Chapter 73

Chapter 73

“Woof?”

“Yeah, it’s fine to come out now.”

“Woof!”

At my words, Siri jumped out from the shadows and started running around my room in excitement.

“Just wait a bit, I’ll head out soon.”

I sat down on the bed and took a roll of bandages out of my bag.

Then, I untied the worn bandage around my neck and replaced it with a new one.

‘I should probably buy more bandages later.’

The bite marks left on my neck.

Whatever mysterious effect the teeth of House Balmuth members had, the wound healed faster than expected.

However, although it healed quickly, it still took at least a day for the scar to completely disappear.

‘Next time, I should tell her to bite somewhere other than my neck.’

Since I had decided to keep working with Lisa, I needed to think about how she should bite me from now on.

‘Speaking of which… Lisa probably got back safely, right?’

I looked out the window.

It was getting dark.

I had spent time with Lisa until dusk, and had just returned to the dormitory.

‘It turned into a patrol-date toward the end, but… well, that was fun in its own way.’

Just walking around with Lisa felt completely different from before.

Of course, spending time with her had always been enjoyable to some extent.

But today—ever since that conversation we had in front of Intezer’s skull—things felt… different.

‘How should I put it… it was an indescribably good feeling.’

Simply put, I think I was just happy.

And it was the first time I had felt such an emotion since I transmigrated here.

After coming to this world, I had been so focused on survival and my goals that I never had time to feel happiness.

‘Maybe I should just stay here?’

That thought suddenly crossed my mind, but I quickly shook it off.

Being with Lisa was definitely enjoyable—

—but I couldn’t let my emotions cloud my judgment.

This world was far too dangerous to live in carelessly.

Whether or not I continued living here was something I had to think more deeply about.

‘And whether I return to my original world or keep living here… I need to uncover my family’s secret first.’

I still didn’t know much about my family.

But the more information I gathered, the more I felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

On top of that, I had the feeling that uncovering this secret was somehow tied to my own safety.

In other words, there was potential danger hidden in my family’s mystery.

That voice—the one that brought me into this world.

It had demanded that I uncover my family’s secret and restore the family’s glory.

So before deciding on how to live my life, fulfilling that condition had to come first.

‘At this point, I really am curious. What kind of family is the Kyrgram Family?’

The Kyrgram Family.

From what I’d discovered so far, they had been sentenced to Record Erasure and were somehow connected to other races.

Their ancestor had been called the Wanderer of Water—a madman who was acquainted with Peregrie and had blocked all of Dragon Intezer’s attacks.

‘With that kind of power and notoriety, I should’ve at least heard about them once in the game… so what the hell happened?’

It seemed they had truly been erased from the records, as information about them was nearly impossible to find.

By now, my curiosity alone made me want to uncover the secret.

“Woof!”

While I was lost in thought, Siri came up to me and barked.

The little Hellhound looked up at me with eyes full of boredom.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight and finished wrapping the bandage around my neck.

“Alright, alright. You want to go out and play, don’t you?”

“Woof! Woof woof!”

“Okay, let’s go. I actually have something I want to try outside too.”

A little later—

I took Siri outside the dormitory.

We went quite a distance away, heading toward the end of the mountain range—specifically, the very tip of Intezer’s tail.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

“What? You want this stick?”

“Woof!”

“Alright then… ready? Fetch!”

It was already late, and hardly anyone ever came near Intezer’s tail anyway.

Thanks to that, the area around it was a wide, empty clearing.

There, I played with Siri—just the two of us.

“Woof!”

“Wow, you’re really fast.”

The stick had definitely been thrown quite far, yet Siri fetched it back in an instant.

Twenty meters?

No—almost thirty meters round trip, and she covered it in about three seconds.

“Woof! Huff huff! Woof woof!”

“You really are full of energy.”

Even after fetching the stick about ten times, Siri didn’t show the slightest sign of exhaustion. She just looked thrilled.

Wagging her tail, she looked up at me with sparkling, expectant eyes.

“Alright, ready… fetch!”

This time, I threw the stick a little farther, and Siri immediately sprinted toward it.

Watching her run like that, I let out a quiet laugh.

‘I guess I’ll have to play with her more often.’

Before I transmigrated, I’d never raised a pet dog.

But I had heard a few things.

Dogs were bundles of energy and needed to be taken on walks regularly.

If not, they would get stressed.

“Woof!”

“Ugh? Hey, hey, calm down.”

With the stick in her mouth, Siri leapt into my arms.

Then she dropped the stick and began licking my face nonstop.

“Guess you’re all excited from running around. By the way… did you get bigger again?”

“Woof? Woof!”

“At this rate, you’ll be longer than my arm soon.”

I patted Siri on the head.

She was still brimming with energy, so it looked like I’d have to play with her a few more times…

“Grrrrr.”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“Grrr.”

Siri suddenly growled in a low tone.

Up until now, she had looked just like a cute little black puppy, but all at once, she began to show the traits of a true Hellhound.

Wondering what was going on, I followed her gaze and saw it.

“Because of that?”

“Grrrrr.”

“You want to hunt them?”

“…Woof!”

Her eyes were fixed on three rabbits.

As expected of a hunting dog—her instincts must have kicked in the moment she spotted prey.

“Alright, go ahead. I’ve got something to do on my own anyway…”

“Grrrrr!”

Before I could even finish speaking, Siri jumped out of my arms.

I chuckled as I watched her enthusiastically chase after the rabbits.

‘She’ll come back on her own anyway. Now that I’m alone… let’s test this out.’

I sat down and looked at the back of my left hand.

Even though the night had fallen, the blue tattoo on my hand glowed clearly.

“…Let’s give it a try.”

I closed my eyes and focused inward.

Then I recalled it—

A few hours ago, when I had fallen near Intezer’s heart.

Back then, I had drawn out Peregrie’s power with my own hand.

Remembering that moment, I tried to summon that same power again.

‘Peregrie’s power usually stays gathered in my left hand. If I concentrate and spread that power throughout my whole body…’

As I focused, a faint blue light began to glow from the back of my left hand.

Then, the condensed energy in my left hand started to flow throughout my body.

“…There it is.”

Wind began to stir.

A strong gust formed, swirling around me.

Wind mixed with raindrops.

“Fuuuh…”

I exhaled deeply and stood up.

Keeping my concentration steady, I opened my eyes and swung my hand through the air.

Then, the wind moved—following the motion of my hand.

I was controlling the wind.

‘I can feel it—the wind.’

From the breeze blowing around me to the currents moving far away—

I could sense what the wind saw and heard.

‘This sensation… the sense of wind. Let’s see how far I can reach…’

Once again, I closed my eyes and focused.

Not just on the wind near me, but on the distant air currents further away.

And soon, I felt it.

‘Siri… she succeeded in the hunt.’

It wasn’t like I could see it directly.

But I could just feel it.

That strange sense let me know.

That the little Hellhound had bitten into a rabbit’s neck.

‘Siri’s about 300 meters away right now… If I focus, I can probably sense even farther.’

I focused again.

Sending my wind farther out—toward the small village located on Intezer.

The village where the Lysquare Academy students stayed in their dormitories.

‘Looks like I can extend it up to around 500 meters.’

That was quite a useful ability to have gained.

Even just controlling the wind wasn’t bad, but this power allowed my senses to reach far beyond my body.

For something I gained by chance, it was pretty damn handy.

‘That’s enough testing for now. I should start thinking about how to train with this. For now, let’s call back the wind…’

Just as I was about to sever the sensory link with the wind, I felt something through it.

The rooftop of the dormitory where the Lysquare Academy students were staying.

There were several people up there, all familiar faces.

‘Layla, Sara, Nia… and Lisa.’

The four girls were sitting on the rooftop, chatting and eating snacks like chips and sweets.

And when I saw Lisa, a thought crossed my mind.

‘Now that I think about it… am I really Lisa’s lover? I think I might’ve left things too vague earlier.’

Lisa had said she wanted to keep being together and to grow closer… but honestly, I wasn’t sure if that meant what I thought it did.

I should’ve asked her directly at the time, but the situation hadn’t allowed for it.

‘I can just ask her tomorrow. Anyway… what are they talking about?’

Once again, I focused my wind toward the rooftop.

Lisa was talking with the other three girls.

Eavesdropping wasn’t exactly a noble act, but curiosity got the better of me.

So I focused on the wind’s sense.

“So, Nia—about Sara. That time, she came running out with her hair all messy, right? And she didn’t even have her uniform on properly, so her clothes were—”

“Wow, Sara. I knew you were cute, but you’re even cuter than I thought.”

“Nia-unnie, please be quiet. And, Your Highness, please… not stories like this…”

“But it’s too much fun to keep to myself!”

Layla laughed mischievously, and Sara turned her face away, her cheeks red.

Seeing that, Layla giggled and hugged Sara tightly.

“Heehee, Sara’s so adorable. I wish everyone could see how cute you are like this.”

“Y-Your Highness, your dignity… mmph!”

“Hey, Sara. It’s just us here, no need to be so stiff.”

Nia smirked and popped a snack into Sara’s mouth.

Then she turned toward Lisa.

Lisa was sitting a little apart from them, leaning against the rooftop railing and gazing up at the night sky.

“Hey, Lisa. What are you thinking about all by yourself?”

“Gideon.”

“…Ha. Damn, you’re so blunt. Us singles are really suffering here.”

Nia exclaimed in mock exasperation, but Lisa didn’t react—her face remained as expressionless as ever.

“Anyway, earlier today, you and Gideon went off together, right? What were you two talking about?”

“Yeah, yeah! Tell us! I’m curious too!”

Layla released Sara from her arms and shouted, and though Sara didn’t show it, she quietly turned her attention to Lisa.

Lisa hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Nothing special. We just talked about how we’d define our relationship from now on.”

“Ohh… and? Be specific. What kind of relationship are you going to have with that handsome junior of yours?”

“…I told him I want to stay with him and become even closer.”

After a brief pause, Lisa spoke quietly.

Then she avoided their gazes, her cheeks faintly flushed.

“Wow, so that means you two are dating now, right? Hmm, wait. Dating… right? Did you actually say that, or did you just say you wanted to get closer? You didn’t go beyond that?”

“W-Why? Isn’t that enough? Gideon probably understood what I meant.”

“Well, it’s Gideon—we can assume he picked up on it. Still, you should make it clear, so there’s no misunderstanding.”

Lisa thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Yeah, you’re right. I should talk to him again tomorrow.”

“Good. You handle that however you want… anyway, Gideon is your boyfriend, right?”

“…No.”

“Huh?”

Nia tilted her head, caught off guard by the unexpected answer.

“What do you mean? You just said you’d keep being together with him—”

“That’s right. I plan to keep being with Gideon.”

Lisa spoke flatly.

Expressionless, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Unless something big happens, we’ll probably… get married. So instead of lovers, wouldn’t fiancés be more accurate?”