[S-so you’re on the train right now? The seat… did you get one?]

“Yeah. There was one standing room left.”

And the next day on the express train. Nari, who had barely secured a seat, sat on the auxiliary chair between the passenger cars. The scenery was rapidly passing by outside the window.

Jeong Suho’s voice came from the receiver in her hand. He grumbled, expressing his worries and concerns upon hearing that she was going to Busan alone.

He seemed deeply troubled when she said she was using public transportation because she felt uneasy about using dimensional cracks since it was her first time going there in 10 years.

[If you have to stand the whole time, your legs will hurt…]

“There was an empty auxiliary seat. I grabbed it, so don’t worry.”

[T-that’s a relief. You didn’t use illusion magic to take it, right?]

“…”

[Why aren’t you answering, Nari…]

“No, I didn’t?! I didn’t steal someone else’s seat!”

Of course, Nari did cast a perception interference spell so that the auxiliary seat between the cars wouldn’t be easily noticed by others. But she didn’t bother mentioning that and just coughed awkwardly.

[You’re going… to see Aunt Hana, right? I-Ihyeon, is he not going with you?]

“Yeah, I have some free time this time. I’ll go see her. Kang Ihyeon can’t go because of his parents’ state funeral.”

[I-I wanted to go too. But I can’t go down there yet because… I still have unfinished business here. Can you pass on my regards instead?]

“Sure, it’s my first time visiting Mom’s columbarium too. But since you sent a gift, I’ll leave it there.”

[Yeah. Yeah! Let’s definitely go down together next year! I want to pay my respects too!]

And then the sound of Jeong Suho’s bright laughter could be heard. After visiting Gunsin, Jeong Suho called frequently.

It seemed his situation had improved a bit, allowing for about an hour of phone calls per day.

After asking things like if she packed well and how she arranged accommodations, Jeong Suho suddenly brought something up.

[S-so this time, are you going to that temple?]

“Temple?”

[Yeah, you know, the place you and Aunt used to go to a lot. It was big. You said it was built not long ago. There was that… scary-looking man. You don’t remember?]

“…Huh?”

[We used to go there often. When we were young.]

Nari tried to recall for a moment. She had no such memory. In the first place, Mom rarely took her down to Busan.

“…I don’t know, I don’t remember.”

[R-really? Try going there once. It was a temple in a very pink… village.]

“Hmm… Okay, I’ll try to find it and go.”

Jeong Suho replied, saying he would also look into the temple’s name and let her know.

He expressed his regret, saying it was time to hang up soon, and abruptly ended the call.

“Pink village?”

None of it rang a bell to Nari, who leaned back in her seat and just stared out the window.

‘Why does it feel like my childhood memories are empty…?’

Nari, who had also felt this question while in Gunsin, twisted a strand of her tied-up hair with a finger. The Lord of Chaos remained silent.

Nari didn’t try to pry anything from him either, plugging in her earphones and closing her eyes.

After spending a few hours napping like that, the train arrived at Busan Station.

[This is the timeline separator]

[The Lord of Chaos looks at you and asks, “Did you pack everything?”]

“Let’s see. Flowers, and… the tombstone, I packed the photos too, and the cake model Mom liked…”

Nari, who was checking her belongings in front of the columbarium, tightly grasped the bouquet and pulled her cap down.

Around her, people dressed in black were either wiping away tears or rejoicing at meeting each other.

Even though she chose a time right before closing when there would be the fewest people, the inside of the columbarium was still crowded.

Suddenly feeling a sense of haziness, Nari poured her prescription medicine into her mouth.

Feeling her mind gradually stabilizing, she frowned and tightly clutched her chest.

“…No one will know. Right.”

[Yes, no one will know. The Lord of Chaos pats your head.]

At the Lord of Chaos’ words, Nari took a few deep breaths, closed her eyes and opened them again, then took a step inside the columbarium.

As midnight approached, the deeper she went into the columbarium, the fewer people there were.

Thinking that was fortunate at least, Nari headed to the most secluded corner.

Mom’s spot was in the very bottom row where sunlight didn’t reach. She chose the bottom because the top row seemed out of reach.

Above all, Nari at that time, conscious of others’ gazes, wanted Mom’s spot to be as inconspicuous as possible.

“Mom might hate it.”

But until ‘that incident’, Mom was a beloved hero. Let alone her only daughter visiting for the first time in 10 years.

‘Sorry. But I bought you expensive flowers, so forgive me.’

Nari brushed aside her slight regret and fiddled with the lush white bouquet before taking a step.

“…I apologize. This year too, no one has come. But…”

That’s when it happened. In the secluded corner where no one should be, a man in a suit was placing a small white flowerpot.

For a moment, she thought it was Dad, but he was at least 10cm taller than Dad.

As the man took a step back, it became even more certain that this was where Mom was enshrined.

“Who are you?”

Hearing Nari’s words, the man turned around. Sharp eyes with horn-rimmed glasses. He appeared to be in his early to mid-30s.

Someone she had never seen before was touching Mom’s spot. Nari’s voice lowered, tense and on edge.

The man in front of her blinked his eyes wide a couple of times. Then, a surprised voice flowed from his mouth.

“Are you… Miss Shin Binnari?”

“Yes, but who are you? Who are you to place flowers for my mom?”

It was a situation where she should be grateful, but Nari, who had only experienced bad things related to Mom, hugged the bouquet tightly.

At the voice full of wariness, the man made a startled expression, then cleared his throat with a cough.

“I apologize. This is our first time meeting in person. Nice to meet you, Miss Shin Binnari. I am Ah Nan, the owner of this columbarium and concurrently the guild leader of Mago, an Awakened.”

The man, who swiftly approached and stood in front of Nari, held out a business card.

Mago, one of the four guilds protecting the coast bordering the East Sea. The guild leader’s mark was engraved in intaglio.

[Come to think of it, this columbarium belongs to Mago. The Lord of Chaos looks around.]

‘…It really is.’

At that time, she couldn’t pay attention to it. What did it matter who the owner was of the only place that would accept Mom’s ashes?

It seemed like a pretty large columbarium, so she handed them over right away, never imagining it would belong to Mago.

“No, so why is the guild leader of Mago giving flowers to my mom?”

Nari narrowed her eyes and stared at Nan. Nan’s expression gradually turned strange.

The person who introduced himself as Nan pushed up his horn-rimmed glasses, let out a deep sigh, took them off, and pressed his brow.

Muttering things like she was too much even after death and what was he supposed to do if she didn’t say anything, he put his glasses back on and assumed a poker face.

“Let me introduce myself again. I am Nan, the owner of this place and the guild leader of Mago.”

“And?”

“And the person directly appointed by Kang Hana as your godfather.”

“…What?”

[This is the timeline separator]

Sitting on the sofa in the columbarium’s office, Nari stared intently at the bottom of the contract she held with both hands. It was Mom’s handwritten signature.

‘Appoint the Awakened Ah Nan as Shin Binnari’s godfather.’

(Party A) Kang Hana

(Party B) Ah Nan

Below the sentence stating the godfather appointment were the letters (Party A) Kang Hana and (Party B) Ah Nan. And next to it, stamps were firmly imprinted.

Nari carefully examined the contents of the contract, then gaped her mouth wide open.

It was all content she was seeing for the first time, and even Mom’s stamp was on it.

‘Isn’t this a forgery?!’

[Hmm… Wait a moment. The Lord of Chaos scans the contract.] [No! This is the real deal! The Lord of Chaos makes a shocked morning drama watching expression.]

Godfather, in modern times, is mainly used to refer to a man who has reached the pinnacle in a certain field, but a more fundamental meaning is ‘a male guardian who acts as a substitute parent when something happens to the biological parents’.

‘This man is my godfather…?’

Nari, who suddenly gained two fathers, alternated between looking at the contract and the man in front of her.

It was a person she had heard about when she received crash course lessons from Kang Ihyeon, who realized she knew nothing about Gunsin, about the four major guilds.

Ah Nan. The guild leader of Mago and an A-rank Awakened of the ‘Fallen Monk’ class. Special note…

20 years ago, a former gangster who dominated Busan. (Now retired)

Nari’s expression turned grim again.

Of all things, a former criminal was unilaterally claiming to have a connection to Mom.

‘…Gangster? What the… Did Mom crush a violent organization? Did Mom take bribes? Or did Mom save him?’

Nari, with a serious expression, imagined one by one the situations in which Mom could be involved with a gangster, and finally decided to ask Nan.

“Hey, what kind of relationship did you have with my mom that she would make this kind of contract?”

Nan pondered for a moment. Propping his chin with his hand and thinking deeply, he made an expression as if looking far away.

“I see. It’s understandable that you would have doubts. Let me explain. It was about 20 years ago… I was hit on by your mother, Kang Hana.”

“By my mom?”

“I was caught off guard.”

“By my mom?!”

Nari yelled loudly at the sudden incredible story, then realizing it was a columbarium, quickly shut her mouth.

Nan showed no particular reaction and was simply rubbing his right shoulder with his left hand.

Seeing that, Nari whispered urgently.

“No, no, no, that doesn’t make any sense?! My mom wouldn’t do that back then! I was there too, and she would’ve been close with Dad, so what affair?!”

“Even now, on rainy days… my right shoulder that was pierced by your mother’s blade throbs with pain.”

“Wait, you meant that kind of hitting on?!”

“Yes, the scar still remains. Shall I show you?”

Nan, who had been pressing only his right shoulder, started to loosen his tie as if to show her right away.

“No!!”

Nari, startled, put down the contract and waved her hands in refusal.

“Alas… I was completely shattered because of your mother…”

“Please don’t say things like that!!”

Nan, seeing Nari unable to hide her shocked expression at his completely unfamiliar nonchalance, closed his eyes tightly and spoke as if dreaming.

“When I was wandering aimlessly… Kang Hana, who heard my mother’s concerns, came to find me and personally stabbed my right shoulder. After that, I turned over a new leaf.”

Nan closed his eyes tightly as if reminiscing about his beautiful past, and Nari stared at him with a look of astonishment.

To speak so romantically about being stabbed in the shoulder, he didn’t seem like an ordinary person.

“Anyway, after being stabbed by your mother, I became a new person, and Kang Hana became the savior of our mother and son. Becoming your godfather is just to repay that grace.”