Part 1 Chapter 7 (9)

At that time, the Yuseong Family mansion in New Seoul.

“You really did know my room, didn’t you?”

“Of course, I did.”

Eun Yuha bit into a sandwich with lettuce, and Phoenix scooped cake with a fork from the table.

After successfully completing their second-hand transaction in Busan, they fled to the sky. On the way, they ordered a simple breakfast at a Yuseong franchise cafe and quickly flew to Eun Yuha’s house before their faces became too recognizable.

Eun Yuha wiped her lips with a tissue and asked,

“As expected, customer-nim, you were a man in your past life, weren’t you?”

“Think whatever you want. Gender doesn’t matter now.”

Phoenix wiped the fork she had put in her mouth on her lips and pointed it at Yuha.

“Mere speech, appearance, or gender aren’t important. I am I.”

“Yes, yes. So, customer-nim Planaria, what are you really planning to do now?”

“About what?”

“The future knowledge you possess, it said Seonui Cheol was a lifelong president, didn’t it? Until 2025.”

Phoenix rolled a strawberry off the shortcake. After fiddling with the strawberry with the tip of her fork for a moment, Phoenix jabbed the fork into it.

“Yes. The future I knew changed. From the moment you decided to bring down Seonui Cheol.”

“As expected, you knew?”

“Because Yuseong holds the financial power that backs Seonui Cheol.”

Bringing down Seonui Cheol, who wielded absolute power, was impossible with the Azure Syndicate’s strength alone.

Transferring Kang Soyeon of Cheongsong to Seoul to physically distance Seonui Cheol and Yoo Young-ho, who would be his allies; enabling heroes who witnessed the massacre to make public declarations of conscience without political or financial burden; and the driving force behind spreading and disseminating videos on the network faster than they could be censored-all of this would have been impossible without Yuseong’s-Eun Yuha’s-will.

Phoenix swallowed the strawberry and mumbled, asking,

“What were you thinking, bringing down Seonui Cheol?”

“What were you thinking, letting me change the future?”

“Don’t answer a question with a question.”

“Sorry. But I’m curious.”

Yuha took a moment to wet her throat with coffee.

“Aren’t you angry that I completely ruined the future you knew?”

“Not at all. I already gave up on getting that angry back when it involved Cheon Gaeul.”

“……Hmm? By any chance, what was Gaeul-ssi originally supposed to become?”

“Ask her directly. You two seem to talk on the phone often.”

Yuha flinched. Her expression stiffened for a moment. As she briefly debated whether to play dumb, Phoenix stirred her red tea and spoke first.

“I’m fine. If you two get along well, that’s good in itself. Keep being close in the future.”

“…I have a lot to say, but I’ll hold back. If I say it now, I feel like I won’t be able to control myself.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you did, though.”

“It’s because I would mind.”

If I also became an SS-rank, wouldn’t I be able to hit this annoying bird in front of me at least once? Yuha gulped down the espresso as if it were water.

“You asked why I’m trying to bring down Seonui Cheol, didn’t you?”

“Yes. You-“

“I know very well that I have no talent for politics, so shut up.”

Phoenix obediently put the cake in her mouth. Phoenix closed her eyes for a moment and gulped down the strawberry hidden between the cream-covered castella. Yuha shook her head and continued speaking.

“It’s already hard enough managing six people, and if you tell me to do politics too, I’ll definitely die from overwork. No matter if customer-nim is here.”

“Rather, you’d get more stressed because of me.”

Yuha choked up. She gulped down the espresso again in one go. Yuha’s Machine Doll, waiting nearby, immediately refilled the empty cup with coffee.

“I’m already stressed out, so I’ll keep it a secret out of spite. Humph.”

“Suit yourself.”

Phoenix ate all the cake with an expression that showed she truly didn’t care. Then, with a familiar gesture, she ordered the Machine Doll to bring another dessert from the refrigerator.

“The one I put in the fridge earlier. Bring it now.”

[EX-rank code recognized. Complying with command.]

At the sight of Phoenix so familiarly manipulating the Machine Doll’s code, Yuha narrowed her eyes and pouted.

“……Customer-nim, only I know the Machine Doll command codes, you know? No matter how much I jokingly tell you I love you, there’s a limit. Please respect the line. Especially that code just now-“

“That was a code only to be told to a lifelong partner.”

“……Huh?”

“Why are you so surprised? You and I were lovers in our past lives.”

Yuha’s thoughts stopped. Phoenix shrugged her eyebrows and enveloped the strawberry tart on the plate with mana.

“Playing twenty questions like that, I realized how annoying it is for the other person. So I just told you. Why? You kept wondering, didn’t you?”

“No, that, I mean, now, really? What you said back then, it wasn’t a joke, it was serious? Me and you? Really? Not kidding?”

Yuha was genuinely flustered. Phoenix looked at Yuha indifferently, then chuckled.

“Eun Yuha was the type to express love she didn’t feel and show favor if it brought financial gain. But the woman I knew was blind with love. For your information, three sets of twins, then two sets of twins, followed by another two sets of twins. Exactly seven.”

Yuha dropped her coffee cup, even forgetting to send mana to her Machine Dolls. Phoenix burned the cup and coffee that had fallen on the carpet with a flame, then picked up the tart.

“I told you because you wanted to know, so I don’t understand why you’re so surprised. Well, I’m leaving now.”

“W-wait a minute?!”

Yuha hastily stood up. Phoenix, who was about to open the balcony door and leave, turned back.

“What about Cheon Gaeul and Seok Harang too? Seriously, not as a joke?”

“Yep.”

Yuha froze in place. Phoenix immediately leaped up and stepped onto the railing. Phoenix turned her head as if something had just occurred to her.

“Ah. I’ll go to China this time and find someone to replace your PMC leader, Gwanggeom. A Spirit.”

“?!?!?”

“See ya.”

Phoenix waved her hand and flew into the sky. Yuha let out a hollow laugh, watching Phoenix fly off into the sky.

“Me, falling in love for something other than money? And with *that* person?”

Yuha, walking more mechanically than her Machine Dolls, collapsed onto her bed. Suddenly, her cheeks felt hot, and her heart pounded.

“What did I do in my past life…! This unruly girl!”

Anger surged. She had vowed to live her entire life only for money, and she had already shared love countless times through her dolls, but she had experienced true love with this body? To the extent of teaching a top-secret code that no one else knew, a code unique to Eun Yuha?

“I’m crazy, I’m crazy! Aaaahk?!?!”

Had she drunk too much caffeine? Yuha’s head spun with all sorts of delusions flowing through her mind.

* * *

“So this is the fun of teasing you.”

From high in the sky, I took out Mini Phoenix and fed it the strawberry tart I had secretly brought. Mini Phoenix happily took a big bite, but it couldn’t chew and the tart passed right through its body, falling to the ground.

The tart fell straight down. Mini Phoenix, who had been watching the tart plop into the river below, raised its head and glared at me.

– You should eat it yourself, that’s what I mean.

“Today’s portion ended with the last one.”

Mini Phoenix, who should now be called Changyeom, perched on my wrist and flapped its wings. Since its last appearance, it seemed to have no intention of hiding its identity, calling for itself whenever it had a chance.

“Is it because of what I said just now?”

– Don’t sell off other people’s family as you please, that’s what I mean.

“I’m not selling. It’s a gift. Since I handed Gwanggeom over to Rusalka, shouldn’t I naturally give Eun Yuha a reward of equal value? She’s the benefactor who persuaded you and me to let Rusalka reunite with her beloved husband.”

Changyeom seemed unable to find a counter-argument to my words and lowered its head.

If not for Eun Yuha, Gwanggeom would have been burned to ashes by me, leaving no trace, and Rusalka would have been devoured by Fenrir as Anastasia, keeping her lifelong secret.

“It’s fine. The Phantom Dragon needs to be put to work by Eun Yuha a bit. You know that Eun Yuha is the best at correcting that child, don’t you?”

– That’s why it’s even sadder, that’s what I mean.

Changyeom opened its beak and cried bitterly. I couldn’t tell if it was sadness over the plight of a Spirit being sold off, or mourning for the hardships the Phantom Dragon endured in the original story.

“Looks like I’ll be conquering them in reverse order.”

The fifth Spirit to be conquered in the original story, the Chaos Phantom Dragon. Fortunately, he was a terrible sleeper and a lazybones, so even at the time of the original story, he merely issued commands from where he slept, showing no particular movement.

I brought up a screen and opened a map.

The location was Xi’an, China-an ancient capital of China, formerly known as Chang’an, where a dimensional gate had opened. In this world, it was a dungeon of SS-rank difficulty constructed by the Chaos Phantom Dragon.

“Qin Shi Huang’s Tomb.”

To awaken the fifth Spirit sleeping in the tomb of the ancient emperor who sought immortality, I moved my wings towards Seoul with Changyeom.

* * *

Xi’an City, China.

“I’m hungry.”

Bonghyo rubbed her empty, rumbling stomach while strolling through the night market. Perhaps because she hadn’t eaten or slept properly for the past few days, dealing with the situation all night, her biological rhythm was completely out of whack. Bonghyo subtly released mana around her to check if anyone was watching her.

“……No one’s here.”

Bonghyo let out a sigh of relief. There were countless people who would gossip about the Admiral of Dongchang indulging in street food, saying it was undignified, so it was hard for her to openly buy and eat street food like she did when she was a child.

“Thank you.”

Bonghyo held a paper bag filled with Tanghulu, specially requested, in her left hand, and with her right hand, she held a skewer and bit into a syrup-covered fruit. The strong sweetness that made her blood vessels scream and the refreshing scent of green grapes filled her mouth.

“I used to eat this often with Xiaolin when I was little.”

It was a time of extreme poverty, but she had been happy. Bonghyo hummed a tune, reminiscing about past memories, then stopped in her tracks.

“…….”

At the end of a dead-end alley, between trash cans where the night market’s light couldn’t reach, a faint mana was detected. Bonghyo carefully entered the alley, imbuing the tip of her Tanghulu skewer with mana.

Sniff sniff.

She heard something sniffing. Bonghyo gasped, wondering if it was a monster that had survived the dimensional gate.

Clang! A metal trash can rolled sideways. Just as Bonghyo was about to swing her wooden skewer like a thrusting sword, the figure that had risen from the trash can immediately collapsed again.

“Annoying….”

It was a girl. The gray-haired girl gathered her mana and slumped back down among the trash cans. Her clothes looked like something she had stolen from somewhere, ill-fitting but wrapped around her body. Bonghyo’s tension eased.

“What, is she a beggar?”

“Human. Get lost before I get motivated. I’m too lazy to get up.”

“……What’s so annoying about that state you’re in?”

Bonghyo became curious about the girl’s peculiar behavior. More than anything, it was strange that a girl with mana equal to or even greater than hers was in such a beggarly state.

Rumble. The girl’s stomach rumbled. Her gaze subtly fixed on the Tanghulu Bonghyo was holding.

“…….”

“Want some?”

The girl nodded, then immediately replied,

“Feed me.”

“What?”

“I’m too lazy to stand up and go eat, so feed me. Then I’ll spare you.”

Bonghyo realized. She must be so hungry that she couldn’t see straight. Bonghyo put the Tanghulu she had bitten into back into the bag, took out a new one, and offered it to the girl.

“Here.”

“Mmm.”

The girl kept her eyes closed and only opened her mouth. Bonghyo shoved the fruit at the end of the skewer into the girl’s mouth and pulled the skewer out.

“Done? Honestly, I’ve lived long enough to see all sorts of-“

“Ptooey.”

The girl took the fruit from the skewer Bonghyo offered, licked the syrup off, then immediately spat it onto the ground.

“I hate strawberries.”

“……Are you in a position to be picky right now?”

“I hate strawberries. I don’t want to eat them or even look at them, so give me something else.”

At the girl’s urging, Bonghyo openly sighed and pulled out another skewer. Fortunately, there were various kinds, but unfortunately, strawberries were mixed in like traps.

“……Ugh, seriously.”

Bonghyo used her hand to pull off the green grape at the end of the skewer. Her hand was covered in sticky syrup, but Bonghyo didn’t care and shoved the green grape into the girl’s mouth.

“I’m only putting up with this because you remind me of my younger sister.”

“…….”

Bonghyo’s finger touched the girl’s lips. The girl squinted her eyes and looked up at Bonghyo. The girl’s pupils were vertically slit, like a snake’s.

“Human, you have quite a talent.”

“You seem like some kind of beast-kin ability user, but if you do something wrong with that, you’ll be in big trouble, you know? You’ll be witch-hunted as a strange child and end up in the hospital. Do you think there’s only one or two kids like you these days?”

The girl smiled sweetly.

“Since we met like this, it must be fate. You’ll have to serve me a bit.”

“Hmph, fine. Do as you please.”

Gray mana burst forth from the girl. Bonghyo, unable to react to the sudden ambush, immediately lost consciousness.

Thud. Bonghyo collapsed in front of the girl. The girl yawned widely, then took out a Core from her pocket and fiddled with it.

“……Incantation is annoying, so I’ll skip it.”

The next day, the night market was turned into a mess by the footsteps of Dongchang agents.

Admiral Bonghyo of Dongchang was missing.

No one found the Tanghulu dropped in the alley.