-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: M.S
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Lorraine's Lab
-----------------------------------------------------------------

“You’re here?”

As I stepped out of the lord’s castle, Sea was there to greet me.

She had already finished all the travel preparations—horses, luggage, and even an escort unit. It seemed she had been waiting for me.

“How did you know? That I was heading straight for Kashu City.”

Sea slowly blinked her dark blue eyes.

“We have some time for now. The emperor sent a Grand Master to pressure us. You need to get stronger. Obviously, you’d go to Kashu to use the Book of Fate. Do you need another reason?”

She really saw right through me.

Whose little sister was this smart, anyway?

I ruffled Sea’s hair. She squirmed, dodging my hand.

“Um… S-sir! May I come with you?”

Turning toward the voice beside me, I saw the magician, Tevek, with a travel bag on his back.

Though he feared me, his eyes sparkled with an undeniable sense of anticipation.

Sea explained in a whisper.

“The Goenggo’s Heart. He said he wants to study it. I told him to ask you himself.”

“Then he can just study it, why?”

Sea gestured with her chin toward the luggage cart.

“But I think it would be better to keep the heart in the Kushan City chapel instead of here. You never know, right? If it’s in the heretics’ chapel, there might be some kind of reaction. That would be another clue.”

Hmm.

She had a point.

The heretics.

They had now become an inseparable part of our destiny.

The Book of Fate itself was related to the heretics, and… it was almost certain that our enemy, Emperor Lokstehlen, was one of them.

So, it was right to keep the Goenggo’s Heart in Kashu.

It seemed Tevek wanted to come all the way to Kashu City to study the heart, but…

“No.”

Sorry, but I had to turn him down flat.

I was planning to take the heart to the chapel first, and if I ended up time-traveling there… it would be a bit of a headache.

For now, time travel was a secret known only to me, my siblings, and Balseon.

I hadn't exactly hidden it from Rivera or Kalserik, but I hadn't explicitly told them either.

But bringing a magician like Tevek along raised the risk of the secret of my time travel being exposed.

“Ah, I… Y-yes, yes, I understand…”

Tevek looked deeply disappointed, but he quickly schooled his expression and bowed.

He was terrified of me after I had defeated Harun.

Even now, he was fidgeting, glancing at me to see if I was displeased.

To think he was so afraid of me, yet still made the request for the sake of his research.

‘He’s passionate.’

I quite liked that.

To have such pure passion at his age. And the tact to hide it so quickly.

Maybe it was because I had lived a similar life under Ksias? I couldn’t help but like him.

“Sea.”

“Yes.”

“Is there a research budget allocated for the magician Tevek?”

“Yes. I was about to set one.”

“Increase it by 50%.”

“Got it.”

Whoosh!

It was as if light was radiating from him.

Real happiness suddenly bloomed on Tevek’s face, which had been forcing a smile.

“Th-thank you! Thank you, Mayor!”

The old man bowing so deeply was a bit much, so I gently raised him by the shoulders.

“Assist Sea well. He’s a native here, so he’ll be a great help. You can do that, right?”

“Yes! Of course, sir! Yes!”

I gave his shoulder a firm squeeze and walked away.

I could feel Tevek’s admiration radiating from behind me.

That’s right.

A good boss, after all, is someone who keeps a great sword at your back while pouring gold coins before your eyes.

* * *

Kashu City.

This was my first time visiting the heretics’ chapel here.

I had avoided even getting close to it before, worried I might be forced into a time jump.

“…This is clearly the place.”

It was a design that made it immediately obvious what the chapel in Kushan City had been modeled after.

A serpentine building, like a coiled snake, with no left-right symmetry and an inharmonious mix of stone and wood.

Just looking at it was truly discomforting and unpleasant.

Tucking the wooden box containing the Goenggo’s Heart under my arm, I opened the chapel door.

Kreeeak!

Even the door made a deeply unpleasant sound.

Not the kind of sound that comes naturally with age, but one intentionally crafted, like a ghostly wail.

“Hah… Truly terrible taste.”

The inside was the same. Just like the chapel in Kushan City.

Distorted statues of deities whose forms I couldn’t even guess and a twisted altar.

It was filled with symbols I had never seen anywhere in the world, making it impossible to surmise their identity.

“No reaction…”

I placed the Goenggo’s Heart on the altar, but there was no response.

“I guess a special ritual is needed.”

Just bringing it to the chapel wasn’t enough to trigger any reaction.

Should I put it back in the box?

No. Let’s watch it a little longer. At least until the Book of Fate activates.

With that, I took a look around the chapel.

“Oh, it’s starting.”

My dimensional necklace began to glow.

Sea’s and my guess was correct.

The Book of Fate reacts to places related to the heretics.

I reached into the dimensional space and took out the Book of Fate.

Vrrrr-

As soon as the book met the air, its pages trembled and shook.

‘What’s this?’

But its reaction was a little different than usual.

There had been a few times it had moved on its own, but back then, it would just fly into the air and flip open. This was the first time it had trembled in my hands like this.

Crunch!

While I was distracted by the Book of Fate, a sound suddenly came from the altar.

‘Huh?’

The Goenggo’s Heart, which I had placed on the altar, was crumpling. The thing, larger than a human head, was caving in on itself, spewing a dark red light like a final death cry.

Vrrrrrrrr!

The Book of Fate trembled even more vigorously, as if it had been waiting for this very moment.

Crack!

The heart finally shriveled to the size of a fingernail.

It floated up, trailing a dark red light, and came toward me.

No, not toward me.

It was heading for the Book of Fate.

Fwoosh!

The Book of Fate opened on its own and, as if opening its mouth, swallowed the Goenggo’s Heart whole.

[Absorbing a twisted worldline.]

What does that mean?

Twisted? A worldline?

What is that!

It was all so sudden that I just stared blankly at the Book of Fate.

But there was nothing I could figure out.

Flipping through the pages revealed no clues.

There was only a faint, verdant glow flowing through it.

‘The Goenggo’s Heart is a twisted worldline…? What does that mean?’

There were too many questions.

Why did it react to the Goenggo’s Heart, of all things?

Would it do this with any monster’s heart?

And what in the world did ‘twisted worldline’ mean?

And…

What was this book trying to do by eating this?

As if in answer to my questions, a clear female voice spoke again.

[Twisted worldline absorption complete. A new function will be unlocked.]

Fwip-fwip-fwip!

The pages turned on their own.

A single red symbol was inscribed in the very section where a normal book would have its table of contents.

Strangely, I could intuitively understand the symbol’s meaning.

[Epilogue 1/1]

Epilogue.

A term used in the novels that the slightly wealthier folk read.

It shows the subsequent stories of the characters after the main events are over… that’s what it is, right?

The moment I traced the symbol with my finger, the voice spoke again.

[You may visit a location where history has already been altered. Remaining uses: 1]

…

I can visit?

Thump-

What?

I couldn’t understand.

I can visit again. The moment I understood the meaning of those words, my heart began to pound like crazy.

It was only for a moment, but a poignant emotion from an unknown source swept over me.

‘…What was that?’

I was dumbfounded.

Well, of course.

I did miss it.

Glowingsteel.

My senior with the shining blonde hair and blue eyes, Iodine Serom.

Grand Duke Laitena Celsius, who taught me so much.

It was true that I was happy to be able to see them again.

But…

“What is this.”

I wiped my eyes.

A moist droplet formed on my fingertip.

“Am I going crazy…?”

It was definitely mine…

An emotion so intense it brought a tear to my eye…

No matter how I thought about it, this feeling wasn’t mine.

No, it was mine… but it didn’t come from the me of now…

It was a feeling I felt I was on the verge of understanding.

Before my eyes, as I was lost deep in thought,

Shhhhrrrk-!

The Book of Fate flew up.

It opened on its own.

It seemed a real time jump was beginning this time.

Ah, wait.

Let me think for a second…!

[Luceras Calendar, Year 4681. May 1st, clear skies. The 1st-class mercenary I've been waiting for is finally coming! The excavation should speed up now, right? Though I'm a little unsure about them…]

Just as I felt I was about to realize something, the Book of Fate violently slammed the words into my vision.

Tick-tock-tick-tock

Whoosh! The world receded as the river of time flowed around me.

I crossed the distant river of time once more.

* * *

A woman was extending her hand to me, speaking.

“A pleasure to meet you. I’m Lorraine Scottvin.”

Blink. Blink.

Wait. Just a moment.

As always, it was an abrupt beginning.

First, I needed to assess the situation.

It would be suspicious to look around, so I kept my eyes fixed on the woman before me and only sharpened my senses to grasp my surroundings.

‘A scholar?’

The room had that kind of feel.

It was a simple room with exposed wood, but the ceilings were high, and bookshelves that reached them were lined up tightly.

The books filling them were clearly worn and tattered, definitely not for decoration.

But that wasn’t what was important.

‘It’s peaceful.’

I didn’t sense any threat nearby.

‘But am I on a ship?’

Rumble-

The room shook slightly with a gentle vibration.

It felt a bit like an earthquake…

“Hello?”

The woman before me, the one who had introduced herself as Lorraine Scottvin, smiled warmly.

“You’re leaving my hand hanging, you know?”

She wiggled her fingers playfully.

…What?

Why did she offer her hand?

Surely she didn't expect me to kneel and kiss the back of it, Avalond-style? That wasn't the etiquette of this era…

“Ah.”

Then it hit me.

How foolish. Grand Duke Laitena taught me this!

I had forgotten because knights didn’t use it often.

“My apologies.”

I calmly reached out and took Lorraine’s hand.

You grasp it just right, like a light embrace on the shoulder. You shake it twice, gently but firmly.

That’s right.

This was the ancient form of greeting known as a ‘handshake.’

“Hmm…?”

Even though we had successfully shaken hands, Lorraine let out a strange hum.

She observed me carefully with smiling eyes.

So I observed her back.

Lorraine Scottvin. She was a ‘perfect’ person.

First, her hair.

While there are many shades of blonde, this woman’s had a dark tint to it.

She had that very elegant blonde hair tied back perfectly, without a single strand out of place. I could tell with my Sword Master’s senses; it was flawless. Not a single stray hair. It was so perfect I wondered how it was even possible.

The white garment she wore was one I’d never seen before. It was long enough to cover her knees and had a wide collar. There wasn’t a single speck on its white surface, and every single crease seemed intentional, perfectly aligned.

And this woman,

seemed to be a little dissatisfied with me right now.

“I was told you were 1st-class, so I had high expectations~ But you aren’t a little clueless, are you? Hoho.”

Ah,

This woman. She was one of *those*.

The type to undermine you with a sweet smile.

That was her style.

“I was originally going to request Sir Iodine~ but he just so happened to be away on another mission, so we ended up meeting like this, didn’t we?”

In short, she was asking why someone like me came instead of Iodine…

Huh?

Iodine?

I never thought I’d hear that name here.

Perhaps a remnant of the emotion that had struck my heart earlier still lingered, because a lump suddenly formed in my throat.

Could it be? Will I be able to see Iodine again?

What do you think?