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112th Chapter

A day had passed since that stormy day, and once again, El, Alexandros, and I gathered at the temple.

“There was a reason it took me so long to obtain the information yesterday.”

El spoke heavily.

“I received the information and found it strange, so I had them investigate it several times.”

El, holding some documents, rubbed his forehead. Feeling something unusual, Alexandros and I exchanged glances.

“Where was Leisha’s last known location?”

At my question, El gazed at me intently and sighed.

He swept his bangs aside, and his sky-blue hair fluttered under his large hand.

“Shushu. Do you know someone named Leisha?”

I blinked at the sudden question. Alexandros turned to me with a surprised expression.

“I might know her, but… we’re not exactly acquaintances.”

Since I remember my previous life, I can’t really say I know someone I only learned about unilaterally. I shook my head firmly.

“Then, do any of Shushu’s family know Leisha?”

“As far as I know… no.”

I tilted my head at El’s continuous peculiar questions. There might be details I’m unaware of, but at least no one had mentioned Leisha to me.

“Then… what on earth happened?”

“What do you mean?”

El sighed deeply.

Watching El sulking without providing an explanation, I noticed he presented a document towards me.

“This is the last place Leisha visited. You should recognize it as soon as you see it.”

Receiving the document, I slowly began to read its contents.

And I stiffened.

“…What the hell.”

Seeing my frozen expression, Alexandros became serious as well.

Unable to believe it, I read the address written in the document multiple times, and muttered in disbelief.

“This is… where I used to live.”

The address written in the document was the small house I lived in before becoming Kashmir’s Crisis.

“…This was your home?”

Alexandros asked in a somber tone as he stared blankly at the house. I nodded silently.

Since moving to Crisis Mansion, I hadn’t visited in a long time, and the house looked neglected on the outside. Perhaps that’s why, the already small and worn-down house appeared more shabby.

“…It’s been a while.”

Memories of the days spent here resurfaced.

In this cramped house, two people once lived together. Me, Aria.

And our mother.

“…my mother…”

Now a face I could barely remember. Memories faded as if veiled in a mist.

I was born near a brothel, and when I was about six, we moved here to a regular neighborhood on the outskirts of the capital. I didn’t even know the reason for the sudden move; I just followed my mother to settle here.

“Still, the people in this neighborhood were all kind to me and Aria. In fact, they were so kind it was a bit strange.”

Whenever I wandered around the neighborhood looking for food, the locals would often hand me something, feeling sorry for me.

Though by the time I was seven, such gestures had stopped, they were good people nonetheless.

“But… why are Leisha’s belongings in your house?”

At Alexandros’s sigh-laden question, I snapped back to reality. I sighed as well.

“I have no idea.”

“How frustrating.”

I ruffled my hair in annoyance.

Leisha and I.

Two names having an awkwardly nonexistent connection. I had never met Leisha even once, nor had I been indirectly involved with her.

“Does this mean Aria has some connection to her? No, that doesn’t seem right either.”

Aria was always sick and stayed at home.

To be honest, I was so busy wandering around to earn money that I couldn’t be sure if Aria really stayed home all the time, but at least Aria had never mentioned someone named Leisha.

“When I go home, I should ask Aria if she knows who Leisha is.”

“Let’s head in for now. I need to check as well.”

With my thoughts somewhat sorted out, I headed toward the house. Alexandros followed me, looking frustrated.

“I still have the keys after all this time.”

Since registering at the House of Crisis, I took out the house key that had remained in my pocket.

I thought I could just throw it away since I believed I wouldn’t return, but perhaps out of sentimentality, I had held onto it.

“Did I really have any sentiment left for this house?”

I chuckled incredulously at my own thoughts.

“Not like I have any good memories here.”

The only solace in coming home was seeing Aria, but on the other hand, it meant that Aria was sick the whole time I was here. So now, it was merely a place where I had endured nightmares.

As I pushed away the resurfacing thoughts and prepared to unlock the door with the key—

“…Huh?”

I abruptly froze in my tracks.

The keyhole was already turned.

The door was unlocked.

“I’m sure I locked it.”

When I last visited this house, it was before moving to the Duke’s Mansion, to pack necessary items. I wasn’t foolish enough to have left the door unlocked at that time.

“A skilled individual picked the lock.”

While examining the keyhole, I concluded it was time to channel my mana as I placed my hand on the door slowly.

And my expression hardened.

“Leo. Dampen your presence.”

“What? What suddenly…”

“Right now. Quickly.”

As I urged Leo, who was questioning my sudden order, he seemed to realize something was off and suppressed his presence.

I whispered to Leo, whose expression turned serious.

“Someone’s in the house.”

And it was someone whose presence I recognized.

I hoped fervently that my prediction was wrong, as I silently opened the door while blocking sound with my mana.

“What is this…?”

I widened my eyes at the scene that greeted me.

I heard Leo inhale sharply behind me.

The house looked as if it had been ransacked. Everything was in disarray, and items were scattered haphazardly across the floor.

It seemed someone was searching for something as if they were hunting for rats.

“What are they looking for?”

Frowning, I tried to deduce the intruder’s motive but gave up when I couldn’t find a clue.

There was nothing of value in this poor household. The little that was useful had all been taken when we moved to Crisis Mansion, so this house was as good as empty.

“That way.”

I read the flow of mana and stealthily headed to the familiar presence.

“…Mother’s room.”

The presence was coming from the farthest room in the house, where my mother used to reside.

“Leo. Draw your sword.”

I transmitted a warning to Leo, who nodded and got ready. I quietly drew my sword.

“It seems they’ve noticed too.”

The movement inside the room came to a halt.

The other party was quite skilled. If I felt them, they surely sensed me too.

I stopped right in front of the door. The opponent was also in front of the door.

A strange standoff was continuing, separated by just an old wooden door.

The key would be who burst the balloon of tension first.

Bang!

It was the opponent who struck first.

With the dazzling light of a magic circle, fragments of the wooden door attacked Leo and me. Dust that had settled in the corners of the floor stirred up, engulfing our view.

Swish!

A gust of mana arose, and the opponent moved. I dodged flying debris while swiftly wielding my sword.

“Ugh…”

A faint groan escaped. It was definitely Leo’s.

As the shards of wood fell, and the dust settled, a formation emerged.

“So your new buddy isn’t even worth this mess.”

A low voice, scraping like nails on a chalkboard, reached my ears. The alluring voice immediately grabbed my attention and was incredibly familiar.

I had expected this, yet still hoped it wasn’t true.

“How disgraceful. Are you truly satisfied with such a thing? Shushu.”

Even in the dimness of the room where no lights were on, the violet eyes flashed gleamingly like a beast’s.

It was Zigmund.

“Damn it.”

As I scanned the situation, I bit my lip in frustration.

Anger boiled within me. The way he called my nickname, which I had told him not to use, felt like he was provoking me. I wanted to fight him just as I did yesterday, but now, I couldn’t do that.

Leo had his sword aimed at Zigmund, and I had my sword aimed at Zigmund as well.

“Leo is in danger.”

Though I had a grip on Zigmund’s life, if I attacked him now, he would surely retaliate against Leo.

Unlike Zigmund, who was a Mage Swordsman, Leo was merely a Sword Expert. If Zigmund unleashed his combination of magic and swordsmanship against Leo, he would undoubtedly get hurt.

Seeing blood seep from Leo’s neck, where the sword was aimed, I glared coldly at Zigmund.

“…Looks like yesterday’s pounding wasn’t enough for you. Here you are again.”

I tried to keep my tone as gentle as possible, given Leo was in danger, but it didn’t work out as I hoped. Just seeing Zigmund twisted my insides.

With dull eyes, Zigmund observed Leo, then smirked at my jab.

“Ah. Yesterday was quite exhilarating after all. But it’s hard to admit that I went before you. I came here first; you should say you came to find me.”

I wrinkled my brow at Zigmund’s composed words, finding them oddly unsettling.

“You’re breaking into my house and saying that? What kind of nonsense is that?”

No matter how he tried to claim he was there first, breaking into my house and claiming I came to find him was the height of absurdity.

“I thought my coming here was my objective… but it wasn’t?”

No matter how much we were once friends, I had never given Zigmund my address. But just a moment ago, I expected him to wreck my house for revenge after somehow finding out where I lived.

But it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“…This is your house?”

Zigmund looked a bit flustered, as if he hadn’t realized this was my home.

“So my goals are unrelated to this place.”

I tried to remain calm while interpreting the unexpected situation, but I still couldn’t figure it out.

“What on earth is Zigmund doing in this old house?”

While the truth was uncertain, one thing was clear: he spoke of being a knight of the Keypros family.

Given his close ties to the high-ranking Count family, he shouldn’t be lacking resources, so I couldn’t understand why he was rummaging through my house as if he were a thief.

“Why is this… damn it. I should have figured out who the home owner was.”

Zigmund, who was equally confused, grumbled and sighed.

“This is an unexpected situation… but whatever the case, I need to take something from here.”

“…Are you saying you’re going to commit theft right in front of the homeowner? You think I’d just let you do that?”

I looked at him with eyes losing all understanding. Even if what he wanted was the trash from the bathroom, I had no intention of giving him anything.

“Stealing? Between us? Let’s say I’m just borrowing something.”

“Oh, then can I borrow your organs too? A lung and a heart, then I’ll sell them and pay you back with the money. If you’re still alive by then, of course.”

I glared at him with a snarl. Tension danced between Zigmund and me.

“Sorry, but how could you claim this is just borrowing?”

It was Leo’s voice that cut through the sharp exchange.

Distracted by Zigmund, I turned back to Leo. He appeared to be narrowing his eyes, instinctively wary of Zigmund while seeming to not grasp the full situation.

“Ah, sorry. He’s just leftover trash. We’ll finish this soon…”

“Are you Shushu’s companion?”

Zigmund interrupted and cast his unfeeling violet gaze upon Leo. Leo’s expression turned frigid.

“There’s no need for you to know.”

“You’re raising quite the nasty temper.”

With Zigmund’s scorned muttering, Leo’s demeanor grew more aggressive.

Maybe he realized Zigmund was an opponent he couldn’t defeat, so wisely, he didn’t charge at him, but I didn’t think Zigmund would simply stay idle with that nasty temper.

“I’m curious about your skills, but I’m busy today. I’ll just take what I need and go.”

“That crazy bastard…”

Even though I didn’t know what he intended to take, I wasn’t about to let him walk away easily.

Swish!

I infused my sword with aura, aiming it at Zigmund, who openly proclaimed he was there to steal. The volatile mana radiated around, and the dark, shimmering aura threatened Zigmund’s neck menacingly.

“Stop screwing around and show your left hand.”

Zigmund was gripping something in his left hand. I was convinced that was his target.

“…Damn.”

Sighing, Zigmund slowly opened his left hand.

‘…A leather pouch?’

What lay in his palm was a finely embroidered leather pouch decorated with silver wolves on its surface. I started to open it, thinking that might be what he wanted.

Bang!

An explosive wave of mana erupted. I turned in shock towards its source.

“Hand that over to me.”

It was none other than Leo, who looked like he had lost his mind.

 

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