Memory
Memory
"And so, the immortal Koschei, who kidnapped the queen, met his end at the hands of the brave Prince Ivan"
The legend of Koschei flowed from the lips of Yoo Da-eun, who sat on the sofa opposite me.
The King of Bones, the immortal Koschei.
A gaunt old man running naked through a storm-swept mountain.
A 'human' skilled in magic who hid his soul inside the eye of a needle, making him unkillable even when killed.
The conclusion I reached after listening to her story from start to finish was.
"That's a human?"
If you asked me to name a commonality between Koschei and a hero, the only thing would be the species 'human'; Koschei was a guy who fit the description of a monster far better than a human.
I was glad I didn't let my guard down by trusting the mark carved into his soul, and instead went all the way to Russia to catch him.
I nodded, praising myself.
Yoo Da-eun, sitting opposite me, must have been thirsty after talking non-stop for a long time to tell me all the legends she knew, as she took a sip of tea and spoke.
"There's even a saying that he's the archetype of a Lich, so calling him a monster isn't entirely wrong. He's even cunning enough that if things got unfavorable, he would've just killed himself and fled, so how did you catch him?"
"Koschei? I didn't catch him."
"Pardon?"
My surroundings were such a mess of fate that there was no way to know what had happened other than hearing it directly, so this time, I explained to Yoo Da-eun step-by-step what had happened in Russia.
And naturally, the explanation included the 'consciousness of Zmei'.
"Zmei?"
"Yeah. I think it said it was the guardian dragon of some empire."
"Pardon? Not an evil dragon?"
"Evil dragon? It didn't really look evil."
"Hmm. That's strange..."
Yoo Da-eun tilted her head as if she couldn't understand, and told me about the Zmei she knew.
According to her, Zmei is a snake from Slavic mythology, or a winged dragon, with three heads, and has mainly appeared as an evil monster in stories.
"It only had one head, though."
"Hmm... That's very different from the legends. I'll go back and investigate this."
"Sure. Let me know when you get results."
After that, Yoo Da-eun, who had chatted a bit more while enjoying the refreshments, said she would visit again and left my house.
When I returned to the living room with the sofa after clearing away the teacups and refreshments we had shared, Linnea was there, lying diagonally on the sofa, having returned at some point.
Seeing her lying on her side in comfortable clothes, eating snacks and scratching her belly, I turned my head to check the clock on the wall and realized she had returned quite early, unlike usual.
The fact that Linnea, whom I had been making go back and forth between Asgard and home to do various tasks, had returned early today...
Could it be?
"Did you finally find the Fiends' main base?"
"Crunch, crunch- Hmm? No? They said they haven't found it yet."
"Then why did you come back early?"
"Ayy. Can't I just come back early? Shall we call it a vacation for myself after a long time?"
I approached Linnea, who was waving her hand with a sly smile.
Then, I stood in front of her and did a backflip.
Thwack!
I lightly flew up, rotated backward, and struck her with my tail.
"Eek!"
"What on earth are you doing that not a single thing I entrusted to Asgard has made any progress!"
"Ugh. But..."
"But nothing. Your snacks are confiscated too!"
"No, no~"
I picked up the snacks she dropped as she flew away from my tail strike and poured them into my mouth.
Mmm... salty and sweet.
Delicious.
It was more to my taste than I thought, so I memorized the name to buy it again later, and approached Linnea, who was still sprawled on the ground.
"Did I ask Asgard for something too difficult?"
"Well, it is difficult, isn't it?"
"Damn it! In times like this, even if it's difficult, you should've said no."
"Guek."
At the answer that came out as if it were obvious, I smacked Linnea on the head again.
There were three things I had entrusted to Asgard through her so far.
First, searching for the main base where the leader of the Fiends was thought to be.
This was something I had requested trusting in the power of the throne Odin possessed, but quite some time had passed and they still hadn't found a single clue.
Odin had conveyed through Linnea that this world had too many small dimensions stuck to this dimension like barnacles on the bottom of a ship, under the name of Gates.
So, to find the Gate where the Fiends' main base was expected to be, they had to investigate all those small dimensions stuck like barnacles, and that was a task that would take quite some time even for Odin.
Second, bringing my main body out of the isolated Gate.
Since Odin had brought not only himself but also Asgard and other gods out of the Gate, I had ordered this thinking that perhaps he could also bring my main body out so I could traverse the world as I pleased...
But they said there weren't enough resources to bring my main body out.
Bringing Asgard over was only possible because of most of the treasures they brought when crossing over to this dimension and the massive aid from Truth's Eye, so to bring out my main body, which overwhelmed Asgard—and was even stronger now than it was then—would require even more resources.
Therefore, I was half-giving up on the task of bringing out my main body.
The last thing I ordered Odin.
That was related to the recent incident with Koschei.
Koschei had raided the auction house even while knowing I was there, even if others didn't.
Even if that guy was under some misconceptions, he must have known to some extent the gap between himself and me.
Nevertheless, the reason he raided the auction house.
To find that out, I ordered Odin to extract Koschei's memories.
I had gone to Odin carrying Koschei, who was frozen by Permafrost, and ordered it, and according to her, there was a way to extract the memories.
But for that, they first had to break the Permafrost.
I didn't want to release the Permafrost for nothing, only for him to commit suicide and escape, which would be a hassle, so I told them to come up with another way, and they said they would extract the memories by bypassing the Permafrost technique.
Instead, they said it would take some time.
Seriously, they couldn't handle a single thing I asked properly.
Aren't these guys unexpectedly useless?
The only thing I could rely on was their combat power, but with my combat power, that wasn't very useful either.
Feeling skeptical about whether I should have taken in the Asgardians for nothing, I looked at Linnea, who was rubbing the spot where I hit her, and she snapped her fingers as if she remembered something and said.
"Ah, Odin-nim said it will be possible to extract the memories from that ice lump soon."
"You should've said that first!"
"Gueeng! I, I got hit where I was already hit!"
Feeling spiteful, I gave her another knuckle on the head.
I thought they were useless because they couldn't handle anything properly, but they were finally producing results.
"Stop pretending it hurts when I didn't even hit you that hard. So, when did they say to come?"
"It's not pretending, it really hurts, okay?! You don't even know how strong Nidhogg-nim's body is!"
"I know my body is sturdy. But I told you I didn't hit you that hard! And this is the second time I've asked when to come."
"Ugh... They said it would be possible in three days."
"As expected of the God of Magic."
To find a way to extract memories while bypassing Permafrost, which could be called Zmei's ultimate technique.
I believe you, you really are the God of Magic.
Until just a moment ago, I thought they were useless, but evaluations can change at any time, can't they?
I left Linnea, who was rubbing her head where she'd been hit twice and crawling back onto the sofa, and went into my room.
I should study the magic I received from Zmei before going to Odin.
Time passed quickly, and the day to go to Odin arrived.
In the meantime, I read the book Zmei gave me and diligently polished my ability to manipulate Niflheim's magic power and my magic skills.
"Diligently?"
"Ahem. For me, even this much is diligent."
I had learned it quite diligently, but my three days of effort were in vain, as Haeryeong, who watched me and followed along from beside me, caught up.
When Linnea, who witnessed that together, expressed doubt, I had to struggle to restrain my front paw that was naturally rising.
If I hit Linnea here, it would look like I was hitting her out of an inferiority complex, wouldn't it?
In the first place, Haeryeong's talent is on another level, it's not that I couldn't do it, right?
Who would have known she would follow exactly just by watching me?
"Are you ready?"
"Yes! Does it look good on me?"
"Yeah. Our Haeryeong is pretty. You have to hold onto my tail well so no one snatches you away."
"Okay!"
Today, Haeryeong was wearing a white dress and even a wide-brimmed hat.
I decided that Linnea, Haeryeong, and I would go to Asgard together this time.
Shin Su-ah left to find another fortuitous encounter with the feeling of "next time, for sure," and Baek Yeon had started rooting out spies globally, going beyond catching most of the spies in the country.
Excluding the two who would be busy for a while, we departed for Asgard.
Linnea could fly, so she followed on her own, and I flew through the sky with only Haeryeong on my back.
Passing through the familiar sky I had already flown through several times, I arrived at Asgard, the island floating in the sky far away.
Whether they had been contacted through a Valkyrie from the moment I arrived nearby, or whether he sensed my magic power, Odin was out to greet me.
"Welcome. To my Asgard."
"Quit striking a pose and just guide me."
"Y-y-you...!"
Know your place, you loser.