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[Three days, is that your word?]

“That’s right.”

Jinseong replied to Rise’s oddly excited inquiry.

Then Rise, with a look of determination, said to Jinseong,

“I understand. Until then, I will make sure to train my successor excellently so I can show them to the Deity.”

Jinseong smiled with satisfaction at Rise’s declaration to ‘thoroughly’ educate Narumi.

“That’s right. Then I shall take my leave now.”

“I understand. I will be waiting eagerly for the day the Deity visits.”

Thus, the call with Rise came to an end.

Jinseong placed his smartphone on the wireless charger and turned to the window to gaze at the sky.

The sky was filled with a yellowing moon marked with pockmarks, resembling a toad’s skin.

Jinseong quietly observed the yellow moon before bustling around the room to pack his belongings.

Then, he used teleportation to head to the airport.

His destination was Germany.

Like last time, he aimed to ‘detour’ his way into Japan.

* * *

Some were reading the movements of the stars, some were clutching their future successors tightly, and some barely escaped defilement as they calmed their restless hearts; the night passed.

Morning broke, and it was time for people to be active. The mansion began to emanate the smells of fragrant food amidst the bustling movements of its inhabitants. As usual, guests and hosts began to fill the place just in time for the meal.

“Ah, Asha. It’s that joyful time for our meal etiquette lesson again.”

“It’s not joyful…”

In the spacious dining room, people were ordering and enjoying their desired breakfasts.

“Wow! This is the taste! I’ve missed the beer I drank with the wild bear mates in Russia.”

“Stop being a show-off, you fool… That, that’s non-alcoholic…”

Anastasia was forcibly seated next to Agnes, learning dining etiquette in real-time, and nearby, Iarin was sipping non-alcoholic beer with an expression as if she had just returned from heaven.

Iserin scolded Iarin, who was being pretentious with the beer that had “0.00%” printed large on its surface.

However, even in this cheerful atmosphere, there was something unusual.

While everyone was oblivious, there was indeed a singular change that only Iserin could perceive.

It was the fact that Grimoire, who usually clung to Iserin like a burr, had shrunk considerably in size today.

The demon seemed as if it had shed some flesh, or perhaps like it had rolled back in time to its younger days, perched on Iserin’s lap. It lay tucked into Iserin’s embrace, lazily licking its tongue as it stared blankly into the void.

Grimoire’s unfocused eyes were gazing into nothingness, reflecting something from the empty space before it.

“Hmm…”

It seemed to search for something, as Grimoire’s eyes darted around.

With each movement, the shapes that formed in its gaze shifted, displaying not the same dining room but glimpses of hallways, rooms, and gardens. All these places seemed to have their moments split and overlapped in a continuous cycle, the events from them streaming into Grimoire’s mind like rewinding a video.

In Grimoire’s eyes, everything was visible.

The bizarre ritual Jinseong twisted while performing an Abrahamic religious magic in the garden.

The muttered words Jinseong spoke while perched atop the roof.

Lee Yang-hoon’s discussions about military connections and the northern regions.

All of it appeared vividly as if recorded by CCTV, with voices ringing clear as well.

But there was one thing.

The happenings inside Jinseong’s room, being the shaman who resided in the mansion and the brother lacking the blood of a contractor, could not be easily spied upon.

As if wrapped in a thick fog, or like a CCTV filled with jarring noise for some unknown reason, a bizarre force twisted and distorted Grimoire’s powers.

Of course, it wasn’t insurmountable.

It was merely a constraint that prevented it from exhibiting its full potential, for it could only project its power through a contractor, and if it harnessed its abilities through Iserin, it could sneak a glimpse of what occurred in Jinseong’s room.

However, there was no real need for that.

One could tell without peering into Jinseong’s room that he had left the mansion quietly.

“Oh, my dear contractor, my adorable contractor. Hearing that the signature sword is exhibited at the National Folk Museum of Korea, I was planning to take my brother, who lacks our blood, there. Unfortunately, your brother has vanished somewhere without a word.”

The demon slipped out of Iserin’s embrace and stood beside the table. It then released the ‘eyes’ it had dispersed throughout the mansion back into its power and absorbed them into its body.

Consequently, the size it had shrunk to, small enough to cuddle within Iserin’s arms, gradually expanded back to its usual large size.

“Eh, really…?”

Iserin turned her gaze away upon hearing Grimoire’s blunt words.

“Hm. The dish you made is so spicy, it feels like all the fatigue and drowsiness I experience in the morning vanishes entirely.”

Where she turned her gaze was the Great Witch.

Dressed in a form-fitting dress, she was throwing words at the chef that could be taken as either praise or reproach.

“Th-thank you.”

“Of course. One must thank you. This sensation, akin to my tongue being scorched by fire as early as the morning, isn’t something easily tasted!”

“I’m s-sorry…”

“What I meant is, it embodies the characteristics of Korean food.”

“Thank you.”

“Though if spiciness alone was the defining trait of Korean cuisine!”

“I’m sorry!”

“That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Mexican food is the same, right?”

“Is, is that so?”

“Of course, I don’t particularly like Mexican food!”

The Great Witch played with the chef as if tossing a ball, and the chef appeared utterly confused, unsure of what tune to dance to.

[Watching them gradually grow more cantankerous is quite the sight. At least they’re not throwing a fuss, simply limiting it to a state of irritability. But I feel like this escalating behavior will soon lead to something… hmm.]

“Oh, if my brother were here, he would be more composed…”

Iserin sighed at the cantankerous demeanor of Odilia.

“I would have thought the signature sword would pique his interest; where on earth could he have gone…?”

* * *

He has set the stars for you (Er hat euch die Gestirne gesetzt)

Leader of land and sea (Als Leiter zu Land und See)

Rejoice in your joy (Damit ihr euch daran ergotzt,)

Always gazing up at the heavens (Stets blickend in die Hoh)

Jinseong flied from Incheon Airport to Frankfurt am Main International Airport, then from Frankfurt am Main International Airport to Kagoshima Airport.

Surrendering to the choral-style accompaniment flowing through his earphones, he immersed himself into the solemn atmosphere created by the small sound, quietly calming his mind. Like grains of sand dancing in the tranquil waters, losing their vitality and sinking down to the bottom, like waters turning clear with the soil, allowing sunlight to touch beneath.

He was collecting his thoughts amidst the silence depicted by the music.

Even when confused by the dreams that bewilder him (Mich verwirren will das Irren;)

You embrace me there (Doch du weißt mich zu entwirren).

When I act or write poetry (Wenn ich handle, wenn ich dichte,)

Guide my path towards the right (Gib du meinem Weg die Richte).

Jinseong hadn’t eaten anything. Without a morsel of bread or a sip of water, he sat with his eyes closed in a single pose, listening closely to the music, and his peculiar behavior continued until the plane safely landed at Kagoshima Airport.

“Whew.”

Upon arriving at Kagoshima Airport, Jinseong moved to the bathroom, straightening his chest and shoulders, taking a deep breath as if to puff himself up. Slowly exhaling, he inhaled deeply again, puffing up like before.

After repeating this several times, Jinseong’s body relaxed, and his muscles loosened.

He carefully led his now comfortably relaxed body out into the airport, boarded a bus, and smoothly evaded the paranoia-driven surveillance network set up by Japan to capture the shamans.

And just as he escaped, he used teleportation one after the other.

Towards the stronghold he had established in Japan, where Saigo Rise was waiting at the shrine.

 

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