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The red aura floating above the White Mask’s face.

I wondered how much mental pain they must have endured for something like this to occur.

Even the Saint, who suffered from the most malicious human disease known as a herniated disk, didn’t seem to go through this much suffering.

I braced myself for the unsettling energy that was already present.

Yeah.

I had absorbed the pain experienced by someone on the brink of death.

What could I possibly not do?

Taking a deep breath, I swept my hand across the energies in front of the White Mask’s face, and they clung to my fingers.

I didn’t absorb them immediately.

There had to be some change that warranted accepting them.

But with my body still weak, I couldn’t just recklessly try everything.

“…!”

But contrary to my worries, something seemed to happen to the White Mask right away.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

“Has anything changed?” I asked her.

It was already proof that she was rubbing her face with her hands, indicating something had indeed changed.

“The pain… is gone.”

“That’s good news,” I replied.

When the White Mask was bitten by the Dragon Slayer, she had complained of excruciating pain.

Perhaps that pain had lingered until now, and she had simply endured it quietly.

After all, her mental fortitude was at the level of Meditatio.

But that alone wouldn’t suffice.

Simply removing the pain could not be a fundamental solution.

“Would you like to see yourself in the mirror, Master?”

“What do you think?”

“I see nothing but your consistently beautiful face, so I can’t distinguish anything.”

“Are you flattering me even in this situation?”

The White Mask smacked her forehead in exasperation, but there was nothing I could do.

I had no way of knowing if her face had changed.

Due to her cowardly mode, her face looked horrific before transforming into the Dragon.

So, she had to check for herself and make her own judgment.

The White Mask picked up a mirror from the table and reflected her face.

At that moment, I felt my own anxiety rise as I swallowed dryly.

“…Ah.”

A gasp escaped the White Mask’s lips.

At the same time, I noticed tears welling up in her eyes.

That kind of reaction meant she had returned to her original face.

The experiment was a success.

“…Haha.”

This actually worked.

I never imagined it would even resolve what seemed like an incurable disease.

It was showing unbelievable performance.

Of course, with her still frail body, the limitations were clear.

So then.

Now that I knew it had an effect, I needed to absorb this pain.

Otherwise, her newly transformed face would revert back.

Absorbing this pain wasn’t entirely negative.

The more pain I absorbed, the more my power was clearly growing.

My physical ability was already outstanding compared to before.

The Interrogator must have gained strength to the level of the Idea Level thanks to this ability.

After taking a deep breath, I clenched my fists to absorb the red energies.

Immediately, the energies rushed up my arms and struck directly into my brain.

“…Ugh!”

And then.

A headache and overwhelming despair hit me hard, almost causing me to lose consciousness.

Human cells unable to accept the Dragon’s molecules would overload, and if cells were destroyed, that part would rot away.

I began to understand why the White Mask screamed when bitten by the Dragon Slayer.

It was a pain akin to having your skin brutally torn alive.

But that wasn’t all.

The damage done to her appearance would naturally lead to a drop in self-esteem.

The ensuing depression provoked a sense of lethargy, plunging her into a state of unwillingness to do anything.

This caused her entire body to lose strength, melding her into the floor.

“Pull yourself together!”

The White Mask approached me with a startled expression.

Ah, I almost felt like I’d be fine if I could just hang on a bit longer.

Even though I tried to endure through sheer willpower, my brain was forcing a blackout to escape the unbearable pain.

Was there no other choice?

This seemed to be an unavoidable symptom.

What was clear was that I would rather endure the pain of being near death.

This was pain worse than dying.

So the conclusion is, did I faint? No, not really.

It was painful, but nothing physically damaging actually happened.

It was just a moment of dizziness before returning to normal?

Though I say this, it wasn’t exactly a delightful experience.

Thanks to the White Mask spreading something for me to lie on, I was taking a rest.

Nevertheless, after lying there for a while, the painful energies had nearly dissipated.

Just moments ago, I thought I might actually die.

The White Mask was quietly watching over me.

Her eyes were filled with concern.

“…Did you know it would be this painful?”

“Well… I did expect it to be painful, but it was more than I thought.”

I looked at the white mask hanging on the clothing rack.

This look was different from the usual masked appearance she wore.

It definitely meant that her face had returned to its original state.

A sure sign of good news.

“I didn’t want you to suffer like this just so my face could return.”

“But isn’t it good that it came back?”

“Really, you…”

Hmm.

She didn’t need to look at me with such a distant expression.

On the contrary, I was pleased to know I could also restore the Knight Commander back to her original self.

If I could find out how much stronger I needed to become to withstand the power of the Elite Outsider, I could likely return the Knight Commander to normal too.

Moreover, I would have to pass through some tough trials ahead.

“…Thank you. Rest now.”

With the White Mask faintly smiling, I couldn’t help but smile back.

#

Once my body recovered enough, I returned to the Knights Headquarters with the White Mask.

The expression the Deputy Director made upon seeing the White Mask was so ridiculous I wished to capture it in a photograph, but alas, there were no cameras in this world, and I could only lament.

The Deputy Director nodded with a bright face.

“…So, you’re saying it worked?”

“Yes, Deputy Director.”

“Impressive. I never thought I’d see that face again.”

The Deputy Director looked at the White Mask beside me and said that.

Indeed.

I never expected it would succeed on the first attempt either.

But for some reason, the one herself was oddly bowing her head, and I wondered why.

Could it be that she felt embarrassed to suddenly reveal her concealed face?

It was a beautiful face; she could walk around with more confidence.

“Well, I understand. Thanks to you, I’m getting closer to finding a way to heal the Commander’s condition.”

“That’s right.”

“Truly, Tanton, you’ve put me in your debt beyond what I can repay.”

“Come on, isn’t it people helping one another?”

Hearing my words, the Deputy Director smiled warmly.

After finishing the interim report, I headed straight to the library.

Now was the most crucial moment for information gathering.

The one who knows the most will lead this game to victory.

As soon as I arrived at the branch, I changed into more comfortable clothes and lay down on the bed for a moment, when someone knocked on my door.

At this hour, there was only one person who would knock on my door.

“Asti?”

“Leydan.”

Asti came in after opening the door.

Looking at the clock, I realized it was almost time for lunch.

Hmm.

I wondered if after eating, the food coma would make me reluctant to go to the library.

But then again, if I refused to eat with Asti, she might look disappointed. What should I do?

“Asti, should we go to the library together?”

“The library?”

“Yeah. I need to check something out.”

Asti seemed to understand what I was hinting at.

With a light smile, she nodded and stood up.

“Yes, then I’ll prepare to go out.”

“Right, let’s eat out today.”

It had been a while since I went out alone with Asti.

#

…or so I thought.

“…How did this happen?”

“What’s wrong?”

It was supposed to just be Asti and me at the restaurant.

How did it turn into three people all of a sudden?

“Um, Hunter? What brings you here…?”

“I was on my way to the library.”

“Huh?”

“I heard every domain has a Hunter profession. I just felt the need to investigate this if I’m to learn about my father’s past.”

Well, I get that.

That’s not the real problem, though.

It was that the Hunter’s appearance was quite shocking.

Unlike her usual loose-fitting attire, she now wore shorts that were excessively short, a tight-fitting t-shirt, and her hair was cut much shorter.

The masculine appearance was nowhere to be found, replaced instead by a beautiful, cold look that exuded a certain allure.

And one couldn’t miss that the outfit was overtly appealing in its intent.

“Um, that outfit…”

“Why? I wore this back in the day too.”

Cleverly bringing up dream talk with a hint of guilt, and naturally pretending not to remember.

It seemed Asti had also caught onto what the Hunter was trying to pull.

Even the usually expressionless Asti was looking at the Hunter with a somewhat alert gaze.

Sigh.

My serene outing that I had planned to enjoy…

Had evaporated once again.

 

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