〈 Chapter 84 〉 Let’s Talk

*

As soon as I opened my eyes, I found myself again under the great tree.

Looking around, thankfully, Yusera was nowhere to be seen.

Honestly, I had thought I might get rejected, so I was relieved in many ways that that wasn’t the case.

‘It means they’re either truly bold or have decided to act boldly.’

Well, considering they’re gods, I thought they had nothing to fear from me.

For some reason, even though they couldn’t influence the outside world, it was true that they were acting like deities within their trials.

It was a mystery whether they would be straightforward with me or not…

‘It doesn’t hurt to ask.’

I squinted at the great tree.

Then I heard a voice.

­What’s the matter? Allen Pleuk.

“I have something to ask.”

­Do you want me to erase Yusera’s memory?

It seemed that was possible, after all.

But there was no need to erase her memory.

What I wanted to ask was much more important.

“Since last winter, all connections with the Divine Seats have been severed. Do you know anything about this?”

I didn’t rely too much on Sung Yoo-rang anyway, so it didn’t concern me greatly.

But for the others who relied on the Divine Seats, it was a different story.

And beyond that…

‘The whole Divine Seat system itself is questionable.’

Coincidentally, all the characters I had met so far had been connected to a Divine Seat.

At first, I thought it was just a coincidental meeting.

But isn’t it said that when coincidences repeat, they become inevitable?

‘At this point, it’s getting weird.’

I was starting to get curious about what the hell was going on.

And the only ones who might know were the gods.

In particular…

­I’m sorry. That matter pertains to the God of Chains, so I don’t know anything about it.

The God of Chains.

I needed that guy.

As the one who had connected Sung Yoo-rang and me through the ability ‘Absolute Obedience,’ I expected there would be a connection, and it seemed I was right.

“Then please summon the God of Chains.”

However, the nameless god was silent for a moment.

For some reason, he seemed to be troubled.

After waiting a bit, a voice came from the void again.

­That’s difficult.

“What do you mean by difficult?”

Up until now, he had jumped out naturally in other gods’ trials.

Was there some reason he couldn’t come out now?

I started to suspect even more.

­He has just finished a task and has entered a short rest period.

Moreover, to be working at a time like this.

That could only mean one thing.

“Is this task perhaps related to cutting the connections with the Divine Seats?”

­No, it’s not that. It could be said it’s the opposite.

“The opposite means… that the task emerged due to the severance of connections with the Divine Seats?”

­Yes… However, I cannot inform you of the content of that task, as it is not within my jurisdiction.

If it wasn’t about severing connections with the Divine Seats, then what kind of task was it?

Thinking back to what he had said before, it must be a quite significant task for him to have gone into a rest period.

Yet this nameless god didn’t seem willing to tell me what the task entailed.

“So when will this rest period end?”

How on earth did the connections with the Divine Seats get severed, and what exactly was the content of the task he had undertaken?

Ultimately, the only way to find out was to ask the God of Chains directly.

All I could do was pray that the rest period wouldn’t last too long.

­It would take at least six months for him to regain the voice to be able to speak to you briefly.

Six months?

That felt faster than I expected, but it was by no means a short period.

‘At least it’s fortunate that I can freely use the trials here during that time.’

I had signed a contract with this nameless god until I graduated from Hero Academy.

Until then, I could enter the trials as much as I wanted.

­I apologize for not being able to help. However, one thing I can tell you is that it is definitely a task for this world.

It was an apology in a manner quite different from the other gods until now.

But whether it’s for this world or whatever, that’s something I need to experience and judge for myself.

I said to him,

“Then please let me know when the God of Chains wakes up and I enter the trial.”

There was no way I could force them to do anything.

For now, I decided it was best to withdraw here.

Saying I would withdraw when there was nothing I could do to the god was a bit amusing, but…

­Thank you for your understanding.

Understanding, my foot.

I gazed at the upper part of the great tree, where the God of Chains always appeared.

“Then please send me back now.”

*

‘Damn it.’

I tried to sort out the increasingly complicated thoughts in my head as I walked out of the lake.

“Sung Yoo-rang?”

Time hadn’t passed while I was talking to the god under the great tree.

That meant Yusera and I had likely emerged from the trial almost simultaneously.

But it seemed Yusera had noticed that my state was a bit different from when I was just about to come out of the trial.

“Did anything happen?”

“No, nothing happened. I’m just a little tired.”

I tried to make an excuse.

Fortunately, Yusera seemed to buy my words.

More than believing my excuse, it seemed she didn’t feel the need to suspect me.

“Let’s hurry back. It’s getting late.”

We had already far exceeded curfew.

Especially since the trials were originally not to be used by ordinary students outside of class times.

We needed to be a bit discreet.

I pulled Night’s Shadow out of my inventory.

Yusera didn’t seem surprised by my actions anymore.

It seemed she had come to accept whatever I did.

I held Night’s Shadow in my right hand and extended my left hand to Yusera.

“Can I hold your hand for a moment?”

I needed contact to apply the effect of Night’s Shadow.

But for some reason, Yusera, who had been calm until now, showed a slightly different reaction.

She seemed surprised.

Ah.

Now that I think about it, asking to hold hands suddenly without an explanation could have some misunderstandings.

I hurriedly explained about Night’s Shadow.

“This is a relic that hides our appearance. But you need to be in contact for it to work on you too.”

Then Yusera nodded as if she understood.

I added, “Just grabbing my sleeve should apply the effect.”

Thinking about it, holding hands wasn’t necessary.

As Yusera grabbed my sleeve, I activated the effect of Night’s Shadow.

It was simple to confirm whether Night’s Shadow had been activated or not.

“Can you see me?”

She nodded, looking puzzled.

“Then it’s activated properly.”

If it had only worked on me, I would have disappeared from Yusera’s sight.

But if Yusera could still see me, it meant the effect of Night’s Shadow was also applied to her.

Now all that was left was to move to the candidate dormitory during the duration of Night’s Shadow.

*

‘Sung Yoo-rang…’

With her holding onto my sleeve, Yusera walked ahead, the black-haired man in tow.

To be honest, I had no clue about his identity.

‘A black-haired guy from Sakh. And he has the same crow emblem.’

Of course, I had never heard of his name.

So he might be a distant relative.

‘But he uses the same swordsmanship as Elsie.’

I didn’t know what that swordsmanship was, but it didn’t seem like a common one.

Moreover, there seemed to be a subtle resemblance in the atmosphere between the two.

Did they have some kind of relationship?

‘Hmm…’

It didn’t seem like there was any relation.

The swordsmanship could be just a coincidence, and the similar vibe was probably just in my imagination.

There’s no way that crazy woman would have a similar vibe to him.

Right now, he felt like a completely different kind of human compared to her.

That completely invalidated all my previous speculations about him.

‘What the hell does this guy know?’

He was able to freely use the lake, which was ordinarily off-limits to candidates.

He also knew her hidden strengths that even she was unaware of.

And he effortlessly blocked her full-strength attack.

Of course, if that was all there was to it, I could somehow digest it.

He knew something about the identity of the Divine Seat.

For some reason, he also seemed to have insight into future events.

In great detail, too.

‘He’s like a Divine Seat.’

No, I didn’t want to say he was like a Divine Seat.

She already had memories of being abandoned by her Divine Seat.

In her current state, possessing the authority or knowledge to make her feel that way about Sung Yoo-rang wasn’t significant.

What mattered was Sung Yoo-rang’s attitude.

‘He was definitely sincere.’

I felt it before, but he had quite a talent as a strategist.

If he set his mind to deceive others, he could easily do so.

In fact, this time I had been deceived by him, and now he was deceiving the whole Hero Academy.

‘But…’

He would never deceive with the intent to harm others.

Even if he deceived, his intent remained pure and righteous.

For anyone who had seen his true self even once, they wouldn’t be fooled again.

‘No, if he deceived, I’d gladly fall for it.’

I didn’t know what his intentions were specifically, but it would never be a bad one.

He would be trying to save someone, and ultimately, save the world.

For that, she wanted to sum him up in one word.

‘Hero.’

Yes, that would be more apt than Divine Seat.

The being she had longed for since losing her upper seat that day.

In her eyes, he had already reached that existence.

So when he had held out his hand earlier, she couldn’t just take it impulsively.

Of course, it was true that she felt a bit happy, but she still thought she wasn’t someone who could reach him yet.

Clinging just to his sleeve felt like the correct position for her.

‘Now that I think about it…’

The school at night was silent.

Well, this time wasn’t one allowed for candidates to wander about freely.

It was to address potential misfortunes.

‘Misfortunes…’

She looked at the sleeve of Sung Yoo-rang that she held onto.

The cool night air, filled with the sounds of crickets, began to quiet her complex thoughts, making her aware of the current atmosphere.

She felt strange.

“Was our next match the day after tomorrow?”

At that moment, Sung Yoo-rang quietly asked.

She barely snapped back to reality and answered.

“Yes, no, I think that was it?”

“You did well today. I’ll let you know what we should do after the tactical meeting tomorrow. Even though it was a virtual space, there’s still mental fatigue.”

He seemed to be planning something.

Indeed, as he said, she felt quite tired.

And…

“We’re here.”

They finally arrived at the dormitory.

The time taken to reach the dormitory felt long recalling the complicated thoughts she had while walking, and short when thinking about holding onto Sung Yoo-rang’s sleeve.

“Hey, Yusera? The effect of Night’s Shadow is gone now, so you can let go.”

“Ah.”

That was when she finally released Sung Yoo-rang’s sleeve.

Sung Yoo-rang put the dagger he was holding into his inventory.

“Goodnight.”

He waved goodbye as he spoke.

Despite the lingering regret, she couldn’t help it.

She waved back and said, “See you tomorrow.”

He had said today that he needed her as well.

So as long as she remained a necessary presence for him, time was still on her side.

‘As long as I become a necessary presence, that’s all that matters.’

*