Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Aldran
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Yuri's face looked extremely aggrieved. Raysi stared at it blankly for a moment before clicking her tongue.
"I'm well aware of your circumstances, so wouldn't it be better to stop with the unnecessary lies?"
"Circumstances or lies—I have no idea what you're talking about, Raysi."
To think he'd brazenly lie like this. Raysi let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
"Ha, Yuri. For starters, I don't want to cause any further cracks in your already shaky..."
Hadn't it already gone beyond just shaky? The thought flashed through her mind, but Raysi continued her interrupted words.
"I don't want to create unnecessary division between you and Elena, so let me make this clear. Elena didn't say anything about you. But we are certain that you are a Possessor."
"That's disconcerting."
"I'm disconcerted too, since I didn't expect you to deny it so stubbornly."
"It's troubling if you're hounding someone based on mere suspicion."
"Suspicion? Ha!"
His response still felt utterly shameless, but it was true that the incident from two years ago was only suspicion since Elena had firmly denied it.
"You were attacked by the previous generation's Seven Evils, the Blood Ghost, in Logus two years ago."
"Yes."
"Even in perfect condition, neither Elena nor Ha-ryeong could have survived against that Blood Ghost with their power at the time."
"The Blood Ghost was in worse shape than your assumptions, Raysi."
"Ugh... And, you reached the 5th Tier in just two years? You even won against that Sword Dragon in a spar!"
"A lot happened to me in those two years. I had some fortunate encounters too."
Raysi could only feel frustrated at his smooth, unhesitating replies.
The reason Raysi had dragged Yuri straight to this room the moment they met was that he was the most recent Possessor. If she could hear stories from Earth from him, she thought she might get news on that Padrip Immunity guy and Earth...
But she couldn't get him to open up.
"Wouldn't it be better if we were just honest with each other and got comfortable?"
Raysi swallowed her irritation and anger before asking.
That man was undoubtedly a Possessor. Even if Elena denied it, the girl's current broken state was proof enough.
There was also concrete evidence.
The conversation between Orca and Elena. Raysi hadn't been in the room that day, but Orca had relayed what they discussed.
In the unlikely event the War Church suspected Yuri of being a Possessor and dug into his background, Orca would personally vouch for his identity.
And that was not all? Orca had even summoned the Oldor general store owner to Lutran. Circumstantially, he was the first person Yuri—this man—had contact with after possessing.
'It was probably to show Elena.'
Elena herself hadn't cared about the general store merchant, but Orca's 'such' consideration was enough to reassure her.
But she couldn't say any of that to Yuri. No matter how close Raysi was to Orca, that position was maintained by knowing when to keep her mouth shut. Especially since Elena was the disciple Orca had nurtured for over ten years. Yuri was someone who could provoke and manipulate that Elena, so talk about him was absolutely off-limits.
"I'm telling you, you are a Possessor—"
"You're being too rude."
Raysi Yuzha was a Possessor. She'd had strong suspicions since first meeting her at the Derusia Magic Tower, and seeing her pressure like this confirmed it.
Her initial urgency was probably because she didn't want Elena to know about this meeting. Which meant Elena didn't know Raysi was a Possessor either.
"I came because you asked nicely, but grabbing a perfectly innocent person and interrogating them about being a Possessor? I didn't know you were so lacking in manners, Raysi."
From the way he said it, it was clear she was convinced beyond suspicion. But even if Raysi was a Possessor, Yuri had no intention of readily admitting he was one. Raysi, Orca's closest confidant, wasn't someone he could just kill to silence like a subordinate.
"Th-that...!"
He was right. Raysi's shoulders trembled with rage.
"..."
Raysi pondered for a moment. A way to make this man admit he was a Possessor. It seemed impossible to get him to talk while only she held the secrets.
Could she force it out with strength? It was worth considering. Even if he'd beaten the Sword Dragon in a spar, Raysi had long surpassed pure 5th Tier level.
But she didn't want to. Resorting to force? Raysi saw herself as a cultured, intellectual, and moral person.
"I'm a Possessor too."
The silverwood of Haberth Magic Tower had possessed this world a little over six years ago.
The Earth information from Silverwood stopped at June 2022. Raysi had no desire to return to Earth, her first homeland, but she was curious about what was happening there.
And even more than that, she was curious about Yuri's identity. What had happened to Padrip Immunity? Maybe this man was Padrip Immunity? Please! Honestly, Raysi hoped Yuri was Padrip Immunity. If he was, she was even willing to shed her cultured facade for a moment.
"What... so what?"
To think Raysi would come out with her own possessor reveal first! No matter how solid her backing, wasn't this too reckless? But whatever her situation, there was no reason for Yuri to follow suit just because she revealed herself.
"..."
Raysi's tightly pressed lips trembled. She felt a strong urge to turn barbaric but barely restrained it with patience.
"Uh, listen, Yuri? You seem to misunderstand the situation, but even without Elena saying anything, Orca and I are certain you're a Possessor."
"The misunderstanding runs deep. Where should I even start to clear it up?"
"Aaagh!"
Unable to hold back her impulse, Raysi screamed shrilly. She yanked off the ridiculous hat on her head, threw it to the floor, and stomped on it repeatedly with her foot.
"Argh! Aaagh!"
"That looks like you just bought it... Is it okay to step on?"
"I'll buy another one!"
Raysi panted heavily and glared up at Yuri.
"You're Padrip Immunity, aren't you?"
"Pad... rip? What's that?"
"Ox God Head! Cat Panties! USAUSAMI! FUCKINGSEXY!"
Thud, thud! Raysi kept stomping the hat while shouting. Yuri felt genuine bewilderment at the transformation of the rational, gentle Raysi.
"Uh, calm down a bit."
"You're Padrip Immunity, right?!"
"What on earth are you talking about..."
"I know you're a Possessor! Tell me your name!"
"My name is Yuri."
"Not that name! Your name from Earth!"
"Look, Raysi. Hypothetically, let's say I am a Possessor. Even then, why should I admit it to you?"
"I told you I'm a Possessor too!"
"For one, I'm not, so I don't know much about how Possessors relate, but you don't have to blindly trust someone just because they claim to be one, right?"
"Th-that!"
This was also irrefutable logic, leaving Raysi at a loss for words. She felt like she was going mad with frustration. She was certain he was a Possessor from what Orca had told her, but she couldn't say it outright, so she couldn't get him to admit it...!
"..."
Raysi chewed her lips before kicking a nearby chair with her foot.
"Fine, I got too excited."
"Good to know."
"First...! To avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings, let me clarify my position. Yuri, I am convinced beyond suspicion that you are a Possessor. But I have no intention of using this as a weapon to threaten you."
"Threaten?"
"For example, I won't reveal your identity to those around you."
The moment she said it, Yuri's gaze changed. A chilling hostility made Raysi's body prickle with goosebumps. It wasn't murderous intent yet, but it was a razor-thin hostility that could easily tip into killing intent.
"Hmm..."
Her mind cleared from the hostility. Raysi clenched and unclenched her fist under her robe sleeve while staring at Yuri's face.
A mere mage would first think to create distance against someone radiating such hostility, but Raysi was different. She had trained not only in magic but also in martial arts. Her magic studies were profoundly deep, but she had also learned martial arts to wield that magic 'better.'
"Please rein in that hostility..."
"Fuck."
Before Raysi's gentle words could finish, spit! Yuri spat in the corner of the room and glared at her.
"Dragging an innocent guy here and threatening him—I've been holding back my fucking anger, but you've crossed the line hard."
"P-pardon?"
"What do you want? Huh? I said I'm not, so what now? Got proof?"
She probably didn't. If she had solid proof, she'd have used it already. Raysi had crossed the line first and gone overboard, and Yuri had held back a lot until now.
"No intention of threatening? Then what the hell have you been doing? Is it okay to corner and torment an innocent person just because you're favored by the Derusia Magic Tower Lord?"
"Y-you, swearing..."
"Fuck, you did something deserving of it first and now you're aggrieved because you're getting shit for it? What should I do? Back home, I was kinda like a third-rate thug, so in situations like this, I don't know what to do besides swear."
Yuri grimaced and glared at Raysi before raising his fist.
"But I can't just swing at you because I'm pissed, right? See? I'm a rational guy. Orphan with no parents, rolled around in a third-rate thug gang, but I'm not the type to jump to assumptions, grab weaknesses, and threaten people out of nowhere."
"Uh, um, wait a second, Yuri."
"But what the hell are you, Raysi? Even I, an orphan third-rate thug, know manners, so why don't you? Are you an orphan too by any chance?"
"P-pardon?"
"An orphan? Didn't your parents teach you as a kid what not to do?"
Raysi flapped her lips, unable to continue. Orphan? She wasn't an orphan. Her relationship with her Earth parents had been distant, but they existed, and the original 'Raysi Yuzha' had parents too.
"Asking about... parents... this is..."
Raysi knew what 'padrip' meant. But the question Yuri spat out now felt different in meaning and weight from the past Padrip Immunity's padrips. Unlike the indiscriminate barrage in any situation, Yuri's question fit his feelings and the current situation perfectly.
'Was that even a padrip...?'
She knew the meaning but didn't fully understand padrip. That made it even more confusing. He had denied being Padrip Immunity so hard, yet now he was spouting something padrip-like in this situation—was it tacit affirmation? Or did he really not know what 'padrip' was? If the latter, then even if Yuri was a Possessor, he wasn't Padrip Immunity...
Her head was a mess of confusion, but she needed to calm the flames in Yuri's hostile glare first. To put out the immediate fire, Raysi raised both hands.
"I'm sorry, Yuri. I made a mistake. I don't want to be your enemy, so please calm down. And this matter is something I absolutely need to confirm too."
She forcibly quelled her excitement. As she said, Raysi had no desire to become Yuri's enemy. Ideally, she'd build enough rapport to hear his identity from his own mouth.
If possible, without Elena knowing. In any case, Raysi didn't want to give Elena more reasons to be provoked here.
'Orca might even enjoy it.'
It was true she'd been rude acting on her own. How to soothe the hostility? After a moment's thought, Raysi's lips parted.
"Full Moon Amusement Ox God Head is looking for the Order Church."
It was something she'd heard from Orca, but Raysi judged it wasn't a secret. Full Moon Amusement and Orca had a fairly friendly relationship, but it was nothing compared to Elena.
"Also, he's looking for other Possessors—especially East Asian Possessors. The name he's using in this world, his attire, and..."
Here, she took a bold shot. Strongly suspecting Yuri was Padrip Immunity, Raysi shed her cultured image and leaped.
"H-ho!"
She wanted to do it boldly but stuttered. It felt awkward since she'd never imitated it her whole life.
Raysi knew this ceremony's pronunciation wasn't 'ho.' She'd pointed it out to Ox God Head multiple times. But against Padrip Immunity, that Korean, it had to be 'HOU,' not 'SIU.' Raysi hadn't forgotten what Ox God Head told her directly.
"..."
Suddenly leaping into that ceremony. Yuri, who had been genuinely furious until moments ago, couldn't continue speaking. If he weren't in a state of anger and tension, he wouldn't have been able to hold back laughter.
"Th-this... ceremony is... to find East Asians."
"Ah... yes. I see."
Separate from that out-of-nowhere madness, Raysi's story was worth hearing. Ox God Head was looking for the Order Church. And East Asian Possessors...
'Me? Cat Panties?'
Cat Panties had known Ox God Head from old community days and said they were close, and Yuri was fairly close to Ox God Head too. They hadn't met, but he'd even talked about buying him a drink once.
"I don't know if Ox God Head is seeking the Order Church for information on other Possessors or if he has business with the church itself... but he became a fixer for the Ascard Family to get an introduction. His intervention in the Bernok conflict right now is at the Ascard Family's behest too."
"Why tell me this?"
"Isn't it intriguing for a Possessor like you?"
"I said I'm not."
Consistent denial. Raysi recalled something Ox God Head had muttered and spat it out.
"Vomit by any chance?"
Good thing he'd been regulating his emotions, not knowing when more nonsense would fly. Raysi's nonsense was sharper than Estor's sword from their last spar, hard to withstand without a clear mind.
"Vom... it? Suddenly what?"
"Hmm..."
Ox God Head had been negative about Yuri being an East Asian Possessor, but Raysi still left room for doubt.
"Fine, let's stop here. No matter what I say, it seems hard to get the truth from you."
"Finally ending?"
"Mancheonhou!"
A shout came flying back.
"You said we're done."
"Ahem..."
Raysi felt her face heat with shame as she cleared her throat awkwardly.
"If... if you ever want to share secrets and become allies, just say so anytime. I know several Possessors, so I could be helpful to you."
"No need."
Yuri replied seriously.
"I'm sorry for snapping and swearing, but you did something deserving of it, Raysi. Honestly, anyone else would have sworn worse. Might've even gotten punched."
"I'm sorry."
Raysi bowed her head first. Yuri turned without further reply and opened the door.
'I need to be careful next time I meet that crazy bitch.'
The info on other Possessors Raysi mentioned was worth noting, but openly admitting he was one was dangerous.
Especially about 'Padrip Immunity'—better not to reveal it.
Anyone obsessed with that name even in this world couldn't be right in the head.