Chapter 47
“The Key to Plan B”
‘What… is that?’
A faint black mist was rising, wrapping around Roitz’s body.
His peaceful expression began to show traces of pain.
‘…!’
I immediately jumped up and tried to wave the mist away with my hands. Wherever I touched, it scattered—only to regroup again.
‘Go away!’
As I waved my hands through it, an unsettling certainty formed in me.
‘This mist… it’s definitely—’
At that moment, Roitz opened his eyes.
The mist surrounding him vanished instantly, crushed by the force of his aura.
“Sunbae?”
I was caught in a strange posture, my hand reaching awkwardly toward his face.
“…What are you doing?”
“Oh, um. Just trying to get something off your forehead.”
There was nothing there, of course—but I pretended to flick something away.
Roitz caught my hand before I could move it again.
“There’s nothing there.”
“There was! It just fell off.”
“Where?”
Surprisingly thorough, Roitz asked seriously.
I dropped to the floor and started pretending to search for dust.
“Somewhere around here…”
Though I was just pretending, Roitz quickly pulled me up.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. I swear it fell right here.”
Saying it with a completely straight face made him believe me—at least a little.
‘I didn’t mean to lie…’
But somehow, I just couldn’t bring myself to tell Roitz what I had actually seen.
That black mist was a clear trace of the demonic beast—Necroquad.
Whether Roitz himself had felt it or not, I had no idea.
‘But if I told him his body is being surrounded by that creature…’
He’d feel threatened, and I didn’t want to do that.
Let me be clear: the original story was firmly in the “dark fantasy” genre.
And in that story, Roitz utterly despised the beast inside him.
He even tried to kill himself multiple times because of it.
Though he failed each time, he never reconciled with the beast. He just pretended to have control, pretending everything was fine.
But when Lucike eventually discovered the truth—that the beast was still unstable—
That’s when Roitz’s self-loathing reached its peak.
“He looked as if a black sword had pierced a hole through his chest.” —That’s how the novel described it.
I didn’t want him to feel that way yet. I wanted to delay that pain as long as possible.
Yes, one day I would have to tell him. But not yet.
“Are you okay now?”
“Yeah. I think so.”
“I meant you, Serdin.”
“Ah…”
Right. I was the one lying in the infirmary bed.
“Yeah. I feel totally fine.”
Roitz didn’t seem convinced.
He placed the back of his hand on my forehead, gently checking my temperature—one hand on my shoulder, the other on my face.
“I’m fine, really.”
“Okay.”
But he didn’t take his hand away until he checked my eyes to see if I was fully conscious.
“Did you get any sleep, Sunbae?”
“I did.”
“Not just that nap earlier.”
“That counts too.”
“You were dreaming. Are you sure it was deep sleep?”
“Dreams?”
“Yeah. You called my name in your sleep. I didn’t do anything bad in the dream, right?”
“…I did?”
Roitz cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject.
“I heard it was you, Serdin. You saved the High Priest from the monster.”
“Oh, yes.”
Whatever my reasons, I had saved him. It was the truth. And it felt nice to be acknowledged for it.
But instead of praising me…
“Don’t do that again.”
“Why not? Wasn’t it the right thing to do?”
“Of course it was. But…”
I waited for him to finish. If it was a good thing, why was I being told not to do it?
Roitz looked at my neck.
“You’re not ready for that yet.”
Was he saying I lacked ability?
To someone who wanted recognition—especially from Roitz—his words stung.
“Do you think I’m not capable?”
I asked directly. I didn’t want to dodge around the question, not with him.
Yes, I got hurt—but I also saved a life.
“Serdin.”
Roitz didn’t look troubled or offended.
“There’s a reason rookies aren’t given direct missions.”
His face remained calm, rational.
“Even if you have the skills, using them in the field is a completely different issue.”
His tone wasn’t harsh, and I didn’t feel scolded. Just… taught.
“In training, there’s one objective. But on the field, there are many. Prioritizing them… knowing what you can protect—it’s not easy. Even for me.”
“Even for you?”
“There’s a reason why ranks and direct reporting lines exist.”
His voice, his expression—both calm and logical. They made you want to listen.
“Just being good with a sword or fast isn’t enough. It’s about deciding how to act in the moment.”
Now I got it.
It wasn’t about me being incompetent.
Roitz lifted the corners of my mouth with his fingers, offering a gentle smile.
“Relax. I’m not saying you lack ability.”
He always knew exactly what I needed to hear—sometimes it felt like he could read my mind.
“Okay.”
He let go only once I smiled on my own.
A few days passed.
The wound on my neck healed fairly quickly with some rest.
I spent that time waiting.
Waiting for information from my informant.
Or for Roitz to meet his destined partner—Lucike.
But neither happened.
“Still nothing?”
“Not yet. Please be patient.”
Even after pushing my contact, Lucike had completely disappeared.
‘What if Necroquad goes berserk again?’
Sure, I survived the day I was supposed to die.
But after seeing that ominous shadow rise from Roitz, I couldn’t relax.
I left the informant’s office trembling with unease.
Back in my quarters, I clutched a pristine, barely-worn knight uniform and groaned.
‘I thought once I found Lucike, everything would fall into place… but she’s not even showing up!’
“Ughhh.”
My head throbbed.
I thought money would solve everything—but of course, life wasn’t that easy.
‘In that case…’
There was no other choice.
Time to activate Plan B.
Later — A Bright Afternoon in the Melrn Plaza
I stood at the edge of Melrn Street, waiting.
I hadn’t worked out all the details of Plan B—because I never thought I’d need to use it.
But to even begin planning, I needed a vast amount of information.
And someone who could open the door to that ocean of knowledge.
The person I was waiting for was that key.
Then—
“Serdin!”
A familiar voice called out.
“Long time no see! You doing okay?”
A man in a pale-blue formal uniform waved at me as he walked over.
It was Derrick Musket, a senior who’d taken the same survival training class as me years ago.
“Derrick-sunbae!”
He now worked at the Imperial Knights Administrative Office.
Back in academy days, Derrick had been great at logistics and planning—more brain than brawn.
That made him perfect for his current position.
“Here’s the authorization form. But why the library?”
“I’ve suddenly got a thirst for knowledge again!”
“Knowledge?”
“I want to learn more about techniques and magical tools for subjugating monsters.”
“Yeah, you always were curious about everything.”
I wasn’t lying—I just didn’t mention which monster I wanted to subdue.
A summoned beast. One inside Roitz’s body.
Necroquad.
I had given up on waiting for Lucike to show.
So Plan B was simple: I would eliminate the beast myself.
‘If I don’t, who knows when it’ll kill me.’
To do that, I needed a solid strategy—and the first step was research.
The best place for that?
The Royal Library—home to every book in the Empire.
