Episode 315
Chapter 96: Echoes of the Past, or Glimpses of the Future (1)

Jin’s eyes widened.

‘Did she just… say my name?’

Hearing that single syllable—his name—spoken in Valeria’s voice.

Nineteen years had passed.

Valeria Hister.

Before his reincarnation, when he was exiled from Runcandel and had become a hopeless wreck, wandering the world like trash, if she hadn’t reached out to him—

Jin’s previous life would have been nothing but miserable, dark days. She had been his mentor and friend, a steadfast companion, an object of compassion, and ultimately, his savior.

Silence hung in the air.

In those few seconds, Jin’s heart swelled with emotion, leaving him speechless. His mind suddenly felt hot and dizzy, as if the world blurred before his eyes.

He wanted to respond immediately. To call her name naturally, just like he had in his past life.

But he had to hold himself back.

‘There’s no way she remembers me. Unlike me, she probably doesn’t have memories of her past life.’

If he rushed in with overwhelming joy and affection, the situation could easily become awkward.

Strictly speaking, this was a reunion only in his own mind.

‘I can’t show an attitude that’s hard to accept. It would only raise her suspicions.’

Even if—

Even if Valeria, like Jin, retained memories of their past lives, approaching this sentimentally would be foolish.

In Jin’s eyes, Valeria was, in some ways, even colder than his father.

If she had memories of their past lives but didn’t acknowledge him first, it would be a calculated move.

Or perhaps she believed that the good times of their past lives no longer held any meaning.

Whether she remembered or not, Jin needed to start the conversation as naturally as possible.

He couldn’t afford to show any weakness, caught up in clumsy emotions.

After all, he had come here to ask Valeria for a favor.

She never engaged in deep conversations or deals unless it was truly necessary or the person was someone she respected.

One of those two conditions had to be met.

“A rather flashy entrance. Is it really okay to just kill the boss of an organization like that? Aria Owlheart. Or should I call you Aria Hister?”

She said both surnames—‘Owlheart’ and ‘Hister’—but Valeria didn’t show any surprise. Whether she was suppressing her emotions or had anticipated this, Jin couldn’t tell.

“From the moment you came looking for me, York’s life was already over, wasn’t it?”

With a light step, Valeria landed softly in the lobby.

“No matter how worthless someone is, killing a person who cooperated with you feels wrong. But since you handled it, how about at least saying thank you?”

She continued, then pulled back her hood to reveal her face, as if to show she had nothing to hide.

Dyed brown hair, sharp red eyes full of intensity, lips pressed lightly together. Though only seventeen, she carried a youthful charm, yet her presence was intimidating.

Jin had never seen Valeria at seventeen in his past life.

She was certainly weaker and less resilient now than she had been at twenty-six. Smaller, more fragile than the image Jin remembered.

Yet, she had a sharper edge than even her fully grown past self—like the clenched teeth of a wounded beast.

“That’s one way to look at it. But I didn’t expect you to show your face so easily.”

“Consider this a warning. If you attack me, I’ll choose safety over curiosity.”

“Safety, huh? Sounds like you think you can run away from me.”

“If I wasn’t confident, I wouldn’t have killed York and come here.”

Both wore expressionless faces, but their minds raced through countless possibilities.

“I wondered who the person was that came looking for me in this city four years ago. Once I found out it was you, I thought we should talk.”

Valeria had lived in Mamit for two years right after Jin completed his intermediate mission.

Because even in this lawless city, there was a ‘Hister family heritage site.’ During her search for it, she had used record magic several times in Mamit, and as a result—

She found not only the location of the heritage site but also a record from four years ago of someone asking for a Hister at a tavern.

At the heritage site she eventually found in Mamit, she even glimpsed a ‘future record’ predicting that this person would come looking for her around March 1799.

That was why she had been in Mamit.

She had been waiting for Jin.

“I’m curious how you found out I was looking for you.”

“That’s the question I should be asking. How did you know about me?”

“This is the Hupester Union. Do you think Runcandel has any secrets here?”

“If Runcandel was searching for the Hister family, it would have been top secret. And at that time, you were only a fifteen-year-old intermediate cadet—not even a full member. So you wouldn’t have had access to that information.”

“Well, top secret, huh? Maybe you’re overestimating yourself.”

“Not overestimating. It’s true. Just look at how personally Jin Runcandel himself came here. Now, tell me why you came looking for me.”

Jin smiled.

“I came with a request.”

“What kind of request?”

“To restore a recording device.”

“A recording device? One left by my ancestors?”

“You’ll find out after you decide to help me.”

Valeria chuckled softly.

“You know what the name Hister means. But unfortunately, I have no reason to help you.”

“You can make a reason. For example, cooperation for survival.”

“You can’t kill me.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because it would only benefit Ziphl and your rivals.”

“Sounds like you’re overestimating yourself.”

In a flash, Jin drew Sigmund and slashed across the corner of Valeria’s eye. A few strands of her dyed brown hair fell to the floor.

Valeria blinked, stunned, staring at the fallen hair.

“To think you’d be such a pathetic person… You come asking for a favor, and all you can do is threaten me with violence? Pathetic!”

Valeria glared at Jin, her face flushed with anger.

At that moment, Jin flinched inwardly.

This was a side of her he had never seen before. The Valeria of his past life would never have acted like this.

‘From Valeria’s perspective, not knowing if I’m friend or foe—and right now, I’m closer to an enemy—she’s showing this much emotion. Maybe because she’s almost ten years younger than in my memories, she’s still clumsy at suppressing her feelings. But… something’s off. She seems excessively disappointed.’

Jin shrugged.

“Take it as advice, not a threat. If someone else from Runcandel were here instead of me, it wouldn’t have ended with just a few strands of hair.”

“You’re mistaken if you think you’re here because of anything other than my decision. Neither Runcandel nor Ziphl will be able to find me after today.”

Her words came fast, her voice trembling slightly.

Valeria was struggling to control her rising emotions.

‘She’s acting like she expected something from me.’

Of course, if Jin didn’t know Valeria well, her behavior wouldn’t seem strange. After all, she had been on the run for so long, and dealing with a powerful family hunting her would be exhausting.

But as Jin suspected—

Valeria was deeply disappointed in him.

In fact, Valeria had been curious about the man named ‘Jin’ since she was even younger than she was now.

From the moment she understood what memories were.

Or from the time she began to grasp the meaning of records as a Hister, she had been having the same recurring dream.

Whether it was a meaningless dream or some kind of prophetic vision, she didn’t know.

But the dream had persisted like a vivid echo.

In a dim street of an unknown city, the dream’s main scene was her grown self talking to a certain wreck of a man.

“Are you just going to keep falling like this?”

“Get lost.”

“Pathetic. Jin, your brothers will love this.”

“Wait, how do you know my name?”

“You still have some lingering attachment to this world, huh? Follow me. I’ll forgive you for pointing a knife at the throat of the one who reached out to you.”

That dream, which played out almost every night, had been a heavy burden for Valeria.

She couldn’t understand why a man she’d never met kept appearing in her dreams, or what connection she had to that miserable man.

But the emotions were clear.

In the dream, she pitied him.

Sometimes, the dream felt more vivid than reality. She would wake up drenched in cold sweat, startled to see her much younger self.

She only realized the identity of the dream’s wreck when the royal incident shook the world.

The moment Jin Runcandel’s face was revealed to everyone.

Thanks to that, Valeria understood that the youngest Runcandel praised by the world was the very man from her dreams.

Though he looked much better than the broken figure she’d seen in her dreams, she recognized him instantly—the man she had unknowingly embraced in her dreams was Jin Runcandel.

The reason she spoke his name the moment she first saw him was because of that dream she’d had for over a decade.

The habit of calling his name in her dreams had slipped out without her realizing it.

‘It was a mistake. I gave too much meaning to a figure from my dreams and got unnecessarily worked up over disappointment. But a recording device… It wouldn’t hurt to take a look. I also need to find out how Jin Runcandel found me.’

Valeria turned away.

It was time to regain her composure and weigh his demands against what she could gain.

“Aria Owlheart. You’re just going to walk away?”

“Do you have something else to say? If you want to restore the recording device, go ask someone else.”

“I have Suziel Hister’s spellbook.”

Valeria stopped in her tracks and turned back to Jin.

“What did you say?”

Jin pulled Suziel’s spellbook from inside his coat.

“This encryption system is the real deal—Hister’s own.”

In the next moment, Valeria instinctively covered her mouth with her hand, glaring at Jin in disbelief.

Whoosh!

“What are you doing…?!”

Jin flipped roughly to the middle of the book and tore it in half.

“Check it out. See if it’s really a Hister family spellbook.”

He handed one half of the torn spellbook to Valeria.

Her face betrayed clear confusion as she took it.

Jin felt a pang of guilt at her reaction, but there was a reason he acted this way.

I can’t let my mentor get any clever ideas. She’s still young, and though she’s not as sharp as the mentor I remember, if I underestimate her, I’ll end up caught in her game before I know it.

Valeria’s eyes shifted slightly to the left—a telltale sign of her habit when she was confused or anxious.

“…Where did you get this?”

“From an underground auction in the Kingdom of Akin. That place is gone now. If you help me restore the recording devices I have, I’ll give you the other half of the spellbook as a reward. And I promise to protect you from Runcandel and Ziplo.”

“Protect me from Runcandel and Ziplo? I didn’t realize the twelve knights of Runcandel had that much power. They must be too busy just keeping themselves alive. And I’m not so weak that I need your protection.”

“If you’re not weak, then try taking the other half from me right now.”

“That’s impossible, but I can take the half I have and run.”

“Judging by how you’ve acted so far, I don’t think you’re lying. If that’s what you want, go ahead. But know this: you’ll never find this half again.”

Crackle!

Jin summoned a flame with his magic in the palm of his hand and brought it close to the remaining half of the spellbook.

“If you won’t cooperate, this will lose all meaning to me. Choose—will you help me, or will you run? But I promise you one thing: if you decide to help me, if you decide to be on my side…”

Jin paused for a moment.

Then, after gathering his emotions once more, he continued quietly.

“I will give you everything I can—everything you want that I’m able to give.”

That was the only thing Jin had said or done today that was truly sincere.