The immediate threat has been eliminated, but the alliance’s situation is far from good.
First of all, it has been revealed that Linda has betrayed us.
The artificial soul, which we trusted and entrusted with managing the alliance’s records, has completely turned against us and taken control of the First Fleet.
We have no idea how far we’ve been compromised, so there’s no way to come up with a countermeasure.
For now, all wireless communications are blocked.
All clockwork machines and magic equipment used within the alliance have been put on hold.
We’ve decided to completely dismantle the enormous communication network that spans across the continent.
“We need to remove Linda’s main body in Clockwork City first—”
“There is no main body of Linda in Clockwork City.”
“How do you know that?”
“I destroyed the archive. As her master, I can assure you. Linda’s main body has currently cut off all connections with the communication network and has gone into hiding.”
“······.”
It didn’t take much effort for Yoo Jin’s statement to gain credibility.
When the being who single-handedly defeated the fortress-like archive and obliterated the First Fleet with the ultimate technique stands before you, you couldn’t help but pretend to believe it.
Of course, it wasn’t just that—Jill, Yulia, and Yerina were also actively supporting Yoo Jin.
“Shall we take a break for 30 minutes? It seems like this is going to take a while.”
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
“Yoo Jin, would you mind stepping back for a moment······.”
During each break, Yoo Jin found himself being pulled away somewhere.
Despite the urgent situation, they still hadn’t concluded their dramatic reunion.
No. In fact, it was clear that it would never truly end.
Jill and Yerina clung to him as if attempting to make up for the time he was absent, rarely letting him go.
Fearful of him disappearing again.
Scared he might die without saying a word.
Having experienced a world without Yoo Jin twice, the mere thought sent shivers down their spines.
If it were up to them, they would want to keep Yoo Jin locked away so he wouldn’t go near any dangerous places······.
But everyone already knew the fact that nobody could bind Yoo Jin.
They had all directly experienced the outcomes of attempts to tie him down and learned their lesson deep in their bones.
There would be no repeats of such mistakes.
“Stop trying to sacrifice yourself all the time!”
“It wasn’t an attempt to sacrifice myself; it was something I had to do, all by myself, at that time.”
“Stop arguing and just listen······.”
“If I were the type to get discouraged by this much nagging, you all wouldn’t have been my lovers.”
“That may be true······.”
Yerina’s tail swished back and forth endlessly, and every time Yoo Jin’s gaze fell upon her, her ears twitched.
It looked like she was raising her voice in reprimand but it was clear the beastkin couldn’t hide her pleasant demeanor.
As if keeping a certain distance, but whenever Yoo Jin stepped closer, that distance narrowed rapidly.
“Ugh······.”
When Yoo Jin reached out to stroke her, Yerina’s sensitive ears began to tremble.
The sensation of having both her head and wolf ears petted made Yerina’s expression melt away for a brief moment.
As Yoo Jin gently scratched her ear hair with both hands, her face gradually transformed into one of rapture, but then she suddenly snapped back to herself and quickly stepped back.
“I, I still have things to organize! I’ll go out first!”
Her face flushed bright red as Yerina bolted away.
Then, as if remembering something she’d forgotten, she returned, still blushing, and grabbed Yoo Jin’s cheek.
And then, “Aah!”
She bit down on Yoo Jin’s cheek, leaving a light mark.
After confirming that the mark had been left well, Yerina finally left the lounge with a satisfied smile.
“······.”
Jill, who had been watching this scene, gently stroked Yoo Jin’s cheek with a cold expression.
As she did, a soft breath of mana swept over, and the mark disappeared.
It was the Priestess’s holy healing magic.
“Seriously, why does she keep choosing to act so beast-like? I can understand the mark on your neck, but what’s up with the one on your cheek? Is she bragging that you’re her prey? Annoying. She pretended to get along but took off her mask completely.”
“I was the one who took it off.”
“Ugh······. Well, that might have been a good move. Honestly, it was annoying to see her act all strong and tough. She probably felt the pressure to be strong on her own since both me and Yulia were in danger······. Even though she seems strong, I worried because it looked like she had many hidden troubles. But I’m glad it seems to have improved since you came back, Yoo Jin. Well, that little brat is still hard to adjust to······.”
Jill grumbled, rubbing her cheek against Yoo Jin’s.
Even if she said she was annoyed and didn’t like it, affection for Yerina dripped from her words.
The three of them were the only ones to share their pain and support each other during Yoo Jin’s absence.
Whether it was love or hate, they had no choice but to feel it all.
Now that Yoo Jin was back, they returned to being rivals, but.
That rivalry was all within the confines of a competition; there would be no attempt to eliminate each other.
It was a blend of competition and camaraderie, a complicated relationship that was hard to describe.
“Sigh······. Yoo Jin seems like he hasn’t changed at all. Was it only ten days ago······?”
“Just about two weeks. When I returned, more than three years had passed.”
“That’s really frustrating······. So, does that mean I’m now older than you? How old are you, Yoo Jin?”
“Twenty-one.”
“Oh? Then you’re still younger than me?”
“······?”
Yoo Jin’s expression turned blank.
Younger than twenty-one?
More than three years had passed?!
So what was he at three years ago······?
“What?! How old were you when we first met?!”
“I, I was sixteen······.”
“And how did you drink alcohol?!”
“Alcohol? Why alcohol?”
Seeing Jill’s utterly confused reaction, Yoo Jin suddenly realized something.
A culture that prohibits underage drinking wasn’t a universal rule.
Yoo Jin felt dizzy.
‘So, did I, did I really try to flirt with a sixteen-year-old so eagerly?’
Suddenly, everything felt hazy, and a heavy weight settled in his chest.
Guilt flooded in, but as Jill pulled him closer, the soft sensation against his arm swept all that guilt away.
But now she wasn’t a minor, so it should be fine, right?
Yoo Jin finished rationalizing in an instant.
“Do you dislike being older now?”
“That’s not possible.”
Gazing up at him with teary eyes, he gently pressed his lips against hers.
With that, Jill’s face brightened again.
Yoo Jin couldn’t bring himself to say he naturally favored older women.
Preferences and ideals change constantly.
Just because someone is an ideal type doesn’t mean you’ll fall in love with them, nor will you love someone simply because they’re not your type.
So, he just quietly decided to keep it a secret from Jill.
“Shall we head out now?”
Break time was coming to an end.
As she took Yoo Jin’s hand to lead him, Jill felt a sudden tug, glancing back.
Yoo Jin didn’t seem to be in any hurry to move from his spot.
“Do you want to go ahead?”
“······.”
Jill’s expression slightly pouted.
The woman who had been standing there silently like a backdrop from earlier.
Jill’s gaze turned toward Yulia, who was fidgeting with her fingers.
There’s cluelessness, and then there’s clueless.
She thought they had become somewhat close over the past three years.
A twang of disappointment welled up in her, but she decided to take it as Yulia’s inherent nature.
Rising on her tiptoes, she lightly kissed Yoo Jin and felt a sense of longing.
As she was about to step out, uneasy feelings crept in.
Was Yerina feeling like this when she bit his cheek earlier?
Now, that felt a bit more relatable.
“I need to hurry······.”
No. That still didn’t make sense.
That barbaric, shameless method was something only beastkin would use.
Jill thought that to herself, pulling Yoo Jin along.
Yoo Jin’s hand gently wrapped around Jill’s waist as his fingers softly intertwined with her clothes.
The warm sensation seeped between their fingers.
It fit perfectly in the large palm of Yoo Jin’s hand.
And then, about two seconds later.
Jill finally felt her embarrassment resurface, and her face turned bright red as she dashed out of the lounge.
“······.”
“······.”
Thud, after the door closed, Yulia swiftly moved to lock it.
Next, the barrier.
She set up multiple layers of firm soundproof and magical barriers.
Only then did Yulia seem to let out a sigh of relief as she turned around.
Upon meeting her gaze, Yoo Jin flinched.
She looked as though she had been waiting a long time, with a face that hinted her patience had run dry.
Breathless, Yulia bumped into Yoo Jin and slammed him against the wall.
“Yulia?”
“Sigh······. Haa······.”
Her eyes, filled with a mix of desires, scanned Yoo Jin’s body.
In an instant, his body temperature rose, and the room’s humidity seemed to climb.
Despite the elven trait of typically having stable emotional states, Yulia had completely lost control to her arousal.
“Yoo Jin······, right? The one who kissed me back then······.”
“That’s right.”
“That’s why it felt just like you······.”
Mumbling incoherently, Yulia intertwined her fingers with Yoo Jin’s.
This sensation.
This touch.
And······ these lips.
Their lips separated, leaving a string of saliva behind.
What was supposed to be a light kiss had Yu Jin’s lips glistening with saliva, and Yulia felt an unknown sense of satisfaction.
It felt as though she had forgotten how to have gentle kisses.
“Aren’t you going to touch my ears······?”
“I thought you might dislike it.”
“The Frost Duchess disliked it too.”
“That’s just pretending to dislike it. She can’t be honest; once they’re touched, they actually enjoy it.”
“Then I’ll just pretend too. It’s fine for any part if it’s Yoo Jin.”
“······.”
“Yoo Jin······, was your preference the immature type?”
“N-No! Who would ever make such a ludicrous accusation?”
“Priestess and the Frost Duchess were both underage until three years ago. So I thought······.”
While bringing up all the stories the two women had piled up during Yoo Jin’s absence, Yulia naturally guided Yoo Jin’s hand to her chest.
“I’m larger than the Priestess, right?” her eyes seemed to say.
At that moment, Yoo Jin’s mind went blank with the subsequent question.
‘Yerina was underage just three years ago too······?’
Now, even if it seemed to lean towards a preference for younger partners, he had no words to counter.
And how old was Yulia again?
Definitely on a different scale.
Yulia’s expression seemed oddly gloomy.
“If I told you my real preference is for older women, would you believe me?”
“R-Really?”
What had already exceeded the boundaries he had in mind was still older somehow, so it didn’t really matter.
It wasn’t a lie.
Gazing into Yoo Jin’s gentle eyes, which seemed to suggest he wouldn’t lie to someone he loves, Yulia’s expression softened.
Ah, she was indeed adorable.
It felt weird to be behaving like this, flirting with a girl who had lived for hundreds of years while he had only lived for about twenty.
But realizing Yoo Jin wasn’t so different made Yulia feel comforted.
I’m not some perverted human with a bizarre taste in desires.
I just fell in love and discovered she was a younger human.
The order of things was merely misguided.
Yulia believed in this wholeheartedly.
“We’re somewhat alike······ right?”
“······.”
Sending gooey, love-struck gazes, Yulia brought Yoo Jin’s hand to her ear.
Elven ears are sensitive mana-detecting organs, packed with nerve endings, and are known to be extremely sensitive; just a little pressure could bring pain.
But even while Yoo Jin applied a fair bit of pressure, Yulia couldn’t help but moan delightfully instead of scream in pain.
What similarity are we talking about?
Is it the tendency to enjoy pain?
For a moment, Yoo Jin felt a profound and indescribable embarrassment.
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