~Chapter 26~
‘…This definitely doesn’t feel like the ground.’
The thing under my awkwardly crouched body wasn’t something you could feel from the earth.
It was softer than the ground, but firmer than a liquid.
I opened my eyes as I landed, bracing myself.
Underneath me… was Yushen, looking up with a sulky expression.
Even though I expected it, the way he was just there, so naturally, made me even more embarrassed.
“…Why are you there?”
“Could you get off me now?”
“Yep.”
Feeling awkward, I got up right away.
I didn’t understand why he was under me, even though he was the one who made me fall.
Yushen got up too, fixing his wrinkled clothes. The tips of his ears were red.
‘That really was… an embarrassing situation, wasn’t it?’
The silence felt even heavier than usual.
‘Why did I have to make such a big deal about having holy power…!’
No point regretting it now—time can’t go backward.
To break the awkward mood, I cleared my throat a couple of times.
“…So, is your back okay now?”
“Yes. If it doesn’t even hurt after someone fell on me, the healing must have worked.”
Wow, how can he be so annoyingly sarcastic?
I glared at him, then sat back on the bed.
Yushen looked at me like, “Why aren’t you leaving?”
But I still had something to say, so I stayed.
“Didn’t you feel anything weird about Cerberus earlier?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“That was my real reason for coming here, actually.”
His deep purple eyes stared right through me, but then softened a bit, turning serious.
Luckily, it seemed he felt my sincerity.
“What was strange about it?”
“First, answer my question. Did you notice anything off? You were the closest to it.”
Yushen thought for a moment, remembering the fight.
But soon he shook his head.
“Except for the fact that there was a monster in ruins where there shouldn’t have been, I didn’t notice anything else.”
“That’s the first strange thing.”
Any holy knight squad that kills monsters in a place has to check the site for five years after.
They do regular checkups, inspect the purification stones, and look for monsters before reporting.
The ruins we went to were dealt with just one year ago by Luche.
Even if the purification stones were worn, it’s only been a year, so the danger was considered low. Nobody thought a monster would appear.
And it wasn’t even a low-level monster—it was Cerberus. Tayla said it was super rare and unusual.
“Is there something else weird?”
“Yeah.”
He looked confused at my “first thing.”
“To be honest, I’m not sure about the second one. Only you and I might have noticed it.”
He nodded, as if telling me to go on.
“Didn’t it seem like Cerberus recognized our faces?”
“Cerberus isn’t supposed to have recognition abilities.”
“Oh…”
I had no idea Cerberus couldn’t recognize people. No wonder Yushen hadn’t noticed.
But I’d definitely felt it—the way one head locked eyes with me, like it knew me.
“That monster was looking for us from the start. Even if it isn’t supposed to recognize people, I’m sure about that.”
Yushen’s face turned serious.
If what I said was true, that wasn’t something you could just ignore. He’d need to plan for it.
“Are you saying someone made Cerberus recognize us?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you know who did it?”
“Of course, it’s—…”
I almost said Leana, but the words caught in my throat.
‘Yushen suspects everything about me.’
Just like he couldn’t trust me, I couldn’t trust him.
We never had trust, since we first met as pursuer and fugitive.
Still… I really hoped he would believe me this time.
I couldn’t catch Leana alone.
I needed someone powerful who understood at least a bit about my situation.
And Yushen was the perfect person for that.
“Who is it?” he pressed, for once not waiting.
“…Leana.”
“…”
“The Leana you’ve been chasing is probably behind this.”
“No, she is behind it.”
All expression faded from Yushen’s face. Silence filled the space.
Talking about something this sensitive made me tense and my mouth dry.
Would Yushen believe me this time?
“Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that it really was your twin sister Leana,” he said.
Of course, he didn’t just accept it.
“Why would your sister do something like this?”
At least he was acting like he believed me halfway.
He wanted to know the motive, whether I was really Leana or not.
But I couldn’t tell him the answer—because I didn’t know either.
Except for one thing I was sure about.
“She wants to kill me.”
“…Didn’t you say she’s your sister?”
“A sister can want to kill her older sister. I don’t know everything about her just because she’s my sibling.”
I shrugged. His face twisted in confusion.
“I don’t know any other reason, but I’m sure she wants me dead.”
Everything got messy whenever Leana was involved.
I had no idea what she was thinking, or what she might do next.
I wished she’d just live quietly and mind her own business, but knowing her, that was impossible.
‘That means I have to act first.’
I guessed Leana brought me into this world because she wanted me dead.
To figure that out, I’d have to find out what kind of black magic summoned me here.
‘When we get back to the central temple, I’ll check the library.’
I’d heard the central temple’s library was huge—almost as big as the imperial library.
Supposedly, every book in the world is there.
‘Even if I can’t find a way to go home, I’ll definitely find out what spell brought me here.’
I’d have to persuade Yushen to go after Leana soon.
Who knows if he’d listen, but she had to be stopped before she made things worse.
“Anyway, this is just the beginning.”
“…”
“From now on, Leana will try every trick to kill me. If she gets the chance, she’ll try to kill you too.”
“…”
“So as long as you’re with me, take care of your life.”
It sounded pretty lame, even to me.
But Yushen was the main character—he’d have protagonist luck.
He’d probably survive no matter what.
‘Who am I, with less worth than an insect, to be giving advice?’
His mouth shut tight, his eyes staring into space like deep water.
After a long pause, he finally spoke.
“As soon as we return to the temple, I’ll form an investigation team.”
“If your story is proven true and not a trick, I’ll take your advice.”
That’s so like Yushen—always suspicious.
But honestly, if he’d believed me too easily, I would’ve been the one to get suspicious.
“Believe me or not, it’s up to you. I warned you, so don’t blame me later.”
Now that I’d done what I came for, I left Yushen’s tent quickly.
* * *
When we went back to the central temple, I could finally travel in my assigned place.
Yushen didn’t call me up front this time.
Maybe my warning worked, or maybe there were enough people to keep an eye on me.
A week passed, and I was learning from Tayla as usual.
But my plan to visit the library got completely wrecked—there was just too much to learn.
And something else was bothering me:
I kept feeling déjà vu, like something familiar was happening everywhere I went.
“…Did you hear…?”
“Be quiet!”
Whenever I walked by, people whispered, so I figured out what was causing that weird feeling.
There were rumors about me spreading in Luche, just like at the outpost temple before.
‘That means the rumors aren’t really helping me.’
I wondered if Tayla knew, but she just told me to focus on stamping papers and not worry about gossip.
‘Fine, I’ll find out on my own.’
Where do all rumors start? The bathroom! But since I was the only woman, that was useless.
So, the next place was where everyone gathers.
‘For knights, it has to be the training grounds!’
When I got a break, I snuck over to the training grounds and hid near a group of three chatting knights.
“Hey, did you guys hear about the new recruit?”
“What about her?”
“Wow, you still don’t know this rumor?”
What’s the rumor? Tell me! Even I, the person they’re talking about, don’t know it yet!
One knight looked around before speaking.
“Don’t you know the Captain’s been following the new recruit lately?”
“Why would the Captain chase after a recruit?”
“You idiot, the Captain is courting her these days!”
