And You?
And You?
...Drip.
...Drip.
The faint light of a candle, threatening to go out at any moment.
Biche watched the raindrops trickling down and stared at the tiny point of candlelight reflected in the windowpane.
【I hate this.】
She still thought and moved just as she had in life. But whenever she noticed she cast no reflection in the glass, the fact of her death struck her anew, dragging up dark memories that left her deeply unsettled.
Once, she had been a woman beloved by all.
At some point, she had become The Witch.
...Drip.
...Drip-drop.
Her own family had turned into puppets bewitched by The Witch. The vermin of the territory, who had forgotten every kindness she had shown the starving and the wounded, bared their fangs. At some point, they began following the zealots who had appeared like a plague, and they stabbed at those who had been with her for decades with sharpened blades.
【I still remember it so vividly.】
The agony of the gifted dagger plunging into her heart.
The repulsive stares that couldn't hide their ugliness even as they watched her die.
But there was a limit to what she could recall clearly.
After that, she had only regained consciousness on rare occasions. Even in those moments, she was swallowed by emotions like regret, murderous intent, and rage, unable to properly perceive the world.
The best she could piece together was a vague memory of wandering aimlessly in some unknown place, waiting for the living to find her.
'And then I came to my master.'
She was nothing more than a soul that had lost its flesh.
Yet, as if the heart she had stabbed in life had returned to her, she felt it race.
Each time that nonexistent heart beat once, something calm—something she had never felt in all her life—filled her lost, wandering soul in place of hot blood.
As that tranquility gradually filled her, her seething rage, her murderous intent, her regret—
All of those dark emotions were diluted, faintly, ever so faintly.
That was how she regained her reason.
And returned as Biche Alloren.
'My master's power.'
What now filled her soul was unmistakably the essence of her exalted master—the one who had helped her find herself again and called her to this place.
She would serve until the day this last remaining soul vanished, repaying the grace that had rescued her from what she thought would be an eternal hell.
To betray that grace would be to become a maggot, just like those vermin.
Fwoosh—!!
The small flames of the candles, which had never melted down, were snuffed out all at once.
The corridor, which had relied on their meager light, was instantly swallowed by darkness.
'This is....'
The stillness that had filled her began to transform into a chilling cold.
A cold that made even her—a being who had lost her flesh, reduced to nothing but a soul—tremble.
The peace that had brought her calm became isolation.
It became an emptiness that felt nothing at all.
'He is calling....'
She knew.
Her master was calling her.
She moved toward the room where the only being capable of filling this sudden, hollow void resided.
A firmly shut door.
The moment she passed through it.
【Ah, ah...!】
Deep within a heart that had been frozen solid by the bitter cold, a thick terror bled through the transparent ice.
And she realized.
The one she now faced was not her master.
A being seated in a chair, wearing her master's form.
【Uh, ugh....】
She had sworn she would bow her head to no one but her master. Yet her head lowered itself. Her gaze kept falling.
Even death had not frightened her.
But this being before her now did.
So much so that she wanted to flee this very instant.
Deliver this message.
A resonant pressure crashed down upon Biche, who had at some point fallen to her knees in spirit form, head pressed to the floor.
I will keep the promise I made with my brother.
Therefore, I acknowledge and will respect the existence that is you.
Biche's consciousness blurred as the primal fear deepened.
So remember.
That the final act has merely been postponed for a short while....
**
"I see."
When I came to, I was able to hear everything that had happened through Biche.
'I suppose I should call it a relief.'
By the terms of the original owner's promise, the world should have returned to nothing the moment Void opened its eyes today. That was the oath Void left behind as it was devoured, even while respecting Greed's will.
But today, Void had briefly awakened from its long slumber and relayed its intent to me through Biche.
'A postponement, huh.'
It didn't mention a specific deadline. But since it said it would respect me as its brother Greed had, I could assume it would quietly watch as long as I still had breath in my body.
Having sorted out the situation, I looked at the balance scale in my hand.
A scale that now radiated a mystery I hadn't felt before I lost consciousness.
It was the exact same type of power that Crystal possessed.
'That must be why my body is relatively fine.'
My condition wasn't optimal, but considering it was limited to a dull lethargy, calling it "fine" was accurate enough.
The damage I'd anticipated in the first place was something like cracks in my eyes, as had happened before.
'The disrupted balance seems to have been roughly evened out.'
The lethargy came with a familiar sensation.
My current state was very similar to when I first inhabited this body.
"Is there anything wrong with your soul?"
【No, Master.】
Leaving her as she bowed her head lightly, I released my mana to search for the insolent creature buried somewhere in this place.
Wooong—!!
Hiding in a corner, the moment my mana caught it, the creature warped across space and revealed itself before me.
It moved with remarkable freedom, perhaps because this was a space it had created.
"Open."
Before my command had even finished falling, it generated an exit leading outside.
Regrettably, unlike other rifts, communication with the outside wouldn't connect from here.
My condition was better than I'd planned for, but I still needed rest. So it was time to summon the ones who would do the work while I recovered.
I stepped through the newly created exit. A familiar floating sensation followed, and in the next moment, my view changed completely.
The interior of a warehouse, steeped in brilliant yellow twilight.
【So this is your original world, Master.】
"......."
I turned my head at the presence and voice of Biche, who had followed me.
Her translucent spirit form surveyed the surroundings with mild curiosity.
'A Unique Individual has never left a rift before.'
They are beings bound to the spaces that rifts create.
'Is it because she's bound to me, not to Crystal?'
That was the only explanation I could think of at the moment.
'Not bad.'
I held out the ring on my left hand and spoke.
"Can you dwell within this?"
【If my master permits it.】
"I permit it."
Her form grew steadily more transparent, and the slender threads of her spirit body seeped into the Black Ring.
A faint presence now layered over the ring—one that no one but me, her master, would sense.
This would serve as a card even better than Claire.
"Well, then."
I pulled my smartphone from my pocket.
**
"Hoho, remarkable."
Yoon Do-sik, the Alchemy Department professor.
"I sincerely respect you."
Jaden Martel, the head of the Magic Department.
The two of them trailed behind me, constantly voicing their admiration.
I led them, as they looked around and touched everything with the curiosity of children, to the central area where Crystal was located.
"To think what you brought out back then was actually Crystal."
"You were present at the scene where this was retrieved?"
"Well, I was waiting in the car. This fellow went into the rift alone."
At Yoon Do-sik's answer, Jaden's eyes sparkled. He turned to me.
"C-could you please take me along next time? Driving, whatever—I'll do anything you ask."
"I'll think about it."
"Yes...!!"
He clenched both fists at his sides, delighted. I called his name.
"Jaden."
"Yes, Professor."
While I was unconscious, I had reviewed the records stored in my ring.
"You did something unnecessary."
"Yes. Unnece— Pardon?"
Not only had he approached Baek Ha-na, but he'd gone so far as to use some frivolous title.
"Your master."
"...Ah."
Only then did he realize what I was referring to, and his eyes began to waver.
"Jaden."
"Y-yes!!"
The one element that uniquely stirred my otherwise arid emotions.
The one and only weakness that had existed from the moment I first opened my eyes until now, and would remain unchanged forever.
"Many students saw your master. It would be strange for him to suddenly disappear. So deliver this."
This is not a warning—it is mercy.
"If he doesn't wish to suffer something worse than death, tell him to stay quiet and just breathe. Also, if he fails to properly carry out the tasks I assign him, he will pay the price for the disturbance he caused today."
Unless he wants to taste the despair of losing every scrap of knowledge he spent a lifetime researching, one by one.
"Understood?"
"...Yes."
I nodded and changed the subject.
"You two will now move around this place and take note of monsters appropriate for a first-year level, locations where they would be well-placed, as well as traps and collectible items."
I had already created the tools needed for their records using Crystal, so that shouldn't be a problem.
"And you?"
"I'll build it based on what you record."
"Hm, I like it. Sounds fun. Can you really make anything you want?"
"Don't forget this is a first-year evaluation exam."
"...I was only asking. No need to take it that way."
Leaving behind Yoon Do-sik, who was heading to the desk to grab the notebook, I spoke to Jaden.
"Design it as if it's real combat."
"...Yes!"
He nodded, burning with the resolve to atone for his master's actions with this task.
"Well, I'll take a quick look around, then."
"What are you talking about? Our first priority is to scan every inch of the terrain."
Jaden and Yoon Do-sik left the room.
Once their presence had suitably faded into the distance, I issued a command to Crystal.
"Open."
Wooong—!!
Once more, an exit connecting to the outside revealed itself.
"Close the exit. If anyone other than those two enters, confine them appropriately."
As if in understanding, the creature gave a faint, bobbing motion, a brilliant blue light radiating from it.
'If I let them out before seven, they won't be late for class.'
I moved toward the mansion to give my lethargic body some rest.