Chapter 153: Searching for the Little Sister Across Thirty Thousand Miles

Finding Mysticism with White Wood Duke.
Before carrying it out, White Wood Duke explained why she had brought Hanon.
“Because I thought the boy might need it.”
White Wood Duke said that with a grin.
In any case, his sense is extraordinary.
I needed Hanon, just as White Wood Duke said.
More precisely, I needed someone to stand in for me at the Academy while I was away.
‘White Wood Duke really makes full use of necessary manpower, even if it’s just a child.’
The search for Mysticism had to be conducted secretly.
Mysticism has ears all over the world, more than you might expect.
Even I couldn’t grasp just how extensive those ears were.
‘The game never covered that much detail, after all.’
I just thought, ‘There sure are a lot of ears out there.’
There was no way to know how deeply they were involved.
I am someone with a connection to White Wood Duke.
Mysticism surely knew this fact.
Naturally, they would be watching my movements very closely.
‘If I don’t want to get caught…’
I needed a stand-in while I was moving around outside.
‘Originally, this event was supposed to take place during winter break.’
Once again, things were happening earlier than in the original storyline.
‘Besides, Vulcan’s fall is supposed to be in Act 5.’
I’m managing to accomplish all the scenarios, but the flow is just way too fast.
It will definitely impact the storyline.
Still, I can’t afford to miss the opportunity in front of me.
Rather, because it’s now, it’s the perfect time to strike Mysticism.
At this point, Vulcan’s forces are still incomplete.
It will be much easier to bring him down.
“Hanon.”
It’s fine for me to step away.
But there’s one thing he must be cautious of.
“You probably sensed it last time too, but everyone will likely see right through you.”
It’s fine for those who already know my true identity.
But there’s exactly one person Hanon must absolutely not get caught by.
“You must never let Lady Iris find out your true identity.”
Iris believes I am Hanon.
The reason I’ve been able to stay by her side and make things work until now is because she thinks I am Hanon.
‘If she finds out I’m not really Hanon…’
There’s a high chance I won’t even be able to set foot in the Empire again.
Naturally, the scandal of an outsider man sneaking into a princess’s chambers would not be tolerated.
‘Even if I think about how to resolve it later, for now, I must absolutely not be exposed.’
So I firmly grabbed Hanon’s shoulders.
It was no different from entrusting him with a crucial mission.
“I’ll tip off the people around me, but you must absolutely avoid Lady Iris. If you get caught, you might get dragged into it with me.”
If only I were punished, it would be one thing, but there’s a chance Hanon could be punished along with me.
When I warned him, Hanon blinked both his eyes.
Then, he gave his usual limp, carefree smile.
“Don’t worry. I don’t really like that person anyway.”
The real Hanon wasn’t very fond of Iris.
That fact was a little bitter to hear, but I said nothing.
With Hanon’s evasiveness, he should be able to avoid Iris just fine.
“Well then, Lord White Wood Duke, I will go meet Aquiline.”
“Go ahead.”

After getting her permission, I immediately left the guest room.
The place I was headed to was, of course, already decided.
The Special Department.
I was on my way there when—
“Oh, my husband?”
There stood Vinesha, carrying a stack of documents.
I raised my hand after confirming the pendant properly fastened around her neck.
“Vinesha, perfect timing. I was just looking for you.”
Still calling me ‘husband,’ huh.
Since she had already said she had no special feelings, it must just be a habit by now.
“I’d like to have a quick word with Musica.”
“With Musica?”
Vinesha’s eyes went wide.
But she quickly caught on to the situation.
“Is it related to Mysticism?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Could you help me out?”
“It’s not a difficult request at all.”
She took me to an empty classroom nearby.
After setting down the documents, she took a light breath.
“Then, I’ll call her now.”
Vinesha closed her eyes and infused power into the pendant.
Soon after, her eye color changed to blue.
The atmosphere around us also shifted.
For a brief moment, a cool and chilling sensation swept over my body.
“Hello, hello?”
In an instant, Vinesha’s tone became completely different from before.
Proof that Musica had successfully possessed Vinesha’s body.
She smiled brightly and leaned back on an empty chair.
“Musica, Narea has been kidnapped by Vulcan.”
“Mmm, so it finally happened.”
Musica gave a bitter smile, as if she had somewhat expected it.
“Do you know what Vulcan’s objective is?”
“To melt down heroes and absorb their power.”
“That’s right! Your information network is really impressive!”
The head of Mysticism, Vulcan Zebra.
He was after the power of heroes.
The talents and the goddess’s blessing carved into their souls—
Vulcan was trying to melt and extract them.
That’s why he was so obsessed with Acrede.
Among all the heroes, she had inherited the goddess’s blessing most strongly.
Fortunately, because of the blessing, Acrede’s soul had split, and only Narea had been captured.
Half of Acrede’s soul and body still remained intact.
“It was probably Vulcan who sold my information to the Freaklord, too.”
The Keeper of Souls—
Aquiline.
Her abilities were desirable but also extremely obstructive to Vulcan.
Just seeing how I was now using Musica to chase after Narea’s soul made that clear.
Thus, Vulcan had sold Musica to the Freaklord.
‘If it had gone according to the original storyline, Musica would have been killed.’
I saved Musica’s soul and gained the ability to use her power.
There could be no worse situation for Vulcan.
“Vulcan probably knows I escaped from the Freaklord too.”
Hearing that, I finally understood why events had accelerated so quickly.
Now that Musica was free from the Freaklord, it had become much easier to locate Mysticism’s stronghold.

Vulcan now had a fire under his feet too.
‘Vulcan must be rushing as well.’
No wonder the scenario had been moved up.
Unintentionally, I kept pushing Vulcan into a corner.
“Can you find Narea’s soul?”
“A soul can’t completely sever its connection to the body unless the body is dead.”
Musica’s eyes shone a fierce blue.
She too had her once-happy life destroyed by Vulcan.
Of course, she wasn’t going to let him go unpunished.
“Understanding past lives is one thing, but he crossed the line, right? We have to teach him a lesson.”
Musica clenched her tiny fists.
Her fists were almost adorably small.
“Let’s go to Narea’s reincarnated body! If we examine it directly, we’ll find the answer.”
“Yeah, got i—”
I started to respond, but then stopped.
At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind.
When Musica turned to look at me curiously, I slowly turned my gaze back to her.
“…Musica, since Vulcan knows you’ve returned, he’s probably trying to hurry things up, right?”
“Mm, probably, yeah?”
“And since he’s also chasing after White Wood Duke, he must feel even more pressed, right?”
“That too, yeah?”
Musica agreed with everything.
“…Then, what do you think the chances are that Vulcan, who can’t capture Acrede immediately, might give up and go after another target first?”
Musica blinked.
After a brief silence, she gave the same answer I had in mind.
“One hundred percent.”
Vulcan was not the type to stay cautious; he moved according to the situation.
Now that things were getting urgent, he would definitely accelerate his plans.
And I already knew the most likely person Vulcan would target next.
What’s more, the next target was someone closely tied to me as well.
‘Strictly speaking, not me.’
It would be Vikarmern.
The reincarnation of the Sage of Transcendence, Zeryon.
And she was Vikarmern’s younger sister—
Xenia Niflheim.

* * *

A clear, sunny morning.
Students were busily moving about, heading to school.
Among them, a student with striking honey-blonde hair passed by.
Isabel Luna.
Lately, her expressions had been shifting a lot more than usual.
As she walked to school that morning, she kept zoning out, frowning, and then smiling to herself repeatedly.
To an outsider, it looked quite strange.
Perhaps because of that, even Sharin forgot her usual habit of dozing off and just stared at her.
“Isabel, what’s wrong?”
“Ah, no, sorry, I was just… lost in thought.”
Startled by Sharin calling out to her, Isabel quickly lifted her head.
But she couldn’t meet Sharin’s eyes and instead covered her own face.
“…I must be crazy. Totally crazy.”
Isabel couldn’t bring herself to lower her hands from her face.
Through her fingers, she kept peeking at Sharin with a complicated, subtle expression.
Sharin scratched the back of her neck and turned her head slightly.
Because Sharin had a rough idea why Isabel was acting that way.

Rather, she even felt a bit sorry.
Until you recognize and accept it yourself, it’s always hard.
Feeling a little spiteful for no reason, Sharin puffed out her cheeks.
“Hanon, you idiot.”
When Sharin insulted Hanon, Isabel also let out a sigh and nodded.
“Yeah, he’s an idiot.”
Isabel wore a complicated expression.
Meanwhile, without realizing it, Sharin had arrived in front of the Magic Studies building.
After seeing Sharin off, Isabel turned around and started heading toward the Martial Arts building.
The closer she got to the Martial Arts building, the harder her heart pounded for no reason.
Nervousness made her palms sweat.
What should she even say when she saw him?
How had she treated him before?
She couldn’t quite remember.
As she was walking, lost in her worries—
She suddenly saw a familiar back in front of her.
A short boy with black hair.
It wasn’t his true appearance, but it was the form she was more familiar with.
Isabel instinctively froze.
At the same time, an awkward smile crept onto her lips.
It was terribly awkward.
But it wasn’t that she didn’t want to say hello.
On the contrary, she absolutely wanted to greet him.
“Y-You!”
So she approached as cheerfully as she could and tapped him on the shoulder.
Soon, he turned around to face her.
And the moment he did, Isabel’s awkward smile vanished into a blank expression.
“You.”
“Wow, you figured it out already?”
Facing Isabel’s cold gaze, Hanon gave a bright smile.
It was a frivolous, unserious smile, unlike his usual self.
But Isabel didn’t care about that at all.
The problem was why Hanon was here, and why Vikarmern wasn’t.
“Where is he?”
“He had something to do, so he left me here. Ah, right, he was looking for you. He asked you to meet him at the west park.”
“Me?”
At that moment, Isabel suddenly recalled that White Wood Duke had come to visit.
White Wood Duke seemed to treasure Vikarmern greatly.
‘The fact that White Wood Duke came by…’
Could it be that it had something to do with Vikarmern?
She had a bad feeling about this.
Knowing Vikarmern, he had probably walked straight into some kind of danger again.
Isabel grabbed Hanon’s arm tightly.
“What is he going to do?”
“He said he’s going to see his younger sibling.”
Hanon answered casually.
Hearing that, Isabel’s expression turned odd.
What kind of nonsense was that now?
“Isabel.”
Just then, someone called out to her and approached.
It was a woman who always wore a fed-up expression and reeked of alcohol.
“Professor Beganon, hello.”
The woman, looking hungover as always, was Professor Beganon.
“Your name was just listed for a field trip supervised directly by White Wood Duke.”
“What?”
Isabel’s eyes widened bigger than ever before.
A truly unexpected field trip had just been announced.