The Descendant's Recognition
Rachel Bonaparte
“Ancestor…?”
When I turned my head, a woman with silver hair and blue eyes was staring at me in surprise. Her wide, round blue eyes looked familiar.
Rachel Bonaparte.
An S-class Hunter who had recently become the biggest topic in Korea, and the Magu Ambassador. Privately, she was Napoleon’s descendant—the one who had cleared the Toulon Gate alongside me.
It was she who had called out to me.
I was inwardly startled, but quickly composed myself. There was no way Rachel could have recognized me. After all, she had never seen my bare face before.
Feigning confusion, I looked at her and asked, “Do you know me?”
“My apologies. There are too many eyes here.”
“……”
Her remark, as if she understood my circumstances completely, left me slightly flustered. Had she really recognized me? Her expression didn’t seem like she was probing.
“Let’s move somewhere else first.”
“Understood.”
I left the auditorium with Rachel. The hall was still noisy with the aftermath of the incident. With too many people near the main entrance, we followed the corridor toward the rear exit.
Corpses lay scattered throughout the hallway. Their bodies had been cleanly severed, as though sliced by a sharp blade.
‘Did Vanessa do all this?’
Before I knew it, we had reached the back door.
“This should do.”
Rachel stopped beneath a secluded tree and turned to face me. Sunlight filtering through the leaves made her blue eyes sparkle like a clear lake.
“It’s been three months.”
She spoke while gazing at me with steady eyes.
“Connector.”
“……”
As expected, Rachel had recognized me. How?
Reading the question in my eyes, she continued, “In the auditorium, I saw the blonde girl who was with you at the Toulon Gate.”
When Rachel had broken through the barrier, the first thing to catch her eye hadn’t been Wang Wei or the assailants—it had been the blonde girl. The same girl who had stood beside the Ancestor who saved her in the Toulon Gate. And then there were the familiar magic bullet marks gouged into the walls throughout the auditorium.
An ordinary person might have missed them, but Rachel, who had been searching for her ancestor, recognized them instantly. The combination of the blonde girl and magic bullets could only mean one thing: the person she sought was inside the hall.
While scanning the area, she had spotted Choi Seojun emerging from the emergency stairwell door. Though it was the first time she had seen his bare face, Rachel had known at once that he was the one. The magic bullets had been fired from above. More than anything…
“Your eyes looked familiar.”
Rachel asked once more, “You are the Connector, aren’t you?”
“I am.”
I finally admitted it. There was no point denying it when she was so certain.
Still…
‘She’s speaking Korean.’
Surprisingly, Rachel was conversing in Korean. During our previous meeting, Jeanne had interpreted for us. My Transcendent Connection’s linguistic ability only worked in the “other world,” after all. Jeanne and Vanessa understood Korean because this place was the other world to them—they were “distorted ones” who belonged to no world. The Dimensional Connector ability, which created doors to the general store, was likewise restricted to the other world.
Yet Rachel was speaking fluent Korean without any assistance.
As if reading my thoughts, she asked in an expectant tone, “How is my Korean?”
“You seem quite good at it.”
There was a slight stiffness to her pronunciation, but it was perfectly understandable. Pleased by the compliment, Rachel smiled proudly.
“It was worth the effort. I wanted to speak with you directly the next time we met.”
She had purchased Korean textbooks and even hired a private tutor for weekly lessons, all so she could converse with me. Her trip to Korea had been delayed because of her studies, and she went on to recount everything that had happened in the meantime.
I was dumbfounded. Going to such lengths just to talk to me was hard to comprehend. I had helped her, sure, but…
“Did you really need to go that far for my sake?”
“Of course.”
Unlike me, it clearly meant a great deal to her. Her lake-blue eyes gazed steadily at me.
“Because you are the reincarnation of my ancestor.”
“……”
Speechless at the unexpected answer, I fell silent. A quiet moment passed.
Whoosh…
Leaves rustled in a passing breeze. After staring at Rachel for a while, I finally spoke.
“Pardon?”
It came out as a question. The notion was simply too absurd.
“So you’re saying I’m your ancestor?”
“I understand your confusion.”
Rachel began to explain calmly. To wield Napoleon’s relics, one’s mana wavelength had to match perfectly—and only Napoleon himself could control them freely. Yet I had handled Napoleon’s Rifle with ease. I had assumed it was a wild misunderstanding, but her reasoning was surprisingly logical. Anyone unaware of my awakening ability would naturally reach the same conclusion. After all, who would believe that someone had received a gun as a gift from Napoleon, dead for centuries?
‘…So that’s how it happened.’
It was a disaster born from not considering mana wavelengths. To make her understand, I would have to reveal my awakening ability. Naturally, I had no intention of doing so.
“It could just be a coincidence. Maybe the rifle simply suited me well…”
“Coincidences don’t cause the medal to react.”
“……”
Mention of Napoleon’s medal left me at a loss for words.
“It isn’t true.”
“Understood.”
Rachel smiled faintly, as though she accepted my denial, but…
‘She doesn’t understand at all.’
Her eyes already held absolute certainty that I was her ancestor’s reincarnation. She was merely being considerate of my current identity. No matter what I said, her conviction would never waver.
Rubbing my throbbing forehead, I spoke. “Rachel.”
“Yes, Connector.”
“Just call me Choi Seojun. That’s my name.”
“Understood, Seojun.”
“There’s no need to be so formal.”
“Yes.”
Despite her words, her demeanor remained impeccably polite. It didn’t seem worth pressing the issue further.
That aside…
‘This could actually work in my favor.’
Rachel was France’s S-class Hunter—and not only that, she was the head of the powerful Bonaparte family. That same head was showing me not mere goodwill, but outright loyalty. Though I felt a twinge of guilt, I decided to make use of the situation. Today’s events had left me in a rather difficult position.
“Two anonymous ability users appeared in the hall today and eliminated the assailants.”
“I heard. One of them was the girl who was with you, Seojun.”
“That’s right. Could you spread the word—subtly—that those two are connected to the Bonaparte family?”
“That won’t be difficult. Understood.”
Rachel agreed without hesitation. I felt a measure of relief. This would at least dilute the suspicions surrounding Jeanne and Vanessa. A great house like Bonaparte could easily be nurturing a few such ability users in secret.
‘I’ll have to claim they appeared via spatial movement.’
The assailants had shown up suddenly as well, so there was no reason the two of them couldn’t have done the same. Fortunately, few people had noticed them since they’d been in a corner.
“Thank you, Rachel.”
“Not at all. I’m glad I could help. Is there anything else I can do?”
“This is enough.”
Asking for more would have felt awkward. I would have to repay her somehow later.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Ah, yes. See you tomorrow.”
I answered reflexively, then paused. “Tomorrow?”
“I intend to remain in Korea for the time being.”
“You don’t need to return to France?”
“It’s fine. I was planning to stay away anyway—arguing with the elders is exhausting.”
They’d probably be happier without me around. Rachel smiled, and there was a hint of relief in that smile.
‘But why does she want to meet tomorrow?’
Just as the question formed in my mind, a dignified voice called out from behind.
“So you were here.”
Turning around, I saw Marquis Cunningham approaching.
“I’ll take my leave now.”
“Ah, yes. Go ahead.”
Rachel bowed politely and turned away. The marquis glanced after her before asking, “Are the two of you acquainted?”
“Only in passing.”
“Is that so? For mere acquaintances…”
I quickly changed the subject. “More importantly, it seems we won’t be able to purify Eduz today.”
Since I had already sent Jeanne back, purifying the magic sword was impossible. However—
“Ah, if it’s that, it’s already done.”
“Excuse me?”
“Hm? Didn’t you hear? Your woman took care of it.”
The phrasing was odd, but that wasn’t important. In the marquis’s hand was the magic sword Eduz, already purified.
While I had been heading to the fourth floor, Jeanne must have purified Eduz and delivered it to him.
‘No wonder the marquis was acting so crazed…’
It was because his sword had changed. As expected of Jeanne—she handled matters with remarkable efficiency, assessing the situation even without instructions.
“Then the reason you came now is…”
“To deliver the essence.”
Marquis Cunningham opened a small wooden box and produced a transparent glass bottle filled with essence. The radiant liquid inside sloshed gently.
