Mirrors of the Past

At this point, there was no choice but to head to the association chairman's office. Did the black curtain's prophecy, the one he was so damn sure of, foresee even this?

The evidence meant to drag me into the abyss had vanished into the hands of some academy professor. That wasn't the problem, though.

The real issue came next.

Kang Seo-ah wasn't stopping there. She was using the situation to push her batshit insane proposal of a contract relationship.

Was this world not a modern fantasy after all, but some romance novel?

Was that why every woman I met demanded some weird-ass relationship dynamic?

Whatever the reason, I had zero intention of cutting ties with Ren or pretending to be in a fake relationship with Kang Seo-ah.

"...So I owe you a favor?"

I spat a cold rejection at her, still blushing shyly like some maiden.

"Who the hell butts into someone else's business on their own, stirs shit up, and then tries to force a favor down their throat? If that evidence isn't in your hands anymore, doesn't that mean you've got no reason to hold me here at the association?"

With that, I stood from my seat without a shred of hesitation.

The chair scraped harshly against the floor, and my suppressed sorcery power erupted outward in a wild surge.

She instinctively reached for the sword hilt at her waist.

But her fingers merely twitched for a moment—she didn't draw. Instead, she suddenly let out a sigh.

"...Whatever. I didn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠think you'd go quietly anyway."

In that instant, Kang Seo-ah's demeanor shifted completely.

The shy virgin act that didn't fit the situation vanished, replaced by the razor-sharp aura I'd glimpsed when she came to arrest me.

"Who said the evidence is gone?"

Her flushed cheeks returned to normal as if nothing had happened, and with a killing intent that screamed she could cleave me in half any second, she revealed her true colors.

"I said I disposed of the evidence. I never said I destroyed it."

Kang Seo-ah removed her hand from the sword hilt and slipped it into her inner suit pocket.

What she pulled out was a single card.

She placed it in the center of the table, then traced a pattern around it with her slender fingers.

A specific sorcery formation based on Yin-Yang and the Five Elements etched itself onto the cheap table in an instant.

As she rotated her finger counterclockwise, the interrogation room transformed into an entirely different space.

A luxurious office fit for a chaebol chairman.

At the antique desk sat a lone figure.

Choi Taeho, the Hwaseong Group chairman now wandering the border between life and death in a hospital bed.

"There. Now you get what the evidence is? What do you think happens if this goes public?"

Kang Seo-ah nonchalantly rewound time again, pointing at my face as the hood flapped open.

It was unmistakably ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my face—no room for denial, no matter who looked.

Even our heights and builds matched perfectly when standing face-to-face.

The most damning part? The lingering resonance from the Void Resonance Art matched my sorcery power exactly.

"Ha."

My preconception that modern sorcery was still crude ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was on the verge of shattering.

Perfectly replicating a person's power wavelength down to the finest detail, and flawlessly wielding the Void Resonance Art that had only recently leaked out.

"Sure, special means can alter a face. You can mimic a build too. But a power's wavelength? That's different. It's a unique soul trace, clearer than fingerprints. Impossible to fake."

Kang Seo-ah calmly recited established facts.

"Plus, at the time of the incident, you were in the dorms an hour before and after. No alibi. The moment this leaks, you'll rot as a criminal for life. You know sorcery crime punishments start with life imprisonment, right?"

Indeed, evidence worthy of a modern fantasy drama.

A new investigative technique replaying the past.

Prophecies seeing the future, Retrospection Sorcery seeing the past. The black curtain was operating on a grander scale than I'd thought.

No way the association just casually acquired sorcery like this.

Even in this utterly cornered situation, I didn't panic.

There were always holes to exploit, no matter how airtight things seemed.

I met her indifferent gaze head-on.

"So? You dangle this evidence, and all you want is a contract relationship? 'Don't want prison? Date me'?"

"I didn't want it this way either. But Grandpa wants you."

Only now did Kang Seo-ah reveal her true identity.

"The Sorcery Association chairman is my grandfather. I'm his direct granddaughter. He pegged you as talent who could preserve our bloodline and refine our family sorcery further."

—Talk about abusing national power for personal gain.

The moment I stopped hiding my strength, the association was committing corruption just to snag me.

"...How the hell did you even convince that old monster who's only interested in swords without meeting him? Make him say outright he wants you to knock me up. Wait, you wouldn't get that feeling since you're a woman."

Unlike the chairman, Kang Seo-ah seemed dissatisfied with the current situation.

And the reason came next.

"I can't accept Grandpa's idea. I should be the one refining our family's vision. Not some random like you who rolled in out of nowhere."

Unlike when she'd proposed the contract relationship, she now harbored something akin to hostility toward me.

This was Kang Seo-ah's true heart.

Of course. To the chairman, her value was solely as a womb to bear an heir.

The expectations for advancing sorcery went not to his direct granddaughter, but to some unheard-of orphan who'd even been disowned.

As the person involved, that must feel complicated.

"...That makes it even harder to understand. Why not just leak this evidence on your own and be done? No reason to obsess over a contract relationship."

"Are you insane?"

Kang Seo-ah snorted in genuine disbelief.

"If I derail the plan from the start, what do you think Grandpa will do? He'd force-fertilize me to make the next heir anyway. What I need is time. Time to create a new vision even he can't deny."

"So you'll date a criminal to buy that time?"

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm not interested in what you did. I looked into it—those bastards deserved to die. If you were some irredeemable psychopath, I wouldn't have made this offer."

Kang Seo-ah declared her goal outright, her eyes gleaming red.

To her, I was the assassin who killed the group chairman. Before that, the avenger who'd massacred 58 people.

Yet her judgment was pragmatic enough to deal with such a man purely for the sake of swords and visions.

More unhinged than I'd expected.

"Consider it an honor. You think women like me are a dime a dozen? Your face is average, your ego's sky-high... the total opposite of my ideal husband."

She vented unexpected complaints, saying she preferred modest, cute guys.

"I wanted a devoted man who'd clean up after me, but I should've compromised, gotten married quick before Grandpa could interfere."

"So drag it out with a contract relationship, finish your vision in the meantime, and reclaim your marriage freedom?"

"Exactly. Not a bad deal, right? Grandpa hid the evidence for you, so he won't dig it up later. Once it's all over, you can go back to your fiancée."

She tossed the proposal at me again, like she was doing me a favor.

As if I had no choice but to take her hand.

An arrogant offer assuming I'd passively wrap myself in her skirts.

"Bullshit has its limits."

Kang Seo-ah's brow twitched faintly.

"The chairman, you—seems you all think I'm some powerless tool. Let me correct that misconception."

I still hadn't forgotten the shock of being disowned back then.

The decade-long binding was the trigger, but I'd overlooked the sordid ecosystem of sorcerers who saw hidden power as easy prey to kill.

The moment I'd mass-leaked the Void Resonance Art, the idea of hiding my abilities had long been erased from my mind.

"Same face? Matching power wavelength? That's why you think I'm the culprit."

I slowly drew up the sorcery power latent in my soul.

Discomfort flickered in her eyes for the first time.

"That shit means nothing. I could change it in a snap if I wanted."

I covered my face with my left hand like donning a mask.

No visible change.

But when I removed my hand, a completely different woman's face stared back.

A face I'd seen more than anyone in the Otherworld. The high elf Estella.

"Wha...! Transformation sorcery...? Even the power wavelength is totally different...?"

Snap.

I lightly snapped my fingers at the stunned Kang Seo-ah.

At the same instant, the sword at her waist flew into my hand.

"...The association has barriers up. How?!"

I casually drew the sword and swung it a couple times.

True to the chairman's family, a fine blade perfectly balanced.

Kang Seo-ah lunged to subdue me but couldn't even handle my warning slash, retreating with a face pale as death.

The sword felt perfect in my hand after so long.

"And I don't swing a sword like that."

Snap.

Second finger snap.

"The chairman's on the top floor, right?"

Void Resonance Art activated, mocking the association's barriers.

Just like when Choi Taeho was ambushed.

I swung Kang Seo-ah's fine sword at the elderly sorcerer who appeared before me.

A clean strike from a sword master—not the crude hack of that assassin—aimed straight for the chairman's occiput.