Lifesaving

...Oh, so it wasn't entirely one-sided after all.

I had dropped by briefly to repair Kratan.

I had won, but the damage was still considerable. He was plastering wood he had stolen from Bukhan Mountain all over his body in thick, uneven patches.

"Wait until I fix you."

I laid my hand on Kratan's back and activated my manufacturing skill. The lumpy mana wood smoothed out and was completely absorbed into his skin.

Kratan stared at me in shock.

"You should have told me to come down, Your Majesty."

"Hehe, it's fine. For the sake of my subordinate, I can personally make the trip."

"I'm not fine with it. Talk about bad luck—having a woman climb onto my belly. Ptooey!"

"……."

In truth, even among the Royalty, Pecia was a particularly unhinged type, so her subordinates were hardly normal either.

They often displayed this kind of attitude that casually ignored hierarchy.

Hmph, fine then. I'll respect your territory. I suffered enough because of this in my past life!

I hopped down from the Viking ride.

Picking out the important pieces from the heap of mana wood piled beneath it, I said,

"See you later, then."

Kratan drew his cutlass.

"Hold it right there. Why are you taking those?"

"Gotta make Toy Soldiers. Aren't you putting together a pirate crew?"

"Oh ho, my apologies, Your Majesty."

"You'll have to wait a bit, though. Outside work is busy."

Of course that was a lie.

Judging by how agitated the head instructor had been, they would probably give me a proper thrashing. I planned to extract materials for repairing the Party Bears from that.

The price for insulting me was high.

When I returned to the carousel, Eldrisa was still sitting on the bench. She was swinging her legs like a little child, which drew a snort of laughter from me.

"That's a pose that doesn't suit you at all."

Eldrisa looked up at the sky and smirked.

"When ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have I ever been myself?"

"Why are you still here? You should go rest if you're not feeling well."

"I have something to tell you."

"Want counseling?"

Eldrisa nodded and fixed her gaze on me.

"Your Majesty."

"Yeah."

"You've changed a great deal."

I flinched for a moment.

Witches sometimes perceived things we could not see, much like shamans. Had she realized that my soul was not Pecia's?

"Actually, that's because I'm trying not to do bad things and live for the sake of humans……"

"Not that. From the moment I first revived until now. You've changed a lot."

"……What do you mean?"

Eldrisa let out a sigh.

"Still, at first you looked at me with human eyes. You even assigned me homework to watch cartoons with Yena for human education, and believed it would succeed."

Come to think of it, I had.

Why on earth had I done something so ridiculous?

A witch like Eldrisa would never change from some half-baked friendship. Only true happiness could transform her.

Eldrisa spoke in a grave tone.

"Doesn't it seem a little strange? Today's method was like the Abyss itself. Imprinting your position upon me is nothing unusual, but it was hardly suitable ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for learning human emotions."

"...You're right. Sorry."

"I don't need an apology. What I'm saying is that you should be careful yourself. Your Majesty is undergoing far too great a change in too short a time. Even without you realizing it."

…Without even me realizing it?

For some reason, that single line from Eldrisa rang an alarm deep in my heart. The change in myself that I had been feeling uneasy about for some time. Kang Jiye had pointed it out often from the sidelines, but I had brushed it off as nothing important.

Certainly my current actions were different from before. And this change……

It appeared after I invested in the Will stat.

I had been aware of it, but it was convenient, so I had tried not to think about it too deeply.

Yet for a late-arriving stone to point it out this clearly—wasn't this rather serious?

Eldrisa lowered her gaze and swallowed.

"I was frightened looking at Your Majesty just now. It felt as though you had appeared as Royalty itself."

I hesitated before answering.

"I…… was?"

Eldrisa nodded.

"To be honest, even now some ominous feeling is transmitted. Fundamentally different from that warm sensation at the beginning—something lacking, somehow."

"If it's a lacking feeling."

"For example, shouting about happiness while considering no other emotions. As if the process can be ignored and simply smiling is the end of it. In any case, Your Majesty's demonic energy is saying as much. Do you understand what I mean?"

In that instant, I felt as though I had been struck over the head.

Originally, calling something ominous because of thickening demonic energy was not a phrase that should ever leave a witch's mouth. The "witches" I knew either paid no attention to such things or approached them with keen interest.

Which meant Eldrisa had never needed mental education in the first place. She had interacted with humans without friction and was changing, however slowly.

Should I really stop her now?

No.

Hey, Eldrisa is doing well these days.

…Had I beaten up an innocent person?

Suddenly Eldrisa smiled with a kindly expression.

"So, Your Majesty. Give me the highest card."

"Huh?"

"Royal Straight Flush. With that power, I'll help ensure Your Majesty does not go astray."

"You crazy bitch."

"……."

As expected, she was not completely innocent. She pulled this crap whenever she got the chance.

But I smiled slightly.

Lies were always like that, yet witches never told a pure hundred-percent falsehood when bewitching someone. They slipped ten percent personal opinion into ninety percent truth.

So even if I discarded the conclusion, the change in me that she had been worried about was real.

"I should get some psychological counseling."

Eldrisa then grumbled,

"Being rational in the weirdest places. Is it because of that strange mana?"

"What are you talking about now?"

"Ah, lately a strange mana has been circulating through my body. Probably from playing with Yena, but because of it I got attacked first by the Grim Reaper. Come to think of it, I feel the exact ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠same thing from Your Majesty."

.....!

Thinking that I knew far too little about my own body, I checked the status window.

Yet absurdly, when I pressed the Will stat, a detailed explanation appeared.

Just as I had expected. But that was not the end of what surprised me.

Reading the additional line beneath it, something peculiar caught my eye.

"...Can use human mana, huh. The mystery of how I can cast magic is solved. So if I max out Will, it becomes 99:1?"

"What happens if I activate Joker?"

"Oh ho, smart one. System, who are you and where did you come from?"

"Not that—who are you?"

I tried a surprise question, but as expected it only spouted nonsense.

It had done the same thing back at the amusement park the first time, so I was not particularly disappointed.

For the first time in a long while, without slacking off, I began to explore my own ego.

39:61. At this point I was Pecia and Pecia was me. And from here my share would only keep shrinking.

It meant that the stronger I grew, the more I would become a lunatic just like in my past life. I needed countermeasures.

"If like Eldrisa……"

No.

Rather than getting counseling from a witch, I should go to a real counselor.

Seeing me hurriedly throw on clothes, Kang Jiye tilted her head.

"Where are you going?"

"To the mental hospital!"

"Ah…… good. Buy some groceries on the way back."

"Yes!"

I dashed out of the house. Smoke was still rising here and there across Incheon, giving off a thoroughly dystopian atmosphere.

Neither people nor animals were in sight.

Interestingly, a few shops along the main street were still open for business. Being somewhat removed from the combat zone, a handful of civilians buying daily necessities could be seen.

But the mental hospital I had been looking for was in a terrible state. It occupied the third floor of a five-story building, yet one entire side had collapsed like a cake that had face-planted.

I approached a man sitting blankly in front of the building. Seeing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the gown, he seemed to be a doctor from the mental hospital.

"Um, are you open for normal business today by any chance?"

"……."

The man blinked several times and stared at me blankly.

I asked,

"You're not?"

"Suddenly a sense of mission is rising…… but the building is like this right now, so could you come next time?"

"Yep."

"Hey!"

"Yes?"

"You must come."

"Got it."

Wooong—

While I was pondering whether to look for another hospital, a message arrived at just that moment.

I disliked new schedules piling up, but given who the other party was, I okayed it. Truthfully I had not said much earlier because of Yena, yet the terrorism that had occurred today was a fairly serious matter.

If we were going to hold a meeting, better to do it quickly.

The meeting place was Kim Seojun's crew's exclusive hideout disguised as a café. I started running down the main street with bouncy steps.

"Huh? Why are you crying?"

But I discovered a four- or five-year-old child crying in front of a collapsed building. Looking around for a guardian, I found it was right in the middle of where the battle had taken place, making it difficult to identify anyone.

The little boy sobbed while pointing between the debris.

"Mommy……! Mommy!"

"Hmm."

A good kid, worrying about his mother.

I cast intermediate telekinesis with a Flash card. The debris piled like a small hill floated upward as if weightless. Between them, a woman with her eyes tightly shut, gasping for breath, came into view.

I stopped the wide-eyed child from rushing forward and slowly pushed the debris away from around the woman.

A moment later, the woman floating gently toward us opened her eyes.

"Ah……"

"Mommy!!"

"Yunseong!"

I tilted my head looking at the mother and son embracing each other.

Why had no one rescued them when people were still alive like this? Turning my head to carefully survey the main street……

There were far too many others in similar situations.

I should save them. But what was I going to do again?

Ah, whatever. Anyway, nothing is more important than people's happiness!

I cracked open a gate just a little, attached two Party Bears to the mother and son, then ran toward the disaster site.