HPV 36

Everyone gathered in the next room.

Yurichen had a grave expression, like a parent who had lost their child.

“Leave him be. He probably lost track of time drinking and having fun. You know, if we start stomping around looking for him, we’ll just seem like a bunch of buzzkills. Paronai needs to maintain some dignity in front of his friends too.”

“But I told him to return by midnight. Paronai broke his promise.”

“You’re being picky again. Are you just cranky because you’re sleep-deprived?”

Yurichen, pressing the bridge of his glasses firmly with his fingers, looked exhausted.

It didn’t help that he was used to waking up at six every morning and was now well past his usual bedtime.

Behind him, Penzey, who had been peeking over Yurichen’s shoulder, casually spoke up.

“If it bothers you that much, I’ll stay awake. You should get some rest.”

“He took the holy sword with him.”

“You’re the one who said the holy sword should always stay with its owner.”

Yurichen’s worries were half justified and half unnecessary.

First of all, Paronai wasn’t the type to lose the holy sword just because he got drunk, nor was he the kind to recklessly draw it out even if someone egged him on in his drunkenness.

I had seen Paronai drinking at the village festival before.

He could hold his liquor well, and even when he did get tipsy, he wasn’t the type to make a scene.

“So what’s more important, Paronai or the holy sword?”

“Paronai, who carries the holy sword, is what’s important.”

Yurichen briefly took off his glasses and pressed his palms against his eyes, making sure to put his glasses back on before his pupils could be seen by others.

“I’ve learned my lesson. I must obtain tracking artifacts by any means necessary. I’ll assign one to each of you.”

“Yuri, you know I’m still right here, right?”

“Do you not remember the fine you had to pay six years ago for illegally crafting artifacts?”

Before officially starting the search, Yurichen first made sure to shut Penzey up.

He also meticulously verified whether Paronai might have veered off somewhere instead of following Sisen.

“Bzhan, you were on the roof, right? You must have seen. Did Paronai really follow his classmate?”

Bzhan, who was lounging in the window frame pretending not to care, would vanish like a magic trick whenever Yurichen or Penzey looked at him.

Yurichen managed to coax an answer out of him only after asking three times, without making eye contact—a remarkable achievement, really.

According to Bzhan, Paronai had indeed disappeared toward the distant forest along with a man.

“Then we’ll have to go search the forest.”

This episode was meant to be a trial of Paronai’s mental strength.

Something ominous was happening in that forest.

Still, the main characters of the game wouldn’t be defeated here before even taking down the black dragon. Things would, of course, turn out fine.

However, relying solely on the story to move along on its own felt irresponsible now…

Because I—an unpredictable variable—had already interfered with the story.

If anything went wrong, it would be entirely my fault.

That was why I couldn’t just sit back and watch.

In the game, they had used Banwes, with his excellent sense of smell, as a human compass to find Paronai.

“You can track his scent, right? You did it in the Shif Forest before.”

“No.”

I immediately regretted opening my mouth.

Banwes automatically rejected anything I said, no matter what it was.

“Why not? You did it before!”

“Don’t order me around. Hearing you boss me around makes me even less willing.”

Hearing him spout such shameless nonsense without batting an eye made me furious.

I reluctantly remembered the game and swallowed my pride.

“Fine. …Please.”

Banwes folded his arms under his massive chest.

I thought he would either gloat over my submission or insult me for it, but instead, a heavy silence fell between us.

After a moment, he spoke quietly.

“I can’t. I don’t remember his scent.”

“What?!”

That wasn’t how it went in the original story!

Was he seriously trying to feign ignorance now?

But looking at how Banwes averted his eyes, he seemed genuinely embarrassed.

He really didn’t remember Paronai’s scent?

Well, thinking about it, I had been constantly clinging to Banwes, so he probably never even had a chance to brush up against Paronai.

My face must have turned red and blue with embarrassment.

But I couldn’t lash out—this mess was partially my fault too.

‘Sigh… Well, maybe it doesn’t matter? Tracking by scent was just the first attempt anyway. In the end, we wouldn’t have been able to enter the forest because of the barrier.’

I checked the time.

It was about twenty minutes past midnight.

We had wasted some time arguing, but it wasn’t too bad yet.

“Forget Banwes. They said it’s the forest nearby, so we should be able to find it without him.”

Banwes glared at me, but I ignored him.

—

A young man carrying a large, mysterious sword on his back obediently followed his classmate to a drinking party where a few people were already gathered.

They exchanged glances and snickered in the darkness.

They lit a small lantern, covering it with an oil-soaked cloth to dim the light—clearly not their first time pulling a stunt like this.

When Sisen set down a wooden barrel of sweet-smelling liquor, the group gave a small cheer.

The cups went around.

At first, only the faint sound of quiet sipping could be heard, but as time passed, small murmurs began to leak out.

Their drunken, slurred conversations buzzed through the night air like a chorus of insects.

Sisen’s gaze occasionally flickered toward Paronai sitting beside him, checking how much he was drinking.

He deliberately topped off Paronai’s cup, increasing the amount of liquor he consumed.

“Hey, Pao.”

“Huh?”

The heavily drunk young man turned his bleary eyes toward him.

Sisen glanced once at the sword Paronai was clutching so carefully, wrapped in cloth, and asked in the most casual tone:

“You’re not just traveling because of some assignment, are you?”

“What are you talking about?”

Paronai replied lazily, completely unaware of any danger.

Another shot of strong liquor slid down his throat and into his body.

Sisen’s expression changed.

The clear, cheerful energy he had shown before completely vanished, replaced by a chilling aura — the kind you might expect from a con artist.

“Let me guess. You ran away. From graduation. Otherwise, there’s no reason you’d be here when you should be at the ceremony.”

Paronai blinked a few times.

The alcohol haze receded slightly, and his green eyes deepened in color.

“And what about you?”

The young man was no longer smiling.

He returned the question to Sisen.

“Shouldn’t you be at the graduation too? What are you doing here?”

Sisen grinned instead.

At the same time, the other young men sitting around the campfire slowly rose to their feet.

Paronai stared at them as they stood.

“I’m here to fight you.”

Someone tossed a hidden sword to Sisen.

He caught it smoothly, drew it from its scabbard in one motion, and swung it in a wide arc.

—

“Viscount Danoah’s second son, Sisen Danoah.”

Yurichen recited what he knew about Sisen.

“He was practically cast out of his family due to a scandal…But he found a way to restore his honor: graduating from the Royal Academy. As salutatorian.”

He had entered the academy alongside Paronai.

Every year, Paronai was first in the class, while Sisen was second.

Paronai had always been number one.

“I’ve met him before. If I had spoken earlier at the tavern, he would have recognized me.”

There was a reason Yurichen hadn’t spoken directly and had made Penzey talk instead.

They couldn’t allow Sisen to find out that the High Priest — Yurichen — was here, and traveling together with Paronai.

“In short, I cannot go searching for Paronai myself.”

Up to this point, the story was following its original course.

Yurichen hesitated to personally join the search.

But with no other options, he would eventually risk it and go looking for Paronai together with Penzey…

At least, that’s how it was supposed to happen.

Just then, Banwes stepped into the room.

Yurichen seized the opportunity.

“Riarun, would you go in my place? I know you are under no obligation, but I beg you.”

I stood at the branching point where the story would change—because Yurichen had realized he had a substitute: me.

“If you go, Banwes will move too.”

Yurichen was plainly admitting that he wanted to rescue Paronai as safely as possible — and that’s why he was asking me.

I thought about it for a moment and laid down one condition: “I don’t want Banwes following me. That’s my condition. Make sure he doesn’t come with me.”