Chapter 80: Guild regular visit day

Tick.

Tock.

The cold ticking sound of the clock echoed through the room.

Victoria, the Master of the Eden Guild, wanted to know what the man in front of her was thinking.

“You’re curious where the Calamity-grade Myth, Noblesse, is?”

“Yes. Seeing the reports about her from America piqued my curiosity. I felt I had to see her myself.”

Chris, seated in the chair, calmly stated the purpose of his visit.

The reason he, who always wore a light smile, had bothered to make the long journey to Korea was precisely because of the Calamity-grade Myth.

“Among myths incomprehensible to humans, a Calamity-grade one, the most powerful, is showing no power at all… The moment I heard the report, I couldn’t bear it.”

“I’m sorry, Chris, but this matter has been decided to be handled by the UK and Korea. There’s no room for America to interfere.”

“Hahaha, I’m well aware of that. I just need to see that girl with my own eyes, just once.”

“Just seeing her is enough?”

“Of course, I will dispatch a few researchers from our guild as assistants, but for me, merely seeing the myth is sufficient. Surely you wouldn’t say even that isn’t allowed?”

—Creak.

Chris returned the chair he had leaned back in to its original position and handed Victoria the list of researchers.

Victoria didn’t like Chris’s attitude, which seemed to retreat so readily.

‘What is he thinking again? I just can’t figure him out…’

Although an uneasy feeling lingered, there was nothing she could do but accept it for now, as he had only asked to see the myth once and then return to America.

“Chris, you have to keep your promise. Just see her and then return.”

“Don’t worry, Master Victoria. I truly will just ‘see’ her and then return.”

“Regular examinations and experiments for Noblesse are scheduled for tomorrow, so please visit again then. You’ll be able to see Noblesse through the isolation room’s glass.”

“How kind of you. Well then, we’ll meet again soon. Oh, and next time, the person behind you can also join us. It makes me feel bad when you hide uncomfortably. Haha.”

—Click.

Chris bid Victoria farewell, opened the door, and left.

When he was completely out of the room, Victoria let out a deep sigh.

“Good heavens. How did he know Elissa was behind the wall?”

“Sister, I told you. That man would probably notice.”

From behind Victoria, Elissa, who had been standing silently behind the dark wall, slowly walked out and approached the girl.

“Well, I actually expected him to notice, more or less. Anyway, Elissa, did you read Chris’s emotions?”

“……I did read them. They’re always the same, though…”

“Was it a calm lake? You said you couldn’t read them because there was no change, right?”

“More than a lake… it’s like a ‘Blue Hole.’ It feels too dark and murky to be seen even from the outside. That’s why I don’t like that man. He doesn’t seem human.”

—Cling.

Elissa pulled Victoria, who was sitting in the chair, into her embrace and lifted her up.

“Huuuugh~~ Let’s head back to our lodging first. I’m tired because it’s night. I need to wake up early tomorrow, so I should go to sleep quickly.”

“Hehe, what’s gotten into my sleepy sister? Are you planning to meet Sihyun in the morning?”

“Wha-wha-why is he suddenly coming up?!”

“Just kidding, just kidding~ Hehe.”

Elissa poked Victoria’s cheek and left the briefing room.

****

Meanwhile, Leah was deep in dreamland beside Sihyun.

“Mmph… Hehe… Pudding is yummy…”

“Leah even talks about pudding in her sleep? Haha.”

Ding!

[As expected, children are cutest when they’re sleeping peacefully. Don’t you agree, Sihyun-nim? Hehe.]

“Leah is such a tomboy when she’s awake. That’s probably why.”

Sihyun stroked the peacefully sleeping Leah and began talking with the Notification Window.

“Notification Window, the system already told me, but I’ll just confirm one more time. Is Leah the Noblesse I saw in the novel?”

[Yes, that’s right. Leah is Noblesse.]

The ominous black knight from the novel.

A being that merely destroyed everything in its path, seemingly without any purpose or meaning, the Calamity-grade Myth Noblesse.

‘That knight is Leah…? This is too different. It’s almost character deviation.’

Luna was exactly like in the novel. A myth that endlessly collected treasures merely to fill her emptiness.

But Leah, beside Sihyun, was…

“Huuuugh… Why does nobody acknowledge me…? I am sad…”

“Leah’s sleep-talking is particularly bad today.”

…just a cute girl sleeping soundly, oblivious to the world.

[By the way, to meet a second Calamity-grade so quickly! Sihyun-nim is truly amazing!]

“I didn’t really want that.”

[Hehe, but it seems ‘The World’s Law’ wants to connect Sihyun-nim with Calamity-grades, doesn’t it?]

“I don’t know about that. Anyway, it’s a bit strange.”

[What is?]

“She’s too different from Luna.”

The first Calamity-grade Myth to descend upon the world, Luna.

The silver-haired girl had the exact same appearance as in the novel, along with her terrifying abilities.

But Leah was the complete opposite.

“Luna had great power from the beginning, but Leah doesn’t. She has no power at all. As if she’s lost everything.”

And Luna was emotionless when they first met. But Leah had emotions from the very beginning and expressed them very actively.

It made him wonder if they really needed to be such polar opposites.

“Oh, and there’s another peculiar thing. Leah remembers Lucian. She was boasting about defeating him, wasn’t she?”

[Leah knows Lucian?]

“I asked her, but it seems Leah doesn’t remember the details. She just said she ‘won’.”

A girl who forgot her own name but remembered Lucian.

Perhaps Leah, like Luna, had some kind of relationship with Lucian.

“But even if I ask you this, you won’t be able to answer, will you?”

[Hmph… I really want to tell you, but… you must discover the stories about the Calamity yourself, Sihyun-nim.]

“Sigh, I knew it. Well… I’ll find out what kind of relationship Lucian and Leah have eventually. For now, just tell me anything you can about Leah.”

Currently, information about Leah was even scarcer than about Luna.

If things continued like this, he would surely be swayed without knowing anything again. He needed to find out even the smallest details beforehand.

[First… the reason Leah can’t use any power right now is because she herself wished for it.]

“Leah wished for it? That doesn’t make sense…? Leah was actually sulking because humans weren’t afraid of her since she couldn’t use her power, wasn’t she? That contradicts itself.”

[This contradictory situation… is a task you must solve, Sihyun-nim. This is all I can tell you. *Sniff*…! T_T]

“Sigh… I had a feeling, and I was right.”

Sihyun pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand and sighed.

“Notification Window, one last question. Answer if you can.”

[Yes, please tell me!]

“Myths are beings that have lost something, right? For example, Luna lost her memories and emotions. And Leah seems to have lost her memories and power… Am I thinking correctly?”

[Yes, what Leah lost are power and memories. Those two things are correct.]

“Alright, let’s stop here for today. I’ll slowly figure out the rest.”

Sihyun shrugged his shoulders, seemingly satisfied with the outcome, and lay down on the bed.

‘Don’t be too impatient. One step at a time… I’ll be fine if I move forward slowly.’

Sihyun looked at Leah, who was sleeping soundly beside him.

The girl had a slightly wrinkled expression. Was she having a nightmare?

Sihyun instinctively reached out and stroked Leah’s head a few times.

“Mmm… Hehe… Lucian…”

Leah mumbled as if she was happy, then started to smile slightly.

Sihyun felt a strange sense of déjà vu at the familiar name that had appeared again.

“So, Leah. What happened between you and Lucian?”

The purple-eyed girl who proudly spoke of defeating Lucian.

Leah’s expression when she occasionally called out his name in her sleep looked utterly blissful.

‘If her memories with Lucian were bad, she wouldn’t be smiling like this in her sleep.’

“……I don’t know for sure, but I hope it wasn’t a sad past like Luna’s.”

Sihyun lay down next to Leah, who was breathing softly in her sleep, and tried to sleep as well.

****

“Hmm, I miss the Leah who slept so quietly last night.”

From the morning, Leah was running around the kitchen, looking for hidden pudding.

—Crash!

“Nyaaah?! Si-Sihyun! I didn’t do it! The plate suddenly fell to the floor all by itself!”

“If you tell me honestly, I’ll forgive you.”

“……Will you really forgive me…?”

“Yes.”

“I dropped the plate while looking for the pudding Sihyun hid! I told you honestly, so you have to forgive me!”

Leah, snorting and wearing a confident expression.

She was expressing with her whole body that she had done nothing wrong since she had been honest.

“Alright, since you told me honestly, ‘I’ will forgive you.”

“Hehe, then now you’ll give me my morning pudding!”

“But! My two hands won’t forgive you!”

—Stretch!

Sihyun grabbed Leah’s cheeks and began to pull them.

“Hwaaaah…! Si-Sihyun…! My cheeks hurt too much…!”

“Alright, repeat after me. I will not eat pudding without permission.”

“P-pudding… without p-permission… I will not eat…!”

Leah, with a few tears in her eyes and her lips twitching, looked pitiful yet utterly adorable.

‘Tsk, I should have punished her more… but she’s cute, so I’ll let it slide.’

Sihyun lowered the hand that had been pinching Leah’s cheek and finished buttoning up the girl’s clothes.

“Huuugh… Sihyun, but why am I changing clothes so early in the morning?”

“Today’s the day for her regular examination, isn’t it? And what was it… they asked us to come a bit early because a new research team is arriving.”

Sihyun quickly picked up Leah and boarded the shuttle bus heading to the guild.

“Leah, I gave you pudding, so you have to be quiet while we’re moving. Okay?”

“Nom nom nom, Ung! Don’t worry, Sihyun!”

As Sihyun smiled contentedly and stroked Leah,

—Tap tap.

Someone tapped Sihyun’s shoulder.

“Yes, what is it?”

Where Sihyun turned his head to look,

“Is… the seat next to you… empty…?”

There was a short girl with a unique aura staring intently at Sihyun.