I was incredibly perplexed.

Just yesterday, the Sacred Relic, which had been tainted by magic and radiated a black hue, was now glowing with a blue light overnight.

What in the world was happening here?

The Sacred Relic, gently spreading its mystical blue light around, looked completely different from the black relic of yesterday.

So, I wanted to confirm if this relic was indeed the same as yesterday’s. Following the same steps as before, I summoned flames in my left hand and reached out with my right hand towards the relic.

“…No. Just to be safe.”

Suddenly struck by a thought just before my hand touched the relic, I withdrew my outstretched hand.

Yesterday, Dwight had clearly mentioned while explaining to Martina that this relic, the Tear of the Ocean, originally radiates this blue color.

If that were the case, then the reason why the relic in front of me was blue now could very well be because the magic that had tainted it had vanished.

If that was true, then placing my witch’s hand, which contained magical energy, on the relic might influence it negatively.

So instead of directly observing the relic, I decided to call someone more suitable for the task than myself.

“Silvia! Come to my room now! Hurry!”

As I opened the door and yelled, Silvia rushed in as if she had been waiting, her surprise evident.

“What’s going on, Miss Scarlet?”

“Just take a look at this for a moment.”

“…Huh? Oh, yes.”

Since I rarely called her this way, she seemed to think something urgent had occurred, showing a worried expression as she ran in.

Silvia looked at me, who seemed unfazed, with a slightly deflated demeanor, then turned her gaze towards where I pointed.

“…Huh?”

Upon discovering the blue gem on the desk, she fell into a daze.

After a brief moment of shock, she exclaimed, flustered and wide-eyed, “W-wait a minute, Miss Scarlet! What happened to that?! The color of the relic…!”

“I called you because of that. I woke up to find it like this.”

“You woke up to find it like this…?”

Silvia looked confused, staring at the relic, as if failing to grasp the situation.

Of course, I understood her confusion, but we needed to ascertain what was happening more urgently, so I said to her.

“Silvia, can you use your abilities to find out what happened to the relic?”

“…Ah, yes. Understood.”

Seemingly snapping back to her senses at my words, Silvia emitted a faint glow from her hand and carefully brought it towards the relic.

And the moment the light touched the relic, it exploded into a dazzling display of starlight, expanding brilliantly.

Surprisingly, the relic reacted drastically differently from the previous day when Silvia’s abilities faced fierce resistance. With an expression of disbelief, she murmured.

“…My abilities are amplifying. I don’t feel any resistance whatsoever. It seems the magic that was tainting the relic has completely disappeared. How…”

Silvia appeared quite bewildered by how the concerns that had kept us up all night were solved overnight.

But in any case, it was good news, and good news is still good.

After all, isn’t it often said that you must work hard before relying on fate?

Thinking that the heavens had granted us a gift for our efforts, I smiled at Silvia and said.

“I’m not sure how, but… it’s a good thing. This way, everyone’s hard work won’t go to waste, right?”

“Yes, that’s true. I’m still a bit dazed, but… it really has worked out. Others will be glad too.”

At my words, a little smile blossomed on Silvia’s face.

Watching the brilliant starlight pouring from Silvia’s hand, empowered by the relic, I felt that even the dark path ahead was being illuminated, just a little.

By the way, the utility of this relic is incredible.

It can even amplify Silvia’s already exceptional powers.

…Wait a minute. Silvia’s abilities.

I stared intently at the light radiating from Silvia’s hand, feeling as if I was on the verge of a realization.

Noticing my gaze, Silvia tilted her head and asked.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“…No, it’s just that the relic amplifies your abilities, I see.”

“That’s true. If used properly, it could have countless applications beyond just confronting the Witch of Gluttony—”

Just as she finished that thought.

A simultaneous “Aha!” escaped both our lips.

And our heads turned sharply in the same direction.

With our gazes directed towards the same place, I understood that Silvia and I were having the same thought.

How had we not thought of it sooner?

Of all places, it was right here in this mansion.

There was someone whose hope relied on Silvia’s abilities.

We immediately burst through my door.

From our lips flowed the same name.

“Wait for us.”

Yoon Si-woo.

*

*

The boy swings the sword.

Once.

Twice.

Ten times.

A hundred times.

The sword, swinging endlessly, caught the attention of a watching woman, who murmured.

“…Are you swinging your sword again?”

The boy’s body had cracked under the repeated strain.

The physical body was merely a vessel to hold the spirit.

With cracks in that vessel, it was only natural that the spirit contained within would leak out through those fractures.

Should the spirit escape from the vessel, it would signify death.

However, the boy had a woman accompanying him and a wondrous relic that possessed mystical powers.

The woman managed to extract the leaking spirit from the boy’s vessel and took refuge in the imaginary world created by the relic.

Thus, the boy could remain alive.

Even if the spirit couldn’t return to its body, the woman’s first-aid ensured that his life was not cut short.

The woman, who kept the boy alive, smiled at the boy, whose spirit was swinging the sword.

“Even in such a state, you’re swinging the sword. You really are something else.”

The boy’s eyes, wielding the sword, held no light.

The three elements that constitute a human being.

Body, Spirit, and Self.

The woman succeeded in extracting the boy’s spirit from the crumbling vessel, but sadly, the process left the boy’s Self incomplete.

To put it simply, he was in a state of unconsciousness without awareness.

Yet, it was strange.

Although the boy was left with only the incomplete spirit of his Self.

Even though it was a state where lying down like a corpse wouldn’t be unusual.

In that state, the boy’s spirit continued to swing the sword.

As if it were his essence.

A hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times.

The boy swung the sword endlessly.

For the boy, the reason to grow stronger may have merely been a trigger.

Surely, even if nothing had happened, the boy one day would have sought the path of the sword in this way.

Advancing as far as he could.

The boy was, after all, that kind of person.

Watching the boy like that, the woman could do nothing but smile.

“…Whether in the past or present, living for the sword, you truly are a remarkable oddity.”

While watching the boy swing the sword for a long time, the woman slowly approached and took hold of the boy’s sword.

Then, in front of the standing boy, she slowly swung the sword as if to demonstrate and said.

“No, it’s not that. The sword is swung like this.”

The boy’s emotionless eyes captured the image of the woman swinging the sword.

At that, the boy’s movements began to change slightly.

As if trying to imitate the way the woman swung her sword.

However, the boy’s movements were extremely clumsy.

Due to the incomplete Self, he could not showcase his original skill.

But the woman didn’t mind.

There was still time.

Since the boy was unconscious, his world had a different flow of time from reality.

The boy’s world, shrouded in thick black clouds, reflected his state of unconsciousness.

In that infinite time of the world, the boy swung the sword infinitely.

And the more the boy swung, the more his clumsy swordplay began to resemble that of the woman.

While watching the boy’s sword grow similar to her own, the woman murmured.

“Imitation. In the end, our sword will inevitably resemble each other.”

Swinging the sword again, and again, while the woman laughed with a feel of nostalgia.

“Indeed, it’s delightful to swing the sword with you. I even wish this moment could last forever.”

After laughing like that, the woman eventually stuffed an apology into her mouth with a bitter smile.

“Perhaps that’s why I feel even more sorry for you. It seems I am forcing you into this time due to my own greed.”

In truth, the woman had a method to restore the boy to a healthy condition instantly if she so desired.

While it wasn’t solely due to her greed that she refrained from using that method, it wasn’t entirely devoid of her wish to spend time with the boy, so she apologized to him.

Despite the woman’s apology, the boy merely swung the sword without any response.

Now, the boy’s swing traced an infinitely ideal sword path.

Seeing that, the woman felt it was time to end this pleasurable moment.

“Class is over. I’ve taught you all that I can. At least in terms of the sword, there won’t be anyone in this world who can match you.”

Saying that, the woman raised the sword.

Mirroring her, the boy also lifted his sword.

Two swords, which had become indistinguishably alike, swung.

At once, the two blades cut through the sky.

The woman gazed upward at the sky.

Amidst the traces left by the two swords, light seeped through.

Though it wasn’t the same moonlight as that day, she felt a somehow bittersweet feeling and quietly murmured to the boy.

“Go now; you have others waiting for you, don’t you?”

At those words, the boy looked up at the sky.

The dense black clouds that engulfed the boy’s world.

Amid those clouds, starlight shone through.

The boy heard a voice calling him from beyond that light.

“Come back, Yoon Si-woo.”

The light returned to the boy’s eyes.

Now, it was time to return.