“Here. You know this is the priestess’s residence, right?”
“I know.”
“This place is strictly off-limits to strangers, especially men, right?”
“Then should we just leave?”
“No way. I do want to see you.”
Mia, shocked to see me, starts mumbling.
But she can’t hide the smile creeping up on her lips.
Mia quickly looks around to see if anyone’s watching before closing the door and stepping inside.
“But what brings you here? Sneaking in like a thief?”
“Uh… Can you please refrain from calling me a thief? It stings a bit.”
“Oh, sorry!”
It used to be fine.
Lately, I’ve become sensitive to being called a thief.
It’s true that the magic I use, my disguise traits, and many other techniques suit a little thief, but still.
This makes only the second time I’ve illegally broken into someone else’s house in this run.
“I have someone famous in my party, so I couldn’t enter openly.”
“Hehe. Who’s that? Last time it was the eldest daughter of Evgenia. What woman are you bringing this time?”
“Not a woman. It’s someone with a criminal record. I had no choice but to sneak in.”
“Oh. Speaking of Evgenia’s eldest daughter, I heard she was named Alicia, right? I ran into her a few days ago.”
“Excuse me?”
My ears perked up in disbelief.
She saw Alicia again?
Here?
“How did that happen?”
“The Frost King suddenly visited Elvenguard. Alicia was with him at that time.”
“No way. You didn’t let on, did you?”
“The elders greeted her first and made introductions…”
“……”
Mia bows her head, looking apologetic.
Oh no.
This is bad.
Closing my eyes tightly.
I take a calming whiff of the tea Mia brought.
“Alicia came here without the Frost King knowing.”
“No wonder she seemed anxious, sending signals from behind…”
I started to piece things together.
If Alicia was thinking straight, she wouldn’t come here with Yerina, where the elders would easily recognize her.
She probably made up an excuse to avoid coming but was dragged along against her will.
The only reason Yerina would act so forcefully is that Alicia’s clumsy lie was found out by her.
I expected it, but it came sooner than I thought.
After all, the monster that detects lies is watching the slightest twitch in my brow.
Alicia’s deception was never going to hold long.
“What was the Frost Duchess’s reaction?”
“Nothing particularly off. Ah, now that I think about it, there may have been a hint of anger behind her smile…”
She was angry.
Well, of course, she would be.
She sent a loyal subject searching for men and noticed they went to a different place instead.
At some point, it all makes sense why Alicia’s letters suddenly stopped.
Once she was on the radar, she couldn’t continue any suspicious activities.
The key point is how much of Alicia’s lie was uncovered.
If this appears to be just a bit of rebellious behavior, that would be great.
But if it becomes known that Alicia’s solo act is tied to me, things get extremely complicated.
‘At least it’s fortunate that Alicia is completely miscalculating.’
It’s fortunate that Alicia treats me like a human now.
She’d rather bite her tongue and die than see me reunite with Yerina.
That’s how much Alicia dislikes me.
Treats me like I’m not even a person.
So, there’s virtually no chance Alicia would open her mouth herself.
Of course, Yerina will do her utmost to get Alicia to talk, so I can’t rest easy…
‘This is giving me a headache…’
Every time the siege closes in, I find it harder to breathe.
What’s most annoying is that Yerina just had to recall her memories from the 12th run.
The 12th run was so recent that I remember it vividly.
Memories of laughing and crying with Yerina.
Though for me, most of them were events I had repeated multiple times.
Fake smiles and fake lines meant to seduce Yerina.
But I can’t say there wasn’t a shred of sincerity mixed in there.
The problem is the moment I meet Yerina again as she remembers that time.
I know I won’t be able to turn her down, not once, but twice.
Yerina originally has an extremely low completion rate, failing to reach 95% even when a confession event triggers.
But with the memories from the previous run resurrected, and various errors likely occurring, I can’t anticipate what variables could arise.
In other words, the very moment we meet again, there’s a chance the completion rate could skyrocket to 100% and declare game clear.
To prevent that, I need to hurt Yerina again the moment I run into her and leave.
But I don’t have the heart for that.
I can’t bear to hurt the Yerina who has regained her memories a second time.
I don’t have that kind of cruelty in me.
“It was in the past, so it’s fine now. More importantly, I heard there are two prophecies that came down?”
“Actually, it’s three. One just came in.”
Mia’s expression turned more serious as she began to recite the three prophecies.
Each of the prophecies went as follows.
– Darkness will descend upon Basel.
– The priestess of the World Tree will be engulfed in despair and sorrow.
– The priestess of the World Tree will lead Elvenguard to destruction.
The first prophecy likely refers to Belphegor’s perfect barrier.
The other two are highly concerning.
Both are related to the priestess of the World Tree and carry very negative connotations.
Considering this content, the first one to spring to mind is…
“I don’t think the priestess they’re talking about is me.”
“They might be referring to the priestess?”
“That’s my suspicion.”
Yulia.
No matter how I think about it, Yulia keeps coming to mind.
And apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks so.
Mia had been suspicious of Yulia for a while now…
After all, she had once provoked Ifrit, trying to burn down Elvenguard.
There’s still a deep rift between Elvenguard and Yulia, so it’s reasonable to suspect.
‘But Yulia can’t be that insane.’
Of course, that’s the story from a third party’s perspective.
To the elves, Yulia looks like a traitor who left Elvenguard, flourishing with some sinister drugs.
But I know she was being hounded by fierce political struggles and schemes and had to escape.
Yulia was the priestess seeking a reform that Elvenguard had long stifled.
At that time, she was a thorn in the elders’ sides, facing countless political attacks.
And at that moment, an event occurred that was perfect for attacking Yulia, leading her to flee abruptly.
Later on, as the elders changed entirely, the reforms Yulia had suggested were eventually put into place.
‘Yulia isn’t really that normal…’
Given the Elvenguard great fire, reasonable consideration could be given, considering Kali’s unique dungeon was situated right in the roots back then.
Yulia was trying to eliminate it; it’s hard to see her main goal as destroying Elvenguard.
Of course, it’s likely she thought it would be refreshing if Elvenguard were wiped out as a bonus…
But that doesn’t make her a psycho.
‘The priestess before Yulia? Or someone destined to be the priestess in the future?’
But if we rule out Yulia as a suspect, our investigation falls into a total dead end.
So, should we just presume that Yulia went mad and caused incidents?
Or does it have something to do with Mia…?
“Do I have something on my face?”
“Not at all…”
At this stage, there’s nothing I can be sure of.
But I do know I need to keep an eye on anyone who has once held the title of the priestess of the World Tree.
I don’t want to believe it, but.
I can’t shake off the idea that I might have to consider a completely hostile future with Yulia.
*
“Delivery is here!”
“……”
“Hey! Delivery! Here!”
“……”
On the rooftop of a building in Petenburg.
The delivery man, removing his hat as he entered the bleak office, looked around briefly.
There seemed to be no one around, as there was no reaction at all.
“Is someone in the back room? Delivery!”
“……”
Thud, thud.
Even though he made loud footsteps, there was still silence.
If the noise didn’t reach the back room, it was clear there wasn’t anyone there.
“This is the witch’s office in Petenburg, huh…”
The delivery man glanced at the scattered books on the office desk.
There were plenty of writings on search magic, tracking magic, and arrest magic, but.
The text was so densely packed that the delivery man gave up on reading and shifted his gaze.
Click. Never mind about delivery glitches.
There’s no point in staying around for the recipient to return.
The delivery man turned to leave, rode the elevator back down.
“Come on, hurry up! Why the heck are you snooping through someone else’s desk?!”
Then, a moment later.
From under the office desk, a pair of black hair and long ears poked out.
An elf, with tired eyes, verified that the elevator was gone and approached on light feet to lift the box.
“Oof…!”
Well, tried to lift it.
Though she strained with her slender arms, the box didn’t budge an inch.
Her pale face flushed a bright red from the effort, but no matter how much she pushed, she could only nudge it slightly.
Finally giving up on moving the box, Yulia brought scissors and sat in front of it.
The strings on the “Handle with Care” box began to loosen one by one.
And at last, the box was opened.
“Wow! I paid a hefty price for this, and this is all I get? Is this a scam?!”
Inside were a small wooden totem, a plush toy, talismans, etc.
Next to a book written in ancient language, Yulia examined each item that came out of the box closely.
“Magical engineering was easy to learn on my own, but why is it so hard to find anything for curses…?”
All the items were catalysts for curses.
After digging through her connections for a while, she barely contacted a curse caster and bought them.
The opened book was also a book on curses she bought from the underground market’s auction.
Without the confidence or personality to seek out a master to learn from, she had no choice but to do it all independently.
Just like she has until now.
All self-taught.
“Damn! This is the second part! Where’s the first part?!”
But learning curses on her own was nearly impossible.
Curses are techniques oppressed by many nations and cities.
A small but tenacious community of curse casters teaches and learns from one another.
Learning such a thing without a master is akin to creating something from nothing.
“This is so frustrating! I have to go back to the auction, wearing a hoodie, mask, and sunglasses to search through the black market…”
But no matter how rough and tough the journey ahead might be.
Yulia absolutely refused to give up.
To find Yoo Jin.
And to hold on to him.
Moreover, to prevent his regression.
For now, none of the existing magical systems seemed to offer any sharp solutions.
There weren’t any spells that could track a person just by understanding their name, scent, eye color, and how beautiful their dimpled smile could be.
Even if I did manage to find him, capturing him would be a challenge too.
If I hired someone powerful, perhaps it could be resolved.
But the run-of-the-mill mercenary wouldn’t stand a chance against Yoo Jin.
Also, stopping his regression was impossible through magic alone.
“But curses… if it’s curses, then there’s a chance, a shadowy world that might hold possibilities…”
If magic was impossible, perhaps curses could work?
That was the starting point for Yulia, and she chose to learn curses without hesitation.
She was unfazed by the church’s oppression against curse casters.
She simply wanted to meet Yoo Jin as soon as possible and put an end to his suffering.
Before some foolish girl stirs up trouble with him.
Before the worn-out Yoo Jin regresses again.
Before she could break this eternal cycle.
“I’ll… I’ll make it easy for you. I’ll make you happy.”
Tears welled in Yulia’s eyes, shimmering with light.
Suddenly, she felt tears springing up.
As she wiped her eyes, painful memories surged through Yulia’s mind.
‘If it weren’t for you, I would’ve seen the ending this time. You, the trophy heroine, are just getting in my way.’
“Ah, ahh! Aahhh…!”
The sound of Yoo Jin’s voice echoed vividly in her ears.
Her heart grew cold, and an uncontrollable stream of tears spilled out.
That had to be insincere words.
She must have blurted that out to make herself hate him.
Or perhaps some cursed, malicious entity forced her to say that.
If she didn’t think that way, her heart would shatter to pieces.
Clutching her heart, Yulia cried, vowing to make sure Yoo Jin wouldn’t have to say such insincere words anymore.
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