When the light vanished, I slipped out of the memory and returned to my own body.
My hand was still resting on the metal plate to examine the magical relic.
Beside me, Margreta asked,
“Is something wrong?”
“No. There’s no problem.”
I had spent a considerable amount of time inside the memory, but once again, almost no time seemed to have passed in reality.
I casually withdrew my hand.
“I told you. On Earth, it’s just an antique.”
“Hmm. So it is.”
Margreta looked at me and grinned.
At her smile, Maxwell’s eyebrow twitched again.
Ignoring the two of them bickering, I asked Maxwell,
“What sort of magic is in this relic?”
“Wind magic. It’s for educational use, so it can only create a gentle breeze.”
After hearing Maxwell’s explanation, Thorpe grumbled again.
[That’s not wind, it’s air magic. Creating wind is merely air magic that uses differences in air pressure.]
In truth, it didn’t matter whether what was inside was wind magic or air magic.
[Since we saw the memory, Thorpe, you remembered the magic too, right?]
[……Indeed. Now I’ve recalled air magic as well.]
Since Thorpe had obtained the magic, I no longer needed this relic.
I shook my head.
“If it’s wind magic, then it won’t be of any use to me.”
“What?”
Maxwell glared at me.
“I have a relic with a similar ability.”
This time, I used the spear as my excuse again.
Since Thorpe, who was inside the spear, was the one using the magic, it wasn’t exactly wrong.
It wasn’t something I’d originally had, but something I’d learned just now. In any case, I could use it now.
At my words, Maxwell let out a low groan.
“Urgh… You did say you used all kinds of abilities through the relics you possess.”
“Yes. Unfortunately, it’s similar to one of those abilities.”
At my words, Margreta looked at me.
Margreta had seen my magic before. Since I had never used wind-type magic, she couldn’t help but find it strange.
“But this is magic. It can be used in more varied ways, and it’s an ability that can even grow.”
“In that case, I would like to learn a different magic. Please show me another relic.”
“That’s…”
Maxwell looked troubled.
My refusal seemed to put him in quite a difficult position.
“Then I can take the Dark Stone back, right?”
Margreta reached toward the black stone again.
“W-wait…”
“Why? Is there a problem?”
Margreta stopped her hand in front of the black stone and smiled brightly.
The more Margreta smiled, the redder Maxwell’s face became.
If left alone, he looked like he might explode.
It wouldn’t have mattered if he did explode, but there was something I needed to say before that.
I said to him,
“Then let’s do this.”
At my words, Margreta withdrew her hand as though she had been waiting for it.
“This time, please calculate the value of this black stone in money.”
At my words, Maxwell’s expression changed quickly.
Instead of anger, a look of relief flashed across his face, and in the end, he was smiling.
“That’s reasonable. If we do it that way, there shouldn’t be any proble—”
“And.”
I cut him off.
I wasn’t finished yet.
“The next time I obtain a black stone like this, I’d like to do the same as we did this time. I’ll look at the relic, and if it isn’t a ‘magic’ relic I want, we’ll calculate it in money. If it is one I want, then we’ll calculate it by stages, as you suggested.”
At my words, Maxwell’s expression hardened. He crossed his arms and fell into thought.
On the surface, he seemed to be deliberating whether to accept my proposal.
But I wasn’t worried.
There was no reason for him to refuse. From their perspective, nothing would change all that much.
Margreta wasn’t worried either.
Rather than that, she seemed more curious about the fact that I knew magic.
She kept poking my leg under the table.
After a while, he nodded and said to me,
“Fine. I’ll consider it favorably. However, if you bring something we already know about like this time, that would be troublesome, so tell me what abilities you currently have.”
At his words, I grinned.
As expected, I couldn’t let my guard down for even a moment.
I asked him in return,
“Wouldn’t it be better for you to tell me what kinds of magic the United States possesses?”
Cracks appeared in his face.
He stared at me intently.
“You can just bring something that isn’t the same. If it’s a relic he doesn’t need, you only have to pay money, so wouldn’t that be even better?”
When Margreta cut in from the side, Maxwell let out a sigh.
“You’re no pushover. Is this man the partner you chose?”
At Maxwell’s words, Margreta looked at me.
She looked at me and gave a small laugh.
“……Who knows. In any case, don’t worry. I’m not going back.”
“That isn’t for us to decide.”
“No. I’ve already decided.”
Seeing Margreta speak with a firm expression, Maxwell shook his head.
“Fine. Let’s do that. I’ll send the money within the day.”
He put the relic, the black stone, and even the USB into the bag, then locked it.
“Then…”
Just as Maxwell, having closed the bag, was about to speak again.
Dudududu.
The sound of several helicopters approaching could be heard.
Hearing the sound, Maxwell said,
“They’re here now. Those are the transport helicopters that will move the main force.”
“We’re going by helicopter?”
“There’s no airport near the ruins, so it can’t be helped.”
Since there was no airport near the Baekdusan ruins, it seemed they were moving the main force of the U.S. military by transport helicopter.
“Are you going with them?”
At my question, Maxwell shook his head.
“No. I’m returning to my country.”
“You’re not going with them?”
“I came because of this relic.”
He tapped the bag and continued,
“Besides, Sterling is there, and there’s a separate person in charge, so there’s no need for me to go too.”
“Sterling?”
“He survived alone, so he has to take responsibility. He’ll have to join the main force and go back to that star.”
I felt sorry for Sterling.
He had hated Trappist so much that the moment he arrived on Earth, he disappeared without even looking back.
And now he had to go back.
I silently sent him my condolences.
Maxwell took out a satellite phone and asked us,
“Will you be going with the main force?”
I shook my head.
“No. We still have something to do.”
Margreta looked at me with puzzled eyes.
I asked Margreta,
“We can go back in the helicopter we came in, right?”
Her puzzled expression remained, but Margreta nodded.
“Yes. It should be waiting.”
“Then I should tell them to leave first.”
Maxwell, who had been listening to our conversation, contacted the helicopter.
Dududududu.
A short while later, the sound of the helicopters that had landed taking off again could be heard.
After emptying his glass, Maxwell picked up the bag and rose from his seat.
“Then I’ll be heading back too. Next time, someone else may come.”
“I hope so.”
At Maxwell’s words, Margreta stuck out her lips in a pout.
“Isn’t that a bit harsh to someone who came all this way just to see your face?”
“You came to check whether I’d changed my mind.”
At Margreta’s words, Maxwell nodded.
“If not, there’d be no reason for me to come all the way here. Still, I saw someone unexpected, so I don’t think it was a waste of time.”
As he headed outside, he waved his hand at me.
“Then take good care of my cousin who ran away from home. Hold on to her tightly and make sure she doesn’t come back.”
Margreta raised her middle finger.
Maxwell burst into loud laughter.
“Hahaha. Then I hope we meet in Paradise next time.”
Click.
The door closed.
Maxwell went outside, but Margreta and I did not leave.
Instead, Margreta got up and brought over the liquor and glasses.
She placed a glass in front of herself and me, then poured the liquor.
Unlike Maxwell’s rough hand, the way she poured was exceedingly graceful.
[I have felt it every time, but she truly is the daughter of a noble house.]
Enough for Thorpe to say that.
After setting down the bottle, she said to me,
“Now it’s my turn, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I’ve been waiting.”
It was time to hear the past Margreta had promised to tell me.
“Mac already said everything and made a mess of it, but originally, I…”
Margreta was the youngest daughter of the Ashford family, a family of American politicians.
Her father had retired after serving as Speaker of the House, and her older brothers were still serving as a governor and a senator.
Her relatives all held positions in politics and the business world as well, making them a family of tremendous influence.
If there was anyone among her relatives who could be called relatively ordinary, it was only Maxwell’s parents, who had founded a small company.
“Until I graduated from university, I was ordinary. I went to private schools, graduated from a fairly famous university, and after that, I was supposed to marry a man from a similar family and go on living a life of attending parties with women of the same class.”
Margreta lifted her glass. Holding the glass and smiling, she truly looked like a noblewoman.
She set the glass down and stroked it with her finger.
“But before graduation, I was picked in a blood test. I had become an energy user. The family was delighted. Having an energy user in the family meant they could gain even more power.”
The wine inside the glass rotated along with her finger.
Watching the swirling wine, Margreta continued speaking.
“As expected, it was no different in Paradise. Classes were divided, and information and all sorts of benefits went only to one side. Look at Mac and Sterling. They’re the only two who obtained ‘magic.’”
Margreta flicked the glass with her finger.
Drops of liquor scattered out.
“I was inside that group too, but the problem was that I had a rebellious streak.
When I heard that the intelligence department was recruiting agents, I immediately applied. My family opposed it fiercely, but I had my cousin Maxwell.”
Margreta took her hand away from the glass and looked at me.
“There was one more energy user in the family, and because that person was greedy, I was able to come out on my own like this.
Of course, even now, I get various benefits thanks to my family, and there are people who look at me strangely, but it’s still much more comfortable than being inside that cage.
I can go to other stars like this, and I can be with you too, Hyeon.”
Margreta’s story came to an end.
It was a predictable story, yet not a predictable one.
“So, what do you think?”
“I understand?”
At Margreta’s question, I shrugged.
Margreta stuck out her lips in a pout.
“What kind of answer is that?”
“You’re not planning to go back anyway.”
“No. I’m not. But as Mac said, that isn’t something I can decide on my own.”
Seeing her look half resigned, I said,
“I’ll help too.”
“Really?”
She grinned and asked again.
“Yes. Trust me, Magi.”
At my words, Margreta’s eyes widened.
“Hmm. Will you call me that again?”
“Call you what?”
She leaned her head toward me and asked, while I played dumb.
“My name.”
“Later.”
I rose from my seat.
Margreta also stood up and asked me,
“More importantly, what was that earlier? You said it was magic you knew. You don’t know wind magic.”
I raised my hand.
I recalled Thorpe’s magic that I had seen in the memory.
Air magic that gathered air in one place.
Air began gathering above my palm.
Whoosh.
Margreta’s hair began to sway.
I felt the wind brush my cheek.
“Just now, I learned wind magic—no, air magic.”
Margreta’s mouth fell open.
She stammered as she asked me,
“N-no, you didn’t even see it. And this is Earth. Earth has no energy, so you shouldn’t be able to use abilities…”
She stopped speaking and pointed at me.
“You could use them, couldn’t you, Hyeon?”
“Yes.”
Looking at me, Margreta shook her head.
“Then… that means you can use magic just by seeing a relic.”
“Yes.”
At my answer, Margreta looked appalled.
“Wow. What a fraud.”
“Do you not like having a fraud for a partner?”
Margreta stared at me.
She opened her mouth.
“……No. I like it.”
Margreta smiled brightly.
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