Chapter 1419. Aina Peneloti (10)

“Who the hell are you?”

“...”

“Did that disgusting Paint send you here?” Pastel questioned.

‘What the hell is going on?’

It was hard to understand how things had ended up like this. I had no choice but to look straight at Commander Jin. The time we spent in the subspace had clearly been about a week at most, but this place looked as if several years had passed since then.

I knew something had changed on the day the windows had stopped working, but looking at his face, it didn’t seem like that was the case. Of course, he wouldn’t have had the luxury of time to check outside either, but as far as I knew, even up until three days ago, time was flowing normally.

Investigations had been ongoing, and I occasionally saw Lady Pastel coming by.

Sure enough, Commander Jin revealed a face that told me he also had no idea what was going on. I briefly wondered whether he caused some kind of accident and covered it up, but it seemed he hadn’t even realized that time itself had slipped past us.

What was written on his face was irritation and confusion, as if he was beginning to realize that instead of the long-awaited return, he was dragged into another incident.

Was it just my imagination? How come I felt like the sky itself was collapsing? Still, rather than lamenting our predicament, sorting out the current situation came first.

At this point, I made my first guess.

‘Is it because of the error in the subspace?’

Could an accident along the way have altered the flow of time? It wasn’t normally possible, but with the coding getting twisted, there was no way to know exactly what kind of side effects could have appeared as a result of the error.

We could have unintentionally discovered a form of magic capable of warping the time axis. Even to me, it sounded absurd, but inventions and discoveries were often born from mistakes. Perhaps this bastard had sparked a revolution in academia.

‘If not that....’

Sun Hee-Young, Chang-Ryeol, or perhaps the rookies could have activated the hexagram. They could have unintentionally triggered it, moving us to this timeline, which was a fairly reasonable hypothesis in its own way.

That damned hexagram was notorious for doing whatever it pleased, and it wasn’t the first or second time it had failed to move us properly on the second try.

Thinking back to Jung Ha-Yan made that even clearer. Still, questions remained.

‘Why them? For what reason?’

Why would they activate it in the first place? I couldn’t even imagine how they managed to do it. They had no catalyst, and above all, there was no reason for them to activate it.

The people who had come with us were waiting for our return.

Alps and Belier were busy cleaning up the Peneloti Family, and at the same time, Lee Chang-Ryeol was away, tracking the Brigade to gather more information about them.

The only ones who had any spare time were Sun Hee-Young and Ha Yeon-Soo—no, Sun Hee-Young had to supervise the rookies, so she was out, which meant that Ha Yeon-Soo was the only one with the leeway to do such a thing.

Had she received a hint from Ji-Hye noona and activated the hexagram as a result of it? No, if not her, then had a third party reached out and interfered with the hexagram? Perhaps...

“Commander Jin, this—”

“

Shh

. Shut your mouth. Lee Ki-Young,” Commander Jin interrupted.

‘Ah right. Damn it.’

“...”

“...”

I finally remembered that Pastel was standing before us. Right now, diverting her attention was the priority, especially since she seemed to have already noticed us.

Commander Jin moved quickly, hiding us in a flash, but I could still feel Pastel’s gaze on us.

Just then, a voice echoed from not too far away.

“Please forgive my rudeness...”

“...”

‘What now? They’re...’

Looking closely, I saw a transparent field of mana draped over us. It seemed he had used a type of concealment magic, and judging by how Commander Jin had decided to cover my mouth, it looked like the field of mana couldn’t block sound or one's presence.

He could have raised a mana barrier, but it seemed he judged that a simple barrier wouldn’t be enough to avoid Pastel's senses. In any case, the sudden appearance of the newcomers nearby made it easier for me to observe the surroundings.

Since Pastel’s attention was drawn elsewhere, I finally managed to take a look around. The castle was reduced to complete ruins, and Pastel was standing there in mercenary garb, facing two women who seemed to have come to find her.

As expected, I had never seen those two women before. I had no idea whether they were other noble ladies or commoners, but one thing was certain: they looked extraordinary. They were dressed like typical assassins or rangers. Based on the situation, they seemed like messengers sent to deliver news to Pastel.

After seeing the uninvited guests, Pastel said, “I clearly remember warning her. I told her never to contact me again. I don’t know what happened, but tell her to deal with it herself. It’s probably more pointless nonsense anyway, some idiotic operation, or that the Republic’s troops are running around losing their minds...”

“Miss Paint wishes to meet you in person, Miss Pastel,” one of them said.

‘So now they stopped calling them a lady.’

“If she wants to see me that badly, she can come here by herself.

Geez

, she’s being ridiculous. Looks like she’s still glued to her chair,” Pastel said.

“Miss Paint is—”

“I have no intention of talking any further. Get lost,” she ordered.

“She needs your power, Lady Pastel,” one of the women said.

“I said get lost,” Pastel replied.

“The exact details are classified, but the operation is scheduled to begin soon, Miss Pastel. This time, we’re confident we can completely overturn the unfavorable situation. All forces within the Union of Kingdoms have resolved to act together, and Count Kim Hyun-Sung, along with the Mist Summoner, has also agreed to lend his support...”

“Count Kim Hyun-Sung?

Oh

, really? Then I suppose it must be important. Since the dearly beloved Count Kim Hyun-Sung himself has offered his help, I can see why she’d be desperate.

"No matter what, the operation has to succeed, right? Yeah, of course it has. That way, the illustrious Miss Paint will get recognized. And then she'll finally get what she’s been yearning for all this time,” she said.

‘She’s still holding a grudge.’

Every word dripped with malice.

“So how many people is she planning to throw away this time? Who’s the next sacrifice she’s going to step on to climb higher? Is Hamgardia still alive? As far as I can remember, Paint was the reason she was left half-crippled. I wonder how the others are doing.

"I'm worried. More than a few people have already ended up dead after trusting that selfish bitch, who is so wrapped up in her greed and hunger for advancement,” she continued.

“...”

“Let me tell you one thing, you idiots. To her, war is just a tool. A way to increase her own value, and you fools are nothing more than pieces to be used and thrown away.

"You seem pretty trusted right now, but the more that’s true, the faster you’ll be discarded. You look promising and all, but you’d better get out of there as soon as you can if you don’t want to die here,” she warned them.

‘She’s really not holding back.’

There was no way those words would sit well. Even at a glance, the two of them looked fiercely loyal to Paint. Honestly, I didn’t feel great either. Who could have thought that the ladies of the Black Rose Salon, who were once so tightly united, would oppose each other like this?

The one genuinely good piece of news I could infer from the venom she was spewing was that Paint had come to her senses.

‘I knew she’d secured herself a seat of power.’

Of course, there was a chance that her surroundings weren't giving her the chance to stay still. The backdrop was likely the continental war Commander Jin had longed for so desperately, and judging by how things looked, that war had been dragging on for quite some time now.

Pastel's current appearance made it obvious how many brushes with death she’d survived. One eye was blinded in battle, she was covered in scars, and her overall stats had risen to an entirely different level.

I had casually described her outfit as mercenary garb, but if one looked closely, every piece of her gear qualified as high-quality equipment. Even her titles were updated.

‘Leader of the Peneloti Mercenary Corps? You started your own mercenary group? Then why the hell is it called Peneloti?’

“...”

“...”

‘The Union of Kingdoms’ Pink Ghost? What the hell is that?’

“...”

“...”

She probably wasn’t a top-tier named powerhouse just yet. Calling her stats "absolute peak" would still be a stretch.

Compared to continental monsters like Cheon Kwan-Wi or Kim Ye-Ri, whom Kim Hyun-Sung had once searched for so desperately, she fell short, but she was still growing.

At this rate, she'd become strong enough that I could confidently say she’d become one of the pillars of the coming Outer Gods War. Among the noble ladies, Palette, who once boasted the greatest combat power of them all, had likely grown even more than that.

‘Just thinking about it makes me feel a bit reassured.’

“She’s also... having a hard time. You know that better than anyone,” the woman said.

“Having a hard time? She’s having a hard time? Shameless bitch. Does she think she even has the right to say that?” Pastel complained.

“...”

“Anyway, I’ve given you my answer. Go back. We’re never joining your side, even if you beat us to death,” she said.

“Miss Pastel, you do realize it’s dangerous for you to remain here, don’t you? The Republic’s forces are already right at your doorstep. This royal castle has become nothing but ruins—”

“I don’t want to hear another word. Get out. Peneloti will hold the castle,” she interrupted her.

‘Why make such a fuss over guarding a place that’s already been ruined?’

This place had already completely lost its function as a castle.

The walls still stood, but they were basically nonexistent. In truth, it looked like only the bare framework remained. It was hard for it to serve as a stronghold.

Anyone could tell that battles had broken out here more than once or twice, and it had probably changed hands back and forth repeatedly, as war was nothing more than a constant struggle over territory.

The devastated scenery of the castle proved my point. I casually swept the area with my Telescope, and sure enough, the land outside the castle was in ruins as well. Not far away, the forces of the Republic and the Federation had already arrived.

With a forced march, they could reach this place in three days.

Paint needed Pastel, but in reality, it also seemed like she was trying to get her out of here. From the perspective of the Union of Kingdoms and Paint, this was already a front they had abandoned, and they wouldn’t be able to invest troops into it.

Above all, they wouldn’t want to lose her in such a ridiculous way, so persuasion was likely the only option she had.

As expected, despite Pastel’s order to leave, the messengers remained frozen.

“Miss Pastel,” the woman said.

“I told you to get out,” Pastel said.

“...”

“...”

“But...”

“I said, get out. If you don’t want to die, then get out. Just having you here already pisses me off. This is your final warning,” she warned.

“...”

“Get out.”

Boom!

An explosive killing intent filled the area. The messengers’ faces went pale in an instant.

‘Looks like she’s already beaten hundreds of people to death.’

Their limbs trembled, and they had no choice but to lower their heads and leave without saying a word.

Just then, I watched as Pastel took a flower from her chest before placing it in front of a small gravestone.

“...”

[In memory of Aina Peneloti.]

“...”

“...”

“I’m sorry, Peneloti. You were scared, weren’t you?” Pastel mumbled.

“...”

“You don’t have to worry. I’ll never leave you alone,” Pastel said.

“...”

“...”

“I’ll never leave you behind,” Pastel added.

‘I think... she’s insane.’

I couldn’t help but feel worried by the sight before me.