“Mana reaction?” Eugene asked.

“No. Not just mana, but evil energy as well,” Romari answered.

“…” Eugene frowned after listening to Romari’s explanation. Her face had become yellowed after spending months stuck in the carriage researching. With Mirian out to create drinking water for the expedition, only Eugene and Romari were in the carriage.

“The skull incense burner is a magic tool designed to respond to evil energy. That’s why you were able to find it with a black wizard and inside an evil land. And that means…” Romari continued.

“Are you saying that it might have been made in a different world?” Eugene asked.

Romari answered, “Yes. I think so. No, I’m sure.”

She was more serious than ever.

“As a result of closely examining and researching the skull incense burners you gave me, Sir Eugene, I was able to confirm that it was made by a single person,” Romari said.

“A single person?” Eugene asked.

“Yes.”

Eugene was quite surprised. He wasn’t particularly knowledgeable when it came to magic, but he knew that the skull incense burners were exceptional magic tools in many ways. As such, it was mind-boggling to think that only one person was responsible for the creation of the two tools, especially when there were likely more copies as well.

“But here’s the thing… there are only two schools that use a large amount of blood and soul to create magic tools or to unfold mysteries. One is my school, the Blood Shadow School, and the other is—” Romari explained.

“Black magic. Necromancers,” Eugene concluded.

“Yes. Of course, the Blood Shadow School has never researched or created such magic tools, so that just leaves the necromancers. However, if they were responsible for the creation of these magic tools, they would have already caused a huge incident and made themselves known. The necromancers love to show off, and they have bad relationships with other necromancers, even necromancers from their own school. And their relationship with other schools isn’t that good as well,” Romari explained.

“So you’re saying that the skull incense burners were created by one person, but if a necromancer had created such an exceptional tool, they would have bragged right here and there, right?” Eugene asked.

“Yes, yes. The first time you came into contact with this was when you killed the black wizard responsible for turning the twin-headed ogre into an undead, right?” Romari asked.

“That’s right...”

“So if a necromancer created it, they would have been desperate to put it to use. Just like how that black wizard turned that monster into an undead. Especially even more so, if the creator of the tool was a necromancer,” Romari said.

“Hmm…” Eugene sank into thought while stroking his chin. After a while, he raised his head and continued, “Isn’t it also possible that someone had taken it from the necromancer who created it?”

“That’s a good point. However, whenever a necromancer created something, they would leave a special mark on their creation. I’m a wizard as well, so I can attest to the fact that all wizards are very proud of their magic and mysteries,” Romari responded.

“So, they would have left a signature or something?” Eugene asked.

“Yes, yes…”

Wizards were comparable to knights when it came to being prideful. Romari was a bit unusual, but the other wizards Eugene had encountered regarding the mana stones trade were prideful. Of course, the wizards hadn’t acted arrogant in front of Eugene, as he was a member of the Dark Clan and a renowned knight, but wizards disdained even ordinary nobles. And their rarity made them even prouder of themselves.

Necromancers were even rarer, and if a necromancer had created an exceptional magic tool like the skull incense burner, they would have certainly left their mark on it.

“Knights speak with their sword; wizards speak with their magic…” Eugene muttered while recalling a proverb he once heard.

Romari nodded. “Yes. However, there are no signs or markings on the skull incense burner. No traces of a mark have been erased either. In other words, it wasn’t made by a necromancer. Most importantly…”

Romari took a breath before continuing, “Sir Eugene, you moved the twin-headed ogre with this, right?”

“That’s right.”

“And Sir Eugene is an Origin vampire. But what is an Origin vampire?” Romari said.

“…Stop asking rhetorical questions and get on with it,” Eugene said.

“An Origin isn’t just a highest-ranking member of the Dark Clan, but the ruler of all undead. Do you recall what you said about the monsters that crossed over from the other world in the heart of the evil lands? How did you say they crossed over?” Romari asked.

“It looked like they died. Things that looked like souls gathered together and crossed over the… Hmm?!” Eugene suddenly exclaimed after a brief pause as if he had come to a realization.

Romari was rather pleased to see such a reaction from Eugene, which was quite rare. She then spoke with a smile on her haggard face, “Yes. Essentially all of them are creatures that ‘died’ once. In a way, you could consider them a kind of undead. That’s why this incense burner reacted strongly to Sir Eugene’s blood.”

“So, what you’re saying is…”

“Yes. This object originally came from the world you saw, the Demon World, and it’s something an undead monarch like Sir Eugene or someone from the other side had created…” Romari explained.

“So, a demon created it?” Eugene asked.

“Yes, that’s right.”

The smile had completely disappeared from Romari’s face. The wizard was an explorer of mysteries, a pathfinder of stars, and this was the truth that she had uncovered. The discovery was a secret hidden from this world, or rather, known to an extremely small number of people. Moreover, it wasn’t a coincidence that Romari managed to unveil a portion of the secret. It was something that she would have never come across had she never met Eugene.

‘Fate. It must be fate…’

Such were Romari’s thoughts. It was fate that she, a wizard of a school with a highest-ranking vampire as its progenitor, had met one of the few Vampire Origins. At the same time, it couldn’t have been a simple accident, but an inevitability.

‘Because… Sir Eugene has many secrets.’

Romari knew. Although she had never held a deep conversation with Eugene, she knew that he had lost his past. At first, she simply assumed the Origin was hiding his past intentionally out of amusement, but she had been mistaken. Her fateful encounter with Eugene and the events of the past several years had been a journey for Eugene to recover his past. However, it appeared that Eugene didn’t want to talk about it, and Romari respected his decision.

If she belonged to any other school than the Blood Shadow School, she would have never ended up accompanying Eugene on his journey. Any other wizard would have long left the side of the Vampire Origin.

‘That’s why it’s an inevitability.’

The fact that she was a wizard who belonged to the Blood Shadow School and the fact that Eugene was an Origin—all of it was fate and an inevitability.

“By the way…” Eugene called out in a low voice.

“Yes,” Romari answered before looking up at him. Eugene was indifferent as usual, but his eyes contained a strange glimmer.

Eugene continued, “If what you say is true, the skull incense burner is from the other world, the Demon World. And it only responds to vampires like me or highest-ranking undead like me, right…?”

“Yes…”

“Then… doesn’t that mean that I could be from over there as well?” Eugene asked.

“Whoa…!!!” Romari exclaimed, stupefied. She hadn’t thought that far.

Eugene continued with a calm expression, unlike someone who had just made a shocking statement. “Romari. You said that I was a Vampire Origin. You also said that there are only a few Origins in the world. It’s likely that the clan masters are Origins as well. Perhaps not all of them, but some of them are. Is that right?”

“T-that’s right…”

“Christian and Rohime have encountered clan masters, and they said that I should be stronger than them. They weren’t completely sure, but they thought that the power and the mysteries of the clan masters were roughly only about the same as Galfredik, rather than me,” Eugene said.

“…..” Romari’s lips started quivering. She could guess what Eugene was about to say.

“But Galfredik is my vassal. He can neither stand up to me nor disobey me. Even if Galfredik attacks me with all his might, it’s a constant fact that I will always win. Galfredik’s growth has always been proportional to me regaining my powers one by one,” Eugene continued.

As the few remaining tattoos on Eugene’s body disappeared one by one, he regained his memories, as well as his power and mysteries as a vampire. In line with that, Galfredik also became stronger as a vampire.

However, Galfredik’s powers as a vampire fell short of Eugene's. If Eugene unleashed his full Fear, Galfredik would be reduced to nothing but a frog faced with a viper. Galfredik’s excellent swordsmanship and high valor as an honorable knight would be reduced to nothing. However, the two high lords had gauged Galfredik’s powers to be on par with the clan masters.

Although Galfredik wasn’t adept at utilizing his authorities due to his short time as a vampire, his Fear was as powerful as the clan masters. And combined with his excellent senses and combat skills, it was judged that he was comparable to the clan masters.

“Do you really think that clan masters on Galfredik’s level could really handle me? Such creatures… could they really be called the same Origin as me?” Eugene said.

“…!!!”

“I don’t think so. Of course, it’s possible that there are other Origins, but I believe that most clan masters aren’t Origins. At least, that’s what I think,” Eugene added.

“T-then…”

“That’s right. Just like Galfredik, they must be vassals of Origins. Other Origins like myself may have come from the Demon World,” Eugene continued.

“Ah…” The trace of the secret she had grasped rather quickly unveiled more of itself to Romari. It guided her. Of course, it was difficult to tell whether it was the entire truth or merely a part of it, but Romari became certain of one thing even amidst her shock.

‘I need to… stick with Sir Eugene until the end.’

Was it her sense of mission as a wizard? Her duty as the successor of the Blood Shadow School? No. It was fate and an inevitability. The wizard Romari wasn’t a coward who would shrink and run in the face of fate.

Eugene was close to an unexpected, but welcome hypothesis after combining the ideas he had with the information he had just obtained from Romari.

‘When I killed the demons… The entrance to the Demon World disappeared.’

He had been at a complete loss at the time, but now, he had a hunch. The passages to the Demon World in the heart of the evil lands were deliberately placed there by a certain someone, and the one responsible seemed to have something to do with himself. Eugene had seen the Demon World through the translucent corridor, and the creatures of the demon world had seen him as well. If that were true, he could conclude that the existence responsible for the creation of the corridor had seen him as well.

‘That’s why they got rid of it. No, maybe it was a warning?’

However, it didn’t really matter. For now, he had no way of crossing over to the Demon World. As such, his first mission was to find those who had information about the corridor to the Demon World—those responsible for using the skull incense burner in their plans.

“Hmm?!” Eugene flinched.

“What’s wrong, Sir Eugene? Did something else come to mind?” Romari asked with glistening, anticipating eyes.

Eugene shook his head. It was still too early to share his hypothesis with her. The idea had come to him all of a sudden, but it somehow seemed very likely that it was true.

‘It’s very possible that the one responsible for creating the incense burner and the one responsible for the creation of the passages… are one and the same.’

He had revealed a secret, but the truth led to another question. However, Eugene wasn’t impatient. After taking care of the monsters in the Countdom of Hisain, he would have to head to other nations affected by the monster uprising. And to do that, he would have to pass through the City of Petrucca, one of the three major port cities of the Roman Empire. It was the same city where he had sent Delmondo a long time ago.