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Chapter 113

「This is why corruption in the supply chain must be strongly punished. Who would have thought that there were employees of Babel and the Ivory Tower who were holding hands with the Demon Force? Such complacency...」

Passing by the hospital lobby, Se-Hoon heard the TV playing the news stirred by the incident from yesterday.

He turned his gaze to his phone.

So this guy ended up being detained...

Looking it up, he saw the picture of a man, restrained by bindings on his arms and legs, being transferred. The man, who was being arrested on charges of supply chain corruption and collusion with the Demon Force, was the Ivory Tower staff member who had rushed to Charles after the incident.

So Charles was isolated from this incident from the start... maybe he’s higher up than I thought.

He had thought Charles was just another member of Dawn since Charles had directly handed over the mana corrosion device to Luize, but it seemed he had underestimated Charles’s rank.

Maybe he’s one of the Regions... no, if I recall correctly, the Blast Dog said that anyone would be able to tell right away if one was a part of Regions.

Since that was the case, it seemed that Charles was just a high-ranking officer, one that was right below the Regions. However, if he was so high-ranking, then why had he personally handed the mana corrosion device to Luize?

Perhaps he was confident he wouldn’t be discovered, so he simply did it himself. It would have been easier for him to slip the device to her since he was her mentor after all. But could that really be all...?

Unsure, Se-Hoon mulled over several possibilities and then suddenly remembered something he had heard from the Blast Dog before the regression.

“I was only able to escape from Regions because they lost interest in me after claiming that I had failed; otherwise, I would have been exploited to death.”

Remembering the Blast Dog’s voice, which had been dripping with distaste, he could finally come up with one plausible reason.

Charles must have highly valued Luize at first, to the extent that he personally went to check on her.

As a fellow craftsman, Se-Hoon understood Charles’s actions, but it made him fall into deep thought.

Then he must be overly obsessed with her now that he’s seen her recent accomplishments.

And since Dawn had suffered great losses in the Ivory Tower, it was a likely possibility that Charles was currently getting ready to cut ties with Babel and aim for one last big score. It meant they were in a dangerous spot, but that spot could also open up the opportunity they had been seeking to strike a significant blow against Dawn.

With his thoughts reaching that point, Se-Hoon’s train of thought naturally went toward how to prepare for the impending clash with Charles. But it was derailed when he heard some familiar voices from a hospital room ahead.

“I’m telling you, I’m really okay now!”

“Didn’t you hear the doctor say that there’s something wrong with your body? How could you possibly be ‘really okay’? Stop talking and lie down already.”

“A person’s heart rate always increases when they’re excited. So what’s this about being hospitalized for three weeks?! There’s clearly something wrong here!”

“Your heart rate increased by 1.5 times overnight, yet you think that’s normal? Lea, just lie down quietly when I tell you to.”

“No! As if I don’t know Grandma’s intentions... mmph!”

Clatter!

Listening to the noisy sounds echoing through the crack of the slightly opened door, Se-Hoon approached.

Knock, knock.

“It’s Lee Se-Hoon. May I come in?”

The noisy room fell silent. A moment later, Rebecca opened the door.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

Following Rebecca, he entered deeper into the room and soon saw Lea lying on a large bed.

“Mmph!”

Her brown hair spread out in all directions, devoid of her usual hairpins and clasps, and she had been covered all the way up to just below her nose by a white quilt that was engraved with Rebecca’s enchantments. From a distance, her figure in the white quilt looked like a kimbap roll with some burdock sticking out; it unwittingly caused Se-Hoon to smirk.

“Um, why is she like this...”

“She kept causing a fuss about wanting to be discharged, so I’ve temporarily tied her down. Don’t worry about it.”

Rebecca shook her head, fed up with Lea. She then looked at Se-Hoon.

“Do you need something to drink?”

“I’d appreciate anything.”

“Then please sit somewhere comfortable and wait for a second,” Rebecca said, heading off to the kitchenette in the room.

Se-Hoon sat down on one of the chairs next to the bed.

“I thought you were fine, yet it seems you’re hurt pretty badly?”

“Mmph! Mmph!” Lea cried out, sounding like Se-Hoon’s question had wronged her.

Ignoring her, Se-Hoon examined the device next to the bed.

A heart rate of 120... it did increase quite a bit.

Normally, one’s heart rate would only increase when there was insufficient blood volume supply, but that wasn’t the case for Lea. In her case, both her heart rate and the volume of blood supplied by each heartbeat had increased.

In other words, her metabolism was working 1.5 times faster than usual.

I tried to mitigate it, but... these side effects are still unavoidable, huh?

While he was assessing Lea’s condition, Rebecca returned with some snacks and tea.

“Be careful, it’s hot.”

“Thank you.”

Picking up the cup of tea, Se-Hoon carefully sipped it while Rebecca silently drank hers across from him.

“Mmph! Mmph!”

Unlike the two calmly drinking tea, Lea continued to struggle. Eventually, Rebecca sighed and snapped her fingers.

Clink-

The enchantments drawn on the quilt dissipated into the air, and the tightly binding quilt instantly loosened.

Finally free from Rebecca’s restraints, Lea turned to Se-Hoon and cried out in a plaintive voice.

“Why didn’t you help me? I was giving you the eyes!”

“What can I do against a professor? I just stayed still.”

“When have you ever been so obedient to others?! And you should be on my side!”

“I’ve always been obedient. And besides...” Se-Hoon glanced at Lea. “When I checked earlier, it seemed like the enchantments were already half undone. Wouldn’t it have gotten more complicated if I messed with it?”

“...”

“...”

An awkward silence filled the room, and Lea, who had just been feeling wronged, was now the most awkward one in the room.

“Uh, no. I don’t know what you’re saying...”

“So that’s how it was.”

Rebecca, having set down her teacup, looked at Lea.

“So you were pretending to be tied up, planning to escape later.”

“Well, it’s more like... just in case I urgently needed to use the bathroom....” Knowing she had made an absurd excuse, Lea averted her eyes.

Meanwhile, Rebecca’s mind raced with thoughts.

Even though I had hastily inscribed those enchantments, they weren’t something that she could easily break.

Moreover, since she was the person bound by those very enchantments, it would have been even more difficult. Impressed by Lea’s significant growth in just a few months, Rebecca sighed deeply.

“Fine. Let’s just say that we never talked about dropping you out.”

“...What? You’re not going to talk about being hospitalized?” Lea asked in surprise.

“You want to be discharged so badly because you think I might keep you confined in this room and declare you forfeit in the selection competition, right?”

“...”

“I might be a bit rigid, but I’m not that heartless. What do you even take me for?”

“Bossy... never mind.”

Under Rebecca’s sharp gaze, Lea quickly backtracked and shut her mouth.

Annoyed, Rebecca furrowed her brow and continued. “The original plan to have you drop out was to prevent your talents from being exposed to the world. But now that your name has become globally known with this incident, what’s the point of hiding you?”

Given how prominent the Ivory Tower was, news of how Lea resolved the incident had spread worldwide, bringing about an immense amount of attention. The response from the enchantment industry was particularly intense, mainly because her Sphere was too powerful.

“Not only have you seized control of the Ivory Tower’s facilities, but you also overloaded and destroyed all of the equipment that had traces of a specific formula.... In fact, it’s now more dangerous for you to return home.”

A device capable of doing such a thing and a user who could handle it were both tantalizing targets for those blinded by greed. With such danger, Rebecca accepted that she could no longer protect Lea on her own, so she looked at Se-Hoon.

“Lee Se-Hoon,” Rebecca called out with a composed expression.

“Yes?”

“Reyna, my daughter and Lea’s mother, is the Puppeteer of the Ten Evils.”

“Grandma, wait!”

Despite Lea’s cries of shock at Rebecca’s sudden bombshell, Rebecca continued without blinking, “One day, after she suddenly killed my son-in-law, Dane, she disappeared, only to reappear as a demon. It’s already been confirmed, as the enchantment formulas that only Reyna had been researching were found in the initial puppets created by Puppeteer.”

“...”

“And Lea’s goal is to kill Puppeteer.”

Having laid her family’s secrets bare, Rebecca looked at Se-Hoon with serious eyes.

“If you continue to be as close to Lea as you have been, you will inevitably become involved with Puppeteer, whether you want to or not. Do you fully understand what that means?”

“Yes, I understand.”

The Ten Evils were monsters that could easily kill even S-rank heroes, and if they became one of the Harbingers of Destruction, they had the potential to kill even a Perfect One. To be targeted by such beings meant living as if a knife were perpetually pointed at one’s throat.

“And yet, can you continue to be with Lea as you have now?”

Rebecca had actually brought up this conversation for Se-Hoon’s sake. No matter what, it would be unfair if he unintentionally ended up as a target of the Ten Evils due to getting involved in their family matters.

And if he’s planning on staying with Lea with half-hearted resolve, it’s dangerous for her too.

Now that Lea’s talents had been revealed to the world, all villains, humans included, would be targeting her. Thus given the unknown challenges ahead, anyone who wanted to stay by her side needed to be fully prepared—Se-Hoon as well.

“Yes...?” Se-Hoon answered utterly nonchalantly.

Though he sounded a bit confused, his response was strangely calm and didn’t seem like a lie.

“Are you not scared?”

“Well, if I said I wasn’t scared, I would be lying...”

Se-Hoon made an awkward smile and looked at Rebecca.

“But it seems like Puppeteer already marked me during the Black Lotus Seas disaster.”

Upon hearing his words, Rebecca realized something.

So his situation was no different from Lea’s.

After all, wasn’t this promising young man in front of her receiving even more attention than Lea?

“Besides, in the end, we can’t continuously run away from them, and we shouldn’t either. Just because they are known as the Ten Evils doesn’t mean they are invincible.”

The Ten Evils were certainly dangerous, but they weren’t so powerful that they could do whatever they wanted in this world. If S-rank heroes united their strengths and attacked while exploiting their weaknesses, they could be defeated. And on top of that, Perfect Ones could catch them off-guard.

Being a witness to all of these events before the regression, Se-Hoon was confident that it would be the case now as well.

“If they mess with us carelessly, they’ll be the ones that bite the dust.”

“...”

Seeing the true side of Se-Hoon—someone who was aware of whom he must fight and clearly understood the weaknesses to exploit—for the first time, Rebecca silently nodded her agreement. His unwavering resolve shone brightly through his words.

“I’ll trust those words,” she said before finishing her tea in one gulp.

Rebecca then stood up and looked at the two of them.

“I’ll step out for a bit; you two can have a chat.”

Leaving behind those words, Rebecca left and silence enveloped the hospital room.

While Lea sat awkwardly on her bed fidgeting with her hair, Se-Hoon quietly sipped his tea and nibbled on some snacks. Like that, the silence continued until Lea, having gathered her resolve, broke the silence.

“I had a dream yesterday, but I can’t remember what it was about.”

“...”

“There’s one thing that’s certain though: I was really angry, and it felt like I wanted to kill someone—just like how I feel in real life.”

Struggling to recall the blurry dream, Lea looked at Se-Hoon.

“Were that your feelings?”

Since the purpose of the Blood Essence, created using Soul Honing, was to pass on his own experiences to Lea, the emotions Lea felt in her dream were very likely to be his own emotions that were naturally embedded within those experiences.

“Yes.”

“...I see.”

Upon hearing his response, Lea seemed to make up her mind.

“Then, since it’s come to this, I’ll make an official request.”

“A request?”

“That monster... the one who killed my father. Help me kill Puppeteer myself,” she said with resolve, indicating that she no longer considered Puppeteer as her mother.

“Then I’ll also help you deal with whoever your unknown enemy is.”

Up until now, they had cooperated by lending each other their skills as a blacksmith and an enchanter. But now, they would combine their strengths to achieve their respective goals. And he had already reaffirmed her talents during the incident.

I lose nothing from this.

More importantly, though, Se-Hoon absolutely needed Lea’s help to have an easier time killing Puppeteer than before the regression.

Only she could activate the poison he had hidden in the Sphere.

“Okay. But there’s one condition.”

“...What is it?”

Noticing Lea looking at him tensely, Se-Hoon made a slight smile.

“Don’t whine about how it’s too tiring or hard.”

Lea’s eyes widened in surprise and then she chuckled.

“You should make sure you don’t freeze up when you meet Puppeteer yourself. The Ten Evils are on a higher level than you think.”

Though Se-Hoon had faced and fought even worse demons than the Ten Evils, he chose not to mention that. Boasting about such things seemed petty, especially to someone who had regressed in age.

It’s a pity, though. The overall mood seemed good. Despite the mood being so good, no Fatestone had been created.

At that moment, he noticed Lea glancing around cautiously.

“...I have something I want to ask. Can you use the Sphere too?” Lea finally asked.

“Huh? Why do you ask all of a sudden?”

“Well, I only managed to modify it after receiving your experiences, so... I was wondering if you could use it too.”

Though she had been the one to propose the request, Lea questioned if she really could be of help.

“Probably not?” Se-Hoon answered after a moment. He had easily seen through her cautious probing.

“...Really?”

“I’m not that good with calculations. I know how to solve them, but I’m not quick with mental math, at least not as fast as you.”

Though he could understand the overall structure and find patterns, handling complex calculations on the fly, which the Sphere required, was quite a hard task for him.

“Hmm. Uh...”

Lea’s mouth twitched a few times at his response before she muttered softly, “I guess I win.”

[Subject ‘Lea Claudel’ feels superior to you.]

[A Fatestone has been formed for the subject ‘Lea Claudel’.]

“...”

Slightly dazed by the notification messages before him, he turned his head toward Lea.

“Heh heh...”

And saw Lea grinning, seemingly pleased about something.

All he could think about as he watched though, was one simple thing.

“You’re remarkable indeed, sunbae.”

“Is-is that so? Hahaha!”

It wasn’t so bad that she was being playful despite her age.

***

Finished with his conversation with Lea, Se-Hoon was about to leave the room when he received a request from Rebecca.

“She must absolutely rest for three weeks, so don’t give her work during that time.”

“What? But I’m fine...” Lea protested.

“If you’d rather drop out than be discharged, go ahead and say more.”

“Don’t contact me during my vacation!”

Just like that, Lea agreed to stay in the hospital quietly for three weeks; it was partly as a trade-off for not being pushed to drop out, partly to avoid aggravating potential injuries, and partly to wait until the public’s attention diminished a bit.

Well. By that time, things should have settled down completely.

Plus, the increase in Lea’s heart rate was probably a reaction to his experiences embedded in the Blood Essence melting into her physical form, so it would return to normal after some time.

To Se-Hoon it was a relief that she had no serious issues. He was about to leave the hospital feeling utterly refreshed when he heard a loud sound.

Vroom-

And then a black limousine pulled up in front of him.

As he gazed at the familiar vehicle, the car window rolled down to reveal a young man with slick black hair and rimless glasses. He gave off an elite vibe.

“It’s been a while.”

It was Inoue Ren, Erika’s brother.