The Weight of Questions

The conversation that began with Arina's question flowed as smoothly as an airship gliding through the sky. A torrent of questions poured out like a dam had burst—how she had studied magic until now, how to overcome the part where she was currently stuck, what it felt like to ascend from a transcendent to an Absolute Being, and what she believed was the most efficient way to deal with dark mages. The look in Jeon Raydel's eyes when he asked that last question was far too heavy for a child to carry. Knowing his past, the Majoan felt a pang of pity and offered a bitter smile.

Once again, he was reminded that his dream was still far from being realized. He stared at the spot where Arina and Jeon Raydel had left for a long time.

"Tsk."

Suddenly, a man appeared in that very spot. His hair, dyed in a striking gold and purple two-tone, along with the bold nail art on every fingernail, made him a particularly distinctive beauty. How long had he been there? He sat with his legs crossed in a sloppy, defiant manner, his face full of dissatisfaction as he glared at the Majoan with the sharpest look he could muster.

It had been a while since the Majoan had encountered someone who openly displayed such hostility toward him. He gazed at the man before him with a look of genuine curiosity and asked,

"That's some incredible stealth ability, just as the rumors say. I didn't notice you at all until you appeared right in front of me."

"As if you weren't holding me in place with your mana to keep me from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠running."

"Still, for an assassin, your style is a bit too flashy, don't you think?"

"None of your damn business. What does it matter to you how I dress?"

He was different from Pride. While his attitude was crude, at least Pride used polite speech and showed him a minimum of respect. But the person before him didn't even bother with that much. If Pride gave off the vibe of a mafia boss from a movie, this man was the very embodiment of a rude thug. Of course, he could only act this way because he knew the Majoan wouldn't kill him. Still, taking such a stance in front of him required guts that most people simply didn't possess.

"Let me ask just to confirm. You areJealousy, right?"

"You already know everything, so why ask? Yeah, if you really need me to spell it out, fine. I am Jealousy, one of the Seven Deadly Sins of the underworld."

Jealousy answered with a mocking, arrogant tone, as if ridiculing him. He habitually twirled a lock of his freshly dyed two-tone hair around his finger before turning his head away.

"So, why did the great and mighty Majoan of this nation summon a lowly assassin like me?"

To be honest, Jealousy's mood had been extremely foul lately. It wasn't just the students who had been looking forward to the academy's vacation period. Jealousy had also finished all his duties as a professor and had been excited about lazing around and having fun throughout the break.

But that dream had been shattered to pieces when he heard that the young lady and the master were heading to the Vivaldi Territory during the vacation.

The only reason Jealousy hadn't returned to the underworld, where he was currently busy with all sorts of schemes under Pride's command, was because of his duty to escort the young lady. The master had told him he could return since there probably wouldn't be much to do during the break, but Jealousy had clung to the idea of staying just in case. From his perspective, the only excuse he had to follow the young lady to the Vivaldi Territory was attending Professor Vivaldi's concert. Even the master had shaken his head with a look of pity, as if to say, "Do as you please."

Anyway, because of all that, his mood was at rock bottom, which naturally made his attitude toward the Majoan even more curt.

"You're the one who already knows everything, yet you're asking all these pointless questions."

"Was it to confirm the master's identity or something?"

"Exactly that."

"You're curious about such useless things."

With this much circumstantial evidence, he should have just accepted it. To go out of his way to confirm it like this... 'Well, it's the kind of information that's hard to believe no matter how many times you check it.'

A twenty-year-old Absolute Being. If Jealousy hadn't seen the master's true power with his own eyes, he might have acted just like the Majoan. It was such an absurd story that even a hero novel would get criticized for it.

"The royal palace was quite noisy about it."

"Luckily, you didn't step in."

"Professor Clara Propol, was it? From the application alone, there didn't seem to be any issues."

"You think I don't know that you thoroughly investigate potential professors and only hire those without problems? What if my fake background got exposed because it was sloppy?"

"So you artificially created an entire person's life story?"

"I went through a lot of trouble, yeah."

At this point, even the Majoan couldn't help but be impressed by the capabilities of the underworld. More precisely, by the abilities of the man standing before him. 'Both that Pride guy and this Jealousy one...' As expected, the master attracts worthy subordinates. Their personalities were arrogant, which was a flaw, but if he could make them submit completely, there were few as useful as them.

'I'm starting to want to speak with the Death King directly more and more.'

Even after learning his identity, his curiosity about the man only grew deeper. With that thought, the Majoan checked the watch on his wrist and stood up from his seat.

"If something similar happens next time, tell me directly. Don't cause a commotion like this again. I'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠prepare an identity for you to infiltrate in advance."

"Is that okay? Letting an outsider roam freely around the royal palace?"

"It means I'll be monitoring you personally."

If you think you can cause an accident, go ahead and try. At the Majoan's calm gaze, Jealousy's expression twisted into a deep frown. 'As expected.'

For a moment, that statement almost made his resolve waver again. The resolve to never set foot in the royal palace again.

"It was an honor to meet the assassin who erased the Cheonsal with my own eyes."

He had even investigated that far? Jealousy's brow furrowed at the sudden mention of his past from the Majoan's lips.

"Tell him that next time, I would like to speak with the Death King directly. I hear he's going to the Vivaldi Territory with his niece starting tomorrow, so anytime after that is fine."

With those words, the Majoan left Jealousy, who was openly displaying his displeasure, alone in the room and exited the director's office by himself. Jealousy turned his head to look out the window. A man with a completely different appearance—likely due to manipulating light to distort visual information—was boarding an automatic carriage under the guidance of a secretary.

"Keep dreaming. Never gonna happen."

Watching the sight, Jealousy snorted and turned his head away.

"The master absolutely hates people with personalities like yours."

With those final words, Jealousy's figure vanished like smoke, just as it had appeared. Once everyone was gone, the only trace left was the warmth on the sofa slowly fading away, the last proof that people had been there.

"So he recommended I drink the beverage, and when I did, it was super hot, right? There were clearly ice cubes floating in it."

After the academy's closing ceremony, Arina returned from playing with Marily and the first topic she brought up was, of course, her meeting with the Majoan.

'The Majoan, huh.'

Was the excitement of meeting the continent's greatest mage, from the perspective ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of someone learning magic, still impossible to shake off? Seeing her so excitedly talking about it made Kain want to send his sincerest condolences to the princess of this nation who had eaten tteokbokki with such a little kid.

'He's more timid and pathetic than I expected.'

Arina had sent a text saying she might be late because she was playing with Marily, but Kain, who hadn't seen it due to his smartphone dying again, had skipped lunch while reading in the study. He continued picking at the rose tteokbokki Arina had left behind and shook his head slightly.

He could immediately tell what the Majoan had been thinking when he called Arina over. The excuse about wanting to see a standout new student was probably secondary; his real purpose had been Kain himself. After hearing from Pride and investigating until he uncovered the truth, he still couldn't believe it and had summoned the little kid to confirm with his own eyes.

'These Absolute Beings are all out of their damn minds.'

The Empress was rude, Tugwi Jeok-cheong was a maniac, the Ice Empress was a rookie who couldn't even handle her own power and was consumed by trauma, and the Majoan was a timid coward. Kain once again realized there wasn't a single sane person among the Absolute Beings. He stabbed the last piece of tteok with his fork and popped it into his mouth.

"On the outside, he just looked like an ordinary middle-aged man from the neighborhood, but there was this aura? Dignity? Something like that radiating from him."

"That was definitely your imagination."

Even an Absolute Being was just a person. It was only because of the weight of his name that people felt mentally overwhelmed. If she had met him while jogging in the neighborhood without knowing he was the Majoan, the little kid wouldn't have felt that way at all.

'If something like that really existed, I would've been feeling it every day too.'

Since they were both Absolute Beings. Even if the Majoan had lived several times longer than him, Kain didn't think he would lose if they fought.

"I'm telling you it's not. If Uncle had actually seen him, you'd understand what I mean."

If he wanted to, he could see him right this instant. He was just too lazy to bother. If he suggested they meet and talk, the man would probably drop everything and come running. Just look at how he was sneaking around Arina today.

"......"

But perhaps he didn't feel the need to drag it out by pettily clinging to her words. He pushed the empty plastic tteokbokki container toward Arina and flopped down onto the sofa.

"You're already done eating?"

Uncle must have been really hungry. She had originally packed the leftovers to eat as a snack later. If she had known he would enjoy it this much, she would have bought a fresh one.

While cleaning up the container that had been scraped clean of even the broth, Arina looked at Kain with apologetic eyes as he tapped on his charging smartphone.

"What? Got something else to say?"

"It's nothing."

It looked like she would have to put in some real effort for dinner tonight for the first time in a while. Kain tilted his head as he watched Arina's back while she headed to the kitchen carrying the cleaned containers, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her eyes burning with some mysterious motivation.

But soon enough, deciding it didn't really matter, he focused his attention back on his smartphone.

"By the way, are you done preparing? You've been rushing around since last night."

Was she that excited about her first trip with him? Arina's bustling had continued nonstop since yesterday.

"If you haven't finished preparing yet, we don't have to leave tomorrow."

"It's fine. I've already finished everything."

What unfortunate news. At Arina's words, Kain clicked his tongue where she couldn't see.

"And you said you've already made all the hotel reservations."

Not knowing the truth, Arina asked again, and Kain snorted in response.

"It's fine to be a day or two late."

Since there seemed to be so many places Arina really wanted to see, he had booked everything for the entire vacation period. He had already paid in advance through Pride, so there wouldn't be any issues even if check-in was delayed.

'Anyway, once we've played all we can and she looks tired, we'll come right back.'

It didn't matter how many days were left in the hotel check-out period. Even if it took the longest, they would probably see everything worth seeing in about one to two weeks.

"Still, we'll have to rebook the train tickets."

He had already taken care of the hotel reservations before Arina could stop him, so she couldn't complain about that. But if they weren't leaving tomorrow, they would need to reserve new tickets for the magic train.

"Do as you like."

Since he had already resigned himself to being dragged around by someone for the first time in his life, Kain answered indifferently. After all, this trip was entirely for Arina.

"I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."

So as long as the little kid was happy, that was enough. Watching her openly show her excitement for the trip starting tomorrow, a smile similar to Arina's briefly appeared on Kain's lips before disappearing.