The long and winding mountain range was coming to an end; the overgrown trees towering above them soon ended as well. A large city was visible from the end of the mountain trail the party had walked on.

The city was huge; none of the other cities they had visited on their journey could come close to the grand size of the one in front of them. The towering walls had numerous spires guarding them, and the city itself was filled with multiple rows of buildings.

They had reached Deferon, the capital of the Reorkan Empire. Deferon was the largest city on the continent, and the towering spires guarding the heart of the Empire from above the city walls greatly elevated its majesty.

Shaneth was stunned by Deferon’s grandeur and stared at it with wide eyes. She exclaimed excitedly with a sparkle in her eyes, “It’s an amazing place! We arrived much earlier than planned, didn’t we?”

“Well, I doubt anyone would be reckless enough to traverse the mountain like us,” Henrick grumbled.

Shaneth glared at Henrick and retorted, “Anyway, since we’ve reached the capital, you’ll be handing over your family heirloom as agreed, right?”

“Right,” Henrick answered.

“But I’m curious; what is that heirloom?” Shaneth asked curiously.

“It might be easier for you to understand if you see it yourself, rather than just hearing me explain it,” Henrick answered with a slightly mysterious expression.

Iris was looking at the capital, her eyes filled with curiosity; she said, “Someone exactly like me lives in that place.” She was the doppelganger of the princess, and just a change of clothes did not mean that no one would recognize her in the capital.

Henrick rummaged through his backpack and took out a vial of dye. He said, “Changing her clothing was a good idea, but that hair stands out too much.”

Indeed, the flowing golden blonde hair that was a symbol of royalty on the continent stood out too much; it was a cause for concern that the headscarf she was wearing might suddenly become undone, or her hair might stick out from the collar of her shirt.

Iris asked tearfully, “Do we really have to?”

“Of course; you might drag us to hell with you if you get caught!” Henrick reprimanded her as he skillfully moved his hands and colored her hair brown.

Whether it was intentional or not, Iris’ new brown hair looked somewhat like Shaneth’s hair color, and one might mistake them as sisters from afar. Shaneth snapped her fingers and suddenly exclaimed, “Now you can be my big sister! Our hair colors look alike, so anyone would mistake us for sisters.”

“You want to be my little sister?” Iris asked, wide-eyed with surprise. She then added, “I have no family. I never had one.”

“The same goes for me.” Shaneth smiled awkwardly as she recalled a bitter memory from her past. She recalled when she had lost her family in a fire when she was young; that was when she had gotten her burns as well.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked at the capital. He had initially needed to do three things in Deferon; those were to raid the Ruins of Ice and Spirit, contact the White Lion Clan, and create a new spirit. The Ruins of Ice and Spirit that he needed to conquer to clear the legendary quest were located north of the capital.

He had initially planned to come in contact with the White Lion Clan and easily conquer the ruin. However, he changed his plans. He needed to grow extremely fast in this life, even if it meant that he had to push himself to the limit.

He might be able to conquer the ruins with relative ease if he cooperated with the White Lion Clan, but he would lose the opportunity to grow stronger as well. He needed to think differently this time around to monopolize all of the experience points and items.

It was not only that. Kang Yoon-Soo looked at Iris and asked, “What about the White Shadow?”

“It has been silent,” Iris answered.

The White Shadow was the existence within the doppelganger that had mentioned the fact that Kang Yoon-Soo could no longer regress after this life. Kang Yoon-Soo planned to meet Iris’ creator to solve the mystery behind that existence. Thankfully, he knew who Iris’ creator was based on his memories from his previous life.

‘Rumier Kazan, the Royal Alchemist who had a hand in the Chimera Dimension incident.’ He recalled the name. He had to meet that alchemist to find the true identity behind the White Shadow that resided within Iris. The White Shadow was the only variable that had changed amid his hundreds of regressions, and it could be the key to ending the cycle once and for all.

Kang Yoon-Soo then thought, ‘That Alchemist resides in the royal palace. If I have to infiltrate the royal palace, I might as well assassinate that person.’

***

The party entered Deferon, and Henrick, who was familiar with the city, led the way. The sky turned orange, signaling the sunset.

“Henrick ahjussi[1], can we delay the passing on of the heirloom to tomorrow? I’m exhausted from crossing the mountain,” Shaneth said; she looked obviously tired.

“Hmm… Is that so? Well, it doesn’t matter to me either way,” Henrick responded.

All eyes fell on Kang Yoon-Soo. He nodded and said, “Let’s rest for today.”

The party entered a small inn on the street and paid for their rooms. They looked quite haggard and exhausted from traversing the mountain.

Kang Yoon-Soo and Henrick went to wash up first; Shaneth and Iris then went together to bathe. The two beauties’ conversation reached all the way outside the bathroom.

“Iris unni! That’s soap! You can’t eat that!” Shaneth shouted.

It seemed their bath time was not all that peaceful.

Henrick roughly dried his damp hair as he went down to the first floor, finding Kang Yoon-Soo sitting expressionlessly in a position that was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. Henrick smirked as he sat opposite Kang Yoon-Soo and said, “Our journey together will end tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

The barmaid came over with a tray full of black lager, and Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly downed a large mug in an instant. Henrick could not sit back and watch, and he downed a large mug himself.

Burp!

Henrick wiped the beer foam off his lips as he put down his mug. He tapped the large mug a few times before beginning, “Do you know why I love drinking so much?”

“To forget the painful memories,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Look at you. You knew about it,” Henrick replied. He emptied another large mug of beer and added, “Alcohol is quite a companion. It tastes bitter, but it lets you forget about the painful memories, whether by making your head hurt or by other means. It moves the bitterness from your head to your tongue.”

“Me too,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied, taking a sip from his mug.

“What?” Henrick asked in surprise.

Kang Yoon-Soo downed his own mug before saying, “That’s why I like it too.”

“Hmm… I always thought that we wouldn’t get along, but surprisingly, we have a lot of things in common,” Henrick said. He laughed and pushed his mug toward Kang Yoon-Soo. Kang Yoon-Soo replied by extending his own mug; they shared a toast with a clink, causing the foamy beer to sway like a wave.

The number of empty mugs increased, and the barmaid started to complain of leg pains. Henrick’s face started to turn red as he began to get drunk. Kang Yoon-Soo stared at the drunken Henrick as he started to reminisce.

Henrick Elrickerson was a good man, based on Kang Yoon-Soo’s memories from his previous lives. Once, Kang Yoon-Soo had seriously learned how to be a Puppeteer under him, and there were times when they had drunk themselves till sunrise. Henrick’s laid-back but quick-witted personality had helped Kang Yoon-Soo multiple times in the past as well.

Once, they had become sworn brothers, and Henrick was a good older brother—to the point that he had died for Kang Yoon-Soo.

After seeing Henrick’s sacrifice, Kang Yoon-Soo had refused to be sworn brothers with Henrick in any of his other lives. He had been scared of being emotionally attached to Henrick once again, as the ending had always been tragic.

‘However… Now…’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. It was not only Shaneth; this was also his last time meeting Henrick. He suddenly muttered in a low voice, “Come with us.”

“What did you say?” Henrick asked, looking surprised.

Kang Yoon-Soo was shocked at his own words too. He could not remember how long it had been since he said those words to another. However, saying those words did not feel bad at all.

He said once more, “Come join us; let’s travel together.”

Henrick, whose face was now red from drunkenness, looked at Kang Yoon-Soo skeptically before he let out a smirk. He said, “I never imagined I would hear those words from you.”

“Well, the one who wants it should be the one to propose it. Kang Yoon-Soo shrugged.

“I would have asked first even if you didn’t,” Henrick replied with a snicker. He added, “I couldn’t believe a jerk like you existed when I first met you. I’ve gone through all sorts of weird experiences after traveling with you. But despite all that… It was fun.” He was smiling, but his gaze was serious.

“I’ve felt the thrill of living once again at this age after traveling with you. To think I have the chance to do a legendary quest on top of that? Having a huge event like this happen at this stage of my life makes me feel like a real artist,” he added.

Henrick flicked his finger at Kang Yoon-Soo’s forehead. It was something an older brother would usually do to his younger brother as a joke. Kang Yoon-Soo’s eyes trembled slightly, but Henrick was too drunk to notice that small movement.

Henrick smirked as he extended his mug once again, saying, “Today is the first time you’ve looked like a human being, you punk.”

“Thank you…” Kang Yoon-Soo slowly replied as he extended his own mug. The two men clinked their mugs and downed their beer once more.

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs rang out, and a sweet voice entered their ears, calling out, “Kang Yoon-Soo.”

All of the patrons and even the barmaids looked toward the source of that voice; a beautiful, barely-clothed woman was coming down the stairs with only a towel covering her body. The woman’s bountiful chest and well-endowed thighs stole the eyes of the men in the room.

Iris came down the stairs, staring at the people intently looking at her. Henrick on the other hand rubbed his eyes a few times in disbelief and exclaimed, “This… Am I too drunk right now? It feels as if I’ve seen something I shouldn’t have.”

Iris softly asked, “Where is my room?”

“That way,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied nonchalantly, pointing toward a room.

Shaneth hurriedly ran out with her hair still wet; however, unlike Iris, she was lightly dressed. She exclaimed, “Iris unni! I told you that was the first-floor hall!”

“Ah, right.” Iris calmly nodded and slowly walked up the stairs.

Henrick was left in disbelief. However, he broke out into a laugh and said, “That’s right, I wouldn’t have this kind of fun if I traveled alone, would I?”

“That’s right,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied, downing the remaining beer in his mug.

The beer today tasted quite sweet for some reason.

1. ’Ahjussi’ refers to an uncle or a middle-aged man in Korean. ☜