C346, 347, 348
Chapter 346: Seclusion (1)
Objectively, her specs were slightly better than mine.
And her equipment…
‘Overwhelmingly superior.’
Moreover, she had participated in the war for over a year and had killed countless Noark bastards, so her combat experience would also be greater than mine now.
But there was no need to be intimidated.
Erwen had made one mistake.
Swoosh.
Distance.
Spirit King contractor or not, distance control was an archer’s lifeline. At this distance, I had the advantage.
The fact that we were in a closed room was also a plus.
And besides, she wasn’t even mentally stable.
“At, attack you? How… how can I do that… to you…”
Geez, she was the one who called me an evil spirit earlier.
I wasn’t going to give her time to think.
Things could get messy if we both went all out.
Clench.
I made a fist, my hand the size of a watermelon, and dashed forward.
But…
Whoosh!
…my fist, which I thought was a surprise attack, cut through the air.
She’s fast.
“…Don’t… don’t do this…”
Well, I had expected this.
Thud.
The moment I stopped, my foot slamming into the ground…
「Character has cast [Eye of the Storm].」
…a whirlpool appeared around me, pulling everything towards its center.
It wasn’t combined with [Transcendence], so the radius was only 5 meters.
But it was enough to cover the entire room.
Whiiiiiish!
The bed, blanket, pillow, bookshelf, desk, carpet, and so on.
Everything that weighed less than 500 kilograms was caught in the wind and flew around the room.
Including Erwen.
“…This is!”
Erwen, who had fought Stormgush on Parune Island, looked confused.
She probably didn’t expect this skill.
I hadn’t shown it to her when I was proving my identity since it wasn’t one of my original essences.
Whoosh!
But Erwen, who had also been through a lot, immediately improvised. She summoned the wind spirit and tried to resist the pull.
“St, stop it…!”
Stop what?
“I told you, there’s something wrong with your head.”
I walked towards her, maintaining [Eye of the Storm].
And…
Whoosh!
…I punched.
Of course, I didn’t expect it to hit her.
I thought she would dodge back, and then I would use [Gigantification] to extend my reach.
Well, that was the plan…
Thud, thud, thud.
…but the furniture and other items that had been flying around the room suddenly fell to the ground as [Eye of the Storm] ended.
And…
“…….”
…Erwen was standing there.
Her eyes closed, right in front of my fist.
“Why…”
I had no choice but to ask.
If she hadn’t stopped at the last moment, my fist would have definitely hit her.
But why?
“Why didn’t you dodge?”
Erwen slowly opened her eyes and spoke, her expression on the verge of tears.
“Because… you would have been hurt…”
Huh?
My mind went blank at the sudden turn of events.
“You’re right… I, I know… there’s something wrong with me… but… even so…”
Erwen continued, her voice trembling.
“How… how could I hurt you?”
Uh…
Right… I see.
Drop.
I was speechless, watching a teardrop fall from her cheek and hit the ground.
“…….”
This makes me look like the bad guy.
____________________
I had a sincere conversation with Erwen after that.
It was a long and rambling conversation, often going off on tangents, but to summarize:
She hadn’t been in her right mind since I died.
She had endured a long period of pain and obtained the Pureblood of her tribe, driven by the desire for revenge.
The war broke out as soon as she gained power, and she sought out dangerous battlefields, thinking it was her chance to take revenge.
That’s when she contracted the Spirit King.
And…
“I admit it was excessive, but I never intended to imprison you.”
…she had boarded up the windows and only allowed me to go out at night because she was worried about me.
The rumor that I was an evil spirit had spread throughout the city.
It was a kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
She couldn’t control herself, thinking that she might lose me again.
“Then what about Amelia?”
“…Her too. I can’t trust her. I’m confident that I would never betray you, but… I don’t know about her. I’m so anxious…”
“…….”
“But I, I won’t do it again. I won’t stop you even if you want to make her your companion. Honestly, I’m still uneasy, but…”
“Uneasy, but…?”
“…Because you don’t want me to.”
Hmm, is she being sincere?
It didn’t seem like she was lying…
I was worried that she might suddenly snap again, but she seemed genuinely sincere.
She even said this:
“My essences. I’ll remove them all tomorrow if you tell me to. Even if it means… I won’t be able to protect you anymore…”
Most of Erwen’s essences were obtained through her achievements in the war.
But she’s saying she’ll remove them all?
“…Why would you do that?”
It was a reason I couldn’t understand.
Were we that close?
I didn’t say it out loud since it would be rude in this situation.
“…It’s better not to remove your essences.”
“…I’ll do as you say.”
“But if this happens again, I’ll remove a few of them.”
“Yes, if that’s what you want—”
“I’m not saying this for me, I’m saying it for you.”
I was being 100% sincere.
Erwen wasn’t in her right mind.
If I kept telling her sweet words and took advantage of her fear of being hated, it wouldn’t be difficult to control her.
But that wasn’t right.
That wasn’t what companions were for.
I had learned that from a mage in Lalkas’s Maze.
Therefore…
“For… me?”
…I said firmly,
“Yes, for you… no, to be precise, for our relationship.”
“Ou, our relationship…”
“…Do you understand?”
I asked again, grabbing her shoulder, and Erwen answered,
“Ye, yes…”
…You really understand, right?
____________________
My life didn’t change much after that conversation.
I continued to live a reclusive life, going out to the garden at night and leaving the windows boarded up.
The only thing that changed was Erwen’s attitude.
“Mister, here’s your equipment.”
Erwen, who had been acting like it was fine for me to just hide in this house, started actively helping me.
First, it was equipment.
“This is…”
No. 2988 Mark of the Guardian Corps.
It didn’t have any stats or active effects, but it gave a 50% shock absorption bonus to shields, making it one of the core items for shield barbarians.
“…You had this?”
“Yes, there’s no way I could sell it.”
It seemed like Raven had taken charge of the inheritance distribution, and she had been keeping this earring after receiving it by mail.
“But why are you giving it to me now? You asked about my equipment before.”
“Sorry… I hid it because I didn’t want you to go back to the labyrinth.”
Right, it wasn’t my imagination.
‘If I hadn’t resolved the situation back then, I would have really been raised in this house…’
I shuddered, but she wouldn’t have actually done that.
I dismissed my unease and focused on something else.
I had assumed that all my old equipment had been sold and was circulating in the market, but now I had a different thought.
The others might have kept some of it.
“…I’ll have to ask them. But one thing’s for sure, Avman Urikfrit sold everything.”
“Avman did?”
“Yes. I heard he took the less meaningful items, like your subspace ring.”
Hmm, I see.
He took the things that were difficult to sell, so he could sell them without feeling guilty?
I was a bit disappointed, but it wasn’t important.
‘As long as I have this earring and that, I can just get the rest again.’
I could just have my armor and shield remade.
And the other Numbered Items weren’t that expensive.
“Do you know who took my necklace?”
“Ah, the one that transformed magic stones into weird things?”
“Yes.”
Its official name was No. 7777 Garpas’s Necklace.
It was a necklace that transformed magic stones into random materials. It was like a gacha version of alchemy.
So it wasn’t a very valuable item.
At least not until you had enough money to trigger the hidden event.
“Actually… I wanted that necklace, so I sent a letter to that mage… no, Arrua Raven, a while ago.”
“So? Who took it?”
“Misha Kaltstein.”
“Ah…”
I sighed.
She was the only one among my companions whose whereabouts were unknown. Well, I did hear that she was with Lee Baekho at the Round Table…
But that just made me more confused.
It was all a mystery.
“…….”
But I decided to think positively.
Misha and I were close.
She would probably be keeping it safe.
‘Hmm… maybe not?’
I wasn’t sure anymore, since two years and six months had passed.
I decided to think about it later.
‘Anyway, I think Ainar probably took my armor and weapon… Then did Raven get the rest?’
I was contemplating the whereabouts of my scattered equipment when I suddenly thought of an item.
‘Ah, the Orb of Fire… I wonder what happened to that?’
It was the only Bound item I had.
If I was considered dead in this time period, it would have been sold, and if not, it would probably still be in someone’s possession.
‘If it’s the latter, then Raven probably has it…’
“Phew…”
The more I thought about it, the more I sighed.
Although I had gained a lot from the past, there were also many things I had to take care of.
“Mister, aren’t you going to eat?”
“Ah… I was just lost in thought.”
I dismissed my thoughts and ate the food Erwen had brought. And after our meal, we had a brief discussion.
“What are you going to do?”
“…I have to clear my name first.”
“Should I… use my influence to create an opportunity…?”
Erwen suggested proving myself in front of the royal family, but I refused.
It was too early.
I would have to do it eventually, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something political going on with my case.
“I think we have to be more careful with this. If something goes wrong, it could affect you and the entire fairy tribe.”
“…You’re… so kind.”
“Ahem. Anyway, that’s why… Can you focus on gathering information about Raven and Avman? We don’t have to worry about Erwen anymore.”
“Okay! I will.”
Erwen then left for the sanctuary, and I lay down on the sofa in the living room to take a nap.
That’s when…
Knock, knock.
…someone knocked on the door.
Erwen wouldn’t knock.
----------------------------------------
Chapter 347: Seclusion (2)
The Magitechnician, Yurven Habelión.
The head of a school and a mage respected by countless crafting mages.
Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
It was that difficult of a task.
Interfering with the laws of the spiritual world.
“Damn it.”
The man in a robe muttered as he looked at the jewel on his workbench.
The jewel placed on the workbench was given to him by an old man he met shortly after arriving in this world.
It was essentially the server and system of the spiritual world, now named Ghostbusters.
“What’s wrong with it?”
Countless magical circuits, large and small, were intricately intertwined within this small jewel.
The man had honed his skills by analyzing and studying this, and by modifying the circuits one by one, he created the current Ghostbusters.
But…
“…Is this method impossible after all?”
After spending a long time pouring mana into the jewel and modifying the circuits, the man sighed as if giving up.
Honestly, it was ridiculous to even be disappointed.
There’s no way something he couldn’t achieve for decades would suddenly be possible in a few days.
His biggest achievement lately was updating the anonymous chat rooms so that he could secretly view the nicknames of the players entering with administrator privileges.
Buzz.
His personal pager vibrated.
He didn’t even need to look to know who it was.
“Yes, SoulQueens. No issues about me, right?”
[No… I haven’t heard anything about you yet.]
“…I see.”
The man felt a mix of annoyance and relief.
His identity, which he had been hiding for nearly 20 years, had been revealed in the most unexpected place.
“Please keep an eye on it. It’s important to nip these rumors in the bud. I’ll continue looking for a way to identify the other members.”
[Okay. And… I’m sorry.]
“…….”
The man was speechless at the woman’s apology.
He couldn’t bring himself to say it was fine.
“Then… please contact me again if anything comes up.”
[Okay, rest well.]
The man ended the call and returned to the workbench.
And…
‘Even if I just change the circuit so that the server saves the location data when you log in, it would be possible to track them…’
He continued to analyze the jewel’s intricate internal circuits.
As always, the answer would be within this jewel.
_____________________
Knock, knock.
I jumped up from the sofa as soon as I heard the knock.
‘…Who is it?’
I didn’t know.
Erwen wouldn’t knock, so it had to be someone from the outside…
But who would knock on the front door instead of the gate?
‘Damn it.’
I held my breath, crouched down, and quietly approached the door.
And at that moment…
Click, click.
I heard the doorknob rattling, and then the lock clicked open.
Creak.
The door slowly opened.
I clenched my fists, ready to subdue whoever it was, but then I froze as I saw the visitor.
“…You’re here.”
“Amelia…!”
“Ugh…! I, I told you not to do that…”
I’m just happy to see you.
How embarrassing.
“…Come in.”
“Excuse me…”
I quickly let Amelia in, skipping the reunion hug since she seemed to hate it.
I had a million questions.
But to ask them in order…
“How did you know I was here?”
“…I waited in front of the bank and followed the fairy.”
“Huh? But why now…?”
“I couldn’t get close.”
Huh?
But she was always out during the day, going to the sanctuary.
Amelia shook her head as I pointed that out.
“That’s impossible. She was always near the house.”
I felt a chill run down my spine.
“…You’re saying she never went to the sanctuary?”
“Don’t tell me… you didn’t know?”
“…….”
“Well, she started leaving the house recently, as if something had changed. I waited for a few days, thinking it might be a trap.”
I was a bit relieved.
If something had changed, then it was probably because of our conversation.
“So… what happened with the Blood Spirit Marquis? She wouldn’t have been happy to see you alive, especially considering the evil spirit issue.”
“Ah, that’s been taken care of.”
I briefly summarized my encounter with Erwen, focusing on the important parts.
Amelia seemed surprised.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re an evil spirit or not… That’s an unusual mindset for a surface explorer.”
“She’s changed. I don’t think she would have thought that way before.”
“Well, I don’t think so.”
“Huh?”
“She didn’t stop trying to avenge you even after it was announced that you were an evil spirit. She had already made up her mind. It doesn’t matter to her what you are.”
Hmm, that’s possible.
“Anyway, I made sure to emphasize that I’m not an evil spirit. Just in case.”
Amelia chuckled.
“So I’m the only one who knows your true identity?”
“No, there’s one more.”
“…Didn’t you say Misha Kaltstein doesn’t know?”
“It’s someone else. He’s not even from this world. He’s from my world.”
I told her about Lee Baekho since there was no reason to hide it, and he could become a variable in the future.
But her reaction was strange.
“Lee Baekho…? He’s from your world?”
It sounded like she knew him.
Come to think of it, there were quite a few people who knew about Lee Baekho at the Round Table.
I was originally planning to subtly ask Erwen about him, but it seemed like it would be better to get the information from Amelia.
“Do you know him?”
“…Of course.”
“Well, you came here much earlier than me, so I guess you could have met him. Ah, but how long has it been since you returned?”
“Two years.”
“Oh, so time flows at a 1:1 ratio for you—”
“But it doesn’t matter when I returned. I met him much earlier.”
Huh?
She met him before that?
I stared at her, wanting a more detailed explanation, and Amelia opened her mouth.
“You remember I said I was on a team with an evil spirit for over a year?”
Uh…
“That evil spirit was Lee Baekho.”
That bastard is everywhere.
______________________
Amelia met Lee Baekho about five years ago.
She had intentionally approached him under the Lord’s orders.
There were suspicions that he might be an evil spirit, and she was sent to confirm it.
After all, they could try to recruit him if he was an evil spirit.
“Explorers who could use Aura were rare, so it wasn’t difficult to join his team. And I spent about a year with them.”
Amelia said that she obtained [Self-Replication] in the Doppelganger Forest and cleared the Hundred Colors Temple during that time…
Wow, no wonder she knew all about the hidden pieces.
It made sense if she had been with Lee Baekho.
“So? What happened?”
“Nothing special. The Lord lost interest after a year when I couldn’t find any concrete evidence, and I left the team with an excuse. And then… I heard the news later.”
“What news?”
“I don’t know the details. The royal family covered it up thoroughly. All I could find out was that his identity was revealed because of a companion’s betrayal, and many people died in the labyrinth that day.”
Amelia then said that the royal family had erased all records of Lee Baekho and controlled information about him for years, making him disappear from the city.
But I was curious about one thing.
“Then how do you know his name is Lee Baekho?”
“It’s a relatively recent development. It seems like he’s really turned against the royal family now. He’s appearing everywhere and introducing himself as Lee Baekho. Ah, he used to use an alias, or people just called him ‘that guy’.”
I see…
I didn’t know someone who knew about Lee Baekho’s past was right next to me.
“What was he like back then?”
“Well, we weren’t close. I didn’t like his casual attitude. But he was very close to the others.”
“Close?”
“Yeah, like the teams you create.”
I heard several stories about Lee Baekho out of curiosity, and the more I heard, the stranger I felt.
“What? Everyone on the team was a woman? And he dated all of them? Wow, did he build a harem in the labyrinth…?”
“Harem? I don’t know what that means, but all your team members are women too, aren’t they?”
What is she talking about?
Avman is still holding strong.
And when we were Team Misfits, everyone except for Misha was a man.
“Well, that’s true. But it just happened that way because I chose them based on their abilities and aptitude, not because I was interested in them romantically—”
“You don’t have to make excuses. I don’t mind.”
“…?”
“We’re from different countries. I don’t know what it’s like in Korea, but it was probably similar to the noble culture here.”
No, Korea is a monogamous society…
What does she think Korea is?
I felt like Lee Baekho and I had completely ruined Korea’s image, but I decided not to say anything more.
It wasn’t important.
It was time to move on.
“Amelia, what was in that note you left at the bank?”
“…What do you mean? It’s just like I wrote.”
“Ah, the letter Erwen gave me was torn at the end. I only read up to ‘Kraul’s Demon Crusher is…’.”
“…I, I see.”
Amelia seemed noticeably flustered when the topic shifted to my precious hammer.
“No wonder you didn’t say anything… so you didn’t read it…”
“No, that makes me uneasy. Tell me. What happened to my hammer? Is it still there—”
“Your hammer is safe.”
Amelia cut me off firmly.
And…
Swoosh.
…she said quietly, avoiding my gaze,
“At the Alminus Exchange, in the collateral loan department’s vault…”
Sigh…
_____________________
A heavy silence fell between Amelia and me.
Even Amelia, who was always confident, seemed to know she had done something wrong and was avoiding my gaze. It was me who spoke first.
“…Why did you sell it?”
There must have been a good reason.
This was Amelia—
“I’ll correct you.”
“…Huh?”
“I didn’t sell it, I used it as collateral for a loan.”
Ugh, are you serious?
Amelia coughed awkwardly as I glared at her.
“We should at least get the facts straight to avoid future problems—”
“Just answer the question. Why did you use my hammer as… no, collateral? For what?”
“…To protect you when you returned.”
Phew, as expected.
She must have had a good reason—
“…I bought an essence at the auction.”
“…………What?”
I finally regained my senses after a long silence.
Well, I guess that’s possible if she needed money urgently.
She probably used it to buy Twin Hydra’s [Dual Control]. It was a good enough essence to justify buying it if you could.
But I had to confirm.
“…When’s the repayment date?”
“Two months.”
“…How much?”
“I don’t have it right now.”
“Then do you have a plan to get the money?”
“…I had one.”
Right, past tense.
Another quest had been added to my already busy schedule.
----------------------------------------------
Chapter 348: Seclusion (3)
Everyone has a plan.
It's not guaranteed to work, but…
Amelia was no exception.
“…There was an organization I had my eye on. They were smuggling opium disguised as a relief effort and selling it for a high price on the black market… My original plan was to rob them.”
“And?”
“…The Security Bureau raided them while I was tracking them.”
I was speechless.
It was typical of her…
But at least it was better than robbing a bank, right?
I chuckled, and Amelia apologized sheepishly.
“…This was my mistake, so I’ll figure something out.”
What is she talking about?
I said firmly,
“It’s fine. Why would you solve it alone?”
In the first place, it would have been lost if she hadn’t extended the vault’s time limit, and Amelia had a 50% stake in it.
After all, we were on a party hunt when it dropped.
And besides, it was ridiculous to hold her accountable for this when she had already gotten the money for the Vol-Herchan essence.
“We’ll solve the money problem together. Got it?”
“…Because we’re companions?”
Wow, she’s actually saying that.
“Yes, because we’re companions. When there’s a problem, we don’t blame each other, we find a solution together.”
“…Okay.”
And so, we discussed a plan.
It was a difficult amount to raise in two months through normal means, but it wasn’t impossible.
The stocks she had bought two years and six months ago had skyrocketed.
“Borrowing money from that fairy… It’s possible, considering her wealth. But is it okay?”
“Huh? Is it okay?”
“That fairy is also your companion.”
“Ahem…”
Damn it, she’s hitting me where it hurts.
“Amelia, you’ve been alone for so long that you don’t understand. Companions help each other when they’re in need. Got it?”
“Is that… how you treat your companions?”
No, who said it was a one-sided deal?
We could just pay her back with interest.
“Anyway, that’s enough about that. Let’s talk about something else.”
“You’ve judged the situation to be unfavorable.”
“…Huh?”
“Isn’t that right? You usually change the subject when things are uncomfortable.”
Uh…
She was right.
“…….”
But was she always this playful?
Why do I feel like she’s teasing me?
“Just tell me what you wanted to say, Yandel.”
She didn’t even give me a chance to protest, so it seemed like she was intentionally teasing me…
But I just let it slide since I only had circumstantial evidence.
There was a more pressing matter.
“Ah, it’s nothing special. I was just thinking about how to introduce you to Erwen.”
I didn’t want to witness a team kill.
____________________
Tap, tap, tap.
Amelia clicked her tongue as I nervously tapped my fingers on the table.
“That’s annoying, so calm down.”
“…….”
“Are you that scared of her?”
“Wh, who’s scared? Erwen listens to me very well.”
I was just a bit nervous.
I had told Erwen that Amelia would be joining us, but human impulses aren’t always controllable.
I didn’t want to see Amelia explode again.
Especially not her real body.
Tick, tock.
That’s when, as time passed and I started to feel hungry…
Click.
…I heard the gate closing.
Erwen was back.
She was probably carrying bags of food for me.
Thud, thud.
Her light footsteps, characteristic of fairies, were approaching.
And…
Thud.
…they stopped in front of the door.
That was strange.
I clearly heard the doorknob turning, but why wasn’t she opening the door? And why did her humming stop?
“The door is open.”
Erwen muttered.
“…I smell a woman.”
I immediately jumped up and ran towards the door.
I had a bad feeling that things would go wrong if I just went ahead with the surprise event I had prepared.
“…Er, Erwen! You’re back!”
Erwen ignored my greeting and scanned the house as soon as I opened the door.
And then she fixed her gaze on Amelia.
“Amelia Rainwales.”
“It’s been a while, Blood Spirit Marquis. Is this your first time seeing me in the city?”
“…What are you doing here?”
“I followed you after you left the bank. Your stealth magic has improved, but it seems like you don’t use it much in real life. You should be more careful. You’re not the only one who lives here.”
Erwen muttered at Amelia’s answer,
“…Should I kill her?”
“Erwen…?”
“Ah, sorry. I was just thinking out loud.”
“Uh… that, that’s okay. It happens. Let’s… sit down. We can’t be awkward with each other, right? We’re going to be working together.”
“Okay.”
Erwen calmed down surprisingly quickly and sat down at the table. And she spoke in a casual tone,
“So I just have to get along with this woman?”
“It’s not ‘this woman’, call her by her name.”
“Then I’ll call her by her last name. Rainwales, right?”
“That’s right. You can call me Tersia.”
“Okay.”
The conversation ended there after Erwen’s curt response.
It was my turn to step in.
“Erwen, like I said before, Amelia will be working with us from now on.”
“What about her identity?”
“Don’t worry about that. Yandel prepared something while waiting for you to return.”
“…Why didn’t you tell me he was alive?”
“That’s a stupid question. How could I possibly tell you that?”
“We only spent six months together.”
“Hmm, I believe you spent even less time exploring the labyrinth with Yandel.”
Hey, why are they talking without me again?
“Alright, alright, calm down.”
I quickly intervened.
“I don’t know what happened between you two, but it was all just a misunderstanding, so why don’t we clear things up?”
I glanced at Amelia, signaling her to back down.
But…
“Well, I don’t have any grudges. I almost died on the 6th floor after losing both my legs and having to cling to a plank for three days because of her, but I survived.”
Right, so she had a reason to be prickly.
“…To think you were able to escape on a boat in that state.”
“Erwen.”
“…Don’t worry, I don’t have a huge grudge against her either. I just had the corpse of a Noark explorer I worked hard to kill stolen from me. Ah, and I also got my arm cut, but I guess that’s nothing.”
“But I didn’t kill you.”
“Are you saying you could have? You ran away as soon as our backup arrived.”
“Well… I achieved my goal. Thanks to selling his equipment, I was able to buy this dagger.”
Okay, let’s give up on trying to make them friends.
Companions don’t have to be friendly with each other.
I tried to smile and end the conversation.
“Haha, you’re fighting over such a trivial matter! Come on, shake hands and make up.”
A leader should always be smiling.
______________________
I moved on to the next topic after Erwen and Amelia awkwardly shook hands.
Straightforwardly, like a true barbarian warrior.
“Erwen, can you lend me some money?”
“Money? Why…?”
I told her about the Demon Crusher, and Erwen’s face hardened.
“So you want me to use my money to cover the cost of the essence this woman bought?”
“You could say that…?”
“…I’m sorry, but that’s a bit difficult.”
“…Huh?”
“Don’t misunderstand. It’s not because I don’t want to.”
Then why not?
Erwen muttered sheepishly, as if she was guilty.
“I don’t… have much money anymore… Really.”
Ah, right…
Come to think of it, she said she barely managed to buy this house after blackmailing the chieftain.
But I still had to ask.
“Then what about taking out a loan using this house as collateral?”
I felt like a scumbag, but I had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
“…Th, this house? It’s filled with memories…”
“You can just pay it back.”
“Yandel, you really—”
“Don’t scold mister. This is all because of you. How shameless.”
“What…?”
“So, okay? Don’t feel bad, mister. We can… just buy a new house… later…”
Her hands were trembling…
“…I’m sorry.”
“Don’t say that! I’m doing this for you, mister.”
Anyway, it was decided that we would retrieve the Demon Crusher by using the house as collateral.
So it was time to make our next plan.
“We need to secure funds first, no matter what we do.”
“Yes. You’ll need new equipment and everything if you want to go back to the labyrinth. And we can… keep this house if we have money…”
“Wait, the labyrinth? We should be focusing on clearing your name first.”
Ah, right…
“I’m planning to postpone it because there are some suspicious aspects.”
Amelia nodded as I shared my concerns.
It seemed like she was also uneasy about it.
“Anyway, Amelia, I need you to find a new identity.”
“It’s not difficult to find one, but it will be impossible to completely hide your identity. There are still many people who remember you, even though it’s been over two years.”
In other words, it meant that a helmet wouldn’t be enough.
This wasn’t the past where I had no connections.
If I used [Gigantification], people would immediately think of Bjorn Yandel.
“Hmm, I think it’ll be fine if I’m just careful in the labyrinth…”
“It might work for a month or two, but someone will eventually recognize you—”
“What about absorbing an essence?”
Erwen interrupted.
“Essence?”
“Like what Ainar did. There are essences that shrink your height, right? If you shrink your height and introduce yourself as a human, no one would notice.”
Erwen looked at Amelia, as if wary of her reaction.
But…
“It’s definitely much safer than a helmet if you’re planning to hide your identity for a long time.”
…Amelia surprisingly agreed with Erwen’s idea and even praised her.
But could it be that she found it strange?
“That’s a good idea.”
“…It’s because it’s about mister.”
Erwen turned her head away coldly.
It was a heartwarming sight, but I had to intervene.
“Um…”
I’m sorry to say this, but…
“I don’t have any slots left for essences.”
I was still far from level 7.
And I didn’t have any essences I could remove.
Amelia chuckled after I explained my situation.
“Manticore.”
“…?”
“You said it was an essence you would have to remove eventually.”
…She’s taking away my jump key?