Ch.99Gray Saint

The faint moonlight approaches, carried by the wind. Behind a small church, a girl wrapped in the breeze stood there. Seorin’s cold, sunken gaze turned toward the bound nun. She appeared unconscious, her eyes closed.

Bigart stared blankly at Seorin. Having just regained consciousness, he was only now realizing what had happened to him. While approaching a suspected reincarnator to extract information through conversation, he had drunk water offered by the suspect and lost consciousness. By the time he awoke, everything had been resolved.

His small senior was always like this. Mysterious, accomplishing everything alone. Such a person was only a mid-level member. It was chilling how distant she felt each time they met. What if, by chance, his senior hadn’t passed by?

Bigart shuddered at his own thoughts and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Bigart.”

“Yes, yes!”

“I’ll proceed with the interrogation, so keep people from approaching.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

As knights whose entire bodies were weapons, they needed no special tools for interrogation.

Seorin, who had been looking at her junior, moved from her position. Walking slowly, she struck the unconscious nun’s stomach. Mana wrapped around her small hand, scattering a cold chill.

Thwack-!

This was Seorin, who had modified martial arts from the Central Plains, adapting them to this world. She could clearly see the meridian points in a person’s body. She awakened only the mind without leaving physical pain.

With a dull sound, the nun’s body briefly rose. As the cold mana that had penetrated her body swirled and spread throughout, the nun’s eyes flew open.

“Cough…!”

Cold air flowed out with the nun’s light cough, spreading in all directions. Seorin crouched in front of her. Combined with the harsh atmosphere, she looked quite threatening.

“I’m going to ask you a few questions. So…”

Seorin’s voice trailed off. She realized she didn’t even know this nun’s name. This was because her junior, not herself, was handling this mission. Seorin’s gaze turned to Bigart.

The quick-witted Bigart hurriedly called out.

“Clara!”

“Right. Clara.”

Seorin called the nun’s name and observed her reaction. Her gaze was calm. After checking that her arms and legs were bound, she relaxed her body. As if she had anticipated this situation.

“My colleague collapsed after drinking the water you gave him. What was your purpose?”

“That’s…”

“If you don’t tell the truth, I’ll make you feel extreme pain.”

Clara refused to speak until the end. Seorin sighed and was concentrating mana in her right hand when Clara, who had been watching carefully, suddenly shouted.

“W-wait, stop!”

Seorin tilted her head. The calm demeanor she had shown until now changed drastically. She fidgeted nervously, watching for reactions. It was very strange.

Just as Seorin was about to move her hand again, Clara hastily continued.

“I-it was just a sleeping drug! It wasn’t life-threatening!”

Seorin stopped her hand movement. It certainly wasn’t poison. She had examined her junior’s body just in case, but he wasn’t suffering from any stomach issues.

“Why did you drug him? Tell me the reason.”

“That’s…”

Once again, she trailed off, avoiding an answer. It seemed she wouldn’t listen to words alone. Seorin exhaled briefly and swung her right hand. As her small hand, wrapped in biting cold, moved forward—

Whoosh-!

Between Seorin and Clara, a golden current of air appeared, undulating to protect Clara from her attack.

‘Again…’

Another appearance of this alien power. It wasn’t internal energy, nor was it mana. Nor did it seem like sorcery. She had even blocked the meridian points, yet power was used. This meant that the way of drawing power was different from what Seorin knew.

But it wasn’t strong. It was a force she could disperse if she pushed hard enough. Seorin pinned down Clara, who was desperately trying to get up.

Thud-!

“Ugh, uuugh…”

“It’s not mana, nor internal energy. Nor is it sorcery. If you don’t answer my questions properly, I’ll judge you as a reincarnator and execute you on the spot.”

“W-wait, stop! Don’t kill this child!”

“Those words… are you admitting that you’re a reincarnator?”

“T-that… Mister! Clara! Wait a moment! I’ll somehow…! I’ll take over!”

Seorin quietly observed Clara’s behavior. She spoke to herself and answered herself. It was as if two personalities coexisted in one body.

Was that even possible? Perhaps it was an act to avoid suspicion. At that moment, Clara’s demeanor changed drastically again. Her eyes became calm, and her body, which had been struggling defiantly, became docile.

“First… the answer to your earlier question. The reason I administered the sleeping drug was to protect myself, this body.”

Even her manner of speech had changed. Seorin pressed down on Clara more firmly and spoke.

“You said it was to protect yourself, but my colleague didn’t threaten you.”

“He would have attacked anyway… we had no choice. We needed to subdue him to escape the Blue Wing’s pursuit. Clara! That… we had no choice. We can’t escape anymore…”

Seorin silently drew her Moonlight Sword. As she remembered, she had never once mentioned her or her junior’s identity. Normally, ordinary people don’t fear the Blue Wing. Those who do are usually connected to reincarnators or are reincarnators themselves.

“Those words… are you admitting that you’re a reincarnator?”

“Half right and half wrong… I am indeed a reincarnator. But she is not. Clara is an ordinary child!”

“What does that…”

“It means two personalities, two souls coexist in this body.”

An unbelievable story. The conditions for reincarnator birth that Seorin knew were as follows: either a reincarnator’s soul inhabits a body whose soul has departed, or a reincarnator’s soul takes over the body of someone living an ordinary life.

There had never been a reported case of two souls simultaneously occupying one body. But she couldn’t disbelieve it either. After all, Seorin herself was sharing her sister’s body.

The strength left her sword hand. If this was true, it meant that to eliminate the reincarnator, Clara would have to die too.

“It’s a lie…”

Seorin’s gaze weakly moved to Bigart. He too seemed flustered, as if he hadn’t anticipated this situation.

He was just a junior with less experience than herself. It was difficult to expect good advice from him to overcome this situation. What should she do? Seorin closed her eyes, sighed, and stood up.

“A-are you letting me go?”

“Of course not.”

With her answer, Seorin swung the sword she was holding. It was the swift sword technique of the Taebaek Snow Dragon Sword. The blade, moving at extreme speed, struck Clara’s head.

Clang-!

Clara collapsed like that.

She wasn’t killed. She was simply knocked unconscious. Seorin lifted the fallen Clara with one hand. Being short, Clara’s limbs dragged on the ground.

“Senior… what are you planning to do?”

“We’ll take her in like this. We’ll bring her to Blue Wing headquarters for judgment.”

That was the best decision Seorin could make. If Clara’s words were true, perhaps they could wake the sleeping sister and talk together.

“Let’s go back.”

Drag, drag, drag-

Seorin dragged Clara, who was much larger than herself. Behind her, clouds of dust rose.

On the way back to Blue Wing headquarters.

Seorin and Bigart rode on horseback. Behind Seorin’s horse, Clara hung limply, tied up with rope. Clara remained in this state throughout the journey to Blue Wing headquarters. Whenever she tried to wake up, Seorin’s sword would inevitably be drawn to strike her head.

Each time, a bump would rise on her head. It was an unavoidable choice for Seorin. Pressure point techniques didn’t work on Clara.

After entering the direct territory of the Karma Empire, there were no monster attacks. Seorin and Bigart were able to gallop along the wide road and enter the imperial city.

The return of the two drew much attention. It wasn’t unusual for people who had gone on separate missions to return together. It was because of the subject they had brought in.

“They brought a reincarnator? Don’t they usually execute them on the spot?”

“Where is Senior Seorin? I have some questions about the Formless Flying Sword technique…”

“So the body’s owner didn’t die. They say she’s coexisting with the reincarnator’s soul…”

“Isn’t that a lie? If it were me, I would have beheaded her on the spot.”

“You fool… what if that claim is true?”

Neither Seorin nor Bigart had disclosed Clara’s condition. However, during the process of writing reports through the intelligence department, small bits of information leaked out. Soon, everyone at Blue Wing headquarters knew about Clara.

After Seorin’s report went up to the higher-ups, the Imperial Intelligence Department came with soldiers. No one knew what conversation took place between the Imperial Intelligence and the Blue Wing leadership.

Not long after, Clara was taken to the imperial palace. That was the last image of Clara that Seorin remembered.