Episode 83: Isia (2)"Why did we come here? There's no one around."
We arrived at the Guild.
Isia walked into the Guild building, ignoring Lee Ho-young's question filled with doubt.
'Mother's office was this way.'
The electricity was cut.
We had no choice but to take the stairs.
She quickly climbed the steps.
Lee Ho-young and Yuna followed behind her, completely clueless about what was happening.
We soon arrived before Sword Queen's office.
"I'll go in alone from here. You two wait outside."
Her mother was eccentric.
Even she, as a daughter, often couldn't understand her mother's actions.
If she knew outsiders had entered her private space, she'd fly into a rage.
As family, Isia might be spared, but there was no telling what she might do to Guild members like them.
Leaving them outside the office was the only option.
"Got it. Finish quickly."
Lee Ho-young sat down by the stairs.
Yuna looked like she had something to say but held her tongue.
"I will. I'll be right back."
Isia smiled and entered the office.
The security alarms blared fiercely, but it didn't matter as long as she finished before her mother returned.
Once inside, she began searching the office.
The notebook she'd seen that day must be here.
Or at least something related to it.
This was a space only her mother could enter.
Not even her own daughter had been allowed inside even once.
With an explorer's mindset, she ransacked the office.
Click.
Before long, she discovered a secret compartment.
Her knowledge of traps, learned for clearing Gates, came in handy.
Cautiously, she stepped into the hidden space.
She expected treasures or divine artifacts, but the contents defied her expectations.
'Books? She made a secret compartment just to hide these?'
Tall bookshelves were crammed full of volumes.
What secrets could be so shameful that she needed to hide books like this?
She knew her mother was cautious, but never imagined it to this extent.
She'd expected at least one weapon.
She pulled out a book and read.
'This is a diary.'
The book was indeed a diary.
Judging by the timeline, it chronicled when Su-a was just three years old.
She grabbed another book.
Another diary.
This one from when Seo-ah was born.
The diaries were filled with
Warmth blossomed in her heart.
So her mother did care about them as her children after all.
Unspoken affection overflowed from every page.
'...The left side contains more recent entries.'
But her doubts remained unresolved.
She needed to discover who their father was.
Isia found what seemed to be the first diary.
The oldest journal.
Its cover was worn and tattered.
She carefully opened it without tearing the fragile cover.
[I write this diary to reaffirm my purpose.]
The words were pressed deeply into the paper with forceful strokes.
They carried the determination to prevent destruction.
'Destruction?'
Isia frowned at the word.
The sudden mention felt completely out of place.
Decades had passed since the Gates appeared.
Humanity had adapted to them.
Though unexpected situations still occurred like now, humanity had admirably adjusted to this phenomenon called Gates.
Yet her mother wrote as if anticipating destruction.
That wasn't the only suspicious part.
[I will raise those children as Apostles to prevent the coming destruction.]
[I've already chosen their names.]
[Sia, Su-a, Seo-ah.]
Her mother had anticipated their births.
While planning how many children to have was understandable, her tone suggested absolute certainty all three would be girls.
Boys could have been born, yet nowhere in the diary was that possibility mentioned.
[He promised it would be so.]
[It must come to pass.]
'Who is "He"?'
The following pages returned to ordinary diary entries.
Chronicles of pregnancy and raising her.
Thud.
Isia closed the diary.
Returned it exactly where she found it.
She'd come to resolve doubts but only found more questions.
Her mind grew more tangled.
Kuuung.
"Just as I thought! What we saw in the dungeon wasn't an illusion!"
But she was granted no time to ponder.
Lee Ho-young's shout echoed with a thunderous noise.
*****
"We've arrived, Master."
Seol-hwa's voice snapped me back to attention.
I retracted my tentacles beneath my clothes.
The Guild building I'd only visited once before loomed in the distance.
"Indeed. Never thought I'd come back here."
What had been an intimidating building when Sword Queen was present now felt like an empty shell.
The once-feared space now seemed novel and intriguing.
"They say Isia is in the office."
I'd visited Sword Queen's office once before.
Where I'd once trembled with fear, I now bounded up the stairs with light steps.
Arriving at the emergency exit, I sent a Doppelganger through first just in case.
"Huh? What are you?"
A familiar voice. The name escaped me, but I recalled she was the Deputy Guild Leader.
Even after the Guild's collapse, she'd stayed by Isia's side.
A relief. It would've been a waste had she joined another Guild.
"Hello, Deputy Guild Leader Lee Ho-young. It's me, Seol-hwa."
Seol-hwa immediately stepped out. They were acquainted - no need to hide.
"You? Why are you here?"
The reply was icy. They'd survived life-and-death situations together as comrades.
There was no reason for such hostility even if they weren't close.
But Lee Ho-young remained guarded.
The tip of her crossbow aimed at us.
"Seol-hwa, fall back. She's completely on guard."
Our plan had failed.
We'd intended to lower her guard with Seol-hwa's approach before striking.
But in this heightened state, surprise attacks would backfire.
Better to retreat briefly and strike unexpectedly.
"Ahaha, my apologies. I must have startled you appearing so suddenly."
"Wait - I want to ask what you've been doing in the danger zones lately. I heard you've been trading on the Guild's name?"
The woman beside Lee Ho-young spoke up.
"Hahaha, whatever do you mean..."
Seol-hwa laughed evasively.
Who was she again?
Ah, the strategist. Someone who'd stayed outside during Gate raids, surviving by luck.
She too had remained with Isia.
"Don't play dumb. You've been blatant about it - you thought we wouldn't notice?"
The strategist wasn't letting this go.
She gripped Seol-hwa's arm, demanding answers.
'Shit, we're properly caught here.'
Mana surged violently.
Their target was clearly Seol-hwa.
They weren't letting her leave easily.
"My apologies... With no work and being afraid to enter danger zones alone, I borrowed the Guild's name."
Seol-hwa offered a half-truth. Disgraceful behavior, but not catastrophic.
"Then what did you do with our informant?"
The pressure intensified. The situation grew explosive.
Seol-hwa's body stiffened. Without me, she couldn't withstand this alone.
"Informant? What are you talking about?"
'They planted an informant too... Thorough.'
I hadn't expected them to go that far. This level of caution spoke volumes.
"If you won't answer, we'll attack."
As she spoke, the magic completed.
Bang.
An explosive detonation. She'd intended to attack Seol-hwa from the start.
"Why attack suddenly?"
"She could have retaliated."
Smoke filled the air.
Lee Ho-young raged, but only feigned panic. She showed no concern for Seol-hwa.
She knew Seol-hwa's true power exceeded this.
"No choice then. It'll be troublesome, but we fight head-on."
I revealed myself.
No need to hide anymore.
Today, they would all be dragged into my Kingdom.
With no witnesses, concealment served no purpose.
The crimson flesh mass
"Monster? So that form was real after all! Just as I thought - what we saw in the dungeon wasn't an illusion!"
Lee Ho-young fired her crossbow as if she'd anticipated this.
A ballista-sized arrow shot toward Seol-hwa.
Crunch.
My tentacle lashed out, effortlessly smashing the arrow.
The projectile shattered into pieces.
"I thought you were overrated for your experience level. So it was the Monster's power all along."
Lee Ho-young taunted as she leisurely reloaded. Her relaxed demeanor showed no fear of defeat.
"What? You think having a Monster means you can beat both of us?"
"I never said I was alone."
I quietly summoned the Doppelgangers.
A group poured through the doorway.
A panicked Lee Ho-young fired. The arrow struck true to the heart - no hesitation in killing.
The impaled Doppelganger dissolved into shadows.
"This power... It's from that dungeon!"
Lee Ho-young recognized the energy.
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