Ch.165Aftermath (7)

“Even if there’s a possibility of betrayal in the long term, if they stay in the city that has emerged outside and make daily pilgrimages… there shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

That was Rie Hezedia’s answer to Llewellyn’s question before departing.

From Llewellyn’s perspective, even if someone’s innocence was proven immediately, there was still a possibility they could be persuaded or betray them in the long run.

Netel’s power made that possible.

It felt like an intelligence agency that could appear at any time.

So it wouldn’t be strange if someone who seemed fine during the pilgrimage suddenly transformed into a monster or harmed people inside.

Despite such concerns, Rie Hezedia offered a simple solution.

“Of course, a mercenary who was fine in the morning could become a traitor by evening. That’s why we’re considering a shift system for duty.”

A shift system. Llewellyn didn’t ask exactly how many shifts or what rotation schedule they would follow.

He knew his role well, and didn’t think he would remember such details for long anyway.

All that remained was to find mercenaries to directly deploy in that shift system. Llewellyn completed his preparations before departing.

He strapped two axes to his waist.

Since he wasn’t ambidextrous, he placed the Screamer on his right hip where his right hand could reach it.

Though he still had the broken piece of the Star Blade, the knife from which the Star Flame had escaped could no longer be called a weapon.

His main weapon was the Screamer, which could be considered an axe exclusive to Mourners.

And his secondary weapon was the North Wind. It was somewhat odd that his secondary weapon was more powerful and versatile than his main one, but Llewellyn wasn’t the type to care about such things.

He wore the North Wind on his left hip and practiced drawing it quickly in emergencies.

Though Llewellyn was a slow learner, his accumulated proficiency couldn’t be ignored. With a skill bonus of 5 points, he was nearly at master level, so Llewellyn became adept very quickly.

To the point where he could counter-attack while nullifying surprise attacks in case of combat.

‘All that’s left is personnel selection…’

“You’re taking me, right?”

Many people came to see Llewellyn as he prepared to leave.

There was the Mourner whom Llewellyn called “old man,” as well as Lorian, Melody, and Isla.

Yet Llewellyn had only permitted two people to accompany him.

“I’m not sure if it’s right to leave behind someone who wants to go and take someone who doesn’t want to.”

“You should clean up your own mess.”

“How boldly you speak such vulgar words… Don’t you know that necromancers don’t defecate?”

“No, I don’t?”

“Good grief.”

One of them was Ortemilia.

By Llewellyn’s estimation, she was a half-crazy necromancer who would occupy a position like a drug lord in the New Continent, while ambitiously extending her reach into various fields.

One advantage was that she didn’t seem to possess the transcendence of the necromancer he had met previously, so there was no need for disguise.

And the other one was…

“I’ve been waiting!”

A woman approaching with a clear voice, Lucilla.

To Llewellyn, Yoon Sejin, she was a very familiar sight.

Although her attire was quite different from what he had seen on Earth, her appearance and overall features weren’t much different from Llewellyn’s memories.

Her confident stride, lightly swinging hands, the backpack she carried, and her bright smile that shone even more brilliantly under the clear sun.

Yoon Sejin rarely felt like he had returned to Earth, but he noticed a subtle difference—the angle of her head.

‘I’m taller than my sister now.’

Back on Earth, his sister had been slightly taller than Yoon Sejin.

Well aware of this, Yoon Sea deliberately avoided bringing up the topic of height.

Partly because she remembered the irritation her brother had shown to his friends, and partly because she didn’t want to be disliked by her brother.

But now, having become shorter than her brother and having to look up at him.

For some reason, her heart fluttered slightly. Trying not to show it, she smiled brightly, and Llewellyn briefly smiled back.

“No, I didn’t wait long.”

“This fellow is lying. You waited quite a while.”

“Hey, you shouldn’t say such things to your daughter.”

“Who’s whose daughter?”

“Then am I not your son either?”

“…I might make an exception for someone like you.”

“Playing hard to get.”

A strange conversation where it was hard to tell if they were bickering or getting along well. Lucilla listened to their conversation silently and smiled.

Llewellyn had no memories of his parents, and because of that, he could call Ortemilia “mom” or whatever without any burden.

But that was impossible for Lucilla. She still remembered the past.

Back when their family was still well-off, before Yoon Sejin was born, before their parents abandoned Yoon Sea and Yoon Sejin and ran away.

Yoon Sea sighed secretly, and only Ortemilia heard it.

*

“The city’s name is ‘Arba.'”

“Arbeit?”

“Arba.”

Ortemilia looked at Llewellyn as if to say “why are you joking around when you understood,” and Llewellyn grinned at her gaze.

“And Arba is a place overflowing with mercenaries, deserters, fugitives on wanted lists, and assassins who can no longer live in the Old Continent. Distributing drugs wasn’t a difficult task.”

“Well, those professions involve getting hurt and going out and such. Since fighting is their job, stimulants or painkillers would sell well.”

The road wasn’t treacherous, but it wasn’t exactly smooth either.

As a result, Ortemilia, whose physical strength wasn’t as outstanding as the two homunculi, was sitting on Llewellyn’s shoulders.

If it had been Isla, Melody, or Lorian instead of Ortemilia, he couldn’t have done this.

Llewellyn firmly believed Ortemilia’s statement that she wouldn’t develop romantic feelings for him.

So when Ortemilia started whining that her legs hurt, he didn’t hesitate to lift her onto his shoulders.

From that point, Ortemilia was able to look behind her.

‘…What a fierce expression.’

The first thing she witnessed was Lucilla’s glaring eyes fixed on her.

From that point, Ortemilia pieced together information based on various clues that had been vaguely provided.

She guessed what “what she wanted” might be—something Lucilla had mentioned in passing when she said that she and Llewellyn came from another world.

“How blasphemous.”

“What is? The drugs? Is that what you’d call blasphemous?”

Llewellyn didn’t understand what she was talking about, and Ortemilia snickered as she met Lucilla’s eyes.

Her expression said, “This guy doesn’t seem to know.” Lucilla seemed irritated, her eyes momentarily turning black before returning to normal.

She wasn’t an Eshatherna, after all. She wasn’t someone who would kill people on a whim.

She just sighed deeply and walked steadily to her brother’s side.

Llewellyn glanced at his sister who approached his side and said:

“Actually, I don’t care about doing drugs and such. It’s not bad to rely on stimulants or painkillers when it’s a matter of life and death.”

“How practical.”

“That’s how everyone ends up after speedrunning.”

“Speedrunning…?”

“It’s a thing.”

Ortemilia didn’t understand, but Lucilla did. Seeing an opportunity, Lucilla joined the conversation:

“Sejin, you did speedrunning too?”

“Ah, yes. After you disappeared, I got into games and… somehow it happened.”

“Oh.”

She hadn’t expected the conversation to flow this way. Lucilla broke into a cold sweat, but Llewellyn just smiled faintly at his sister.

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t mind. What matters is that I’m with you now, sis.”

“Sejin…”

“Aren’t you going to ask how well I did?”

He seemed eager to boast. As his sister, Lucilla knew her brother well, and although his face was slightly different, it wasn’t difficult for her to recognize him.

“What rank were you?”

Llewellyn’s lips curled upward.

“First in Korea. Seventh in the world.”

And that was a ranking even Lucilla hadn’t expected. With an exclamation of “Oh my,” her eyes widened. Llewellyn grinned at his sister’s honest reaction.

“Impressive, right?”

“Really impressive. I never expected it. Though when I watched you play, you were good…”

“What?”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

One of her brother’s few sore spots was his “skill” at “certain games.”

From Lucilla’s perspective, who didn’t know the game well, her brother’s skill in “that game” showed good control but he didn’t read the map well and acted like a lone wolf.

Lucilla deliberately kept quiet. Her brother’s sore spots weren’t something to be poked at. Besides, she wasn’t the type to enjoy arguing with people.

She pretended not to hear, and Llewellyn, with a stiffened expression, tilted his head before continuing:

“Anyway, down to about 30th place below me, everyone used slightly different variations of the same strategy. One of them was the doping homunculus.”

“Doping homunculus…?”

“Homunculi don’t suffer penalties from drug use. So it was quite effective to mass-dose at crucial moments and push through with doping.”

He went on about how that was why it was a recommended job for beginners and other such stories, but Lucilla didn’t know about those aspects.

Rather, she was the type of person who:

An immersive gamer who wouldn’t even look at drugs in games, refusing to use them due to physiological aversion.

Lucilla felt a slight awkwardness as she observed her brother who was clearly different from her, while Ortemilia, who was clinging to Llewellyn’s head with her arms resting on his crown and her chin propped up, had gleaming eyes.

She thought understanding the relationship between these two might be useful to exploit someday.

Similar incidents actually happened several times.

“Walking like this reminds me of the old days.”

“When we used to go for walks together?”

“No, when mom would push the stroller… and I’d walk alongside her. There are three of us now too. And one person riding, just like back then.”

“Isn’t that rude, National Guard?”

“Oh my, I wouldn’t know, Alchemist.”

This was a typical example of their conversations. Lucilla went on to talk about dinner with her mother, or family restaurants they visited together when they were young.

Despite Llewellyn’s expression not being particularly pleasant as he listened to such conversations.

But when does someone immersed in memories ever look around while talking? Although Lucilla seemed to enjoy reminiscing about those times.

It wasn’t the same for Llewellyn.

For Llewellyn, Yoon Sejin, hearing such stories made him feel as if he was the “harbinger of downfall.”

Yoon Sejin felt both curiosity and slight awkwardness as he observed his sister who harbored no resentment toward their parents who had abandoned them and left—a distant past that he himself couldn’t even remember.

The day was already fading.

And as the sun gradually disappeared, people began to appear along the roadside.

As the road became well-trodden, with paths created by footprints becoming visible.

A city appeared beyond the horizon.

“That is Arba.”

A city casting long shadows with the setting sun at its back.

The three stopped in their tracks as they faced the city.