Every hair on Julien's body stood on end.

The moment Julien saw the figure standing before her, he was left breathless. Not only

because her looks eclipsed that of anyone he had ever seen before, but because her presence felt overwhelming.

He tried to find his voice, but a heavy weight bore down on him, leaving him momentarily paralyzed.

Julien could only remain silent while she stared at him from the other side of the room.

'What does she want? ...Did she figure something out? How can that be?'

All sorts of thoughts ran through Julien's mind as sweat poured from the side of his face. He had purposely kept the conversation short with the others in order to not arouse any suspicion.

Was even that not enough?

"Do you have it?"

Her voice, soft and crisp, filled the room.

Julien could feel the sweat trickling down his back as he processed her words. Have it? Have what...?

Still, the fact that she didn't downright say anything about him meant that she might have not figured anything out.

"That's good. That's good.'

Julien felt a flicker of relief as he gathered himself.

Lifting his chin to meet her gaze, he shook his head.

"I don't."

"....You don't?"

A strange tension suddenly plunged the entire room.

'Eh?'

This took Julien aback.

'Crap, did I answer wrong?'

His chest felt heavy once more. In spite of all of this, he managed to keep himself composed.

...This was despite his legs feeling like jelly.

Julien had no other choice but to keep himself composed.

"I see."

Delilah lowered her head, her voice softening.

The tension that lingered across the room vanished, leaving Julien confused.

'Is it me or does she look disappointed?'

He blinked his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. However, taking note of her slightly dropping shoulders and expression, he realized that she really did seem disappointed.

But why?

What could make her so disappointed?

'Did that bastard have some sort of important task that he needed to do for her?'

Julien didn't feel good about the situation. Her reaction only made things a lot more troublesome for him.

'But I have to say, she really does look pretty...'

He had noticed it before, but now that she seemed less imposing, Julien found himself drawn to her appearance in a way he couldn't ignore.

From her flowing black hair and striking eyes to her perfectly symmetrical features, she resembled a being from another world, her beauty so flawless it felt almost otherworldly.

It made Julien feel a little tingly.

'....She's even better looking than Evelyn.'

He started to feel tempted.

It was unfortunate that she was too strong for him to tame.

Perhaps in the future...

"Do you need anything else?"

But such thoughts were only for the future. For now, Julien needed to take care of a few important things like getting adjusted to his body again.

"Hm...?"

Delilah blinked her eyes, probably surprised by the question as she mumbled, 'Do I need anything else? No, probably not...'

"Then why are you still here?'

Julien frowned but held his words back.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he shifted his attention back toward the newspaper and books on the table.

'Concept.'

He once again started to think about the words written on the paper.

'....I should be capable of it as well, right?'

From the newspaper, he was a tier 4 mage, on the verge of reaching tier 5. Though Julien didn't fully grasp the depth of his newfound abilities, he felt confident he could wield them— especially this intriguing 'Concept' that the 'parasite' displayed with his body.

'But how exactly do I-'

Julien's thoughts came to a halt as he sensed a presence next to him.

'She's still here?'

His muscles tightened as he slowly turned his head, finding her face just inches from his, her eyes fixed on the paper he had been studying.

'...Wow.'

Once again, Julien found himself captivated by her presence. His heart suddenly raced, and his mouth went dry all at once.

Licking his lips, he lowered his head to see her fair hand moving across the papers and books.

Seeing how comfortable she seemed next to him, a thought crossed his mind.

'Is it possible that the relationship between the parasite and her isn't' normal?'

The thought made his heart skip a beat. All sorts of thoughts ran through his mind as the

edges of his lips gently curled up.

He suddenly felt the need to test his theory.

Julien subtly shifted his gaze to her hand, feigning an attempt to reach for the same paper she

held.

He did so in a casual manner, enough to make his hand brush with hers.

His thoughts were simple. If someone like her was fine with-

"Don't touch me."

A cold voice suddenly echoed across the room, paralyzing Julien on the spot. Stiffly turning

his head, a pair of obsidian black eyes stared directly at him.

"Ah."

Julien felt the air around him vanish, leaving him breathless, unable to form a single word.

On the other hand, Delilah's gaze seemed cold. Touching the edge of her hand, she frowned

while looking at him.

Julien just barely managed to force a few words out,

"It was an accident."

"....Hm."

Delilah merely nodded, taking a step away from him.

She appeared a little different than before. Her expression was colder and in general, she

looked a lot more distant.

'So I was wrong.'

Her reaction told Julien all that he needed to know.

And this made Julien happy.

After all, this meant that he could tame her himself.

Julien secretly licked his lips.

'One day...' Holding his impulses back, Julien's face relaxed. Turning his head to face the mysterious lady,

he was suddenly surprised to see that she was gone.

"Eh?"

As though she was a ghost, she vanished from his sight.

The sight left him confused, however, he was quick to recompose himself. Although he didn't

know where she was, there was a chance that she was secretly observing him from the dark.

He couldn't allow his mask to slip just yet.

Not yet...

"Concept."

He mumbled quietly, taking a seat on the chair next to the table. Opening up a book related to

it, he flipped through the pages.

"Let's see..."

How exactly can I use it?

Fwap-

"........!"

Julien was suddenly startled by the flapping sound of wings. Turning his head, a pair of deep

eyes met his sight.

....Julien felt his entire body grow cold at the sight of those cold eyes.

Before he could get his words out, the Owl spoke.

"I've completed my mission, master."

***

Delilah stood in silence in her office. Her expression was stiff while she stared at the palm of

her hand.

Staring at it, her brows tightly knit together.

The feeling of repulsion still lingered in her mind. It hadn't been the first time for her to feel

like this in the past, but this was the first time she felt like this with Julien.

He never really made her feel repulsed in the past.

In fact, it was the opposite.

She wanted to...

So why now?

'Because he didn't have chocolate?'

No, this wasn't the first time he didn't give her chocolate. It had happened before and she

never really felt anything about it.

Disappointed at most.

...So what suddenly made her feel so repulsed?

Delilah thought about it for a few more minutes before eventually settling for an answer.

"Eyes."

Yes, his eyes felt different.

...They no longer felt the same.

Why?

Delilah blinked her eyes, unable to understand the sudden change. Unfortunately, she didn't have too much time to dwell on the matter as her communication

device vibrated.

Btzz-

"...Hm?"

Staring at the message, her expression changed and she disappeared from the spot.

***

"This is not what I expected."

As soon as my vision cleared, I was taken aback by the sight that greeted me. It was a familiar

estate that I had been to not too long ago. It stood within the void, quiet and devoid of any

life.

".... Isn't this the same place your family owns?"

"It is."

I faintly nodded my head, glancing at the estate before me. It was a replica of what I had seen

when I had been there.

It almost made me feel like I was back except for the fact that there was no sky.

Everything was still surrounded in black.

"Let's go in."

Licking my lips, I decided to head into the building. Although I was confident in Leon figuring

something out while I was inside of this world, there was no actual guarantee he would notice

a thing.

That was the worst-case scenario.

...Fortunately, I had backup plans. Nonetheless, I still didn't have much time to spare

considering that someone had the quest that was currently ongoing.

The current Julien stood no chance against a Tier 4 opponent.

He would die the moment he met him.

"Hm?"

As I entered the estate, the first thing that caught my attention was the open doors leading to

the backyard. Beyond them, I could see the training grounds in the distance. What truly captured my attention were the numerous swords scattered across the ground.

There were many of them, and as I approached the backyard, I noticed dried blood splattered

across the ground. It was everywhere.

"What in the..."

I crouched down to pick up one of the swords, and my surprise deepened when I noticed how

worn the hilt had become as if it had been gripped countless times.

'Don't tell me he has been practicing the sword all this time...'

Was his obsession with the sword that intense?

But why...?

Why was he so obsessed with the sword?

"....How powerful is the Inverted Sky to manipulate him to this extent?"

It did dawn on me that the young Julien had been manipulated into becoming obsessed with

the sword, but I didn't expect it to be to this extent.

Even when he had completely lost his physical form, he continued to train with the sword.

From the dried blood on the ground to the many worn-out swords strewn about, it felt as if

all he did was practice with the sword.

This didn't feel natural.

"This feels like the work of an extremely powerful Emotive Mage."

Only someone like that could instill such a profound obsession in another person.

But who? Who exactl-

"I found something."

Pebble's voice broke me out of my thoughts.

Lifting my head, Pebble stood in the distance holding onto a strange rectangular black object.

From the distance, it looked like a strange device, but the moment I moved closer to it and

took a good look at it, my entire body grew stiff.

"This.."

I reached out for the device, grasping it in my hands.

As I felt the cool metal in my hand, a slight tremor ran through my fingers when I tapped the

screen, which lit up moments later, revealing a home screen that was both familiar and

strange.

"H-ha."

I took a deep breath to calm my mind.

I tried to, but my breath betrayed me. "Наа... Наа..."

It was no use.

....I couldn't calm myself down.

From the familiar model to the same background, and apps.

This phone...

It was the same one I had back before dying.