[April 4th – Portal Station]
Rachel arrived in Korea through the international portal. Evandel accompanied her as well.
Rachel was dressed in an ordinary business suit, but Evandel was wearing her magician’s hat and cane. Her fashion clearly screamed, “I’m a magician!”
Perhaps because of this, everyone’s gazes fell on them the moment they left the VIP pathway. Civilians who recognized Rachel began to take pictures on their smartwatches.
But before they could take more than one or two photos, Essence of the Strait’s guards showed up. They quickly guided Rachel and Evandel to their limousine.
“We hope you have a safe trip.”
“Thank you.”
Rachel got on the limousine after receiving a warm greeting from the guards. To her surprise, there was someone waiting for her inside.
When Rachel met this person’s eyes, she flinched.
If anything, she expected Yoo Yeonha to come meet her. However, the person in question was Chae Nayun.
“Yo.”
Chae Nayun spoke with a grin. Rachel nodded without saying much, but Evandel trembled as soon as she saw Chae Nayun.
She was practically having a seizure.
“Fufu, Evandel, you look cute today too.”
Chae Nayun’s smirk terrified Evandel.
“Anyways, hurry on in. There’s something important I need to tell you.”
Hearing this, Rachel glanced at Evandel and saw her hesitating. Then, Chae Nayun reached forward and pulled on Evandel’s small wrist.
“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything bad.”
“Huaaang!”
Evandel’s resistance didn’t work on Chae Nayun. Binding Evandel with her supernatural strength, Chae Nayun spoke to Rachel.
“You got the invitation letter to the party, right?”
Rachel nodded her head.
“Don’t bring Evandel.”
“…?”
Rachel tilted her head. The reason she had brought Evandel to Korea wasn’t just to visit Essence of the Strait but also to make her attract international investors. After all, Evandel needed an astronomical level of financial resources to further advance her already incredible spirit beast magic.
“We decided to invest in Evandel’s stronghold and research costs, so don’t worry about that.”
Chae Nayun spoke as if she knew what Rachel was worried about.
But at that moment, Chae Nayun suddenly pointed at Rachel’s feet.
“Wait, what’s up with that bird? Where did it come from?”
Rachel’s gaze followed Chae Nayun’s and landed on her feet. A bird was sleeping soundly like a coiled-up snake.
‘He followed me all the way here?’ Rachel smiled faintly and answered.
“This is Spartan.”
“…Oh, this is Spartan?”
“Mhm.”
“Where did you find him? He looks like an eagle.”
“I’m not sure, but I’m also curious. So is Evandel.”
“…?”
Rachel stared at Spartan with a gentle gaze. Looking at him, she felt a mysterious warmth welling up from her heart. She wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t hate it. In fact, this feeling made her feel cozy and comfortable, almost like finding a precious item that had been lost.
“…What are you talking about?”
Chae Nayun furrowed her brows as she looked back and forth between Spartan and Rachel. However, Rachel didn’t say anything more.
Evandel picked Spartan up and held him in her embrace.
“Spartan, be careful of this Unni….”
“What’d you say? He has nothing to worry about. You want me to hug you more?”
“Ah, n-no!”
**
I settled down in the Swiss Alps. The scenery I’ve only seen in the movies was more beautiful than I imagined. I could barely take my eyes off the sight.
The mountain range revealed nature clearer than anywhere else in the world. I had been calling this place home for the past three weeks, looking up at the blue sky, the green fields, and the white snowy mountains.
I made a little cabin for myself here with the help of Aether. Although it wasn’t easy, Aether made it spacious enough for one person to live comfortably.
I began my journey of wandering around the Alps using this cabin at the end of a cliff as my home base. I found herbs to record in my body, and once every day, I manifested a medicinal pill and stored it in a pill bottle.
As I spent more and more time like this, the number of people finding my cabin increased. Most of them were tourists, hikers, martial artists, or explorers.
At first, they only looked at the cabin from afar. But after about a month, one courageous group finally knocked on my cabin door.
I opened the door and greeted them. They had been injured while climbing the mountain. One person had been bitten by a poisonous snake, necrosis now progressing in his leg. Another person had his shoulder bone crushed.
While talking to them, I introduced myself as a ‘pharmacist’. They asked for help, and I gave them pills to treat their injuries.
The next day, they left the cabin, now fully recovered.
After that, rumors of a ‘Cliff’s End Pharmacist’ spread.
But there weren’t many visitors. As getting here was quite dangerous in itself… many of them probably gave up in the middle of the journey.
“…You’ll get better with this.”
However, a small child came to visit me today. This child who had the dream of becoming a Hero told me that his younger sister was ill. When I asked what her symptoms were, he said it was osteosarcoma, a type of cancer that produces immature bones.
I gave him a pill that could eliminate the cancer cells. This pill was named Cloud’s Touch. When consumed, the magic power within the pill would race through one’s veins and eliminate all cancer cells.
“Thank you so much!”
The child said thank you in crude Korean and left.
He had also given me a dagger as payment for the pill. Apparently, it was a treasure passed down in his family. I put it in my storage without checking to see its authenticity.
For the record, I had gathered about a billion won as payment for all the pills I produced. Although I never asked for compensation, a strange rumor spread that ‘the Cliff’s End Pharmacist took the patient’s precious object as payment.’
The occasional patients who came to visit me were often rich. Naturally, their precious objects were incredibly expensive.
“Huu….”
In any case, I was alone once again. With a sigh, I looked out the window.
The Alps scenery was as beautiful as always. However, I was slowly getting used to this beauty.
Eventually, a year would go by, then two, then three…
What would I be doing then?
What would be I seeking in life?
Suddenly feeling frustrated, I turned on my smartwatch. After checking out ordinary community forums, I access Violet Banquet. With so much time on my hand, surfing the Internet became my blissful routine.
[Do you think it’s possible for someone to infiltrate the VIP party?]
[It would be easier to just buy a slot with money….]
Violet Banquet was filled with posts regarding the VIP party Yoo Yeonha was hosting. People trying to create fake invitation letters, people trying to buy invitation letters, people guessing how much it would cost just to be a guest invited by the invitees, etc….
“…Ehew.”
Looking at this made me even more frustrated. If I could attend this party… if they saw my face… would they be able to remember me?
…As of now, it was only false hope.
I wouldn’t be able to say a word in front of them, and they wouldn’t be able to remember me either.
What I had to do was clear.
I had to ‘forget’, just like them.
Tok, tok—
“Hm?”
I shot up hearing the knocking noise. Having more than one visitor a day was unusual.
I opened the door. Under the sky that was getting dark, five men wearing suits were standing there. I immediately became alert, but when I saw one person’s face, I became dazed.
He was familiar to me.
He didn’t know me, but I knew him.
“Hello.”
“….”
While I stood in a daze, he bowed respectfully.
“My name is Jin Sechan. We’re from Essential Pharmacy. Would you happen to be the Cliff’s End Pharmacist?”
**
[April 15th – Yoo Family’s mansion]
“Haa….”
Yoo Yeonha took a deep breath in front of the main room door. Her heart was pounding loudly.
Past this door was her father. What could he be thinking about? Was he afraid too? Or had he accepted his fate and was resenting his daughter?
Yoo Yeonha clenched her teeth and slowly opened the door after a knock.
“….”
From the slowly widening gap, she saw Yoo Jinwoong’s back. He seemed to be organizing documents.
Feeling Yoo Yeonha’s presence, Yoo Jinwoong turned around and smiled bitterly.
“Aigo, you’re here.”
Yoo Jinwoong treated her as he always did.
However, Yoo Yeonha couldn’t smile. How could she? After all, the time for their farewell was approaching.
“….”
“…It’s fine, Yeonha.”
When Yoo Yeonha kept staring at him, Yoo Jinwoong spoke first. He smiled mischievously like a teen boy.
“Even if I’m incarcerated, you’ll still have your mother. She’s more proud of you right now than she is of me. I’m sure you won’t even notice a troublemaker like me disappearing.”
Yoo Yeonha had yet to tell her mother about her plan. It was better that fewer people knew about her plan.
“…Are you okay, Father?”
Yoo Yeonha asked carefully.
Yoo Jinwoong lightly smiled and nodded, as if she shouldn’t even ask such a question.
“Of course. In fact, I’m happy I have the chance to do this.”
“….”
Yoo Yeonha didn’t answer. As Yoo Jinwoong’s daughter, she knew what his dreams were – becoming a Master-rank Hero, being respected by everyone in the world, and becoming an idol for children with the dream of becoming a Hero.
But after today, his dreams would be thoroughly crushed. His name would be disgraced for eternity.
“…Yeonha.”
Seeing that Yoo Yeonha’s complexion wasn’t getting better, Yoo Jinwoong put on a more serious face. Then, he spoke calmly.
“I’ve been living with regrets my whole life. About the Kwang-Oh Incident and everything else I’ve done. But there was one time when I did what my conscience told me to do.”
Yoo Jinwoong slowly closed his eyes as if he was recalling something from the distant past.
“Because of you, I saved a child. Right. The one who saved him wasn’t me… but you. So I will listen to you this time too. The conscience that holds me true to myself… is you, Yeonha.”
Yoo Yeonha shut her mouth. She felt like tears were welling up, but she held them back.
If she cried, it would be disastrous.
She couldn’t mix personal feelings with business.
As such, she began to think about something else.
The ‘child’ Yoo Jinwoong mentioned.
Who was this ‘child’?
Yoo Yeonha asked with a tearful voice.
“…That child. Do you think he’s still alive?”
“Probably. He’s the same age as you, Yeonha. I’m sure he’s living a wonderful life.”
Yoo Jinwoong walked toward her with a suitcase in his hand.
Yoo Yeonha watched him in a daze.
“So Yeonha, don’t give up. And don’t be sad.”
Next, Yoo Jinwoong placed his hand on Yoo Yeonha’s head.
Feeling his big, warm hand, Yoo Yeonha dropped her head. She didn’t want him to find out that she was crying.
Perhaps Yoo Jinwoong thought the same thing. He patted his daughter a couple of times, then left with the words “Thank you—”
Left alone, Yoo Yeonha stood still for a while.
All sorts of thoughts swirled inside her head.
However, she knew she didn’t have time to ponder leisurely.
“Oi, the party’s starting soon~”
Jain’s clear voice awakened Yoo Yeonha.
Yoo Yeonha wiped away the tears pooling around her eyes and turned around. Jain, who was disguised as Yoo Jinwoong, was staring at her.
“I have to greet people like this, then leave a bit later, right~?”
Yoo Yeonha nodded before going back out to the hallway and looking out the window. Limousines carrying the world’s elites were arriving one by one.
“…Yes.”
“Ok~ Huhum. Kuhuhum. Huhum… Yeonha, is my voice okay?”
Jain changed her voice with a few coughs. She sounded just like Yoo Jinwoong.
Yoo Yeonha fought hard to fend off the goosebumps rising on her back.
“You sound just like him.”
Saying this, she checked her outfit one final time. Her dress, bridgette, ring, hair, makeup…. Everything was perfect.
She was perfect as the host of the party.
“I’m ready. What about you guys?”
“We’re ready too. Khalifa will come back after dropping your father off~”
“Perfect.”
Yoo Yeonha let out a deep sigh.
Finally, the time to put an end to this had come.
Now that humanity had come out victorious in the Great Devil War, this was the time for them to change forever. The first step would be to settle the past era’s corruption….
—Master, Yi Yukho and Kim Sukho are coming. It seems they will participate in the party. However, it looks like Yoo Jangwon will stay in his mansion.
Hassan-i Sabbah’s Mental Transmission rang out.
Yoo Yeonha wasn’t surprised as she had expected Yoo Jangwon wouldn’t come.
“That’s fine.”
Jin Seyeon said she would make sure everyone received lawful punishment for their sins. That, of course, included Yoo Jangwon.
But that was impossible. On the surface, there was no evidence of any wrongdoing for Yoo Jangwon. Something metaphysical like ‘justice’ couldn’t apply to him.
As such, they had prepared a different method of punishing them.
“The Chameleon Troupe will be giving him a visit.”
A thoroughly physical concept – violence.
In about three hours, he would meet one of the most horrific members of the Troupe – Cheok Jungyeong.
Of course, dozens of High-rank Heroes would be guarding his home, but it was unlikely that any of them would pose a problem to Cheok Jungyeong.
“Now then.”
Yoo Yeonha clapped her hands together. With this as the signal, the members of the Chameleon Troupe appeared one by one.
Looking at them, Yoo Yeonha smiled.
“Let’s start the party.”
