Chapter 77: At first glance

– Two weeks ago, at the Dawn’s Light Guild.

“Uncle, did I mishear just now?”

“No, you heard correctly.”

Sihyun was following Master Dojin to the guild’s research facility.

As soon as he arrived at work, Dojin had asked him to ‘come to the research facility together.’

Dojin had said he would explain on the way, but the moment Sihyun heard the explanation, he couldn’t help but doubt his own ears.

“I only heard that a ghost story research team and experimental materials arrived from England and we were going to check them… Are those experimental materials actually a Calamity-grade ghost story?”

“Yes. To be honest, I don’t believe it either… but that’s what’s written on the list.”

‘Brought’ a Calamity-grade ghost story, what kind of utter nonsense was this?

‘It’s not like they brought a dog, does that even make sense?’

Calamity-grade, at a minimum, signifies a national disaster; at maximum, the destruction of the world.

But they just brought such a massive ghost story?

‘Hmm, it must be that my mind has gone bad from the shock of breaking up with Luna, and I’m clearly hearing nonsense!’

“Hahahaha, I didn’t know you could make jokes, Uncle, no matter what.”

“……”

“…No way, really?”

“……”

Dojin maintained a perpetually expressionless face, and seeing that, Sihyun immediately realized that this situation was no joke.

‘Uncle’s serious expression… Holy crap, this is real…!’

Sihyun stopped in his tracks and quickly greeted Dojin.

“Uncle, I’m quitting as of this moment. Thank you for everything until—”

– Thwack!

Dojin’s heavy knuckle hit instantly flew towards Sihyun.

“Kyahhh?! No, is it okay for an Awakened to just hit a normal person like this??”

“Stop with the quitting jokes. This is already the third time.”

“Ugh, it’s not a joke… To send a pitiful normal person like me to a place with ghost stories! Such a wicked company! Wicked boss, step down immediately!”

“A guy who can single-handedly take on a horde with just a wooden sword is hardly pitiful. Anyway, don’t worry too much. If it were truly Calamity-grade, there’s no way we’d be walking around so casually right now.”

“That’s true, but why are you specifically taking me to such a dangerous-looking matter?! Me, the guild’s only non-combatant and normal person!”

Dojin firmly grabbed Sihyun’s head as he vehemently protested and complained, then grinned.

His expression held a hint of playfulness.

“This is revenge for you threatening to call my wife last time, you punk.”

“Ah, how petty.”

“If you get it, hurry and follow me. You just need to check the list, and then you can go back anyway.”

“Yessss~~”

Sihyun felt a little uneasy, but thinking it surely couldn’t be a real Calamity-grade ghost story, he followed Dojin to the research facility.

****

“Oh my, Master Dojin, I understand, but I didn’t expect Mr. Sihyun to come here.”

When Dojin and Sihyun arrived at the research facility, Elissa, beautiful with wavy blonde hair and sea-colored eyes, greeted them.

“Ms. Elissa, long time no see.”

“Mr. Sihyun, did you have a good vacation?”

“It’s been a while since I returned. I heard you went back to England with Victoria, Ms. Elissa, but you’re back again?”

“Hehe, I didn’t expect to come back so soon either. My sister… kept urging me to go to Korea almost every day.”

“Huh, Victoria? That’s surprising. She always used to complain that the training grounds here were worse than in England.”

“Right? I wonder if there was someone she wanted to see in Korea. Haha.”

Sihyun very casually shook hands with Elissa and exchanged greetings.

After a few minutes of small talk, Elissa led Dojin and Sihyun to Isolation Room 3, located inside the research facility.

As they opened the heavy steel door and entered, their eyes were met with blindingly bright lights and researchers in white coats bustling about.

“Hey, the decompression chamber isn’t this way, it’s that way.”

“Someone print more lists! There are so many people to check, but we’re out of paper!”

“Ah, seriously, we’re so busy, just make copies yourselves!”

They were organizing various equipment and experimental tools brought in from England.

Sihyun slightly frowned at the distinctive smell of disinfectant in the lab.

“By the way, Ms. Elissa, I heard you brought a Calamity-grade ghost story… Is that true?”

“Ah… Mr. Sihyun, actually, we’re also not entirely sure—”

– Bang!

Just then, a door on one side of the isolation room suddenly opened, and a peculiar way of speaking, unlike anything he had ever heard, drifted out.

“Whoaaa! Pudding, it is truly delicious, is it not!”

At the soft voice of the girl, everyone’s gaze converged on one spot.

Sihyun also instinctively turned his head to look in the direction of the voice.

‘What is that?’

There,

Stood a girl with beautifully shining red hair, holding the door and smiling.

With captivating purple eyes that seemed to draw people in, and an an expression brimming with vitality, she introduced herself in a boastful voice.

“This one is the Calamity-grade ghost story, Noblesse! All humans must worship this one! Hurry and bow your heads and kneel, is what this one commands!”

“……”

“……”

The guild staff and researchers all looked at her with subtle expressions.

The girl was claiming to be a Calamity-grade ghost story herself.

But seeing her in person, rather than being scary…

“Doesn’t she… look like a red panda?”

A red panda. An animal that, to humans, looks merely cute, but tries to appear threatening by raising its arms as it approaches.

The moment that comment was made, everyone nodded in unison.

The actions of the girl with purple eyes were exactly like a cute red panda insisting that one be afraid of it.

“Hmph! Do not treat this one like an animal! This one is a powerful ghost story!! These humans here are all rude, is what this one says!”

“Yes, yes.”

“Somehow… she’s cute.”

“Ugh… Why does no one believe this one…? This one is a little sad, is what this one feels…”

That girl, who quickly became dejected and sullen, was the self-proclaimed Calamity-grade ghost story, Noblesse.

She was the girl who had suddenly appeared in the middle of London a few days ago, subsequently secured and isolated by the British guild Eden.

As Sihyun and Dojin stared dumbfounded at the suddenly appearing girl, Elissa calmly began to explain.

“The individual’s name is Noblesse. She’s a girl who claims to be a Calamity-grade ghost story. She doesn’t remember anything about her own name or where she came from.”

“No, but if she’s a ghost story, is it okay to let her roam around so freely?”

“Of course, ‘if she were a ghost story,’ that wouldn’t be allowed. However, the girl’s examination results showed no detected power or energy whatsoever. A physical examination was also conducted, and she was completely identical to a normal human girl.”

A girl who goes around calling herself a Calamity-grade ghost story but possesses no special strength or abilities.

Not even a faint trace of energy, let alone the unique Netherworld aura of a powerful ghost story, was detected.

In other words, currently, she was treated as just a red panda girl who had lost her memory.

“However, since she claimed to be a Calamity-grade ghost story herself, we couldn’t just leave her alone. Eden thoroughly protected her and then brought her to Korea.”

“No, wait a minute. England’s research facilities must be far superior to Korea’s, so why did they specifically bring her here?”

“Actually, there’s an unavoidable reason—”

Just as Elissa was about to continue, the girl’s voice was heard from behind.

“Hmph! This one is a powerful ghost story who defeated Lucian! Why does no one know that, is what this one asks!”

Lucian.

Another name the ghost story and Tsuki used to call Phantom during the Eclipse incident.

The girl with purple eyes began to boast that she was a ghost story who had defeated Lucian.

As soon as Sihyun heard that name, he couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

‘Lucian again?’

The man Luna had mistaken for himself in Phantom’s form.

The name of that man with black hair and obsidian eyes was mentioned once more.

“During the last Eclipse incident, there were records of Phantom being called Lucian, so there was an opinion to bring her to Korea for now. Just in case there might be some connection.”

After hearing Elissa’s answer, Sihyun recalled the characteristics of the Calamity-grade ghost story, Noblesse, mentioned in the novel.

– A knight clad in obsidian armor and ominous black energy.

– A ghost story that destroyed seven nations in a single night.

– The power to cleave the earth whenever he wielded a dark red sword.

‘Noblesse appeared many times in the novel, but somehow… the descriptions were too sparse. Only the armor and sword were described; there was no mention of eye or hair color at all. So I just imagined it myself.’

A black knight who said nothing, only repeating destruction.

That was the Noblesse Sihyun remembered, but the self-proclaimed Noblesse in front of him now was—

“Where is this one’s sword? A knight must always have a sword, is what this one says!”

Swish swish!

She was merely a girl bouncing around and idly waving her hands in the air.

‘I shouldn’t be misremembering.’

It certainly matched the name Noblesse he had read in the novel.

But somehow, the sense of incongruity was too severe.

‘Luna looked exactly like her description in the novel, but Noblesse is just too different, isn’t she?’

Sihyun began to doubt if the red-haired girl was truly a being of destruction.

The Noblesse he knew was a terrifying knight covered in black aura, whereas the girl in front of him was closer to just a loud child.

‘Come to think of it, Noblesse’s name was mentioned separately once… surely—’

“……Leah?”

The name Sihyun uttered inadvertently.

He had only whispered it very softly, but as if she had heard it, the red-haired girl suddenly stopped all her actions and began to stare intently at Sihyun.

“Leah…? Whose name is that, is what this one asks…?”

The girl felt an unfamiliar sensation prickle through her head.

A feeling of nostalgia.

A faint yet heartbreaking emotion washed over her.

“Ughhh… This is strange, is it not…! My chest… my chest feels… ticklish, is what this one feels…”

A reaction as if a familiar yet intangible memory had surfaced.

“It sounds familiar… and this one feels like something precious has been forgotten, is what this one feels…”

The girl pressed her head firmly and bit her lip tightly.

Sihyun found the girl’s appearance strangely familiar.

As if he had experienced it once before.

‘This is a similar reaction to when I first named Luna. Does that mean… she’s also lost her memories, like Luna?’

More importantly, her reaction to the name ‘Leah’ was the most definitive proof that this girl was connected to Noblesse.

“Mr. Sihyun, you just said ‘Leah,’ right? What does that mean?”

“Ah, welllll~~~ I just said she looked like a red panda earlier, didn’t I?? So I just took the first two syllables and tried to make a name. Hahahaha!”

“Ah… Is that so?”

To Elissa’s sharp question, Sihyun quickly mumbled an excuse, diffusing the situation.

‘Phew, I almost got suspected—’

The moment Sihyun sighed in relief internally,

The girl, who had been standing far away, suddenly ran towards Sihyun, her purple eyes sparkling.

– Pat pat pat pat!

The girl stopped in front of Sihyun, pointed at him with her finger, and exclaimed.

“This one likes this! From now on, this one is Leah!!”

“……Huh?”

“Until now, none of the names other humans gave pleased this one, but this one is very pleasing!”

“No, what do you mean—”

“And human!!”

Leah forcefully raised her hand and pointed at Sihyun.

“Me?”

“You must serve this one from now on!”

“……I don’t want to.”

“Hmph! You must do it even if you don’t want to! The one who names a knight must take responsibility, is what this one says!”

“No, what kind of nonsense is—”

– Cling!

Leah instantly rushed towards Sihyun and hugged him.

Sihyun instinctively tried to pull back, but perhaps it was because of his habit of holding Luna.

– Pat pat.

Unconsciously, he held the girl and stroked her head and back.

‘Ah, I did it without realizing.’

“Hehe, seeing you stroke this one even though you say you don’t want to, your body is a very honest human, is what this one says! Promise to take good care of this one from now on, is what this one demands!”

“No. I don’t even know you.”

“D-d-don’t know me…? H-hiccup…! You… you gave this one a name, but you’re going to ab-abandon this one…? If you gave a knight a name, you have to take care of them for-for their whole life…! If you took a knight’s first… you must take responsibility…! Don’t just enjoy and then abandon, is what this one says…!”

‘Can’t you please just choose normal words?’

– Squeeze!

The red-haired girl whimpered softly and hugged Sihyun even tighter.

As if she would never let go of the ‘special being’ she had finally found.

“First, let go of—”

The moment Sihyun grumbled and tried to push her away,

Ding!

[Warning! Calamity-grade Ghost Story ‘Leah’s’ state is becoming unstable!]

[Please soothe her!]

A system window appeared before Sihyun’s eyes, clearly stating that Leah was the second Calamity-grade ghost story to appear after Luna.

‘……I’m screwed, aren’t I?’