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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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This was a serious problem.
No, seriously.
I wasn’t talking about Undecided’s sudden transformation from an expressionless, cool beauty into a cheerful, ordinary girl.
The problem was her core function, her reason for existence – she could no longer activate my Guardian Knight trait.
Had there ever been someone who so reliably triggered my trait just by being near?
Yerina practically refused to activate it, and Yulia was inconsistent. Jill was the most reliable, but she needed to be awake.
While my trait remained active during her light sleep, it deactivated when she entered deep sleep.
Undecided, however, never slept.
She rarely even closed her eyes, except in special circumstances. She was so consistent, she made me forget I even had the Guardian Knight trait.
“Haa… I’m so tired…”
Losing that advantage was incredibly inconvenient. My stats were currently reduced fivefold, with an additional penalty of -5.
My body felt heavy, I tired easily, and my sword and backpack felt like they were going to break my back.
“So this… is how ordinary people see the world…”
Despite my superhuman stats, I was reduced to the level of an ordinary person without my Guardian Knight trait.
There had been times when it deactivated because I was separated from Undecided, but never for this long.
As magical exhaustion set in, my stamina plummeted, and my muscles started to cramp, I finally understood.
Those superhumans… they were ridiculously overpowered.
“Yoo-jin. I’m tiiiired… this… communicator thingy… is so heeeavy…”
Undecided trailed behind me, whining.
She used to carry heavy loads without complaint. Now, she was on the verge of collapse, her red eyes blinking weakly.
“Let’s take a break.”
“Finally…!”
She was different. This wasn’t just about her regained emotions. There was a fundamental change, but I couldn’t pinpoint it yet.
“Undecided, try the communicator. I need to contact Linda.”
“Okay. Hold on… let me get the microphone… adjust the channel… Hello? Linda? Can you hear me?”
Undecided fiddled with the communicator, but there was no response. She checked the connections and adjusted the channel again.
“What’s wrong, Yoo-jin? It’s still not working.”
“I don’t know.”
“Y-Yoo-jin! Why did you hit it?!”
“Machines need a good whack to work properly.”
I tried my last resort – hitting it – but still no response from Linda, even on the emergency channel.
“Is it broken?”
I opened the communicator, then immediately closed it.
I wouldn’t know how to fix it even if I could see the inside.
The complex gears and springs made my head spin. I didn’t know if the problem was on Linda’s end or ours. If it was Linda’s end, she would fix it herself. If it was ours, we would have to find Linda or Cern.
Either way, it would be a major detour.
“Let’s hope Linda can fix it. Going to Clockwork City now would be a waste of time. For now…”
“Hmm?”
“Woo?”
Undecided and Nameless stared at me, and my voice trailed off.
For now… I had to deal with Undecided.
I had to find a way to reactivate my Guardian Knight trait. I had considered using Nameless as a replacement, but my trait didn’t activate with her, no matter how much time we spent together.
As a fragment of Kali, she had an unfounded sense of self-reliance and didn’t seem to perceive herself as needing my protection.
So, Nameless was out.
I had two options.
First, somehow fix Undecided and turn her back into my personal Guardian Knight activator.
Second, abandon her.
“You…”
“Hmm?”
“Why are you traveling with me?”
“Because… I’m a slave?”
A slave.
She wasn’t following me of her own free will.
Then perhaps I should let her go. I had plenty of money. She might look like a child, but she had lived a long life.
She could live independently with enough money.
Perhaps I should let her live a peaceful life, away from danger, if that’s what she wanted.
‘This is her normal state.’
And the word fix was wrong. There was nothing wrong with her current state. This was her normal state.
A blood ghoul who regained their emotions should express them freely, like Transylvania.
I was the one being abnormal, clinging to her previous state. Perhaps I was overreacting. Perhaps this was fine.
‘This is right. This is the natural order of things.’
I had to let her go. I knew that, logically, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
“You seem troubled. Is something bothering you?”
“Yes.”
“What is it? I’ll listen. Isn’t it a slave’s duty to ease their master’s worries?”
Undecided wouldn’t have asked me that. This wasn’t the Undecided I knew. That made it easier to talk to her.
“I’m just… confused. I know I should let her go now that she’s no longer useful or has a reason to stay with me… but I can’t bring myself to do it.”
“Hmm. Are you talking about a close friend?”
“Yes, very close.”
“Why are you so attached to her?”
“I don’t know… I guess I’ve grown fond of her… but she’s changed… a lot. There’s no reason for us to stay together anymore… but I don’t want to let her go.”
“Are you afraid of parting?”
“Not really.”
Talking to Undecided, holding her hand, helped me clarify my thoughts.
Was I someone who feared change? Was I someone who was afraid of parting? Perhaps I was, in the past. But not anymore.
I knew when to let go.
I had learned to accept the cycle of meetings and partings. If letting Undecided go was best for both of us, I was ready to do it.
Then why was I hesitating?
‘This ominous feeling…’
An inexplicable sense of foreboding had been lingering since yesterday.
At first, I thought it was just a cold or a bad mood, but it was different. It felt like we were… being watched.
That undefined sixth sense was unsettling.
‘Undecided’s change… it’s not entirely positive.’
Something had happened last night, to both of us, perhaps even on a global scale.
I was becoming more and more convinced that I shouldn’t let Undecided go.
Her sudden change in personality wasn’t her regaining her emotions, but… losing something.
“Then you should start by sorting out your feelings for this person.”
“You’re right.”
I would wait and see.
Hasty decisions often led to disaster. I had to identify the source of this unease before making any decisions. And I didn’t care how long it took.
This was about Undecided, the one who helped me reach my full potential.
It didn’t take long for me to find more signs of something being amiss.
There was evidence that something had happened last night.
“The monsters have gotten weaker? What are you talking about?”
“It’s true! We felt it.”
“Yeah, we went to a dungeon this morning, and it was definitely easier than yesterday. And the monsters seemed… disorganized.”
According to the mercenaries, all monsters had become weaker since last night.
I didn’t want to jump to conclusions based on the words of a few random mercenaries, so I gathered more information from nearby mercenary groups.
The result was that almost all mercenaries, except for a few newcomers, had noticed the decrease in monster strength. There were no other noticeable changes.
‘So many changes in a single night. Undecided’s personality, the communicator, the monsters…’
Three seemingly unrelated events had occurred simultaneously.
There had to be a connection, but I couldn’t figure out the cause and effect.
“What could Undecided, the communicator, and the monsters possibly have in common…? Huh?”
I had a clue.
Monsters.
Undecided was a type of monster. Perhaps this was something affecting all monsters. And the communication failure might not be due to a broken communicator, but a problem with Linda.
She wasn’t a monster anymore, but she had been one.
‘An effect targeting monsters…’
That would explain it.
Then the question was, what was this effect? What could weaken all monsters and change Undecided’s personality?
I didn’t think Undecided had become weaker, she was still using formations and magic just fine.
“This is driving me crazy…”
“Eat first, Yoo-jin! Whatever you’re doing!”
“Woo! Hmm!”
“…I’m not giving you any. This stew is for Yoo-jin.”
I folded the newspaper and went to the table, drawn by the delicious smell.
Undecided had made something again.
Nameless, who had been sitting on my shoulder, reading the newspaper with me, had transformed back into a human and was clinging to Undecided.
Undecided was being unusually harsh with her.
“Tomato soup?”
“Yes! Want a taste? I can’t eat it, so… hee hee.”
“This is… delicious…”
“Yay!”
It was surprisingly good.
Undecided beamed, then served me a bowl.
Her cooking skills were completely different from her usual self. She was physically thirteen years old… had she learned to cook to take care of younger siblings?
“Did you make this for your siblings?”
“…”
“Ah.”
I realized my mistake after a moment of silence.
I had asked her about her past, something I had never been curious about before.
Had I hurt her? Was it a painful memory?
I looked at her, and her expression was… strange.
“Sib… lings…?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know… I think I had them… but I don’t think I did…”
Undecided clutched her head, her face contorted in distress. After a few more questions, I realized what she had lost.
“Where are you from? Do you have any family?”
“I don’t know… all of it…”
It was her memories.
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