Chapter 101
After Voice Marian Ernil's bombshell statement, the jewel-like room fell into dead silence. The agent's eyes, swirling with shock and confusion, began to calm like settling tea leaves.
"Ahem."
He set down his teacup, wiped his hands with a napkin nearby, and cleared his throat.
"If that's the case, why didn't you tell anyone? If you truly believed Sertina was the Hero of Memory, you could've at least tried to convince them."
The emperor had begged her to undergo a single test— that was no ordinary influence. If she really saw Sertina as the Hero of Memory, she should've made some effort to spread the word.
The agent's sharp gaze pierced for any cracks.
"Embarrassingly, I have no power right now."
Marian Ernil bowed her head as she spoke. Deep contemplation etched across the agent's face.
"A candidate for Hero of Memory should have some sway, no? From what I saw, you hold a pretty high position in the imperial court."
"Yes, that's true, but..."
Marian averted her eyes, her expression resigned.
"Even if I'm a hero candidate, the one I'd have to defend is Sertina, branded as the evil god. If I took her side here, I'd lose my position as a candidate in an instant."
"Paper power, you mean."
"Exactly. A Hero of Memory siding with the evil god? Unthinkable."
In other words, it was a problem beyond her power from the start. Marian's slumped shoulders carried a heavy weight.
The agent sighed deeply, pressing his temples as he spoke in a grave tone.
"What do you want me to do?"
A brief silence. Marian met the agent's eyes squarely.
"Go back and gather as many like-minded people as you can. As many as possible."
She paused, closing her eyes thoughtfully before adding,
"Enough to buy time until Sertina reaches the imperial capital."
The agent's eyes widened like saucers.
"Can you handle that?"
"Yes."
Marian nodded without hesitation.
"I'll make sure she stands atop the Memory Compass."
There exists a being called the evil god. Back when Pandela faced the invasion of the Immortals, it was known as the most merciless and brutal monster. It slaughtered every living thing in sight without mercy.
And I've always wondered if I'd inherited that evil god's power.
"So what the hell is this supposed to be...?"
I pondered while watching the video Elena had sent to Cha Eun-joo—a long apology note attached. In it, I held my sword aloft, golden mana erupting from the blade toward the sky like an inverted waterfall of molten gold. A breathtaking sight.
Elena said she'd secretly filmed it with her body cam. I'd been too immersed at the time to notice, but seeing it now, the thrill hit me vividly. Being on the boundary of reality and dream must've preserved the footage.
"Golden mana..."
I mumbled, sprawled face-down on the bed. As far as I knew, golden mana was the unique power wielded by the Hero of Memory. I'd never used it, nor did I know how.
So why is the moment I wielded that power etched in my memories?
Clearly, there was some unknown past of mine. The problem? Not a single memory surfaced.
What if... I am the Hero of Memory?
I entertained the silly thought for a moment before dismissing it. The people of Pandela had rejected me because my appearance and abilities so closely resembled the evil god's. That hadn't changed.
"Ugh, can't make heads or tails of it."
I rolled around on the spacious bed, tumbling this way and that.
Well, Elena swore she hasn't shared the video anywhere else and won't, so I should dig deeper for now.
The video—already on its fifth loop—kept playing. I turned it off and pulled up Elena's contact. Better to get the eyewitness's take.
As I went to call her, a sudden doubt hit me. Why'd she only send the video to Cha Eun-joo? She could've sent it straight to me. We'd exchanged numbers, after all...
Kinda hurts.
At the Lumière Guild headquarters in Paris, France, Elena sat in the guild master's office early that morning, staring intently at a sheet of letter paper on her desk, her face etched with worry. The paper was covered in wild scrawls—indecipherable glyphs or doodles.
Bang.
Vice Guild Master Manon burst in, beaming innocently.
"Elena! Good morning! Whatcha doing?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing."
Elena replied dryly, not even glancing her way. Manon tilted her head, then slyly curled her lips and sidled up beside her.
"What's with that letter? You've been staring at it forever. Don't tell me... a love letter from your sweetheart?!"
Manon covered her mouth, giggling mischievously. But Elena didn't respond.
"Hey, Elena, you're not slipping into depression again, are you?"
As Manon's anxiety peaked, Elena finally spoke.
"Manon."
"Yeah?"
"Does Sertina... hate me?"
"...Huh?"
Manon blinked in confusion, unable to grasp the meaning.
"At the banquet yesterday... we exchanged contacts. But she put her number inside an envelope. Said it'd be trouble if it got out."
"Yeah, makes sense. Celebrities are always swamped."
Manon closed her eyes dramatically, fanning her forehead with the back of her hand.
"So I opened it at home and..."
Elena shoved the paper in Manon's face. Manon's brows twitched unusually.
"Wait, this is what came out?!"
"Yep."
Manon swallowed hard. Meaningless, contextless scribbles. No way to interpret this but...
"She ghosted you?"
"Manon, you...! Sigh, I shouldn't have said anything."
Elena dropped the paper on the desk in resignation. Just then, her smartphone rang.
"Who calls this early?"
"It's barely 8 a.m."
Elena shrugged at Manon and reached for the phone. Her hand froze mid-air.
"What the...?"
Manon pointed at the screen.
"Elena, no way...!"
Where the caller's number should be was an inexplicable mess of irregular scribbles. Gibberish incompatible with the keypad.
Elena frantically compared it to the paper's scrawls. Moments later, her jaw dropped in disbelief.
"No way—this was actually her number?!"
I did manage to call Elena, but... seems like a ton of misunderstandings piled up in that short time.
-Waaah, Sertina! I thought you'd ditched me—I was so hurt! I figured you just said you'd help and bounced!
Her sobs exploded through the phone. Come to think of it, I'd forgotten. My number couldn't be entered normally.
"Haven't saved any numbers lately, so..."
-Hwaaaang!
Scratching my head only unleashed bigger wails. She couldn't have saved it either without me calling first. Nearly turned an innocent girl into a full-blown tragic heroine.
Good thing I called when I did... would've been a disaster with someone already mentally fragile.
A little later, and who knows? Worst-case scenarios flooded my mind, heart sinking.
After ten minutes of consoling, I finally got to my question.
"...So, nothing else unusual besides that?"
-Yes. That's all I saw.
"Got it. Thanks. Eat well."
-You too, Sertina.
Not much new info—it was stuff I'd experienced myself. But hearing a third-party perspective made it worthwhile.
I really wielded that golden mana.
If it was just a sloppy dream recreation, it wouldn't mimic the power perfectly. But Elena testified to the explosive, warm surge of golden mana—completely different from my blood-red mana, something she'd never felt before.
And she said I seemed like a totally different person once I started talking to that Immortal guy.
Meaning another set of my memories might've surfaced. Forgotten ones.
Pondering it...
I had a hunch.
Isn't this... that Voice I heard in Pandela?!