Chapter 584: Strange Statue (1)

I finished giving Choi Yun a full explanation.

He sat there with his arms crossed, listening to everything I said, and the moment I was done, he let out a tired sigh.

“Alright. Got it.”

Milk still seemed scared of Yun, staying tucked inside Kairos’s sleeve and refusing to come out.

But Yun didn’t care in the slightest.

“I’ve got a rough idea of what Yehyeon was muttering, too.”

I gave a bitter smile but didn’t ask further.

Yun didn’t bother telling us either.

Instead, Sasu narrowed his eyes and stared at me.

“Why are you looking at me like that...?”

“What are you going to do about the Third Elder?”

“I’ll take a look after I get a report.”

I hadn’t decided yet whether to wipe them out completely.

The reason fights like this were difficult was simple—cutting off the enemy’s head didn’t magically solve everything. Sometimes, things actually got worse afterward.

In fact, that happened pretty often.

Quite often.

So it was better to be careful.

Still, things were much better than before.

After all, I was essentially the kingmaker behind Erich Erhart. I could face the Elders much more comfortably now. Unless Erich got so bored he lost his mind, he would respect my intentions.

And I had no desire to clash with him either.

When I conveyed that indirectly, Yun seemed to understand and snorted.

“Right. So now you’re the most powerful man on Earth, is that it?”

“What are you even saying...”

“Black, why did you go to the lab with Yehyeon?”

Ignoring my protest, Yun shifted his gaze.

Kairos, who had been gently patting Milk hidden in his sleeve, answered politely.

“Do you remember the presentation I mentioned before, about those strange Creatures we encountered prior to the Remnant Wraith incident?”

Sasu nodded.

I had been rubbing my swollen eyes, but I lowered my hand and focused on the conversation.

Yehyeon had explained it briefly while returning, but I hadn’t heard anything detailed enough to be satisfying.

All I knew was that there seemed to be something “humanoid” like what we had seen during that mission with the seniors.

But it wasn’t multiple people like us.

Rather, it seemed like a single individual appearing repeatedly...

“Do you remember that area where even drones kept losing signal?” Kairos asked me.

I nodded.

“That’s where something finally got captured, and that’s when this started. We still don’t know why nothing showed up before, and then suddenly something did. So far, only those who’ve reviewed the reconnaissance records, the higher-ups, and my squad—who went out to verify it—know about this. They also said they plan to inform your squad as well, since you witnessed something unusual.”

“What did they capture?” Yun asked.

Kairos answered calmly.

“A human-like silhouette.”

“A silhouette?” I asked.

He nodded.

“You’ll understand if you see the footage. Something pale... gathering into the shape of a person. No facial features at all. It even looks like it’s faintly glowing.”

“That’s almost exactly what we saw, isn’t it?”

My eyes widened.

“Then it’s not just one, right?”

“The Advisor believes it’s a single entity moving around. If there were multiple, it would’ve been detected more often.”

“If you went to the lab, you must’ve had some kind of hypothesis.”

Yun steered the conversation back.

“New Creatures show up all the time. That’s nothing unusual. Of course, humanoid ones with a certain level of intelligence are extremely rare, and every time they’re discovered, the higher-ups go on high alert. Even that Usurper that wrecked the science division last time was, technically speaking, around rank nine or ten. But just because you find something like that doesn’t mean you go to the Creature Research Lab.”

“We went to see a statue.”

Kairos gave a strange answer.

Sasu and I just stared at him instead of asking.

“There’s a peculiar statue stored among the lab’s samples. We call it a statue for convenience, but since it’s made of materials like iron and aluminum rather than stone, it’s more accurate to call it a ‘strange facial sculpture.’”

“Does Yehyeon think it’s connected to the white silhouette we saw?”

“Why is a statue stored in the Creature Lab?” I asked first.

Yun followed up immediately.

“It’s not alive.”

“No, it isn’t,” Kairos said.

I already knew what he was going to say next.

“But it’s not just an ordinary, inactive object either. When someone who’s never seen it before approaches, its eyes move and scan the person. Until the person leaves its field of vision, the eyes keep tracking them relentlessly.”

“Magic?” I tilted my head.

“I think I’ve seen something like that before—detection-type magical tools.”

“That’s why the Advisor took me along,” Kairos said with a faint smile.

“He asked if I knew anything about magic. For reference, that eye-moving statue was discovered over ten years ago.”

“Do you know who found it?”

“The discoverer is dead,” Kairos replied carefully.

“According to the Advisor... there was likely a conflict within the squad during land-clearing operations, and that Badger stormed off on their own.”

“That happens from time to time,” Yun said flatly.

Kairos gave a bitter smile and continued.

“After leaving the squad, the Badger wandered and eventually entered S Zone. The moment they crossed into it, their signal was lost. They were later found dead at the entrance, holding the statue. At the time, for various reasons, they needed help from an Elder to recover the body... and the statue was handed over as compensation.”

“Sounds like they got help from Jaeyeon,” Yun said indifferently.

Kairos smiled faintly.

“That’s what I heard. Though I wasn’t given the details...”

“So. Did you figure anything out?” Yun asked.

Before Kairos could answer, Yun added another question.

“Between you and Hilde, who understands magic better?”

...Uh.

No idea.

I shot Kairos a confused look.

But he didn’t seem certain either. He tilted his head, studying my expression, then turned back to Yun with an awkward smile.

“That’s difficult to answer. I wasn’t born with a mana pathway, so it was forcibly opened back in the Empire. Even then, I couldn’t significantly increase my mana, so I’ve never actually cast magic. I’ve only observed things here and there.”

“I only opened my mana pathway after coming here...” I rubbed the back of my neck.

“I did pick up some knowledge while serving as a Knight Commander, though.”

But why did Kairos even open a mana pathway?

I had done it because of issues with my leaf veins, but as far as I knew, Kairos had never suffered such damage.

He rose quickly to the position of imperial envoy favored by the Emperor. Whenever he was seriously injured, the Emperor personally sent a mage to treat him. Since I always received reports whenever the Emperor’s mage was dispatched, I remembered those incidents vaguely.

But none of them involved leaf vein damage.

And he wasn’t particularly interested in magic either.

So why did he open it?

The question suddenly gnawed at me.

But this wasn’t the time to ask.

Yun clicked his tongue, looking at the both of us.

“Neither of you seems particularly useful.”

“We’re not from this world to begin with, Yun.”

“Did they say anything about calling a meeting?” Yun asked Kairos.

“They said it would happen as soon as possible. However, Hilde will be pulled from missions the moment Doctor Stop is issued, after his condition is checked...”

“What?”

Why?!

“If things don’t stack up like this again, I’ll be fine now!”

Ignored.

Both Kairos and Yun completely disregarded my passionate protest and continued talking among themselves.

They discussed the newly discovered Creatures found while I was asleep, along with those that had existed on Earth but didn’t originate from the Empire.

No one responded to my muttering complaints.

In my own house, they carried on their conversation, then suddenly wrapped it up and started preparing to leave.

I stared up at them, dumbfounded.

“Are we done here?”

“You were the one itching to go out—what are you doing staying up this late?” Yun suddenly snapped at me.

I was so stunned I couldn’t respond immediately.

“No, Yun.”

I looked up at him in disbelief.

“You’re the one who barged in uninvited.”

“The lights were on.”

“That doesn’t mean you just walk in at dawn!”

Not that this was the first time.

But it was the first time he’d come this late, so I stood up to protest.

“I have such a thing as privacy!”

“Alright.”

Yun answered unexpectedly easily.

“Then go to sleep.”

“...Why does it sound like you’re the one granting permission?”

“Because I’m your creditor.”

Ah.

“I’m the one showing mercy ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) here. Right?”

“That’s correct.”

I immediately gave in.

“I’m always grateful for your generosity. Please treat this place like your own home anytime.”

“Sure.”

Yun accepted it without hesitation.

Then he turned and looked at Kairos, who was wearing a strange expression.

Sasu pointed at him and warned,

“Don’t even think about paying it off for him.”

“Senior.”

Kairos called out to Yun.

Yun answered immediately.

“No. I told you before.”

“If not all of it... then just part—”

“It’s fine, Kai.”

I muttered, slightly deflated.

“I even got an ad deal this time... it’s not like I can’t make money at all.”

“But Captain—”

“You heard him,” Yun cut in with a snort.

“Respect your captain’s decision.”

Kairos closed his mouth, though he clearly had more to say.

But he didn’t push further. He knew nothing would change.

Experience spoke for itself.

In the end, he reluctantly nodded and saw Yun out.

Then he wished me good night and left the cabin as well.

“It’s your day off—sleep in.”

I was planning to anyway.

“Nothing should happen, but if something does, I’ll come right away.”

Right.

It was nice having him nearby.

I could even feel his presence now. Sensing that familiar aura nearby, my mind settled.

I smiled in quiet satisfaction as I saw my kin off.

Then, feeling far less alone, I went to bed.

No dreams tonight.

That was what I thought as I slipped under the covers.

I felt like I’d sleep well...

***

I was looking at Kyle Zargal.

“Kyle!”

I shouted reflexively.

“Hey! It connected again!”