While many things were happening on the surface, Lyla was ardently learning how to control the system from Serpina. The gigantic amount of mana sent from the World Tree’s copies filled up the cultivation room’s floor today too, just like any other day. Lyla placed her hand on the restriction device on top of the ring surrounding the crystal and closed her eyes. Serpina stood next to her with her arms crossed and stared at Lyla indifferently like usual.
Whooosh!
Mana spread out from Lyla’s hand and seeped into the restriction device. The crystal shone and the ring shook gently.
Flinch! The mana, which had been climbing up the pillars, suddenly halted. Although it circled around the pillar, it didn’t go up into the crystal. Seeing this, Serpina said, “That’s enough.”
Lyla stopped pouring in her mana. Thus, the mana circling the pillar climbed up to the crystal, inserted itself, transformed into a white light, and disappeared through the wall.
“Haa!” Lyla heaved and wiped the sweat flowing from her forehead. This exercise wasn’t physically difficult, nor did it take a lot of her mana, but it required much of her concentration. Yet, even as she felt this light sense of fatigue, Lyla felt proud of herself.
“You’ve improved a lot.” The process of controlling this device was extremely delicate and difficult. Considering that, Lyla had improved at a shockingly astonishing speed. However, Serpina had no intention of praising Lyla for her improvement. Instead, if Lyla hadn’t shown this much progression at this time, she would’ve laughed at Lyla’s powerlessness.
“It’s only expected because you have my body,” Serpina said, ruining Lyla’s celebratory moment. Lyla glared at Serpina, but Serpina remained indifferent.
“Let’s end it here for today.” Serpina sat in a chair a bit of a distance away.
“Already?”
“Didn’t you see the mana coming from the World Tree’s copies disappear? Even if you want to do more, you can’t.”
“You could teach me another manipulation method.”
“I’ve already taught you everything. I basically taught you the entire theory behind this system, and the only thing left for you to do is to practice the only thing you can do when the mana from the World Tree’s copies is here.”
“…Aren’t you just trying to bide time by making excuses like that?”
“Think however you want, but I’d rather have you provide evidence for your claims. Or you could go search for some evidence right now.”
“You are aware that you are able to exist right now in reality thanks to me, right?”
“Are you blackmailing me?”
“I have no reason to.”
“Do as you wish, but the contract was that I could stay in reality if I taught you how to control this device. If you break the contract, I also have no reason to keep my end of the deal. Remember that.”
“…” Lyla glared at Serpina. Was she telling the truth? Or was Serpina scheming something else?
‘If Zich was here…’ But he wasn’t here now. He had gone to deal with matters above the surface after saying he trusted in her. Thus, Lyla worked harder to keep a close eye on Serpina. But so far, she hadn’t found out much.
“If you don’t have anything else to say, let’s end things here. I also don’t want to waste time.” Then, Serpina closed her eyes. She was probably thinking of ways to get her requests fulfilled. Lyla looked at her disapprovingly and placed her hand on the restriction device again. It seemed impossible to find out what Serpina was thinking currently, and thus, Lyla thought it was better to practice with the restriction device in the meantime.
She poured mana into the restriction device again and slowly skimmed through the system. Time quietly passed like that. Although they were in the same space, Lyla and Serpina didn’t say a word to one another. They had absolutely no affection for each other and it would’ve been weirder if they chatted like friends. Lyla stopped pouring mana into the device again. She wiped more sweat off her forehead and took a step away from the restriction device when she heard an unexpected voice.
“What are you working so hard for?”
Lyla looked back. Although Serpina was usually lost in her thoughts with her eyes closed, she was staring intently at Lyla now.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s as I said. Why are you trying so hard?”
Lyla wondered what compelled Serpina to suddenly ask her such a question. Lyla looked at her a bit suspiciously.
“Since the Brushel System has been broken, you don’t have to worry about regressions anymore. There’s also no reason for you to work so hard to free the World Tree. What you are doing right now is all for the purpose of bringing Glen Zenard and the mastermind behind him down. However, you don’t have a clear agenda to bring both of those people down. At most, the mastermind tried to capture you after escaping the Brushel System, but that’s about it. Is that the reason why you are working so hard?”
“Let me think.” Lyla wondered about Serpina’s question. “Well, first of all, Glen Zenard and the mastermind had caused a great deal of damage to other people. Isn’t it only natural that I should try to stop them?”
“We have some great warrior of justice here,” Serpina said mockingly, but Lyla ignored her and continued speaking.
“Another reason is that it could help Zich.”
“So, is it because of love in the end?” Serpina’s voice sounded strange. “Is that emotion that great?”
“I’m sure you don’t know of it.”
“I don’t know since I only move for Clowon. I have no intention or need to understand a menial emotion like that.
“That’s good. I also have no intentions to convince you, so let’s just leave our respective feelings alone.” Lyla replied indifferently and she thought that this would be the end of their conversation. However, instead of closing her eyes and falling into deep thought again, Serpina was still staring at her.
Serpina asked, “Did you learn that mindset from Zich?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s interesting. You felt hostile and sentimental feelings toward him in the beginning, but now, you even adopted his mindset.”
Lyla stared at Serpina with slightly surprised eyes. “Yeah, now that you say it, I felt that way when I first met him. Honestly, I don’t remember why I even felt those emotions.”
“It’s probably because my feelings were still inside you that time. The hostility you felt towards him was because of my memories while fighting Zich Brave, and the sentimental feelings you felt were because you might have briefly thought he was Zich Brave since he didn't feel like Zich Moore. Zich Brave was very memorable to me in various ways.”
Even though Serpina’s voice still sounded emotionless, Lyla felt as if there was slight emotion behind her words.
Serpina asked, “Can you tell me about Zich?”
“Why the sudden change in tune? I didn’t expect you to be curious about Zich.”
“I’ve gained a slight interest. Even though you lost your sense of duty for Clowon and lost all your memory, it doesn’t change the fact that you are still me. My interest has slightly been piqued towards the process that made me feel an emotion like love.”
Lyla fell into thought. Was Serpina secretly plotting something behind her back? Serpina might be trying to hinder her from practicing her control of the system. ‘On the other hand, this might be an opportunity for me to limit her time thinking about unnecessary thoughts that might hinder us..’
“Fine.” Lyla nodded. “Where should I begin?” Lyla recollected her memories and began relaying her story with Zich to Serpina, and Serpina quietly listened.
* * *
The atmosphere in the Steelwall Estate had changed. Considering that there were rumors about Count Steelwall being a Bellid supporter, a war at bay, and a lack of reinforcements, the Steelwall’s morale was at an all-time low. However, after unexpected allies had come to help, Steelwall’s morale began to increase. The fact that they had reinforcements was enough to increase the soldiers’ morale, but the reputation and skills of the reinforcements boosted their spirits even further.
First of all, two marquesses were supporting them, and a large mercenary group that was renowned even in neighboring countries, elves, and mages from the magical tower in Sunewick were also joining them. Even wars between countries would not be able to recruit such skilled members. The Steelwall soldiers and knights thought that with these reinforcements, even the Flauds and their allies would not be able to beat them. Thus, their morale substantially increased, and Zich’s reputation also naturally increased as the person responsible for gathering such an elite group of people.
“You have arrived, young master!”
After finishing his business in Yuras, a guard loudly welcomed Zich inside with extreme respect on his return to Violsa.
‘What the hell is up with this punk?’ Zich stared at the guard with suspicious eyes. However, the guard merely looked back at Zich with sparkling eyes. Zich waved his hands a few times toward the guard’s uncomfortable gaze and entered the city. However, Zich soon realized that the guard wasn’t the only one with a chilling gaze. Everyone shared the guard’s sparkling eyes, and they all looked at him as if he was an amazing and great person. Zich finally found out why their gazes towards him had changed when he reached the Count’s mansion.
Zich asked, “They’ve arrived?”
“Yes, sir.” Trell revealed the news to Zich that the Wolf’s Canine, elves, and mages had arrived.
‘All those folks actually came.’ Even though Zich had sent letters to them, he hadn’t expected much. Since Steelwall was greatly lacking in numbers and military strength compared to their enemies, Zich had sent letters to people that might be of help. In short, he had merely tested the waters and didn’t think that they would all send reinforcements.
“Where are they?”
“We rented an entire high-end lodging for the Wolf’s Canine’s mercenaries and prepared a place for the elves and mages to stay inside.”
“Would you be able to invite all of them to my room? Since I called them, I should greet them.”
“Sir, I’ll immediately make preparations.” Even though Trell had always acted respectfully to Zich, excluding the times when Zich fought with the Count, Trell acted even more politely than before. Then, Trell asked, “Young master, may I ask what happened with the Karuwimans?”
“The Karuwiman have announced that they will remain neutral. There won’t be an excommunication either.”
“That’s very fortunate.” Trell’s eyes brightened up in joy. They no longer had to worry about fighting against the Karuwimans, which would have been the worst-case scenario.
“Please report to Father as you see fit. I need to first go and see the people who came to help us out.”
“Yes, sir.” Trell respectfully bowed and quickly disappeared. It seemed as if Trell eagerly wanted to share the good news with the Count.
Zich went back into his room. While he was recovering from the fatigue of a long trip—
Knock! Knock! Knock! He heard a loud knocking sound.
“Come in.” As soon as Zich gave his permission, the door burst open, and Leona stood in front of him with a bright face.
“Zich! It’s been a while!”