Business trip (1)

Skadi brought up the story of her past in front of me for the first time.

Leaning on the sofa in the office where the sun was setting, she opened her mouth with a rare calm voice.

“My story. Is it okay if it’s a little longer?”

“When did you care about that?”

“Ha! Oh, it’s okay to be considerate!”

She grunted, paused as if choosing what to say, then continued with difficulty.

“… my world ended 22 years ago.”

Skadi’s world.

It is said that the dimension named ‘Rendier’ is originally a world of beautiful snow with snowfields and tundra.

A world filled with comfort and peace, where nomads who enjoy wearing fur clothes wander leisurely in the snowy fields.

It was a world where there was nothing to plunder, where the sound of sleds sliding over the snowy field was all the noise.

However, the Witchbeast trampled on it just because it was one of the human habitats.

Rendier was destroyed in an instant due to the invasion of demonic beasts, and now only gray skies and endless snowstorms have transformed into a land of death.

“…It was the army of one of the commanders, ‘Balthazar the Shadow King’, that attacked Rendire.”

Balthazar’s army, which appeared with darkness, swallowed Rendire in an instant.

His army was a ghost army that was impervious to physical force, and the natives of Rendire, who were made up of a small number of nomadic tribes, were killed by them without a single resistance.

It took less than ten days for Rendire to perish at the hands of Balthazar.

“And I was the only survivor there.”

“Have you succeeded in evacuating?”

“It’s similar. I lived in the Mage Tower at the time.”

Unlike Earth, Rendire had wizards, and the underdeveloped nomadic world highly valued wizards who would serve as a link to the central plane.

Skadi had outstanding magical talents from a young age, and had to go to the Mage Tower as if she were being sold after strict instructions from adults.

“You are the hope of our family~ The hope of the tribe~ I grew up listening to this a lot. Huh. Isn’t that too much for a 5-year-old?”

“okay.”

“I’m sorry I was young back then. If it were now, I’d have burned everything with lightning.”

Skadi cursed at her family and tribe for ten minutes.

It is said that she had to learn magic without sleeping well, and if she complained even a little or did not achieve anything, she would be beaten immediately.

There was never a day when the traces of fatigue and tears would be erased from her eyes, and she said she was under a lot of stress.

At that time, it was said that playing around in the Mage Tower was the only stress reliever.

“Usually, family members and tribes went through rites to tell them all to die. Did they even pray with water on their bedside?”

“·······.”

“I hated that so much back then…”

Phew.

She let out a self-deprecating sigh.

“It’s funny. Since everyone is really dying, they’re not happy, they’re just babbling. But they’re family and hometowns…”

Skadi, leaning on the sofa, curled up and hugged her tail tightly.

“It would have been nice if he had given me a compliment and died.”

“·······.”

A voice full of love.

She seemed to be trying hard to hide it, but the unrequited love and hatred of her childhood couldn’t be suppressed by suppressing it.

“Well. It was from then. I started working as a hunter… and wandered around the battlefield to look after Baltazar’s kids.”

“Is that why you applied for the battlefield a while ago?”

“That’s right. The purpose of the study was also half.”

At the time, the wyvern I killed said they were under Balthazar.

No matter how hard Skadi is an active hunter and research spirit, I wanted to go to a place that was too dangerous, but it seems that it was because the opponent was Balthazar’s army.

“Honestly, it’s a cheap hometown even if it’s ruined. That’s true! But isn’t this the case? There’s someone else to be angry with, but you want to get hit by the wrong guy?”

“·······.”

“My goal is to kill Balthazar. But that’s absolutely impossible for me, right?”

No one had ever killed the commander of the Witchbeast.

He did not think that he, as a mere mortal, could do something that even the Constellation could not do.

I don’t know if she reaches the 10th circle, the ultimate circle, but her growth is currently stagnant at the 8th circle.

“I thought it was impossible, but it wasn’t. You did it, right?”

“·······.”

“To kill the commander of the beast, you need something called the sympathetic nervous system, right?”

“Yes.”

Even if you don’t fully understand the sympathetic nervous system, you can catch the beast.

Locating the enemy general requires only infiltrating the nervous system.

However, in order to undo the commander’s mighty leadership, to break through the cracks of the enormous army, and to withstand the power of the leader’s enormous mental wave.

A fully developed sympathetic nervous system is essential.

“You know. Do you have that new weapon you took? Did you know that you used something similar when you invaded our dimension?”

“···no.”

You’ve used that reinterpretation device before?

It’s a story I’ve never heard of.

“Of course, the one I used at that time was a prototype, so it was disposable, and the range was weak enough to reach only one battlefield, but…the principle itself is the same as the current one.”

A demonic reinterpretation device that amplifies and regenerates cultivated demonia.

It was tested on several battlefields, including her dimension, and eventually developed into a monster capable of spreading mind waves across all dimensions.

“…The purpose of the research was to catch Baltazar after all.”

“Ahahahaha. That’s it!”

Was it because of this that he ran away so coldly?

It seems that her purpose was to intercept the weapon created at the expense of her hometown.

It was unintentional, but I had intercepted the object that would be the material for her long-cherished wish.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you needed that.”

“It’s okay~ You couldn’t help it then, right? If it wasn’t for you, the wire itself would have been pushed.”

“It’s okay,” she said, shaking his head.

Because of his easy-going personality, I didn’t pay much attention to him.

“So by the way…”

And then, he gets up from the sofa and hesitantly walks towards me.

“In my dimension, I have a few prototypes left. It’s based on the sympathetic nervous system of the ghosts, so it will definitely help you.”

Only then did I know if Skadi was asking me to go to that dangerous world.

She wants me to complete the sympathetic nervous system and speed up the time to catch Baltazar.

I couldn’t do it myself, but I thought I could.

“I know it’s a difficult request. I’ll do anything for real! So just once!”

The back is bent.

“Come with me to my world…!”

I, for a moment, had to choose what to say.

Skadi has a high ego.

Her personality is as easygoing as she is, and she has a strong sense of self-love.

The fact that she bowed her head like this while asking for a favor meant that it was a long-cherished wish that made her proud.

“Keep your head up. It’s not nice to see a professor like that.”

“·······.”

“Let’s go together.”

“Really!?”

“Yes.”

There’s nothing wrong with helping Skadi.

After all, she’s a 8th Circle wizard and a SS-ranked Hunter.

And the prototype of the magic reinterpretation machine also attracted attention.

Maybe, with the reinterpretation machine I have, I might get a clue to implanting Maria’s half-self.

When I reached that point, there was nothing to hold back.

“thanks!!”

“Yes.”

They said that the horns were also cut for sweetness.

I was getting ready to leave, but she hesitated and twisted herself in front of me.

“·······?”

What.

Do you still have something to say?

“What is it?”

“Hey… can you give me your hand for a moment?”

“why.”

“Ah! Give me some! It’s not something that wears out.”

“·······.”

He quietly held out his hand.

Then Skadi’s tail approached, wrapped itself around my hand, and waved it up and down.

“…a tail-to-tail handshake is the greatest sign of trust.”

Then, he blushes and smiles softly.

“Heh. I’ll take good care of you?”

“···Yes.”

I silently looked at the tail wrapped around my hand.

As I’ve heard before, it was very soft to the touch.

*

same time.

Ensia, who was spending time at Vega’s mansion on vacation, was staring at her watch with a sullen face.

Cynthia’s face appeared on the wristwatch that turned on the video call.

-Ency. You look in a bad mood today. What’s going on···?

“Uug. I was cheated on by the professor.”

-Yes···?

Cynthia raised a question mark at the unexpected news.

“You know? I told the professor I’d be visiting in a few days? But…”

Encia’s hesitation stretched.

Not long ago, Ensia, who had been to Earth with Kang Yu-jin, was convinced that Kang Yu-jin was the owner of the image dwelling in the winter forest.

The person that Ancia decided to give her divinity to.

It would have been possible to talk right away, but she put the term ‘a few days’ anyway.

A covenant to share divinity.

It is a holy contract between the souls of the other party and the angel race.

No matter how much Encia you are, you need to prepare your mind.

So I went to Kang Yoo-jin after making up my mind for about five days, but what is this?

He had already left for Awencal and was away.

-It can’t be helped… You’re a busy person.

“I know that too…”

Ansia knows. That the professor is an incredibly busy person.

I normally divide my time into minutes and move around, but it didn’t seem like I would have enough time just because it was vacation.

Estelle told me that this business trip was also for business discussions with the Mage Tower.

– And this time, your real history was also revealed…

“Uh… was that really a shock?”

A man who killed the commander of the Demonic Beast Army and ended the war.

When I witnessed with my own two eyes the issue that the media has been talking about day after day, it was as if my head stopped in shock.

I usually thought he was just a great professor, but I couldn’t imagine that he was hiding such a history.

“Shinnie. You know what? Estelle said she already knew that.”

-Uh…Really? Well… since Estelle’s grandfather is the chairman of Helios’ board…

Kang Yoo-jin’s career has been put on the highest security level, ‘black’.

Those who could see both Gun and Helios could count them on their hands, but they would have been able to read the family head of Altair, the chairman of the board.

Of course, she would have told her granddaughter, Estelle, too, so it wasn’t unusual for her to know Kang Yu-jin’s history.

“It would have been nice if you could have tipped me off before going to the Magic Tower.”

– I understand. Since the professor has been researching the rotary body kit for a long time, he must not have had time to spare.

“Huh? A long time ago? How do you know that?”

-I read the professor’s thesis every time…

The ‘multi-parameterization thesis’, which became the premise of the rotating body kit, has been updated with revisions since then.

Cynthia bought and read veritas journals every time a revised edition came out.

“Wow, you read all of that? My head hurts so I can’t read it…”

-Ugh… But before the professor left, he said he stayed at the research institute for a few days.

“You were in the lab?”

-yes. I had to go to school a few times to pay for tuition, and I ran into him once.

I bumped into you, but you told me you were there for a few days.

Do you have any special relationship?

-It’s not like that. I just asked…

“ah.”

I ask. yes. why didn’t i think of that

Until now, I’ve lived almost spontaneously, so I’ve never cared about that.

Other people waited for me as long as they knew I was Vega, so I didn’t feel the need…

Ensia said with a heartache for no reason.

“But I also needed to prepare my mind. I’m offering you a one-time divinity.”

-Yeah…But I feel like the professor will reject it for some reason.

“Yes why?”

-That’s… isn’t it a pretty big ceremony to exchange divinity?

Ansia nodded.

It is a ceremony in which the souls of each other unite.

Although the process was simple, the meaning was never light.

For angels, it’s because they’re looking for someone to serve eternal life.

-This may be a bit rude, but…

“Yeah! It’s okay. I won’t be angry.”

I look at the screen of my wristwatch with my spleen eyes.

Cynthia on the other side hesitated, then spoke with difficulty.

-I think I should do such a ceremony after getting closer.

“How close am I to the professor-“

Encia, who was about to give a bold answer, hesitated.

I thought hard.

Is it really close?

How much do I know about the professor?

‘Professor of Mathematics. A master of skill and mastery of the mind. But this is a fact everyone knows…’

A colleague is a demon and died during the war.

It’s pretty personal information, but it’s not too surprising now that his biography has been made public.

If you look at the war records, it’s also vaguely clear when his comrades were killed.

“Uh…”

What else is there?

What do you like? What are your hobbies? As for other memories…

“Eh… I know almost nothing about the professor… Come to think of it, I don’t even know his face yet.”

I thought I knew a lot about him, but looking back, I knew nothing.

I just had that kind of misunderstanding after watching lectures and stuff for a long time.

Encia didn’t know his past, the purpose of the research, or the reason why he hated witches.

I just found out about the recent events by following the ice.

“Uh…”

Looking back, I didn’t really want to know who he was while thinking about the important issue of giving divinity.

Kang Yoo-jin’s history is also the same.

Since her family, Vega, was also a great aristocrat belonging to the 3rd family, it would have been possible if she had tried to obtain information about Kang Yu-jin.

The reason he didn’t do that was because Ancia wasn’t interested in it.

“·······.”

-Ency…

I just thought we could become friends.

If you stay by my side, you’ll know for sure.

Divinity is good, so I thought I could just share it with him.

To be honest, I’ve never really thought deeply about the soul contract…

I thought that was enough interest… but it wasn’t.

There was nothing to be discovered on its own. He had never tried to find out about Kang Yu-jin.

see this again

I just made a somewhat rude request to a busy person who said he would visit me in a few days.

And Kang Yoo-jin actually could have gone straight to the Magic Tower, but he said that he stayed in the lab for a few more days.

He must have remembered what Ensia said and waited for her.

Then, since Ensia didn’t come, couldn’t it be that she left for something that couldn’t be postponed any longer…?

It might not be Kang Yoo-jin who caught the wind, but herself.

“Wow… I was such a bad kid…”

-That, I didn’t mean it that way…

“No. Thanks to you, I woke up.”

I had an opportunity to look back on my past life, a little out of the blue.

“Ugh…”

This is the first time ever.

When I thought about it closely, there were so many things to consider in the divine contract.

“…I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to ask the professor for advice.”

I clenched my fists and smiled broadly at Cynthia on the other side.

“Thank you! Cini, you are the best counselor of all time!”

Cynthia just smiled awkwardly.

-I didn’t do anything-

– Oh clothes? What? Do you have video calls with your friends!? Oh my gosh!

-Ah… Ah! sister! This is so…!

– You finally have a friend like this! Hello! I’m Cynthia’s sister Karina! Thank you so much for getting along with my brother!

– Enshi! Turn it off, I’ll hang up!!

Looking at the disconnected call, Ensia burst out laughing.

We had met once before, but Karina’s tension was always lively.

“Puheop. That unnie is still the same~”

After getting out of bed, I hurriedly changed my clothes after a quick stretch.

There is no time to delay like this.

I heard that the professor returned to school yesterday.

I didn’t visit it for no reason, but I thought I should go now.

before it’s too late!

“Aja! Get to know the professor!”

Let’s go and have a more honest talk.

Ancia’s steps toward the academy were light.

And, it was an hour later when I heard that Yujin Kang had left with Skadi by a short distance.