-based society anymore, you know? Nobility and kings have long been skewered, so don’t expect to be treated like one… I’m Oh Hye-in.”
“Oh, what?”
“Like you’ve come from another world? There are a lot of things that won’t work here with magic, so just follow me quietly. I’ll take care of your food, sleep, and clothes.”
Another world. “A meteor.” Magic.
They acknowledged that Roderus had fallen from the sky and was from another world. Then perhaps they also knew the reason he had ended up here… or how to go back.
But how much could he really trust these strangers? Roderus glared at the girl, skepticism etched on his face.
“⋯⋯What makes you think I’ll trust you, commoner?”
“Ah, don’t want to? Suit yourself.”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
“Just so you know, I’ll only ask three times. That’s how we Koreans are.”
The girl wiggled her fingers and began to walk down the hillside. The fluffy creature glanced back at Roderus before darting off through the underbrush.
…Well.
She was rude, but Roderus knew nothing about this place. It was better than being left alone on the hillside.
Plus, she was offering to provide him with clothes, shelter, food, and information—why would he decline?
With that, Roderus strode confidently to catch up with Oh Hye-in.
===============================================================
As Roderus and Oh Hye-in traversed the secluded hillside, they engaged in conversation, with Roderus primarily asking questions and Hye-in responding.
“What country’s capital is this?”
“It’s the Republic of Korea. This isn’t the capital itself; to reach the capital, you need to take the KTX train and go over there. Seoul, that’s where it is.”
“Don’t lie to me, commoner. With all these high buildings visible even from the mountains…!”
“Believe it or don’t. But are you really going to keep speaking to me so rudely? I’m the upper hand right now, aren’t I?”
Hye-in crossed her arms and tilted her head. Roderus relaxed his crossed arms and replied confidently.
“I don’t know what ‘upper hand’ means, but it must mean I’m above you, right? Bloodlines never change regardless of the situation. No matter how wealthy, a commoner remains a commoner.”
“This guy really… Ugh, with that handsome face, I can’t even call him an old man. Hey, mister, you know the class system collapsed over a hundred years ago, right?”
“Don’t impose foreign laws on me, you lowborn.”
“When in Rome, do as the Romans do! Don’t you know that? Just say one more lowly word and from that moment on, we’re parting ways… wait!”
Oh Hye-in halted, raising her wand as she turned to face Roderus. He too stopped and gazed westward. Though he couldn’t move his magical energy, it seemed he still could sense it clearly. He felt it.
A massive, malevolent magical energy sped toward them from afar.
“Oh, it’s coming! This level of impure energy… it must be the Four Heavenly Kings…!! Hye-in, let’s get out of here!”
“But I can’t leave you behind!”
“Don’t freak out, it’s already too late for that. Commoner… no, citizen. Be ready to fight.”
“Did you just rank me up from ‘commoner’ to ‘citizen’ just like that?!”
WHOOSH— KABOOM!!
As Oh Hye-in was shocked by Roderus’s hardened ego, something fell straight down, leaving a crater in the ground.
“Guh—!!”
Dust swirled as a pure white girl rose from the center of the crater. Both her skin and hair were chillingly white. The pristine whiteness was underscored by a gothic dress, half black and half white.
The white girl was enveloped in a terrifying aura of magical power. It made their skin tingle. Both Roderus and Hye-in swallowed nervously.
Before them stood the ultimate predator, who muttered under her breath,
“⋯⋯Are you freaking serious? No wait, I agreed to cooperate, I did. But still, my dignity—ah, fine, fine! You crazy bastard… don’t include the wetting-my-pants setting…!”
She mumbled like a madwoman, expressing her rage toward someone before dramatically posing and declaring,
“I am one of the Four Heavenly Kings, the ‘Guide of Abyss and Darkness’, Espoir de Eternal Dark! Worship me—!”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
Following the silence, Roderus finally spoke.
“⋯⋯Is this a mental attack?”
“⋯⋯Well, considering I feel like I might die from this empathy gauge, I’d say it’s an attack?”
“Kill me, Magical Girl—!!”
The goth Lolita with an absurdly high percentage of melodrama hurriedly launched her attack.
