Chapter 42

The returnee did all the work - Chapter 42

[How about paying the debt by taking care of that Jake guy?]

“What is Yon Seong-ha up to...”

When Lee Se-hoon woke up and checked the message on his phone, he had a bewildered look on his face.

Suggesting private revenge to settle the debt at this moment. It seemed that, compared to before the regression, he was only slightly less ruthless, but his disregard for others remained the same.

‘To have to deal with such a guy again... my fate is really...’

After sending a reply to Yon Seong-ha telling him not to cause trouble, Lee Se-hoon immediately called Jake.

-Hello...

Jake’s voice sounded as if he had been up all night, completely drained of energy. Lee Se-hoon looked puzzled.

“What’s wrong? Why does your voice sound like that?”

-What? Ah... I’m fine. It’s nothing. What’s up?

“I was checking on the information you gathered last time.”

-Oh, that... Hold on a moment.

There was a rustling sound as if Jake was moving to a deserted place, then he continued.

-When I looked into the incident from six months ago, there was something suspicious.

“What is it?”

-Do you know about Babel’s ‘Ivory Tower’?

The Ivory Tower. A 30-story high-rise building located in the bustling area of Ur, primarily used by students in the magic field, but in reality, it referred to the ‘Sponsorship Foundation’ housed within.

The Ivory Tower, a foundation corporation that operates independently, receiving support from professors and graduates in the magic field, as well as related organizations.

Since it received separate support from Babel, the Ivory Tower had significant influence over students in the magic field.

“I know a bit about it.”

-The Ivory Tower selects special students each year. Six months ago, Gervin senior aimed for a second-year special student position. And at that time, there was another strong candidate...

“That was Louise Valentine, right?”

The vague outline now became clear. After pondering for a moment, Lee Se-hoon asked another question.

“What about Vier Barmut?”

-UD Group and the Barmut family have been in business cooperation for a few years, so there has been some interaction between the families. They are also related by marriage.

“Related by marriage?”

-The 22nd daughter of the Kruger family married the eldest son of the Barmut family. It was probably a strategic marriage, right before the business cooperation began.

“What a messy story.”

Still, this confirmed that Gervin and Vier had teamed up to target Louise. After organizing his thoughts, Lee Se-hoon asked another question.

“Was there anything else that caught your attention? Anything related to Louise Valentine.”

This was something he had already guessed to some extent. Now, he needed to find out the source of the ‘absorber’ Louise was using.

-Other than that... Ah, right. Do you know that there was a legal dispute between Louise Valentine and Vier Barmut?

“I know about that.”

-After Louise Valentine lost the case, Vier Barmut counter-sued. Professor Charles from the Elemental Department mediated. He’s still personally sponsoring and helping her.

“...I see.”

It might sound like a heartwarming story of a mentor helping a student, but Lee Se-hoon could clearly see the ulterior motives.

“Thanks. That’s enough. I’ll talk to you later...”

-Oh, wait, just a moment.

“Hmm?”

-Well... um... I have a favor to ask...

Jake hesitated, making it hard for him to speak. Lee Se-hoon asked with a puzzled voice.

“What is it?”

-Well... there are a lot of people worried about you. Like Yon Seong-ha senior... and Erica...

“...”

-If you have time, could you at least let them know you’re okay? Their glares are really intense...

On one side, someone was eagerly looking for a chance to collect a debt, and on the other, someone was furious that a talented person they had nurtured was hurt.

Considering their stubborn personalities, Jake must have been having a tough time.

‘Especially if Aria joined in...’

Understanding Jake’s predicament, Lee Se-hoon smiled wryly and replied.

“Alright. I already sent a message to Yon Seong-ha, so I’ll send one to Erica too.”

-Thank you...

“I’m the one who should be grateful. If you find out anything else, let me know.”

After ending the call, Lee Se-hoon checked the reply from Yon Seong-ha.

[Understood.]

“Understood, my ass...”

After sending a message to Yon Seong-ha not to come near Jake, Lee Se-hoon dialed Erica’s number to tell her the same.

“...It’s not there.”

Thinking about it, they always met when Erica came to pick him up or ‘accidentally’ ran into each other, so they never exchanged contact information.

After pondering for a moment, Lee Se-hoon shrugged.

‘What could go wrong?’

While Yon Seong-ha might do something unpredictable, Erica wouldn’t cause any major trouble.

Deciding to leave a message through Jake, Lee Se-hoon stopped his hurried steps.

Louise’s hospital room, which he had visited yesterday. Lee Se-hoon looked at the door and knocked lightly.

Knock knock—

“...Who is it?”

“It’s me, the one who helped you yesterday...”

Bang!

Before he could finish, the door burst open, and two white hands grabbed his collar, pulling him down.

What he saw were blazing blue eyes. The magic power in her body resonated with her emotions, revealing itself through her eyes. Lee Se-hoon muttered to himself.

‘She’s lost it.’

If this were the pre-regression beast, she might have poured magic on him until he was out for four weeks. As Lee Se-hoon tried to estimate the damage in his head, Louise, who had lost her mind in anger, opened her mouth.

“Y-”

“F- s- b- a-!!!”

Even without magic, her voice was so loud it made his ears ring. Lee Se-hoon looked at her with an annoyed expression.

“Why the sudden cursing?”

“Sudden? Sudden? Do you even know what you’ve done to me?!”

Seeing Lee Se-hoon’s calm demeanor, Louise felt her stomach churn and shouted.

Two weeks of absolute rest. Up to this point, she might have accepted it as a consequence of her own actions, but Professor An Jung-wan took it a step further.

‘It seems the current intensity of your rehabilitation experiments was too much for you. We should lower the intensity to level one and proceed more gradually.’

The intensity of her rehabilitation experiments, which she had pushed to level ten over the past six months, was now reduced to level one.

While this didn’t mean her condition had worsened, it felt like a bolt from the blue to Louise, who had used it as a milestone to endure her hospital life.

“If you hadn’t said anything to the professor... or if you hadn’t scared me with that nonsense about magic power failure...!”

Shaking his collar in frustration, Louise’s appearance made Lee Se-hoon’s eyes twinkle.

“Didn’t you use the absorber yesterday?”

“Yes, I didn’t use it. Why? Could you have used it?”

With no progress in her rehabilitation lately, and hearing that her condition had worsened or that she had lost her magic power, how could she have used it?

‘If I had known this would happen, I would have used it...!’

As Louise vented her frustration internally, Lee Se-hoon looked surprised.

‘I thought it would be a stroke of luck if she remembered... but it seems different from the pre-regression beast.’

Perhaps because she had the ‘hope’ of being able to treat magic power failure, she was a bit lax about related matters.

Feeling that things might go more smoothly than expected, Lee Se-hoon waited for Louise’s shaking to stop before speaking.

“So, you believe me?”

“Huff... Huff... No way! Why would I believe a guy like you...”

“What if I can treat magic power failure?”

At Lee Se-hoon’s question, Louise, who was about to curse, flinched and looked into his eyes.

Despite being shaken for three minutes, her eyes didn’t waver. The way he spoke as if stating an obvious fact made Louise swallow hard.

“...Do you even know what magic power failure is?”

“It’s an incurable disease that even the Perfect Ones can’t treat. At least, not yet.”

“...”

Seeing Lee Se-hoon’s confident demeanor, Louise bit her lip.

If it were anyone else, she might have dismissed it as nonsense, but because it was Lee Se-hoon, she couldn’t ignore it.

[Rare-grade weapon with quasi-sword qi appears!]

[Will the mass production of sword qi weapons, which failed before, find a new breakthrough?]

[If the rumors are true, a new school of thought will emerge at Vulcan Academy]

Technology usually advances through the efforts of a single genius rather than thousands of ordinary people.

And the Lee Se-hoon in front of her was showing off his talent to the point where he could be considered one of those geniuses.

Thus, his seemingly absurd claim of being able to treat magic power failure somehow instilled a sense of ‘trust’ in her.

‘Damn...’

Perhaps this entire situation was a trap set by Vier Barmut to ensnare her.

But it was too tempting to just ignore.

After wrestling with her doubts for a while, Louise clenched her teeth and made a decision.

“If you say something stupid again, I won’t let you off. Got it?”

“Again? When did I say anything strange...”

“Shut up! Don’t nitpick...”

Louise, grumbling in frustration, released Lee Se-hoon’s collar and turned around.

“Come in.”

With that, Louise walked inside. Her cold response, reminiscent of the past, made Lee Se-hoon smile as he followed her in and closed the door.

“Sit down.”

Lee Se-hoon pulled out a chair from the desk and sat down, facing Louise, who was sitting on the bed.

Their eyes met, black and blue, staring at each other without flinching. After a while, Lee Se-hoon spoke first.

“There’s a lot to talk about... but let’s start with what you’re most curious about.”

Lee Se-hoon took out a black case from the drawer and picked up the silver absorber inside.

“Who gave you this?”

“It’s...”

“No, never mind. It’s probably hard to say outright that a professor from the Elemental Department secretly gave it to you.”

“What...?”

Seeing Louise’s wide-eyed expression, Lee Se-hoon confirmed his guess and flicked the absorber in his hand.

“This absorber. I don’t know its official name, but I call it a ‘magic power erosion device.’”

“A magic power erosion device...?”

“Yeah. I’ll show you once, since explaining it in detail would be too complicated.”

“What? No, wait...!”

Before Louise could stop him, Lee Se-hoon put the magic power erosion device in his mouth, pressed the button, and took a light breath.

Hum—

Green magic power seeped into his body through the erosion device. Feeling a strange refreshing sensation, Lee Se-hoon quickly created a temporary channel using the Lingyan magic.

Click—

The green magic power, following the instructions, entered a new path and circulated calmly within his body, checking its place to stay.

And when it confirmed that the path it entered, the magic circuit, was free of other magic power.

Crack—

It revealed its true nature and began to take root in the magic circuit.

“What the...?”

Louise, who was about to snatch the erosion device from Lee Se-hoon, widened her eyes at the scene before her.

Lee Se-hoon, glowing faintly green, might have looked like he was simply absorbing magic power, but Louise immediately recognized the change.

‘Who is this...?’

Clearly, the rude blacksmith in front of her, but for some reason, it felt like someone else was sitting there.

The alien scene made Louise realize what Lee Se-hoon meant by ‘erosion.’

‘It’s going to... completely change the magic circuit...?’

Not just eroding the magic power, but taking root in the entire magic circuit and changing its nature. Realizing this, Louise instinctively clutched her throat.

The green magic power that had always healed her injured throat.

But the truth was that it had taken root in her magic circuit, weakened by magic power failure.

“Ugh...!”

The sensation was like hundreds of parasites burrowing into her throat. Overwhelmed by the urge to tear her throat out, Louise trembled violently, and Lee Se-hoon, who was examining her, frowned.

‘She’s going to have a reverse flow again if this continues.’

If a reverse flow occurred this time, she might be placed under intensive care, making it difficult to meet her.

To calm Louise, Lee Se-hoon quickly inserted a red lotus into the temporary magic circuit he had created.

Whoosh!

The green magic power, engulfed by the red lotus, burned away. To ensure no problems later, Lee Se-hoon burned even the smallest roots and then quickly grabbed Louise’s wrist.

“Don’t clutch your throat. Take deep breaths.”

“Haa... Haa...”

Louise, curled up and shaking, didn’t seem to hear him.

Seeing this, Lee Se-hoon quickly grabbed her face and forced her to meet his gaze.

“Don’t close your eyes. Look at my face and take deep breaths. Now.”

Closing her eyes would make her recall past events, worsening the seizure. He needed to keep her focused on something real.

Having done this several times before the regression, Lee Se-hoon continued to instruct her to take deep breaths while maintaining eye contact, and Louise’s condition gradually improved.

“Haa... Hoo...”

Her rough breathing calmed down, and her eyes became clearer.

Seeing the seizure subside, Lee Se-hoon released her and waited for her to fully calm down.

Finally, Louise, who had returned to her normal state, sighed and slowly spoke.

“Thank you...”

“It’s fine. Do you understand why you were told you had magic power failure?”

At Lee Se-hoon’s question, Louise nodded.

“If the erosion had continued, only your throat would have had a different magic circuit... and from then on, it would have conflicted with the rest of your body’s magic circuits, making it impossible to use magic.”

In simple terms, Louise’s magic circuit was originally 110v, but the throat part, affected by erosion, had changed to 220v.

As a result, a conflict occurred, leading to an overload, making it impossible to use magic.

“...”

Realizing the truth, Louise looked dejected.

When she was injured and expelled from the Ivory Tower, and when she was falsely accused and nearly expelled from school, her mentor had always supported and helped her.

‘You can overcome magic power failure. No matter what pain comes, never give up.’

The elderly professor Charles, smiling gently and handing her the absorber, appeared in Louise’s mind.

And in that moment, his smile twisted into a sneer, similar to Vier Barmut’s.

Crack—

Louise clenched her teeth.

All she wanted was to become an excellent hero. Why was she being tormented like this?

Feeling a mix of injustice, anger, and a burning rage, Louise vowed.

“I will... definitely repay them...”

No matter what it takes, she would repay those who brought her this misfortune, not just equally, but hundreds, thousands of times over.

Crack—

Unaware that blood was trickling from her mouth, Louise’s teeth ground together, and a strange change occurred.

Hum—

The magic power in the room began to tremble in response to Louise’s ‘will.’ Seeing this, Lee Se-hoon smiled slightly.

‘Good.’

The traces of Louise’s unique skill, ‘Magic Power Synchronization.’

While she hadn’t awakened it yet, with this level, she could easily master the ‘magic’ that symbolized the beast.

Confirming that everything was ready, Lee Se-hoon looked at the growling Louise.

“I’m still investigating Professor Charles. I’ll tell you when I have more information. Got it?”

“...Got it.”

“Next, let’s talk about magic power failure.”

At Lee Se-hoon’s words, Louise flinched, took a deep breath, and nodded.

“Tell me.”

“First, to be clear, I can’t treat magic power failure itself. I’m a blacksmith, not a healer.”

“...”

“But I can ‘correct’ it so you can use magic.”

It would be difficult for anyone else with his current skills, but for the beast, Louise Valentine, it was entirely possible.

At Lee Se-hoon’s words, Louise met his eyes and slowly spoke.

“What do you want in return?”

Her doubts about his abilities had disappeared, but her doubts about his motives had deepened due to the matter with Professor Charles.

Knowing that a vague answer would not help build a relationship, Lee Se-hoon answered honestly.

“I have two requests. First, help me explore the Six Great Magic Wells in the future. Second...”

Pausing, Lee Se-hoon looked at the tense Louise and smiled slightly.

“Become stronger than anyone else.”

“...”

“If you truly believe you can do it, I’ll help you with your revenge and rehabilitation with all my might.”

Surprised by the unexpected answer, Louise stared blankly before smiling wryly.

“No backing out later?”

“Who’s talking?”

Naturally, they shook hands, left hands clasped.

While their relationship level didn’t visibly increase, a clear sense of trust was established.

Confirming that he could train Louise before her discharge, Lee Se-hoon glanced at the magic power erosion device on the desk.

‘Now that I think about it... this could be useful too...’

Deciding to use it again to confirm, Lee Se-hoon picked up the erosion device from the desk.

“One more time...”

“Don’t!”

Before he could put it in his mouth, it was snatched away by Louise.