Chapter 346: Chapter 346: Seclusion (1)

Objectively, her specs were slightly better than mine.

And her equipment…

‘Overwhelmingly superior.’

Moreover, she had participated in the war for over a year and had killed countless Noark bastards, so her combat experience would also be greater than mine now.

But there was no need to be intimidated.

Erwen had made one mistake.

Swoosh.

Distance.

Spirit King contractor or not, distance control was an archer’s lifeline. At this distance, I had the advantage.

The fact that we were in a closed room was also a plus.

And besides, she wasn’t even mentally stable.

“At, attack you? How… how can I do that… to you…”

Geez, she was the one who called me an evil spirit earlier.

I wasn’t going to give her time to think.

Things could get messy if we both went all out.

Clench.

I made a fist, my hand the size of a watermelon, and dashed forward.

But…

Whoosh!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

…my fist, which I thought was a surprise attack, cut through the air.

She’s fast.

“…Don’t… don’t do this…”

Well, I had expected this.

Thud.

The moment I stopped, my foot slamming into the ground…

「Character has cast [Eye of the Storm].」

…a whirlpool appeared around me, pulling everything towards its center.

It wasn’t combined with [Transcendence], so the radius was only 5 meters.

But it was enough to cover the entire room.

Whiiiiiish!

The bed, blanket, pillow, bookshelf, desk, carpet, and so on.

Everything that weighed less than 500 kilograms was caught in the wind and flew around the room.

Including Erwen.

“…This is!”

Erwen, who had fought Stormgush on Parune Island, looked confused.

She probably didn’t expect this skill.

I hadn’t shown it to her when I was proving my identity since it wasn’t one of my original essences.

Whoosh!

But Erwen, who had also been through a lot, immediately improvised. She summoned the wind spirit and tried to resist the pull.

“St, stop it…!”

Stop what?

“I told you, there’s something wrong with your head.”

I walked towards her, maintaining [Eye of the Storm].

And…

Whoosh!

…I punched.

Of course, I didn’t expect it to hit her.

I thought she would dodge back, and then I would use [Gigantification] to extend my reach.

Well, that was the plan…

Thud, thud, thud.

…but the furniture and other items that had been flying around the room suddenly fell to the ground as [Eye of the Storm] ended.

And…

“…….”

…Erwen was standing there.

Her eyes closed, right in front of my fist.

“Why…”

I had no choice but to ask.

If she hadn’t stopped at the last moment, my fist would have definitely hit her.

But why?

“Why didn’t you dodge?”

Erwen slowly opened her eyes and spoke, her expression on the verge of tears.

“Because… you would have been hurt…”

Huh?

My mind went blank at the sudden turn of events.

“You’re right… I, I know… there’s something wrong with me… but… even so…”

Erwen continued, her voice trembling.

“How… how could I hurt you?”

Uh…

Right… I see.

Drop.

I was speechless, watching a teardrop fall from her cheek and hit the ground.

“…….”

This makes me look like the bad guy.

____________________

I had a sincere conversation with Erwen after that.

It was a long and rambling conversation, often going off on tangents, but to summarize:

She hadn’t been in her right mind since I died.

She had endured a long period of pain and obtained the Pureblood of her tribe, driven by the desire for revenge.

The war broke out as soon as she gained power, and she sought out dangerous battlefields, thinking it was her chance to take revenge.

That’s when she contracted the Spirit King.

And…

“I admit it was excessive, but I never intended to imprison you.”

…she had boarded up the windows and only allowed me to go out at night because she was worried about me.

The rumor that I was an evil spirit had spread throughout the city.

It was a kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

She couldn’t control herself, thinking that she might lose me again.

“Then what about Amelia?”

“…Her too. I can’t trust her. I’m confident that I would never betray you, but… I don’t know about her. I’m so anxious…”

“…….”

“But I, I won’t do it again. I won’t stop you even if you want to make her your companion. Honestly, I’m still uneasy, but…”

“Uneasy, but…?”

“…Because you don’t want me to.”

Hmm, is she being sincere?

It didn’t seem like she was lying…

I was worried that she might suddenly snap again, but she seemed genuinely sincere.

She even said this:

“My essences. I’ll remove them all tomorrow if you tell me to. Even if it means… I won’t be able to protect you anymore…”

Most of Erwen’s essences were obtained through her achievements in the war.

But she’s saying she’ll remove them all?

“…Why would you do that?”

It was a reason I couldn’t understand.

Were we that close?

I didn’t say it out loud since it would be rude in this situation.

“…It’s better not to remove your essences.”

“…I’ll do as you say.”

“But if this happens again, I’ll remove a few of them.”

“Yes, if that’s what you want—”

“I’m not saying this for me, I’m saying it for you.”

I was being 100% sincere.

Erwen wasn’t in her right mind.

If I kept telling her sweet words and took advantage of her fear of being hated, it wouldn’t be difficult to control her.

But that wasn’t right.

That wasn’t what companions were for.

I had learned that from a mage in Lalkas’s Maze.

Therefore…

“For… me?”

…I said firmly,

“Yes, for you… no, to be precise, for our relationship.”

“Ou, our relationship…”

“…Do you understand?”

I asked again, grabbing her shoulder, and Erwen answered,

“Ye, yes…”

…You really understand, right?

____________________

My life didn’t change much after that conversation.

I continued to live a reclusive life, going out to the garden at night and leaving the windows boarded up.

The only thing that changed was Erwen’s attitude.

“Mister, here’s your equipment.”

Erwen, who had been acting like it was fine for me to just hide in this house, started actively helping me.

First, it was equipment.

“This is…”

No. 2988 Mark of the Guardian Corps.

It didn’t have any stats or active effects, but it gave a 50% shock absorption bonus to shields, making it one of the core items for shield barbarians.

“…You had this?”

“Yes, there’s no way I could sell it.”

It seemed like Raven had taken charge of the inheritance distribution, and she had been keeping this earring after receiving it by mail.

“But why are you giving it to me now? You asked about my equipment before.”

“Sorry… I hid it because I didn’t want you to go back to the labyrinth.”

Right, it wasn’t my imagination.

‘If I hadn’t resolved the situation back then, I would have really been raised in this house…’

I shuddered, but she wouldn’t have actually done that.

I dismissed my unease and focused on something else.

I had assumed that all my old equipment had been sold and was circulating in the market, but now I had a different thought.

The others might have kept some of it.

“…I’ll have to ask them. But one thing’s for sure, Avman Urikfrit sold everything.”

“Avman did?”

“Yes. I heard he took the less meaningful items, like your subspace ring.”

Hmm, I see.

He took the things that were difficult to sell, so he could sell them without feeling guilty?

I was a bit disappointed, but it wasn’t important.

‘As long as I have this earring and that, I can just get the rest again.’

I could just have my armor and shield remade.

And the other Numbered Items weren’t that expensive.

“Do you know who took my necklace?”

“Ah, the one that transformed magic stones into weird things?”

“Yes.”

Its official name was No. 7777 Garpas’s Necklace.

It was a necklace that transformed magic stones into random materials. It was like a gacha version of alchemy.

So it wasn’t a very valuable item.

At least not until you had enough money to trigger the hidden event.

“Actually… I wanted that necklace, so I sent a letter to that mage… no, Arrua Raven, a while ago.”

“So? Who took it?”

“Misha Kaltstein.”

“Ah…”

I sighed.

She was the only one among my companions whose whereabouts were unknown. Well, I did hear that she was with Lee Baekho at the Round Table…

But that just made me more confused.

It was all a mystery.

“…….”

But I decided to think positively.

Misha and I were close.

She would probably be keeping it safe.

‘Hmm… maybe not?’

I wasn’t sure anymore, since two years and six months had passed.

I decided to think about it later.

‘Anyway, I think Ainar probably took my armor and weapon… Then did Raven get the rest?’

I was contemplating the whereabouts of my scattered equipment when I suddenly thought of an item.

‘Ah, the Orb of Fire… I wonder what happened to that?’

It was the only Bound item I had.

If I was considered dead in this time period, it would have been sold, and if not, it would probably still be in someone’s possession.

‘If it’s the latter, then Raven probably has it…’

“Phew…”

The more I thought about it, the more I sighed.

Although I had gained a lot from the past, there were also many things I had to take care of.

“Mister, aren’t you going to eat?”

“Ah… I was just lost in thought.”

I dismissed my thoughts and ate the food Erwen had brought. And after our meal, we had a brief discussion.

“What are you going to do?”

“…I have to clear my name first.”

“Should I… use my influence to create an opportunity…?”

Erwen suggested proving myself in front of the royal family, but I refused.

It was too early.

I would have to do it eventually, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something political going on with my case.

“I think we have to be more careful with this. If something goes wrong, it could affect you and the entire fairy tribe.”

“…You’re… so kind.”

“Ahem. Anyway, that’s why… Can you focus on gathering information about Raven and Avman? We don’t have to worry about Erwen anymore.”

“Okay! I will.”

Erwen then left for the sanctuary, and I lay down on the sofa in the living room to take a nap.

That’s when…

Knock, knock.

…someone knocked on the door.

Erwen wouldn’t knock.