Episode 57
"O, oppa?"
Aria, who had been blankly staring at Irina disguised as Kania, soon discovered Frey in her arms and opened her mouth in surprise.
"Kania... what on earth is going on here?"
Irina, who had been watching Aria with a dazed expression, urgently began to spin her brain which had stopped from shock.
"Ah... well, I was hiding the young master here."
"Hiding...?"
"Yes, you know, don't you? The incident that was in the newspaper recently."
Irina, who had no choice but to lie to protect Frey's lifespan, added as she turned her gaze away from Aria's twinkling eyes.
"The young master had some connection to that incident. So we hid in this mountain, one of the hiding places... and happened to find this cave and entered."
"...Is that so?"
Hearing that, Aria looked at Irina with suspicious eyes and asked.
"But then, why can't I sense any dark magic power from you?"
"That's... while getting the young master out of the incident..."
"Then, was oppa really behind that incident?"
As Irina continued to avoid her gaze, Aria, who had been biting her lip hard, muttered with a gloomy expression.
"I'm asking if oppa was really behind the 'Holy Undead Knight' incident that turned the empire upside down."
"I'm sorry. I can't tell you anything."
Of course, Irina knew the truth, but if she said it as it was, Frey's lifespan would only have 1 year and 3 months left, so she had no choice but to ignore Aria's question.
- Grinding...
Then Aria, who had been gritting her teeth while looking at Irina, soon said with a firm expression.
"I don't believe it."
"What?"
"Both you and oppa are definitely lying. I can tell."
"Uh... that's..."
"Like I said last time, I will find out the truth no matter what. Somehow..."
Just as Irina was startled and wondering if she should add more to the lie, Aria lowered her head deeply and muttered.
"...I need to find out, but I can't help getting tired."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Believing in oppa... and finding the truth... honestly, I'm just so tired now."
Saying that, Aria crouched down in front of Irina and began to ask with pleading eyes.
"Kania, tell me the truth. All the truth you know. I'm prepared to bear the truth..."
"No."
Irina, who had been continuously avoiding her gaze, cut off Aria's words and pushed her away as she spoke.
"I'm just the young master's tool."
Recalling the line Kania had said to her in the previous iteration, Irina mimicked that appearance as exactly as possible, and Aria began to quietly glare at her.
"Ugh... my head..."
Just as tension was building between the two, Frey, who was in Irina's arms, groaned and opened his eyes.
"...Hup."
And Frey, who was about to say something to Irina with a smile, froze for a moment when he discovered Aria looking at him coldly.
- Swipe, sweep.
Worried that Frey might still think this situation was a hallucination, Irina urgently began to write the following letters on Frey's back with her finger.
- Real situation
Soon after Irina's finger stopped, Frey, who was taking a deep breath, stood up from his seat with a hardened expression and said.
"So, what are you doing here? Aria?"
"That's... what I should be asking."
Frey and Aria's eyes began to cross.
"Why did you come here? Frey?"
"As I told you earlier..."
"You stay quiet. Kania."
Soon after Aria frowned and asked, Irina urgently tried to intervene in the conversation, but Aria blocked her mouth and threw a question at Frey.
"Say it directly with your own mouth. Why exactly you came here."
Then Frey, who had been rolling his eyes for a while, grasping Irina's face disguised as Kania, Aria's expression, and the current situation, soon opened his mouth with a cold smile.
"I ran away."
"...From what?"
"Well? What did I run away from?"
"Don't change the subject and answer straight..."
As Aria interrogated Frey with an angry voice, Frey, who was clenching and unclenching his hand, suddenly began to choke Irina's neck next to him.
"Heuk...!"
"But... Kania, did you just say 'as I told you earlier'?"
"So, sorry...!"
I clearly told you not to reveal the truth to anyone... you useless bitch..."
Then Aria, who had been watching that scene in astonishment, urgently grabbed Frey's arm and began to shout.
"S, stop it! Kania unnie didn't say anything! That just now was my leading question...!"
"...What? 'Unnie'?"
Hearing Aria's shout, Frey said with an exasperated expression.
"Why is this lowly bitch your sister? You're the noble Starlight family, not some commoner wandering the streets."
"Stop saying such disgusting things..."
"Well, looking at what she does, it seems like she's some commoner who somehow mixed into our family? Later, let's check with magic..."
"I said stop it!!!"
When Frey's remarks crossed the line, Aria finally exploded and pushed Frey away with her hand full of star mana.
"...Uheok!"
Then Frey, who had been choking Irina's neck until then, was pushed against the wall and let out a short groan.
"You, you're not my oppa! You're not my oppa...!"
Meanwhile, Aria, whose accumulated stress had exploded, began to approach him with her fist full of star mana.
"W, wait a moment! Aria-nim!"
Seeing her, Irina, who actually felt no pain because Frey had only pretended to squeeze tightly, began to shout urgently.
"Stop it! If you do that...!"
- Kwagwang!!!
But Aria punched Frey's face with star mana in her hand, and as stone dust and dust flew and covered the two, Irina, who had been blankly watching the scene, urgently headed to where they were.
"You're not my oppa..."
"Cough! Cough!!"
Soon after, what came into Irina's view as she came through the dust was Aria, who had punched the wall right next to Frey's face with tears in her eyes, and Frey, who had started coughing from the stone dust and dust that had flown up.
"So, never again..."
Aria, who had been glaring fiercely at Frey, began to speak with anger as she trembled her blood-covered hand, and Frey began to look at her with expectant eyes for some reason, but...
"Cough! Cough!!"
"...Huh?"
As Frey continued to cough and coughed up blood, Aria's clothes became blood-soaked, and silence began to flow between them.
"What happened here?"
"Kheuh... Ah, it's nothing. This is just... Cough!!"
"Oppa!?"
Frey, who had been answering Aria with a calm face, coughed up blood again and staggered, and seeing that, Aria changed her expression to a dark one and began to question as she shook Frey.
"Is it because I pushed you earlier? Does it hurt somewhere? Or, is it related to that incident?"
"No... that's..."
"Hurry up and tell me. How did this coughing up blood come about...!"
As Frey averted his gaze and trailed off, Aria sensed something strange and pulled her fist out of the wall and pressed him, but...
- Rumble!!
"What, what is that?"
"...Kyah!?"
Suddenly, the wall they were leaning on shook and collapsed, and they lost their balance and fell backward at the same time.
'No matter how much acting he does... he can't hide his true nature after all.'
Witnessing Frey unconsciously wrapping his arms around Aria and falling to absorb all the shock, Irina smiled bitterly as she walked toward them.
"O, oppa... just now..."
"Get off."
Meanwhile, when his younger sister, who was on top of him, looked at him with round eyes, Frey frowned and pushed her away, then stood up and dusted off his clothes as he asked.
"So, why did you come here? Aria?"
"...I was investigating mother's accident."
"What?"
"You know, oppa. That mother passed away on this mountain."
Saying that, Aria, who had gotten up with Irina's help who had reached her, continued speaking.
"That incident seemed suspicious for some reason, so I've been investigating alone in secret since long ago."
"...What's suspicious about it?"
"What's suspicious..."
When Frey asked in a gruff voice, Aria said while glaring at him.
"...It was from then, that oppa changed."
Hearing that, Frey stared blankly at Aria for a moment, then soon said with a cold smile.
"Well, since I caused her death, it was an accident."
"No, something is strange. You know that too, oppa. There are points that are too dubious to call it an accidental death..."
"Ha, where did the person who was screaming that I killed mother go... suddenly what's with this detective play?"
Aria lowered her head weakly and said.
"Th, that time... I was just angry without knowing..."
"Well, it's true. Mom died because of me, no different. So there's no need to apologize."
"But..."
"I said mom died because of me!!!"
Finally, unable to bear it, Frey exploded and roughly pushed Aria against the wall and shouted.
"So stop this ridiculous farce...!"
"...I've never been here before."
"What?"
"I said I've never been to this space before."
Saying that, Aria began to speak with a serious expression.
"You know that dark magic power flows from this space, right? So I came here every day to investigate, but I couldn't find the source of the dark magic power."
"That means..."
"Yes, dark magic power is undulating at the end of this passage. So that means the source is at that end."
At those words, Frey made a complicated expression and closed his mouth, and Aria began to speak with an earnest expression.
"Oppa... please... the truth will be at that end... the truth about mother's death will be at that end... so if we find that truth... oppa, stop doing bad things now."
"What do you mean?"
When Frey, who couldn't understand the flow of the words, asked back, Aria continued with a slightly deflated expression.
"Th, that means... oppa changed because of mother's death, right? So... if we find that truth, oppa will go back to normal too..."
"Don't misunderstand, Aria."
Cutting off her words firmly, Frey said as he raised the corner of his mouth.
"Even if a new truth is revealed... I won't change."
"Why...? Why?"
Then Aria muttered with an expression of disbelief, and hearing that mutter, Frey turned his back to her and answered quietly.
"Because this is my true nature."
Saying that, Frey began to walk into the passage, and Aria, who had been blankly staring at Frey's back for a while, lowered her head deeply and began to follow him.
'Anyway, that's really evil energy...'
Irina, who had been silently watching that sad scene, swept the flow of evil dark magic power that came from far away with her hand and muttered to herself.
'...Still, since Aria is here, it should be fine, right?'
The weakness of dark magic power that erodes all mana and living things into darkness is 'light'.
Of course, it's not something that can be neutralized with ordinary sunlight or firelight. If that were the case, there would be no need for people to reject dark magicians, nor any reason to fear them.
What can counter the terrible dark magic power is only special mana containing light such as 'sun mana', 'moon mana', 'star mana', or 'holy power' that saints or holy knights can use.
Other than that, there is hardly any power that can directly counter evil dark magic power.
Therefore, seeing the intensity of dark magic power currently emanating from the end of the passage, for ordinary people, running away would naturally be the right choice.
But now, since Aria, who has mana that can counter dark magic power and was called the 'Mage of Starlight' in the previous iteration, is here... there should be no problem even if they continue.
"...Oh, dear."
At that moment, Frey, who was leading at the front, let out a sigh.
Wondering what was happening, when they looked ahead, a Death Knight emanating a sinister aura from its entire body was blocking the passage.
"Fortunately, it doesn't attack even after seeing us."
Frey, who had been examining the Death Knight with wary eyes for a moment, said to Aria and Irina behind him with a sigh of relief.
"It doesn't seem to make a preemptive attack, so let's go back now."
"What do you mean?"
As Frey said that and tried to go outside, Aria said with a frown.
"A Death Knight is a piece of cake."
Saying that, she began to emit sparkling mana in all directions.
"Haa..."
Watching that sight, Frey let out a deep sigh and came to Irina's side and quietly began to watch that figure.
"...Are you worried about your younger sister?"
"No, not at all."
Irina, who had cautiously asked him a question, tilted her head when Frey smirked and said.
"It's just a Death Knight... Aria can't possibly lose."
"That's true too."
But when Frey muttered in an overflowing voice, she too began to nod and agree.
The fact that a Death Knight is a strong enough existence that when one appears, the capital is blockaded and the imperial knight order immediately goes out in full gear... is partly because it doesn't feel real to them who have world-class strongest power, but...
- Babang!!
"Guoo!!"
Aria, who had already blown off the Death Knight's left arm, was that powerful of a star mage.
"Wouldn't she be better than Irina of the same age group?"
"That's not... that might be true."
When Frey, who had been watching that sight with satisfaction, compared her to herself, Irina, who had tried to play along with his words, soon asked with a puzzled expression.
"But... why are you so anxious?"
Then Frey, who had been smiling with satisfaction, hardened his expression and whispered in a low voice.
"...Because I'm afraid to confirm the truth."
"What?"
Irina, who didn't understand those words well, frowned and asked back, but Frey just kept his mouth shut and watched the battle happening in front.
- Beobeong!!
The battle that continued for several minutes ended when the flash Aria sent directly hit the Death Knight's head.
"Let's go."
Aria, who had been looking down at the Death Knight's body whose head had disappeared without a trace, said calmly and began to hurry on her way.
"Phew."
"Seeing you sigh, you were a bit worried after all?"
"Yeah, my star mana ran out just now. I can't sense dark magic power or use mana, so if an unexpected situation occurs, it's big trouble, right?"
Answering Irina's words like that, Frey let out a deep sigh and began to follow her, and Irina too tried to follow Frey but suddenly felt something strange and looked back.
'...Is it just my imagination?'
For some reason, it felt like dark magic power was coming from behind, not from the front, but since it was such a fleeting feeling, Irina thought it must be a mistake and began to follow Frey who had already walked quite far ahead.
"Here it is. Dark magic power is strongly seeping out from in front here."
Frey and Irina, who had been walking forward for a while, stopped walking and began to look ahead at Aria's words.
"Here... what on earth is here that makes it like this...?"
In front of them, a giant door was standing tall.
"...Kania, what's wrong?"
When Irina muttered unknowingly while trembling with anxiety, Frey looked at her with a worried expression and whispered.
"Terrible dark magic power is felt from ahead. I've felt this much dark magic power... only once before."
"When was that?"
"In the previous iteration... when Ka... no, when I went on a rampage."
"What... did you say...?"
Frey, who couldn't properly feel dark magic power because his star mana had run out, said in shock.
"That doesn't make sense, if that much dark magic power is erupting... this mountain should have rotted away long ago."
Hearing that, Irina swallowed and nodded, and Frey urgently shouted as he approached Aria who was trying to open the door.
"Aria! Don't open that door!!"
"...Huh?"
And Aria, who was quick-witted, unconsciously recalled her oppa who used to stop her whenever she did dangerous actions from that voice and tone, and urgently removed her hand, but...
- Kiiiik...
"W, wait! I didn't touch it?"
For some reason, the giant door began to slowly open on its own even though no one had touched it.
Panicked at that sight, Frey put his hand on the sword at his waist, and Irina urgently extended her arm forward and took an attack stance, but...
"...What? There's no one here?"
When the door fully opened, what entered their view was a wide room with slightly dark light seeping out.
'What? Why is there such huge dark magic power when there's nothing...'
Irina, who had entered the room with Frey, began to investigate the surroundings with such questions.
"Looks like this was a space for researching dark magic?"
"Seeing the artifacts and materials related to dark magic lined up, it seems to be correct."
Soon after, Aria and Irina, who had guessed that this was a space for researching dark magic power, began to talk about the question that crossed their minds.
"But something is strange. No matter how much it was a space for researching dark magic... it's a bit unnatural for such high dark magic power to be felt."
"That's right. It's too strong to consider it as residual dark magic power remaining."
While the discussion about this space continued for a while, Irina raised one question.
"Wait a moment, but why is there light in this room?"
"Huh? That's true? This is a cave where not a single ray of sunlight enters."
Aria took over the words, and the two, who had been silent for a moment, simultaneously raised their heads and began to look up.
"...Wait a moment."
Aria, who was looking up at the ceiling that was so far up that the end couldn't be seen, shot several flashes into the sky to check in more detail, and...
"...Good heavens."
"That doesn't make sense."
Soon the two had no choice but to fall into shock.
Because the ceiling, which was so far up that the end couldn't be seen, was completely filled with dark magic power.
"Is that even possible in size?"
Irina, who had been staring at that sight in shock for a while, soon felt something strange and began to look around.
"Ugh..."
"Young, young master?"
Then, discovering Frey sitting on the ground holding his head, Irina urgently ran to him and began to ask.
"Why are you suddenly like this?"
"I, I've been here before..."
"What?"
"Memory... memory... I have to hide... hide and seek..."
Then Frey suddenly started talking nonsense.
"Werewolf... mother's death..."
"Frey?"
"Kania's..."
Frey, who had been spouting incomprehensible words for a while, tried to say something and then lost consciousness.
"Kyah!?"
"...A, Aria?"
Irina, who had been shaking him in panic, urgently looked back when she heard a scream from behind this time.
- Shuuu...
"Th, this is crazy!!"
The dark magic power that was in the ceiling was fiercely attacking Aria.
"H, how much is there...!"
Aria, who was panicked, shot star mana from her hand, but it was impossible to drive out all of the overwhelming amount of dark magic power, and eventually she, covered in dark magic power, closed her eyes and collapsed on the floor.
"Who is it! Come out!!"
From that point, Irina ignited fire in her hand and began to scream.
"Come out right now!!"
"...I understand."
Irina, who had been shouting trying to bluff, but when she saw the person who opened the door in front and entered the room, she extinguished the fire weakly and began to mutter blankly.
"Y, you are..."
"Did you enjoy my impersonation?"
And Kania, who had been watching her with a calm expression, began to raise the dark magic power spread all around upward.
"How are you...?"
"This is a place I found after hearing all the truth from the master's unconscious mind a long time ago. And originally, it was a place managed by Abraham, the head of the Starlight family."
"What, what did you say...?"
"Of course, since that person has collapsed now... I, who found this space, have put up a detection spell and am blocking intruders."
Saying that, Kania, who carefully lifted Aria who was lying on the floor, said to Irina who still had a blank expression.
"Until now, only Aria's intrusion was always detected, but this time two more were detected, so I came thinking it might be, and it was the correct answer."
"Uh... the dormitory disguise?"
"I asked the smartest person on the continent to fill in temporarily, so you don't have to worry."
Kania, who said that, sighed and carefully laid Aria and Frey on the bed nearby, and Irina, who was watching, threw a question at her with a trembling voice.
"So... what on earth is this place?"
Hearing that, Kania sighed and answered.
"It's the place where my parents horribly murdered the young master's mother and turned her into a werewolf."
"...What!"
And Irina, who heard that, soon grabbed her head like Frey earlier and began to mutter with a soulless voice.
"W, wait... then by any chance that wolf... no, the werewolf?"
"Haa..."
And Kania, who was looking at her with regretful eyes, quietly looked up at the dark magic power that had bloomed above her head and muttered.
"...One more colleague I hoped would never be born has increased."