Stepping out of the alchemical workshop, Klein stretched his limbs, his joints letting out a series of faint pops.
The sunlight was just right, spilling over him with a warm touch. The burnt smell in the workshop, caused by the overloaded and scorched inscription stones, faded significantly as the fresh air rushed in.
Although the experiment just now had been a bit harrowing—nearly detonating the entire workshop's protection arrays—the gains were substantial. Regarding the will of the deep sea, a clear path forward had already formed in his mind.
At least he had resolved quite a few things today, and he had gained a deeper understanding of matters concerning the deep sea. It was a good feeling.
Just as Klein squinted his eyes to enjoy this rare moment of peace, debating whether to check on Aphros or simply head back to his room for a nap, a steady and familiar set of footsteps approached from nearby.
He turned his head to see Ophelia walking down the courtyard path.
She wore a simple, elegant long dress, her golden hair tied back simply, swaying gently with her stride. The sunlight fell upon the tips of her hair and her shoulders, as if coating her in a soft halo.
The smile on Klein’s face couldn't help but deepen.
“Hmm? Not spending more time with your little admirer?” he asked as he stepped forward to meet her, his tone laced with a hint of teasing. “I thought you two would at least chat for the entire afternoon.”
Ophelia walked up to him. Hearing this, she merely lifted her eyelids and glanced at him with those pure golden eyes.
There was no emotion in that gaze, but Klein instantly read the warning contained within.
—Don't make such pointless jokes.
“Alright, alright.”
Klein immediately raised both hands in a gesture of surrender, though the smile on his face didn't fade in the slightest.
Ophelia didn't bother with his banter anymore. Her gaze shifted over his shoulder, peering into the alchemical workshop behind him. The wooden door was tightly shut, but she seemed to smell the lingering scent of scorched air left behind by the energy collision.
“What were you busy with today?” she asked, looking back at Klein. Her tone was flat, as if she were merely making casual conversation.
“A little bit of research,” Klein replied, having no intention of hiding it.
With Ophelia, there was nothing he needed to keep secret. In fact, many of his research inspirations came from her in the first place.
He organized his thoughts and explained in as concise a manner as possible.
“Remember that sea folk? The one Princess Diancie brought over?”
Ophelia nodded. She remembered, of course.
Klein continued, “I discovered a very interesting phenomenon. That sea folk views you as kin, even possessing an instinctive tendency toward submission. But Aphros, who is also a product of decompressed ‘Siren’ information, has no such inclination at all. Her attitude toward you is no different from her attitude toward any other human.”
“So, I tried to find the reason from Aphros.”
He paused here, seemingly observing Ophelia’s reaction.
Sure enough, Ophelia’s brow furrowed slightly, clearly intrigued by the topic.
“As a result,” Klein’s voice dropped a bit lower, “while I was examining her body, I unexpectedly discovered a trace of something extremely faint, yet essentially pure... the aura of the Deep Sea Evil God.”
“What?” Ophelia’s expression shifted slightly.
Aphros had the aura of an evil god? That child gave off the impression of a blank sheet of paper; how could she be involved with something like that?
“Don't be nervous. I suspect it was just caused by the Deep Sea Evil God projecting its consciousness onto Aphros,” Klein reassured her. “Though I'm not sure why the Deep Sea Evil God chose her, it doesn't qualify as a threat for now.”
He watched Ophelia’s increasingly solemn expression, then suddenly changed the subject, that slightly mischievous smile returning to his face.
“And then...”
He intentionally drew out his voice, playing coy.
Ophelia took the bait. She waited for two seconds, and seeing that Klein was still wearing that smiling face without continuing, she felt a bit annoyed.
This guy, again.
“And then what?” she pressed, a hint of urgency in her voice that she didn't even notice herself.
“Want to hear it?” The smile on Klein’s face grew even wider. He suddenly reached out a finger and tapped the corner of his mouth, raising an eyebrow at Ophelia.
“Then give me a reward.”
“...”
The expression on Ophelia’s face froze.
It took her a full three seconds to finally react to the meaning behind Klein’s gesture and words.
“Rogue...”
She squeezed the word out from between her teeth, her voice as low as the hum of a mosquito. It was unclear if she was scolding him or expressing something else.
A thin blush stained Ophelia’s cheeks at a visible rate, even making the tips of her ears feel hot. Her pure golden eyes glared at Klein, her gaze a mixture of embarrassment, annoyance, and a trace of undetectable panic.
She wanted to say something to refute this near-shameless demand, but as the words reached her lips, she didn't know how to organize them.
This guy was always like this—at the most serious and solemn moments, he would suddenly drop a teasing remark that caught her completely off guard.
Looking at Klein’s matter-of-fact, even expectant expression, Ophelia felt her heart skip a beat. She bit her lower lip, her gaze flickering left and right to confirm there was no one else in the courtyard.
Then, as if she had made a sudden decision, she leaned forward.
A fleeting kiss, like a dragonfly skimming the water, landed softly on the corner of Klein’s mouth.
It was soft, warm, and carried a trace of her unique, cool fragrance.
One touch, then it was gone.
Ophelia quickly took a step back, re-establishing the distance between them, but the blush on her face had only deepened. She feigned composure as she straightened her skirt, but she didn't dare look Klein in the eye.
“...You can say it now.”
Her voice was very low, sounding as if she were trying hard to maintain her knightly poise, but the slight tremor at the end of her words betrayed her inner turmoil.
Klein touched the corner of his mouth where he had been kissed, feeling the lingering warmth, and the smile on his face grew even more radiant.
Not bad. A very spirited reward.
He felt delighted, but he didn't continue to tease her. After all, business was important, and provoking this Knightess too much could lead to serious consequences.
“Ahem.” Klein cleared his throat, his expression becoming serious again. “Where was I? Oh, right, the evil god's aura on Aphros.”
He paused to organize his thoughts before speaking again.
“The existence of that aura gave me an idea. Since I can deconstruct elements and matter through Information Alchemy, then... can I also deconstruct an evil god?”
Ophelia’s attention was immediately pulled back. She looked up, her golden eyes focused intently on Klein, clearly thinking through the logic of his words.
“This hypothesis gave me a bold idea.” Klein’s voice dropped even lower, carrying the mystery of sharing a secret. “I went back and, through the information streams of Aphros and the sea folk, I attempted to recreate that evil god's aura.”
“And then?” Ophelia pressed. She knew this was the most important part of what Klein truly wanted to tell her today.
“And then...” Klein looked at her, saying each word clearly, “I succeeded.”
“Through Information Alchemy, I briefly... mimicked their information streams into the will of the deep sea.”
“What?”
As calm as Ophelia usually was, her heart couldn't help but shudder upon hearing this.
Mimicking an evil god?
It sounded like a mortal trying to don the cloak of a deity; just the thought of it was incredibly mad and dangerous.
She furrowed her brow, her face filled with confusion and worry. “Mimicking... that thing? What's the point of that? Besides, it's too dangerous.”
She knew very well what happened to those who got involved with evil gods; the pollution on her left hand was the most direct proof. What Klein was doing was no different from dancing on the edge of a cliff.
“Don't worry, I know what I'm doing.” Klein saw her concern and gave a reassuring smile. “I know it sounds crazy, but this is the only way I can think of so far to solve the problem at its root.”
He saw Ophelia’s brow was still tightly knit and knew he had to explain more clearly.
“Put it this way: for a long time, our understanding of the will of the deep sea has remained at a very vague level—‘it's strong,’ ‘it can pollute,’ ‘it's a collection of concepts.’ We are like people standing outside a pitch-black iron house; we can hear the sounds inside, but we have no idea about the house's structure, let alone how to open it.”
Klein extended a finger, gesturing in the air.
“And my experiment today was equivalent to... carving an extremely tiny crack in that iron house.”
“Through mimicry, I can briefly ‘disguise’ myself as a part of it. Although it's just the outermost, most superficial imitation, it allows me to observe it and understand it from an unprecedented angle.”
He pulled his hand back, his expression brighter than ever before.
“Simply put, just consider it as us being one step closer to understanding what the Deep Sea Evil God actually is.”
Though Klein’s tone was flat, the significance behind it was immense.
Ophelia listened quietly, her golden eyes shimmering. She slowly processed this startling news.
From knowing nothing to being able to pry open a crack to peek inside.
This was indeed a milestone step.
“Next,” Klein’s voice was filled with a certain determined power, “how to target Him, guard against Him, and finally...”
He paused, looking into Ophelia’s eyes, and clearly uttered the final three words.
“...To kill Him.”
“All of this has taken the first truly meaningful step.”
Killing an evil god.
When these words came from Klein’s mouth, they seemed to carry an undeniable magic.
Ophelia fell silent.
She looked at the man before her, who always wore a gentle smile and was occasionally irreverent, and a sense of unspeakable shock welled up in her heart.
He always did things that were enough to overturn the world's common knowledge in such an offhand manner.
After a long time, she slowly nodded, accepting the fact. The sunlight in the courtyard filtered through the leaves, casting mottled shadows on both of them.
The atmosphere became quiet for a moment.
Ophelia’s gaze drifted unconsciously, finally settling on her left hand, which was covered in black scales.
That hand had once been the tool with which she wielded her longsword to protect the empire's glory. Now, it had become the deepest shadow in her heart.
Klein’s words just now had made her think of many things.
About the evil god, about the pollution, and about herself.
A question she had long and deliberately suppressed in the depths of her heart now rose up uncontrollably.
She suddenly looked up, her golden eyes staring intently at Klein, her expression more serious than ever before.
“Klein...”
Her voice was a bit dry, carrying a trace of an undetectable tremor.
“The pollution on me... it isn't that simple, is it?”
Klein’s smile slowly faded.
He looked at Ophelia, at her golden eyes that seemed a bit fragile due to her tension, and at her left hand, which she instinctively wanted to hide.
The air was silent for a moment.
Klein didn't answer her question directly. Instead, he reached out and gently took her left hand, the one covered in black scales.
The warmth from his palm made Ophelia startle slightly.
That hand was her nightmare; even in their most intimate moments, she would instinctively avoid letting him touch it too much.
But Klein just held it, his thumb gently stroking those fine, cold scales, his movements as natural as if he were caressing her healthy hand.
“Is it important whether it's simple or complex?”
He looked up, asking back in a calm tone.
Ophelia’s lips moved, but she couldn't make a sound.
“In my view, there is only one thing.” Klein lifted her hand, bringing it before their eyes.
“It is here.”
His fingertip lightly tapped the pitch-black scales, producing a dull sound.
“I will solve it.”
Klein’s voice was soft, yet it was like a nail, firmly driven into Ophelia’s heart.
He looked into her eyes, each word incredibly clear.
“The process of this matter isn't important; only the result is.”
...
Meanwhile, in the Realm of the Inverted Starry River.
Endless stars flowed beneath one's feet, forming a brilliant and silent galaxy. There was no time here, nor space, only eternal stillness.
A massive water mirror floated in mid-air. Within the mirror's surface, the mottled shadows of the courtyard were reflected, showing the scene of Klein holding Ophelia’s left hand.
“The process of this matter isn't important; only the result is.”
The young man's gentle and firm voice in the mirror echoed in this empty realm.
“Exactly!”
In a corner, a black-robed girl surrounded by complex alchemical patterns and half-finished artifacts suddenly looked up. As if grabbing onto a life-saving straw, she nodded repeatedly at the image in the water mirror.
“I kept saying, why care so much about the ‘why’ in alchemy? As long as it works, it's fine. The result is what—”
Before she could finish, a light rap on the head landed on her hood.
“Ouch!”
The girl clutched her head, looking back with teary eyes.
A tall man stood behind her at some point, irritably withdrawing his finger after knocking her on the head.
“That's just sweet talk; it doesn't count.”
“Learn these things properly for me. Otherwise, the next time you go out, you'll be rejected and sent back just as quickly as before.”
Seeing the man’s unreasonable manner, the girl instantly lost her previous spirit. She lowered her head piteously and pulled at her hood.
“...Oh.”
Rate on N.U.
