Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 67

EP.67 Secret Part 2

Jeong-hyeon looked down at Hana, who was sticking close to his side, arranging some grass and stones she had picked up from somewhere. He couldn’t help but wonder why on earth she had gathered such things… But since she seemed happy just playing with them, he decided to leave her be and simply watched in silence.

‘Still don’t get it.’

No matter how long he observed, he couldn’t figure out what exactly she was doing. As he watched with a puzzled expression, Hana suddenly looked up at him, smiling shyly before handing him a small white stone.

“This is for Daddy.”

“For me?”

“Yeah!”

He accepted it, deciding to go along with her, and as soon as he did, a system message appeared.

*-*

[Small Divine Power Fragment filled with the World Tree’s affection]

– Consuming it slightly increases training efficiency.

*-*

“…?”

It was like picking up a random rock on the side of the road only to discover it was a diamond shard. Bewildered by the unexpected find, he remained frozen in place. Hana, noticing the look on his face, began to fidget nervously.

“You don’t like it…?”

She must have mistaken his momentary shock for displeasure, and her face began to crumple. He quickly shook his head, gently patting her on the head.

“No, I love it.”

At that, Hana’s eyes lit up.

“Really?”

He nodded, and Hana, grinning ear to ear, began to gather more grass.

“Then I’ll make lots more for you!”

Oh. Listening to Hana’s promise of mass production, he briefly considered whether he should draw up a contract, casting a glance at Miria. But Miria, seeming to read his thoughts, gave him a look that suggested he was crazy, making him abandon the idea.

‘How heartless.’

Considering how long they had known each other, shouldn’t she side with him every once in a while? He sighed shortly and lightly pinched Hana’s cheek when, suddenly, a small note slipped under the door.

Miria, noticing it, casually picked up the note, unfolded it, and after reading it, let out a small, ironic laugh.

“That magic circle we saw earlier? I figured out what it is.”

Already?

He was surprised at how quickly Miria had found out and asked her about the magic circle’s identity. Then she explained.

“A binding and sealing magic circle.”

He couldn’t hide his surprise at the unexpected revelation. What exactly were they trying to bind and seal with such a massive magic circle drawn in that place? Unable to comprehend, he looked at Miria, who also seemed just as confused.

“I don’t know why something like that would be there either… Usually, you can at least get some idea of the purpose, but with this one… I can’t even guess.”

Miria spoke, sighing as if truly at a loss.

“Oh, and by the way, according to my research, a magic circle of that size is typically semi-permanent. Whatever they were trying to bind and seal, it must have been something immense.”

With that, the conversation came to a halt. The more difficult it was to understand the context of the problem, the less sense it made to speculate and risk locking their thoughts onto a mistaken theory. It was better to wait for new evidence to emerge.

“Well, I’ll start asking around. It seems like that magic circle has been there for a long time, so I’ll check with some older sources. Oh, and I could ask the former principal too. He’s probably on the frontlines right now, so I’ll send him a message.”

Miria spoke up, preparing to investigate further.

He nodded in acknowledgment, signaling his trust in her. Then, Miria glanced at Hana, who was still glued to his side, and spoke with a smile.

“Hana, Auntie is leaving now. Aren’t you going to say goodbye?”

Hana looked up at Miria, her hands fidgeting as she gave a small wave in her own unique way. Though her farewell was a bit unusual, Miria seemed satisfied, her lips curling into a grin as she replied.

“I’ll bring you a gift next time, so look forward to it!”

Hana gave a half-hearted nod before turning her attention back to him, tugging at his sleeve as she spoke.

“Daddy… make more of these!”

“Sure.”

He accepted the new Divine Power Fragment Hana had created, a smile forming on his face. If he could use this in conjunction with the World Tree elixir… Wait a minute. Wasn’t there something odd about consuming a potion made from the World Tree while simultaneously using a fragment created by the World Tree itself?

The thought made him pause momentarily, but he quickly decided to ignore the oddity, forcing himself to stop thinking about it.

***

While he was looking after Hana and continuing his Divine Power training, Lucia entered the room, calling out to him.

“Jeong-hyeon…! You have a visitor.”

“A visitor?”

Who could it be? He followed her gaze to the door, and a familiar figure appeared.

‘The First Princess?’

It seemed like there was still much to handle in the kingdom, so why had she returned to the academy already?

He wondered whether the kingdom’s affairs were being handled faster than expected or if Charlotte had just made a quick escape. Then, he greeted her with a mix of curiosity and suspicion.

“Why is the First Princess here?”

It was more of a pointed question than a greeting, but Charlotte didn’t seem to mind and simply stated her purpose.

“I came because I have something important to say.”

The fact that she hadn’t sent a servant and had come herself suggested that the matter was quite serious. He nodded, preparing to approach her, but Hana clung to his thigh and was being dragged along. With no other choice, he picked Hana up in his arms and asked Charlotte what she wanted to talk about.

“So, what’s the matter?”

“…Wait a minute. You’re a father?”

“Ah.”

He was momentarily at a loss for how to explain, but Lucia, clearing her throat, quickly jumped in to explain to Charlotte.

“Hana was created by Jeong-hyeon and me! But that doesn’t mean Jeong-hyeon is actually her father! It’s… well, there are a lot of circumstances I can’t really explain, but Hana wasn’t made through normal means. She was born using a special method!”

The explanation was unnecessarily complicated, and it only seemed to confuse things more. Jeong-hyeon sighed, wondering if it had been a mistake to let Lucia handle the explanation. As Charlotte processed this, her face became pale with shock, and she looked back and forth between them.

“…You made her together? A special method? Circumstances you can’t talk about…? What exactly have you two been doing at the academy?”

Charlotte was clearly misunderstanding the situation, her mind stuck on something inappropriate. Before he could clear things up, Hana innocently chimed in.

“It’s nothing much. He just gives me a lot every day…!”

“…W-what exactly?”

“The white, thick stuff…!”

Technically, she wasn’t wrong. He did give her divine power every day. And yes, it was white and thick divine power.

‘But the way she says it…’

Hana’s explanation left out the most crucial details, and Jeong-hyeon sighed, knowing he needed to clarify the misunderstanding. After his explanation, Charlotte’s expression softened, though she was still a bit flustered.

“Alright… I get it now. But still, who exactly is that child? The white horn… and those branches?”

Even though Charlotte had helped him a lot, he wasn’t ready to completely trust her, so he gave her a vague answer.

“She’s sort of like a spirit.”

He wasn’t sure if the World Tree could be called a spirit, but at least it wasn’t human, so the description seemed close enough. Charlotte still looked suspicious, but after a moment, she shook her head.

“…Alright. I’ll accept that for now.”

“So, what was it you came to say?”

“In four days, the Second Princess, Karina, is holding her inauguration ceremony at the academy.”

The news wasn’t particularly surprising. The fact that Karina would be taking up the principal position during the large-scale personnel changes was something he had already heard.

‘But I don’t really understand why they’re holding an inauguration ceremony now.’

He wondered why, despite the failed personnel changes, they would still bother with a ceremonial inauguration. As he pondered this, Charlotte provided an answer.

“Until now, she had only been a name on paper and didn’t interfere with the academy. But from now on, she’s expected to be directly involved and actively participate within the academy.”

This move seemed completely incomprehensible to him, leaving him with nothing but confusion. Noticing his reaction, Charlotte continued.

“There are widespread rumors that the kingdom intends for Karina to take direct action in some way. The problem is, we don’t know what exactly she plans to do.”

At that moment, he recalled the magic circle he had seen at the place where the corpse golems were discovered. He wondered if Karina’s actions might be related to that.

‘Well, whatever the case.’

What was certain was that Karina, that damned woman, was coming to the academy, and he was expected to welcome her. Arriving at this conclusion, he smiled faintly and wiggled his fingers.

‘So, Karina is coming here.’

First, it was Bishop Lea, and now Karina. As if a carefully arranged puzzle, his enemies were converging on this place, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. He had no idea what was driving these events.

‘Well, that’s not important right now.’

What mattered now was how he would greet Karina when she arrived. After a moment of thought, he decided to send her a “congratulatory gift” for the occasion.

‘An ordinary gift would be boring.’

He pondered sending something Karina would actually want. His thoughts drifted to the ‘Marpe’ that lay asleep in the pocket dimension.

‘If I neatly trim Marpe’s head and send it in a gift box with flowers, that would be perfect.’

Adding a note to welcome her would also be a good touch. He thought that he might be the only one who would welcome Karina’s appointment with such enthusiasm and hoped she would arrive soon.