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~Chapter 11~
When I arrived at the capital, I was filled with excitement and joy.
It was my first time coming to this city — a place I had only vaguely imagined while reading the novel.
“I can’t believe I actually came here myself!”
The streets, painted in bright colors, were filled with cheerful laughter. Watching people buying and selling goods and children playing around naturally brought a happy smile to my lips.
The atmosphere felt similar to an ordinary Korean street.
“Though, if you look closely, it’s quite different from the world I used to live in.”
Even if it’s a place where people live just the same, this world had something my old one didn’t — divine power and magic.
Anyway, no one was watching me anymore, and Yushen had given me a good amount of money just in case, enough to enjoy myself in the capital’s entertainment district.
I should enjoy this time while I can! Once Yushen comes back, who knows when I’ll ever get to relax again?
But exactly a week later, the excitement faded away.
Living like this might be fun for a day or two, but spending money nonstop for a whole week was boring.
I had dreamed of this kind of life once, but now that I was actually living it, it felt meaningless. In fact, I became more certain that it didn’t suit me at all.
Above all, there was nothing left to do.
Buying dresses, watching performances, and eating desserts were only fun the first few times.
It’s not like this world had as many entertainment options as Korea. If I were some noble lady, I could at least attend social gatherings, but that wasn’t the case.
Of course, the real reason I came to the capital was to find a place to escape to — while staying somewhere safe that Yushen had arranged before his return.
“But… it’s such a hassle.”
Not like I’ve ever been good at making proper plans anyway.
“And come to think of it… if the character I possessed was destined to be caught by Yushen, doesn’t that mean I’ll end up caught no matter how well I hide?”
Besides, Leana probably wouldn’t want me to survive peacefully for a whole year just for her amusement. She could easily leak my location to Yushen.
So, after thinking it through, I came to a conclusion — rather than running and hiding, it might be better to create a reason why Yushen can’t catch me. That would be a much smarter way to stay alive.
Since Leana avoids Yushen, if I stay near him, it’ll be harder for her to reach me anyway.
“The story must already be far off from the original, just because I’m still alive…”
Sometimes, I wondered if maybe I had confused this story’s plot with another novel I’d read.
But even if that were true, it didn’t matter. After all, every story has its own clichés. As long as I guided the events to follow those cliché rules, things should still work out!
First, I needed to get close to the heroine. She could turn out to be useful later.
“And who knows? Maybe if Yushen and the heroine reach their happy ending without Leana’s help, that might become my ticket back to my original world.”
Now that I had a goal, I had to make it happen.
To meet the heroine — the saint with the strongest divine power in the Empire — I first needed to enter the Central Temple.
It would be much harder than entering a local temple on the outskirts. So how could I possibly get in?
While I quietly pondered that problem, a clever idea suddenly popped into my head.
“The Luche Knights!”
Why didn’t I think of that before? Yushen was the commander of the Luche Knights, and their headquarters was inside the Central Temple.
If I could join them, it would naturally give me the chance to meet the heroine — and also let me stay near Yushen.
“If I join the Luche Knights, Yushen will be completely shocked. And maybe I can finally pay him back for all the suffering I went through.”
A smile of delight spread across my face.
Conveniently, there was someone in the capital who could make that plan happen.
I’ll stay quiet like Yushen told me — I won’t cause trouble.
Instead, I’ll just… look for a job.
“Your hair looks curlier than before.”
“Does it?”
The man touched his wavy brown hair at Yushen’s comment.
Then he casually brushed it back, not seeming too concerned.
“I must’ve slept in. Didn’t have time to dry it properly.”
“You overslept?”
Yushen blinked in surprise. The man looked away, slightly embarrassed.
“I’ve just been tired lately…”
Yushen studied him curiously. This man had never once overslept or been late while serving in the Knights.
Seeing him flustered for once made Yushen burst out laughing.
The man, usually calm and polite, was the perfect example of a strict rule-follower — so seeing him shy like this was almost unbelievable.
“So, what brings you here so early in the morning?”
Yushen sat down to tackle his pile of delayed paperwork.
“Ah, I came to request approval for a new recruit.”
“A new recruit? Who?”
The Luche Knights only accepted new members every March. It was now June, when the weather was getting hotter.
For someone as by-the-book as him to request a new member three months late — there had to be a reason.
That made Yushen all the more curious.
Who could’ve caught his attention like that?
The man placed a file on Yushen’s desk.
“…Huh?”
The moment Yushen opened it and saw the familiar face inside, he shot up from his chair.
“Why is she here…?”
A woman with soft pink hair tied up neatly and silver eyes staring straight ahead.
It was Letitia — the woman Yushen recognized as the witch, Leana.
In the portrait attached to the file, Letitia was smiling brightly. Looking at that face, Yushen almost felt like she was mocking him.
He pressed a hand to his forehead and stared at the man standing properly before him.
“What kind of trick did that witch pull on you? You’d never fall for something like this easily…”
Yushen regretted not searching for Letitia right after arriving in the capital.
He had spent far too long at the provincial temple and returned to headquarters almost a month late, leaving him buried in work that required his approval.
He had planned to find her once he caught up with everything.
But apparently, she hadn’t waited that long — she had already caused another mess.
Yushen couldn’t help but laugh dryly.
“I told her not to cause trouble, and yet… she went beyond anything I imagined.”
Who else would dare to waltz straight into enemy territory?
He decided he needed to find Letitia — the witch who boldly ignored his warnings — immediately.
But first, he needed to know how she managed to pull this off.
“How… how do you know this woman?”
“You know her, Commander?”
“…Just her face.”
He should’ve said no, but Yushen wasn’t good at lying. After a moment of hesitation, he answered truthfully.
Not that a lie would’ve worked anyway.
The man’s face brightened.
If the commander knew her, then approval would be easy, right?
“Then you must know how talented she is.”
“…Talented?”
“…You don’t?”
They exchanged puzzled looks.
Yushen nodded slowly. It was true — he had no idea what kind of “talent” the man was talking about.
“Could it be… black magic?”
No, definitely not. She wouldn’t be stupid enough to use dark magic in front of holy knights. That would be suicide.
So what kind of ability did she actually have?
“She’ll be a great asset to Luche. I’ll vouch for her personally.”
He sounded so confident that Yushen couldn’t reject the request outright.
With a sigh, Yushen sank back into his chair.
“…Fine. Explain how you two met.”
“Well, that’s…”
I reviewed my plan once again.
The person I decided to approach for this was Aydin Cranborne.
I needed someone who didn’t know me or Leana’s face, but still had enough influence in the Luche Knights.
Aydin fit that description perfectly.
In the novel, he was described as the third most influential member — right after Commander Yushen and Vice-Commander Winter.
“Plus, he’s a straightforward type. Once you earn his trust, he’ll believe in you completely — unless you betray him. Isn’t that perfect for me?”
Of course, that also made him dangerous.
The current world didn’t follow the exact same storyline as the original.
If he ever found out I was using him…
“…my head would probably be rolling on the ground before I could explain myself.”
So this gamble required extreme caution.
Thankfully, Yushen often took Aydin with him on expeditions rather than Winter.
That’s why Aydin wasn’t a minor character — he actually appeared quite a lot in the story.
Thanks to that, I knew a few useful things about him.
For example — even the toughest person had a weak point.
In other words, I knew Aydin’s weakness.
Sure, using someone’s weakness was something only sly people would do… but hey, my life’s on the line here.
It’s not like I felt no guilt — but this was the only way to survive.
“Hoo…”
Taking a deep breath, I checked my appearance one last time.
I was perfectly prepared. No one would see through my lie.
Once I confirmed that everything was in order, I raised a hand slightly.
At that signal, three burly men waiting behind me walked into a shabby tavern first.
This was the tavern where he always appeared — every Monday at 4 p.m.
