Chapter 126. The World Has Gone Crazy
‘Damn it—why was I forgetting this bastard?’
The first time I got tangled up with the Raven was after I retired.
Meaning, when I cheerfully cleaned out Deculan’s Bigo and set off toward freedom.
Back then, I’d thought—
‘What a bunch of penny-pinching little shits. A diligent worker’s just collecting his severance pay, so why are they frothing at the mouth and chasing me like that…….’
Well, looking back now, it was all because of Yeokcheon (逆天), but anyway.
At the time, Deculan’s pursuit was razor-sharp.
On a level even I hadn’t expected.
Think about it.
No matter how firmly Deculan had established itself as the foremost mage house in the East, there were gaps in their information network.
And I was one of the people who knew those gaps better than anyone.
But then—wouldn’t you know it.
‘They were like leeches.’
No matter what I did, they just wouldn’t peel off.
I thought I was going to lose my mind.
I hadn’t had a chase like that since the Lortel bastards.
Well, with them, I could understand it. They had Infinite Chain helping them.
But Deculan?
I picked my way out through all the gaps in their network, slipping away cleanly—so how the hell did they keep sticking to me like a ghost…….
If I’ve said this much, anyone who knows will already know.
‘……The Raven.’
That’s right.
Behind that leech-like pursuit was that damn bird-brained bastard.
The Raven’s tracking skill was, in a word, unmatched.
To the point that people who knew called the Raven the “Eye of the Sky (天空)”!
And now that guy was supporting Holland?
“This is…… like giving the best marksman to a powerful bow that can pierce anything.”
Holland is alone, but never truly alone.
With the Raven acting as his eyes and ears, Holland could oversee the whole area without ever leaving his seat.
‘Originally, once Lortel moved, I was going to make contact with the Third Sword then…….’
If this was Deculan’s trap, there was no way the Raven wouldn’t detect that contact.
And once the Raven detected it, what would happen?
‘What do you think happens? Holland, the Third Sword, and me—three-way face-to-face.’
It definitely wouldn’t be a pleasant meeting.
So what do I do?
Like I said, I have to move a little faster.
Bold enough that Deculan won’t anticipate it, and fast enough that they won’t even have time to react.
‘If that’s the case, the first thing to handle is Shine.’
We weren’t even at the stage where the team members had finished introductions.
With that momentum, I headed for Headmaster sunbae’s hideout to pick up Shine.
‘They say the early bird gets the worm.’
From the worm’s point of view, the lazier the better, but I’m fine.
Because I wasn’t a worm.
To be fair, I wasn’t a bird either.
Headmaster sunbae’s hideout, the place I went to.
BANG!
“Strong and powerful morning!”
It was evening.
“Kah!”
“Pff—uhup!”
The moment I kicked my way into the hideout, the Shine who’d been lying down jerked in shock and sprang up.
As a bonus, Headmaster sunbae—who had been leisurely enjoying tea across from him—also jumped in surprise.
“Junior, have you lost your mind?”
“The world has lost its mind.”
“We live in the same world. If it’s only insane through your eyes, wouldn’t it be better to reflect on yourself?”
“I reflected.”
“And?”
“I only reflected.”
Whether I was insane or the world was insane—what did it matter?
What mattered was knowing the path you had to walk through the chaos, and having the will to walk it.
Like me right now.
“Parasite, it’s time to work. Get up.”
“……At this hour of the night?”
“For you, it’s morning.”
Shine blinked drowsy, eyes heavy like he’d been asleep until a moment ago.
I wanted to smack the back of his head like I did back in the Death Knight days, but I held back.
Because now, I could get hit back.
Anyway, as I was about to drag Shine out, Headmaster sunbae looked at me with narrowed eyes.
“What are you up to this time?”
Anyone listening would think I went around causing trouble every day.
As far as I was concerned, it was unfair.
“The tree wishes to be still, but the wind does not cease.”
“……That’s not when you use that saying, is it? I feel like there was another clause after that.”
Of course it wasn’t the right time to use it.
“After that comes, ‘The child wishes to be filial, but the parents do not wait’—it’s about how, unlike the child’s desire to show filial piety, a parent’s time passes quickly…… a truly instructive lesson…….”
“I’m originally a Black and White Zone vagrant.”
“……So you have no parents?”
Correct.
I quickly slipped out of the hideout to avoid Headmaster sunbae, who was—rarely—fulfilling his mission as an educator.
“What on earth is it that has you so frantic?”
“It’s a situation where every moment counts.”
“Every moment? It’s only midnight.”
“Don’t play word games. I’ll tear your mouth apart.”
……Is what I would’ve said. If Parun had been here.
First, I looked Shine up and down like I’d captured him.
“Tch. We’ll have to hide your identity…….”
Even now, I still hadn’t revealed my identity to Parun.
Of course, if Parun truly wanted to know, there were plenty of ways he could find out.
Closest would be asking Henji, and even without that, he could track me through any number of past points of contact.
The reason it wasn’t that hard to track down “Aster” through the masked figure was because, frankly, I hadn’t put my full effort into hiding it from Parun.
But.
‘We implicitly agreed not to pry into each other’s identities.’
Because when “just in case” ever came, that arrangement benefited both sides.
You could pry if you really wanted to, but it was more like a relationship where you read the room and protect each other’s secrets.
And yet……
“……A mask won’t work.”
If Shine had nothing to do with the academy, that would be one thing, but Headmaster sunbae had handed him a job as a training instructor.
So it would be convenient for him to hide who he was, but……
A simple mask couldn’t cover identity when the physical traits were that strong.
Pale skin, crimson pupils, even the color of his hair—everything about him was alien.
As I kept thinking, surprisingly, Shine offered a solution without hesitation.
“Ah, if it’s that, I already thought of something.”
That was a shocking statement.
That Shine could “think,” I mean.
Even more shocking was what happened right after.
“Now, behold.”
Tzzzz—
A black current rose around Shine, black as if drawn from the very edge of night.
That dark haze wrapped around his body and took shape, and without meaning to, I let out a breath of astonishment.
“Huh.”
“How is it? I practiced quite a bit.”
“……Armor?”
“Heh heh. One of a vampire’s authorities. It’s not all that impressive. Compared to armor made by true artisans, it only feels like it has the bare minimum.”
I clenched my teeth at Shine, bragging while pretending not to.
‘Not jealous. Not jealous. Not jeal—’
……Damn it, I’m a little jealous.
Even the color was incredible.
From head to toe, the black armor wrapped him up, reminding me of the Death Knight days, and yet that black-not-quite-black, black-but-not-black sheen looked strangely mystical.
If it was like this, then being a vampire…… might actually be kind of doable?
Of course not.
How could Aster ever go under Shine!
“Jealous, are you? Heh heh—so you’re jeal—kgh!”
KANG—!
I smacked the back of Shine’s head as he got smug and hurried my steps.
The feel of it—something I hadn’t enjoyed in a while—was surprisingly satisfying. As expected, a parasite is best with a helmet on.
“Quit yapping and let’s go.”
“You little bastard, do you really want to die…….”
“No one in this world wants to die.”
Rule one for dealing with a parasite: when it looks like they’re about to lunge, don’t make eye contact.
Unless they’re truly furious, they won’t catch the timing, and they’ll wear themselves out on their own.
‘That aside…….’
Shine’s armor really wasn’t bad.
Lortel is a swordsmanship house that, even among martial lineages, prizes worship of combat and chivalry (騎士道).
The Third Sword and the junior head in particular are like that.
My original plan was this:
- Use Shine to duel the Third Sword.
- Build a bond between knights through the duel.
- Make contact with the junior head.
There are details—how the duel happens, what conditions apply—but that’s the core.
But if the duelist is some suspicious bastard wearing a mask?
‘……Yeah, like they’d accept that.’
So I’d been figuring out a solution, and then he goes and presents one first.
‘Even if you’re hiding your identity either way, a mask looks shady, while armor makes you look like a knight with a story.’
Wear a mask and you’re a villain ninety-nine times out of a hundred, but people in armor are usually knights. And in reality, there are plenty of knights who don’t show their faces.
Still, there was something that bothered me.
“What do I do about this…….”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s about you, so mind your own business.”
Without slowing down, I kept thinking.
It was fine that I’d boldly pulled Shine into the Infinite Chain matter.
But the moment I imagined putting Parun and Shine face-to-face, there was something I couldn’t ignore.
‘Parun and Shine.’
By my personal standards, the two of them had uniquely infuriating personalities in their respective categories.
Parun was a frozen, dead-mannered bastard who openly treated people as beneath him.
Shine was a hot-headed idiot who looked down on others because he loved the smell of his own greatness.
‘……Still, both of them are good people.’
But leaving “good” aside, their personalities were like ice bath and hot bath—completely incompatible.
No, who in the world could be compatible with either of them? It’s only because I’m me that I manage both.
Anyway, that was why I hadn’t introduced Shine to Parun right away. I’d been looking for a smoother situation for their first meeting.
But.
‘Now we don’t have time.’
It’s not because I want to watch the disaster they’ll create.
Can these two actually join forces for the great cause called “Infinite Chain”?
Parun’s mansion was already in front of us.
After setting my own viewing points, I opened the office door and stepped inside.
Parun, seated at his desk, greeted us.
“……You’re here. And that one is?”
“The helper I told you about yesterday.”
Had fatigue been catching up with him lately? Parun stared at Shine with hollow, shadowed eyes.
And their first meeting—unlike my expectations—went smoothly.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Parun. It must have been an easy decision, and yet you still chose to help—thank you.”
“……?”
Parun greeted Shine with a courteous posture he’d never shown me even once.
Shine was the same.
“Think nothing of it. Rather, I am simply pleased to behold Lord Parun, whose renown is so widespread.”
“……?”
……Has the world gone insane?
‘What? Renown? Since when has he ever heard about Parun’s renown?’
It wasn’t the casual speech he used with me.
Anyone could hear it and think, Ah, a noble.
The formality in his tone was natural, unmistakable, and yet it also carried clear respect—making the listener feel satisfied, if anything.
Of course, Parun probably wasn’t satisfied, but what mattered was that Shine showed proper decorum.
Was I the one who was crazy, or was the world crazy?
Now I could answer Headmaster sunbae’s question.
I can answer with confidence: it wasn’t me, and it definitely wasn’t the world.
It was these two.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to confirm your skill. Would that be acceptable?”
“Mind? Of course. Though this place is cramped…… how about we move?”
Am I invisible?
Trading politeness back and forth, Parun and Shine headed toward the training grounds attached to the mansion.
‘It’s a relief, but…….’
What is this feeling of being abandoned by the world?
Anyway…….
Parun, Shine—first meeting: successful.
