Ch.168 Years Ago, The White Sisters (1)

Zikharun’s pillar of golden heat rays was so brilliant that it was clearly visible from Duke Feita’s Manor. It was inevitable that many knights, including Irefi Justitia, would come running.

Of course, this was after the red dome had disappeared and the Emperor and Empress’s safety had been secured.

“Nepy! Where are you? Nepy!”

Irefi’s urgent call rang out clearly. I was too embarrassed to respond, so I hung my head and squeezed my eyes shut.

Trust me, Rani. That was such an empty boast, and my arrogance had reached the sky.

‘If I had given her more trust and Irefi had gone on the offensive, everything would have been resolved.’

No matter how impressive the protagonist’s power might be, there couldn’t exist a one-man army that could overwhelm Irefi. The successful kidnapping of Charle was largely my responsibility for failing to motivate her to act.

“Nepy! There you are.”

Irefi spotted me from a distance so far away I must have looked like a dot. It was her characteristically formidable eyesight.

Crunch. Crunch.

With each step she took toward me, my mind became more chaotic. I couldn’t face her to report such a clean failure with no room for excuses.

The dark curtain of night made Irefi’s snow-white hair appear black. That’s how close she had already come without me noticing.

What expression would Irefi have when looking at someone as pathetic as me…

“Nepy.”

“…”

“Hello? Nepy? Can’t you hear me?”

“…”

Just this once, I wished she would ignore me and move on. It would be easier if she cursed and berated me. She had every right to do so.

Contrary to my humble wish, Irefi chose an outlandish approach.

“Nepy. Are you going to keep ignoring me? Fine, I’ll count to three. Three… two… one…”

“…”

Shing-

A chilling metallic sound etched into my brain! It was the precursor to the beautiful silver blade being drawn. I jumped up, forgetting all dignity.

“Uwaaack!”

“See? You could hear me all along. Why are you pretending otherwise so uncharacteristically?”

“Th-that’s not it…”

I could only stare at Irefi’s feet while hesitating. Irefi approached me closely despite my prolonged silence.

Now we were close enough to hear each other’s breath. I was so tense I could barely breathe.

Looking at my dejected state, Irefi casually spoke up.

“Nepy. Do you know something?”

“What…”

“At this distance, with you looking down like that, it seems like you’re just staring at my chest.”

“*Cough!*”

I hastily backed away and nearly coughed up blood at Irefi’s bombshell statement.

“Now you’re finally looking at me properly.”

She was right. For the first time since Irefi arrived, our eyes met directly.

Irefi wasn’t angry. There was no sign of contempt. She simply gazed at me with eyes like a calm blue lake.

Just meeting her gaze seemed to transform my turbid pond of a mind into a clear lake.

‘This feels like when I first met the Emperor.’

Could Irefi’s eyes be blessed with Pasa’s grace?

She spoke.

“I’m not going to blame you, Nepy. I don’t have the right to.”

“Irefi, I failed. I talked big and charged in, and this is the miserable result.”

“No. It was my perfect misjudgment. If I had trusted you, we would have had a better outcome.”

Irefi firmly denied it. She grabbed me with her small hand and spoke resolutely.

“It may be far too late, but thank you. Since you’ve proven yourself through action, I’ll trust you from today onward. Honestly, I was rationalizing that I couldn’t blame you even if you had run away.”

It was a joke that felt half-sincere. She smiled slightly and added casually.

“Well, I want to thank you again for staying put so I wouldn’t regret my decision.”

“Irefi… I… I…”

While I was struggling with what to say, Irefi quickly changed the subject.

“By the way, this is quite a terrible scene. The impact reached Duke Feita’s Manor, so it’s an expected result.”

“…”

Irefi surveyed the devastated surroundings. She was assessing the enemy’s strength by examining the battle traces. I added a comment to her contemplation.

“Only one person caused all this destruction.”

“It’s surprising enough that you lost, but are you saying just one person did all this damage?”

Irefi’s innocent question confirming my defeat stung. I nodded and retorted.

“You could do it too.”

“That’s because I’m special.”

“Still such a self-loving answer.”

“What did you just say?”

I thought I had muttered quietly, but it seemed to have reached her ears. I brushed it off.

“The one who did this to me is exceptionally strong. But I could tell all his subordinates were systematically trained as well.”

I recalled the man in the cave who had dodged all my attacks while landing his own. Without Netionphis’s overwhelming physical abilities, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.

“If what you’re saying is true, the culprit could be high nobles’ private soldiers… or perhaps guild members.”

“Guild, huh…”

I briefly considered whether to mention Zikharun. It would be easy to speak about him, but I’d have trouble explaining how I knew such detailed information if questioned.

I thought about it and then shook my head.

‘How stupid! Irefi just said she’d trust this infamous body of mine less than half a minute ago. And here I am already thinking about hiding things.’

It was an attitude unworthy of a human being and a man. I immediately shared the detailed information with Irefi.

“I don’t know who he’s affiliated with, but I found out something. His name is Zikharun Misrakh. He’s the last spirit remaining in the world.”

Surprise showed on Irefi’s face at this unexpected, shocking information.

“A-a spirit? The mythical race said to have gone extinct in ancient times… No, more importantly, how do you know this, Nepy?”

“I know quite a lot.”

“Don’t joke around.”

“…He called himself that, thinking he had completely killed me.”

Even while responding to Irefi’s trust, there are limits. I could never reveal the truth that this is a world inside a game. That’s why I glossed over it with a plausible excuse.

As someone who possessed the body of a character, all justification for my original knowledge had to rely on Irefi’s trust.

Irefi was the first to back down. Even though she found it suspicious, she perceptively understood I was being serious and accommodated me.

“Sigh! We can talk about the details later. Let’s go back to our manor and make future plans too.”

“Yeah, let’s head back for now.”

Our manor.

As we walked side by side, Irefi suddenly puffed her cheeks and complained.

“By the way, Nepy.”

“What?”

“You weren’t really taking the opportunity to stare at my chest earlier, were you?”

“Huh?”

I quickly regained my cool rationality and carefully chose my words.

‘Should I say I looked when there’s nothing to see? Well, considering the angle, it did enter my field of vision…’

Though my view was unobstructed from upper to lower body, I suspected no answer would lead to a good outcome.

“Well, you know? Humans’ field of vision captures many things, but we unconsciously filter out unimpressive things. This is kind of the same context? Anyway… um, Irefi?”

“Never mind.”

Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine that could have cooled even Zikharun’s heat ray. I was too afraid to look into Irefi’s eyes and kept my neck stiffly fixed.

But the human field of vision is mysterious and captures more than expected. As soon as I saw Irefi’s delicate hand hovering around her sword handle, I bolted.

Irefi’s embarrassed cry followed.

“Nepy! Stop right there!”

“As if I would! Are you crazy? Why even ask if that’s how you’ll react?!”

The midnight game of tag naturally ended with Irefi’s victory.

…And afterward, I was patched up in a mess.

◇

As soon as we returned to the manor, the servants made a fuss. They were startled by my wretched appearance and busied themselves preparing various services, which meant our conversation with Irefi had to be postponed.

I passionately argued that half the responsibility for my rag-like appearance belonged to Irefi, but no one believed me.

‘Such heartless people…!’

They just don’t know Irefi’s true nature.

Swallowing my complaints, I opened the door to Irefi’s room.

“Nepy, you should knock. What if I had been changing?”

“You’d know I was coming with your spiritual sense anyway, right?”

“I’m not going to do that anymore. I promised, after all.”

“R-really?”

So Irefi’s promised trust included this kind of consideration. I felt a strange sense of appreciation for the words she spoke so casually.

It would have been nice to dwell on these sentiments, but there was no time for that. I pulled myself together and asked about the current situation.

“Irefi. The Emperor and Empress must have heard about Charle by now. Is it okay for us to be like this?”

“For now, I suppose. The Empress fainted. His Majesty was greatly shocked and is in seclusion, refusing to allow nobles to enter the palace.”

Irefi also talked about temporary measures that had been taken, such as the detention of Deputy Commander Etio Rescal.

“That’s serious.”

“More serious than the Emperor and Empress is Charle’s whereabouts. Their cunning was beyond what I expected.”

Irefi’s gaze deepened.

“The pillar of heat rays wasn’t simply used to kill you. It’s not rational to use an area attack against a single person in the first place.”

“You mean there was an intention? I got the impression he cast it urgently because he had no choice.”

“It was both, actually. One was to kill you, and the other was to erase all traces—an act of destroying evidence.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

I readily accepted this.

The golden pillar, being Zikharun’s signature skill, required significant resources. There was no reason to use such a burdensome area attack on me when I wasn’t even a match for him.

“So finding Charle’s whereabouts is extremely difficult. I don’t know how many days it will take. What do you think the enemies are planning to demand using Charle as leverage?”

I had an answer that was close to certainty.

‘With 90% confidence, they’re probably using this as a stepping stone to make the imperial family harm Miren Justitia themselves.’

The reason it wasn’t absolute certainty was because they couldn’t know about Irefi’s future as the Destroyer. Considering this, I felt an uneasy sensation like dust on my mind.

‘To begin with, why Zikharun was even there doesn’t make sense. Argh, this is maddening! How did the original story get twisted when I haven’t even touched it?’

At this rate, even knowledge of the original story’s future seems useless.

‘But I can still act in Irefi’s best interest.’

I spoke softly like a sycophant trying to please his lord.

“Irefi. Please don’t misunderstand what I’m about to say. Just to be clear, this is something I discussed with His Majesty too.”

“Yes? Go ahead. Don’t be hesitant like before. You’re making me more curious.”

I swallowed hard and lowered my voice.

“You… it would be better to bring your younger sister out of the palace now. I mean Miren Justitia, who’s asleep with the Chain Disease.”

“Nepy… how do you know about Miren?”

I tried to suggest it as carefully as possible, but it was all in vain. Irefi’s eyes trembled like a child confronted with a shocking truth.

I hurriedly blurted out the excuse I had prepared.

“You mentioned it yourself on the day His Majesty talked about your social debut. You said your sister helped choose your dress for your debutante. After that, I was curious and learned about it while talking with His Majesty.”

“I said such a thing… That’s impossible.”

After self-denial came criticism of her lord.

“Besides, I thought His Majesty was more discreet… He must really trust you, while others were anxiously suffering.”

Fortunately, Irefi seemed to accept it without suspicion. The Emperor had unwittingly become a loose-lipped man, but he would forgive me.

“But why are you suggesting we bring Miren out?”

“From a different perspective, this is a major incident where the Empress’s daughter has been kidnapped. I’m not sure if Miren would be safe from the same fate. But she would definitely be safe by your side.”

I hoped she would easily understand this time too, but there was no second stroke of luck. Irefi rarely showed reluctance.

“That’s reasonable, but it’s impossible.”

“Why? If it’s about the quality of medical care or servants, this place is quite—”

“That’s not the issue.”

Irefi’s eyes grew slightly moist as she corrected me. She must be thinking of Miren Justitia sleeping in the imperial palace.

“…Is there an unavoidable reason?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Irefi stared blankly at the distant imperial palace and moved her lips.

“Miren, my sister’s soul, has been bound to the imperial family. For eight years now, continuously.”