episode_0133

After finishing my patrol nearby and washing up at the dormitory, I was walking through the academy grounds to head to the special class.

People around me were still muttering as they watched me, but thankfully, no one approached me.

Once it became known that I was the Emperor’s disciple, many tried to build a connection with me, but since I kept refusing everyone who came, at some point, no one spoke to me anymore.

Having received Johanna’s encouragement earlier, I was walking with the thought that I would definitely teach Professor Alicia a lesson today, when I spotted a familiar pink color.

Spirits of fire, water, earth, and wind rested on her shoulders, and a small bird sat atop her head.

At the academy, no, on the entire continent, there was only one person who looked like that.

“Sepia-nim~!”

My voice inadvertently grew louder out of gladness.

This drew attention, but I ignored it, lengthening my stride and approaching Sepia with big steps.

“Hogu.”

“Yes~ that’s me. Though I’m not a Hogu. How about you call me by my name for a change?”

Sepia chuckled softly at my words.

“No, no matter how I think about it, ‘Hogu’ suits you.”

I haven’t really done anything foolish, though.

Before I knew it, Sepia was already calling me Hogu.

“Anyway, we met again today. What an incredible coincidence, wouldn’t you say so, Sepia-nim?”

It had already been a month since I first coincidentally met Sepia on my way to school like this.

“Y-yes, it has.”

Anyone might think it wasn’t a coincidence, but it truly was.

To say Sepia planned it, there were times, like now, when I discovered Sepia first, and conversely, times when Sepia discovered me first.

‘It’s probably just because our commuting times overlap.’

I decided not to think too deeply about it.

It’s already boring walking to school alone, so having Sepia with me means I have someone to talk to, which is even better.

—Chirp! Chirp!

Among the spirits on Sepia’s shoulder, the water spirit and the wind spirit jumped onto my shoulder.

And Chirpy, who usually didn’t come over often, flapped its small wings and moved from Sepia’s head to mine.

Now accustomed to this situation, Sepia and I walked together towards the special class.

“Sepia-nim, you called Chirpy by a different name again, didn’t you?”

“Chirpy is just too tacky, no matter how I think about it.”

Sepia hadn’t given up on the name ‘Lightning Thunder’ yet, sometimes calling Chirpy ‘Lightning Thunder’.

And every time she did, Chirpy would sit on my head like it was doing now.

“Isn’t it obvious that Chirpy also prefers the wonderful name Chirpy to a name like Lightning Thun… Pfft! Lightning Thunder?”

“Don’t laugh!”

—Chirp!

Sepia got angry at my words, and Chirpy affirmed by flapping its wings.

As we walked side by side, matching Sepia’s pace, Sepia slowly crept closer to me again today.

She probably thought she was being subtle, but from the side, it was so obvious that I had to barely suppress the laughter bubbling up.

At first, I didn’t understand what that action meant, but after she did it every day, I realized she was checking if I had applied my perfume well.

‘She could just ask, and I’d tell her.’

But it was amusing to watch, so I didn’t plan on saying anything.

Especially that expression, where she thought she was being natural, was the funniest.

Sepia, who had inhaled the perfume scent and smiled contentedly, fidgeted with her fingers as if she had something to say.

I knew what Sepia wanted to say.

Now that the special training was over, she must want to know where Betzdo was.

I wanted to tell her right away too, but unfortunately, we were currently on our way to school.

I almost got late last time from chatting with Sepia, and if we talked about Betzdo now, I would definitely be 100% late.

“I’ll tell you what you’re curious about, Sepia-nim, after school. Let’s meet in the forest a little later.”

“Okay.”

I didn’t specify an exact time, but Sepia didn’t ask, and I didn’t elaborate either.

.

The academy forest, where we had trained for a month.

After all academy classes ended, Loki and Sepia met in the forest.

Until now, they had met for training, but the reason for their meeting today was not training, but to begin the true revenge.

Sepia’s expression, which had been smiling until that morning, had hardened.

She knew too well that getting excited, angry, or furious would solve nothing.

So, she had intentionally avoided dwelling on it.

So, she had intentionally focused only on training.

But now, thinking of revenge, everything came back vividly.

The village full of laughter, the kind adults who always gave them food when they met, the friends who were fun to be with, and her parents who were her everything.

How wonderful it would be if she could only recall such things.

If so, she wouldn’t mind recalling them hundreds of times.

But the village was full of screams, the adults and friends who used to give her food no longer felt warm, and her parents, who were everything to her, died before her eyes.

The cause of all this was just one.

Betzdo.

“Sepia-nim…”

Loki looked at Sepia like that, a bitter smile forming inside his mask.

Ultimately, if she couldn’t achieve revenge, Sepia wouldn’t be able to let go of the emotions in her heart.

“I will tell you about the existence that knows where Betzdo is right now. But before that, I have something to say.”

It was something he didn’t necessarily have to say, but he spoke anyway, just in case.

“Your chances of taking revenge on Betzdo right now, Sepia-nim, are 50%.”

Even that 50% chance was a figure he could barely state, now that Sepia had memorized all of Betzdo’s attack patterns.

If it had been Sepia before the training, she would have failed her revenge and died, just like in a game.

Sepia’s talent was far superior to Betzdo’s.

But there was an incredibly high wall between Sepia and Betzdo.

‘Time.’

The mask had broken down that thick wall of time just a little, but it was only for a month.

It was unreasonable to catch up with hundreds of years of time in just one month.

It wasn’t that Sepia had been lazy in her training or lacked talent.

The only problem was that her opponent was a necromancer who had lived for hundreds of years.

“If you prepare for just one more year… no, half a year, Sepia-nim, you could succeed in your revenge without a single scratch.”

“……………”

Sepia listened to Loki without a word.

Hogu was asking her now.

If she trained for half a year more, she would definitely win. But if she fought now, she might get hurt, or even die.

Despite that, did she still have to pursue revenge now?

“…………”

She closed her eyes and thought.

‘If it were me a month ago…’

Wouldn’t I have shouted at Hogu to tell me right away, not thinking about anything else, solely focused on revenge, having lived for revenge?

But now, it was different.

In the past, revenge was the most important thing, everything. But now, other important things had emerged.

She used to think that dying right now for revenge wouldn’t matter, but now, so many things she wanted to do while alive had appeared.

The time that saved her from being trapped in vengefulness for 10 years was just one month.

Not for the past, but to break free from the past, Sepia opened her mouth.

“I can’t wait any longer.”

A thought suddenly occurred to her: what if the situation were reversed?

If it was certain after waiting half a year, and Hogu, driven by personal emotion, decided to challenge with a 50% chance, wouldn’t she have called him foolish?

“It’s absolutely not that I’m saying this because I’m excited about revenge.”

But Hogu listened to her choice without calling her foolish or stupid.

“Half a year… Half a year thinking about revenge? My life is too precious for that. Don’t you think so too?”

“If waiting half a year is too difficult, there’s also a way for me to fight with you. Then you wouldn’t have to wait half a year and could easily…—”

Loki stopped speaking when he saw the look in Sepia’s eyes.

Then he sighed.

“Oh, man…”

Yes, the end of revenge must be done by oneself.

He had been that way too.

“You’re really stubborn, aren’t you?”

Loki said that and placed a hand on Sepia’s head.

Honestly, he had known from the start what Sepia’s answer would be.

Yet, he kept talking because of his selfish desire for Sepia to take a slightly easier path.

Right, if Sepia couldn’t kill Betzdo, he would just grab Sepia and run.

And they could keep trying.

“Well done. Hmm! Truly well done and commendable.”

Loki moved the hand on Sepia’s head, stroking her, and his attitude, as if treating a child, made Sepia pout and grumble.

“Who are you calling stubborn…?”

“I have just one last thing to say.”

Loki offered Sepia what he truly wanted to convey.

“I believe you will win, Sepia-nim.”

Sepia, who was about to say, ‘Of course,’ couldn’t open her mouth.

Because an unknown emotion was mixed in Loki’s voice.

“And I don’t consider mutual destruction a victory. The value of your life, Sepia-nim, and Betzdo’s life are worlds apart.”