“We meet again,” Aida whispered so that only Chi-Woo could hear her. Chi-Woo was perplexed. ‘Have we ever met before? There’s no way though.’ Chi-Woo looked at her curiously, and Aida responded with a bright smile. Shifting his gaze to the side, Chi-Woo met eyes with Allen Leonard. Allen looked away hastily, and Chi-Woo realized what had happened after seeing Yunael look at him as well. He recalled seeing Yunael following Allen in front of the restroom.

‘They weren’t Mr. Allen Leonard’s companions.’ It had been a misunderstanding, and Chi-Woo remembered Allen saying that he was guiding lost lambs back to their destination. He realized what Allen had meant now, and he must have run into Aida and Yunael then. Besides that, Chi-Woo was sure that she was the one. He had already seen her soul’s aura and user information.

“Will you accept this?” Chi-Woo offered her the pouch filled with gold coins. “I would like to talk to you in private, Ms. Aida.”

Everyone around them seemed a bit stunned. It wasn’t Yunael who Chi-Woo wanted to talk to, but Aida? Aida was quiet, and she still had her eyes closed. With her head bowed, she carefully took the pouch from Chi-Woo’s hands.

“Thank you.”

On the other hand, Yunael’s face stiffened as he watched the scene play out.

***

The first round of the draft was over. Some rejoiced, and others remorsed. Those who received coins left the third floor with a sigh of relief, while the rest remained at the banquet with sour faces. Chi-Woo left the floor with Aida. Since no one had made any offer to her besides Seven Stars, the meeting was conducted smoothly. Yet it was different for Yunael. There were four organizations that offered them coins, and Yunael needed to decide whether they would meet all of the organizations at the same time or meet them individually.

“What’s the reason behind Mr. Chi-Woo’s decision?” Bored during the wait time, Apoline asked Eval Sevaru. Eval didn’t answer. Even he couldn’t read everyone’s intention or thoughts, especially not Chi-Woo’s. He also wanted to ask why Chi-Woo had done what he did, but he remained quiet for one reason: he trusted Chi-Woo. Chi-Woo was someone who brought him to Seven Stars and went to the table where Yunael was without any information given beforehand. Thus, Eval thought that Chi-Woo must have his reasons for choosing Aida Odelia instead of Yunael Tania.

Eval decided to focus on his own mission. Chi-Woo had taken 70 gold coins for himself and given the remaining 30 gold coins to him. This clearly meant that Chi-Woo wanted to leave the rest of the recruiting process to Eval while he focused on Aida. Eval personally thought there was one hero among the tenth reinforcements who he needed to bring to their organization at all costs: Yunael Tania.

He didn’t recognize the hero by their face, but he gasped out loud when he heard Yunael’s name. The fact that Yunael was compared to Ru Amuh alone meant that he should recruit them using all means possible. Of course, the situation wasn’t favorable to Eval. Chi-Woo had acted completely unconcerned about Yunael during their last encounter and didn’t even come to introduce himself in the next stage of the recruitment process. Even Ho Lactea and Afrilith sent their leaders, but Seven Stars sent one of their lackeys. It was obvious how a hero of Yunael’s level would think about the situation.

Yet the edge of Eval’s mouth turned upwards. A crisis was also an opportunity, and this was the time to show his skills. If Seven Stars managed to recruit both Aida Odelia and Yunael Tania, the ultimate winner of this draft would be them. It was then Eval received news that Yunael Tania wanted all the organization representatives to meet in one place.

‘I will show them,’ Eval thought, and his eyes glinted sharply. He was going to demonstrate the power of a hero who had talked his way into the Celestial Realm.

***

Meanwhile, Chi-Woo was sitting in front of Aida in a room designated for introductions. He stared intently at her, specifically at the color of her soul and her user information. A blue ocean seemed to fluctuate around her; it was a very deep blue that made it seem like one would sink, like the deep sea, but her user information was even more surprising.

1. Name & Rank: Aida Odelia (☆☆☆)

2. Sex & Age: Female & 122

3. Height & Weight: 170.2 & 51.5kg

4. Denomination: —

5. Tier: —

6. Class: —

7. Heavenly Title: The One who Searches for a Star that Shines on its Own

8. Disposition: Lawful Good

Strength E

Durability E

Agility E

Stamina E

Mental Fortitude S

Mana D

1. Crystal Clear and Serene Waters A – Clear as a bright mirror and serene as unmoving waters, the user possesses a firm resolve that doesn’t shake from external forces and assimilates her surroundings with it.

2. Eye of the Mind that Looks up to the Sky A –The ability to identify the essence of something after thinking about it deeply. However, the user hasn’t reached the root of the essence because she hadn’t obtained the ‘wisdom’ to look up at the sky yet. The user’s specialized eyes uncover the truth of things they wish to look at.

Aida’s user information surprised Chi-Woo no matter how many times he read it. He was especially astonished when he saw her second innate ability: Eye of the Mind that Looks up to the Sky. It was hard to grasp exactly what it was from the ability’s description, but Chi-Woo had a general idea. It was in her heavenly title: The One who Searches for a Star that Shines on its Own. She was perfectly fitting for his goal of establishing Seven Stars. This was why he had thought she was the hero he was looking for as soon as he saw her.

Aida had the ability to recognize stars, and this ability could be strengthened if Chi-Woo used the Power to Rule the World. The time he would need to find the remaining five stars would drastically decrease. Though he hadn’t expected an ability like this, Chi-Woo could instantly understand why Boboris had so strongly emphasized to him to hold onto this hero. He was thinking he should recruit her at all costs when he heard her speak up.

“Is admiring pretty artworks your hobby, perhaps?” Aida asked.

Chi-Woo blinked hard and laughed. She certainly had an appearance that could be described as a work of art. Her hair was deep blue like the color of her soul, and with her eyes closed, she let out a mystical aura. Furthermore, she was very pale. A person’s skin usually had at least a faint tone to it no matter how pale they were, but Aida was all white. Even the palest Irish person wouldn’t be as pale as her, and one wouldn’t be able to spot her on a shining pile of sand and might step on her by mistake.

Chi-Woo smiled and shook his head even though he admitted there was truth to her statement. “No, I don’t have a hobby like that.”

“I suppose that’s understandable, considering the person you have by your side,” Aida said, and Chi-Woo was visibly confused. Thus, Aida explained, “There was someone who kept staring at this area. When I felt her presence, the word ‘beautiful’ seemed far too lacking to describe her.”

Chi-Woo still had no idea who Aida was talking about, but there was a more pressing question to address here.

“Weren’t your eyes closed—ah,” Chi-Woo gasped softly. Was that the reason Aida said she ‘felt’ the person rather than ‘saw’ her?

“Without vision, my other senses developed much more.” Aida continued with her eyes closed. “People with the same energy usually sense each other well and are drawn to one another.”

It was then Chi-Woo realized that Aida was talking about Evelyn. They had the same energy.

“…You must be a saintess hero.”

“It’s nothing that surprising. I’m not the only priest-class hero in the Celestial Realm or Liber,” Aida said nonchalantly. “And didn’t you realize that about me already?”

She had good intuition. Chi-Woo neither admitted nor denied that and changed the topic of the conversation.

“If you are comfortable with answering, could I ask why you are keeping your eyes closed?”

Hearing this, Aida softly opened her eyes like it was no big deal. Chi-Woo flinched when he met the pair of jade. Her eyes were different from those of other people. They had no focus.

–She’s blind.

Philip commented.

“I…I’m sorry,” Chi-Woo immediately apologized.

“It’s fine. It’s not really a problem.” Aida closed her eyes again and smiled faintly.

“I should’ve been more cautious…”

“I’m sure you were just curious,” Aida assured Chi-Woo it really was fine, and Chi-Woo felt a strange feeling. It felt as if he was seeing an ocean that could accept and embrace everything.

“But if you feel so bad about what you did, can I ask you to do something?” Aida seemed to have sensed the awkwardness in the room and asked.

“A request?”

“I would like to walk outside,” Aida said. “And I want to talk while walking through the city.”

Though it was an easy request to fulfill, Chi-Woo contemplated for a bit. He worried if he could just go out on his own like this when he was participating in a wide-scale event.

“Uh…I’m not sure if…”

“Does it even matter?” Aida said in a sing-song voice. “You were the only one to have chosen me, and this period of time is just meant for us to discuss and get to know each other. Does it matter what we do in the meantime?”

Chi-Woo realized that she was right and couldn’t find any faults in her argument. Thus, he got up in the end. He was about to extend his hand, but hesitated. After finding out that Aida was blind, there were many things that concerned him. He wanted to help, but knew it wasn’t polite to keep extending his sympathies toward her either.

–Hey, what are you fumbling about when she already said it was fine? Watch and follow me. I will guide you, mademoiselle.

Philip chided him.

“…Let’s go, Ms. Aida,” Chi-Woo said, not confident enough to exactly mimic what Philip showed him. He carefully extended his hand, and for some reason, Aida lowered her head and snorted. Contrary to his worries, she didn’t appear upset or offended. Instead, Aida got up a bit embarrassedly and placed her hand on his arm.

“It makes me nervous because it’s my first time walking across a street arm in arm with a guy. I will leave you to be the guide,” Aida said.

Chi-Woo wanted to ask if she had really never dated anyone in her 122 years of life, but he held himself back because he thought even a calm person like Aida would get mad at such a question. Then, they walked down to the first floor and departed from the Apertum Tower. Aida let out the breath she had been holding, followed by a long sigh.

“It feels much nicer here.” It appeared Aida had felt suffocated inside. Chi-Woo then asked if she would like to visit Seven Stars’ zone. Their building had been completed recently and looked impressive. Yet Aida shook her head and said in a slightly angry voice, “I already told you it’s my first time walking on the streets arm in arm with a man. But now you want to bring me to your house as soon as we come outside? I can’t believe how shameless you are.”

When Chi-Woo saw the look and smile on her face, though, he knew that Aida was simply joking.

Chi-Woo thought she should’ve just said she didn’t want to go there instead, but he simply smiled wryly and walked the streets as she wished. They circled around the square and went downtown. Strangely, it didn’t feel so bad. It felt quite nice like two lovers walking across the beach at a quiet dawn. They only stopped walking once. It was when they were near a restaurant, and Aida looked intently in one direction. One of the natives was fanning meat skewers while rolling them around and around. Chi-Woo asked if she wanted to try some. Aida nodded slightly, and Chi-Woo immediately bought one and brought it over.

Aida took a big bite of the meat skewer and munched on it with filled cheeks. She appeared very satisfied with the meal as she swung her head sideways and hummed.

“Do you know why the skewer is so tasty?” she suddenly asked.

Chi-Woo answered, “Is it because the meat is tasty?”

“That’s not all to it,” Aida said, shaking the skewer that only had one piece of meat left now. “It’s because of the sauce. Ingredients that go along well together combined to create the perfect balance.” As she talked, the sauce around her lips looked especially noticeable.

–Wipe it off for her. Wipe it off. Wipe it off. Wipe it off.

Philip egged him on from behind, and Chi-Woo wondered if he should really do that.

“It’s the same for this walk. It’s fine to just walk, but it became more enjoyable with the addition of a good conversation.”

Chi-Woo glanced at her again. He wasn’t so dense that he couldn’t read between the lines. “What do you want to talk about?” he asked.

Search .com for the original.

“Why are you asking me that? Weren’t you the one who brought some gullible lady outside and gave me this tasty meat skewer that I’m eating right now?”

“But there’s only one topic that I want to talk about.”

Aida looked a bit taken aback by Chi-Woo’s response.

“…That’s true.” With her eyes closed as usual, she continued with the meat skewer sauce still on her face. “Then let me ask about that.” She cleared her throat and said, “Could you tell me why you immediately chose me to recruit? What is the meaning behind the name Seven Stars? And how do you define a star?”

Chi-Woo felt a strong intuition that this was a very important moment for him. Thus, he began, “I think I can answer all those questions at once if you don’t mind me taking too long.”

Aida finally wiped the sauce off her face and licked her fingers before cracking a smile. “It seems our walk is going to be even more interesting.”

***

Before the draft commenced and right after Allen separated with Chi-Woo, he glanced behind at the two people following him. Yunael was looking at Chi-Woo as he grew farther away. The pair weren’t his companions, nor those connected to his adventure guild. Yunael and Aida had secretly snuck outside because they were feeling stuffy, and they looked around curiously but ended up getting lost. Yunael was rolling their feet in worry that they would be marked as a troublemaker and a rule breaker right before the draft. It was only thanks to Aida spotting Allen passing by that they could ask for help. Allen easily agreed to help them out because he remembered getting lost during his first visit to the tower. He had wandered around helplessly for a long time just like them.

“Listen well, you two. On the first floor of Apertum, there’s a staircase on the east, west, and north side of the entrance. They are all connected to the third floor, but the only path I know is…” Allen trailed off after explaining for a while. It was because when he started to say, ‘Take the stairs on the west side, then a path separated into eight parts will appear, and after going north, you need to turn left two times. And then…’ The two stared at him with a dazed look on their faces.

“…Yes, it is a bit complicated,” Allen admitted.

“…That’s more than ‘a bit’,” Aida corrected him, and Allen agreed.

“It’s not me, but some magician who built this tower. I also passionately argued against building a place in such a manner, but got told I was the weird one who didn’t realize it was the most efficient way to make use of a limited space.”

“I see. It’s hard to understand the mind of those who continuously seek the truth. Regardless, is there any possibility that you could just guide us to the location since we are running out of time?” Aida asked.

“There’s no problem with that, but I hope you will realize that I’m speaking the truth about this tower at the end.”

“Of course, I will.”

“Good. Then follow me.”

That was how the two came to follow Allen and coincidentally ran into Chi-Woo. Yunael was no fool. From the conversation between Chi-Woo and Allen, they could roughly guess Chi-Woo’s position and reason for visiting this ridiculous tower. And knowing that it wasn’t a bad idea to gather more information beforehand, Yunael asked, hopeful that Allen would tell them, “Who was that?”

Yet Allen quickly cut them off. “I can’t tell you.”

Allen was already meeting potential recruits before the official event when he wasn’t allowed to; He couldn’t imagine what the legend would do if he heard that he spilled information on another organization beforehand too… The mere thought of it gave him chills.

“Hey, come on~ Can’t you just tell us since we are already here? We will keep it a secret.”

“I know it might seem harmless to do so, but I can’t tell you. Please don’t make me betray the trust that has been placed on me.” Allen shook his head. “If I cause trouble for Teacher because of my carelessness…I will have to live the rest of my life in guilt.” Yunael didn’t insist anymore upon hearing Allen’s firm tone, but that made Yunael even more curious. Yunael wondered what kind of man would make Allen speak like this.

“Aida,” Yunael asked after lowering their voice. “What do you think?”

“?”

“What did you feel from that guy just now?”

“…I will find out.”

“Hm? What does that mean?” Yunael asked, but Aida didn’t respond. Aida simply walked with a smile on her face.

‘Hmph.’ In the end, Yunael turned their head away. Perhaps it was because of curiosity, but Chi-Woo kept lingering in Yunael’s mind.

‘Who was he exactly?’ Yunael wondered.

That was Yunael’s and Chi-Woo’s first meeting.