episode_0125

Sepia’s bedroom.

Crack. Crack.

The sound of an egg cracking filled Sepia’s bedroom.

It wasn’t a small sound, but Sepia couldn’t hear it.

The reason was simple.

“This should be enough, right? Just in case, should I put a small safe inside this safe and put the mask in there…? Ugh! How annoying! I’m grateful, but couldn’t you have told me beforehand?!”

This was because she was agonizing over what to do with the mask that Loki had lent her, a mask with unbelievable abilities.

Of course, she intended to return it tomorrow, but she was still restless, even after putting it inside a safe made of mithril, fearing someone might snatch it away.

Sepia felt a bit resentful towards Loki, who had given her a mask with such absurd abilities without any explanation.

“I don’t know anymore! It’ll work out somehow……………. Just in case, I should install a tracking magic tool on the safe…”

Sepia was so engrossed with the mask that she didn’t notice the sound of the egg cracking.

But the spirits did.

The spirits, who had been staring blankly at Sepia as she muttered to herself, looked in the direction of the sound and were startled.

“!!!!”

This was because a yellow egg, adorned with strange patterns, was slightly cracked.

And from the crack, a small wing had poked out.

The spirits quickly looked at each other.

What should we do?

Should we tell her first?

Of course.

The spirits, having communicated roughly with their eyes, poked Sepia, who was still cradling her head and muttering.

“I’m busy right now, I’ll play with you later.”

But Sepia ignored the spirits and continued to check the safe.

This should be enough, right? No, just in case.

Finally, after the spirits tugged on her hair, Sepia turned around.

“What in the world for……..”

Sepia’s voice, which had been about to express annoyance, gradually trailed off.

On the desk, cluttered with cosmetics, there should have been a yellow egg, which had originally exuded a unique presence.

Finding the egg wasn’t a coincidence… not exactly.

The spirits had kept bothering her, saying they felt something strange, so she went to the place they guided her to,

and found the yellow egg in a secluded part of the academy.

‘A beautiful egg with peculiar patterns.’

That was Sepia’s first impression upon seeing the egg.

Of course, she had no intention of bringing a suspicious egg home.

But the spirits kept pestering her to take it,

so Sepia, thinking there must be a reason, took the egg and brought it home.

And now, that egg was completely broken, and a brilliant yellow bird, appearing from nowhere, was already pecking at the broken eggshell pieces.

“What in the world is happening now?”

Sepia looked at the spirits, and.

The spirits explained what they had seen to Sepia.

“So, this bird came out of that egg?”

-Nod.

Right, honestly, she had somewhat expected that much.

If that bird had been an ordinary one, she might have just decided to raise it, but.

“Haa… Then I guess I also know why that bird is emitting electricity?”

Sepia sighed and looked at the spirits with tired eyes.

-……….

The spirits turned their heads, avoiding Sepia’s gaze.

They even started whistling, though it was unclear where they had learned it.

“Since you told me to take it, you must at least have some idea what it is.”

-…………..

“Don’t tell me you really didn’t know what it was and just told me to take it because it ‘felt good’?”

-…………

Sepia looked at the bird, which had already eaten all the eggshell and fallen asleep,

and then looked at the safe that contained the safe that contained the mask.

Her head was already hurting, and now there was one more headache to deal with.

Sepia trembled.

Just as the spirits were about to try some aegyo to somehow appease Sepia’s anger.

“Aaaaargh! I really don’t know anymore! I’m going to sleep! I said I’m going to sleep!”

Sepia, finally exploding, left everything to her future self and collapsed onto her bed.

Sepia, already utterly exhausted from training and now with a headache from the mask and the bird, fell into a deep sleep the moment she lay down.

***

Academy school hours.

As students formed groups and entered their classes.

Sepia was hiding in a spot where she could see the entrance to one of the dormitories.

Sepia, who had been checking in a mirror to see if her hair was disheveled or her uniform wrinkled, checked the time.

‘He should be coming out soon.’

The person Sepia was waiting for was, naturally, Loki.

Loki’s commuting time to school was almost consistent, so if she waited a little at the dormitory entrance like this, she could meet him.

Last time too, she used this method to pretend it was a chance encounter…

‘No, this isn’t the important issue right now.’

And not long after, someone walked out of the dormitory, dressed in a peculiar but now familiar attire.

The school uniform that all academy students wore,

and a black mask and red cloak that no other student wore.

‘Yesterday, I couldn’t even sleep comfortably because of someone else…’

That ‘someone’ was currently humming nonchalantly and walking at ease.

No, he wasn’t even walking normally.

‘Why in the world is he commuting to school by tightrope walking?!’

With his hands in his pockets, he was hopping and skipping along a thin rope, crisscrossing the academy grounds, though it was unclear when or where he had attached the rope.

Sepia’s lips twitched at his absurd appearance.

No, I can’t do this! I still have something to be angry about!

Naturally, Loki’s appearance stood out.

Surprisingly? There were even girls whispering as they watched Loki, who wasn’t usually seen often.

“Hey, let’s at least try talking to him.”

“No one has managed to talk to him and make plans so far.”

“Still, he doesn’t ignore people, so it’s worth a try.”

“Right? Then let me just fix my makeup…”

“Hogu!”

Sepia called out loudly on purpose, and Loki, hearing the now familiar moniker, turned around and looked at Sepia.

Then he jumped down from the rope, about 3 meters above, and greeted her.

“Good morning, Sepia-ssi! Now that I think about it, I seem to run into Sepia-ssi quite often on the way to school. Almost as if it’s not a coincidence.”

Normally, she would have naturally said it was a coincidence, but now wasn’t the time for such talk.

“Come with me for a moment.”

***

Sepia dragged Loki to a secluded spot where no one was around.

She even had the spirits stand guard and asked them to immediately inform her if anyone approached.

“Kyaaak! Sepia-ssi, to kidnap me to such a secluded place, surely you’re not planning to do *that* to me… Ugh! You can defile my body, but my heart…”

“What nonsense—… Haa…”

She had to endure.

There was no one here now, but people might pass by later.

“Hoo… Hoo………”

After taking several deep breaths, Sepia took out a safe from her subspace ring.

*Thud!*

A large safe landed between Loki and Sepia.

“Sepia-ssi, what’s this?”

“You’re not really asking because you’re curious, are you?”

Seeing Loki tilt his head, Sepia, feeling deeply annoyed, entered the password and opened the safe.

“…Another safe came out?”

Loki was flustered now.

That she suddenly dragged him to a secluded place, and also seeing a safe inside a safe.

‘Honestly, my heart is pounding a little.’

He was curious about what was inside that safe…

Inside the safe, which looked sturdy at a glance, and inside the safe within that, was the mask.

“……………..”

“Here, I’m returning the mask.”

“…Sepia-ssi, I’m disappointed.”

“What? Disappointed? Is that something you should say?! How much I agonized over how to carry this! I couldn’t even sleep properly…”

Loki was genuinely flustered to see Sepia speaking like a machine gun, as if something suppressed had finally exploded.

“Sepia-ssi? Please calm down first…”

“Do I look like I can calm down?! If you had told me even a little about the mask beforehand, I would’ve been mentally prepared! Now that I think about it, I’m angry! Why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”

Sepia, having spewed out her words like a machine gun, steadied her breathing and looked at Loki.

Right, there must be a reason he didn’t say anything beforehand.

“Uh… Surprise?”

“…Huh?”

“Just kidding! I’m just kidding! I thought you’d believe it more if you experienced it directly rather than being told beforehand.”

Sepia almost lost her reason for a moment at the word ‘surprise’, but she understood after hearing Loki’s subsequent words.

‘Indeed, if I hadn’t experienced it directly, I wouldn’t have believed it.’

The mask’s abilities were that unordinary.

That’s why there was something more she needed to say.

“…Hogu.”

“Um… Is there anything more I’m going to be scolded for?”

“That’s not it!… Thank you…”

“What? It was too quiet, I couldn’t hear. Please say it again.”

Loki brought his ear closer to Sepia’s mouth.

Of course, saying he couldn’t hear was a lie.

Although it was a small voice, he wasn’t a romance comedy protagonist, and he could hear everything said from this distance.

Even so, why did he ask again?

Well, naturally, because he wanted to see Sepia speaking with a flushed face for longer.

And he wasn’t ready to receive thanks.

Sepia, trembling, gritted her teeth once and shouted.

“Thank you! Thank you for helping with the special training! Thank you for lending me the mask! Thank you for everything! Are you satisfied?!”

Although she gave her thanks as if she were angry, Sepia was truly grateful to Loki.

Hogu wasn’t a fool; he must know how terrifyingly powerful this mask was.

“I couldn’t hear you, could you please say it again?”

“You…! You heard me earlier, didn’t you?”

“Well, I really have no idea what Sepia-ssi is talking about. More importantly, could you please say what you said again…?”

“I’ll never do it again!”

“Oh? Then there’s nothing I can do.”

Seeing Loki back down more easily than expected, Sepia was momentarily flustered.

There’s no way he’d give up this easily, would he?

‘No, I must just be too suspicious.’

She thought so.

Until a small device appeared from Loki’s pocket, that is.

“Oh. My. Goodness. A. Re-cor-ding. Ma-gic. De-vice. Here?”

Before Sepia could stop him, Loki pressed a button.

A familiar voice and dialogue played.

[Thank you! Thank you for helping with the special training! Thank you for lending me the mask! Thank you for everything! Are you satisfied?!]

“I accidentally recorded it, hahahahaha!”