I'll pay you back soon.]
It was Tomer.
Before coming here, I had written up an IOU with Tomer. On top of that, there was even that terrifying “Mana Oath.”
I moved my smartwatch and transferred the promised amount to the account Tomer had given me.
“Hey.”
Then I called Chae Nayun. Chae Nayun instantly spun around. A playful smile was spreading across her lips.
“What~? You’re leaving~?”
“No, tell the others I’m leaving.”
Her face crumpled uglily. Like ugly newspaper.
“See you later.”
The moment I turned around, a notification from the Purple Banquet popped up.
It was a notification saying that the information fee had been deposited, and once the information was confirmed, it would be converted into points and sent over.
I sent the information to Tomer.
[Fernin Jesus is using the alias Agus Benhamin...]
I wrote the reply as I descended the mountain.
Soon, I reached flat ground and was about to take out my bike when a text arrived.
[Hey Kim Hajin thank you so much for today ???]
[I feel like I got something precious thanks to you?]
[I’ll buy you something tasty later ???? '-']
It was a text from Chae Nayun.
“........She’s really friendly.”
Just what kind of past had she seen?
[Sure.]
* * *
7 p.m.
I returned to Cube. The perceived time had been a whopping 90 days, but in reality, I had returned only 7 hours after leaving.
“Nngh~”
At Cube’s central park, I stretched as I took in the clear sea breeze.
For some reason, my body and mind felt at ease.
It seemed this place had become home now too. I turned on my smartwatch as I walked toward the dorm.
[Due to Blessing in Disguise, your stats increase by 0.005!]
[Due to Blessing in Disguise, your stats increase by 0.005!]]
[Due to Blessing in Disguise, your stats increase by 0.005.......]
[Luck activates! By consuming food filled with mana, all stats increase by 0.01!]
There were all sorts of notifications.
I checked my stats for the first time in a while.
===
[Strength 2.970 (+ 2.9700]
[Endurance 2.980 (+ 2.980)]
[Agility 4.685 (+ 4.685)]
[Perception 5.620 (+ 5.620)]
[Vitality 3.070 (+ 3.0703]
[Magic Power 2.005]
===
“Oh. I’m almost at full power.”
The numbers in parentheses were stats temporarily inflated due to Vitality Conversion. Perhaps because I had stayed in a place with an extremely high mana density, they were filled to a full 100%.
This much was enough to make me smile just by looking at it.
“....Hm?”
Just then,
I saw someone running hard up ahead. A blonde, blue-eyed girl wearing a headset and a tracksuit.
It was Rachel, whom I hadn’t seen in a very long time.
But for a moment, I couldn’t help but doubt my eyes.
“.......Why is her tracksuit that color?”
The pants were some kind of spinach green, while the top was a bright blue. I was sure she had dressed pretty well at the karaoke room, so was she just wearing whatever because she was exercising?
I had never set up such minute details, so I didn’t know. There was the setting that she had been raised elegantly since childhood, but that was only natural since she was a princess.
Rachel, who had been running from afar, slowed down. It seemed she had noticed me.
“Hello.”
When she came close enough, I bowed my head. Rachel also smiled faintly and took off her headset for a moment.
“Miss Rachel, it’s been a while.”
“Yes.”
“Did you return from your home country?”
“Yes.”
“Ah~”
I didn’t really have anything to say, so I was about to just pass by, but for some reason, that shabby tracksuit kept bothering me.
I cleared my throat and asked cautiously.
“........Do you usually wear tracksuits when you exercise?”
“Pardon? Ah.”
Then Rachel’s face became slightly embarrassed, and she asked shyly.
“Is it all right?”
“....Pardon?”
“Ah, it’s just, this is embarrassing, but I’ve never really worn clothes the way I wanted to before.... In the case of casual clothes, my secretary decides for me.”
Rachel slowly spun around once.
Was she telling me to admire her outfit?
But I wasn’t lying when I said it looked bad. It looked really bad.
“I’ll be an adult soon too. So this time, I’ve been trying ‘a little.’ Just a little.”
Seeing her emphasize “a little,” she seemed to lack confidence in her outfit. Of course, she should lack confidence in it.
I scratched the back of my neck and said,
“Um, I think you should just wear what you’re told to wear...........”
“..........Does it stand out a little?”
“Yes. It stands out a lot.”
“Ah....”
At my words, she looked over her outfit here and there, then nodded as if she had made up her mind.
What was she about to do?
I watched with interest.
“Ah!”
As if an idea had suddenly flashed through her mind, Rachel abruptly bent down and started rolling up one leg of her tracksuit pants. Then she looked at me with a face that asked, how about now?
“What about now?”
“.......”
It seemed she had misunderstood what I meant by “stand out.”
Was this part of Korean difficult for her?
“Just wear what your secretary tells you to wear.”
“........Mm..”
Rachel seemed slightly disappointed by my lukewarm reaction. She snuck a glance at me, then soon rolled up the other leg of her tracksuit as well.
“What about now......”
“Pull both of them down.”
“Aha.”
Rachel’s tracksuit returned to normal.
I let out a sigh of relief and asked,
“Did you come out to exercise?”
“Yes. Hajin-ssi, did you go to...... a salon?”
“Pardon? Ah, well. Yes. That’s right. Now I’m going to buy chicken and head home.”
“Ah, chicken?”
“Yes, chicken, jokbal, bossam, and pizza.”
Rachel tilted her head.
“I’m a bit of a big eater.”
“I see.”
Me too. Rachel muttered quietly to herself and smiled faintly.
“Then, I’ll go exercise.”
“Yes. Take care.”
With that conversation over, Rachel passed by me and ran along the track, and I watched her back for a moment before walking toward the restaurant.
*
I arrived home with both hands full of food. But when I opened the door, Evandel, who should have run over immediately, wasn’t there.
“Evandel?”
I tilted my head and looked into the living room.
For a moment, I froze.
“......What are these two doing?”
The scene before me was strange. Hayang was sitting at the top of the highest cat tower, staring piercingly at me, and Evandel was asleep while hugging the tower’s pillar.
At a glance, it looked like she had gotten exhausted and fallen asleep while trying to make Hayang, who was up on the cat tower, come down. Judging from how messy the surroundings were, they must have had some kind of chase.
“I went through all that trouble to adopt you, and all you do is fight every day.”
I walked over with a smile and held a chicken leg in front of the sleeping Evandel’s eyes.
Sniff sniff.
Evandel’s nose twitched.
Twitch, twitch.
Then, soon, she opened her mouth wide and—
Chomp—
She bit the air.
Nom nom. When she didn’t taste anything no matter how hard she moved her mouth, Evandel furrowed her brow deeply.
Right then, Hayang jumped from the top of the cat tower.
Pabat!
Hayang’s front paw attack landed squarely on Evandel’s crown, and Evandel’s eyes snapped open.
“Ah, aaah!”
She grabbed the top of her head and screamed.
“Uh!”
Only then did she notice me in front of her, flinch in surprise, and shuffle backward until she was against the wall.
“Wh-what!”
“What do you mean?”
“Who are you. Who are you!”
“........It’s me. Hajin.”
“....Huh?”
Evandel began slowly examining my face with eyes full of sleep.
“........Really?”
“Of course it is. It’s because I cut my hair. Come here, I bought chicken too.”
“Chicken...?”
“Bossam and jokbal too.”
“Bossam, jokbal....”
I bent down on one knee and opened my arms. Evandel hesitantly entered my embrace.
A sly smile spread across my face.
It wasn’t anything else; there was something I had wanted to try at least once.
I rubbed my beard against Evandel’s cheek.
“Ah, aaak! What! No!”
Evandel was startled and tried to run away, but it was already too late. I hadn’t seen you for a whole 90 days, after all.
I kept rubbing my beard against her. The rough skin touching her soft skin felt very nice. Evandel resisted by shoving her hands into my nose and mouth, but I didn’t stop.
Hayang approached us. The look in its eyes as it stared at us was strange, so I stopped rubbing too.
“....?”
Hayang quietly stared at the back of Evandel’s head and raised its paw.
What was that thing trying to do? While I wondered—
Smack!
Hayang struck Evandel hard on the head, then ran far away.
“Ack? Ah, that thing, seriously. Hey, Kim Hayang! Get back here!”
Furious, Evandel began chasing Hayang. But Hayang, nimbly fleeing, climbed all the way up the cat tower.
“Uuu! That thing is so annoying!”
With what little strength she had, Evandel grabbed the pillar and began shaking it.
“Come down, come down! Come doooown!”
Only then did I understand the situation from when I had come home.
End
Tomer chewed on her nail as she read through the reply.
[Fernin Jesus changed his name to Agus Benhamin and stowed away into the Republic of Korea around 2020.
For reasons unknown, instead of building a new life, he was admitted to a nursing home, and around 2024, he passed away at the age of 53. His funeral was held without any special procedure; he was cremated, and his ashes were laid to eternal rest at a memorial park.
The name and address of the nursing home where he stayed are as follows······]
For a moment, Tomer’s face went rigid.
Passed away at the age of 53.
In other words, he was dead.
Even as she saw it with her own eyes, her mind could not accept it.
“······Bullshit.”
Tomer bit down hard on her nail. With that fierce bite, flesh was exposed, and blood began to seep out.
“Who said he could die? Who gave him permission······.”
Her chest burned as though a lump of fire had settled in her heart.
That piece of trash who killed Mom and abandoned me before running away—what did he do so right that he gets to die already?
Tomer shot to her feet. Before she knew it, resentful tears had gathered around her eyes.
She glared fiercely at the contents sent by [Truth Agency], then stormed out of her seat.
The nursing home where he had supposedly stayed was not far away.
Tomer ran on her own two legs. The magic power inside her body formed a specific arrangement and amplified her physical abilities. So-called Haste.
Fifteen minutes was enough to reach the nursing home.
[Sunlight Haven]
Standing before that sign, Tomer took a deep breath. She wiped away the tears that had soaked her face. Then, with trembling hands, she gripped the doorknob.
Creeeak—
The wooden door slowly opened with an unpleasant sound.
The first thing that reached her was the faint smell of medicine. It was not as strong as a hospital, but it was still a definite, settled after-scent.
Tomer slowly walked toward the counter. At the counter was a nurse who looked to be in her early thirties.
The nurse noticed Tomer first and asked,
“How can I help you?”
“Uh······ I, I came looking for a patient. By any chance, Agus Benhamin······.”
“Pardon? Who?”
The nurse tilted her head, as if the name was unfamiliar.
“Agus Benhamin. He’s Latino like me, and he’s old.”
“Ah~ Latino?”
But perhaps because Latinos were rare after all, the nurse quickly recalled him.
“Now I remember. He was such a quiet person······ But,”
The nurse’s face darkened slightly.
“He already passed away. About two years ago, I think?”
In that instant, her heart sank with a thud, and her throat closed up.
Could it be that he really had died?
All by himself, in a peaceful place like this, so comfortably?
Her hands trembled, and a fiery rage surged up from deep within.
No, even so, it was still too early to simply believe it.
Until she saw definite proof, she couldn’t believe it, and she shouldn’t······.
“Um, this person—”
Tomer tried to rummage through her clothes and take out a bundle of photos. But the strength left her hands, and the photos scattered across the floor.
The nurse came over and helped her pick them up.
“Th-thank you.”
“It’s nothing. ······Ah, yes, this is him. It looks like this was when he was a little younger.”
The nurse said as she looked at the photo.
Tomer could hardly maintain her sanity, but for now, she asked,
“Th-then······ how did he live here?”
“Let me see. Neither we nurses nor the other residents really had conversations with him.”
“By any chance, did he leave a will or any inheritance?”
“Huh? Um… I’m not sure. And even if I knew, you’d have to tell me what your relationship is first…”
Tomer took out her wallet and held out the magician license inside.
[2-Star Magician Jamer]
The nurse’s eyes widened in an instant.
In a way, magicians were an even rarer profession than heroes. Even at Korea’s Magic Academy, the finest in the world, only about nine hundred magicians formally graduated each year.
“I’m Jamer Jesus, and this man’s real name is Pernin Jesus. He’s my… biological parent.”
Biological parent. It was the best explanation Tomer could offer.
At that, the nurse’s expression turned somewhat sympathetic.
“Oh, I see… But I don’t know the details. I only saw him a few times in passing.”
“Is there anyone who might know?”
“There was a male student who used to come here for volunteer work. I think he talked with him more than anyone.”
“Oh, really?”
The nurse nodded.
“Yes. I’m not certain, but they seemed fairly close. He came by once more recently.”
“Oh, ohh. Could I find out that student’s identity, by any chance?”
“But I wasn’t close with that student either… The head nurse was, but she’s gone overseas for volunteer work right now.”
“Um, there’s a computer over there. That one. Wouldn’t there be some kind of record left?”
“Ah, one moment…”
The nurse began tapping at the computer keyboard.
Just then, Tomer’s smartwatch rang.
[Tomer. The mission deadline has passed. We will send in a new agent when the opportunity arises, so return at once. A disciplinary committee meeting has been scheduled regarding the mission delay.]
[Miss Tomer~ Congratulations on your demotion~]
“…Fuck off.”
“Huh? Your nephew?”
“Eh? Ah, no.”
Ranks and whatnot, what a load of bullshit for a bunch of djinn.
The only reason she had tried to infiltrate djinn society in the first place was because she had wondered whether that son of a bitch might have become a djinn.
Whether it was insubordination or whatever else, she had finally found what she needed to do.
She had found the one she needed to find.
Everything else was no longer any of her business.
Tomer roughly tore off the smartwatch that Paeak had issued her.
“Ah, I found it. It wasn’t on the computer, but in the ledger.”
The nurse said, opening a paper ledger.
“Really? The name…”
“It’s Kim Hajin.”
“Ah, Kim Ha… Huh? What?”
“Kim Hajin. But it’ll be hard to meet him. This student probably entered Cube. He’s an aspiring hero.”
A name far too familiar, and a background that fit far too perfectly to be called a coincidence.
For a moment, Tomer’s face went blank.
*
Around the time Cube’s break was coming to an end, I was walking down the metasequoia path.
Before I knew it, autumn had arrived in full force, and Cube was dyed in colorful fall foliage.
With so many trees planted to maintain mana concentration and give the place a cozy appearance, all sorts of paths and parks within Cube existed as natural-born dating spots.
Maybe that was why so many men and women were walking around in pairs.
If it was this bad in autumn, what would spring be like, when cherry blossoms and everything else were in full bloom?
Just thinking about it already pissed me off.
This was all because the rules were too lax. Dating was forbidden only “according to the rules.” Even if they were caught by a staff member, they could just say they were friends and no one would say anything.
Tap, tap.
Just then, someone poked my back as I walked along sullenly.
“Huh?”
When I turned around, a woman was looking at me with her arms crossed.
Her stylish black casual clothes gleamed elegantly, and her glossy long hair and appearance were perfectly maintained without the slightest disarray.
“What brings you here?”
“This.”
Yu Yeonha held out a document envelope without any preamble.
“What’s this?”
“The things I promised you back then.”
“…”
Promised?
What was it? What had I promised? Tilting my head, I checked inside the envelope.
Inside were twenty carefully packaged pills and several documents.
Ah~ Only then did I remember.
“These were made by processing half of the wild ginseng you provided us last time.”
“Half?”
“We need something to appeal to the industry with, too. We’re planning to make the remaining half into a few different products and use it ourselves. In return, we’ll make up for that half in stocks, and if things go well later, we’ll make you elixirs worth the other half.”
“If that’s the case.”
She was saying rather shamelessly that she had used it however she wanted, but Yu Yeonha wasn’t the kind of person who would stab me in the back, so it didn’t matter.
No, if anything, Yu Yeonha was the one who got stabbed in the back. At this point in time,