Chapter 307. Going Round and Round (2) (2/2)
Seol Jihu went ‘Ah’.
Was that why he was so desperate to get Evangeline Rose’s help in the letters?
“Then….”
Seol Jihu had to work hard to control his legs from shaking. An indescribable frustration flooded in like a tsunami.
Even though he was so close…!
‘Wait.’
Suddenly, a question arose in his mind.
If Adam Galaev didn’t know where this place was, why did he think there was a warped space there?
“Hold on, does that mean there’s someone else who knows this place?”
“Yes. He didn’t give a definite answer, but that was the gist of what he said.”
Oana Halep continued.
“I told you before, right? That Oppa and I helped him out once while we were in Eva.”
Seol Jihu dazedly nodded his head.
“I’m not sure you know because it happened long ago, but in the past, there was a huge incident in Eva.”
Seol Jihu’s eyes narrowed. The contents of Adam Galaev’s letters suddenly crossed his mind.
“It happened like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky. A Level 6 Archer suddenly started an indiscriminate massacre in Eva, not differentiating between Paradisians and Earthlings.”
[To tell you what I have been up to, I am still investigating the past incident.]
“I was there during that incident, and she was thoroughly possessed by something. I asked the lustful spirit and helped her get it out. It was quite simple, really.”
[I found the Priest girl from the Temple of Invidia who solved the incident back then.]
“Sir Adam Galaev came to see me after that incident, so he must have observed my ability carefully back then. He said he found something to support his plan while investigating that incident.”
“And that something is—”
“Well, we have no way to know for sure.”
Oana spoke while twirling the ends of her white hair.
“But since he mentioned that incident, wouldn’t he have investigated the perpetrator? You know, the woman who got locked up in the Eva prison afterward.”
Seol Jihu’s eyes lit up. He would have to look into the matter more, but he was starting to understand the last line in Adam Galaev’s third letter.
[We need her help.]
The last missing piece of the puzzle was found.
And thus, Seol Jihu returned to Eva after going round and round. With the Halep brother and sister, of course.
After leaving Marcel Ghionea to guide them, he took Kim Hannah and headed to Eva’s prison. Seeing the worn-down building, he was filled with an unknown sense of bitterness. Perhaps the Saintes Mesures of Sidus wasn’t pointing to Jung Sua from the beginning, but to the perpetrator of the indiscriminate massacre, ‘Hoshino Urara’.
However, Seol Jihu shook his head in the next moment. Even if that was the case, Oana Halep was someone he needed, so the trip wasn’t made in vain.
Hoping this to be the end, Seol Jihu opened the door. The warden expressed his bewilderment at Seol Jihu’s revisit but didn’t stop him in any way. Opening the steel bars leading to the basement floors, he only warned him to be careful.
Kim Hannah knew the way there. Apparently she had talked to Hoshino Urara out of curiosity during one of her previous visits.
“This is it.”
They arrived at a cell that was no different than where Jung Sua was imprisoned. The only difference was that there was no wastewater and trash.
“….”
The inside of the cell was dead silent. After looking inside through the peephole in the steel door, Seol Jihu furrowed his brows slightly.
He could see someone sitting in the corner of the cell. It was the back of a woman with bleached, bob-cut hair. She had a smaller physique than what Seol Jihu expected, and she was staring vacantly into the wall.
But there was one thing Seol Jihu couldn’t understand. It was that she was naked when every prisoner was given a prison garb.
Seol Jihu let out a dry cough, then knocked on the steel door. Because they were in an enclosed space, his thumps echoed out.
“Miss Hoshino Urara?”
Her shoulders jolted, clearly having heard his voice.
“Can we talk?”
The woman got up while swaying side to side.
“This voice—”
A husky, slightly hoarse voice flowed out. As she was still looking at the wall, Seol Jihu was about to talk to her again when—
Kwang! The steel door suddenly shook violently.
Kim Hannah drew a heavy breath and shrunk back, while Seol Jihu also backed off in surprise.
The peephole filled up with a smeared neck before they noticed. Hoshino Urara had moved from the corner of the cell to the door at a terrifying speed. With backsteps to boot.
“This voice~~”
A hum flowed out.
“It’s not the warden’s voice~”
Then the woman slowly turned back. Soon, a pair of round eyes furtively looked up at Seol Jihu. They were filled with curiosity and an undecipherable expectation.
“Uw—oah! It’s real! A man I’ve never seen before!”
The woman hopped like a frog before gluing her eyes to the hole. She then stuck out her tongue with a silly smile, like a war refugee suffering from starvation who just found food and water.
“Oppa, Oppa~ Can you let me get out?”
“….”
“Let me out, hmm?”
Hoshino Urara. Her name clearly indicated that she was Japanese, but she had a weird accent where the tone of her speech went up at the end.
“If you let me out, I can do whatever you want~ Whateeeever~”
She winked and licked her lips, most likely trying to look seductive. Seol Jihu cleared his throat.
“There’s something I’d like to ask.”
“Oho. Will you let me out if I answer?”
“Do you know a spring?”
“Spring? Like the season? Or do you mean the bouncy piece of metal?”
“No, I’m talking about the body of water.”
“Oh, well, there you go. It’s a body of water. I answered your question, so now let me out. Hurry!”
She was quite a scatterbrain. Seol Jihu shook his head to focus.
“I’m not talking about the dictionary definition.”
“Huh?”
She tilted her head before giving a sidelong glance.
“Then did you mean it metaphorically? Like water that comes out of Oppa’s you-know-what.”
“I’m not joking here.”
“Sorry. You must have meant water that comes out of my lower hole.”
Seol Jihu scrunched his face. Hoshino Urara cackled and slammed on the door.
“God! I’ve never seen anyone so crazy! Coming to see me and suddenly blabbering on about some spring. Are you one of those crazy people?”
Seol Jihu wanted to return those words right back at her, but he endured it and continued.
“A place with warped space.”
The laughter ceased.
“You must know Adam Galaev.”
Hearing this, Hoshino Urara’s face changed colors. She put on a slightly more serious expression.
“…What, he sent you here?”
“No, Adam Galaev is currently missing.”
“Misssiing? Then what, he didn’t betray me? Or wait, maybe he did.”
She rambled to herself.
“Miss Hoshino Urara, you know where that place is?”
“Yeah, I do.”
Seol Jihu clenched his fists. He finally got the answer he wanted.
“It’s because I went there that…”
Hoshino Urara was about to say something but suddenly shut her mouth.
“…Wait, wait, wait. I have a question. The fact that you’re asking me this…”
She sent a suspicious gaze. Then, she grinned and exclaimed, “Ah!” Her smile made her look like a clown.
“…Oppa.”
Hoshino Urara lowered her voice by several notches and whispered.
“You know what I’m gonna say, right?”
“….”
“Okay. One, two.”
On the count of three, she lied down and then shouted.
“I’ll tell ya if you release me~!”