Because I had used several attacks in succession that consumed a considerable amount of mana, the mana inside my body was nearly depleted.
I walked down through the night sky to conserve what mana I had left.
I landed on the site of the research facility, where not even a trace remained now—only a vast pit gaped open.
“Did I send the kids down for nothing…? Can I get a signal here? Should I call Lisa and ask her to come back quickly…?”
In my current condition, I would have to descend the mountain with almost no help from mana.
And in the pitch-dark night, no less.
I sighed.
Meanwhile, Nam Yuri, who had regained her original form, stepped barefoot onto the ground.
She smiled and made a suggestion.
“Or should I carry you down on my back? I don’t have much strength left either, so we’d have to rest a few times on the way.”
“Hmm…”
It was a tempting proposal.
But I shook my head.
“Thanks, but I’m fine. If we’re going to do that, I’d rather walk down myself. I don’t think there’d be much difference, and it’d only make things harder for you. The night road will be dangerous enough as it is…”
“Are you worrying about me right now? I’m fine. But well, if that’s what Gyeonu-Gyeonu says, then I guess it can’t be helped. So what are you going to do?”
“Good question… First, should I try calling Lisa? Ah… no signal. Damn…”
“That’s because Gyeonu-Gyeonu blew away the base stations along with the research facility. In the end, there are two choices, right? Either we go down the mountain at night without manifesting the mana inside our bodies, or…”
“…”
“Or we spend the night together, just the two of us, until your body recovers to some extent, and then go down.”
Nam Yuri circled around me.
With her hands clasped behind her back, she bent at the waist and looked up at me.
Her violet eyes were sparkling.
She looked as if she was expecting something.
“Hey, Gyeonu-Gyeonu. What will you do? For the record, I recommend the second option. It’ll be less exhausting, at least. There’s no need to go out of your way to suffer, is there?”
“That’s true…”
“Right?”
I did agree with her.
The second option appealed to me as well.
However.
“There’s a third option too.”
“Hm? A third?”
There was one more method Nam Yuri hadn’t considered.
Still, it was strange.
With how smart she was, there was no way she hadn’t thought of it…
Of course, it wasn’t incomprehensible.
Sometimes people could be strangely dull when it came to themselves.
In any case, I continued.
“We wait for someone from your family to come pick us up.”
“Hm? My family? Pick us up?”
“We caused quite a commotion, so word must have reached your family one way or another, right? If so, they’ll come here to figure out what happened. We can get help then.”
“But they’ll be the family head’s people. Won’t that be dangerous?”
“What’s there to be dangerous about? You’re the true power behind the scenes now anyway.”
“Ah, right. That’s true.”
“Then let’s wait until they come. They should show up soon. We’ll probably be able to get down the mountain before daybreak.”
“Hmm… Gyeonu-Gyeonu, you sure know how to slip away. Well, there will be plenty of chances from now on anyway. Fine, I get it.”
Nam Yuri pouted, looking displeased.
Then she abruptly turned her head away.
‘What’s with her?’
I tilted my head.
I had no idea.
Since Nam Yuri didn’t seem to think much of it, I decided not to worry about it either.
I would just wait quietly for our ride.
Then, at that moment.
Crackle!
“…!”
I felt a gaze from behind me.
At the same time, my Evasion Instinct activated.
Following the Gift’s warning, I hurriedly turned around.
And where my eyes landed was…
You… again?
There existed a red eye, one that made me shrink back just by looking at it.
Using clumsy human language, it sent thoughts to me.
Interference again. Why interfere?
“Ugh…”
Thoughts mixed with all sorts of noise forced their way into my head.
I frowned.
“Gyeonu-Gyeonu…”
“…Don’t. Stay still.”
Nam Yuri took out her device.
I stretched out an arm to stop her from stepping forward.
My Evasion Instinct was telling me.
If I wanted to live, stay still.
On the other hand.
“You are…”
Crackle! Crackle!
“Who… kh!”
I tried to put my curiosity into words.
Then my Evasion Instinct swiftly tried to subdue me.
Even against my Instinct Control skill.
‘So I’m not even allowed to ask questions? No, why?’
I could only feel bewildered.
But despite the Gift’s response, the red eye seemed to have guessed my question.
Its thoughts came through in fragments.
I am… infinity… end… destiny… apocalypse… the world’s… executor…
For some reason.
My Evasion Instinct did not activate.
I repeated the thoughts inwardly.
‘Infinity? End? Destiny? Apocalypse? The world’s? Executor? What does that mean?’
But there was one thing I could be certain of.
I didn’t know what the red eye was, but it was related to destruction.
Just as I thought that.
The red eye sharpened.
A mere… mortal…
“…”
Do not… interfere…
Do not interfere.
It was the moment I read the red eye’s thoughts.
The red eye revealed killing intent.
Crackle!
My breath caught in my throat.
I couldn’t move so much as a finger.
It felt as if my very existence would be erased.
No, it wasn’t an illusion.
The red eye was serious.
It was trying to kill me and Nam Yuri.
───!!
Within the wavering space.
A crude, jagged hand whose form could not be clearly perceived burst out.
It was red and enormous.
That hand was approaching me and Nam Yuri.
‘I have to move…’
Damn it.
My body, swallowed by a fear that surpassed death, refused to move as I wished.
And on top of that…
Crackle!
My Evasion Instinct was pleading.
No, it was forcing me.
Do not run.
In the end, with the feeling that I had nothing left to lose, I had no choice but to trust and rely on my Gift.
And then.
Crackle!
‘Damn it.’
A shadow fell over my head.
The red hand was about to seize me and Nam Yuri.
At that moment.
Flaaash!
‘…Huh?’
Out of nowhere.
A platinum light burst from my body.
A light so intense it was blinding, yet paradoxically soft and gentle, drove away the shadow.
The red hand, startled the moment it touched the platinum light, hurriedly withdrew.
The light did not stop there…
Flaaash!
World Tree? Just how…
It attacked the red eye.
Sparks erupted around the red eye.
Ripples spread through the surrounding space.
The red eye was in disbelief.
Then, unable to withstand the sparks, the red eye slowly closed.
With its gaze fixed on me.
You are… who…?
“…”
No… I know… You are…
The red eye vanished.
In the end, it was grinning…
“Ah, why…”
Only belatedly did the tension leave me, and I lamented.
Apparently…
I didn’t know why, but…
I had been thoroughly marked.
“I’m screwed.”
I sighed.
* * *
What in the world had that light been?
The question had not been clearly answered, but it wasn’t as if I had no idea at all.
‘I have seen it before. It was a familiar energy too.’
I looked back through my memories.
It wasn’t the first time I had experienced that light.
After enrolling in Geumgang Academy, I had encountered it several times.
So if my guess was correct, that light was…
‘The power of the World Tree.’
There was no doubt.
I was half certain of it.
When the red eye tried to kill me, the power of the World Tree protected me.
‘Then the question is why the power of the World Tree came out of me…’
It was something I couldn’t easily understand.
I fell into a new question.
‘Why? How on earth?’
Was it because of the blessing of the World Tree I had received before?
No, somehow, I didn’t think so.
It hadn’t been mentioned in the game, and I hadn’t received any separate message either.
Moreover, Nam Yuri, who had also received the blessing before, hadn’t shown any reaction.
‘I don’t know…’
Could it have something to do with my reincarnation?
Maybe it did.
I couldn’t say for certain, but…
In the end, I failed to reach a conclusion.
Amid all that.
‘Thankfully, it ended well.’
The explosion that occurred on the mountain owned by the Yeonseong Nam Family was wrapped up smoothly without any particular controversy.
Since there had been no casualties, the world considered it a simple accident caused by a failed alchemy experiment.
Just as my friends and I had intended.
For Nam Yuri’s sake as well.
‘Nothing good would come from letting the world know that Yuri is a homunculus. She’d only receive bothersome attention for no reason.’
That was why we had agreed to keep Nam Yuri’s origins secret.
And.
‘How could we say it… That Yuri brought the head of the Yeonseong Nam Family to his knees and became the hidden power behind the scenes? If people found out, the surroundings wouldn’t leave her alone…’
Even within the Yeonseong Nam Family, only a very small number of people knew the circumstances.
But if it became known to the world…
Not only would the family be disgraced, but those eyeing the family would also try to target Nam Yuri.
The hardships that would follow were obvious.
Both for us and for her herself.
Nevertheless.
“The Yeonseong Nam Family is mine now, so if you need anything, just say the word! I’ll do anything for you! Though I don’t know how long I’ll be able to. From now on, the Yeonseong Nam Family is going to let go of the power it holds one by one and head down the path of ruin! If it’s impossible in the current family head’s generation, then I’ll inherit the next position of family head and do it myself.”
“…”
“The first goal is to fail to be selected at next year’s meeting to choose the new Ten Families!”
Whether she knew how we felt or not.
After sorting out the internal affairs of the Yeonseong Nam Family, Nam Yuri came over to our house and spoke cheerfully without hesitation.
Not only the friends who accompanied her, but also Yeon Haneul, Yeon Bada, my mother, Do Yeeun, my father, and I, who had come out to welcome them, were momentarily stunned.
“You… I told you not to go around talking about that carelessly, didn’t I?”
“But it’s only you guys here! I can keep my mouth shut! Don’t worry!”
“What about my family, who just heard it?”
“If it’s Gyeonu-Gyeonu’s family, it’s fine!”
“Who decided that?”
“I did!”
“Haa…”
Could she really keep it top secret?
I sighed.
In any case, I led my friends into the house.
“By the way, when did your height go back? You got small again.”
“Yep, yep! This side is more familiar after all! If I get any bigger than this, it’s inconvenient to move. Especially my chest.”
“…I see.”
“Why? Do you like my bigger form? Should I change? Just say the word! If Gyeonu-Gyeonu wants it, I’ll do it!”
“Ahem! No, I’m fine. Do whatever is comfortable for you. By the way… can you make yourself shorter or taller whenever you want? That’s an enviable ability.”
“Now that I’ve regained my power, I can! Through alchemy! Because that’s the kind of being I am!”
“Then… if I learn alchemy, can I do it too?”
“Hm? Hmm… It’s not impossible, if you master it? It would take time, though. A whole lot, at Gyeonu-Gyeonu’s level!”
“Tch.”
“But do you want to get taller? Gyeonu-Gyeonu is already plenty tall, though. I like you just the way you are!?”
“Yuri? Aren’t you standing too close to Gyeonu right now? Would you mind moving away a little?”
And so.
While my friends stayed at our house.
We spent an enjoyable vacation sightseeing around Seoul.
* * *
After all my friends had gone back.
As a member of the Divine Sword Do Family, I underwent the regular evaluation.
‘It feels strange to say this, but… this is boring.’
At the evaluation, I had no opponent.
Do Sieun had graduated from the evaluation, and I had grown stronger as well.
As a result, I took first place relatively easily.
“Hahaha! Truly, every time I see you, you surprise me. Well done. You’d be more than fit to be put into an important post right away!”
“Haha… Thank you.”
Grandfather was pleased with me and did not spare his praise.
So much so that he even came out to see me off…
It was somewhat burdensome for me.
Then.
“Gyeonu.”
“Yes, Family Head.”
In truth, Grandfather had another intention…
I realized that then.
Grandfather suddenly brought up a subject.
His expression composed, his tone solemn.
“I heard the news. Your childhood friend—Yeon Haneul, was it? I hear you’ve officially started dating her.”
“…Yes, that’s right.”
Yeon Haneul.
At the name that came from Grandfather’s mouth.
I couldn’t help but grow tense.
Then Grandfather let out a bitter smile.
“You need not be so wary. I am not about to tell you to break up. As the family head, I have no intention of meddling in your love life and telling you what to do. That said, do not take women lightly, and do not make them cry. Treasure that child, and experience much. However…”
“…”
“As I said before, marriage is out of the question.”
Grandfather narrowed his eyes.
There was warning in his words.
Even so.
“Is that… because Haneul is an Ain?”
Though I flinched for a moment.
I did not shrink back.
Rather, I met his gaze as if confronting him.
At me.
“…”
Grandfather looked as though he was not pleased.
Then he readily affirmed it.
“Yes.”
“Because the child born between Haneul and me would have unknowable parentage?”
“That is right. Do you think you could purely love a child whose parents cannot be known? Even if you could, do you think you could endure the eyes of the world? A person of the Divine Sword Do Family will inevitably draw public attention. All the more so if it is the first spouse, recognized as the legal wife, who frequently appears in public. So for you, for your childhood friend, and for that child, it will never be a good experience. On the contrary, it will only end up wounding you.”
“That’s not something you can just decide on your own…”
“I have seen many cases like yours with my own eyes.”
“…”
“At first, you will simply be happy. You will feel as though you can overcome any trial in the world… But do you think those feelings will last forever? The time will surely come when you grow used to it, or when your heart changes. Even then… will you truly be able to endure the eyes of the world? Most people became unhappy there. Love for each other twisted into regret and hatred for each other… There is no guarantee that you two will not be the same. You will become unhappy. If, despite that, you truly wish to take that child as your spouse…”
Grandfather steadied his breath.
Then he continued.
“Take her not as your legal wife, but as a concubine. Then she will rarely have reason to appear at official events. Public activities will be handled by the legal wife. You will be able to protect both your childhood friend and the child. If, perhaps…”
“…”
“You can love only one woman and cannot love another, then that is fine as well. For a person of a prestigious family, marriage is not something done simply for love… As long as you can uphold faith and duty, that is enough. That is what the first spouse is.”
So judge wisely.
Grandfather spoke as if offering counsel.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss