Elia blinked blankly.

She couldn’t quite grasp the situation unfolding before her.

If this were a public space instead of a private room in a cafe, all eyes would be on them.

Across the table sat Lee Hayul. Being close in distance, she could see his face very clearly.

A face that was inexplicably more beautiful than a woman’s.

Even the subtle trembling of his slender eyes was visible.

[What’s this]

[Are you hungry?]

[But I don’t want to eat]

[No, that’s not it?]

A familiar voice reached her ears at that moment.

A hard, androgynous voice that could belong to either a man or a woman.

The sound was coming from the necklace around Lee Hayul’s neck.

The Necklace of Confession.

An artifact her grandfather had acquired during his active days as a hero.

It was rated mid-low by the association.

Due to its function of expressing the mind, it received a relatively high rating.

However, it was useless in combat, and the built-in engraving function made it less desirable for heroes.

If it were a combat artifact, the engraving function might add points, but for a non-combat artifact like the Necklace of Confession, it was a drawback.

She knew its function, and she had heard from her grandfather how it worked.

Expression of the mind.

Here, ‘mind’ refers not to deep subconscious thoughts but rather shallow, surface-level consciousness.

It also expresses the nearest thought first, and the user can control the artifact’s on/off function, so exposing inner thoughts is nearly impossible.

[Stop]

[Cease]

[Arm regeneration]

[Prosthetic artifact]

[Lake of Dreams]

[Wait]

[Does it hurt?]

That’s how she understood it.

The scene before her seemed a bit different.

Lee Hayul, looking visibly bewildered, flailed his right arm around.

The necklace in his grasp clinked weakly as it swayed in the air.

It looked like a chick flapping its wings in an unsuccessful attempt to fly.

‘Cute.’

The sight made her smile, but that smile quickly faded.

The empty sleeve on the other side was flapping forlornly, evoking a sense of pity.

Elia’s eyes grew sorrowful.

Everyone knew about the incident at Shipnaha.

They knew about the person who fought to save lives amid disaster, sacrificing an arm.

And among those saved was Elia’s precious family member.

This gave Elia a peculiar sense of connection.

On the day she stepped into Shio-ram for the first time, trying to suppress her pounding heart, she noticed someone who stood out in the crowd.

A petite figure with a small face.

A face that, despite its small size, had all the beautiful features in place.

For some reason, dark shadows were cast under his closed eyes, giving an overall impression of sadness.

She saw Lee Hayul, who looked troubled as if seeking help.

Moreover, judging by his attire, he was a fellow cadet of Shio-ram.

Elia offered help. She often performed such small acts of kindness.

But compared to usual, it seemed she had offered excessive help.

Why? She still didn’t know the exact reason.

She just felt a peculiar attraction. At that moment, only Lee Hayul stood out to her.

In the crowd, he seemed like a different being, not quite human.

Feeling drawn to him, she had offered help.

That act of kindness seemed to return as saving her family member.

But the benefactor had lost an arm.

Body regeneration.

Elia, with her unique healing abilities, knew it wasn’t entirely impossible.

Of course, it wasn’t a typical amputation.

When another entity’s malicious mana and unique ability invaded and torn the wound, the difficulty of regeneration was on another level.

But considering those supporting Lee Hayul, it would be possible. Surely, his arm could be regenerated.

That didn’t make the injury any less severe.

Elia knew her duty as a person. Her family shared this sense of duty.

To treat the benefactor who saved her family with disrespect would be a matter grave enough to rouse her late grandfather with a club in hand.

[I’m hungry]

[Don’t want to eat]

[No]

[The Curse of Silence- Eh-bebebebebe-]

Lost in thought for a moment.

The monotonous voice that had been ringing in her ears didn’t stop. It ended with a comical sound.

It seemed something was wrong with Lee Hayul. Elia stood up abruptly.

She reached out both hands and gently clasped Lee Hayul’s hands, which had been flailing aimlessly.

They shared each other’s warmth.

Simultaneously, Lee Hayul’s flailing stopped. The necklace, which had been continuously emitting sounds, also fell silent.

[Like]

[Warm]

[Soft]

…At least, it didn’t mindlessly spill out his inner thoughts.

Elia had spent some time with Lee Hayul. They had encountered each other during daily life and major events like dungeon practice and tower entry schedules.

“Hayul? It’s okay.”

Speaking as gently and kindly as possible, Lee Hayul’s trembling eyelids gradually settled.

Her hands didn’t stop. She softly stroked Lee Hayul’s hands, making sure the touch and warmth were conveyed.

Similarly, his body, which had been twitching, gradually calmed down.

The time spent was enough to get a slight understanding of his personality.

The person Elia perceived Lee Hayul to be was,

In a word, a child.

Not in a negative, immature sense, but in a positive, pure sense.

He liked people. But he was also scared of people, shrinking back and being wary when strangers approached.

However, once a bit of familiarity was built and his guard lowered, he showed childlike traits.

He liked it when someone patted his head, and he enjoyed having his cheeks gently touched. He loved being hugged and having his back patted.

Even while pretending he wasn’t, he would often hover nearby, subtly showing his willingness to help, and although he would be flustered when shown kindness, he remembered each act and paid it back later.

It wasn’t just with Elia; he liked receiving affection from people he liked.

Everyone likes that to some extent, but with Lee Hayul, it felt more earnest.

He liked human affection and warmth.

As if he had never received it before and was now intoxicated by it.

“Breathe slowly in and out, that’s right, good boy…”

So, calming Lee Hayul was relatively simple.

Just holding his hands, sharing warmth, and speaking softly.

Simply put, soothing him like a child.

Elia utilized her experience of taking care of her siblings to calm Lee Hayul.

The necklace also quieted down.

She continued her explanation.

At this moment, Lee Hayul was too flustered to control it. With a bit of focus, he could control the on/off function.

“Hayul? This necklace expresses every thought when you have too many. Try thinking of nothing important for a moment.”

[Thought]

[Necklace]

[Elia? Pretty]

[No, what is this]

[Wrong thought]

[Not that she’s not pretty]

[No]

“Gasp. Th-thank you. You said you could sense everything with your observational ability, right?”

Though there were moments that made her blush, she managed to explain it somehow.

Perhaps because her hands were holding his, Lee Hayul maintained a calm demeanor throughout.

Seeing his cute appearance, she patted his head, noticing the blue fabric, spread out like a cape behind him, floating gently.

‘……’

As she continued explaining, Elia recalled the initial words the necklace had uttered.

Curious, hungry, want milk, sleepy, hate studying, necklace uncomfortable.

Some were trivial and cute words.

Hurt, lifespan, arm hurts, cold, life.

Many words clearly didn’t carry good feelings.

‘Strangulation (絞殺).’

There was a chilling word, too.

Strangulation.

To choke to death.

‘Why would Hayul…’

Why would he think of such a word the moment he wore the necklace?

Elia couldn’t know. Although she had grasped some of his nature, she didn’t understand his exact circumstances.

‘……’

The certainty was.

That she didn’t want Lee Hayul, who saved her precious family and evoked a peculiar resonance, to think of such chilling words about himself.

With that mindset, she helped Lee Hayul control the Necklace of Confession from the side.

Before long, Lee Hayul mastered the on/off function of the Necklace of Confession.

[Thank you]

[Like you]

[Pretty]

“Hmm…”

Elia felt a slight pang of regret.

* * *

– Crack!

“Ugh…! Ugh, urk…!”

A chilling sound echoed in a gray-walled room.

The unique sound of flesh tearing and bones breaking. Followed by the gasping, choking noises of someone struggling.

“Ugh, aaargh…”

His voice was hoarse to the point of cracking. Though he tried to scream, only blood bubbles and the sound of air escaping his throat emerged.

The man, writhing on the blood-soaked floor, twisted his body. His body rubbed against the floor soaking in blood.

– Crack!

“Urk…!”

The sound echoed again. The searing pain from his leg caused the man’s eyes to roll back.

His consciousness was fading. The pain was consuming his mind, bringing him closer to death.

In his dimming vision, he saw a leg flying towards him and golden eyes filled with hatred and murderous intent.

Thud! His head jerked back as if it would snap. His upper body flung back so hard it slammed into the ground.

– Boom!

Though it was a fierce collision accompanied by a loud noise, neither the man’s body nor the floor shattered.

The room itself was made of special material.

The man sprawled on the floor was a mid-high level superhuman.

“Is this the end?”

“No, there are three more left.”

“…Too many pests. Aren’t you managing them properly?”

“Even if you say that, it’s practically impossible to manage all of them…”

Atra, kicking the unconscious man on the floor a few more times, turned her head with a grimace.

She wiped her shoe against the floor.

However, there wasn’t a single speck of blood on her pants. The Qi she deliberately released had blocked all the dirty blood.

Atra had things to do over the weekend.

Matters related to her apprentice, Lee Hayul.

The dungeon outbreak itself was indeed a natural disaster.

But the outbreak at Shipnaha could have been prevented beforehand.

No, it was a man-made disaster that wouldn’t have occurred if not for someone’s filthy greed.

Because of such a disaster, Lee Hayul almost lost his life.

Thus, Atra’s weekend task was to hunt down and kill the pigs who, driven by filthy greed, failed to manage the situation.

She could have handed it over to the association.

Those running unauthorized farms to such an extent that it caused a chain of dungeon outbreaks were people who deserved to die.

But Atra took matters into her own hands. She wanted to block any potential escape routes herself and vent her boiling rage.

Moreover, some had already fled. Knowing they would have no chance of survival if caught, they had run in advance.

Even today, she had caught dozens of such people.

Among them, she personally beat up those who held significant shares.

Seeing her done venting, Maxwell signaled with his hand.

The staff waiting nearby retrieved the sprawled man.

They hadn’t killed him yet. Though they could kill him without much issue, they planned to interrogate him just in case.

Atra glanced at the personnel dragging the man away.

“The number of people hasn’t decreased, has it?”

“There are many reasons for that.”

Maxwell shook his head as if tired.

“No matter how much they talk about peace, villains are still rampant. Plus, with the current state of the Forbidden Regions, the observation ratio has expanded to those areas. Capturing petty criminals is done by field agents.”

With things like this, there’s no surplus of manpower…

Maxwell muttered in frustration, looking exhausted.

Atra turned her head indifferently. Though she could sympathize, she had no desire to help.

Moreover, the current task was something Atra would help with if anything, not receive help.

“Let’s go. We need to finish this by the weekend.”

“Seriously… You’re relentless.”

“Shut up and move.”

‘I promised to return by the weekend, so I need to hurry.’

She had spent a bit too much time venting her stress.

Threatening Maxwell with a fist, Atra hurried out of the room.

End of Chapter