‘This can’t be…… This can’t be. People… created the Sink? Magicians did?’

Laila struggled to steady her blurry vision and exerted all her effort not to miss the ghost’s continuing memories.

He and the one called his ‘master’ traveled around the kingdom, planting the ‘seeds’ of the Sink.

Those small red stones took root in various places throughout Sierou’s land, giving birth to poisonous energy and small magical beasts from them. They gathered wandering ghosts filled with resentment, turning them into larger masses of thought.

‘When did this happen? It’s from a very long time ago. But I don’t know how long ago… I can only guess. A hundred years? Two hundred years? How long did it take them to plant the ‘seeds’ of the Sink? In how many places did they scatter this?’

It’s simple, Laila thought. The places where Sinks occur, where Sinks have occurred….. Their footsteps must have reached all those places. The seeds they planted created magical beasts, gathered ghosts, and grew in energy until…..

‘No, even so… something’s strange.’

While Laila was lost in confusion, the memories continued to pass by. This person’s master planted ‘seeds’ that would become Sinks all over the kingdom, intending to throw the kingdom into chaos through him.

They steadily collected and observed how magical beasts transformed in places where energy began to gather, and how living things exposed to the poisonous energy changed grotesquely. And then…..

— Master! Ah, ah, Master! Please spare me! P-please save me!

— How foolish, why are you afraid when there’s no need to be? This is an opportunity. A new opportunity! If I accept this energy, I will, I will become something that has never existed before. I shall be reborn as the first being unrecorded in history. Heheh, hahaha……!

Wrinkled hands grasped the man’s neck. There was a crack in the shaking ground, and through that crack was a hole that seemed to writhe alive.

It was a very small hole that could barely fit a person’s head, but the master tried to force his disciple’s entire body into it.

— Aaagh…… ! Aaagh, Master……!

A cracking sound. The man’s neck twisted and his shoulders popped out in a strange direction. Even in that state, his fingers were still twitching.

The old master did not let go of the hand gripping the neck until the disciple’s body was completely sucked into the small hole, until even the pool of blood that had gathered around disappeared into the hole.

Eyes bulging with pain and terror slowly, slowly sank into the black hole. And the body of the one holding him also began to be swallowed by the hole.

— You’ll see, those who banished me. Those who looked down on me and persecuted me! Everyone will come to fear me. Everyone will kneel and prostrate before my magic!

It was a cry like a scream. Long screams and mad laughter alternated, then suddenly the memory cut off as if a thread had been snapped. The view went completely dark.

“Laila!”

Eustar embraced Laila’s body as she stumbled backwards.

The ghost, having revealed all its memories, was now crumbling, having lost the strength to resist. Hatred, resentment, anger and fear. Such emotions rose between the cracks of the barrier, making cracking sounds.

“…Eustar, that.”

“I’ll get rid of it. Sit down for a moment. Can you sit?”

Laila shook her head vigorously.

“No. Don’t… don’t get rid of it. Catch that. Catch it and seal it. Because we need… we need evidence. Hurry. Quickly. Seal it before it disappears.”

“What? Laila… Laila!”

Eustar’s voice rang in her ears. Laila’s head, having lost consciousness, tilted down with a thud.

It was difficult to open her eyes, but she could feel that her consciousness had returned. Her body felt dizzy and heavy, with a chill as if she had fallen into water with weights attached.

‘I’ve been like this often lately.’

Laila’s eyes opened very narrowly as she tried to move her body, which felt as heavy as if a boulder had been placed on it.

The light pouring through the slender gap was dazzling. As she frowned and twitched her fingertips, her body, which had seemed impossible to move, suddenly became light.

“Laila.”

Eustar’s voice was heard. She felt a warm energy from his palm resting on her forehead.

“Eustar, what did you do?”

Her body felt unbelievably light. Laila raised her upper body, pushing away his hand while grasping it, and felt the warm heat that still remained on her forehead slowly spreading down her body to her toes.

“What did you do, I’m asking.”

“It’s nothing. This.”

Eustar smiled gently and opened his palm. A small piece of paper engraved with a leaf-like pattern scattered softly as if it had finished its job.

Laila said:

“Is it a healing talisman?”

“That’s right. No matter what I did, you wouldn’t wake up… I went to the royal palace through a portal. I doubted there would be any left, but Baso found one for me.”

“Is it used for His Majesty?”

“Only in very urgent situations. It was made a very long time ago when there were magicians in the royal palace, so the supply has been cut off for a long time.”

The healing talisman was like a tiny, condensed ball of pure magical power. It could only be created by magicians specialized in healing magic, and among them, only those who could communicate smoothly with the earth. It was very precious.

A talisman made by a skilled magician could even save a person taking their last breath on the brink of death.

“I thought it was just an item from stories.”

Eustar gently stroked her cheek with a smile.

“That’s how it’s known. It’s a rumor deliberately spread to prevent people from raiding the royal palace out of greed. Well… if it weren’t for my elder brother’s illness, as you said, it might have been an item forgotten in storage.”

Laila’s gaze lingered on Eustar’s face for a moment. Although he was smiling, there was a deeper shadow of worry than usual. The area under his eyes seemed to have darkened, and the fingertips touching her cheek trembled.

“Eustar, lift your head.”

He slowly moved only his eyes to look at Laila. Then, deliberately pulling up the corners of his mouth to smile, he sighed softly.

Laila remained silent for a while, maintaining eye contact with him. His unfamiliar appearance suddenly filled her mind.

The way he held her, the way he thrust his sword into the crown of the struggling ghost, even the way he crumpled it with his bare hands.

“Earlier… why did you do that?”

“Earlier?”

“When those ghosts rushed at me. You knew I could stop them. And… when you destroyed that ghost, before the overlay, why did you do that? Why did you…”

“Why, you ask.”

Eustar’s hands enveloped Laila’s right hand and overlapped. His hands no longer trembled. They were neither cold nor anxious.

“I did it because I was worried about you.”

“But…”

Until now, Eustar had always worried and cared for her. But today was different. Eustar, who destroyed the ghost screaming in agony without a moment’s hesitation, looked like a different person.

Eustar said:

“I will never lose you like that again, Laila.”

Laila looked at Eustar with a surprised and puzzled expression.

“Lose me…?”

“Like yesterday. I will never put you in such danger again. Never, no matter what happens. So don’t you ever do such a thing to me again either. Promise me.”

“Eustar, I…”

“Promise first.”

Laila’s tightly closed lips moved silently. Her breath moved, and their gazes exchanged. Eustar was looking at Laila with an almost pleading, desperately appealing gaze.

I saw that expression yesterday too, Laila thought. Last night, in the darkness. Eustar’s eyes, calling her name incessantly while holding her, asking her not to leave his side, were exactly the same as now. They were so desperate it was pitiful, and so pitiful it was lovable.

“I… promise.”

“You’ve definitely promised.”

Laila nodded. Only then did Eustar finally return to his usual self. A spring-like smile spread across his tired face.

Something gentle yet powerful that feared neither the fierce, desolate winter nor the approaching typhoon. Spring, which sprouts life, makes birds sing, and tickles tender branches to grow.

That warmth gently pressed against Laila’s lips.

An indescribable scent, a cozy yet sharp body odor came first, and only then did a faintly trembling heat follow. Hot breaths and low moans invaded each other’s throats and bodies.

Laila was the first to part her lips, her face flushed. Her breath was rapid and her vision swam. Eustar cupped her cheeks as if to prevent her from escaping, then gently bit her reddened lips before releasing them.

“I sealed the remaining ghost as you said.”

Eustar whispered softly, their foreheads touching. Only then did Laila realize she had momentarily forgotten about the ghost she had attempted to ‘overlay’.

“You sealed it? It didn’t disappear, did it?”

Eustar was slightly startled by Laila’s intense reaction, but soon nodded calmly.

“We lost some, but the main body remains. But Laila, why did you say not to destroy it?”

“I have something to tell you, Eustar. No, no… I don’t think it’s something I should share only with you. We need to go to the 2nd Branch and meet Ms. Olga there.”

Eustar’s eyes widened with a puzzled light.

“You’re going to meet Muge? Why?”

Laila revealed to Eustar everything she had seen through the ‘overlay’ without hiding anything. At first, he listened with his head tilted as if he couldn’t quite understand, but his expression froze.

“…Is that really true?”

“Of course it’s true. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Magicians created the Sink…?”

Eustar covered his mouth with one hand and lowered his gaze. There was no way Laila’s words could be false. As strong a medium as she was, she could find out through ‘overlay’ what kind of life a ghost had lived in its lifetime, everything in detail.

There were no secrets. Lies didn’t work either. No human could fabricate the most intense thoughts engraved in their mind as fiction.

“If that’s true, this isn’t something that can be resolved by just visiting Muge. We should convene all the branch heads…”

Laila interrupted him:

“I know, Eustar. But that can wait until we’ve learned more about this incident through Ms. Olga. To make people understand, we need to accurately organize the situation first.”

After pondering for a moment, Eustar nodded.

“You’re right, Laila. Your words are correct. Let’s go to Habashuka with what we’ve sealed. Right now.”