Chapter 142 A Shard Within (4)
While I was tired of seeing water, the lake reflecting the snowy mountaintops was beautiful. What I was seeing was a picturesque sight.
“Swiss? Were you really abroad?”
“I had been traveling.”
“You were living an easy life.”
“It was too boring to stay in one place.”
I could not take out even one of Hyunjae Sung’s memories, and actually, I could not move anymore. I felt that it would be too dangerous to overdo myself here. My mana had already been emptied, but there were other harmful factors.
‘I thought I would be all right since I was fine at that Diarma incident.’
However, Diarma had been using the skill and not me at the time, and I had only talked when facing Irin. I should have considered these cases, but I had been too excited at the thought of fighting as an equal to Hyunjae Sung.
However, since I got something out of this, I should use it as much as possible.
“Won’t you tell me before you go out?”
“What you’re hiding.”
“Like what? I have a lot of things I’m hiding from you.”
“The truth rather than the boring answer that you can see the future.”
I knew that Hyunjae Sung must have noticed after I used double the stats of an S class and the black blood flames. People could use the powers they had experienced before here, and the ones I used did not exist in the present.
While I had told Hyunjae Sung that he might be able to see the future, but me also having the same ability was strange. However...
“I do not have any reason to tell you.”
“I won’t remember anything.”
Hyunjae Sung’s voice was soft like he was trying to comfort me. While I was younger than him by more than a decade, he seemed to think of me as even more younger than that.
“I can’t trust you when you speak like that. You might be deceiving me.”
“If I could get out of here with my memories intact, I would not have left you alone. I would be dissecting you.”
That was understandable and made me think I should never cast a mental skill on Hyunjae Sung again. I thought it would be an easy win, but I was wrong. If something went wrong, my memories would have been ripped out from me.
“Think of me as your teddy bear. You shouldn’t keep so much to yourself.”
“You act like you’re a kind person. I might cry at your warm words.”
“Have you already forgotten what happened last night? Should I give you knitting things to prevent dementia?”
“I appreciate you are trying to celebrate my birthday, but I want something already completed.”
I should knit him a hot pink muffler about five meters long. Hyunjae Sung waited without urging me on. I was attracted to the idea that the person I would talk to would not remember anything. He would respond well if I spoke about what I was hiding, and it might lead to a fruitful discussion about the future.
‘The depraved told me I should not talk about the return, but it wouldn’t matter if he could not remember anything.’
I looked up at Hyunjae Sung as I sat on a boulder.
He would not remember and would probably force me to speak if I remained silent to the end. It would be better to speak up first.
“I returned from five years into the future by using an item.”
Hyunjae Sung spoke like he had heard something trivial that happened once every month. The lump in my throat loosened at his tone, and I spoke as if nothing was wrong.
“Don’t you have any questions like whether the Sesung Guild Leader is alive or dead? I’ll tell you a couple of things out of goodwill.”
A cloud of light that moved delicately according to its owner’s will appeared from his fingertips at my words.
“It’s about five years’ worth.”
Was he talking about his skill experience? That he would be living after five years?
“You seemed to be alive but missing.”
“You were suspected of murdering Department Head Taewon Song before you disappeared.”
Hyunjae Sung tilted his head as I asked, my eyes wondering if the suspicion was correct.
“I cannot think of a reason I would do such a thing right now.”
“Perhaps he was in the way of organizing the Hunter Association?”
“It’s boring without an audience. Moreover, the association is too small to compensate.”
Too small? However, an S class hunter would be missed since they were not rocks rolling on the ground. Hyunjae Sung seemed to value human resources on his terms as he kept MKC and Sudam Guild Leaders alive. Well, I might have to remove the word human since he did not treat them as such.
“However, you two would not have been strangers since you have that loot skill.”
Taewon Song would not have handed in his primary skill when he was alive and well. I did not know how he gave it to Hyunjae Sung, while I could make a vague guess.
“How about asking the person in question why he would give me his skill before dying?”
“I feel like he would strangle me again.”
Taewon Song would look at me if I were crazy. I might ask him because I was curious about how he would actually react.
“And...let’s go out if you don’t have any questions. You wouldn’t remember it anyway.”
“Ah, I had lived like I am now, so I have nothing to say.”
Hyunjae Sung would think of my life story as trivial. He opened his mouth as I stood up from the boulder.
“I congratulate you on repairing your relationship with your younger brother.”
I felt faint for a minute, so I did not know what I had felt at his words. The ensuing silence might have been either long or short.
“I don’t remember anything.”
“Then, are you really trying to become a fortune-teller?”
“When someone comes back to the past, he or she would act on their deepest desires. That desire would be something that the individual had regretted the most in the future. Based on my current state, you returned about two months ago, and that was when you became closer to your younger brother.”