Ch.14248. Glass of Suspicion (2)

So Yuri, who was sitting in the chair, was drawn toward me and fell into my arms.

Once, I thought that warming Yuri’s cold body in my embrace was the goal of my life.

“Calm down first. You seem overly excited.”

I gently embraced her. Yuri buried her face in my chest. She hugged me so tightly I could barely breathe.

Then without answering, she just sobbed.

‘How much does she know?’

Judging by her reaction, she might have realized that I’m already terminally ill. I carefully probed her.

“I think there’s some misunderstanding. My body is fine. To say such strange things about a world without me…”

“Stop lying! I’ve already confirmed it with the medical scan data. That if you use mana, you won’t live even five years.”

I fell silent at her words. The scan of my body at Professor Sung Chaerin’s hospital happened before I was hired. And I hadn’t had my body scanned separately since then.

‘Did she hack that information?’

In truth, even for a large hospital, a guild with an excellent information team like Flame could easily breach that level of document security.

But there was something Yuri didn’t know. According to Professor Sung Chaerin’s assessment at that time, I had three years at most.

Moreover, since joining, I had been using magic recklessly. Once the fourth seal is released, I’ll have only a few months left.

But I made up an excuse for Yuri.

“Doctors are naturally pessimistic. And you know that modern medical technology can’t fully explain everything about an awakened person’s body? I’m perfectly fine.”

“No! I clearly felt something wrong with your body! How could your mana load flow so abnormally… hic…”

Yuri could no longer control her tears and began to sob uncontrollably.

And because of her uncontrolled emotions, I could see her tears instantly cooling into ice due to her freezing mana.

‘Is there no way to make excuses?’

I squeezed my eyes shut.

For Yuri, this must have been devastating news—learning that someone she cared for was terminally ill.

In truth, it seemed like no excuse would work right now.

Perhaps, back when I was Eins, if I had heard that Yuri’s remaining life was limited, I too couldn’t imagine how I might have reacted.

But since I heard from Professor Sung Chaerin that I was terminally ill, I had made one resolution.

At least for my remaining life, I was determined to decide its form myself. I shared this resolve with Yuri.

“288 people.”

Yuri paused at those words.

“That number. You know what it means, don’t you?”

After hesitating, Yuri finally spoke.

“The Tragedy of Eins. The number of victims.”

“288 people died because of me. 288 people who didn’t have to die. So I don’t have time to indulge in useless sentimentality. No matter how much time I have left, I’m still alive.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Minsu!”

Yuri grabbed my shirt and cried out.

“It’s all, it’s all my fault for creating the eternal barrier… for not fully trusting you! As the student council president… I should bear all responsibility for the 19th generation victims!”

I shook my head. Yuri doesn’t know the butterfly effect I brought.

As she said, if Yuri hadn’t confined me, the number of victims might have been reduced. But the reason the Suspicious Dark Spirit appeared as an S-class was because I had consumed numerous fateful connections.

At that moment, a terrifying thought occurred to me.

‘Surely not.’

My past life that I thought was just a minor role. The grand destiny as the head of the Phoenix clan. And now my fate as the Colorless Key.

And even the Tragedy of Eins.

For a moment, I thought that everything might have been predetermined regardless of my actions. But I quickly denied that thought.

‘Even if that were true, it doesn’t matter.’

The 288 who died won’t come back. I’ve already decided to dedicate my remaining life to avenging those victims.

The Colorless Key, the tricks of fate—such words mean nothing to me. I’ve made up my mind to do what I can.

That was my duty to Siwoo, who died in my place.

“There’s no need to debate whose responsibility it is now. No, it’s everyone’s responsibility. That’s why we must eliminate the Red Lake. Those associated with Flame…”

Yuri remained silent. Then she cried out as if in agony.

“That… even if the Red Lake disappears… if you’re not in this world, Minsu… what’s the point…”

It seemed that Yuri’s emotions for me were taking precedence over what needed to be done right now.

‘But that can’t be.’

I needed Yuri. Yuri, whose fate was determined as the Eastern Sage. I had to persuade her somehow.

I lifted her face with both hands. Yuri’s expression was a mess as she continued crying.

I said to her:

“Come with me. To your mother’s hometown.”

Yuri’s blue eyes met mine.

***

Her tears stopped momentarily. Yuri spoke with a puzzled voice.

“My mother’s hometown? What do you mean all of a sudden…”

“The ancient book found in the ancient dungeon of Mount Seorak. You know about that prophecy book, right?”

“The prophecy book… the one you, I, and Ernst Jerfield found together?”

“Yes. Jerfield has interpreted a significant portion of it. Especially the parts related to the Eastern Sage.”

That was true. A few days ago, I received specific prophecies about the Eastern Sage from Jerfield.

“Japan. The Eastern Sage will awaken in a place related to snow there.”

“A place related to snow…”

“Your mother’s hometown, where the legend of the snow woman remains. I think that’s the place. Since you are the Eastern Sage, specifically the White Sage.”

“My mother’s hometown is in Japan… definitely a small village in Niigata Prefecture…”

Yuri was right.

The prophecy clearly stated that the Eastern Sage associated with white would open their eyes there.

– In an island country of the East. In a small village of that island nation, the White Sage will become aware of their destiny. In that small village covered with snow…

When I read that passage sent by Jerfield, I recalled what Executive Director Maria had told me about Yuri’s mother’s hometown.

Niigata Prefecture. It’s a region famous for heavy snowfall in Japan.

Although it was still mid-September, far from the snowy season, the location indicated by the prophecy was undoubtedly that place.

However, despite it being related to her mother, Yuri seemed uninterested in the topic.

“But what does that matter… to me… you… you’re everything to me, Minsu…”

It seemed that Yuri was deeply shocked by the fact that I was terminally ill.

‘This won’t work. At this rate, nothing I say will get through to Yuri.’

For a moment, I thought about pressuring her. Yuri is severely blaming herself right now.

If I tied her guilt even tighter, I might be able to make her commit everything to becoming the Eastern Sage.

But I had already used that method when dealing with Yuri when she transformed into a snow woman.

Now that she knows I’m terminally ill, even if I ask her to do her best for Flame’s mission for my sake, I can’t fully control Yuri.

And if her breaking point keeps lowering as a result, in the worst case, Yuri might become a villain.

Unable to control her emotions, the freezing mana that Yuri was unconsciously releasing was turning the office into a freezer.

‘What should I do…’

At that moment, I felt another headache.

The precursor to subconscious memories surfacing. In that memory that rose again, I saw Yuri looking at me.

‘This memory…’

Yuri smiling at me.

She was looking at me with such a warm expression, full of emotions I couldn’t imagine from her usual self.

Different from the Yuri in my arms now with a desperate expression, but the Yuri in that memory also had eyes filled with sadness.

‘What kind of memory is this?’

Memories I’ve never experienced. But clearly memories of Yuri and me. And along with those memories, emotions surface too.

Yuri deeply in love with me. And I equally in love with her.

That faint emotion is much deeper than the immature first love feelings from the Eins era. Perhaps the emotions of lovers who have chosen each other as lifelong companions.

And in the midst of snow falling fiercely as if to cover the entire world, Yuri and I were embracing each other.

Like in my past life memory, when I as Yu Jahyun watched Seohwa.

‘Damn it…’

I shook my head vigorously to dispel that emotion. I returned to reality.

But the lingering memory stimulated my old feelings for Yuri that I had kept hidden.

Those memories and emotions of first love that I hadn’t completely shaken off.

‘If I can defeat the evil god with Epitheus…’

Unlike me who will eventually die, Yuri will continue to live in this world.

Perhaps, even if Yuri truly bears guilt for the Tragedy of Eins.

If everything ends successfully, just living in a world without me might be sufficient atonement for Yuri, I thought.

I resolved again. I had to take Yuri to that village somehow.

Moreover, Niigata Prefecture was already occupied by the Red Lake. So the alliance would need to reclaim a significant portion of mainland Japan before we could enter that area.

If the Guild Master Yuri remained like this, Flame couldn’t properly participate in operations in Japan.

So in the end, there was only one thing I could say to her.

I decided to deceive her once more.

“If I want to spend what little time I have left alone with you, you’ll have to follow my words.”

To that, Yuri replied,

“Alone… with me? You, Minsu?”

I nodded.

***

Two weeks passed.

The allied forces gathered in Busan landed sequentially on Kyushu.

The advance party had already marched to the western part of Honshu, Japan’s mainland. As the three-nation alliance concentrated their elite forces on this operation, the initial momentum was good.

Flame’s unit was part of the advance party. The advance party established a base in Hiroshima city on Honshu island. Flame’s guild members were waiting for further instructions in the temporary barracks assigned to the guild.

Yuri, who had finished the commanders’ meeting, entered Flame’s temporary barracks.

“The headquarters plans to march quickly eastward as soon as the follow-up troops join. We’ll likely move to Osaka in a few days.”

Recapturing Hiroshima wasn’t difficult. Knowing that the three-nation alliance had deployed large-scale forces, the Red Lake actually pulled back their frontline.

“The villains seem to be concentrating all their forces in Nagoya city.”

Seo Munnyeom, the highest-ranking executive of the Red Lake and one of the 12 Apostles, had greatly expanded his influence in eastern Japan.

It seemed he was gathering villains in Nagoya, which is relatively close to the east, to counter the allied forces.

“Seo Munnyeom is quite clever. If they had spread their frontline, it would have been advantageous for us. What a shame.”

As Team Leader Seo Duho said, the three-nation allied forces had superior numbers in terms of pure military strength. So if the frontline had been wider, the alliance could have picked them off one by one.

“Anyway, it sounds like the real battle will be a bit later.”

Yuri nodded at Team Leader Seo’s words.

“We’ll wait here until the rear guard joins us. Take some personal maintenance time for now. Once we enter full-scale combat, there won’t be time to rest.”

Yuri dismissed the gathered Flame executives. And as I was leaving the barracks with her, Yuri whispered quietly to me.

“Then as promised, come to my room tonight.”

At Yuri’s words, I carefully nodded.