The seed suddenly hatched and caught me off guard, but I quickly snapped out of it. The dense golden dust blocked everyone’s vision. No overseers or drones could capture what happened, and Rachel fell asleep. I could easily handle everything. First, I took Evandel off Rachel.

“Come here.”

“Ah, aaang.”

Evandel struggled to stay with Rachel, but her eyes widened when she saw me.

“That’s right. I’m the one who raised you.”

I comforted her in my embrace. She looked like a 3 year old child, but weighed like a feather. Evandel hugged me tightly and muttered.

“Daddy.”

“Huh? No, I’m not. Anyways, can you change back to a seed, Evandel?”

“Seed?”

“Yep. Small and circular. You have to hide.”

“What about Mommy?”

Evandel spoke as she glanced at Rachel. She surprised me when she called Rachel her Mommy.

“Rachel… um, Mommy is busy. So…”

“Yaaawn. I’m sleepy.”

Evandel slowly closed her eyes. Boss’ golden dust must’ve affected her. I panicked since I wouldn’t be able to hide her if she fell asleep. Thankfully, Evandel listened to my request and transformed into a giant seed that floated into my palm.

“Whew.”

I sighed and looked around the field full of golden dust. Kim Suho, who resisted, finally fell asleep. The few overseers who watched us from nearby also dropped from the trees.

However, I felt fine thanks to aether’s defense function. My breathing grew heavier, but I remained unaffected since aether formed a filter for my nostrils and throat. I approached Boss with a clear mind.

***

Byproducts of elementals like the butterfly seedling’s dust generally fetched a hefty price. Boss didn’t know its function, but she wanted it. She kneeled in front of the butterfly seedling’s corpse and spotted the clump of glowing blue dust from its gaping wound. Then she carefully picked it up.

“Put it down.”

She paused at the young man’s voice and slowly raised her head towards Kim Hajin.

“Hello.”

“That’s not something you can take.”

Kim Hajin’s face distorted. She stared at him and looked around. The sleeping powder filled the surrounding air, but Kim Hajin remained conscious. No one could endure the golden dust, yet he managed.

“…”

She couldn’t understand this strange young man and felt the urge to continue observing him.

Black magic power rose from beneath her and formed a sphere that swallowed them into a sealed space. Kim Hajin showed no signs of unease even though she unexpectedly trapped him. No, his hands slightly trembled and his body shook when she revealed her real face.

“You know me.”

“Li Xiaopeng.”

He bluntly replied.

“…”

Who was Li Xiaopeng? Boss momentarily thought. Then she realized it was one of her fake identities and nodded.

“Right. Then why would I be here?”

“To serve as an overseer, I assume.”

“Hmm.”

Kim Hajin strangely misunderstood, but Boss didn’t correct him.

“When did you find out I was Li Xiaopeng?”

“Just now—”

“If you lie, I’ll kill… no, I’ll hit you.”

Kim Hajin dryly coughed.

“When I took your watch, I closely observed you and realized something was off.”

“How?”

Jain’s gift couldn’t be seen through so easily.

“I have great eyes, you see.”

What Kim Hajin said didn’t make sense. Not only had he seen through Jain’s gift, but also her necklace. It couldn’t be explained with just good eyes. Countless thoughts raced across her mind as she considered every possibility and selected the most logical hypothesis.

The attribute of his magic power is anti-magic?

He would indeed see through Jain’s gift with just his eyes if his physique applied the property of anti-magic to his magic power. Then he would only have to concentrate magic power into his optic nerves.

This wasn’t a matter of his gift, but his physique.

She only speculated and needed to confirm with more observation. She couldn’t risk losing him if he had such a physique.

“…”

Boss silently kneeled and grabbed the clump of dust from the butterfly seedling's corpse. Kim Hajin swallowed hard, but Boss surprisingly handed it to him.

“I will give this to you, but in exchange…”

She paused. Her silence continued for a while because she didn’t know what to say next.

— Don’t say anything strange, Boss.

Jain’s voice sounded in her ears. She properly observed the situation this time.

— If you don’t know what to say, just ask for a way to contact him. Don’t rush it, and take it slow.

Jain sounded serious, which was rare. Boss took her advice even though the Chameleon Troupe already knew how to contact him.

“… Give me your number.”

***

The fourth day passed, and the final exam concluded on the fifth morning. The overseers hadn’t expected the butterfly seedling and gave the four cadets who defeated it 20 points each. Cadets turned in their smartwatches before boarding the ship back to Cube. The eliminated cadets already left last night, so only about 700 remained.

The ship sailed through the blue sea as I leaned against the bow’s guardrail and admired the beautiful waves. I took out my smartwatch and wondered when the Chameleon Troupe, or Li Xiaopeng, would contact me. I couldn’t understand why Boss was interested in me.

“Hey.”

Chae Nayun approached as I contemplated.

“What.”

“How did it end?”

“How did what end?”

“The fight. I don’t recall anything after the middle.”

Chae Nayun scratched her cheek as she looked at the sea.

“Kim Suho said your bullet destroyed the monster’s wings. He’s lying, right?”

“Obviously, how could anyone destroy that monster’s wings with a gun?”

I honestly spoke since it wasn’t me who destroyed it.

“Right? That’s what I thought too.”

Chae Nayun looked relieved for some reason.

“Why did you use a sword instead of a bow?”

“What? You’re the one who told me to switch. How can you be so back and forth? Do you have an illness or something?”

“I mean, you have to be flexible. It’s dangerous if you use a weapon you haven’t practiced with in real combat.”

I would have felt responsible if she had been gravely injured. After all, I made her switch to a sword.

“I’m not so weak that you have to worry.”

Chae Nayun scowled. I nodded without arguing.

“So, how did a sword feel?”

“It wasn’t anything spe—"

“You’re still scared, right?”

“What? W-What are you talking about? Why would I be scared?”

She wasn’t good at hiding her feelings. I stared at her and grinned. Her eyes shook whenever she lied. The unique setting I gave her remained the same in this world.

“You’ll get better if you keep at it. You’re a born swordsman.”

***

We finally finished all our exams. Rachel contemplated life while other cadets spent their weekend enjoying their freedom. She thought about her mystical experience on the island. She even called the English Royal Court’s Department of Analysis because she couldn’t understand it.

— A tree elemental?

“Yes, I saw something in the pollen. No, I felt it. I think it may have been the power of an elemental. What do you think, Raymond?”

Of course, it might’ve just been a hallucination. However, the memory felt too vivid and distinct. Not only did she remember the child’s face and voice, but the child’s warmth remained in her heart.

— Mm… that might be possible, but I can’t be sure. The power of elementals remains a mystery. We still aren’t sure if what Princess saw was an elemental or a fairy.

Rachel nodded, then nervously asked the analyst.

“Do you think an elemental could show the future? Even if it’s not the future itself, something like a vision?”

— Ah, something similar has been reported in academia. It caused quite a stir.

Rachel felt her heart drop.

“Really? What was it?”

— Mm, it was a plant elemental as well. Someone said they saw their future after being covered in mushroom spores.

“Huk!”

Rachel let out a short scream. The analyst lightly chuckled.

— Judging by that reaction, Princess must have seen something too.

“Yes, I saw a child.”

— …

Silence descended for a moment. The analyst remained speechless for three entire minutes.

— … Child?

The analyst barely managed a word.

“Yes.”

— Mm… well, it could have been any child.

“She called me Mommy.”

— What?

The analyst let out a short scream as Rachel’s cheeks flushed red from embarrassment.

“And she looked just like me when I was young.”

— Uh…

“Raymond, do you think I saw my future?”

Rachel bashfully smiled and engraved the child’s precious warmth in her heart. She felt like she could smile every time she thought of her. If what she saw was her future, if she would someday have that child… she felt she could finally stop rejecting her life.

Suddenly, she realized the analyst had remained silent.

“Um, Raymond?”

— Ah, sorry. The chances of it being Princess’ future is… very small, but… I just couldn’t ima… imagine it. Did you perhaps see the father as well?

The analyst asked with trembling hands. As a loyal servant of the English Royal Court, he could not accept…

“No, I didn’t see anyone like that.”

Rachel bashfully smiled again.

“But if I saw my future, I’m sure he’s somewhere.”

***

“Daddy!”

“…”

A child about a meter shorter than me shouted with her arms open as I embraced her. She was incredibly cute, but I couldn’t spoil her as a good parent.

“Evandel, you can’t call me Daddy, okay?”

“Why?” Evandel tilted her head and asked.

“Mmm… because people will misunderstand. You should call me Uncle.”

“Eeeh? Why?”

“Uh…”

I had no experience raising a child and was thankful we would have next week off.

“Mm… why don’t we watch some TV? You know what TV is, right? You saw it before when you were young.”

By young, I meant when she was still a seed. I left the TV on when I went out in case the seed got bored.

“Un! I like TV!”

“Good.”

I turned the TV to an animation channel with a penguin in glasses and a green dinosaur.

“Woaaaa…”

Evandel turned her attention to the TV with sparkling eyes and sat alone in front of the kitchen table.

“What do I do with this?”

I stared at the butterfly seedling’s dust glowing on the kitchen table. I managed to obtain it, but wasn’t sure what to do.

[Butterfly Seedling’s Dust] — Will attach to a target with magic power and help awaken their hidden potential.

The two keywords, target and potential, meant the dust could help awaken people and objects.

“Do I have to give it to Kim Suho?”

The butterfly seedling’s dust was supposed to help Rachel gain enlightenment and assist in Kim Suho’s second enlightenment. However, Boss had interfered and neither obtained it.

“Hmm.”

I needed to think more about what to do with this dust. For now, I wrapped it in a cloth and put it in my drawer.