Chapter 180: A Road to Sampo (4)

Unlike Corvus, who fell asleep as if she had fainted, Neti did not fall into a deep sleep.

And thanks to that, she was able to notice her sister sneaking out of the room in pajamas and the Saintess following closely behind.

It was late at night when even the crickets had fallen asleep; were they just going to the bathroom together?

However, contrary to her expectations, the two did not return for quite some time.

Almost an hour later, Neti began to wonder if they might have gone to see her brother-in-law.

Her sister and the Saintess, going to a man’s room alone this late at night…

As her suspicions began to spiral, Neti let out a small laugh. It was such a ridiculous thought, even to her.

It might have been possible if it was only her sister, but the Saintess had also gone with her.

The noble Saintess… No, perhaps not as noble as she seemed, but still, the Saintess wouldn’t do something like that.

Dismissing the wicked thoughts from her head, Neti waited for her sister and the Saintess to return.

However, the two still did not return. Until when? Until dawn broke.

While Corvus snored loudly, Neti, who had stayed awake all night, jumped out of bed.

Throwing on her coat, she ran to her brother-in-law’s room and knocked on the door.

“Excuse me? Brother-in-law? Sister?”

She knocked on the door again, but there was still no answer.

Neti hesitated as she grabbed the doorknob. Was it right for her to worry about this? After all, it was between her sister and her brother-in-law; should she really interfere—

As that thought crossed her mind, the door opened on its own as if it had never been locked.

Without hesitation, Neti peeked inside to examine the room.

Whether it was fortunate or not, the room was empty.

Just as she let out a sigh of relief and was about to shut the door, her eyes caught the coat draped over the sofa.

It was the same coat the servant had handed along with the pajamas last night.

…So, they were here after all.

Neti let out a small, wry laugh when her suspicion turned into certainty.

It was because the memories of her teasing her sister about how far she’d gone with him flashed through her mind.

Who would have ever imagined that her innocent sister would not only go all the way but also engage in some additional ‘studying’?

Holding her flushed face in her hands, Neti started making her way back to her room but stopped when she spotted a servant passing by.

“Excuse me, do you know where the guest from this room went?”

The male servant informed her that her brother-in-law and the two girls were having breakfast in the dining room and kindly offered to guide her there.

Indeed, the three of them were in the dining room, having their breakfast. They casually tore a piece of bread and sipped tea while in the middle of a serious discussion.

It looked like a normal breakfast scene, but Neti didn’t miss the dark circles under her brother-in-law’s eyes. He had undoubtedly stayed up all night.

No, more than that, was it even possible to do it all night like that? Well, with two women, maybe it was…

…What nonsense am I thinking?

Neti slapped her reddened cheeks with her palms and approached the three of them.

“Neti? You’re up early! Did you sleep well?”

The Saintess was the first to notice her and greeted her in a lively tone.

Following the frivolous greeting, her sister and brother-in-law turned to wave their hands at her, but Neti was unable to meet their gaze and simply nodded.

Ignoring Seti’s puzzling look, Neti dragged a chair over and sat between the three of them. The old chair, oblivious to her feelings, let out a creaking sigh.

“Neti, this is sudden, but there’s something we need to tell you.”

Yeomyeong said as he poured her a cup of tea.

“Ah, you want to tell me something?”

Neti, who was stiff and glancing at the three of them, flinched.

Would they possibly be confessing their relationship here? Ignoring Neti’s nervous swallowing, Yeomyeong continued speaking in a surprisingly calm voice.

“It’s not anything grand, just about our itinerary.”

“Huh?”

“We’re returning to Earth soon, so I wanted to know how we should proceed, where we should go. I’d like to hear your opinions as well.’

Having started the conversation, Yeomyeong took a sip of tea and then began explaining.

The explanation was neither long nor complicated. To sum up Yeomyeong’s words:

They planned to leave this city today and visit another city to obtain fake identities.

Then, using those fake identities, they would cross the Dimensional Portal and return to Earth.

And…

“W-we are going to ride a dragon? For real?”

“Yeah, instead of waiting for the train tracks to be repaired, I thought it would be quicker to ask the dragon for help. Why? Are you scared of the dragon?”

“No, no! I’ll ride it, no, I really want to ride it!”

The mere mention of a massive red dragon carrying them made all of Neti’s worries disappear.

What did it matter if her brother-in-law led a messy (?) lifestyle? She could ride a dragon!

After tanks, now a dragon. Having something to brag about to her younger siblings, Neti’s eyes sparkled, and seeing this, Seti muttered with a wry smile.

“…It would be better if you don’t get your hopes too high.”

4:30 AM. The boy’s day always started with training.

After a light warm-up, he would progress straight into high-intensity training without breaks, practicing the five martial arts styles unique to him.

And after he had completed the routine he had followed for almost 10 years, he could see the night sky welcoming dawn.

Drenched in sweat, the boy moved toward the training room window and opened it.

The sounds of footsteps of diligent students, the noise of the dormitory just waking up, and the sea breeze blowing from afar swept over his face as it came in through the window.

Quirtly savoring the morning scene at Lord Howe Academy, the boy then checked the time and sat down in the corner of the training room, pulling out his smartphone.

Out of habit, he opened the Korean portal site and checked the headlines.

Thankfully, coverage of the recent Gyeongmudae bombing incident dominated the news headlines.

The boy sighed in relief but still scanned the news, just in case.

And indeed, he came across a news article about him.

It was a typical news article filled with overwhelming patriotism.

While he would have normally ignored it, the title mentioning him and his father couldn’t be disregarded just like that.

He checked the article carefully, and as expected, it was a load of nonsense, exaggerated and fabricated garbage news.

Of course, not everything was a lie. The fact that Cheon Yeomyeong had ranked first in the mid-term evaluation was indeed true.

…However, the Cheon Yeomyeong currently at the academy is a fake

The boy, Jeon Yunseong, could feel the irony as he read the news and the comments below it.

The truth was, no one really knew where Cheon Yeomyeong had disappeared off to, yet the Koreans were lost in the fantasy that he would someday return to Korea and elevate the country’s stature.

After all, people tend to see what they wish to see, not the truth.

Even his father…

Creak.

At that very moment, someone opened the training room door and stepped inside.

Shaken out of his thoughts, Jeon Yunseong turned his head and made eye contact with a familiar middle-aged man with short-cropped hair and a massive build, wearing a typical U.S. military uniform.

“Captain Patrick?”

Jeon Yunseong stood up reflexively and saluted. The soldier, called Patrick, gave him a salute in return and spoke.

“Sergeant Jeon Yunseong, I’m sorry for the sudden visit so early in the morning.”

“It’s fine. I’m okay.”

“You say that, but your expression doesn’t look good.”

“…It’s a matter of rules. The training room is a student-only facility. Outsiders shouldn’t enter this place so casually.”

It was a valid point, but Captain Patrick didn’t seem to care.

“Don’t worry, I snuck in without being noticed.”

Ignoring Jeon Yunseong’s furrowed brow, Captain Patrick strode toward him in military boots and spoke.

“Enough small talk, and let’s get to the point. I have urgent news to deliver to you.”

“Urgent news? What could be urgent enough for you to deliver it personally, Captain?”

Captain Patrick didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he pulled out a small crystal from his pocket.

Memory crystal—Created using a technique similar to the Arcane Relic, it was a magic item used to transfer memories.

“What’s in it?”

“I don’t know what it contains. This object itself is classified as top-secret.”

“…”

Jeon Yunseong received the crystal with discipline. The cold crystal stuck to his hand as if it were waiting for mana.

However, just before he could infuse his mana into the crystal, he turned to Captain Patrick and spoke.

“Uh, Captain, have you found any traces of the students who went missing in the sewers…?”

Captain Patrick raised his eyebrows slightly. He gazed at Jeon Yunseong with an unreadable expression and answered softly.

“It’s classified.”

Not “we couldn’t find them,” but “classified.” He had cleverly avoided answering the question directly.

Jeon Yunseong saluted with gratitude before infusing his mana into the crystal.

And in the next moment, his vision suddenly changed.

When Jeon Yunseong opened his eyes, he found himself in a familiar city. Though he had never been there, it was a place he often saw in TV shows and books.

…The capital of the Empire?

The scene shown by the memory crystal wasn’t just a simple imagination or cheap 3D visuals.

While there was no smell or sensation, the sights and sounds were as real as possible.

The towering imperial palace, the Magic Tower, streets where carriages and cars mixed, and even the back alleys with flowing sewage were all vividly lifelike.

Moreover, seeing stalls set up around the city, and people dressed in various fashions crowding every corner of the city, it seemed that there was some kind of festival going on.

A massive crowd was gathering, especially near the vicinity of the imperial palace, and there were even some famous figures that Jeon Yunseong recognized among them.

What memory was this? This didn’t seem like just some view from beyond the Dimensional Portal.

While he pondered, Jeon Yunseong unconsciously looked up at the sky.

And only after seeing the sun hovering high above did he realize that this memory was from “the other day.”

The “present” moment when he infused his mana into the crystal was just a dawn breaking, but with a blazing sun high in the sky, it was clearly noon in this place.

Why was the crystal showing him memories from this specific moment instead of any other time?

Just as he was starting to wonder about the true intentions of the military leadership, something fell into his line of sight.

As he narrowed his eyes, the people in the illusion also noticed the falling object.

– What is that? An attack?

– How can there be an attack? Don’t you know the number of Earthians present here right now?

– It looks like another alchemist’s mess.

The crowd began murmuring for a moment as they watched the object fall like a comet, burning through the atmosphere.

Then, someone shouted. It was almost a scream.

–T-Teleportation! Is there anyone here who can teleport or open a Dimensional Portal?

He was a superhuman so famous that even Jeon Yunseong recognized him. His name was Tanahashi Nase, a superhuman who ruled over the mercenary world almost like a king… Why was he behaving like this?

–Chikushō! Anyone who can teleport, come forward!! I’ll give you all the money you want if that is what you desire! Come on!!

It was not like someone who knew Teleportation or Dimensional Portal magic would suddenly show up just because he was crying for help, and so his desperate pleas were only met with silence.

Someone was about to approach him and ask what was going on, but before they could, the falling object landed right in the middle of the capital.

There was no sound of anyone’s scream and neither of Tanahashi’s final curse. Before the sound could reach, a massive flash of light swallowed the entire imperial palace.

And in the next moment, everything within the radius of the light literally evaporated.

Buildings, cars, trees, and even humans.

The flash pierced his eyes, and unable to help himself, Jeon Yunseong turned his head.

As he squinted to confirm the explosion, he saw the air in between the fingers of his hand that was covering his face being sucked.

What the hell is that—

Before Jeon Yunseong could complete his thought, the flash turned into an explosion.

!!!

The heat and ensuing shockwave swallowed the city. Fortunately, tens of millions of people didn’t feel a thing.

The flames screamed in place of the dead. The dust that was once a person and the ash that was once an object rose to the sky, carrying the souls with them.

Even though he was only an observer, Jeon Yunseong closed his eyes once more.

And after what felt like an eternity for the dead, but only a moment for the living, Jeon Yunseong barely opened his eyes and saw… a massive mushroom cloud rising into the sky.

The death cloud that swallowed hundreds of thousands.

Seeing this, Jeon Yunseong gaped in shock, when all of a sudden, someone screamed.

From the outskirts of the capital, from the ruins of the Magic Tower, from the boiling river, the survivors, the unfortunate ones, screamed at the top of their lungs.

However, their cries for help went unheard—only primal fear, terror, and pain remained.

It was the last cry before death, envy for those who had died first.

Even with his ears covered, the sound still reached him, and Jeon Yunseong couldn’t hold back his nausea.

The moment he dropped to his knees and vomited stomach acid, the vision came to an end.