Editors: Ytho, LaidBackGuy
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Five years passed since she was born, and Aine had learned a variety of things. The time since she began to exist could not be said to be very long, but the five years that Aine spent were incomparable to the five years that ordinary people spent.
It was because of Aine’s ability to learn by eating. She could easily learn the abilities of a heart’s owner by chewing and consuming it. Freskan brought Aine to the north because he thought it would be the best place to teach Aine in that lawless land.
‘I never thought it would be like this.’
In the north of Eria. He could never have imagined that the vampire queen, Geniella, was in the big city of Travia. If he knew, he would rather have gone down south. No, the situation would not have been much better even then.
If the north of Eria was the City of Devils, then the south was the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts. There were various spirits and yokai roaming there. Although there were no non-human races there like in the north, yokai and spirits were much worse compared to vampires, lycanthropes, and lich. They never hesitated to act because they had no concept of restraint, and they were accustomed to violence.
“Aine.”
Freskan stood at Aine’s door and called her name. His voice was full of fatherly adoration. In fact, Freskan regarded Aine as his own daughter. It wasn’t exactly wrong. Even if he hadn’t given birth to her directly, Aine’s heart and body were painstakingly crafted by Freskan himself.
“Yes.”
The door was open. There was only one bed in the empty room. Aine sat across the bed, looking at Freskan. She stretched out a long tentacle from her body to open the door.
Even after 5 years, Aine’s body hadn’t grown, making her look like a little girl. People were not wary of young children. It might vary depending on the situation, but the average person would not be on guard against a young child. Just like tigers and leopards have patterns to hide their bodies, Aine’s young figure was her disguise as a predator to hunt more efficiently.
“The heart thief is in this city.”
Aine’s eyes flashed open.
* * *
The conversation with Geniella was unexpectedly bland. She didn’t ask anything great. There wasn’t much weight in the conversation that he had during the meal, so there was no need for him to contemplate over it either.
“… Was it delicious?”
Rubia, standing on Lee Sungmin’s side, looked at him with a grim face. Lee Sungmin nodded, feeling the same emotion. Like Geniella had said in a confident tone, the meal at her mansion was amazing. The color of the wine served was so red that he initially thought it might have been blood, but it turned out to be delicious wine.
‘Let’s meet again next time.’
He was troubled by what she said as she saw him off. Even if he wanted to dismiss it as a simple greeting, it was the vampire queen who said it, so he couldn’t take it lightly. Geniella could use violence to force Lee Sungmin into acting however she pleased. Although he refused to stay in the mansion, if she really wanted it, she could have forced him into staying there.
‘But she let me go. Why… ?’
[You satisfy her tastes.]
Heoju snickered.
[The bitch is crazy, you see. She can get her hands on it, but she won’t. What that bitch wants is not to get the toy in her hands, but to make the toy beg her to take them in.]
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
[That bitch offered to turn you into a vampire, and you refused. It started there. It’s an unpleasant hobby of hers.]
‘… Is she waiting for me to ask her to make me a vampire?’
He had no intention of doing that. He might become a Yokai, but he didn’t intend to become a vampire.
Since he had already come all this way, Lee Sungmin decided to stay at a place in the central district. It was annoying to go back to the outskirts, and he didn’t feel the need to.
‘There’s someone watching.’
There was a line of sight directed at him. The gaze was well concealed in the crowd, but it was still obvious to Lee Sungmin.
I don’t see any beggars.’
There were no beggars in this large city, not even in its most well developed central district. He could guess why. It was a crazy city where even people of the Murim were beaten to death. Beggars belonging to the Wandering Sect could not easily move around here.
“Oh.”
Lee Sungmin stopped walking when he heard such a voice nearby.
“We often meet at the most unexpected moments.”
Lee Sungmin had to agree with those words.
Kim Jonghyun took off the hood of his robes and smiled at Lee Sungmin. This was the first time he had reunited with Kim Jonghyun since he killed Ghost Blade in Drimoor.
“You abandoned me and disappeared as if possessed by something last time. It would have been nice if you had said something before leaving so suddenly.”
“There was something I had to do, so I couldn’t help it.”
“Then I’ll just have to understand.”
Kim Jonghyun replied nonchalantly. He didn’t expect to see Kim Jonghyun in Travia. Lee Sungmin looked at Kim Jonghyun’s face. Although two years had passed since then, Kim Jonghyun’s face had not changed. If he thought about it, Kim Jonghyun hadn’t changed at all since they first met five years ago.
“Why are you here?”
“Since the events of two years ago, there have been a lot of monsters with various circumstances and bad people with circumstances living here. Such a Travia is a good place for mages to work.”
“… So why are you here? Didn’t you say you became the lord of the Black Tower?”
“There is no law that says mages have to be stuck in their towers all day. All I have to do is consistently submit the results of my research.”
Kim Jonghyun shrugged as he said so.
“I was attracted to the city of Travia. That’s why I came here after a long vacation. I never thought I’d meet you here… ”
“… Who is that person?”
Rubia, who was beside Lee Sungmin, asked in a small voice. Kim Jonghyun widened his eyes slightly as he looked at Rubia.
“A beastkin. Are you a slave?”
“No.”
“Ah… excuse me. I misjudged. You’re not Beastkin… Hmm… ”
Kim Jonghyun started analyzing her carefully with his eyes. He stared blatantly at Rubia, and Rubia hid behind Lee Sungmin’s back, embarrassed by his gaze.
“… Artificial life… This is… amazing. There are many mages who make artificial life as a source of biwon, but only a few mages can make one so perfect. Just where did you get that?”
“… He sure is full of rude remarks.”
She said while staring at Kim Jonghyun. Her shoulders trembled slightly.
“I would appreciate it if you didn’t treat me like an object.”
“Ah… Sorry. I’m not very good at talking.”
Saying that, Kim Jonghyun bowed his head.
“I think this is a fated encounter. How about a light meal?”
“Thanks for asking, but we’ve already eaten.”
“Do you have a place to stay?”
“No. We entered Travia today, so we haven’t settled in yet.”
“Then how about coming to my place?”
Kim Jonghyun offered with a smile. Lee Sungmin hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He had met Kim Jonghyun several times. Of course, he didn’t think that he had grasped everything about Kim Jonghyun in a few meetings.
But he had a thought. What if Kim Jonghyun was the person he was supposed to meet in the north?
They didn’t have to go far. Although it could not be compared with Geniella’s mansion, the place where Kim Jonghyun brought them to was a two-story house that was much better than the shabby house on the outskirts.
“It’s a pretty good house.”
Kim Jonghyun said while taking off his robes. The robe that was taken off floated by itself and hung itself on a hanger attached to the wall.
“I bought it because it was at a reasonable price. I don’t know how long I’ll stay in this city, but I think it would be more convenient having a house to stay in rather than needing to rent an inn room.”
“I suppose so.”
“What have you been up to?”
Kim Jonghyun asked, offering him a seat. In the meantime, Kim Jonghyun looked at the armor that Lee Sungmin was wearing and gave it a once over. Then he looked up at Lee Sungmin’s eyes.
“A lot has changed since I saw you two years ago. Your strength too. Especially the armor… I don’t know what it is, but I feel a powerful presence that is hard to understand from it.”
[Looks like the fellow has sharp eyes.]
Heoju murmured. Lee Sungmin replied, ignoring Heoju.
“I received an opportunity by coincidence.”
“There is no coincidence in this world. There will be fate. Maybe it is fate that you and I reunite here.”
Kim Jonghyun laughed while saying that. Fate. Lee Sungmin had not yet truly believed in fate and the existence of such ambiguous concepts.
“You said you came to Travia for sightseeing?”
“Yes.”
“… I am not sure what there is to see in this city.”
“Isn’t it interesting?”
Kim Jonghyun touched his fingers together as he spoke. There was a rattling sound from the kitchen, and a kettle and cup flew in.
“Non-human races are gathering in Travia.”
Kim Jonghyun opened his mouth.
“Most of the non-humans gathered here are Predators… Ah. Do you know what a Predator is?”
“I know.”
“Hmm, I see. Well, most of the non-humans gathered in Travia belong to Predator. Not all of them are monsters with terrifying powers, but some of them are powerful enough to hold the entire world in their palms.”
A vampire queen who had lived for over 600 years. Someone who was once called Mad Wolf – a lycanthrope that was the best among the Werewolves. Most of the non-humans belonging to Predator were led by either of the two.
“The Vampire Queen took control of the central districts of Travia, and the Werewolves took control of the outskirts of Travia. In fact, it’s been that way for a long time. They were in Travia even during Bloody Heavenly Demon’s reign. It’s just that they didn’t stand out as much.”
It was the same now. Kim Jonghyun added.
“The Vampire Queen is rarely active externally. However, her vampires are watching Travia. The same goes for the Werewolves. However, the Gui Lang Sect is known as a medium-sized group with little power. In fact, it’s a front they’ve put up on purpose. Isn’t it strange? Gui Lang sect’s master, Mad Wolf, has the power to wipe out any of the sects from the Orthodox Factions by himself if he wants to. It’s the same for the Vampire Queen. So why did they let Bloody Heavenly Demon reign for so long?”
“… They didn’t want to get noticed?”
“You can think of it that way. Truth be told, it would be meaningless whether or not the Bloody Heavenly Demon sect reigns. They had the power to wipe out Bloody Heavenly Demon and his sect whenever they felt like it. It’s just that they didn’t – mostly because they didn’t have to. Travia took their ideal form when the Bloody Heavenly Demon sect collapsed thanks to Wijihoyeon.”
A city of devils. Once Bloody Heavenly Demon’s reign collapsed, numerous people of the nonhuman races raised their heads to become the masters of Travia. As security was ruined and control disappeared, hordes of nonhuman races gathered in Travia.
“I don’t know what Predator is going to do here, but they are obviously trying to do something. So I’m interested. Monsters at the apex of nonhuman races that haven’t been in motion for hundreds of years are rising up from the shadows. Perhaps history will be made here.”
Kim Jonghyun’s face was filled with ecstasy as he said that.
“I want to see it.”
(T/N: in case there was any confusion. Lycanthropes are a non-human race, and the lycanthropes who belong to the Gui Lang Sect are called Werewolves.)
*****
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