Claire
Claire's fury came crashing down.
It was not a good situation, but fortunately they were in a library. If a big commotion broke out, it would only disturb the other patrons. Instead of yelling, Claire simply glared in silence.
That expression was vicious. The look in her eyes seemed to say she wouldn't be satisfied unless she twisted Woojin's jaw at least once.
"…This is a problem in its own way."
For a moment, he thought it might be better to just get scolded. At some point, the silence had begun to feel suffocating.
At this rate, the situation wouldn't progress at all.
"What would I have to do to be forgiven?"
Woojin asked cautiously. Claire answered bluntly.
"Try anything."
Apparently, she had no intention of letting this slide easily. Woojin thought for a moment before speaking.
"It's about dinner time… Want to go eat at that restaurant we went to last time? You liked the food and the wine there."
Claire replied,
"Six points."
"Is ten the full score?"
"No."
If the full score was assumed to be one hundred, then mathematically he would need to make a suggestion about fifteen times better than that one to get out of this situation.
He doubted that was even possible… but at least he should avoid failing outright.
"Then… should we stop by a bookstore and buy some books?"
"Three points."
"…Right, I'll have to try harder."
In his haste, he had blurted out whatever came to mind and actually lost more points.
He fell deep into thought.
What did Claire want? He tried listing the things she liked in his head, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't estimate the answer.
Woojin finally spoke as if surrendering.
"Can't you at least give me a hint?"
When he pleaded like that, Claire pouted slightly… then quietly spread her arms a little.
The gesture was unmistakable.
Woojin immediately stepped forward and hugged her. The two shared a tight embrace. Claire, held in his arms, whispered into his ear.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No. I'm fine."
"I'm glad you came back safely."
Claire added,
"Seventy points. It's a little close, but I'll let it pass."
Pass.
Claire said so with a smile. The coldness slowly faded. Thanks to that, Woojin—who had been agonizing the whole time—let out a sigh of relief.
Still, he should apologize properly.
"Sorry for making you worry."
"It's okay. I never believed those ridiculous rumors that Jin had died."
When she heard the rumor that Woojin had disappeared along with a dragon, Claire didn't worry much. She believed he would come back alive anyway.
She had simply been angry that Woojin broke his promise and returned late.
"I didn't get to see your face even once for over half a year. Waiting all that time was really hard."
"Sorry. I had a lot of things to take care of."
"It's fine. You came back in the end."
Claire's anger had faded.
Just when Woojin was feeling relieved… a sudden curiosity arose.
"What would I have had to do to get a hundred points?"
The hug had earned him seventy points. What would it have taken to reach a perfect score?
"Try guessing. Why do you think I've just been standing in front of you all this time?"
Claire answered meaningfully.
He tried to interpret the meaning behind her words… but he couldn't figure it out. Wasn't she just glaring at him because she was really angry?
Woojin couldn't quite grasp it. Claire then said casually,
"Take your time thinking about it. I'll finish what I was doing first."
Claire made a light gesture with her hand, almost like waving a conductor's baton.
As if responding, the floating cat hands that had been suspended in the air began working again. The palms busily moved between the shelves and the cart, placing books back in their proper spots.
Woojin was impressed all over again.
"That's actually quite a difficult spell."
Cat Hands was a low-tier spell, but its manipulation difficulty was high, making it hard to master.
Yet Claire had summoned eight hands and was controlling them freely. It was a feat an ordinary mage wouldn't even dare imagine.
"Your spellcasting has gotten better while I was gone."
"Well, a lot of time has passed."
While Woojin had been active in the Demon Realm, Claire hadn't been idle either.
Claire practiced spells day and night. Since her stamina had improved so much that she rarely felt tired, she studied for more than ten hours a day.
She studied so obsessively that people around her sometimes tried to stop her.
"One day the mage sitting next to me said something. He told me it would be better to study when others study and relax when others relax."
"That's not wrong."
It was a common saying during school days.
"So what did you say?"
"I told him, 'You play when others study, and you play when others play. I'm just doing the opposite, so please don't lecture me.'"
Argument over.
The mage beside her seemed speechless, and after that day he stopped interfering. Since he used to annoy her by constantly inviting her to drinking gatherings, things became much more comfortable.
"But there were still a few people who kept interrupting me… so I started studying in the library. And somehow I ended up working as a librarian too."
"I see."
So that was why she was wearing a librarian uniform.
On her days off, Claire spent the entire day in the library. It seemed she had started the job as a way to earn some pocket money.
"…She's not exactly normal either."
Didn't she ever get tired of studying every single day?
They say geniuses and lunatics are only a hair apart. In the sense that ordinary people can't understand them, the two aren't that different.
Of course, Woojin himself wasn't exactly normal either. In the end, it was simply a case of like attracting like.
While he was thinking that…
"I'm done."
"Already?"
Before he knew it, the book cart was empty. The hands summoned by the spell had moved busily, placing every book back in its correct spot.
Of course, the library still had plenty of time left before closing. But Claire had no intention of wasting this precious time on a part-time job.
"I should tell them I'm taking a leave for a while."
"Is that okay?"
"Yes. I'm just a daily worker, so it doesn't matter."
Claire immediately prepared to leave work.
"I'll go change my clothes."
"You have to?"
Woojin answered half unconsciously, while taking another look at her.
Claire in a librarian uniform. The outfit looked neat, almost like women's formal wear—low-heeled shoes, a skirt, and her light brown hair tied up neatly.
Perhaps some emotion leaked into his gaze. Claire smiled mischievously and asked,
"Do you like this outfit?"
"No, it's not that…"
He tried to brush it off casually, but—
"…It's fresh. I like it."
In the end, he had no choice but to admit it. After all, that excuse he just made was far too obvious.
Claire brightened at the compliment.
"Then… I'll just go out like this!"
The two of them linked arms and walked toward the exit of the library together.
…It would have been nice if things had ended there.
"Sir Jacob. Are you finished with your business?"
Arwen, who had been waiting at the entrance the whole time, approached them with a bright smile.
Claire's smile melted away like snow.
"Who is that woman?"
The atmosphere immediately turned sharp again.
***
The sunset dyed the sky completely red.
Since it was the perfect time for dinner, Woojin reserved a private room at a restaurant and explained everything that had happened to Claire.
The dragon relic, the deep regions of the Demon Realm, the battles against the Dark-side priests and the Farm faction, and everything that happened until he headed south and returned here.
"…And that's how things ended up like this."
The long story came to an end. Claire, who had been quietly listening, looked at Arwen with curious eyes.
"So… that person is a Dark-side priest?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"I've always wanted to talk to a Dark-side priest at least once. I never thought I'd get the chance like this."
Muttering that, Claire turned to Arwen, who was sitting across from her.
"How old are you?"
"Well… I don't know."
Arwen answered timidly. Claire looked puzzled.
"You don't know your own age?"
"Yes… I've never counted it."
"Then what about your birthday and the year you were born?"
"I-I don't know that either…"
Arwen had no memories of her childhood, and Dark-side priests never counted their age in the first place. Naturally, she didn't know her birthday either.
Arwen glanced around nervously like someone who had committed a crime. Claire ended up feeling awkward instead.
"This is my first time actually seeing a Dark-side priest… but you feel different from what I imagined."
She was far too innocent.
Rather than a Dark-side priest, it felt like talking to a girl from the countryside. In any case, Claire seemed to like Arwen, who was about her age.
"Let's get along."
"Y-Yes…"
The two women shook hands.
A squirrel sitting on the table gnawing on a walnut—Coco—also quietly placed its paw on top. It ended up looking like the three of them were shaking hands together.
Claire smiled at the squirrel.
"How adorable. Of course, our Rex is cuter… but you said he isn't here right now, right?"
"Yeah. I'll go look for him when I get the chance."
Rex was probably wandering somewhere in the Demon Realm with his subordinates.
"That's a shame, but it can't be helped."
Claire looked disappointed that she couldn't reunite with the wolf. She finished the remaining wine in her glass in one gulp.
Arwen hurriedly picked up the wine bottle.
Glug—
She carefully poured wine into the empty glass. The sight of it felt strangely familiar—like watching a new employee nervously trying to please their boss.
Claire also seemed confused.
"Why have you been acting so polite since earlier?"
"I just… felt like it."
Arwen answered awkwardly. Claire tilted her head but didn't press further and simply let it go.
Claire suddenly murmured,
"…If the other Dark-side priests had personalities like Arwen… we could form an alliance with them and finish the northern campaign easily."
"That would definitely be ideal."
Woojin had once thought something similar.
"The reason I infiltrated the Dark-side priests' city was to see if an alliance was possible."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. The main goal was reconnaissance, but still—you never know."
After forming an alliance with the Noll tribe, the Church Alliance had established a neutral relationship with the Naga tribe.
If things could be resolved through dialogue like that, they could solve problems peacefully without weakening each other's forces.
Thinking that, Woojin infiltrated the Dark-side priests' city to assess the situation…
"…But it just wasn't possible."
Arwen had been a lucky exception. Most Dark-side priests possessed cultures, customs, and beliefs that were far too inhumane.
In fact, their training method might itself be a test designed to select only those with such cruel qualities. The weak or kind-hearted would fall behind and die, while only the wicked survived.
These people all needed to die.
That was the conclusion Woojin reached. He tried to capture and eliminate the leader of the Dark-side priests, but the circumstances made it impossible, so he eventually gave up and headed south.
"Charging into enemy territory alone is dangerous… and there are many people waiting for me."
Which reminded him of something.
"Do you know the port city called Elus?"
Woojin carefully brought up the topic. Claire nodded immediately.
"Of course. That's my hometown."
"Uh… really?"
"Yes. Do you remember Captain Jonathan?"
The name sounded strangely familiar. Woojin searched through his memories for a moment.
"…Wasn't he the commander of the mercenary group you were in?"
"That's right! I'm impressed you remembered."
Jonathan.
The captain of the Sailfish Mercenary Company.
Using a magical artifact known as the Unbreakable Net, he had hunted numerous dangerous magical beasts and gained considerable fame.
Claire continued explaining.
"That artifact used to be a fishing net on a fishing boat. It was originally used to catch large schools of fish, but when a typhoon destroyed the ship, they started hunting magical beasts with it to repay their debts."
That was why the mercenary group was called the Sailfish.
A mercenary company made up of hardened sailors who had worked brutal lives at sea. To buy another fishing boat, they wandered the Demon Realm hunting magical beasts instead of fish.
"Really?"
"Yes. I heard they finally earned enough money and returned to Elus. They're probably busy with fishing again by now."
Claire said that while swirling her wine… then suddenly tilted her head.
"So why did you suddenly bring up Elus? Somehow I ended up talking about myself the whole time."
"Oh, right."
At some point Woojin had also gotten absorbed in listening. It was time to return to the main topic.
"My younger sister is in that port city. I'm planning to visit her soon…"
"You have a younger sister?"
Claire widened her eyes in surprise.
It made sense. Woojin rarely talked about his family. Strictly speaking, she wasn't even his biological sister—she was an adopted one.
Still—
"It feels a bit awkward visiting her after so long. Claire, would you come with me?"
"Of course! I'd love to."
"Then I might as well meet some people from my hometown while I'm there."
Claire smiled as she said that.
With that, the plan he had in mind was complete.
He would go meet Cindy.
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