The Mage's Path (2)

After Dad left, it was just my sister and me.

We had been alone together before, but somehow this felt even more awkward. The situation had completely flipped.

Before, I had been the one uncomfortable around her. I'd had to pretend I still had my memories when I didn't. Now it was different. I had lost those memories, and she knew it.

There was no real reason for me to feel awkward around her anymore.

But my past was not a normal one. No family wants to go digging up painful memories if they can help it. So she was handling me carefully — the way people always do on TV, when some random trigger suddenly brings everything rushing back. She was trying to avoid that.

"So, noona… I mean, Unnie — what have you been up to?"

"Hm? Ah…"

In a situation like this, the best move was interest in the other person. Baek Sowol currently had no memories of her past. She retained roughly a month of recent ones, so day-to-day life wasn't a problem — but family relationships? She knew nothing.

Asking about family wasn't strange at all.

"…Unnie's studying at law school right now."

"Really? Wow! How old are you, Unnie?"

"Twenty-three. I haven't graduated yet. And even after I do, I still have to pass the bar, so it's not that impressive."

Still, the bar exam had something like a fifty percent pass rate — and only law school graduates even got to sit for it. Being the older sister of mage Baek Sowol, she would manage that much at least. And for all that politicians looked incompetent from the outside, the people who actually made it there usually weren't fools. All the more reason.

"Then… what about me? What was I doing?"

Now it was time to dig up information about myself — as much as I could pry out without making it obvious.

Baek Sowol didn't seem like someone who had been doing anything in particular, but from what I had heard last time about having friends, she must have been somewhat active. University was uncertain, but she had at least made it through high school normally.

"…I'll tell you about that later. You didn't really do much, and it's not a particularly good story."

"…Why not?"

"It's complicated. You're already mentally and physically exhausted — I don't want to pile something stressful on top of that. Unnie will tell you separately later, okay?"

She was firm on this one point. There was no talking her around. Not that I could cast a spell and brainwash my own sister, either.

"Well, you seem okay, so Unnie's going to head in. I need to get back to studying."

"Oh? Okay. See you, then."

"Yeah. If anything comes up, contact Unnie, all right? Dad and Oppa are busy. My schedule isn't exactly free, but I can still help."

"Uh… okay."

"Take care, Sowol."

And with that, she left. Still no mention of Mom. Politicians had to keep their inner circle under tight control, so even if I asked those men from earlier, they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wouldn't tell me anything.

I picked up my phone and checked my contacts, then messaged everyone around me to say I was safe.

As soon as Jihu sent the number, I messaged her.

The reply came almost immediately.

Thankfully, neither of us seemed to be in any real trouble.

Of course her mind had gone there. Impersonating your way into a Gate happened more often than actual kidnappings.

Hmm. So the information really had leaked properly. If things were already at this stage… Dad had wanted to keep it buried no matter what, but Lee Jihyeon already knew I was a mage. And she wasn't the type to go spreading things around. No harm in just answering her.

Lee Jihyeon was clearly stunned.

Just as I'd expected, Lee Jihyeon didn't seem particularly bothered. Good. She hadn't changed much from before — even after I died.

It was time to start building a public presence. Raise my recognition to a certain level, then reveal that I was a mage and funnel every scrap of attention into one place. For that, I needed visibility. Perfect timing. Get the human Baek Sowol reasonably famous first — and on the day I became B-rank, I would disclose the mage part along with it.

Our conversation wrapped up. Now it was time to see how Dad had handled things. I went straight online and surveyed the situation.

All the articles are down… so, the communities next…

The articles were gone, so now it was time to check public opinion. I opened the gallery and skimmed the general mood, starting with the concept posts sitting at the top of the board.

Good. No real atmosphere of suspicion.

Public opinion had settled. Of course, nobody had come out through the press and declared it baseless. They had simply forced the outlets to pull the articles, then used community sentiment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and the like to steer the narrative. Because I really was Baek Dohan's daughter — and if they denied it outright, the backlash when the truth came out would be far worse.

There was justification, too. If I myself said I didn't want to be known, Dad's influence was more than enough to make the articles disappear. Not some random official, but the victim herself asking to be forgotten — and with the power to make it happen. Public opinion had no reason to turn ugly.

And with just that much, opinion shifts. People claim they care about reason and logic, but in a place where both options on a question are wrong, the moment one is proven false, the majority simply decides the remaining one must be correct. That was how it worked.

Articles taken down ≠ it was a lie. Not that anyone seemed to notice.

And the message I had sent earlier finally got a reply. Two days after my scheduled discharge, a meeting with the chairman of Hermes had been set.

Time to start a new life as a hunter.

From here on, I would be fully exposed to the public eye. I had to be thorough. I steadied myself and began thinking through the strategy ahead.