Chapter 346

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"It is not Solderet's device? What on earth does that mean?"

It was a question Jin had never even considered before. If it's not Solderet's, then who could have used the shadow force to create the recording device?

"Exactly as I said. This recording device is made entirely of shadow force, but not something created by Solderet. There's an indescribably malevolent force within the device. I almost got my mind contaminated."

Valeria took a deep breath.

What surprised her was that, for a moment, as she peered into the marble, the 'evil shadow force' inside the device seemed to be targeting her.

"You almost got your mind contaminated?"

Jin felt uneasy about Valeria's response.

The Valeria he knew was not the kind to simply dismiss such situations as mere 'mistakes' and move on easily.

'Darn it, I never thought that checking this recording device would hurt my teacher.'

And to make matters worse, it's not even Solderet's device.

Amidst the confusion, like ice, Valeria's eyes turned cold.

"Jin Runcandel, under these circumstances, it's only natural for me to doubt you."

In her past life, she wouldn't have had to doubt Jin. But in her current life, Jin and Valeria weren't that close yet.

"It almost sounds like I was trying to attack you using the marble."

"Since your Runcandel is trying to capture me, it only adds to the suspicion."

Defending his innocence wasn't going to help clear Valeria's misunderstanding.

'If I lose my teacher's trust now, we may not meet again for several years. Or maybe she will cut off all contact with me until she is captured by Runcandel or Zipfel.'

Valeria was someone who could very well do that.

'But maybe because my teacher is still young, she still has some trust in me, or maybe the situation is just helping me. Or she does not doubt me with certainty.'

It would likely be the third possibility.

Valeria still has the shadow force marble that Jin entrusted her in the beginning, and she probably thought that Jin wouldn't know her hiding place.

"Well, that could be true. I understand. If I say I wasn't involved here, it will only increase mistrust between us."

Jin shrugged.

"You know it well."

"Of course, claiming that the attack you received was mind contamination is quite abstract damage. Besides, one of my recording devices is in your possession, and you are someone I need. But there's still a possibility that I attacked you. Right? Moreover, if it's mind contamination, it might be the ancient dark magic that has disappeared now."

As Jin spoke, Valeria shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, you can think that way. I'll understand. But that doesn't mean I'll just overlook the fact that it might not be you."

"If there's something you want to confirm, go ahead and do it. If it's possible, I'll cooperate."

"You don't need to cooperate, so don't worry. I'll check it myself. Let's move to a different place for now."

"Just a while ago, you said this place can only be seen from the kitchen and refused to move. If you need a secluded place, how about going to Sir Kashmir's mansion?"

"Follow me. The confirmation won't take long."

Valeria got up from her seat.

As Jin stood up to follow, she paused as if she had forgotten something and grabbed something from the dining table. There were two pieces of special cookies made by Latrie.

Carefully wrapping the cookies and placing them in her robe pocket, Valeria looked at Jin.

Jin couldn't help but suppress a smile when he saw that.

'Does my young teacher have a cute side, or are Latrie's cookies like drugs? It's the first time I've seen my teacher take care of food when it's not a fleeing situation.'

Jin followed Valeria to Latrie's refreshment shop.

It seemed like she had been here several times before, as she knew her way around the streets.

They walked for a while, took a carriage midway, and then walked again until they reached a cliff at the edge of the island.

Below, there was a small makeshift boat on which Valeria had arrived.

"...So you didn't enter the Free City officially but infiltrated it?"

"Given the circumstances."

"Why is this city called the Free City anyway? It's a welcoming place unless you're a serious criminal. There are hardly any people here who can recognize you other than me and my colleagues."

Jin said out of frustration. Even in the "Free City," his young teacher had to hide and sneak in. It was a pitiful life.

"I know that too. I'm just more comfortable this way. Let's go down to the boat."

Pop!

Valeria jumped off the cliff. Although it was a height that could easily result in death if landed wrongly, Jin had seen her do this a few times in his past life, so it wasn't that surprising.

Just before landing, she used her mana to create a gust of wind to absorb the impact and landed lightly on the boat. Jin followed her down the cliff and onto the small makeshift boat, which was quite cramped with both of them on board. They were practically standing toe-to-toe.

"Even the upper cliff was secluded enough. Did we really have to come to such a tight space? How did you even navigate a boat like this to get here?"

"It's better to be as safe as possible."

With a smooth motion, Valeria moved her wooden staff (which had also been stained with the black dye of Golden Peng). It was as if she was steering the boat.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, the seawater near the boat surged and froze, forming a semi-spherical ice barrier that completely enclosed the boat. The ice was thick enough that sunlight couldn't penetrate through.

Thud! Valeria's touch caused a blue magical light to bloom like a lantern.

Regardless of the situation, the scene of the boat enveloped in ice and the two of them inside looked like a meticulously painted picture.

"Jin Runcandel, I'm going to read your records now."

Naturally, Jin had anticipated that Valeria would do this. However, he didn't show it on the surface.

"You're going to read my records. It sounds quite dangerous. Can you explain it to me?"

"It might be easier to understand if I say I'm going to examine your memories. Strictly speaking, it's slightly different, but similar."

"So, what you mean is you're going to read my memories to confirm whether I intended to harm you. Is that correct?"

"Exactly."

"Fine. But there are two conditions."

"Tell me."

"First, I don't know how far you can read memories, but I hope you respect my privacy."

"Believe it or not, directly reading someone's records is quite a challenging task. It's different from reading the records left behind by a person's traces or items. It's also hard to find irrelevant memories."

Jin was well aware of that fact. Even his twenty-five-year-old teacher couldn't read all of Jin's records.

"Second, if it's proven that I didn't have any ill intentions towards you, then from now on, cooperate with me more. To be honest, if you're willing to come this far, I think it won't be a problem to build some trust."

Surprisingly, Valeria simply nodded her head in agreement.

"Okay. Then reach out your hand."

Jin followed Valeria's request.

Then she closed her eyes and placed her hand, enveloped in the characteristic blue mana of record magic, on top of Jin's hand.

At that moment, Valeria was completely defenseless.

'This is the most vulnerable moment for my teacher.'

When unleashing record magic to its fullest, Valeria couldn't do anything else.

'Maybe she's showing this opening so easily because she thinks I don't know about it. Or maybe she had some trust in me from the beginning.'

Slowly, the records of Jin as a human started to seep into Valeria's mind.

Jin watched her carefully, waiting for the magic to finish.

'It doesn't seem like anything particularly suspicious is coming up. It doesn't seem like he was trying to hurt me intentionally, given that he was trying to find out the condition of the recording device.'

Valeria thought. Instantly, sweat formed on her forehead.

'Young Jin Runcandel? Which period is this record from? Focus, I only need to look at events from the past few days.'

Peering into someone's records directly wasn't something that could be easily controlled. It was inevitable to see some records that didn't need to be confirmed.

'This is strange, isn't it? Wait a moment... feeling embarrassed at one year old?'

That was a somewhat odd scene.

Was it possible for someone to feel such emotions at the age of one? No one would feel embarrassed when someone changed their diapers, no matter who it was.

'It might be a bit far-fetched to consider him an extraordinary person since birth. Let's continue observing. But who is this woman? Luet Damiro Yul...?'

It was a recent record.

It was a vivid memory. Valeria was strangely drawn to Luet's unusual red hair, the same color as her own.

'Forgotten... fairy race?'

Her magic was reaching its limit. Valeria started to breathe heavily, and Jin looked at her with anxious eyes.

Enough.

It seemed there was no need to confirm any further. So, as Valeria tried to stop the record magic, she suddenly came across a type of record she had never seen before – something entirely unfamiliar.

Unlike the other ordinary records she had just examined, this one conveyed an indescribably alien sensation.

A sharp headache hit her as if blades had pierced her mind.

At the same time, an unbearable curiosity and the thought that she might not have another chance to confirm such a record about Jin crossed her mind.

"Arya Aulhart, are you okay?"

Blood dripped from Valeria's mouth and nose.

She was never one to fall into mana backflow, but examining records was always a burdensome task. Especially if she continues when stopping at a moment like this, it could be dangerous even for Valeria.

'Just a little more, just a little...!'

Now, blood was flowing from her eyes and ears as well. If she continued like this, she might soon fall into the final stage of the backflow.

"Arya!"

Thump!

Valeria stumbled forward, spewing blood.

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