Meanwhile, Lu Deric, who had been trailing behind Baek Yu-Seol and Hong Bi-Yeon while staying hidden, was surprised.
‘How are they moving so fast?’
If they were ordinary first-year students, it would be normal for them to encounter monsters or get caught up in extra stories within the Persona. That would naturally slow them down.
But Baek Yu-Seol was either clearing every myth and legend in record time or finding shortcuts to bypass them altogether. He was moving so quickly that if Lu Deric didn’t sprint at full speed, he would lose sight of them.
’The rumors are true. This guy is insane.’
Lu Deric had heard plenty about how exceptional Baek Yu-Seok was, but seeing it in person was something else entirely.
Only now did Lu Deric fully understand how remarkable his abilities truly were.
He had hoped to offer a little ‘senior assistance’ whenever Baek Yu-Seol hit a snag, but the opportunity never arose.
It was almost frustrating for Lu Deric, who was itching to prove his usefulness.
’Well, it’s fine... For now.’
Lu Deric glanced at the floating guideline message in the air.
[The Tale of a Certain Yokai]
It was clear. Baek Yu-Seol hadn’t even come close to approaching that story.
Lu Deric wasn’t sure if Baek had even finished his analysis properly.
’The myths and legends that appear here are tied to specific locations.’
For example, if there was an urban legend about a red-masked figure wandering the city, it wouldn’t make sense for that story to take place in a rural village or forest. Most legends were bound to their original settings.
In other words, for Baek Yu-Seol to find the key legend needed to clear the Persona Gate, he would have to search the slums, not just wander around the city.
’This particular story... Is likely set in the outskirts.’
Lu Deric slowly read the forgotten tale inscribed in the guideline message:
[The villagers called it the season of blooming flames when they saw the leaves falling. It sounded a bit strange to ■. In the crisp ■ autumn, it was too cold for flames to bloom.]
Though some words were missing due to incomplete analysis, it didn’t hinder Lu Deric from understanding the gist of the story.
‘Baek Yu-Seol... There’s no way you’ve gotten this far in the analysis, right?’
It was impossible.
Lu Deric’s family, the Lu, were the heirs of ancestors that once spent twenty years clearing a Danger Level 9 Persona Gate.
His family had mastered the art of Persona interpretation. No matter how gifted Baek Yu-Seol was, he couldn’t possibly have more advanced calculations than Lu Deric.
Even the geniuses like Hong Bi-Yeon and Ban Di-Yeon hadn’t managed to extract the guideline message yet, while Lu Deric had already grasped the entire ending.
’Keep wandering, Baek Yu-Seol, so this senior can help you.’
But then Lu Deric noticed something strange.
Baek Yu-Seol, who had been moving quickly earlier, was now walking side by side with Hong Bi-Yeon. He had slowed down as they steadily progressed through the gate.
No, it wasn’t exactly a leisurely pace.
If earlier it felt like Baek Yu-Seol was recklessly rushing through the stories, now it appeared like he was taking a much more stable and precise approach to clearing the gate.
’... He really is impressive.’
In fact, this cautious version of Baek Yu-Seol seemed even more intimidating to Lu Deric, perhaps because Lu Deric himself was a meticulous academic type.
’But waiting is boring.’
Watching them quietly exchange words, Hong Bi-Yeon’s striking beauty caught his eye. It irritated Lu Deric for some reason.
’It must be because Princess Hong Bi-Yeon is such a beauty.’
Feeling restless, Lu Deric forced himself to look away from Baek Yu-Seol and resumed reading the guideline message.
Since he now had time to spare, he could finish what he hadn’t managed to read earlier while chasing them.
[In the season when flames bloom, there was a child in that village.]
[The child’s form was so grotesque that it was unclear if they were human or monster. He lived... in the village...]
———-
Meanwhile, when Anella opened her eyes again, she found herself in a cold forest.
She wasn’t exactly lying in the open, but in a structure that resembled a shack—something that had been built in an attempt to look like a hut but had utterly failed. It was a pile of wooden planks that had become her bed.
“Ugh...”
Grabbing her head, Anella groggily looked around the shack in disbelief.
“Is this supposed to be a house...?”
The ramshackle planks were so poorly assembled that it looked like it would barely keep the wind out. The place appeared on the verge of collapsing at any moment.
What was even stranger was that the shack was filled with living essentials and trash, as if someone had been living there for a long time.
Whoever lived there must have endured in this miserable hovel for quite some time.
“Who on earth lived in this dump...?”
As she said that, Anella realized her own situation wasn’t much better than whoever had lived there.
She had been living under a tattered roof in the ruins of her fallen nation, barely managing to escape the rain and wind.
’Never mind that... Where am I?’
Anella tried to piece together her last memories.
The sky had turned pitch black.
Sigh...
There was no need to feel discouraged now. She didn’t know why her dark magic suppression had failed, but she had always known this could happen.
"Alright... Let’s go back."
After all, she had completed her mission. She had gathered information about the Witch King's movements, and she had survived. In that sense, it was a success.
With that thought, Anella got up and began walking down the gravel path again.
She walked continuously.
And by the time the sun rose again...
"... Huh?"
She realized she had somehow returned to the same village.
"A... Monster..."
About ten villagers were staring at her in shock.
For a moment, the villagers appeared as if they were teenage students in Stella uniforms, but it was just a fleeting illusion.
They reverted to their true forms—farmers in their 30s and 40s.
Gasp!
As Anella took a step back, the farmers grew more alarmed and began to mutter amongst themselves.
"What the... It's a monster!"
"What do we do? Should we kill it?"
"It's so grotesque... Do we really have to fight it?"
"This is definitely that forgotten one, isn't it?"
"I-I don't know! Just attack it!"
In an instant, the farmers pointed their pitchforks and sickles at Anella like staff and fired off flames and ice spikes.
Whoosh!
Boom!
Why were these farming tools shooting magic?
Anella didn’t have the mental capacity to question it. Although she was being hated by humans, she didn’t want to hurt them, so she turned and ran desperately with the villagers chasing after her.
"Hey! The monster's running away!"
"Chase it down and kill it!"
"Damn it! It’s too fast!"
"Don’t let it escape!"
Using her superhuman abilities to sprint away once again, Anella collapsed in front of a spring deep within the forest.
Huff. Huff...
Burying her face in the dirt, she forced herself to take deep, ragged breaths.
What had she been so afraid of?
Was it the humans' attacks?
What a laughable thought.
Their blows barely even tickled her.
A dark mage wouldn’t die from being struck by mere farming tools.
But.
It wasn’t the physical attacks she feared.
It was hatred.
The overwhelming fear of being despised.
It was so terrifying that it made her knees weak.
It was so painful that it brought tears to her eyes.
It was so intense that it felt like her heart might burst.
Anella wasn’t weak enough to be injured from the fall, but somehow, she was too scared to stand back up.
She knew that if she didn’t get up now, she might never rise again. And yet, her body refused to move.
’Why... Why am I going through this?’
’Is it because I’m a dark mage?’
Anella let out a bitter laugh.
’Ah! Right.’
It was only natural for her to be hated.
She wasn’t human.
She could never become human.
’This... Is my fate, after all.’
As the cold night wind chilled her to the bone, Anella closed her eyes tightly.
The starlight disappeared from her view.