Chapter 38
Starting off confidently was fine and all.
But then I ran straight into a massive problem.
I clutched my forehead and let out a long sigh.
“Seriously… where on earth am I…?”
That’s right.
I’d exited through a different door than the one I’d entered, and now I was completely lost inside this blindingly white building.
I’m not even bad with directions!
I wasn’t someone who usually got lost this easily, yet here I was, sighing over and over while holding Axion—entirely because of this building.
There should at least be some kind of marker to tell paths apart!
Walls all the same color. Identical layouts no matter where you went.
Hallways without a single window to the outside.
A place with absolutely nothing that could serve as a point of reference.
Unless you had a navigation system, getting lost here was practically inevitable.
“Wah?”
“Axiooon… could you save your mom…?”
On top of that, Axion seemed uncomfortable from being held all day and started squirming.
In the end, I had no choice but to sit down in a corner of the hallway and set Axion on the floor for a bit.
Once down, Axion went “hnngh,” stood up, and began toddling over to the white wall, slapping it with both palms—smack, smack.
“You hate that wall too, huh? Yeah. Mommy hates it as well. If we break through it, do you think we could get outside?”
“Wah!”
Watching Axion hit the wall was undeniably adorable—but it was definitely time to get out of here.
“All right, Axion. Come here. Let’s get going.”
If we stayed like this, we’d waste too much time.
I still need to stop by that shop.
Since I’d come all the way to the capital, I’d deliberately brought Morokhanil’s stone with me.
Just in case Morokhanil showed up again at that ‘Poison You in Three Seconds’ shop.
Heave-ho. Just as I lifted Axion—who had gotten noticeably heavier lately—and was about to move—
“Ugh, I hate it. Running into that fox again.”
“We don’t have much of a choice.”
Two voices echoed from the hallway ahead.
To my ears, they sounded like the trumpets of angels.
Taa-daaam!
“E-excuse me!”
I dashed over and stopped right in front of them.
“WAAAH!”
Apparently they hadn’t expected someone to suddenly appear—the shorter of the two fell flat on his backside.
This guy’s reactions were something else.
I couldn’t help thinking he’d be a ratings killer on a Korean variety show, but I hurriedly spoke up.
“I’m so sorry for startling you! Um, if it’s not too rude, could I ask for directions for a moment?”
“…Huh?”
For some reason, I could tell my question hadn’t landed well.
The boy who’d fallen let out a weird “Huh?” sound, and the woman standing there stared blankly at me.
“What is it? An intruder?” the woman said, tilting her head.
“Do intruders these days carry babies and get lost too? Guess I can’t keep up with trends.”
The boy scowled.
“Idiot. How could she be an intruder? I don’t sense any demonic energy at all. She doesn’t even look strong.”
Doesn’t look strong, huh. Ahem.
I subtly hid my iron arms and iron legs and spoke politely.
“Um, I just met the Saintess and was on my way back out. It’s my first time here, so I got lost.”
“The Saintess? You met that old fox?”
Old fox?
I had no idea how that pure, delicate-looking Saintess could be described that way—but judging by their tone, these two seemed to know her better than I did.
A faint chill ran through me.
She wasn’t just putting on an act in front of me… was she?
Nah. What would she gain from that?
I briefly narrowed my eyes, then shook off the unease and focused again.
“Why do you call her an old fox?”
“Uh… we had business with her?”
“Hmmm.”
The boy sprang up from the floor in one smooth motion, rested a hand on his chin, and frowned.
“Isn’t this period restricted to people related to the Day of the Rift?”
“You remember that too? Yeah, me too.”
The dazed-looking woman nodded along.
The two whispered to each other briefly, then suddenly looked up as if they’d reached a conclusion.
“You! Are you that newly appeared Transcendent? Vanilla-something?”
“That’s right! Vanilla!”
The boy pointed at me dramatically, lifting his chin like a great detective.
Uh… Vanilla?
Did he mean my daughter-in-law-to-be, Vanilla?
These two were clearly very mistaken.
In what universe do I look like Vanilla? She’s still a kid.
When I just stared at them flatly, the boy seemed to sense something was off and rolled his eyes thoughtfully.
He looked me up and down, then finally seemed to realize I was an adult. His gaze shifted to Axion.
His pointing finger slowly moved as well.
“Ahem! Yes, you! I mean you!”
“You! That’s right!”
The woman echoed him blankly.
These people were… strange.
Weird way of talking. A bit dim, somehow.
I shouldn’t have talked to them.
As someone who’d once been constantly stopped by “Do you know the Way?” cult recruiters, I knew better than to engage with weird people.
I subtly turned away, adjusted Axion in my arms, and angled myself toward the wall.
“Ah, I think I suddenly remember the way. It was this direction, right?”
I muttered to myself and tried to pass by them—
“Wait! You should greet your seniors before leaving, Vanilla!”
“That’s right! Greet us!”
So they were that type.
Witnessing this hierarchical nonsense—something I’d thought only existed in Korea—made my mouth taste bitter.
Authority culture. How awful.
Suddenly, I thought about how much Vanilla must have struggled growing up as a Transcendent.
Bastards.
Snapping back to reality, I turned around with a sense of mission.
If these kinds of seniors were around Vanilla, that was bad news.
“I’m sorry, but first of all—this child is not Vanilla.”
“…Oh.”
“Ah… I-is that so?”
The boy awkwardly covered his confidently extended finger with his other hand. A forced cough followed.
“S-so that’s it. I misunderstood!”
“Yes. And just because you’re seniors doesn’t mean juniors are obligated to greet you. I’m actually your senior in life—but you didn’t greet me, did you?”
It was nonsense, but I said it so confidently that the boy’s pupils wavered.
The woman tilted her head, sensing something odd.
Before she could speak, I jumped in.
Ahem!
“So, you shouldn’t force that Vanilla girl to greet you either. Seniors are supposed to care for and protect their juniors. That’s the virtue of a senior. If you do that, juniors will naturally come to respect you.”
“B-but Dazar made me greet him every day for ten years after I became a Transcendent…”
That damned Dazar.
Even here, he shows up to ruin things!
I couldn’t hide my face souring for a moment. Seeing me head-on, the woman’s complexion turned slightly pale.
Oops.
I quickly put my smile back on and continued.
“That’s because Dazar is a terrible person. He has a bad personality, right?”
“Y-yeah! He’s a total jerk—absolute trash! How did you know?”
“That’s the kind of person who forces juniors to greet him. You don’t want to become like Dazar, do you?”
The boy shook his head vigorously.
“Never! I absolutely don’t want to!”
“Right? Then don’t learn that behavior.”
The boy seemed genuinely moved by my heartfelt advice and clenched his fist.
“You! You’re kind of amazing. You’re the first person since Morokhanil to openly badmouth Dazar!”
“Yes! Amazing!”
As the two looked at me with sparkling eyes, I suddenly realized something.
Wait.
These two were way too casually familiar with both Dazar and Morokhanil.
And—
‘Dazar made me greet him every day for ten years after I became a Transcendent…’
Could these two be—
“Um… excuse me, but are you two Transcendents?”
“Huh?”
They tilted their heads in unison, wearing expressions that said, Who wouldn’t know that?
“That’s right. I’m Aish. And the strange-talking one here is Cora.”
“Nice to meet you.”
The woman waved lazily.
“…What?”
“We’re among those currently existing on this continent—four people. No, wait. With Vanilla, that makes five now.”
The boy counted on his fingers, straightened his shoulders, and continued proudly.
“I’m one of those five.”
He pointed at himself, then at the woman beside him.
“And another one is Cora.”
“Nice to meet you.”
She waved again.
I waved back reflexively, thinking—
Were Transcendents always this common? Somehow I’ve run into all of them.
And then it hit me.
This boy had appeared in the original story.
As someone who tried to kill Axion.
