“You literally said that it’s possible that our Souls are thousands of years old, that maybe we’re all connected to the Soul of this world, and that we return to it once we die.”

“H-how do you even—? That was a limited, older edition. I wasn’t sure anyone would be crazy enough to read or remember the contents.”

Except fanatics like Ana, of course.

“Well, I studied Lewis Griffith too, okay? Just because I wasn’t a loudmouth about it doesn’t mean I didn’t appreciate his works.”

‘A-ah, I see…’

Maria was basically using my unverified theory to justify my soul being old, yet my body being young.

“You just happen to have your memories intact, different from the rest of us. Or maybe…” Maria’s eyes widened slightly, as though another idea popped into her head.

“What do you think happened to the Soul of the original Jared Leonard?”

“I don’t know. This isn’t the time to think about that, though. There’s no point fishing for answers if there isn’t sufficient information… or time. Why do you think I haven’t explored further into my Reincarnation?”

Maria nodded slightly, sighing as she returned to her position on the bed.

“In any case, we should be heading out now…” I cast a glance at Maria’s fixated expression.

Unlike before, where her expression was blank, the only thing I saw her do now was smile.

‘Stop staring at her, Jared!’ Now feeling self conscious, I cleared my throat and prepared a teleportation Spell Card.

“We’ll use Magic Tools and the Unknowable Spell to sneak into the Netherlore Residence. That way, we’ll get what we want faster.”

The issue was whether or not the Spell would work, considering the fact that even Stefan was immune to its traceless function.

“We could put on disguises too. That would make it easier for us to escape liability if we’re caught.”

“Nice thinking!” I beamed at Maria.

The disguise had to be without the use of Magic—considering we didn’t know what to expect there.

She blushed upon hearing my words, and seeing her make such a face also made me blush. It was crazy!

‘I guess telling her wasn’t so bad, after all…’ A smile formed on my face as I free closer to the bed.

“You’re telling me everything, remember! I haven’t forgotten!”

“Y-yeah… I know.” I awkwardly laughed, taking back my earlier thoughts.

****************

‘Shit! Shit Shiiiitttt!!!’

A man was rapidly trying to clear a vast amount of resources from a shelf and his desk.

There were also several workers who did the same outside his office.

In the vast room, they all hurriedly began packing every material that was linked to what they were researching—in essence, everything in sight.

“Shit! This is so sudden! How are we supposed to get all of this done?!” He lamented as he kept doing his work.

The man—alongside the other personnel who worked as hard as they could—were all within the Netherlore Estate.

This was a secret facility, and according to the Intel they got, it was about to get compromised.

‘We have to clear everything before he arrives? Shit!’

That meant it could be anytime from now.

The angry, but worried man—Professor Ladvel—was a brilliant mind within the Eastern Kingdom.

Many praised him of an intellect on par with Lewis Griffith himself. But, since that wasn’t enough for him, he decided to prove himself as superior.

Comparing someone of his caliber to an outdated scholar was nothing short of an insult.

The Netherlore family contacted him many years ago, and he had been working for them in a groundbreaking project ever since.

That was probably why he was so frustrated that he had to evacuate his life’s work within the short amount of time he had.

‘They would have had me destroy these precious notes of research instead? Those barbarians!’ Ladvel growled, quickening his pace.

The grey streaks on his full black hair fluttered as he moved in a hurry. He was already balding at his scalp, and several of his hairs were falling out, but he ignored them.

‘Using Magic would have been so much easier…’ He glanced at the remaining documents he had to pack within his large bag.

He understood why he couldn’t dare use something like that here, so he decided not to be hung up on the subject.

“Almost done. Almost done! Almost—!”

>BOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!<

A blast rang out from outside Ladvel’s office, making him groan in utter annoyance and frustration.

As he feared, they were too late in evacuating.

‘Shit!’ He quickly packed the rest of his items, hoping his staff would hold the enemies back until he was done.

Just some seconds more, and that would be it!

“So this is the place? It does look shady… like a lab.” He could hear the voice of a boy ringing out loud.

‘So, he’s finally here, uh?’

The one who just entered the room was none other than Jared Leonard. There was no way Ladvel wouldn’t recognize his voice.

“Shit!!!” The man knew he could only pray for his subordinates.

‘I have to hurry!’

**************

Okay, so we teleported to the Netherlore Residence using The Tower.

I gave Maria one of my Unknowable cloaks, so we were both immune to sensory abilities and Magic detection.

As expected of a Noble Household, it was very vast.

It wasn’t as large as the Leonard Residence—probably because we lived in the rural area. That meant more land for us.

‘Okay, let’s begin!’ I telepathicaly communicated to Maria, who was beside me.

~Sure!~

Thanks go ‘Resonance’, we were both able to sense our respective locations and communicate effectively.

As a result, bypassing the guards was not too difficult.

~Where exactly are we going?~

‘Beneath us.’ I answered Maria’s inquisition.

Since I could use Spellcraft to sense everything around for miles—as long as there was Mana involved—it made sense that I would be able to locate where everything and everyone was.

But, even though I should have had access to every nook and cranny of the place—after all, Mana was everywhere—I couldn’t sense anything at all in a particular point underneath.

It was like a dark blot in the entire space.

No Mana at all!

*

*

*

A

/N

Happy Mass Release, everyone!!!