episode_0031

“… … .”

Penny narrowed her brows and glared at the desk.

The office given to him by Baron Ludwig of Badenberg was spacious, tall, and luxurious.

Penny was so serious that she didn’t even have time to rejoice at the extravagant scenery.

On the desk, all the documents from Philip’s collection were neatly arranged.

There were a lot of other documents that came to the first party, but they were all piled up on the floor.

Reporting reminders from the imperial family and Seonghwa Bridge, guidance on where to use donations and tax benefits, supply toll bills for supplies, and requests for instructions from scouting teams.

Penny couldn’t afford to take care of things like that.

‘Philip… .’

His biography begins with Sylvia, a beggar girl.

Bad boy Aria.

Beatrice the prodigal.

Kylie the libertine.

The brightest light of humanity, created by combining the four.

1st warrior party.

Ian, who was the manager there.

‘… Ian.’

Kylie said.

They say Ian was the one who took them in and raised them.

The other warriors also agreed.

Ian also testified that he provided information about the dungeon.

But Penny knows differently.

It is common knowledge that Ian is the scarecrow of the first party, and Philip is the actual manager.

Regardless of whether Philip is real or not, everyone knows that.

Of course, Penny found out the truth after persistent tracking.

‘Philip is real.’

All the documents in the collection in front of you are proof of that.

Recently, Penny had to add new information to that fact.

‘Philip is real and is the same person as Ian.’

Even if we think that way, Philip’s actions do not change.

It would be a reasonable inference to assume that Ian gave the public the fake name Philip.

If he really was the owner named Philip, he would have the ability to do so.

Philip, Ian.

Ian, Philip.

The two names quickly crossed over in my mind and soon began to blend together.

‘That explains everything… .’

Is this true?

Is Ian Philip?

Philip, was that Ian?

Then, then… .

‘What on earth have I done… . What am I for… .’

Was he right in front of me?

It was difficult to understand.

Maybe it’s just that my mind doesn’t want to accept reality in hindsight.

However, such a meaningless ending… .

‘No, you can’t be this good… .’

-smart.

Someone knocked on the door.

Penny answered by gathering her collection and hiding it.

“Please come in.”

It was one of the messengers he had recently hired.

He returned with two letters.

One from the Manager’s Guild.

The other one was from the imperial family.

Penny first checked the insignificant letter from the Manager’s Guild.

Regularly receive reports on what is happening in the guild and things to watch out for.

‘Felix… ? Ah, there was a guy like that.’

Penny herself knows about Penny’s disease.

Among them, Felix is in critical condition.

He usually doesn’t do this in front of Penny, the person in charge, but Felix showed off the symptoms of Penny’s disease without hesitation even in front of Penny.

‘It was one of the cornerstones for Philip’s gift, but it fell off beforehand…’ . Since the military police showed up, it seems like the accident that had been building up so far has exploded.’

Penny clicked her tongue and read the following.

‘Nothing else… . huh? ‘King Slime?’

It was news that the biggest and strongest boss monster of all time had appeared at the test site.

Even Penny was a little surprised because the name Big Slime wasn’t enough so they gave it the nickname ‘King Slime’.

‘I don’t know, but it’s probably much stronger than Big Slime. Vivian, an aspiring wizard, was caught by herself… ?’

They overlap.

Certain characters and certain events began to overlap layer by layer with the ‘Vivian’ that was now appearing before my eyes.

‘Aspiring student whom Felix taught before. After failing 10 times, he appears two years later and makes a spectacular comeback by catching King Slime.’

Sylvia, a beggar girl.

A girl who used to drink rainwater and whose talent was not even known, made a grand appearance by single-handedly defeating the ‘Big Slime’ that appeared for the first time in the history of the Temporary Hero Test.

‘Vivian’s manager… .’

The manager who found Sylvia was none other than him.

‘Ian… .’

Philip.

“… … .”

Penny’s hand holding the letter trembled.

She hurriedly let go because the force was so strong that it threatened to tear it apart.

“Haaa… .”

She let out an ecstatic breath and stroked her face with both hands.

“Okay… .”

Everything fits together.

Ian and Philip.

An eerily identical heroic narrative.

This is something that cannot be accomplished without him.

‘okay… . This is how you should be… .’

Penny smiled and composed herself.

Philip is still alive and well.

‘You shouldn’t end up like that, right… . This is how I break it… .’

As soon as I smiled and opened the envelope from the royal family, all my happy thoughts disappeared.

The sender’s name was written at the top of the letter.

[Philip]

“… Huh?”

Ian is Philip.

Philip is Ian.

That connection was broken with a single letter.

Penny hurriedly read the entire letter.

It was a distribution map of A-level and higher dungeons centered around Badenberg.

‘There are so many?’

At first, I was surprised by this and questioned the fact that the imperial family was aware of all this.

‘This is information that only Philip can know… ‘Okay?’

I couldn’t be sure because there was a chance that any royal family with a connection to Philip would know about it.

No, is it rather natural for the imperial family, which has eyes and ears all over the continent, to know this much information?

So why did the royal family name Philip?

‘for a moment… . What is this… .’

I thought I knew everything, but then I didn’t know everything again.

My mind is a mess.

‘how?’

What Philip uses is a magic seal, not the royal seal.

However, there is no way that Philip would not send a letter through the royal family.

In fact, the letter also said that he was busy sorting out Ian.

However, there was something that only Penny, who had been analyzing Philip’s letters for a long time, could know.

‘Handwriting.’

There are only two types of handwriting used in Philip’s letters.

One is Ian’s assistant, Mercida.

‘When Philip told Ian, Mercy wrote it down.’

I guessed that the other one I couldn’t figure out was probably Philip.

I know Ian’s handwriting, but I’ve never seen it in Philip’s correspondence.

I had never seen the handwriting of this letter.

‘Who owns this letter?’

Is it Philip?

Or was the imperial family impersonating Philip?

What is the relationship between Ian and Philip?

If Ian is Philip, he has no reason to help the first party and Penny who kicked him out.

So, are Ian and Philip separate entities?

While my head was hurting like it was going to explode, someone suddenly opened the door and came in.

They were Kylie, Aria, Beatrice, and Sylvia.

Silvia approaches with great strides and places a red magic stone on top of the scattered letters! I put it up.

“It is a grade A magic stone.”

“… … .”

Penny didn’t have time to reply.

I was mesmerized.

Anyway, Sylvia had important business to attend to.

“Ian. Do you know where it is?”

“… Ian. Ian?”

Are you looking for Ian?

Why?

No, Penny herself would like to meet Ian and ask him.

But, if you ask me, what is it… .

Penny suddenly lost consciousness.

After glaring at her with no response, Sylvia’s eyes landed on the letter below.

It was a report from the Managers Guild.

“… Vivian?”

I lifted it up, muttering the name written there.

[An aspiring wizard who was resurrected after defeating King Slime. Vivian, person of interest.]

The story resembled Sylvia herself.

[Her manager is Ian, the former manager of the first party.]

Vivian’s manager was the same person as Sylvia’s own manager.

Sylvia frowned and muttered like a growl.

“… Who is this bitch?”

While the other three heroes turned and checked behind her, Sylvia was glaring at the floor.

“Ian, I went somewhere and did something… .”

“You can’t even apologize to us, it’s ridiculous.”

Kylie and Beatrice burst into laughter.

The last time I saw Aria, she also frowned.

“Ian… .”

Sylvia glared at Penny, but couldn’t see beyond Penny’s narrowed eyes.

Just the blankly opened mouth showed that her condition was not normal.

“Aria, follow me.”

Sylvia turned around roughly.

“I’m going to Superbia.”

This is where the relationship between Sylvia and Ian began.

And, the place where Vivian and Ian would have passed their most recent exams.

“… huh. Let’s go.”

Sylvia and Aria set off for Supevia.

Kylie still had something to say to Penny.

“Hey. Since I brought the magic stone, deal with it properly. Don’t forget to settle your account properly.”

Beatrice also helped.

“I’ll learn about the next dungeon quickly.”

Penny nodded absentmindedly.

Kylie and Beatrice will enjoy a banquet today to forget the fatigue of battle.

It’s not that I’m not anxious.

They also wanted to follow Sylvia and Aria.

But shallow pride.

And the fear of not wanting to face the truth held them back.

They just wanted to get drunk and pass out.

Penny, left alone, was recalling information indiscriminately.

Information that comes to mind quickly sinks into the unconscious.

Among them, there was one word that did not sink in.

‘Felix… .’

Ian and Vivian.

Vivian and Felix.

Felix, who had been holding out without being disciplined until now, was taken away by the military police after meeting Ian and Vivian.

‘Ian, Philip, Felix… .’

Penny seemed to realize and jumped up.

‘I have to meet Felix.’

***

[Memory Correction]

What you see is a road with forests on both sides.

I am leisurely walking through the rain.

This is not something I heard somewhere, but rather a direct memory of my past.

So does that mean I have been near MacDerlin Abbey?

A scream comes from somewhere in the middle of the road.

I cautiously approach the epicenter.

Waves of yellow light are visible in the distance.

I know what that is.

It is a protection miracle used by priests.

The miraculously extracted light is spread like a barrier and used as a shield.

Just looking at it, it was a protective shield of enormous size and density.

The arrow that touches the unfolding yellow light bounces off.

However, it gradually collapsed due to repeated shocks.

Blood flowed profusely from the body of a woman who had spread her protective gear.

Perhaps too much blood was shed, and the protection collapsed.

She was exposed to arrows.

Several arrows killed her.

The face of the fallen woman is hard to see.

All I could tell was that it was a combat-type priest’s uniform partially clad in heavy armor.

Other people were seen shaking around her as she fell.

I ran past the fallen woman and ran forward to fight the enemy.

The target was a human.

They are not demons or demons, but a group of armed humans.

It is a world where thieves are not rare.

[Memory Correction 2]

This time it’s a rumor I overheard.

A point in time future than the previous memory correction.

‘Did you hear that a public fund-raising meeting was held at MacDerlin Abbey?’

‘I know. How noisy they were because they were so fearless.’

‘I knew it would happen before. Didn’t they say that half of them were robbed by thieves targeting those wealthy people?’

‘You mean those rich guys went there without private soldiers?’

‘Of course I would have gone with you. But I heard there were over 60 thieves alone. Could it have been any different?’

… … .

That was the end of my memory.

What is it… .

What happened at MacDerlin Abbey before?

During the second session, I only heard about the world, and I was never close to them, so I’m not sure.

Memory correction reminds me of things that are useful to me by connecting them to the present.

First of all, it probably means that the priest is at the MacDerlin Monastery where I am going now.

Even at first glance, it was a powerful defense miracle.

That’s very important.

There are three main types of miracles that priests deal with.

Heal, Ignite, Hexproof.

Healing literally means healing a wound or neutralizing a poison.

Scorching uses holy light to burn enemies.

The final protection is a miracle that forms a barrier made of light.

Naturally, healing was popular until the beginning of the war.

Next was the scorching heat.

However, after the war intensified, miracles in the field of defense became incredibly important.

The powerful enemies that appear in the latter half of the story kill heroes and soldiers with a single blow without even having time to heal their wounds.

They were just monsters as they were meant to be.

The miracle of the protection system that could block that one shot was in itself a lifeline.

Even now, it is said that protection-related miracles are important in B-class dungeons and above, but not as important as in the future.

It’s probably a miracle that is ignored at the level of aspiring or temporary warriors.

At least the potential of the priest in my memories seems to have been clearly proven.

The curtain seen in the memory correction was something that could only be seen after the war began.

The period of memory correction also overlaps with the public examination at MacDullin Abbey.

Next is a public fundraising event… .

Are you saying that there was an event in the second round that drew people in, similar to the current public exam?

I heard that rumor in the future, passing near MacDerlin Abbey.

In that case, I did not know of the ‘public fundraising meeting’ held at MacDerlin Abbey and passed by there.

It was just an incredible coincidence.

And a thief… .

It’s hard to know how the priest and the thief in my memories are connected, so I’ll put that aside for now.

There is only one question left.

The priest’s heart.

This is not something we can know now.

Now, all we have to do is find out for ourselves at MacDerlin Abbey.

“Ian, Ian.”

Vivian, who had just departed, was still unconscious.

Kati is sitting next to him.

On my lap, Mercy, who had transformed into a fairy, was snatching a sugar bar and eating it.

Mercy called me.

“Why.”

“There is something I want to do.”

“What is it?”

“Someday, I will slap you on the back in front of Kati.”

Tingling.

Kati’s head turned towards Mercy.

“What do you think? Isn’t it worth a challenge?”

“You must be very bored.”

hmm.

I don’t know how long I’ll do it, but it seems like there’s something worth doing.

“Mercy.”

“Ong?”

My pronunciation was muffled as I answered while munching on sugar.

“Do you want to cook?”

“… Cooking?”

Although I have never been in charge of cooking directly, when I was at the first party, I was in charge of inspecting on my behalf.

So, it means that I have some idea of the recipe I want.

If I get really busy, I won’t have time to cook, but I don’t think there’s any harm in ordering a little.

“Hmm… . Think about it.”

*

Vivian, who woke up in the middle of the night, felt ashamed that she had messed up and was ready to run out.

I managed to calm him down by giving him 1 gold again, and this time he didn’t faint and was just happy.

Still, the carriage continued to run and finally arrived at MacDerlin Abbey.

It was a monastery located in the middle of the forest, with dark gray walls and a somewhat gloomy and closed atmosphere.

And there was a welcome person inside the monastery.

“Oh, Ian?”

A woman who seemed difficult to approach because of her small body and sharp expression recognized me and smiled slightly.

“Marie. It’s been a while.”