âIâm giving you my seat as the Head of the household.â
Yeriel grew speechless. Her lips had stopped cursing me entirely. I found it adorable, the way she blinked in confusion, her mouth puffing as she tried to make sense of what I just said and reply to me at the same time.
âYouâŚyouâre lying!â Ariel spat the words out, barely managing to compose even that short sentence.
âYour manner of speaking still has no class or elegance to it.â
ââŚThatâs a lie!â
âThatâs a little better.â
ââŚSee! Thatâs a lie as well!â
I shook my head at her reply. She still seemed unable to believe me.
âI donât lie.â
ââŚâ
Only then did her hands start to shake. Her eyes began roaming around the room, seemingly looking for something.
âPenâŚI-I need a pen and paperâŚmemorandumâŚwrite a memorandum right now.â
âYou have no dignity.â
âSee, thatâsâŚâ
âA lie? Iâd have already cut off your finger before you could point it at me and say that. Would it not be better if I just take an oath?â
ââŚâ
An oath was far more significant to a wizard than to ordinary people. Simply put, it was no different from applying a memory-based magic spell that would bind their souls to the promise they took. Breaking it would either result in their death or the loss of their power.
âReallyâŚwill you really?â
âYes.â
âNo, this doesnât make any sense. Why? Why are you suddenly doing this?â
Naturally, I couldnât say that it was to soothe her anger and remove future death variables. Yeriel found my decision too sudden, making it hard for her to trust my words. However, it wasnât that big of a deal. I would one day turn over my position to her anyway; all I did was push forward that eventâs date.
âFrom now on, Iâll be focusing on my research on magic. I wonât have time to attend to my duties as the head of the household. Hence, I deduced that this is the best possible move for everyoneâs interests, considering youâve already mastered the art of lordship anyway, at least to some extent.â
âYou only realized that now?â
âIâve known about it for a while. I was just testing you.â
Deep in thought, she wiggled and soon shook her head with a scream.
âTest?! Iâm the one who should be testing you!â
âIf you donât want to believe me, donât.â
ââŚâ
Ariel moistened her lips, then, still in doubt, slowly looked at me.
âTheâŚthe succession ceremonyâŚw-when are we doingâŚit?â
She stuck her tongue out at the end, like an actual little sister, which I found cute. I hadnât given any thought to that event at all yet. Hence, I just made up an answer on the spot.
âYouâll know when the time is right.â
As if she understood my point immediately, she nodded along.
âIn three years. Exception Day.â
ââŚâ
I didnât know what she meant, but I just went along with it since she looked so serious. Pondering to herself, she gathered the things she brought with her. On the bed were a dagger and a pistol, which I thought meant, âToday was going to be the day I murdered you.â
âYouâre leaving already?â
âOf course! A certain someone spent 200 million at an auction, after all. I have to go earn back what we lost.â
She often screamed at me out of nowhere, but the embers from her voice had died down now. The Yukline Household would one day transcend 200 million. I was certain of that.
Our territory was called Hadekain, which was a continent rich with fertile soil. Its location had mountains surrounding its borders with rivers running along the middle, making it worthy of being called a Holy Ground. On top of that, our political position was ridiculously good.
We werenât high enough in the system to reach the Imperial Family, but we also werenât so far that we lacked any means of communication either. This Holy Ground continued to develop with those advantages, attracting both local wizards and knights. Only the Iliade and the Leviron households could become our opponents, but Iliadeâs area was too small, and Leviron was too far.
The Head of Yukline was a position far above everyone around us.
âOh right, youâŚâ As she was about to leave, Yeriel stopped by the door. ââŚbetter not change your mind later.â
âWhat?â
ââŚIâm not making you take an oath because of my littleâŚfaithâŚin youâŚâ Barely finishing the sentence with her diminishing voice, she stopped abruptly at the door.
âIf youâre lying, then even I donât know whatâs going to happen nextâŚthis moment can make or break our family. You know that, right? Iâm already considered a lord by the people, after all.â
I knew that all too well. Sheâd probably poison my food or drink if I went back on my word.
âBelieve me. Itâs not a lie.â
ââŚHmmph.â
Ariel put her dagger and gun in her bag.
ââŚâ
She then continued to stare at me, this time in silence, but I didnât avoid her gaze. Yeriel soon grabbed the door and turned to glance at me one last time as she was about to leave.
âI still donât believe you. I doubt youâd do it. I meanâŚâ
âIâll take an oath right now.â
ââŚDonât need it.â
She turned the doorknob, opened the door, and walked out of the room.
âYeriel.â
I caught her just as she was about to go down the stairs. Turning around, she looked like she was curious about what I had to say and seemed almost afraid that I might go back on my promise.
ââŚWhat is it?â
I didnât know what I was supposed to say to her. I just impulsively called out to her. However, I didnât feel satisfied with just eliminating the death variable. I wanted to take it a step further. I didnât want to live like Deculein using the systemâs [Personality] as an excuse. Although it certainly bound me, it wasnât a shackle I couldnât escape.
Hence, to reach my goals, at the very least, and for me to remain as Kim Woojin and not become Deculein, I had to personally mend this characterâs already damaged relationshipsâŚ
âYou should at least eat before you leave. Youâll grow hungry on the road otherwise.â
âŚI felt goosebumps all over my body as I affectionately said those words, which took courage to do. That act alone deviated from the characterâs core itself. Yeriel flinched upon hearing them, her round eyes shaking as if she saw a ghost.
âNo! No way! No! Donât spout such weird things out of the blue! I donât know what happened to you, but I have to go now!â
Yeriel was screaming.
Ting tang, ting tangâ!
She rushed down the stairs like an eager elementary school student.
âIâm going! Get the car ready!â
Eventually, her clamor reached the first floor.
âHmmm.â
[The Villainâs Fate: You have overcome a Death Flag.]
And I, after received money from the store as a reward. The total amount I had in it was now six won. The System Store was currently accessible, butâŚ
ââŚI feel like a mess.â
I was out of my mind. Only about fifteen minutes had elapsed since I had arrived home, but I felt like I had been here for hours. What kind of storm just went by? I closed the door and stretched my arms out in the air.
âThatâs interesting.â
I was about to sit with a glass of wine in hand when a strange voice came out of nowhere. I felt flustered, but at the same time, I felt strangely calm.
âI know Iâve said this before, but no matter how surprised I internally am, I just canât express it externally. Itâs such a mysterious yet efficient disposition.â
ââŚJust saying that Iâm here,â The voice replied, sounding a little sharp.
Not long after, a breeze entered the room through the moonlit window frames. Unable to stop me, I looked in the direction it came from.
âSo something like this happened.â
Ganesha, a beautiful woman with unraveled fiery-red hair, looked at me with a playful smile. I frowned faintly at her in reply.
âAn uninvited guest appears.â
âIâm sorry. I am, but the Professor is handing over his seat as the head of the household? Are you trying to change?â
Why was this adventurer sticking her nose in another householdâs business?
âOh, thatâs right. Yukline isnât my household.â
I calmly answered her.
âI just think sheâll do better than me.â
Still in doubt, Ganesha murmured, âReally? I can see where youâre coming from, butâŚthe fact that sheâs not your real sister still exists.â
ââŚâ
Her words disconcerted me for a moment, but according to the setting, Yeriel was my half-sibling, so she had a point.
âShe doesnât have a drop of Yukline blood in her.â
ââŚâ
I didnât know what she was talking about.
âŚSeriously, what did she mean? I didnât think there was a setting like this, but if there was, then when was it added? Or was this what writers called a minor twist?
âAre you going to keep acting like that?â
I felt blessed to have Deculeinâs personality whenever I was in situations like this. No matter how shocking the words he heard were, even if someone held a knife to his neck, not even a single drop of cold sweat would roll down his forehead.
âYou solicited me first, Professor. You and your sisterâŚare you in that kind of circumstances?â
Silently, I looked at Ganesha, and she smiled naively at me.
âDidnât I tell my men to let you know three months ago?â
I looked for the right words inside my head, repeating the process of creating and dismantling sentences over and over again.
Boomâboomâboomâ
Letters flew between my left and right brains. I had no obligation or responsibility to tell her anything or explain anything to her, but I didnât want Yeriel to lose her lordship. I had to shut Ganesha up.
âEven soâŚâ
With that purpose, I haphazardly spewed out words.
ââŚYeriel is still Yeriel.â
âŚI had not such a reason in the first place, after all.
ââŚâ
Silence fell upon us for a moment, followed by a suffocating sound. Ganesha suddenly exclaimed.
She looked at me with her eyes wide open and simply said, âWow.â
Ganesha brushed her bangs back, and I noticed goosebumps on the back of her hand.
âI didnât know youâd react like this, ProfessorâŚ.â
That was because I didnât even know it would be like this. I didnât know at all.
âFine. Iâll keep your secret.â
As I was buzzing mentally, Ganesha clenched her fists. It made her look adorably small.
âOh, and Iâll tell you this, too. Yuksadoo is mindful of you, Professor. You know him, right?â
Yuksadoo was the head of the Sixth Snake, one of the most notorious criminal gangs in the continent, with bounties in the millions.
âTheyâre after what you bought at the auction house. Of course, Routen will deliver it safely since if the item is taken while itâs still in their possession, itâll also be a huge problem for them. However, you best be careful after it arrives.â
Ganesha put her forefinger up.
âI donât think youâve been putting up sufficient magical defenses these days. Thatâs extremely careless of you. Make sure to put up more powerful ones and rebuild the mansionâs magical security system as reliable and impenetrable as it used to be.â
ââŚI understand.â
Ganesha clasped her hands together after I replied.
âI truly do apologize about today. I didnât mean to eavesdropâŚI wonât let this happen again.â
ââŚGanesha,â I called her name and looked at her with unwavering eyes.
âYes? Why?â
âIf, and only if, someone is after YerielâŚâ
I had to do this as a precaution. If Deculein tried to do something to Yeriel three months agoâŚif I did something I wasnât aware ofâŚI had to ask Ganesha to cover it up.
âAhâŚâ
Ganesha smiled abruptly, her lips resembling the moonlight. The mystery that surrounded her left me speechless.
ââŚDonât worry. Thatâs not going to happen.â
Whiiiingâ
The wind blew, causing the curtains covering the window frame she was leaning against to flutter. When the air settled down, she had vanished.
ââŚHa.â
My upright posture grew disheveled as soon as her presence disappeared. I haphazardly brushed through my hair. Yeriel. I thought she was my half-sister, but we werenât even blood-related. I clasped my hands at the back of my neck and looked up at the ceiling.
âIt was a truth I didnât have to know.â
Nothing wouldâve changed even after I learned of it, after all. Now that I thought about it, there was no such thing as a twist for me. It was unexpected, but I didnât find it that big of a deal. I wasnât Deculein in the first place, so whether or not Yeriel was his real sister wouldnât be enough to make me alter my attitude towards her. I decided to bury this information deep in my mind.
For me, Yeriel was still Deculeinâs little sister, whom I held sentiments for. She was a pretty cute kid. Ganesha was tight-lipped, ensuring that this secret would be kept for a long timeâŚ
*****
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a housing complex in the outskirts of the systemâŚ
âProfessorâŚchanged a lot. How can a person change so much? Or perhapsâŚis someone using the Professorâs face as a disguise?â
Ganesha reminisced about the scene as she sat on a slanted crimson brick wall. It was an intense and memorable meeting that she wouldnât be able to forget.
âYou were right. The Professor has a human side to him.â
Her henchman, Lohan, answered.
ââŚYou treat him differently just because heâs handsome. The whole world knows how much of a dimwit you are now. Even back when the first mission came, you fell for him the moment you saw his face.â
âCan I rip your ugly face oďŹ, then? I just didnât have enough money then. The debt collector took it, so I had no choice.â
The âRed Garnett Adventure Team,â the group she was currently with, had five members: three men and two women. The other woman in their party had set oďŹ on a long journey to book a residence for them.
âAh, right. You know this is a secret, right? You have to keep your mouth shut about this until you die. Disclosing this will equate to betraying my faith in you as an adventurer. I also wonât consider you my colleague anymore, and I will kill you with my own hands.â
âOf course! Weâre human too. Anyone whoâll spill our secrets is no better than a dog.â
âDozmu? I need you to promise, too.â
The man wearing a hoodie nodded with a yawn.
âIn any caseâŚâ
Ganesha scowled at her cheeky subordinate and stared at the far-oďŹ Yukline mansion. The curtain already blocked the window where she entered. Regardless, Deculein still looked attractive. He was so human.
âYeriel is still YerielâŚâ
She recited it in her head exactly like a poemâŚ
âŚIf it were in the past, she wouldâve dismissed it as a funny play. Now, however, Deculein had no less than promised the seat to Yeriel. It puzzled her how he could give it to someone who wasnât even related to him by blood and had entirely no connection to the Yukline household. It was a progressive decision that he couldnât even be proud of.
ââŚAnyway, Deculein doesnât have to be on guard anymore. I donât think heâs obsessed with the âchildren.'â
âYes. Thatâs right.â
âWhat has he been doing secretly, then?â
Ganesha held on to the chimney on the roof as she saw a wild boar wailing. Lohan pointed it out.
âItâs crying.â
âI know. Weâre looking at the same scene, arenât we?â
âItâs crying because heâs emotional.â
ââŚPhew. He looks like a big bandit.â
After letting out a sigh, Ganesha laid on the roof and looked at the dark and bright sky. The moon was always notably larger during nights like this. A clear and cool breeze brushed by her, and she soon found herself looking at a landscape that seemed like it would disappear without a momentâs notice. She went as far as going through the trouble to look for Deculein. No, she was still keeping watch on him.
It was to confirm if she still had lingering attachments for the âArchipelagoâs Talent.â
Of course, she couldnât ask if he was still looking for magic slaves directly, but depending on the answer sheâd get, she might have to turn against Deculein. He seemed intent on changing his ways, though. She didnât know what the change of heart was for or where it came from, but it wasnât so bad.
âWhat did Reylie say? Has she found a place to stay with the kids?â
Soon, the children would arrive by boat. Ganesha was looking forward to it, but at the same time, she was worried. The childrenâs talents were needed to fight against âthem,â but if âwarâ was the main purpose of their training, then she wondered if training them was the right choice in the first place.
From a moral point of view, it wasnât. They were still kids, after all. However, if doing so would allow them to save tens, hundreds, even millions of lives once they had grown up, then it was undoubtedly the right option.
âYes. Thatâs why we donât have any more money.â Lohan replied.
Ganeshaâs veins nearly popped out of her temple when she heard his words.
âWhat? Stop joking around.â
âItâs the truth.â
âNo, how on earth are we still broke despite the number of missions weâve already completed? Did you embezzle? Just be upfront about it.â
âHave you forgotten that we canceled the Deculein mission and paid a huge amount to compensate for it?â
âOh. RightâŚâ
Ganesha clicked her tongue and shook her head in disagreement.
âHooooâŚI think itâs time to go back.â
âLetâs go. Hang in there, guys.â
Lohan called the boar and Dozmu over. They huddled together, and as soon as Lohan knocked on the ground, the four turned into blue particles and were âtransmittedâ somewhere.
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