[Yes, Mr. Kim Giryeo. I have set the alarm for 7 A.M. tomorrow. It will ring in 18 hours.]
Soon, Seonwoo Yeon's expression turned serious.
That wasn't the reaction I had been hoping for.
I'd thrown in the joke to lighten the mood, but somehow it only made the atmosphere even heavier.
Was it still too early for different species to share the same sense of humor?
"Just so you don't worry because of the level of technology on my home planet, I'll tell you this in advance. There's no chance another Alphaurin will come to Earth."
"Yes?"
"Here's a hint. Before I died, I used an enormous spell that crossed intergalactic distances. And I did it... from a planet already suffering from resource depletion."
The possibility of being tracked from my home planet was certainly something worth considering, but there was a reason I could remain this relaxed.
As I spoke, I occasionally imitated a smile, trying to ease Seonwoo Yeon's tension.
"They're probably in complete chaos over my reincarnation right now. Their best scholars would have to work nonstop for at least several months just to keep the species from going completely extinct. Even if some mage desperately wanted to come after me... mathematically speaking, they simply don't have enough fuel left to waste on that."
But within seconds, the muscles of my face returned to their natural, nearly expressionless state.
"It would be a shame to steal the energy my compatriots have been conserving so desperately. Besides that engineer, there wasn't anyone altruistic left anyway, so what's the big deal?"
I'd already used too much magic during the conversation.
Wasting even more of it on something as pointless as controlling my facial expressions simply wasn't worth the cost.
"Besides, even with all their advanced technology, the people back home can't extract any useful information from the brain I left behind."
Hmm.
I drew a breath as naturally as possible, careful not to reveal that I had run out of mana.
Now that I'd completed the spell I needed and gotten through the worst of the crisis, I had more than enough time.
So I decided to say a few things I'd vaguely wanted to talk about for a while.
"What do you think a soul is made of, Seonwoo Yeon-ssi?"
The woman sitting quietly in front of me was an Earthling.
Come to think of it, even if I asked her the same question, perhaps her perspective would produce a different answer.
Now that I'd already revealed my secret, having a proper conversation with an alien species didn't seem like such a bad experience.
"Actually, I still don't know the exact truth myself."
"_ _"
"But at the very least, I've learned that the soul is a mixture of material and immaterial elements."
"_ _"
"Just as you can't discuss the self without talking about memories, memories play an extremely important role in the concept of the soul. So the chance of the Alphaurins stealing my reincarnation magic? None."
"_ _"
"One component of the soul is material. If you manipulate that part, you can indirectly manipulate the immaterial memories as well. When I reincarnated, I scraped together every last particle of my soul without leaving even a trace behind. In the process, the memories stored in the corpse were damaged. That's how I indirectly bypassed the restrictions placed on my body."
"_ _"
"Well, honestly, the spiritual entities we imagined were roughly like that anyway, so the phenomenon itself wasn't especially surprising. Think about how people distinguish between a child ghost and an adult ghost even when they're supposedly the same person. I used to think that was funny when I was young. But once I actually started researching the subject, I discovered that the soul really is influenced by physical growth. Anyway, it's fascinating."
Even after becoming the first person to achieve reincarnation, the concept of the soul still remained mysterious to me.
And it had been a very long time since I'd been able to talk so freely about something that genuinely interested me.
"I've spent almost my entire life studying, and there are still so many things left that can amaze me..."
I felt completely refreshed.
Only after saying everything I'd wanted to say did I finally check where my listener was looking.
"Ah."
Until then, I'd simply been pleased that the Earthling was listening so attentively.
But when I looked properly, Seonwoo Yeon was staring blankly into space, clearly at a loss for what to do.
Well.
Even I had never imagined that I would meet an alien in person, so I could understand why she might be overwhelmed.
"I suppose this must be quite a shock."
I rolled my eyes briefly and reflected on my own behavior.
At the end of that contemplation, I decided to give Seonwoo Yeon a chance to speak as well.
The question I asked came partly from genuine curiosity.
"By the way, since we have the opportunity, is there anything you'd like to ask me?"
Seonwoo Yeon showed little reaction until I returned to my previous spot.
But just as I dropped back into my seat, she finally began to speak cautiously.
Now that she'd discovered the existence of an alien—a being that normally only appeared in science fiction—I naturally didn't expect her to say something like "I don't have any questions" or offer some meaningless response.
"You want me to ask something? Then... your name...?"
"What did you say?"
That was unexpected.
After thinking for quite some time, Seonwoo Yeon chose her very first question.
Not about my powers.
Not about where I came from.
She asked for my name.
Since she now knew that I was merely a mage occupying Kim Giryeo's body, she apparently thought that some separate name or title was necessary to distinguish my soul from the body's original owner.
Seonwoo Yeon's question was completely different from anything I'd imagined.
Oh my god.
Even after learning about the existence of a civilization from a binary star system, the thing she was most concerned about was something this trivial?
"Our thought processes really are completely different!"
If I were in her position—that is, if I were the ignorant native sitting over there—I would have asked at least five hundred words' worth of questions.
And of course, that wouldn't have been enough.
I'd probably have gone on interrogating the alien about whether their species breathed sulfuric acid, nitric acid, or something else entirely.
"Come to think of it, maybe reacting like Seonwoo Yeon instead of bombarding someone with endless questions is actually the more normal response."
I drifted into a brief daydream, then quickly returned to reality.
After all, now I had to answer Seonwoo Yeon.
Let's see.
A name.
A name, huh?
"Hmm."
Looking back, except during the final period of civilization, my hometown mostly used a system involving single and double consonants.
Double consonants required several sounds to overlap, which made them fundamentally difficult for Earthlings to hear or pronounce.
So most Alphaurins probably wouldn't have been able to answer even such a simple question.
I was lucky.
Fortunately, I was very old.
And when I was born, my social status had been low, so my name was short and simple.
"Um... yes. All right."
Swah.
What followed was the action of fully opening my hand, turning the palm forward, and extending it toward the other person.
In other words, an Earth-style request for a handshake.
"Now that I think about it, I'm probably very late in telling you this. Sorry. Then let me introduce myself again."
Drawing on my memory, I produced a vibration while imitating Kim Giryeo's vocal cords as closely as possible.
Not some meaningless title like "First Magic Master."
My real name.
A name I hadn't spoken aloud in decades.
"------Hello. My name is 'Lemming.'"
"_ _"
"I look forward to getting along with you from now on. Now that we've properly introduced ourselves, we're friends, right?"
Seonwoo Yeon reacted with obvious bewilderment.
She seemed somewhat taken aback by the Alphaurin custom that once two people politely exchanged their real names, friendship was officially established.
Still, she didn't seem displeased.
If anything, she looked a little excited.
"Uh, uh... yes. Yep. I'll be counting on you from now on too..."
But only a few seconds later, the awkwardly raised corner of her mouth settled back into place.
"Ouch!"
A moment later, Seonwoo Yeon let out a sharp cry.
The reason was probably the sudden, mysterious prickling sensation that appeared in her palm immediately after the handshake.
"Static electricity in the summer?"
For a brief instant, blue light had flashed between our touching palms.
Seonwoo Yeon tilted her head in confusion, but soon settled on the most ordinary explanation she could think of.
Unfortunately, that was the wrong answer.
It was time to correct my alien friend's misunderstanding.
"Hunter Seonwoo Yeon."
"Yes."
"You know, this is a secret, but I actually hate being called 'Lemming.'"
"Yeah."
"Now that I've left the old days behind and started over, I want to abandon my past-life name and be called only by an Earth-style one. Honestly, at this point, I've become quite attached to the name Kim Giryeo. I really like the sound of it."
I brought up the subject in a light tone.
At first glance, it probably sounded like nothing more than a simple request for her to keep calling me Kim Giryeo.
But in reality—
"Ah, just so you know, those aren't requests. They're warnings."
"Yes?"
"When we shook hands just now, I cast a spell through your palm. If you say the word 'Lemming,' it'll shatter your mind to pieces."
The long-haired Earthling dropped what she had been holding.
It was a cheap heat-resistant cup.
"A spell that activates when a specific trigger is met. Let's see... in the terminology you use here, I suppose you'd call it a curse 'skill,' right?"
Naturally, I continued speaking without showing the slightest concern over whether her teacup was rolling across the floor.
"And even if you don't specifically say the two syllables 'Lemming,' the same thing will happen if you carelessly reveal any of the secrets you learned in this room to someone else."
Unlike when Justitia had first appeared, this time it was Seonwoo Yeon rather than the host who began breaking out in a cold sweat.
Someone might have spent an eternity lost in thought, but the actual conversation in this studio apartment had lasted barely ten minutes.
For an Earthling, that fact alone must have made the situation rather shocking.
Even from an alien's perspective, completing a curse capable of destroying someone's mind in roughly the time it took to cook a cup of instant noodles was rather impressive.
But that was simply reality.
There were no longer any external restraints placed on this particular grand sorcerer.
"Would you like me to tell you something useful?"
I propped my chin on my palm and looked at her.
Holding that posture, I delivered the following words in Korean, the native language of this country.
"Seonwoo Yeon-ssi. When a mage suddenly starts rambling about their personal history... nine times out of ten, they're secretly buying time to cast a spell."
"_ _"
"That was considered common sense back in my hometown."
"_ _"
"So when a sorcerer suddenly becomes talkative, the correct response isn't to sit there quietly listening like you did. You should immediately strike them in the throat."
Hahaha.
I laughed lightly as I said it.
"But now it's too late. I've also finished modifying the conditions of the barrier around this room. From now on, Seonwoo Yeon-ssi, you won't be able to leave freely without my permission."
Clank.
At that moment, Seonwoo Yeon was gripping Justitia's body as though it were a lifeline.
And so the results were revealed.
Truth.
Truth.
Truth.
"If you're hoping that damn scale's [Judgment] effect will save you, give up. Can't you tell from how confident I am now?"
A genuine reaction followed.
Anyway, it was a relief to know that those grueling ten minutes hadn't been wasted.
Just how many centuries' worth of stories had I needed to mutter through in order to deceive that damned Justitia?
"Now, listen carefully. I'm an alien who can kill a low-rank B-rank hunter with a single finger. Resisting me is completely pointless! So from now on, you'd better be extremely careful about what you do."
Clank.
The scale tilted decisively toward truth without so much as trembling.
One after another, signs appeared proving that the Archmage's trick had worked perfectly.
Seeing that, Seonwoo Yeon, unaware of what was really happening, trembled with a pitiful expression.
A few days ago, I might have felt considerable sympathy for someone as kindhearted as her.
But right now, I simply couldn't afford to go easy on her.
"But you're not thinking this situation is unfair, are you?"
"U-unfair?"
"If you think about it, you're the one who entered a mage's domain without permission."
While intimidating the person in front of me enough to prevent any foolish attempt at resistance, I also softened my tone.
My ultimate goal wasn't to turn Seonwoo Yeon into an enemy.
It was to bring her over to my side.
"Whatever nonsense Kang Changho may have told you, Seonwoo Yeon-ssi, you still chose to involve yourself in our business of your own free will. Isn't that right?"
"Heuk..."
"So from now on, you'll have to pay the price for that choice. I'm asking you to help this poor, unfortunate alien. But don't worry too much. Honestly, I've always thought quite highly of you."
Before getting to the main point, however, one brief thought crossed my mind.
"Unless you do something reckless first, I won't get angry. Really. I sincerely hope my newly made friend gets out of this room safely too, you know?"
It was a perfectly friendly remark wishing for her safe return home.
That line had definitely been meant as a gentle carrot to ease the tension.
So why had Seonwoo Yeon been shrinking farther and farther away from me, as though she'd been whipped, ever since a little while ago?
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