Chapter 14: Starting Over

The moment Ryan carried Eluvier out through the entrance of the teaching building, the fresh air of the outside world rushed into his lungs, allowing his tightly wound nerves to relax slightly.

The tolling of the bell still echoed faintly behind them, but the eerie conversations and footsteps abruptly ceased the moment they stepped through the doorway.

Sidelika was waiting outside. When she saw Ryan emerge carrying an unconscious girl in his arms, a trace of surprise flashed through her emerald eyes, but she asked nothing.

Instead, she raised a hand with perfect tact and ordered Ayla behind her, “Ayla, pack everything up. We’ll take the team back to camp first.”

Ayla opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but ultimately chose to obey. She quickly led the guards back toward the camp where the teleportation array was located.

In the blink of an eye, only Ryan and Sidelika remained in the clearing.

“How is she?”

Sidelika stepped forward and looked at Eluvier, who was lying pale-faced against Ryan’s back.

Before Ryan could answer, she had already taken a bottle of emerald-green potion radiating the aura of life from her storage ring.

“Give this to her first.”

She skillfully pried Eluvier’s mouth open and carefully fed her the potion.

The effect was immediate. A hint of color returned to Eluvier’s previously pale cheeks, and her breathing became much steadier.

“Thanks,” Ryan said.

“Do you really need to thank me?”

Sidelika put away the empty bottle before finally asking, “So, what exactly happened in there?”

Ryan was silent for a moment before giving the explanation he had prepared long ago.

He briefly described the origins of the academy ruins and the strange time loop, deliberately leaving out everything concerning Eluvier.

“In short, that place is extremely dangerous, and the cycle doesn’t seem to be something that can be broken through external means. I recommend sealing this place off completely and not letting anyone else enter.”

Sidelika listened quietly. Her emerald eyes shifted slightly before she deliberately let out a regretful sigh.

“Ah, then doesn’t that mean all our work was for nothing?”

Although she sounded disappointed, there wasn’t the slightest trace of dejection on her face. It was almost as though she had expected this outcome from the beginning.

Then her tone suddenly changed. Her gaze fell upon Eluvier on Ryan’s back, and that familiar smile returned to her face.

“But you went in there and somehow came back with another girl. You’re certainly lucky with the ladies.”

After spending the past few days with her, Ryan had developed a certain immunity to her teasing.

He calmly explained, “She’s a friend of mine. And as it happens, she’s the intruder we discovered earlier.”

“Oh, I see…”

Sidelika narrowed her eyes.

“All right, let’s head back first. I’ll take care of things here.”

****

Only after she watched Ryan and Eluvier’s figures disappear into the light of the teleportation array did Ayla emerge from the nearby woods and step behind Sidelika.

“Milady,” she said quietly, “should we notify the Master and the others and have the Merchant Guild send people over?”

‘A creation of a Great Sage…’

If this information got out, it would be enough to cause an uproar across the entire continent.

There was no way the people currently here could handle it. But the Golden Wind Merchant Guild was one of the continent’s foremost commercial organizations, with countless powerful experts under its banner.

As long as the headquarters sent a few strong individuals, capturing the summoned beast before it had fully emerged would not be difficult.

Sidelika shook her head.

“Every debt has its debtor. Of course we should leave it for them to deal with themselves. I imagine that’s what they want too.”

The “them” Sidelika referred to naturally meant Ryan and Eluvier.

“But…”

Sidelika slowly turned around and looked at Ayla. The smile in her emerald eyes gradually faded.

“Since when did it become your place to order me around, Ayla…?”

Her voice was light, yet Ayla’s entire body stiffened. She immediately lowered her head, not daring to meet Sidelika’s eyes.

“Milady… I…”

“Don’t think I don’t know why that old bastard sent you here.”

There was not the slightest trace of emotion in Sidelika’s voice. She sounded like an entirely different person from before.

“When you go back and report to him, remember to give him a message from me. If he still wants me to be his heir, then he should stop meddling in my affairs all the time. He has no right to do so. And neither do you.”

She stepped closer and leaned toward Ayla’s ear.

“Do you… understand?”

The ruthlessness in those final words made Ayla’s body tremble slightly.

“I understand… Milady.”

****

Elsewhere, in the corridors of the Golden Wind Merchant Guild headquarters, Ryan walked in silence with Eluvier on his back.

Eluvier seemed completely exhausted. Her head drooped against his shoulder as she breathed evenly.

As for her identity and everything that had happened within the ruins, the answers had practically been thrown in Ryan’s face.

But since Eluvier didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t ask. Everyone had their own secrets, and Ryan was certainly no stranger to keeping them himself.

Ryan carried Eluvier to the reception room and pushed open the door, only to find that someone was already waiting inside.

The moment he stepped through the doorway, Vidia suddenly rushed toward him.

She grabbed Ryan’s left hand and clasped it tightly in her palm, closing her eyes as she carefully sensed something.

Ryan was completely bewildered.

“What the hell are you doing now?”

“Shut up!”

Vidia pursed her lips and snapped at him.

Her reaction was so intense that Ryan was caught off guard. He simply let her hold his hand.

“Strange…”

Vidia muttered to herself, her tightly furrowed brows filled with lingering fear.

“Thank goodness… There’s no trace of a vampire’s aura… He’s still human…”

She suddenly raised her head. Her blood-red eyes stared intently at Ryan.

“You bastard, why can you use vampire skills?”

‘Just as I thought.’

Ryan’s heart sank, but his expression remained unchanged.

Through their contract, Vidia could more or less sense some of what he had experienced inside the ruins.

He pulled his hand back and rolled his eyes at her.

“I’m not telling you. Does that piss you off? Go figure it out yourself.”

“You!”

Vidia looked like she wanted to bite him. But faced with Ryan’s shameless expression that practically said, “What are you going to do about it?”, she was actually at a loss for what to do.

The noise of their bickering woke Eluvier.

Sidelika’s healing potion had worked astonishingly well, and she had already recovered quite a bit of her strength.

A small head poked out from behind Ryan, the purple cowlick on top bobbing up and down.

“Is this a vampire? Is she your pet, little boy?”

Round two had begun.

“You’re the pet! Your whole family is the pet!”

Vidia immediately turned her fire on the tiny newcomer.

“Where did this little dwarf come from?”

“How dare you!”

Eluvier was not about to back down either.

“How dare you speak to the world’s cutest genius mage like that!”

“…”

“Oh my~ What a lively scene.”

The reception room door was pushed open once again, and Sidelika walked in with a cheerful smile, just in time to witness the scene.

Seeing her enter, Ryan took the opportunity to lower Eluvier from his back and settle her comfortably onto the sofa.

Sidelika walked over and looked gently at Eluvier.

“Feeling any better?”

Eluvier nodded and quietly thanked her.

Only then did Sidelika turn toward Ryan.

“I’ve finished taking care of the aftermath. As for your payment this time, would you prefer cash or something else?”

Ryan shook his head.

“Didn’t we come back empty-handed? Just consider the materials we found earlier payment for my trouble.”

“That won’t do. You still need to be paid.”

Sidelika smiled faintly and walked over to sit on the sofa opposite him before changing the subject.

“So, what did you think of this adventure?”

“Hm?”

Ryan was momentarily confused. He had no idea why she was asking.

Sidelika rested her chin on one hand, a sly smile sparkling in her emerald eyes.

“What I mean is—”

“Have you ever thought about starting over from scratch?”

She smiled and leaned forward slightly.

“Maybe putting together a new party or something…”

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Our Guide to the Second World

CapableDevotedGuideverse

Read Now →
Not interested