Osian's eyebrows knit together.
Not only did she suddenly start swearing at him, but she also said she didn't like him.
“Do you think I’m good? If it weren’t for Ena, you would have died by my hand.”
Osian also didn't like the Guardian.
‘Look at this tramp, who copies the abilities of others and has no sense of chivalry.’
The way she threw down her weapon and fled to save her life, there was not a shred of honor in her.
What's with the frivolous talk and the sarcasm?
“Who died? I'm challenging you again!”
“A rematch? That's not a bad idea, because then I'll be sure to choke the life out of you.”
“What!”The Guardian shouted in exasperation.
She hadn't said anything in the ruins, but now it was different.
Perhaps it was because she had been freed from all the constraints of being a Guardian since leaving the ruins.
I had known she had emotions and intelligence when I first saw her, but now it seemed more.
It was like looking at a truly living person.
“Get the sword!”
“The sword? You mean the one that broke? You threw that away too, shame on you.”
“It's the weapon! If we fight properly again, I'll win!”
“You fought with one more talent than me and lost, and you still blame it on the weapon? Shame on you.”
“Ugh.”
The Guardian was speechless at Osian's point-by-point retort.
He hadn't said anything wrong.
She was the one who had fought and lost, the one who had thrown down her weapon and fled.
“I, I can win.”
The guardian shed tears like chicken droppings, perhaps unable to control her anger.
The people watching anxiously from the entrance of the room gaped in amazement.
Just when they thought they had to stop her from stabbing him, she broke down crying.
It's surprising that the guardian of the ruins spoke, let alone that she cried after being pushed around by Osian's eloquence.
It was as if the heavy title of Ruins Keeper was being diluted too quickly.
Their initial fear and surprise was quickly replaced by pity.
The Guardian's appearance played a large part in this.
With gray hair that fell modestly below her shoulders, she was a beautiful woman with an air of mystery about her.
If she kept her mouth shut and stood still, anyone passing by would turn around to look at her.
Even now, with tears dripping down her cheeks, she looks as charming as a painting.
I could see where the idiom came from: a beautiful woman's tears are her weapon.
But it didn't make any sense to Osian.
“What are you crying about?”
He was already annoyed, but now he's even angrier because this guy is crying.
What a disgrace, that someone who had abandoned chivalry should even whine.
With desperate patience, Osian forced himself to open his clenched fists.
“That's something.......”
Lorraine, watching the scene, couldn't help but think, even though she knew it shouldn't be like this.
“Aren't they just like brother and sister?”
It was exactly what they looked like, snarling at each other and arguing about how ugly they were.
However, Lorraine's muttering caused Osian and the Guardian to glare at her simultaneously.
“Who says we're siblings?”
“Siblings with that thing? Don't be ridiculous!”
She wondered if they didn't realize that their fierce reactions would only fuel their suspicions.
‘No. But that’s not exactly wrong. I said she was a mutant doppelganger in the first place.’
Where a normal doppelganger mimics the other person, a mutant embodies a different form.
But in the end, there's no denying that the Guardian is still Osian underneath.
‘The gender, personality, and appearance are opposites. But if the basis is Osian, then it’s safe to say that they are practically siblings.’
His thoughts were echoed by Seren and Diolan.
The Guardian's gaze fell on the three of them.
Her gaze traveled from Lorraine, who said they were like siblings, to Diolan, who stood beside her.
When Diolan realized that the Guardian was staring at him, he touched his cheek, wiping at his face.
It was then that the Guardian spoke.
“What are you?”
“Huh?”
“Are you human?”
At the Guardian's question, Diolan's expression vanished. It was as if a switch had been flipped.
Osian questioned Diolan's reaction more than he questioned why the Guardian would suddenly say such a thing.
This was not the same Diolan who usually smiled and laughed in a friendly manner.
Now, for the first time, he was showing his true colors.
“Ahaha! What are you talking about?”
Lorraine interrupted, trying to wrap things up quickly.
Her appearance only raised suspicions, but she had no other choice.
“The food's ready! What are you all doing?”
The mood would have been even stranger if Ena hadn't brought in a steaming bowl of omelet just in time.
“Sniff.”
The Guardian wrinkled her nose and stared at Ena's omelet.
“Smells delicious.......”
Saliva dripped from the Guardian's mouth.
The steaming golden color of the omelet was appetizing to look at. How about that sweet smell?
Ena handed her a plate with utensils, and she immediately dug into the omelet.
It was her first time using utensils, but she made good use of the spoon, as if she knew what he was doing.
“Is it good?”
“Yes! It's delicious!”
“If you behave, I'll make you something more delicious.”
“Okay! I'll be good!”
Ena looked back at Osian and the others with a proud look on her face.
Everyone exchanged awkward glances.
It's good that she's calm.
‘Isn't this like taming a wild animal?’
If Osian felt that way, how could anyone else?
However, Ena herself didn't seem to realize it, and was complimenting the guardian on how cute she was and how well she ate her omelet.
'I thought she was too fearless, but then I realized that she was also a bit of a temper tantrum.’
It was evident from the moment she ran over Martinez with her car.
Ena spoke intently to the guardian who was eating.
“Do you have a name?”
“Name? No!”
You'd think she'd be annoyed if you bothered her while she was eating, but the guardian answered her question dutifully.
“No name?”
“Nope. I was the guardian of the ruins.”
“Well, you could just keep calling yourself Guardian. Oh, that's fine. I'll give you a name!”
“A name?”
“Yep. Lupona! How about that? Doesn't that sound good?”
“Lupona.......”
The Guardian stopped spooning and muttered the name in a low voice.
For a moment, the Guardian's eyes went blank, but then they returned to their normal glow.
Something far more energetic than her eyes had ever shown before filled her pupils.
“Lupona! My name!”
“Do you like it?”
“Yes! I love it!”
“I'm Ena Grundt. Nice to meet you, Lupona.”
“Ena! Ena is my friend now!”
Lupona gave Ena a quick hug and resumed eating.
As the two smiled and chatted, Osian turned and left the room without another word.
There had been a part of him that had been suspicious of the Guardian, or rather Lupona, at first, but seeing her now, it seemed unnecessary.
‘I still don't like her, but I can't wield my sword at will.’
Descending to the ground floor, Osian sat down at a table by the window and stared out.
Even though night hadn't yet fallen, it was still rainy outside, and the line between day and night seemed to have disappeared.
The rain poured down as if there was a hole in the sky, and the raindrops dripped nonstop on the translucent glass windows.
The sound of rain hitting the floor washed away the silence.
'Just now, for a moment, it seemed the Guardian had changed.’
I don't know if it was just the way I felt, but the moment Ena named her, the uncomfortable feeling I'd been getting from Lupona vanished.
Even though she was born a Guardian, her very existence had been changed by voluntarily leaving the ruins and being given a name.
’It's amazing.’
Lupona was a boss monster in the game.
I still remember it.
The red gauge at the bottom of the screen and the name “Variant Doppelganger” written above it were her essence.
That's what she was supposed to be but the reality was different.
‘She's changing.’
Yes. So much has changed in this world.
Some things stayed the same, but not so much.
It was a curious thing.
The world was such a mixture of things.
'And what Lupona said to Diolan, even if it was only for a moment but Diolan’s reaction.
When asked if he was human, Diolan’s reaction was very cold.
As it turns out, Diolan had focused on the human side of things when they were discussing how to let Lupona go.
‘Does it have something to do with his past?’
His own past, or trauma, at work.
As Osian sat still, Ronan walked over and sat down across from him.
Osian didn't meet Ronan's gaze, still staring out the window.
“How was it?”
“I decided to let it go for now.”
“For now, I suppose.”
“I don't expect anything to happen right away, but just in case.”
“I see. You still don't look too happy about that.”
Osian turned his head to look at Ronan.
“It's just that I feel like I've gotten to know a new side of Diolan.”
Come to think of it, it wasn't just Diolan.
Lorraine also seemed to have ties to the military, and Seren Gracia's peculiar abilities gave off a strange feeling.
“Did you hear about it from him?”
“No. I didn't ask. He didn't seem to want to talk about it. Lorraine seemed to know, though.”
“Well, they've known each other for a while. Is that why you're feeling left out?”
“Not really. I'm just surprised that I didn't realize until now that something had happened to people who work in the same office.”
“That's nice of you. Normally, I'd feel bad for you if you had something to hide.”
“Everyone has a past they want to hide, and I know how hard and painful it can be to open up to others.”
“I assume that's because you do, too, Mr. Osian?”
No, I don't.
‘Let's not talk about it.’
Osian had given up making excuses. They wouldn't believe him if he told them, and he had a past, too, if you want to call it that.
But compared to theirs, his past was far different. It was ridiculous to even bring it up.
Ronan tapped the back of his hand with his knuckles.
“In time, Mr. Osian will come to understand, after all, he is a member of the Violet Fox.”
“I see.”
Osian slowly rose from his chair.
“Are you leaving?”
“Yep. I think I'll call it a day.”
“It's raining a lot outside. Why don't you take an umbrella?”
“I will.”
Osian grabbed the black umbrella near the entrance.
It rattled.
When he opened the door and stepped outside, he was greeted by a thick mist of water.
The cascading rain made it hard to see.
I could only make out the occasional steam train traveling down the street with its headlights on.
The hard rain pounded against my umbrella. I'm glad the wind wasn't blowing harder.
Osian glanced back as he walked away from the Violet Fox.
Lupona stared back at him from the tavern's second-story window.
Ossian shot those red eyes a hard look.
-I'll let you off the hook for now. But the moment you try anything stupid, you will die by my hand.
I don't know if she understood the warning or not, but Lupona backed away from the window and disappeared into the room.
The street was filled with the sound of rain.
Osian walked slowly down the street with one hand in his pocket.
He was thinking about the events of the day and what he should do next.
Osian stopped walking.
His gaze darted from building to building, gap to gap, dark alleyways pouring with rain.
“That's a blatant stare.”
Osian pulled his right hand out of his pocket and drew the sword at his waist.
Even in the rain, Osian's blade gleamed sharply.
“Did you think I didn't notice?”
There was still no response from the alleyway.
“Are you going to play dumb, or are you waiting for me to make the first move?”
A pure white light emanated from Osian's sword.
It pushed back the darkness of the alleyway, like a starlight burning brightly in the dim surroundings.
He could feel a stirring in the distance. He stared, as if mesmerized by the light etched into Osian's sword.
It was only for a moment that starlight blazed in his eyes.
“.......”
Osian's eyes widened slightly.
In the meantime, the creature had fled into the deeper darkness.
Osian could only stand there, unable to think to chase after it.
It was impossible not to recognize the light.
He knew its power better than anyone.
“So it is. You're still here.”
The surprise was fleeting and immediately followed by intense joy.
Osian had to force his lips together and desperately hold back the laughter that threatened to escape.
What he thought was gone was still there.
An unbroken lineage of starlight.