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Chapter 196

[Relationship: Vigilance]

[Right and wrong are like two sides of the same coin, and those who understand this tend to maintain vigilance in their relationships with others.

As a result, they will forever hold them at a distance. However, if the subject’s vigilance lifts, their relationship can become closer than anyone else’s.

*A Fatestone is created whenever the subject’s vigilance lessens.

*The maturation rate of the Fatestone increases as the subject’s vigilance decreases.

*Currently created Fatestones: 1]

“...”

At the sudden appearance of the notification message, Se-Hoon narrowed his eyes, reading its contents.

He had somewhat anticipated that Amir’s bond level would rise due to the recent events, but the Relationship that formed was a bit unexpected.

It\'s still Vigilance, just like before, but... the description changed.

Previously, it implied that Amir doubted Se-Hoon’s trustworthiness, but now it talked about right and wrong, almost implying that Amir saw him as dangerous.

Pondering the cause, it didn’t take long for Se-Hoon to guess the reason.

It must be because of Ethereal Vision.

Se-Hoon had revealed to Amir that the Dream Demon’s true goal was Ethereal Vision and had instructed him to learn more about its features. She had sought it desperately, even sacrificing her own eye in the process, so there was no way it wasn’t special to her.

From how the Relationship with Amir has become a bit hostile... it must be a rather dangerous skill.

Lost in thought, Se-Hoon suddenly recalled something the Dream Demon’s avatar had told him.

“Because I think you\'re quite similar to me.”

In hindsight, it was quite a strange thing for her to say. And if he also considered her offer to become the successor of the Pleasure District and the Relationship, it formed a hunch about the true nature of Ethereal Vision.

It must be an indicator of those capable of becoming beings similar to the Dream Demon.

If so, it now made sense why Amir would be so wary of him.

It was just a guess based on limited information, but Se-Hoon had unknowingly furrowed his brow.

I should check my own condition soon.

Though he had already confirmed there were issues with his soul through Soul Honing, it seemed the situation was more severe than he thought. He sighed, thinking of his ever-increasing workload.

“What’s wrong?” Lea asked, having heard his sigh from her seat in front of him.

“...Nothing. Just keep doing what you were.”

“Nothing, my foot...”

Grumbling, she refocused on adjusting the golden armillary sphere in front of her. Refocusing as well, Se-Hoon shelved his thoughts and started glancing around Lea’s workshop.

What a mess.

On one side of the room, energy drink cans were piled like a pyramid, and another had books related to enchantment stacked like a tower. It was a sight that allowed him to vaguely guess how she spent her exam period which made him chuckle wryly.

“Oh, right.”

Lea looked up at Se-Hoon.

“Who did you decide to train under?” she asked.

“Huh? Oh, the receiving lessons from one of the Perfect Ones thing?”

Lea nodded, thoughtfully saying, “In terms of your specialty, I guess you would go with the Sacred Craftsman, but... I heard he’s not on favorable terms with Babel.”

“Yeah, the Chairman said he refused himself.”

“So, who did you choose?”

Realizing Lea’s curiosity wouldn’t allow her to focus on her work, Se-Hoon smiled faintly.

“Wurgen Kruger.”

“Wurgen... the Eternal Nocturne?”

Lea blinked in surprise, having thought he was one of the least likely candidates, along with the Pilgrim.

“Are you familiar with necromancy?”

“No.”

“...Then why?”

If he chose a Perfect One whose spells or skills he wasn’t familiar with, there wouldn\'t be much to gain from this opportunity.

Yet Se-Hoon had done it, utterly baffling Lea.

“Because I can meet the others in my own time.”

Ludwig had given them the option of four Perfect Ones: the Emperor of Ascension, the Visionary, the Eternal Nocturne, and the Pilgrim.

Among them, the Visionary had already offered to take Se-Hoon as a disciple, and he had already established a relationship with the Pilgrim, seeing as how he received a personal gift from the Pilgrim that was imbued with his powers.

And Ludwig still owes me a reward, so I can ask for it as a favor if needed.

Out of the four, three were available for training at any time. Thus, Se-Hoon chose the Eternal Nocturne, Wurgen, by elimination.

“Hmm... Still, wouldn’t it be better to learn from someone who would be more helpful to you?”

“Skill-wise, yes. But the important thing is their unique power.”

It might be wasteful for a blacksmith to learn necromancy, but learning the power of Boundaries was a different story. Especially now, since Se-Hoon’s body and darkness mana had absorbed some of the Eternal Nocturne’s power; it would make direct training from him a lot more beneficial.

And I have another proposal for him.

“Their unique power... huh. I think I kind of get it. So, when will your training start?”

“They said they’d arrange the schedule within the week, so I guess I’d have to wait until then.”

“Got it. But still, it’s such a pity. It would’ve been better if you could learn from the Sacred Craftsman since you’re both blacksmiths.”

“Hmm...”

Instead of answering, Se-Hoon made a subtle expression, prompting a curious look from Lea.

“Is there something wrong with what I said?

“Uh, it\'s just that...”

Hesitating whether to say it or not, Se-Hoon eventually decided to.

“There\'s no need for me to receive his lessons.”

“Huh?”

“I’m a better blacksmith than him. In the long run, at least.”

“...”

Blanking out at that answer, Lea stared at Se-Hoon, processing what she had just heard. He was claiming to be better than the Sacred Craftsman, a Perfect One whose name would go down in history as a legendary blacksmith.

Taking a long time to process it, Lea finally came to a conclusion.

“My dear Se-Hoon has completely lost it...”

Wondering if the stress during the exam period was too much, Lea looked at him with pity.

Exasperated, Se-Hoon responded, “I\'m dead serious. Though he may be better than me now, I’m going to surpass him one day.”

“Sure... I believe you. Let us both keep working hard...”

“Sigh... Just focus on your work.”

Seeing how Lea didn’t believe a word he was saying, Se-Hoon dismissively waved his hand with a bitter smile.

I guess it does sound a bit unrealistic right now.

He was essentially a toddler claiming they could beat a world champion. And when considering his confidence in his absurd words. Lea’s reaction was completely understandable.

However, he had his own reasons, too. He had also once reached the pinnacle of blacksmithing, a place the Sacred Craftsman couldn’t reach.

He wasn’t able to overcome his limits.

He could point out the reasons why to the Sacred Craftsman even now, but it wasn\'t the right time yet. He couldn’t chance souring their relationship or raising the Demon Force’s suspicion.

Let\'s wait for the right opportunity.

He had to meet the Sacred Craftsman at least once as a part of his grand plan anyway, so he decided to be patient.

“Ah, I’m done.”

While he had been lost in thought, Lea had finished adjusting the armillary sphere.

Woong-

The five rings began to rotate slowly, and a golden light soon began glowing from the center.

Having successfully configured the sphere according to Se-Hoon’s request, Lea relaxed, looking slightly exhausted.

“Wow. This setup was insanely complex. What is it even for?”

“Nimbus Steel.”

“Aha, right... wait, what?”

Flabbergasted, Lea\'s jaws dropped in surprise, and she watched Se-Hoon casually pull out a box from his void pocket.

“I said Nimbus Steel. I did tell you I’d give you a chance to participate in its forging process if you became a college-wide honor student.”

“What? Wait, hold on.”

“Stop being so dramatic.... Just look.”

Opening the box, Se-Hoon revealed to her the Nimbus Steel resting inside. The mysterious-looking ingot was a mix of sky-blue and white hues, looking like it had fallen right from the heavens.

Lea’s heart raced at the sight of Legendary material that she had only heard about.

So this is Nimbus Steel...

Even just by looking at it, she could tell it was in a different league from ordinary materials. Staring at it, her breathing grew heavy and her eyes grew bloodshot, thinking of all the possibilities of what she could make from it.

Then, as if something snapped within her, her hand reached toward the Nimbus Steel.

Slap!

“Ouch!”

However, Se-Hoon swiftly struck the back of Lea’s hand before it got close.

“I told you to look, not touch.”

“I just... it felt so good just now...”

“I’ll set everything up later, but first, listen to the explanation.”

It was only once Lea nodded reluctantly that Se-Hoon took the Nimbus Steel out of the box.

“With summer vacation having started yesterday, you now only have two months left on the Puppeteer’s proposal.”

During the Babel raid, the Puppeteer had approached Lea with a proposal: side with her, or those close to Lea would die. Then, when Se-Hoon found out from Lea, he immediately began planning to use it as the foundation for his plan to bring down the Pleasure District.

“During this time, we will infiltrate her workshop in the Pleasure District... and we need two things for that. First, a way to escape the Pleasure District. And second, a method to subdue the automatons in the workshop.”

“Hmm... Subdue the automatons, huh.”

Lea made a troubled expression. While she was confident in most things, her combat ability was not one of them.

“How many automatons do you think there will be?” she asked.

“Well... I’m not sure about the weak ones, but there should be one or two Single Numbers, at least.”

Remembering that Single Numbers were automatons that had strength comparable to S-rank heroes, Lea’s expression grew nervous upon hearing that they needed to subdue several.

Is that even possible?

Although she knew Se-Hoon was a better fighter than most students at Aqar Quf, he still wasn\'t on par with an S-rank hero. Worried, she tried to come up with a way, but Se-Hoon’s calm voice quickly interrupted her thoughts.

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about them. They’re just automatons, after all.”

“What do you mean... wait, you don\'t mean...?”

Figuring out what he was planning, Lea looked at him with surprise, prompting a grin from Se-Hoon.

“That’s right. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Even if these Single Numbers were as powerful as S-rank heroes, they were still just automatons. Just interfere with their control, and it would be a piece of cake to subdue them regardless of their strength.

But interfering with their control shouldn’t be easy...

Just as Lea was about to start considering what device would be the most optimal, Se-Hoon lightly tapped the armillary sphere in front of him.

“Why are you still worrying? All we need is this and the Nimbus Steel.”

“Huh? Why the sphere... wait, no... but isn’t that...”

Muttering to herself, Lea bowed her head as her mind raced. Then, a moment later, she looked up at Se-Hoon in disbelief, having figured it out.

“You... you...”

Her eyes questioned how he came up with such an idea.

But instead of explaining in detail, Se-Hoon gave a simple answer.

“Skill Issue.”

***

Zone Seventeen of the Pleasure District was a part of the new expansion, with more buildings under construction than complete, giving the area a desolate atmosphere with only a few people passing by.

But in this zone was a small shop located on the corner of a street, inside a building without a signboard. From within it, a sigh echoed.

“How long do you plan to delay...”

Although she was the one who had given Lea plenty of time to think and come to terms with it, she hadn\'t heard from Lea at all. However, the most irksome thing was that, despite being warned to stay low, Lea had been selected as the third-year honor student of Borsippa.

I must have been too lenient with her.

She had thought her smart child would quickly grasp the situation, but it seemed she had overestimated her. Now aware that she wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything this way, the woman with tattoos covering her body, Puppeteer, looked around.

Like meat in a butcher’s shop, various puppets were hanging from hooks in the room. Scanning them, Puppeteer opened her mouth and slowly called out.

“Nine.”

Creak, creak.

At her call, one of the hanging puppets reached up, grabbed the hook around its neck, lifted itself off, and landed lightly on the floor. After a quick stretch of its body, the puppet approached Puppeteer.

“Yes, my master.”

The puppet had the form of a man in his early thirties with a tattoo near his right eye. Gazing at her creation, automaton “No.9,” Puppeteer lightly gave her orders, like she was sending someone on an errand.

“Keep an eye on Lee Se-Hoon, and when you get the chance, cut off his limbs and bring them to me.”

Obeying, Nine nodded.

“Understood.”

Whoosh!

Once Nine disappeared, Puppeteer sighed to herself, thinking about how Se-Hoon would soon be limbless.

“What a shame that his quality is going to drop...”