The World After the Bad Ending

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Chapter 224

Thanks to my kiss, Sharin had stopped crying and was quietly resting in my arms.

Sharin’s mother’s corpse had burned to a crisp.

Now, even using the vampire’s mystic art, resurrection would be impossible.

Sharin swung her staff, gathering the ashes with the wind.

Then, she used sand to create a glass bottle and carefully sealed the ashes inside.

“What are you going to do with that?”

“I’ll keep it at the Magic Tower grounds. Someone else might mess with it again, you know?”

We couldn’t afford another incident like this.

So Sharin decided to bury it at the Magic Tower.

“More importantly, you’ve recovered another emotion, haven’t you?”

How quick of her.

“Yes, I’ve recovered sadness.”

Alongside anger, a faint feeling of sadness had returned.

To fully bloom it, what happens next will be key.

“Why not love though?”

Sharin looked up at me, pouting.

I gently patted her head.

“Just recovering it at all is already a big deal.”

“I’m just saying because I don’t want to fall behind~”

Fall behind in what?

Anyone would think this was some kind of competition to recover emotions.

“More than that, I figured out what kind of mystic art can save people. It’s the vampire’s mystic.”

“The vampire’s mystic…”

Sharin repeated my words with a slight grimace.

Given what she went through with Sharen, she was clearly sick of it.

“Sharin, in your case it ended like this at least.”

My gaze turned to the glass bottle containing Sharen’s ashes.

“But if someone precious to you came back as a vampire, it’d be a different story.”

From my perspective, the bloodthirst of vampires isn’t something that can be controlled.

If their body is on the verge of death from a lack of blood, they’ll instinctively move to steal the life of others.

‘Sharen didn’t seem like she meant to kill that man at first either.’

There were signs of confusion and attempted escape among the aftermath of the tragedy.

‘I don’t know how long a vampire can go with a full tank of blood.’

But the more they feed, the harder it becomes to stop.

“Someone in the family might end up helping them feed, huh~”

Sharin’s expression turned grim.

Just as she said, someone might willingly sacrifice others to keep a loved one alive.

Humans are capable of hurting others for the sake of their loved ones.

In a broader sense, war is just killing others to protect your own family.

“You’re right. We have to find the mastermind behind this quickly.”

If vampires started popping up all over the city, it would lead to mass slaughter.

That must be avoided at all costs.

More than anything, Iris was on my mind.

She claimed to follow the Celestial Grace by her own will.

But I didn’t think that was true.

‘If Iris’s mother was resurrected as a vampire…’

Then maybe Iris is also harming others to keep her mother alive.

Of course, I don’t believe she would do that.

Knowing her personality, she’d probably cut her mother down herself like Sharin did.

‘But if the Celestial Grace is involved, things change.’

There’s a real possibility that the Celestial Grace is holding Iris’s mother hostage.

He’s the kind of man who wouldn’t hesitate to use his own daughter as a pawn.

“We need to hurry and bring Duke of Whitewood here.”

Sharin nodded in agreement.

Duke of Whitewood held the most power and legitimacy.

Unless we brought her in soon, we wouldn’t be able to resolve this.

“To do that, first we need to get the engravings done.”

Time to inscribe new magical seals.

“Yep, so hubby—strip it all off.”

...What?

* * *

Sharin’s thunderous command to strip completely.

Her reason was simple.

To receive her magic, I needed my entire body engraved with new magic seals.

So, I had no choice but to strip everything off.

Luckily, after some negotiation, I was allowed to keep my underwear.

Sharin looked slightly dissatisfied, but she didn’t push it.

We were in Sharin’s private magic lab in the Blue Magic Tower.

She walked in wearing a robe and cleared her throat.

“Looking forward to working with you.”

“You sound like a bride on her wedding night.”

Sharin flicked her magic-engraving staff.

It felt like she was impatiently telling me to hurry up and undress.

In the end, I obeyed and took off the robe.

Sharin’s narrowed eyes scanned my body from top to bottom.

Then she stood up from her chair and approached me.

Her finger lightly tapped my skin.

The warmth of her touch crept in, making me freeze for a moment.

Her gaze wasn’t ordinary.

Was I going to get eaten today?

But soon, she touched my body again with a bitter look in her eyes.

“It’s a mess.”

From the goddess’s lightning strike to all the other scars, my body was covered in wounds.

Just as Sharin said, there wasn’t a single unscathed area.

My face was decent at least, though one eye held remnants of the ancient dragon.

“Sigh…”

Sharin exhaled shortly.

“You’ve done this a few times before, so you know—it’s going to take a while this time~”

A full-body engraving takes time.

“Yeah, I’ll endure.”

“Even if I touch weird places, don’t complain~”

“I feel like I should complain about that.”

It wouldn’t do to let dirty thoughts interfere with holy magic.

Sharin didn’t care about my answer and hummed a tune as she gripped her staff.

Then she began engraving the magic seals starting from my back.

Before I knew it, Sharin had gone silent.

She was now fully focused on her work.

When it came to magic, Sharin was always serious.

I wouldn’t be talking to her for a while.

Scratch, scratch—

Her staff etched into my skin, engraving the seal.

I’d gone through so many of these that I barely felt anything now.

So I too sank into deep thought.

What I had to do next, the challenges ahead…

Lately, my head was so full of worries that no matter how much I thought, no clear answer came.

Scratch, scratch—

At some point, Sharin had moved from behind me to in front of me.

I could clearly feel the glow of Mirinae shining vividly in her eyes.

Seeing her up close again, she really had a beautiful face.

I still couldn’t understand how such a small face could hold eyes, nose, and lips all together like that.

Her navy-blue hair was just as enchanting.

Interspersed with starlight like her eyes, her hair unintentionally drew my gaze.

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Sharin began inscribing a magical sigil just beneath me.

It tickled now and then, and I nearly burst out laughing, but I managed to hold it in.

Without pausing even once, she continued inscribing the sigil.

Before long, the sun had set and the moon had risen.

Even through the night, Sharin didn’t stop her work.

Time passed, and finally, just as the morning sun began to rise—

“Huuu…”

A satisfied sigh finally escaped from Sharin’s lips.

“Is it done?”

“Yeah, good work~”

“You’re the one who worked hard.”

Sharin stretched with a long yawn.

Then, with sleepy little lips, she let out another yawn.

Her face was filled with drowsiness.

She looked completely different from the focused figure she had been just moments ago.

“Get some sleep.”

“Mmm, I will~”

Sharin set down her staff and, before I knew it, wrapped herself tightly around me.

“Let’s sleep together, hubby~”

Was she being clingy right after finishing the magic sigil?

“Alright, alright.”

Sharin had worked hard all day.

I could allow this level of clinginess.

Time to show off the sleep skills honed through countless naps with Iris.

I gently lifted the half-asleep Sharin into my arms.

Then I carried her into her bedroom and laid her on the bed.

“Honeyyy.”

But Sharin clung tightly to my wrist, refusing to let go.

She was determined to fall asleep together no matter what.

In the end, I lay down beside her, and she squirmed into my arms.

It was like watching a cat find the perfect spot to curl up in.

Finally, she seemed satisfied and drifted off, holding me tight.

As I watched her sleep, I closed my eyes as well.

Deep sleep is essential for recovery.

Just for today, I’d get some real rest.

* * *

I see a four-cornered ring.

A man shouting fiercely stands between the five lines of rope.

A middle-aged man—who was he again?

Trying to recall the hazy memory, I heard him yell at me.

“What are you spacing out for?! Get your head in the game!”

Ah, he was the coach who used to train me.

The moment I heard his voice, a fist flew toward my head.

I instinctively tilted my head to dodge, but my body staggered.

My legs felt heavy.

It seemed I had been in this match for quite a while.

My opponent came into view.

My vision was narrow.

My brain didn’t feel like it was functioning properly.

My body floated.

That sensation—I remembered it.

And this was also the day of my final match.

A match.

A match?

“Did I really do that kind of thing?”

I stared blankly at the ceiling.

My muddled memories felt oddly jumbled and twisted.

A strange, eerie sensation swept over my whole body.

Flash—

My eyes shot open.

I was gasping from the heat radiating off my body and the cold sweat soaking me.

My blurry vision settled on Sharin’s room.

That’s right—I'd fallen asleep with Sharin.

I winced at the pain pounding in my head.

I’d definitely dreamt about a match.

But something about it felt disturbingly off.

It was the uncanny sensation of becoming aware of a dream within a dream.

“Have I been overdoing it lately?”

I had increased the intensity of my training in preparation for the ancient dragon.

That could be the cause.

“You’re awake.”

Just then, a middle-aged man’s voice reached my ears.

I snapped my head up and saw a man sitting in a chair in the corner of the room.

A handsome middle-aged man with the same navy-blue hair as Sharin.

He closed the book he was reading with a firm snap.

“I understand youthful passion, but do remember—this is a Magic Tower.”

What’s that supposed to mean?

Still groggy, I tried to clear the fog from my head.

Then I realized I was in nothing but my underwear.

And I realized what kind of misunderstanding the Master of the Blue Magic Tower might have gotten into.

“Oh, this is a misunderstanding. We fell asleep after finishing a magical sigil, that’s all.”

“Hmph.”

His gaze drifted downward.

Naturally, I followed his gaze.

And I blinked.

At some point, Sharin had taken off her top and pants, lying there in only her underwear.

Adorably laced, pale blue-and-white lingerie.

My face froze in place.

What.

The.

Hell.

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