“What’s with that outfit?”
“Oh, this? I picked it out when I went to the Northern Region to learn curses from my master. He said it was weird to walk around in a black spandex with just a rag over it…”
“Black spandex? You mean that thing you’re wearing underneath?”
“Yeah. Actually, it’s connected all the way up. It’s a full-body suit.”
“Sounds like a hassle to change.”
“I don’t change. I just use magic to deal with the dirt and wash it while wearing it.”
“Gasp…”
Chatter.
Amidst the cheerful voices,
“…sigh…”
Mi Jeong was really angry.
She might not have shown it outwardly, but oh boy, she was pretty ticked off.
Top three levels of anger kind of ticked off.
‘…Why, I wonder?’
But more than anything, what really irked her was that Yoo Jin didn’t notice it at all.
Weren’t they supposed to be one body?
I was Yoo Jin and Yoo Jin was me, right?
Hadn’t they promised to die together, swearing not to act all sacrificial to save one another?
So why didn’t he notice?
With a bond like theirs, shouldn’t he be able to sense her true feelings instantly?
No, it didn’t even need to go that far.
She had made a point of showing her discomfort, gripping his hand tightly, but Yoo Jin didn’t even glance her way.
‘…Damn.’
She was irritated. Very irritated.
If she got angry now, wouldn’t that just make her look like the weird one?
If it was just her and Yoo Jin, she could whine for no reason, but of course, that guy was the problem.
‘…Nameless.’
Nameless.
Just like that, a being with no name had rolled in, pulling out the embedded stone.
Honestly, she hadn’t liked him since the very first time she saw him.
But back then, it was simply because she didn’t see him as a rival…
Now, after getting flung away with Yoo Jin and suffering, she came back only to see that, whoa.
She never imagined that the weak little kid would turn into such a beauty.
And here she was, still looking like a kid…
Years and years could pass, and she’d stay the same…
But in just three years, he had grown up so much even Yoo Jin wouldn’t recognize him, not to mention being misidentified as a lady!
What should she call this?
Inferiority complex?
No. It wasn’t inferiority.
It shouldn’t be.
Tranquil had said that.
Rational blood ghouls were like humans’ upgrades.
So she shouldn’t feel inferior to some lowly human.
‘…Reverse inferiority complex.’
Yeah. This was a reverse inferiority complex.
Maybe calling it ultra-inferiority complex would be better.
In any case,
Mi Jeong was very, very uncomfortable.
Maybe the stress that some kid could push her away and seize her spot was enough to turn her hair white.
“Isn’t it just the typical Northern person? Ahhahaha! Who would think that looking at this blonde hair?”
“If you just put a hood on, you’d look like a ninja!”
“Ninja? What’s that?”
“Forget it, I meant you look agile. Anyway, now that we’ve finished eating, it’s about time to-”
“…stop. I can’t take it anymore.”
Her patience hit the limit.
She was tired of pretending to be cool.
Mi Jeong could no longer sit idly as Yoo Jin and Nameless chatted happily; she jumped in to separate them.
“…Let’s have a duel.”
“Oh my! I thought you were just a mindless zombie following along silently? You can talk after all!”
“…I’m not a kid. I… remember.”
“Huh? What memory? I don’t remember seeing such a cute little blood ghoul before.”
“…*”
Nameless tilted his head in confusion.
This made Mi Jeong’s blood boil even more.
A kid?
How could he forget how much she adored that little, ugly kid when Yoo Jin first adopted him?
Mi Jeong glared at Nameless, distorting her memory in real-time with disappointment.
No, she looked up at him.
“So? A duel?”
“…*”
Nameless bent down, grinning cutely to meet her gaze.
She was over twenty years older.
She was even older than Yoo Jin!
Suddenly feeling unfair, Mi Jeong’s irritation surged again.
‘…So, does that make me an old lady?’
Remembering that Nameless called Yoo Jin ‘uncle’ made her solemn immediately.
The term ‘old lady’ was a sore spot.
After cooling her head again, she realized that being called a kid wasn’t too bad either.
“…Yoo Jin’s life companion. Until the day he dies, I am. If you want to take that place, you’ll have to defeat me.”
“Hey, what the heck are you talking about? He’s just-”
“Aha! Perfect timing! I’ve been wanting to show off my skills too! That magic circle I worked hard on got wrecked by someone, so I wasn’t able to showcase it! But now my mana is half recovered, so I think it’s enough!”
Nameless straightened up, moving forward.
What a great timing!
What a shame that the magic circle designed with all her effort ended up being the perfect battleground for that guy…
It was time to recover her pride.
Her confidence could take this man on, but…
‘Uh-oh. Nope, not happening.’
Her rational mind quickly shut that idea down.
She couldn’t win.
He was a real monster.
Even though he looked young, Nameless had gathered plenty of diverse combat experience.
To most people, he appeared ordinary.
No peculiar aura flowed through his body, nor did he exude uncontrollable demonic energy or mana.
That’s what most would think.
But Nameless’s eyes could see deeper than others.
The essence of a person.
Or rather, something that was very close to essence.
He could see what people commonly called a soul.
‘I can never win…’
The man’s soul was desolate.
It wasn’t that he didn’t have one.
He wasn’t a being without a soul like a blood ghoul or Nameless, but the soul existed yet felt utterly empty.
Having never seen that before in a life lived, she could tell from the moment he took control of the unfamiliar magic circle.
But looking at his soul sent goosebumps down her spine.
Thus, Nameless decided to turn his target to the little blood ghoul next to him.
Well, that kid didn’t seem ordinary either…
But how strong could he possibly be?
He wasn’t stronger than a freak like this one.
“…Half? I think I might lose. Is that bait?”
“Haha! Half? Even half wouldn’t matter. Can’t pump mana like you blood ghouls? You’re getting squished!”
“…*”
Crack.
Something shattered in Mi Jeong’s mind.
The opponent was looking down on her.
Good news.
Being looked down upon meant he was overconfident.
Mi Jeong grasped the wooden club (Enhancement +1) of the Blin firmly and stepped forward.
“Oh. This looks fun.”
Totally unaware of Mi Jeong’s feelings,
Yoo Jin was just munching popcorn he bought from a nearby stall, watching the events unfold with great interest.
Booom!
“It all happened right in front of my magic tower! Cooperation! No cooperation! Aahhh!!!”
Thud thud thud.
Straightening his back, Temurlen, the master of the White Magic Tower, was in a tizzy.
He had asked them to be careful…
The scene was chaotic, with airships landing, taking off, and the sound of heavy boots trampling all around.
And adding the finishing touch was the Frost Duchess’s outflow of magical power.
No, she had intentionally unleashed her magic, so “outflow” wasn’t exactly accurate.
In any case, the surrounding magical energy was in complete disarray because of the Frost Duchess’s overwhelming force.
At this point, sample extraction was impossible.
But Temurlen didn’t give up and packed away all the traces suitable as samples.
To reproduce the grand magic circle that Nameless had conjured for research purposes.
‘That wasn’t all.’
Of course, there would be a chance to research it if Nameless returned.
But the main objective was to explore this mysterious adversary.
What in the world was it that couldn’t be perceived by any means and took control of Nameless’s magic circle in an instant?
His curiosity was on fire, and there was no other option.
He’d have to lock himself away for more research.
Whether it made money or not, whether it was productive or not didn’t matter.
No one could stop Temurlen until he satisfied that curiosity.
“Hmm? What’s this?”
Temurlen’s eyes widened while supervising his assistants who were collecting the samples.
For a moment, his vision sparkled.
Even at a low level, his eyes that could see souls showed him a peculiar sight.
Distortion.
That was the only word Temurlen could use to express it.
Like a mirage, it left traces as it moved, leading to a single person.
“Wh… what! Who the hell! I don’t know! Elf! Come here!”
“What did you just say…?”
“My apologies! I was in a rush! Come here! I have to check something!”
“…”
Rex glanced at Temurlen with a grumpy expression.
Was it because he was getting older?
It seemed like he had no notion that all those elf references were derogatory.
But the master of the White Magic Tower wouldn’t call someone over for no reason.
Rex simply radioed the priestess to report and followed Temurlen.
He too had briefly contacted the mysterious adversary and was curious about what Temurlen might want to know.
“Uh…?”
But the direction they were heading felt strange.
Down, down, and down some more through countless stairs.
By stepping into an enormous elevator that went on endlessly, they finally reached an enormous corridor that made Rex shudder.
“What in the world is this…?”
“Hurry up! Before the distortion disappears! Quickly!”
Just having a facility this deep underground was shocking enough.
What was more alarming was the massive mechanical device occupying this vast space.
Were those sparkling things embedded in that giant sphere mana stones?
The finest ones?
Rex felt his mind start to blur.
This world was on another level.
They definitely didn’t call the magic tower the ultimate research institution for all the world’s resources and talents for nothing.
“What is this gadget?”
“Oh, I just had a sudden inspiration and made this machine for fun a long time ago. Don’t ask what it does; I don’t know either.”
“…”
Made it just for fun…
Rex gave up on asking questions.
It was clear the answers would make him even more confused.
“Lie down here! And relax your mind!”
“Uh, um. It won’t hurt, right?”
“You spell casters are always scared! Just shut your mouth and close your eyes! We’re in a hurry!”
With no time to protest, Rex was practically shoved into the machine.
Then it roared to life, the device named “Alma.”
The mana stones on the sphere flowed with mana, illuminating bright light in unison.
The machine powered up.
Inside Rex’s soul.
It began projecting that deep and hidden world.
‘If my predictions are correct… there’s a clue hidden in his soul. Something remains! For sure!’
Perhaps that was the gap they could exploit.
If that was the case, they could learn about the enemy’s identity.
Just as Temurlen was filled with that conviction.
The scenery surrounding the machinery became engulfed in light, then shattered, revealing the view of a lush forest…
“Hmm?”
It bloomed then scattered again.
The mechanical noise gradually faded, revealing the realm of “Alma” once more.
Was it a mechanical malfunction?
Why was it suddenly stopping?
When Temurlen checked the time in confusion,
“Ugh…”
He found that a full ten minutes had passed.
Memories had been erased.
And conversely, that meant it was the answer.
There was something in Rex’s soul.
Something that must not be revealed!
Temurlen felt his heart pounding furiously.
It wasn’t arrhythmia.
“For now, I can’t be sure from just one attempt! Let’s try a few more!”
“Uh, uh, Master of the Magic Tower. Sorry, I need to use the restroom-”
“Go! It’s waterproof anyway!”
Clack clack clack clack.
That day, Temurlen and Rex experienced the erasure of five hours.
