An Old Story (9)

Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!

The sound of singing mountain birds.

Drip~!

The moist sensation of the falling water droplets.

"Ugh…"

And then, a throbbing headache.

Baek Yu-Seol felt a terrible nausea which made his stomach churn, and he forced himself to sit up. Although he wanted desperately to lie back down, he couldn't stay still because the recent memories kept flashing through his mind.

"Remember! You must never change the fate of the past!"

The voice of New Moon Silver still seemed to echo in his ears.

How much power did he use behind the telepathy for the lingering effect to still exist?

Even his ears were buzzing.

"Ugh..."

Baek Yu-Seol's head hurt so much that he couldn't help but groan. However, first, he quickly surveyed the surroundings.

Trees, grass, rocks. And a squirrel.

"Ah! Damn..."

It was a forest.

And he was right in the middle of it.

No matter how versatile Sentient Spec were, without a satellite, he couldn't determine his exact location. He was practically lost.

[You have traveled to a timeline 3649 days, 23 hours, 17 minutes, and 47 seconds prior.]

[Some functions of the Sentient Spec are not working.]

[Some systems have shut down.]

[Loading the Constellation Project....]

As expected, it appeared he had traveled back in time.

He should be grateful he didn't get sucked into a space-time rift.

"Ten years ago…"

'I think there was? I do vaguely remember it. Although time travel content appeared very occasionally, but…'

Still, it was really rare, and there were no proper strategies or descriptions. Baek Yu-Seol had no idea how to navigate in this era.

Fortunately, New Moon Silver had imprinted the way back into his mind, so he didn't have to worry about that, but the waiting time was the problem.

There probably weren't many things that would kill him in this timeline, but it wouldn't hurt to be careful.

As he stood up with that thought in mind, for some reason, his body felt lighter.

"Huh?"

[To help you drift through the past, New Moon Silver has bestowed upon you a mystical blessing.]

[Strength increases by 4 stars.]

[Agility increases by 4 stars.]

[Senses increase by 4 stars.]

[Willpower increases by 4 stars.]

[Endurance increases by 1 star.]

[The skill 'Mana Accumulation Retardation' is enhanced by three stages.]

[The skill 'Flash' is enhanced by one stage.]

"Wow… What's this."

An enormous increase in abilities.

Baek Yu-Seol felt he had become a completely different person.

[The above blessings apply only while drifting through the past and will disappear when you return to the present.]

Of course, such an overpowered blessing wouldn't last forever, but it was fine.

With all his abilities increased by 4 stars, even if his skills were a bit lacking, he could more or less handle a one-on-one fight with a Class 7 mage.

Thanks to the temporary enhancement of Mana Accumulation Retardation and Flash, he had a solid combat ability.

"Wow."

When he clenched and unclenched his fist, he could feel the surge of immense power that he had never felt before.

Baek Yu-Seol's senses had also become extremely sharp. He could accurately feel the trajectory of the blowing wind, and he felt that if he jumped right now, he could… not exactly reach the sky, but becoming a world long jump champion would be an easy task.

"Anyway, where am I?"

Even though he had fallen in the middle of the forest, he wasn't too worried due to his enhanced abilities, but he still needed to find a safe place.

He needed somewhere to stay until he returned to the present.

"Can I use the shortest safe navigation function to find the exit?"

[Impossible.]

"Can you track mana alpha waves to identify danger zones?"

[Impossible.]

"How about situational analysis?"

[Impossible.]

"Is there any registered information about this place?"

[Information access is not possible.]

"Sigh."

As expected, most functions of the Sentient Spec were nearly unusable.

While it was possible to view recorded information, it couldn't handle vague questions like 'Where am I?'

The only saving grace was that he could figure out directions by following the stars and the angle of the shadows.

This was achievable even without the help of the Sentient Spec.

He felt a sense of accomplishment and pride to possess such survival skills.

[※Info: The compass function of the Sentient Spec is completely functional.]

… Holy Shit.

Anyway, before he started walking, he made the bare minimum of preparation.

Nothing much.

He just used the shape-shifting function equipped into Stella's coat to slightly alter its appearance.

There was a reason behind it. In case he encountered a stella student from this era, it was better not to attract unnecessary attention.

Stella's students stood out wherever they went.

'Time to disguise myself.'

[First rule of time travel!]

[Do not encounter people from the present while in the past!]

'I saw this in the movie Back to the Future.'

It showed how chaotic things could get in case you encountered someone known in the past.

But that was just a movie. The reasons in reality were a bit different.

For example…

Snap!

"Kyaaa!"

"Huh?"

As he covered his face with a mask and rummaged through his spatial expansion backpack, a girl with sky-blue hair jumped out from the bushes.

Even without thinking, Baek Yu-Seol could tell.

"Is that... Eisel?"

That was... Eisel from ten years ago. She was much younger, but cute and cuddly enough to make Baek Yu-Seol desire to adopt her as his cousin.

She screamed and ran towards him in a panic. It wasn't because she noticed him but because something was chasing her.

Soon enough…

-Grrrr...!

A massive wolf, almost the size of a cabin, appeared behind Eisel.

"Are you kidding me?"

Is something like that even allowed?

The Sentient Spec quickly displayed its rank, information, and weaknesses, but the situation was too urgent for him to read it.

So…

Smash! Thud!

… He grabbed the wolf by the scruff of its neck and slammed it to the ground.

-Whimper! Whine!

"Huh?"

"W-What?"

Despite its size, the wolf couldn't escape from his tiny hand and whimpered.

Behind him, Eisel blinked her large eyes in disbelief. Honestly, even he was surprised, so it must have been even more astonishing from her perspective.

'Wow. Is this a Class 7 power?'

In the game, even when his stats increased, it only meant higher attack power and damage, so he never felt much difference.

But in reality, he could perform such feats.

He felt an increasing desire to raise his stats even more.

While pinning the wolf to the ground, Baek Yu-Seol moved slightly, and Eisel was clearly wary as she covered her face with both hands.

"Who... Who are you?"

"You? Such a rude little kid."

She quickly widened her eyes and corrected herself in a hurry.

"W-Who are you!"

"What's with that..."

It seemed like she rarely used polite speech. Well, Eisel's childhood was said to be bratty.

She must have used informal speech even with her father. It was unlikely the precious eldest daughter of the Grand Duke Morph family would have had many occasions to use polite speech.

"Never mind. You're Eisel Morph, right? I'm Baek... Seolgi."

"Baek Seolgi? That's the name of the rice cake..."

{TN:- Baek Seolgi (백설기) is a type of traditional Korean rice cake that is white and made from rice flour. It literally translates to white rice cake.}

"A person's name can be a rice cake name too. Are you going to keep arguing?"

"S-Sorry!"

"Polite speech."

"Sorry... I mean, I apologize."

Since it was inevitable that she was still not accustomed to polite speech, Baek Yu-Seol decided to compromise on that level.

"So, what were you doing here? Is this wolf your pet?"

"N-No!"

"Really?"

'Well, if a pet was this fierce, even I wouldn't want to raise it.'

Now that Baek Yu-Seol knew that, there was no need to hesitate. He took out the Argento and summoned the sword of light, and stabbed it into the wolf's neck.

Slash!

Instant death.

In the past, piercing through this tough and hard skin would have required an enormous amount of concentration, but now, just a light strike was enough.

Eisel's eyes widened, but Baek Yu-Seol stood up as if nothing had happened.

Although he wanted to quickly extract the mana core from the wolf's body, he didn't do it to maintain his cool guy image.

"By the way, do you know the way back home?"

"Y-Yes... I do..."

"Really? Do you have a map?"

"No, but..."

She pointed somewhere with her finger.

"This is our front yard..."

'Wait, your front yard is this big? Why is such a monster living in your front yard in the first place?'

Many questions swirled around in his head, but since this was a romance fantasy world, he could somewhat accept it.

'Wait! What on earth is her dad doing leaving his daughter alone like this?'

"Alright, let's go."

"A-Are we going to my house?"

"I have nowhere else to go. Hurry up, I'm hungry."

"O-Okay..."

Baek Yu-Seol had intended to avoid meeting any of his present acquaintances as much as possible, but he ended up encountering Eisel right from the start.

'If this is fate, then so be it.'

It didn't feel like a good start for some reason.

Rumble!! Swoosh!!

Hearing the sound of the pouring rain, Haeseongwol quietly looked out the carriage window. It was rare for a high-level mage to sit idly without any thoughts.

Even now, countless problems that would require dozens of ordinary mages to solve were swirling in Haeseongwol's mind.

Among those, the one that occupied the most space was, undoubtedly, Baek Yu-Seol.

"... They say the rainy season on the Hawol Plain is tough due to the incessant downpours, but this year seems particularly severe. Don't you agree?"

Haeseongwol spoke without even turning his head to look at Jeliel, who was sitting next to him, but there was no response.

Given that she wouldn't suddenly doze off in such a situation, the reason was clear... She was ignoring him.

If you think daring to ignore a Class 9 mage is audacious, then you aren't a Class 9 mage.

Those who had shed all lingering attachments and impure emotions were in a state similar to that of an immortal or sage.

"Jeliel. Do you resent me?"

At those words, she finally turned her head to look at Haeseongwol. Still, she did not respond.

Jeliel's recent memories were still vividly clear.

Standing on Carmen Set's chessboard, she witnessed Baek Yu-Seol disappear along with the collapsing space and time.

It kept appearing in her dreams.

Why did he make that choice?

They could always revisit the ancient ruins of Carmen Set later.

But... He only had one life.

"Lady, Magic Tower Lord, we have arrived."

The knight whispered quietly.

The place they arrived at was 'StarCloud Merchant Guild.'

This city, which had been formed by the gathering of numerous merchant guilds including the StarCloud Merchant Guild, was now completely dominated by the StarCloud Merchant Guild.

And in the center of this city stood a large mansion, which was the headquarters and heart of the StarCloud Merchant Guild.

It was also the hometown which witnessed Jeliel's childhood.

"Wow!! Hurry! Hurry! Let's go!!"

As they arrived in the city, people of numerous different races were quickly running through the streets.

Something was definitely happening, but it wasn't serious or dangerous.

Because the faces of everyone on the street were blooming with smiles.

Jeliel no longer looked out the window.

'No way.'

Thump! Thump!

Her heart pounded violently.

'Not yet, I can't let my guard down yet....'

She still didn't know why they were cheering with joy?

If you have high expectations, the disappointment will be great.

'Calm down.'

But the closer they got to the mansion, the louder the cheers became, and the crowd grew so large that it seemed the entire city had come out, making it difficult for the carriage to move forward.

"Waaaaaaa!!!"

"... These are people who have been graced by your father's kindness."

Chairman Melian was famous not only for being the world's richest man but also for bestowing countless favors.

While Jeliel carried out dirty and foul deeds in the dark without hesitation, Chairman Melian performed shining good deeds behind the scenes.

Most of this city had been graced by Melian, and they were able to survive thanks to him.

What could make these people so happy?

Obviously.

"It's the young lady's carriage!!"

Someone recognized Jeliel's carriage and shouted, and the crowd parted like the Miracle of the Red Sea, making way.

It was truly a scene straight out of a movie.

Click!

As the carriage door opened, Jeliel gracefully extended her slender leg and alighted elegantly.

However, it was just a façade, a defense mechanism against her wildly beating heart.

All the surrounding noise quieted down.

Jeliel lifted her head and faced the person standing in front of her.

It was unmistakably her father.

Chairman Melian was smiling at her.

But why did her father's image keep getting blurrier?

"Ah..."

Only then did she notice her disheveled appearance. "Go on."

Only after Haeseongwol's words did Jeliel manage to take a step towards him. Then, suddenly.

'Huh...?'

Even though she faced her father, she realized the mana stored in her heart hadn't evaporated.

'No, wait, wait...'

She had previously made a 'Magical Oath' with Baek Yu-Seol.

[First. Do not meet your father within three years.]

The moment she broke that taboo, all the mana in her heart would evaporate and disperse into the air.

But now, despite having her father right in front of her, her mana was intact.

"My daughter, I'm sorry for worrying you."

Chairman Melian's warm embrace reassured her that he was indeed real.

"Ah, ah...."

But because of this, she became aware of the horrifying reality. The Magical Oath, which seemed perfect, had another rule.

'If the contract partner ceases to exist, the oath becomes null and void.'

Not death, but extinction.

Only if the existence itself disappeared would the rule come into effect, which was practically an inexistent clause.

Why had it activated?

Thud!

Unable to even maintain the embrace with her father, Jeliel collapsed to the ground. Hot tears streamed endlessly from her eyes, and she could no longer hide her emotions.

"Ah! Ah....!!"

The emotion she felt at this moment was not happiness or anything else…

It was despair.