"What?”

“So…” Kim Hyun-Sung paused.

“...”

“I summoned Chanelia Hermes to this world,” he continued.

‘This jerk succeeded in the end.’

Of course, I had to be happy about it, but Kim Hyun-Sung looked kind of worried.

He had worked hard on this surprise gift of his, so he was worried about my reaction.

I was sure he wasn't worried about my reaction while he was preparing the gift, as he was as stubborn as a mule. He was so obsessed with Chanelia Hermes that he was sure it would be the best present for me.

However, he was losing confidence right before announcing the surprise, like how people get nervous right before the test results were announced.

I was sure Kim Hyun-Sung was having a headache while mulling over these possible thoughts.

"Will he really be happy?

"Did I get too ahead of myself again by using necromancy to bring back Chanelia Hermes? Was that even the right thing to do? Bringing back a dead person is always morally problematic.

"No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think Mr. Ki-Young will be happy. He might actually scold me. No, he’s actually

not

against black magic. It might not be so bad, considering that he has invested in black mages for the reconstruction project."

"But… this is necromancy, not some ordinary black magic.

"Did I make a mistake? Should I not have done that?"

There was no need for me to use the Regressor Instruction Manual, as I could tell from Kim Hyun-Sung's face that he was having mixed feelings about it.

“But Chanelia Hermes isn’t from this era.” I pointed out.

“...”

“Are you saying that you used necromancy… to summon Chanelia Hermes to this place?” I asked.

The sun was setting, and he probably felt his fate being thrown into the pit of darkness just like the dark sky. He closed his eyes, and regret was written all over his face. He was regretting not being more careful about telling me the news.

‘No, you shouldn't have told me at all.’

'If there are variables in your plan, you shouldn’t have rolled the dice at all. Why make the situation even more serious by betting on something you felt like wasn’t going to work out?'

"No, it wasn’t n-necromancy. It’s not the necromancy that black mages normally use. It’s hard to explain, but I can assure you that it’s not necromancy,” he answered.

“If bringing a dead person back to life isn’t necromancy, then what is it?” I questioned.

“Well, they said it wasn’t necromancy. I remember it being something similar to that,” Kim Hyun-Sung answered, realizing that everything would end the moment he acknowledged the negative word "necromancy."

My heart broke when I saw his attempt to avoid the negative image of the word "necromancy," but I couldn’t just overlook it.

‘If I go easy on him just because I feel bad for him, he’s going to do it again.’

Chanelia Hermes was just the beginning. If I showed him that I liked it, the souls of bag craftsmen who had disappeared centuries ago could appear on the continent again. His first gift happened to be a bag, and he came this far because I had shown him how much I liked bags, so I had to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

“Necromancy is necromancy. What can be similar to it?” I questioned.

“What?”

“I knew there was something fishy the moment I saw those black mages.

Wheeew…

” I sighed.

“...”

“Are you aware that there are appropriate procedures to perform necromancy under the continental law?” I asked.

“I… already went through the procedure,” he answered.

‘Yeah, I’m sure you did, and you probably used your powers as well. How is it possible that something that is supposed to take months actually bore results so quickly?’

Necromancy was forbidden in the Democratic Country. In the Republic, necromancy was only performed during trials or whenever the country needed to perform it, and it would always be performed under strict examination and surveillance.

Of course, this only applied to the souls of murder victims who had died in an unjust manner as well as historically important figures who needed to appear to the world.

Basically, Chanelia Hermes had no reason to reappear in this world.

I was sure Kim Hyun-Sung had done something to make the process faster.

"I already know how you did it. You always do it like that,” I said.

“No, I really went through the proper procedure…” Kim Hyun-Sung argued.

“It’s common knowledge that you shouldn’t use necromancy for personal gain. The black mages are just getting their freedom back. If people find out that necromancy was used…” I paused.

“...”

“Using forbidden for personal gain… How… how can you do something like that?” I questioned.

“I-I’m sorry,” Kim Hyun-Sung mumbled.

“How… could you…” I said.

I needed him to be shocked, even though I would still accept his gift later. He needed to realize that he really messed up so that he wouldn't do this again. As expected, Kim Hyun-Sung immediately became confused.

“I-I didn’t do it… for my personal gain… Your happiness is the continent’s…” Kim Hyun-Sung stammered.

‘What is he talking about? There must be something really wrong with his head.’

'Actually, he’s right. My happiness is the continent’s happiness.'

“

Whoooo…

” I sighed.

“I’m sorry. I… didn’t think it through,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“You should know that apologizing won’t resolve this issue,” I told him.

“I do…” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“So…” I paused.

“Yes?”

“I’ll keep this a secret,” I continued.

“What?”

“Just this once,” I added.

“

Ah!

”

“Don’t do this again. It’s just this once…” I clarified.

“Okay!” Kim Hyun-Sung answered.

“I’ll overlook it,” I said.

“Okay!”

Finally, he sounded energetic. He would always be energetic at times like this. Of course, I didn’t stop sighing and showing my disappointment, as I had to make sure that he wouldn't do something like this again on his own.

‘We’re on vacation… so there’s no need to ruin his mood.’

It seemed that traveling made people more generous.

Normally, I would have returned to the Blue Guild with my griffon. Then, I would turn off my hand mirror, lock myself up in my room, and ignore him for months so he would know his mistake, but I didn’t want to do that this time.

‘It’s a special day, after all…’

Kim Hyun-Sung had put in a lot of work for this trip.

When I thought about what he had gone through from his first life up until now, I realized that he had been through many hardships and was just starting to find his own happiness. The days when all he could do was cry were no more, so was making him cry again the right choice?

He was finally becoming mentally stable, so was it right to plant the seed of tragedy again in his mind again?

He never had a friend, so was it right to create conflict with his

only

friend on his happiest day ever? Of course, I needed to correct his behavior to some extent, but regardless of his intentions…

‘It’s too soon to discourage him.’

He made the effort to travel all the way here, so I had no plans of discouraging him. I told him that I was going to overlook it just this once, but I still had to show him that I didn’t want to fight and ruin the mood.

I was sure Kim Hyun-Sung could feel that while he was smiling brightly.

He knew that I had taken a step back, and it was a rare sight. He ought to know better than throwing this opportunity away. I was sure he felt relieved, and I was sure he thought the event's success depended on the kind of bag that Chanelia Hermes was going to make.

“I’m sorry. I… acted without thinking it through again. I wasn’t being considerate of you,” Kim Hyun-Sung apologized.

“There are times when you get too lost in your own thoughts, and I believe that’s what happened this time as well. And instead of being considerate, you should have common sense. You’re not the only one living on this continent, after all,” I told him.

“You’re right. I’m… really,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“It’s fine. It’s already in the past. If you keep apologizing, it’ll only put us in a bad mood,” I said.

“...”

‘Am I too nice?’

'Is he feeling a bit uneasy because I was being

too

kind?'

He had the face of a warrior who was fighting for his life. His eyes were telling me that everything would be over if things went wrong.

“I’m really okay,” I reassured him.

“Okay…”

“Let’s go,” I said.

“O-Okay,” Kim Hyun-Sung stuttered and started moving nervously. The surprise seemed to be located not too far away from the Salt Desert, as we eventually saw a building that had its lights on.

It was pretty fancy to just call it a shelter, but I could tell that this was part of his plan.

Kim Hyun-Sung got off his griffon and helped me off my griffon. Then, he lit the brazier with a small torch; he was moving like he had been here many times before.

“It’s getting dark. Let’s head inside, Mr. Ki-Young,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“Is Chanelia Hermes inside?” I asked.

“Yes. The necromancy was completed yesterday night,” he answered.

‘Didn't you say it's not necromancy? Damn it.’

“Have you talked to her?” I asked.

“Yes. She also wanted to create her final work. We had some disagreements about the style, but I’m sure she’ll help us. She was friendlier than I thought… so I felt at ease,” Kim Hyun-Sung replied.

‘But I’m actually not that interested in her work. I've been collecting them, and I feel empty whenever I see an empty spot in my display case, so I'm probably addicted to bags. However, I’m not obsessed with her work at all.’

Kim Hyun-Sung looked like a kid who was about to open his present.

I was the one opening the present, so why was he more excited than me?

It seemed like he had already forgotten the fact that he almost got blocked earlier.

Was I supposed to be harsher to him earlier? Was I being too nice? The moment I had those thoughts, I saw someone unfamiliar to me. It was Chanelia Hermes, and the first thing I saw was her true form.

‘Damn it… what the hell…’

“Hello, God of Sacrifice and Revival,” Chanelia greeted.

‘You’re not human.’

“And the God of Sunset. I'm so happy to be back home, and it's all thanks to you. I also don’t feel any discomfort being in this fleshly body…” she said.

'It was a descent, not necromancy, damn it. How did you summon a god here, goddammit?! How did he pull this off? Did the black mages really do something like this? And how is she able to stay in that form? She’s a god from another dimension…'

‘What the hell is this?’

How come I hadn't noticed it yet? Kim Hyun-Sung was smiling happily, and the holy power he had saved up until now was flowing out of him into an endless hole. To maintain Chanelia Hermes' form, Kim Hyun-Sung had decided to use the holy power that he had saved up so far, and it was being depleted at a rate visible to the naked eye.

“N-No…” I mumbled.

Kim Hyun-Sung’s money was my money.

My savings… my emergency fund… was disappearing right before me.