Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Elena
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Elena
Elena could not be persuaded.
That was all there was to it. Elena could not be persuaded. She had come here from the start with her mind made up to take Yuri back with her, and right now, Yuri had no valid reason to refuse her.
He couldn’t speak of the things he had to do or wanted to do right away. He didn’t have any grand secret plans either. The Black Snake Gang couldn’t exactly be called a job, but he had lost something like a workplace anyway. And in the process, Yuri had nearly died alongside it.
There was no modern perspective he hadn’t yet discarded to cling to. Objectively speaking, Elena already had a successful life. And from here on, she would soar even higher.
In this world, Seronis, a ‘Magic Tower’ stood at the forefront of magic. Not all great mages came from Magic Towers, but all Magic Tower Lords were great mages. Even in the game, those with the ‘Magic Tower Lord’ title were all named bosses that were hard to kill.
Elena had been recognized for her talent by one such Magic Tower Lord.
Moreover, judging from the last letter’s contents, the Derusia Magic Tower Lord—Heavenly Thunder Orca Derusia—had personally arranged a commission to broaden Elena’s horizons.
That made it clear the Tower Lord held Elena in special regard.
And now, this extraordinary Elena had come all the way here herself, insisting on taking him along and looking after him.
No matter how much of an insolent prick Yuri’s original self had been, using mere attitude as a reason to refuse in this situation felt too flimsy.
‘Just stubbornly saying no...’
That wouldn’t work. Elena was resolved to drag Yuri along by force if needed.
Checkmate. No room to retreat.
‘Maybe it’s for the best?’
For starters, life would be far better than here. Living in Oldor, this rural city, came with countless inconveniences.
Of course, there were risks. With ten years’ time, he could pass off changes in personality, but he’d have to avoid topics like old orphanage memories. He had the memories, but no emotions tied to them from back then.
‘And other possessor traits I need to hide too.’
Without the Veil of Deception, the moment he faced Elena, he might have bolted... or punched her in the solar plexus. Or squeezed out some ridiculous excuse.
‘At least with the Veil of Deception, my internal energy won’t be detected.’
Just as the game and reality differed, so did the Veil’s effects. It would have been nice if it came with an instruction manual, but the Order Church and Lorellia offered no such courtesy.
It was fine. Thanks to fiddling with the Veil around his neck after putting it on, he’d figured out how it worked in reality and how to use it.
A switch in his mind. It wasn’t really there, but focusing on it like that let him control the Veil.
The Veil didn’t stop him from using internal energy or mana entirely once activated. It just made it undetectable on the surface. That was the baseline, and focusing on the switch adjusted the output.
He could appear as a complete ordinary person or a total novice who’d just started. Deceiving opponents like that was the item’s true value.
‘Lucky if I can get a mana cultivation manual or heart method from Elena.’
He’d secured internal energy with the Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art, but he needed an excuse for later.
‘Alright.’
After much thought, he fully accepted it. For now, he’d follow Elena out of this rural Oldor. Might as well reap some benefits from his impressive childhood friend while leaving.
“Far?”
Elena, who had been standing in the corner of the room with her arms crossed, spoke up.
He kept thinking while his body stayed busy. He couldn’t just follow Elena in body alone. Still, he had to pack his things.
“Don’t just stand there—sit on a chair or something.”
“It’s filthy.”
What’s filthy? Yuri furrowed his brow and shot Elena a glare, then looked at her outfit again and understood. A pure white dress that didn’t match this rural city at all. With clothes like that, just standing would get them dusty.
“...Why are you dressed like that?”
“Huh?”
“Your clothes. You remember what kind of city this is.”
Even standing on the streets for hours, you wouldn’t see anyone dressed like Elena in Oldor. Her outfit screamed outsider no matter who looked.
“...I wear what I want.”
Elena spat out, furrowing her brow. Irritation seeped into her voice. Had he said something wrong?
‘Ah.’
A kind of self-display, meaning even though she came from here, she no longer belonged. From the personality in her letters, it fit.
Back at the orphanage, she’d trailed after him calling “Yuri, Yuri” all day. Who’d have thought she’d grow up so prickly and cold...
“Pretty.”
Yuri turned his head back forward and muttered.
Earlier, he’d acted like a jerk to push her away, but since he was going with her now, he needed to adjust his attitude a bit.
“What... did you say?”
He’d said it loud enough to hear. Being ignored would’ve hurt his feelings more.
“Pretty.”
“...”
“Did I say something weird?”
“No... Um, yeah, thanks.”
Her chilly voice softened a little, and a fake cough came from behind. Yuri ignored it and finished packing.
Truth be told, there wasn’t much to pack. Clothes to change into on the journey, the emergency funds Yuri had scrimped together. A diary soaked in self-loathing. And...
“That.”
Elena, fidgeting with her fingers nearby, came over.
“My... letters?”
The letters piled in the bottom drawer. Yuri, carefully packing them one by one into his travel bag, looked up at Elena who’d approached.
“Yeah.”
“You... didn’t throw them... away, and kept them?”
“Why throw them out?”
Elena’s pupils trembled faintly at the response.
She’d honestly thought he might have.
From Yuri’s replies, she’d gotten that vibe. Replies with almost no mention of himself, feeling like mere formalities.
No matter what letters she sent, Yuri’s responses lacked ‘communication’ and ‘empathy.’
Life at the tower got busier, and... at a young age, she hadn’t liked Yuri’s attitude. So gradually, Elena put less effort into her letters too.
A ‘childhood friend’ relationship connected only by shallow past memories.
It could snap anytime without surprise, but she didn’t want it to.
She felt she couldn’t let it.
“You kept them...”
Elena glanced at the remaining letters in the drawer. Most seals were loose. Probably not certain, but it felt like they’d been opened and read recently.
Maybe read over and over.
“...You taking them?”
No need to ask. Yuri was packing the letters into his bag right now. Even after meeting in person like this. The letters exchanged over ten years that had slowly chipped away at their distance—he was keeping them, not throwing them out.
“Yeah.”
Why throw them out?
He absolutely couldn’t. These letters held ten years of info on Elena.
“Did you throw mine away?”
“Ah... No, of course not.”
“Good.”
“What’s good about it?”
“Funny if only I had mine.”
If possible, he wanted to read Elena’s letters to him too. Memories and the diary lacked details on ‘Yuri’s’ personality. Plus, memories weren’t crystal clear; he didn’t recall exactly what letters Yuri sent.
From scraped memories, grasped personality, and Elena’s replies, Yuri hadn’t written deep stuff... but reading them would help.
‘But asking to see letters she sent ages ago is kinda weird, right?’
As he thought that and packed the letters, Elena hesitated before speaking.
“Can I read them later?”
“...The ones you sent?”
“Yeah.”
“Why...?”
“Just... Some of the letters I sent back then might have weird... stuff in them.”
Wasn’t such a funny thing after all?
“Letters from when I was 10. Yeah, I don’t remember well from when I was little...”
“We can swap and read.”
He bit right away.
“I don’t remember well either what I wrote back then.”
“Got it.”
An awkward smile tugged at Elena’s lips. Yuri mirrored it right back.
After packing what to take from the drawer, he opened the desk drawer.
[Basic Mana Introduction]
[Anyone Can Become a Mage]
[Three Disasters Sword Art]
[Wind Origin Heart Method]
Four books reeking of scam. He’d judged them worthless, but he deliberately opened the drawer in front of Elena and took them out.
“What’re these?”
As planned, Elena showed interest. She quickly stood beside Yuri and grabbed [Basic Mana Introduction] first.
“Yuri, you... want to be a mage?”
“Just killing time.”
He lied obviously so she’d catch on. Elena gave him an odd look and opened [Basic Mana Introduction]. She read the contents with a fairly serious face, flipping pages.
Rustle...
She focused on the first few pages, then sped up.
“You didn’t buy this crap, right?”
No idea. Didn’t seem stolen, so probably bought.
“And it’s used too.”
He knew. That book had passed through at least three people.
Had the ones who read and noted in it before Yuri become mages?
“...Any problem?”
Yuri knew there was a problem with the book too. But he couldn’t act like he knew. He asked back with a sullen expression, and Elena let out a hollow laugh, snapping her fingers.
Whoosh! The [Basic Mana Introduction] burned up in her hand and vanished.
“It’s garbage.”
Elena delivered the cruel truth to Yuri, who wore a soulfully aghast expression.
“To someone who knows nothing about magic, it might seem plausible, but it’s all nonsense—fake. Why do you have crap like this?”
“It was the best I could get.”
It really was the best. This rural city had no proper magic books to begin with. Even if there were, Yuri couldn’t have gotten them.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Elena asked, brow furrowed.
“There was a Derusia Magic Tower mage right by you! If you’d sent a letter saying you wanted to learn magic from me, I would’ve...”
“Didn’t want to.”
Elena was right. If he really wanted to learn magic, buying used crap like this wasn’t as fast or right as asking her.
But Yuri hadn’t. Why? No exact answer. The Yuri who could explain had died from a stabbed gut and blood loss at the Black Snake Gang office.
Still, he could guess. Yuri resembled Lee Soo-hyuk, and if it were Lee Soo-hyuk—in Yuri’s situation—the reason for not writing Elena was one.
Pride.
Fucking stupid pride. Because of it. The childhood friend who’d gone far away, whose occasional letters hammered home inferiority and reality. He hadn’t wanted to show weakness to her, absolutely hadn’t wanted to beg.
No need to explain that pathetic, cringy, drawn-out story. ‘Didn’t want to’ was enough. It plainly expressed he didn’t want to talk more.
“...”
Elena wasn’t stupid. Plus, the real Elena had more consideration than her letters suggested. She looked at Yuri’s face a moment, let out a short sigh, and nodded.
“Got it.”
The fully burned [Basic Mana Introduction] fell as black ash to the floor. Elena was silent a bit, then turned her gaze to the other books in the desk drawer.
“Martial arts too... you wanted to learn?”
“Magic didn’t seem to fit.”
“Can I look?”
“Do whatever. They’re worthless anyway.”
Elena glanced at Yuri’s coldly set face. Feeling regret over her earlier words, she checked [Wind Origin Heart Method] and [Three Disasters Sword Art].
Indeed, these two were garbage on par with the [Basic Mana Introduction]. But she didn’t scoff or burn them like before. She just quietly set them down.
[Anyone Can Become a Mage]
The last book left. Elena simply stared at its title. No need to check contents. Books with titles like that were predictable.
Many mages, yearning for towers but hitting talent limits, sought comfort in such books. Elena wasn’t that type. She knew she had great talent, had never felt lacking.
If others drowned in such books for comfort, she’d have mocked it as ‘cheap.’ Told them to train harder instead of reading crap.
But not with Yuri.
“Good thing I came to see you.”
Instead, Elena murmured that. She looked away from the books and stared at Yuri with a serious face.
“Good I found out now.”
“...”
“I promise you, Yuri.”
Elena swallowed briefly and spun around.
“You’ll think it was lucky I came for you today.”
He packed the scant luggage into the bag.
Now it was time to leave Oldor.