A Familiar Situation
A Familiar Situation
She blinked, momentarily dazed. Coming to her senses, Lee Ha-sol traced the rapidly fading remnants of Gale.
A winding path, scattered and dispersed by the wind, still pointed in a general direction. Hurrying her steps, Lee Ha-sol furrowed her brow.
Her innate talent's signature was faint, its remnants so dissolved into the ambient wind that they were nearly undetectable. A typical detection ability wouldn't even catch its tail. If it weren't also Gale—if Gale itself weren't so exceptional at detection—she wouldn't have noticed it either.
"Here?"
The trail suddenly cut off. It had grown too scattered and blurred to follow. But it seemed she had reached the general vicinity. A large building—one of the faculty research wings, the one that housed Liana Bellus's laboratory. The trail ended right at the entrance to Liana's lab.
'Was that trail really my own Gale?'
This was a building Lee Ha-sol had visited recently. If the trail led here, the possibility that it was her Gale...
'No.'
She dismissed the thought. "Recent" meant more than just a few days ago. She hadn't left a trail on purpose, so there was no way it would still linger.
'It's Gale, but it wasn't my Gale...'
Someone else's Gale.
'Is that possible?'
Her logical mind balked at her sensory conviction. Innate talents were rare for a reason, and bloodline inheritances weren't passed down casually. Yet she hadn't inherited this Gale; it was a talent that had manifested through coincidence in a dungeon. Similar, maybe—but this identical? It didn't seem possible.
She couldn't be fully certain. For now, Lee Ha-sol stepped inside the building.
- Fwooosh!
She tried to step forward. A gust of wind swirling a few paces ahead made Lee Ha-sol stop in her tracks.
- Hello, Lee Ha-sol!
The wind coalesced into a human form. Flowing hair, sparkling eyes. The smiling spirit waved its hand.
"Ah... Professor Liana's spirit... Euros?"
- Yes, yes, that's right! Nice to meet you!
"Yes, nice to meet you too, Euros."
They were already acquainted. During a consultation with Liana, Euros had guided her, and they'd talked briefly. The exchange was short, but they'd made a good impression on each other.
Because of Gale, Lee Ha-sol had deep, pure wind energy and an innate spirit affinity. Euros, a wind spirit, had no reason to feel uncomfortable.
- Lee Ha-sol, shouldn't you be in the middle of practice right now? May I ask what brings you here...
"I was lucky and finished practice early. But this building... well, I had some business with Professor Liana. I came to pay my respects."
- Ah, haha... I see...
But a warm welcome wasn't possible at the moment. Wearing an awkward smile, Euros broke into a cold sweat.
- Liana is... currently occupied with something important. She's in a situation where it's difficult to receive guests.
"Oh, is that so? Then my timing was bad."
- Well, yes...
Lee Ha-sol nodded with a regretful expression, while casting a strange glance toward the entrance. The Gale had definitely led right to it. What on earth was the reason...
- Oong!
- Heek?!
That was the moment. The door Lee Ha-sol had been eyeing swung open. Flustered, Euros spun around, and Lee Ha-sol's eyes widened.
[Hello, Lee Ha-sol.]
"Ha-yul?"
The one who poked their head out the door was Lee Ha-yul. Closing the door behind him, he hurried over and tilted his head.
[It's only the second day of practice. Isn't it still class time for you?]
"I was wondering the exact same thing... Ah, but with your skills, Ha-yul, two days is more than enough. It was the same for me. And even if I don't look it, I was the top-ranked entrant, you know?"
[Aha... That makes sense. A Grade 4 Dungeon can be cleared in a day, in the fastest cases.]
"Yes. My team members were excellent, and luck was on my side, so I could finish early. Anyway, Ha-yul, were you with Professor Liana just now?"
[Ah... Yes... It sort of turned out that way...]
Lee Ha-yul nodded and managed a smile. His eyes were closed, but there was a restless sense behind them, as if his gaze were darting about.
Lee Ha-sol stared down at him intently.
- ...I'll be off, then.
With a rolling of its eyes, Euros vanished.
"Ha-yul."
[Yes... What is it?]
After a brief pause, his name was spoken. As Lee Ha-yul tilted his head, a hand reached out and caressed his cheek.
[Hm?]
Poke. A finger pressed into his cheek, then her palm cupped it and gently kneaded. A question mark surfaced at the sudden contact, but he didn't refuse. He felt not the slightest discomfort at Lee Ha-sol's touch.
"...Is this magic? Like a doppelganger?"
[Eehwa?]
At her tilted question, the question mark became an exclamation point. Unable to conceal his surprise, Lee Ha-yul's doppelganger asked back.
[How did you know?]
A doppelganger was a common enough spell. Many magic techniques could manifest clones, but most were mere illusions or sensory tricks—intangible scarecrows. This double was similar to those, but it wasn't made purely of formulas. It was the Incarnation Technique, a far more advanced art. He'd learned the theory from Ariel in the Tower of Knowledge, and he'd observed the Tower Master of Purgatory descend into Hong Yeon-jun's body on the Reverse Side. He hadn't copied it perfectly. Instead, he'd gathered vitality energy like clay, linked his consciousness to it, and overlaid the Confession Necklace and Sky Wing Feather to complete it. Its combat ability was extremely low, but discerning its authenticity from the outside was difficult. Yet Lee Ha-sol had seen through it. Was Gale's detection ability so exceptional it could pierce the Incarnation Technique?
"Hmm... with detection... it's very faint, but I sense an incongruity."
Her eyes narrowed as she studied his face. The wind swirling around them fed her a steady stream of information. On the surface, everything was normal. But an intuitive part of her caught something off. The Lee Ha-yul before her eyes was normal, yet something was different...
[So your unique ability gives you that level of detection, I see...]
"Hmm... but if I had to pinpoint it, it wasn't something I detected through Gale."
[Huh?]
Lee Ha-sol shrugged, savoring the springy texture in her palm.
"How long have I been observing Ha-yul? No matter how much has changed, I can feel when something is fundamentally off."
- Squish...
Grinning, Lee Ha-sol playfully pinched Lee Ha-yul's cheek. Then she glanced at the lab door behind him.
"So the real Ha-yul is inside the lab?"
[...Yes.]
"Hmm... is the professor's important business related to Ha-yul?"
[Yes...]
"I see. Then I guess there's no helping it."
Lee Ha-sol gently rubbed the cheek she had been pinching.
"I wanted to greet you while I was nearby, but I'll have to do it later."
[Sorry for making you miss her for nothing.]
"There's nothing to be sorry about. I'm the one who's sorry for bothering you during important business. Ah, right. Do you remember what we talked about last time?"
Lee Ha-yul had been consistently texting with Lee Ha-sol. Among those conversations, only one topic could be singled out as "what we talked about last time."
"Let's go visit the Director together when you have time. Goodness, do you know how worried she was? First the building with the magic equipment catching fire, then Ha-yul suddenly declaring he was running away and disappearing..."
[Ahaha... Yes... I'll be sure to drop by when I have time.]
"Let me know when you decide. You have to go with me."
[Yes.]
"Then I'll be off now. Please tell Professor Liana that I'll come see her next time, after her business is done."
[Yes, take care going back.]
Lee Ha-yul nodded meekly. Smiling softly, Lee Ha-sol gave his cheek one last stroke and left the building.
Walking calmly, Lee Ha-sol went over the conversation in her mind.
'The ones inside the lab are Professor Liana and Ha-yul?'
The traces of Gale had ended near the lab entrance...
Lee Ha-sol's brow furrowed.
* * *
The sensation rubbing against my cheek was extremely soft. Warm, with a subtle, fragrant scent wafting up. Resting my head on it and lying down was impossibly comfortable.
- Sweep, sweep...
And with a hand gently stroking my head, face, and neck, it was nothing short of paradise.
"Ehehe..."
[Bliss...]
A grin escaped me. With a full stomach, warmth, and only pleasant scents nearby, I felt like I could fall asleep any second...
"...You look truly at peace."
A hazy mind steeped in happiness and drowsiness. My body flinched at the voice that burrowed in. As I cautiously pried open my heavy eyelids, my gaze met my master's, who sat on the opposite sofa with legs crossed.
"Ah, why are you bothering the kid when he's trying to sleep?"
"Bothering, what bothering. I only said he looked at peace."
"Which is your way of telling him to watch himself, that's what."
A voice from right beside me, above. The soft thighs my head was resting on came into view. If I turned my gaze upward... instead of a face, an enormous mass of flesh filled my sight. I couldn't see her face, but I wasn't confused. It was Professor Liana.
"Yeah, yeah, you woke up from your nap? It's okay. If you're sleepy, you can go 'night-night.'"
"Oh my... you're a full-on mother now. Did you end up nursing him, too?"
"Huh? You did it, too."
"......."
"Were you by any chance not able to do it much? Ah... you're definitely smaller than me."
"What? This son of a..."
Instead, a gentle touch found my head. Her fingers swept back my hair, and sleepiness crept up again.
'Sleepy...'
The mansion's living room. Having eaten a large dinner, drowsiness was hitting me especially hard.
'Nnn...'
There were few people in the mansion. Everyone was still out at dungeon practice. It was the night of the second day... at the earliest, they'd probably start returning after the third night.
"...I still have things to do, so I'll sleep a little later..."
Shaking off temptation, I raised my upper body. The stroking hand supported my head. With its help, I sat up on the sofa.
"Nnn..."
[Yeah... Seo-yul is sleepy too, huh...]
Seo-yul, who had been nestled in my arms, was also propped upright. Breathing softly with her eyes closed, she nuzzled her cheek against my face. Her fairly long white hair tickled me.
...At this point, calling it "nestled in my arms" was getting difficult. A momentary dizzying swoon sent my drowsiness scattering. With a wry expression, I patted Seo-yul's back. Slither... the winged garment that had been wrapped around Seo-yul returned and spread out as wings.
"Has that spirit awoken, too?"
"Yep."
Still a dark brown, but a brighter color than before. As the wings fluttered once, a cluster of light leaked out.
- Have you come to your senses?
Closing my eyes, I sent a will-thought into the wings. Perhaps due to the nature of the will-thought, my tone seemed to have changed.
- ...Yes...
The reply came back instantly. A stiff, rigid air thick with awkwardness. But the ferocity from when she'd just been captured was absent.
- How is your condition? I infused mana as carefully as possible, but I was startled because it reacted almost convulsively.
- No, my condition is truly, truly fine... Thank you...
- Then, can you come out for a moment? I'd like to see you face to... well, I have a story I'd like to hear.
- Yes... Um... May I come out now?
- ...? Yeah, of course.
Flutter! A cluster of light cascaded out with the wingbeat. One particularly large light cluster hovered nearby, then bulged unevenly in a spot a little apart from me. The cluster soon transformed, taking on a human shape with two legs, two arms, and clearly defined contours.
"...A female form..."
As my master's murmur concluded, the spirit opened her eyes. Her dark brown eyes, hard as stone, swept briefly across the surroundings before settling on me.
- Ah...
From her slightly parted lips, an admiring sigh—or a will-thought akin to one—was transmitted. Even without parsing it, complex emotions spread across her face. I nodded at her.
[Hello?]
[I'm glad you seem to have come to your senses.]
- Ah, yes, yes...
Blankly staring at me, the spirit trembled. Then, she abruptly knelt on one knee and bowed her head deeply.
- Affiliated with the Fairy Kingdom. High-ranking Earth Spirit, Terramor... greets the King.
[...I hate that I've grown accustomed to these situations.]
- Pardon?
[No, it's nothing.]
With a wry face, I shook my head.