Chapter 66.

I was caught off guard at the seed’s sudden hatching, but then quickly snapped back to reality .

Currently, a densely packed golden dust blocked everyone’s vision . No overseers or drones could capture what was happening, and Rachel had also fallen asleep . As long as I remained calm, I could deal with everything easily .

First, I took Evandel off of Rachel .

“Come here . ”

“Ah, aaang . ”

Evandel struggled to stay with Rachel but widened her eyes when she saw my face .

“That’s right, I’m the one who raised you . ”

Consoling her, I held her in my embrace . She looked just like a 3-year-old child, but she was as light as a feather . Hugging me tightly, Evandel muttered .

“Daddy . ”

“Huh? No, I’m not . Anyways, can you change back to a seed, Evandel?”

“Seed?”

“Yep . Small and circular . You have to hide . ”

“What about Mommy?”

Evandel spoke as she glanced at Rachel . I was a bit perplexed at Evandel calling Rachel Mommy .

“Rachel… um, Mommy is really busy . So… . ”

“Huaam . I’m sleepy . ”

Evandel yawned as her eyes narrowed . It seemed Boss’ golden dust was also affecting Evandel . I was feeling a bit panicked . If Evandel fell asleep now, there wouldn’t be a way to hide her… .

But thankfully, Evandel listened to my request .

With a golden light, Evandel transformed into a giant seed that floated down on my palm .

“Whew . ”

After breathing a sigh of relief, I looked around .

The field was full of the mysterious golden dust . Kim Suho, who was resisting the drowsiness fairly well, had now fallen asleep . The few overseers who were watching us from nearby trees also fell down, unable to withstand the dust’s power .

However, I was fine . It was thanks to Aether’s ‘owner defense function’ . I could feel that Aether had formed something like a filter for my nostrils and throat .

Although breathing was a bit difficult, I could remain unaffected by the sleeping powder . With my mind clear, I approached Seo Ijin .

**

Butterfly Seedling Dust .

Byproducts of elementals generally fetched a hefty price . Boss didn’t know what function this dust had as it was her first time seeing such an elemental .

However, she was quite a greedy woman .

She kneeled in front of the Butterfly Seedling’s corpse, and from the huge gaping wound on its body, she could see a clump of blue, glowing dust . Her eyes flickered with greed, and she carefully picked it up .

“Put it down . ”

At that moment, the deep voice of a man stopped her . She slowly raised her head . There, she saw Kim Hajin .

“…Hello . ”

“That’s not something you can take . ”

Kim Hajin’s face distorted viciously .

She stared at his face, then looked around .

The surrounding air was filled with her sleeping powder, but for some reason, Kim Hajin was unaffected . The golden dust was something no cadet should be able to endure, yet Kim Hajin was doing so with nothing but his bare body .

“… . ”

It was strange . There was too much about this man that she didn’t understand . At this moment, she felt a powerful urge to observe him .

From under her feet, black magic power shot up fiercely . The magic power formed a spherical shape that swallowed her and Kim Hajin, forming a sealed space of sorts .

Even though Kim Hajin was trapped in what should be an unexpected sealed space, he showed no signs of being unrest… . No, his hands were trembling .

She revealed her real face to Kim Hajin, whereupon his body shook greatly .

“You know me . ”

Kim Hajin retorted concisely .

“Li Xiaopeng-ssi . ”

“… . ”

‘Who was Li Xiaopeng?’ Boss pondered momentarily . Then, realizing it was one of her fake identities, she nodded .

“Right . Then why would I be here?”

“To serve as an overseer, I assume . ”

“Hmm . ”

Kim Hajin seemed to have a strange misunderstanding, but Boss didn’t go out of her way to correct it .

“…When did you find out I was Li Xiaopeng?”

“Just now—”

“If you lie, I’ll kill… no, hit you . ”

Kim Hajin let out a dry cough .

“…When I took your watch, I was looking at you from close range . It was then that I realized something was off . ”

“How?”

Jain’s Gift couldn’t be seen through so easily . It was close to impossible to notice anything just by ‘looking’ .

“I have great eyes, you see… . ”

So what Kim Hajin was saying didn’t make sense .

Kim Hajin had not only seen through Jain’s Gift, but also her necklace . It couldn’t be explained with him just having good eyes… .

Countless thoughts raced through her brain . Repeatedly considering all possibilities and selecting the most logical choice, she came up with a hypothesis .

‘The attribute of his magic power is itself anti-magic?’

If the attribute of Kim Hajin’s magic power was anti-magic; in other words, if his physique made it so that all magic power he took into his body received the property of anti-magic, he could indeed see through Jain’s Gift just with his eyes . He would only have to concentrate magic power in his optic nerves .

In other words, this wasn’t a matter of his Gift, but his ‘physique’ .

Of course, this was pure speculation, one that was extremely unlikely because of the absurdity of the matter . To confirm this, she would need to observe and measure his power carefully .

However, if he really had such a physique, Kim Hajin was a resource that she couldn’t lose .

“… . ”

Boss silently kneeled down, then grabbed the clump of dust lying in the Butterfly Seedling’s body . Kim Hajin swallowed hard, but to his surprise, Boss handed him the Butterfly Seedling Dust .

“I will give this to you, but in exchange…”

She paused .

Her silence continued for a long time . It was because she couldn’t think of what to say next .

—Don’t say strange things, Boss .

Jain’s voice rang out in her ears . It seemed she was properly observing the situation this time .

—If you don’t know what to say, just ask him for a way to contact him . Don’t rush it and take it slow .

Jain’s voice was solemn, which was a rare occurrence .

Although the Chameleon Troupe already knew all of the ways to contact him, Boss took Jain’s advice .

“…Give me your number . ”

**

The uproarious fourth day went by, and the morning of the fifth day arrived .

The laborious final exam came to an end at last .

The Butterfly Seedling was a monster that overseers didn’t expect to see, causing a small disturbance, and in the end, they agreed to give the four cadets who defeated it 20 points each .

Cadets then turned in their exam smartwatches before getting on the ship back to Cube . The eliminated cadets had already left last night, so only about 700 cadets remained .

The ship cut through a blue sea . Leaned against the guardrail on the ship’s bow, I admired the beautiful waves before taking out my smartwatch .

The Chameleon Troupe, or Li Xiaopeng, had yet to contact me .

But why was Boss interested in me?

“Hey . ”

While I was in thought, Chae Nayun approached me .

“What . ”

“…How did it end?”

“How did what end?”

“The fight . I don’t have any memory of what happened after the middle . ”

Chae Nayun scratched her cheek with her eyes on the sea .

“Kim Suho said your bullet destroyed the monster’s wings… he’s lying, right?”

“Obviously, how could anyone destroy that monster’s wings using a gun?”

I spoke honestly since it really wasn’t me who did it .

“…Right? That’s what I thought too . ”

Seeing Chae Nayun looking relieved for some reason, I asked .

“Why did you use a sword instead of a bow?”

“What? You’re the one who told me to switch . How can you be so back and forth? Do you have an illness or something?”

“I mean, you have to be flexible . It’s dangerous if you use a weapon you haven’t practiced much with in real combat . ”

If Chae Nayun was gravely hurt, half of the responsibility would have been mine . After all, I was the one who made her switch to a sword .

“I’m not so weak that you have to worry about me . ”

Chae Nayun spoke with a sidelong scowl . I nodded without arguing with her .

“So, how did using a sword feel like?”

“It wasn’t anything spe—”

“You’re still scared, right?”

“…What? W-What are you talking about? Why would I be scared?”

…She really wasn’t good at hiding her feelings . I looked into her eyes, then grinned . When she lied, her eyes shook like they were having miniature earthquakes . This was one of the unique settings I gave her, and it had remained the same in this world .

“You’ll get better if you keep at it . You’re a born swordsman . ”

**

The exams were completely over .

While other cadets spent their weekend enjoying the feeling of liberation, Rachel used the time to contemplate on life . The mystical experience she had on the island had given her much to think about .

Because it didn’t seem like a problem she could solve on her own, she even called the English Royal Court’s Department of Analysis .

—A tree elemental?

“Yes, I saw something in the pollen . No, I felt it . I think it may have been the power of an elemental . What do you think, Raymond-ssi?”

Of course, it might have just been a hallucination . However, the memory from that day was too vivid and distinct . Not only did she remember the child’s face and voice, the warmth she felt when the child embraced her remained in her heart .

—Mm… that might be possible, but there’s no way to be sure . The power of elementals is something that still remains a mystery . In the first place, we aren’t sure if what Princess saw was an elemental or a fairy .

Rachel nodded, then asked the analyst with a tinge of nervousness .

“Then, do you think an elemental could show the future? Even if it’s not the future itself, something like a portion of a future… . ”

—Ah, something similar has been reported to the academia . It caused quite a stir .

At that moment, Rachel felt her heart drop .

“…Really? What was it?”

—Mm, it was a plant type elemental as well . Someone became covered in mushroom spores, then said he saw a portion of his future .

“Huk!”

Rachel let out a short scream . The analyst laughed briefly .

—Judging by that reaction, Princess must have seen something too .

“Yes, I saw a child . ”

—… .

For a moment, silence descended . The analyst stayed speechless for three whole minutes .

—…Child?

Then, the analyst barely managed to eek out a word .

“Yes . ”

—Mm~ well, it could have been any child…

“She called me Mommy . ”

—Yes?

This time, the analyst let out a short scream .

Rachel’s cheeks flushed red as though she was embarrassed .

“And… she looked just like me . She looked just like when I was young . ”

—Uh… .

“Raymond-ssi, don’t you think that I saw my future?”

With that, Rachel smiled bashfully .

It was a precious experience . Rachel engraved the child’s warmth and smile in her head . She felt like she could smile every time she thought of her .

If what she saw was, in fact, her future, if she would someday come to have that child… she felt like she could finally stop rejecting her life .

At that moment, she realized that the analyst was quiet .

“Um, Raymond-ssi?”

—Ah, sorry . The chances of it being Princess’ future is… very small, but… I just couldn’t ima… imagine it… . Did you perhaps see the father as well?

As the analyst asked, his fists were shaking . A child to a 17-year-old princess . As a loyal servant of the English Royal Court, that was something he could not accept… .

“No, I didn’t see anyone like that . ”

Rachel smiled bashfully, then dodged the analyst’s gaze .

“But if I really saw my future, I’m sure he is somewhere . ”

**

“Daddy!”

“… . ”

A child about a meter shorter than me shouted with her arms open .

For now, I held her in my embrace . To be completely honest, she was incredibly cute, but I knew I couldn’t spoil her . I had to be a good parent .

“…Evandel, you can’t call me Daddy, okay?”

“Why?”

Evandel tilted her head and asked .

“Mmm… because people will misunderstand . You should call me Uncle . ”

“Eeeh? Why?”

“Uh…”

But I didn’t know how to go about raising her . I had no experience raising a child . I was only thankful that next week was a break .

“Mm… why don’t we watch some TV? You know what a TV is, right? You saw it before when you were young . ”

By young, I meant when she was a seed . Back then, I left the TV on when I went out, just in case the seed got bored .

“Un! I like TV!”

“Good . ”

I turned on the TV and went to an animation channel, which showed a penguin with glasses and a green dinosaur .

“Woaaaa… . ”

Evandel quickly turned her attention to the TV, her eyes sparkling, and I sat down in front of the kitchen table alone .

“…What do I do with this?”

I stared at the Butterfly Seedling Dust, glowing brightly on the kitchen table . I managed to take it, but I wasn’t sure what to do with it .

[Butterfly Seedling Dust]

—Attaches to a target with magic power and helps them awaken a part of their hidden potential .

Its description was simple, but upon breaking down the sentence, you could see two keywords – ‘target’ and ‘potential’ . That is, the dust could be used to awaken the potential in people, as well as potential in objects .

“…Do I have to give it to Kim Suho?”

The Butterfly Seedling Dust was supposed to give a clue to enlightenment for Rachel, and help with Kim Suho’s future second enlightenment . But because of Boss’ interference, neither Rachel nor Kim Suho obtained the Butterfly Seedling Dust .

“Hm . ”

It seemed I needed to think more about how to deal with this dust .

For now, I wrapped the dust in a cloth, then put it in my drawer .

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