The Most Arbitrary Wizard

"You too," Sean said, opening his arms and winking at the young woman.

’The mood is perfect. Wouldn’t it be a real mood-killer not to have a farewell hug?’

Elvire widened her doe-like eyes. "Trying to take advantage of me again?"

But then she thought about it...

’Fine, let him.’

’I’ll just consider it a reward for being so considerate and knowing I wanted to go home.’

’...Besides, this is the Spiritual World. A hug is no big deal. Just this once.’

So, Elvire walked over, avoiding Sean’s gaze. With a faint blush on her cheeks, she leaned gently into his embrace, rested her head against his chest for a moment, then immediately turned and disappeared into the crowd.

"I’m off."

Sean: "..."

’Was that really just a "quick" hug?’

His hands were still frozen in mid-air; he hadn’t even had time to place them on her waist.

’If anything, Elvire was the one who rubbed her head on my chest. Who’s taking advantage of whom here?’

Sean wanted to complain, but Elvire had already vanished.

Sopea, standing to the side, pretended not to have seen anything.

’There’s something wrong with this Sean guy,’ he thought.

’In the last life, he was after the older sister, and now in this life, he’s after the younger one. He’s probably trying to get both of them. The man is seriously bad news.’

But he definitely couldn’t say that out loud.

Only when he saw that the "uninvolved parties" had left did he ask seriously, "Do you need me to come with you?"

Sopea still wanted to protect Sean.

"No need. I appreciate the thought, but you should go do what you need to do," Sean said, waving his hand.

’He didn’t actually want Sopea to treat him as someone so important—at least not more important than his own family. Otherwise, it would make him look like some kind of cult leader.’

"Alright. In that case, let’s keep in touch by phone if anything happens," Sopea said.

They had managed to get ID cards, so of course they had means of communication as well.

They had agreed to meet up again in person, but they still needed a way to communicate promptly in case anything came up.

Sean’s flight was scheduled to depart at 5 p.m., the latest of the four.

His destination was also the closest.

It was only about a thousand kilometers away.

He had always believed the New World was a replica of the Real World, so the New World’s Kovri should have been located in some hidden corner of the continent, just like in the Real World. In truth, however, this was the Era of Polymath, and the Kovri of the New World was closer to the one in his dream-like memories—it was at the center of the continent.

It was only one or two thousand kilometers away from Elderidge, the Holy City of the Church.

Sean had owned many houses during the Era of Polymath. His current memories alone recalled several, all of them villas with gardens. He couldn’t remember their appearances clearly—after all, it had been too long—but Sean remembered all the place names. He was now heading to the one he remembered being closest to Kovri, the one he had stayed in most often: Vernadu.

That evening, Sean left the airport and, without wasting any time, hailed a cab straight to the city.

Logically, with Carl Black having been "dead" for so many years, his house should have been sold off long ago. But Sean was the type to see things through to the bitter end; he wouldn’t be able to rest easy without checking for himself.

A big shot like Carl Black must have had many valuable artifacts and collectibles in his home. If any of those things were still there, they might help him remember more and perhaps even help solve the mountain of contradictions he was currently facing.

To Sean’s surprise, it seemed the villa hadn’t been sold after all.

He followed the landmarks all the way to the villa’s entrance, only to find the garden completely overgrown with weeds. It could have rivaled an old, nutrient-rich burial mound. It clearly didn’t look like anyone was living there.

What he expected even less, however, was that as he pushed open the rusted iron gate and took his first step into the garden, the cold barrel of a gun was pressed silently against the back of his head.

"Don’t move."

...

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