Chapter 27

A Night of Counting Stars (1)

There was a saying that when something strange happened in world history, blaming Britain would usually get you close to the truth.

Kim Sunwoo had studied internet memes far more diligently than world history, so while he did not know the precise reason behind it, he was at least familiar with the meme itself.

From Ivan’s perspective, he knew that a similar saying was widely circulated even in this premodern world.

When something strange happened in world history, blaming the elves would usually get you close to the truth.

Elves were, by nature, overflowing with a sense of superiority. They were arrogant, prideful, and regarded racism as common sense.

The only reason elves had been able to join the United Kingdom was that, from their point of view, demons were even more repulsive than humans.

Unfortunately, dwarves were a race free of prejudice, so they had sided with the demons.

“There is an academic theory suggesting that humans may be evolved apes. In most cases, they are not particularly different from ordinary monkeys, but humans do at least display fragments of intelligence. Do not take it too negatively. It is a compliment.”

“What? A human dares talk back? Goodness, what is the world coming to…?”

“Magic, you say? You are giving far too grand a name to playing with dirt through mana. Human, is your species not far too young to wield magic?”

Those were all things Veolgrin, who was said to have possessed the finest character among elves, had personally told Ivan.

Ivan still remembered those moments vividly.

Every member of the Hero’s Party was insane, but Veolgrin belonged to the category of exceptionally high-quality insanity.

What was even more astonishing was that Veolgrin had never meant any real harm.

In other words, from his perspective, those statements had merely been natural expressions of his beliefs.

Even now, when their already tiny population had been decimated once again by the war against the demons, forcing them to open their borders just to preserve their state—

Elves were fundamentally awful people.

“A volunteer club?”

“Yes.”

“Me?”

“Mm.”

“Why?”

The Saintess and the thief of the Hero’s Party—the head of the Faculty of Theology and a full professor in the Faculty of Knighthood—

Even the head of the Faculty of Magic had approved it.

It was not mandatory, but Ivan could have persuaded him to spare some time, if only to preserve their dignity.

Instead, Ivan stroked the handle of his axe and thought.

After all, even the Demon King had acknowledged the historical truth that killing an elf was faster than persuading one.

“Brother, I’ll handle this!”

At that moment, a young man beside Ivan sprang to his feet and shouted resolutely.

This was the story of how Ivan suddenly gained a younger brother.

“I’m Korean. Ah, it’d be great if you were Korean too, sir. It’s nice meeting someone from the same place, isn’t it? Um, sir? Is there really any reason for us to become hostile? Did you know? The Bible says there is no problem in this world that cannot be solved through words.”

The possessor Ivan had abducted from the grounds of the Faculty of Theology started spouting this nonsense the moment he regained his composure.

Ivan was somewhat taken aback.

Not only had the boy revealed his identity far too easily, but he was also much more sociable than expected.

“Your name is Ivan Petrovich, right? Wow, even your name sounds cool. Yevgeny. What do you think? From a Korean perspective, it’s hard to pronounce and annoying to memorize. Honestly, the only thing I know about Russia is Stalin, so why did I suddenly end up in a world like this? Ah, you are from after Stalin’s time, right? The Soviet Union actually collapsed, you know.”

The boy poured out an endless stream of things Ivan had never asked about.

Ivan stroked his chin while listening to Eugene’s rambling, then suddenly paused.

“How did you know I was Korean?”

“Well, you were trying to deduce the existence of a status window, right? The concept of a status window mostly comes from Northeast Asia. Character sheets appearing directly in a novel’s narration are mainly a Korean web novel or Japanese light novel thing! It used to be pretty unfamiliar everywhere else, though you do see it a little more often these days…”

“And?”

“Because Korea and the English-speaking world are about the only places that pronounce the name Eugene exactly like that! So Korea was the shared possibility, and I took a guess! Hehe.”

All three Northeast Asian countries belonged to the same Chinese-character cultural sphere, but their reading systems differed.

In other words, even the same characters were pronounced differently.

Japanese used extended vowels, while Chinese used tones.

Pronouncing it in two short syllables as Eugene was characteristic of Korean names.

That meant he had worked out all of that while being dragged away.

Was it survival instinct?

Or had his status window helped him?

Even considering those possibilities—

This boy is far more capable than I expected…

Ivan nodded.

“So you can see a status window?”

“Yes, of course! Can you see one too, sir? Wow, when it first popped up right in front of my eyes, I thought my life had finally turned around. But it never gives me anything, I gain nothing from it, and it suddenly hands out quests only to cancel them. At this point, it’s not a status window. It’s a fucking status window. Is yours like that too?”

“I do not have one.”

“Oh, my goodness. I envy you, sir! You might not believe me when I say this, but in the four years since I arrived here, the status window has never actually helped me even once! Every time I try to do anything, all it does is scream, ‘Warning! Warning!’”

Eugene was even more talkative than he was capable.

“Oh, right. How many years have you lived here, sir?”

“Thirty.”

“Oh…”

At Ivan’s answer, Eugene sucked in a breath and closed his mouth.

Thirty years without a status window…?

That meant he had even lived through the era before the war against the demons.

“What year was it when you came over from Korea?”

“2021.”

“Oh! Mine was 2022! My goodness, does a single year back home translate into a thirty-year difference here? Then since I’ve been here for four years… only a few months must have passed over there!”

“That is unlikely.”

Among the stories the Saintess had told him about ancient possessors, some included things that could only be interpreted as products of the modern world.

It was difficult to believe that time on Earth and time in this world flowed proportionally.

Someone from the distant future might have been possessed into a period even earlier than Ivan’s.

Was there some standard?

Were there conditions for possession?

“Oh, right. What did you do before you came here, sir? I was wondering whether the two of us might have had something in common.”

“I was a university student.”

“Oh, I was an office worker. Then that means I’m the older one! Want to call me big brother?”

“…?”

Ivan fell silent and stared at the madman before him.

Eugene, who had been energetically chattering away, flinched when he felt Ivan’s gaze.

He quickly continued.

“B-b-but age isn’t really important, is it? If we count how long we’ve actually lived, that means you must be at least over fifty now, right? Twenty years on Earth and thirty years here… That’s right, isn’t it?”

“…?”

Ivan thought for a moment.

He had never deeply considered his own age.

Still, for some reason, that sounded like an insult.

“S-so! Um! May I call you Brother?”

I’m fucked.

Eugene cursed his own mouth and lamented the awkward silence.

Why had he said something like that?

Had he lost his mind?

Ivan stared at Eugene and thought,

This fellow is rather amusing.

He had enough talent in swordsmanship to use Danger Sense, was following the official theology curriculum, possessed a status window, and was good with words.

He could be useful.

At the very least, more useful than Dmitri.

“W-well… if that’s not allowed, it can’t be helped! Instead of Brother, perhaps we could just call each other ‘sir’? If that would be more comfortable for you…”

“I do not care.”

“…Yes, Brother!”

Ivan looked at Eugene, who was grinning like a sycophant, and nodded.

“Help me with something.”

When they had analyzed the profiles of every student enrolled at Saint Yansk University, there had been three suspected possessors in total.

Eugene, Yuri, and an elf named Oswald.

It was possible that Eugene was the only actual possessor, while the other two were merely ordinary residents of this world who had been unlucky enough to fall under suspicion.

Still, certainty was always preferable.

Now that the Saintess had authorized the investigation, there was no room for trouble.

If they gathered as many possessors as possible, identified the genuine ones, and then analyzed what they had in common—

What my story is. What story remains in this world.

There might be some common element from which he could draw at least a reasonable inference.

The conditions for possession.

The similarities between possessors.

And whether an “ending” truly existed.

After all, experiments required a broad control group to guarantee meaningful results.

“Yes, Brother! Just leave it to me!”

Ever since the semester began, Isabel, Yuri, and Eshidis had always eaten together.

That was the result of several intersecting circumstances.

First, Isabel.

She instinctively paid attention to how those around her looked at her.

It was a skill she had acquired after many years in the royal court.

She could recognize the “facades” of others.

The fact that she was the Hero’s daughter was far too famous, so everyone who approached her inevitably remained conscious of her background.

That was one of the things Isabel hated most in life.

As a result, she had voluntarily become an outcast.

Eshidis’s situation was slightly different.

As had once been mentioned, she attended university together with her uncle.

Art students were far too delicate and sensitive to readily socialize with Eshidis while her muscular uncle shadowed her every move, so she had unintentionally become an outcast.

As for Yuri, there was even less need for explanation.

She was an orphan.

No matter how much the times had improved, most people capable of paying university tuition were naturally nobles.

A war orphan who possessed skill far surpassing theirs—

Her very existence wounded the pride of the nobility.

Thus, she too had become an outcast.

And so, while these three loners were comforting one another’s wounds and writing their own high-school drama together—

“Oh! Mister!”

Isabel put down the sandwich she had been eating and waved excitedly toward someone.

Yuri, who had been chewing on her own sandwich beside her, turned her head.

Then the sandwich slipped from her hand and fell with a soft thud.

A gardener with a towel around his neck was walking straight toward her.

A blond delinquent has been added…?!

And beside him walked a young nobleman grinning like a sycophant.