Chapter 207: 9:1 (2)

The door creaked open, then shut again, and the cabin felt far more familiar than it had just moments ago because of the woman who entered. Even with a mask over her face, even if she’d layered on multiple masks and buried herself in thick clothing, I could never fail to recognize her.

No matter how deeply she might bury her memories and curl into herself, she would always remain as herself. She was the woman who had stood by my side through more than one brush with death.

"Rena?" I croaked.

Rena moved toward me without a sound, as silent and precise as a panther.

Crunch!

Then she grabbed my neck with enough force to tear my skull from my shoulders. A powerful pressure radiated through the pitch-black velvet glove on her hand. The velvet was thin, and her fingers were slender, but the strength she applied was very real. Just from that one movement, I could tell how much stronger she had become.

"What the hell? How does this damn lich know who I am?" Rena hollered.

With her other hand, Rena removed her black mask. Once she took off the mask with holes for her eyes and mouth, her face came into view. I undeniably recognized that familiar black hair that slightly slipped free and draped over her cheek.

Her hair was shorter than I remembered; it seemed to have been cut into a bob. Sweeping it behind her ear, she frowned faintly in the shadows.

Clatter.

I let my bound wrists hang limply by my side. I wanted to ask her everything, including how she had lived all this time and what kind of past she carried now. I wanted to ask about her only sister, Lime, and T&T—everything, in detail.

Even a whole night wouldn’t be enough for all the questions I had.

Yet, all I managed to offer was a dry answer. "I’m not a lich. I don’t really have much knowledge of magic or sorcery."

"This bastard..."

Now that I realized it was Rena, I could figure out who the two women standing behind her were as well. No mask could conceal that nearly white, long silver hair. That was the unmistakable trait of Naneow Tropin, the founder of T&T.

Naneow likely had a scythe-shaped weapon hidden beneath the back of that wide hood. Previously, she rescued me all by herself from the massive encirclement of the Purson cultists. Her strength was undeniable.

I was less certain about the other woman, but judging from her demeanor, she was clearly another high-ranking member of T&T.

"So the prophecy was right. You even got the date and time down to the minute," Naneow commented.

"

Heh...

I really pushed myself predicting this one.

Ugh...

My joints are going to ache for a while," the other replied.

I noticed that the voice, sharp and stubborn, had to belong to the feline prophet who had insisted on bringing Rena into her own branch. It was Sharunian.

"What do your joints have to do with prophecy?" Naneow retorted.

"Try not spouting nonsense when you don’t know anything, founder," Sharunian replied.

"You used my power too, didn’t you? Anyway, is this the guy?"

Rena nodded. "Yes. No doubt about it. I'm certain after seeing him in person."

"You have any idea what he is?" Naneow asked.

"Not really... I can’t pin it down."

"What the hell did he do to our Rena?" Sharunian snarled.

I felt like I could hear the sharp growl of a cat behind that mask. Her pupils stretched into vertical slits, glowing yellow behind the mask’s eye holes.

"

Hm...

Everyone, would it be okay if I stayed here with him alone for a moment?" Rena asked.

"What do you mean, leave you alone?" Sharunian grumbled. "He’s not some pushover."

"Exactly. There’s a reason I brought the founder along. We don’t know what he’s capable of. No way I’m leaving you alone," Naneow said with her husky voice.

"You've already used paralyzation of the Sisphiri, haven't you? What’s he going to do?"

So that’s what I stepped on that triggered the spell. To think she had powers beyond prophecy—she’s quite the versatile little cat.

"What if the spell wears off somehow?"

Finally, I was unable to stay silent any longer. "I have no intention of resisting."

Of course, I had no intention of harming Rena, and it didn’t seem like they were planning to kill me either. If they had, Naneow Tropin would’ve already finished me off.

"How the hell are we supposed to trust something like you?"

"

Sigh...

Now I understand why people talk about overprotectiveness."

The two of them sighed and eventually left the cabin.

"No eavesdropping, okay?" Rena warned.

"Yeah, yeah. We got it."

Now, only Rena and I remained inside. The tension in the air seeped into the spaces between my bones. Rena’s silence made the room feel even colder.

Countless thoughts swirled in my head. Rena's past had clearly changed. Her name no longer appeared on the slave ledgers.

What kind of life is she living now? What kind of past did she acquire?

I had so many questions, but I didn’t know where to begin, so I kept my mouth shut. Still holding my neck with her gloved hand, Rena looked down at me, tied to the chair.

"You... What did you do to me?" Rena asked.

Do to her?

"I don’t know what you mean," I answered.

"You bastard..."

Rena was trying to stay composed, but her voice trembled slightly—-a very faint quiver that only I, who knew her well, could have noticed. Even as she gripped my throat, I tilted my head up to look at her. She looked nothing like the girl I’d first met in the cave. She no longer had that drained, desperate air of someone who survived by killing just to eat.

Instead, she had this strange nobility—something that came from knowing how cruel life could be, yet thrived. She wore that deep crimson-black hood so well that even a splatter of blood wouldn’t mar her image. Rena looked like someone who could walk out of an alley filled with corpses and geysers of blood without so much as blinking.

Suddenly, I heard the system notification.

Ding!

A status window appeared in the air.

[You have already completed this scenario.]

[Affection bonus applied based on current Affection (70).]

[Level bonus applied based on current Level (60).]

[Clear bonus applied.]

[You are not currently engaged in this scenario.]

[Affection is minimized.]

[Name: Rena]

[Affection: 20]

[Assassin Lv. 34

Trickster Lv. 27

Relic Hunter Lv. 22

Shadow Merchant Lv. 7

Schemer Lv. 9]

[Health: 50

Strength: 43

Agility: 71

Wisdom: 47]

[Basic Skills:

—??? (Affection too low.)]

[Perks:

—??? (Affection too low.)]

[Titles:

—??? (Affection too low.)]

[Rank:

T&T Third Branch Director.

Details: ??? (Affection too low.)]

Rena had leveled up far more than when I’d last seen her. Not only had her class levels increased, but all her stats had risen significantly. She even had titles now.

I thought it had ended with her becoming a T&T branch director, but apparently not. It seemed the Lurium she once carried had influenced her deeply in some way. Just seeing how much she had grown filled me with a quiet sense of pride.

"What are you staring at like that?" Rena questioned.

"Obviously, I was looking at you," I answered bluntly.

Her grip around my neck tightened. A cold blade touched the crown of my head.

"Cut the nonsense and answer me already."

Amusingly, I could sense her cheeks gradually turning red. The message had said Affection was minimized, but a score of twenty wasn’t low. Maybe that was why she was reacting like this.

"I really don’t know what you want me to say."

"Are you trying to toy with me?"

A distinct chill radiated from the blade pressed against me.

Is it enchanted?

The sharp edge slowly sank into the top of my head. Rather than feeling threatened, I found myself impressed.

Has she picked up a fine weapon as well?

When I still didn’t respond, Rena eventually spoke again. "Why..."

What is she about to say?

"...do you keep showing up in my dreams?"

The cold, still air of the cabin shifted slightly, perhaps because she let out a quiet sigh after saying those words. Her short black hair, unfamiliar in this style, lifted faintly with her breath before settling again.

"I appear... in your dreams?"

I played dumb, but I had a hunch.

I had a strange dream.

I dreamed of you, master, in places I’ve never seen before.

The timeline had undoubtedly shifted. Not just Rena’s present, but her supporting past had clearly changed too. Yet, perhaps the memories we once shared carried over, faint and hazy like dreams.

Creak.

The cold blade digging into my skull snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah. Why do you keep showing up in my dreams and bothering me? Didn’t you cast some kind of spell?" Rena complained.

There was no spell. The past we shared had left behind a trace in her heart.

How long would such a legacy last? How many times would the world need to change? How many rebirths would it take before it all disappears as if it never happened?

"..."

"What exactly are you? And how do you know me?"

There was no way I could tell her the truth. In this life, I had resolved to never get involved with Rena again. All I could do was come up with something vague.

I offered a half-baked lie. "I came all the way to Daliac for the Lantern. You think I wouldn’t know the name of someone so famous in the T&T guild?"

"..."

It's not the most solid lie, but it's not easy to dig into either.

"Then what about the other two standing outside? Do you know their names too?"

That's easy.

"Naneow Tropin. Sharunian. I didn’t expect to run into all three of you here."

Swoosh!

The door opened.

"What the hell? Why does he know who we are?"

"I told you not to eavesdrop. That’s why I asked him to name names."

"I wasn’t eavesdropping. I just heard it."

Naneow Tropin tilted her head slightly. "Should I just get rid of him if it’s bothering you?"

A scythe longer than a meter slid out from beneath Naneow’s robe. The blade was mounted on a support structure, the handle built like a cannon barrel. She pulled the large grip mounted on the shaft with a single finger.

Clack.

A silver demon shell was loaded— a shell that had once erased a warrior with a steel shield from existence.

Rena waved her hand. "

Sigh...

You can’t kill him just because he’s bothering you. What exactly are you planning to do?"

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Naneow removed her mask. "How do you know us all?"

Once she removed her fask, the altered voice disappeared, returning to its normal tone.

"Founder, he could just be bluffing. Did you really have to take off your mask?" Sharunian asked.

"Your eyes give everything away anyway. Just take it off. This prototype’s performance still sucks."

Naneow reached out and pulled off Sharunian’s mask too. "He knows everything already. He’s even showing up in Rena’s dreams. What if he wanted to get caught? Did we even do a proper body search?"

Rena reached out and did a full inspection of my body.

Tu-duk.

She undid parts of my armor, spread my bones slightly, and thoroughly examined the inside. A dry breath brushed against me. Honestly, it was a little awkward. But I was wearing special shackles of unknown material on my wrists and ankles, and Naneow was standing beside me, aiming for my head, ready to strike at any moment. I couldn’t even flinch, let alone resist.

After rummaging through me for a while, Rena shrugged. "Nothing suspicious."

"Doesn’t seem like a Purson mole either... but I still don’t know what he is."

So, T&T was still at odds with the Purson cultists internally. Still, there was a clear difference. Back then, Naneow had passed me by in the shop without even acknowledging me.

Now, she had issued a wanted order inside Daliac and even abducted me at will. Judging by the influence they now wielded, their position had improved significantly.

"I’ve just had a lot of interest in T&T."

"

Hah

. Didn’t know the guild had gotten so sloppy."

"Anyway, I don’t know anything about dreams or whatever. Can’t you let me go already? Lifting the bounty would be nice too," I asked kindly.

If it were up to me, I’d talk with Rena all night, but that would only make me look more suspicious. I had resolved not to interfere with her life anymore. Of course, that was assuming they let me go.

"What makes you think I’d just let you go?" Rena countered.

"I don’t know. Sentimental value from those dreams, maybe?"

Even I couldn’t believe what I was saying, but to my surprise, Rena responded with a nod. "Yeah. Fine."

Did she just say fine? Did I really hear that right?

Naneow and Sharunian protested in unison.

"Let him go? We should be sending him to the archmage for a full investigation."

"Director, are you serious?"