Chapter 342

Chapter 342. Searching for Radel (2)

“Where ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍is that idiot?”

Inette ‍​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍muttered irritably, holding her breath beneath her mask.

Beside ‍​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍her, Gusto silently gripped his sword hilt and kept watch.

That ‍​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍was when—

Step.

At ‍​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍the sound of footsteps coming from down the corridor, the two quickly hid behind a pillar.

Soon, the owner of the footsteps came into view.

Silver hair gleaming faintly, a robe of the highest quality tailored without a hair’s breadth of error.

It was the Empire’s 2nd Prince, Arteo Kudente Cretian.

He was walking hurriedly, like someone pressed for time.

Inette narrowed her eyes as she watched him.

“What is he doing wandering around alone at this hour? That is really suspicious.”

Was he secretly investigating the Mage Tower?

Of course he was.

Why else would a royal, and a prideful 2nd Prince at that, bother joining a mere envoy and coming all the way out to such a remote island?

“I knew he had something up his sleeve.”

Satisfied with her flawless deduction, she clicked her tongue.

She completely forgot that she herself was a royal wearing a mask, making her look several times more suspicious to anyone else.

But something about Arteo felt off.

He was even breaking out in cold sweat, moving with unusual urgency.

Inette’s brow twitched.

“What is with him? Why is he heading for the top floor?”

“That area should be strictly off-limits to outsiders,” Gusto replied quietly.

The very top floor of the Mage Tower.

Inette recalled the dreadful rumors she had heard the moment she arrived.

Ghosts of mages who had gone mad with research wandering the corridors, and a place that imprisoned unauthorized intruders forever.

For someone who feared ghosts more than anything in the world, the thought alone made her shiver.

Why was he going to such a dangerous and suspicious place?

But then Inette snapped back to her senses.

Arteo’s suspicious behavior was an opportunity for her.

“All the better. Let us find Radel while we can.”

She had been wondering how to avoid Arteo, the envoy’s representative, and now he was conveniently removing himself.

One obstacle had disappeared.

She signaled to Gusto and moved in the opposite direction from where Arteo vanished.

As they descended the stairs without a sound, both of them stopped at the same time.

Ssssh.

Something was approaching from within the darkness.

Ssssh, ssssh.

A steady, eerie sound.

The irregular scraping of something dragging along the floor.

Then a shadow appeared.

Twisted grotesquely by the flickering light of the magic lamps, it looked like a hunchback carrying an enormous burden.

Startled, Inette pressed herself against the wall.

‘I-is that a ghost?’

Her heart pounded violently.

As the two held their breath and waited, it finally emerged from the darkness of the stairwell.

A rabbit mask.

Floating white in the dark, its hollow eye sockets stared at them ominously.

Worse still, there was a limp person slung over the rabbit mask’s back.

Anyone could see that the person was unconscious.

“……!”

A corpse?

Inette swallowed back a scream.

Her mind went blank.

Mage Tower ghost stories, shadows devouring lost laborers.

Those horrific imaginings seemed to have come to life right before her eyes.

Just as she reflexively tightened her grip on her staff, the rabbit mask spoke first.

“Shh. Inette. It is me.”

A voice far too familiar.

The moment he heard it, Gusto stepped forward without a shred of hesitation, knelt before him, and lowered his head.

“Your Highness.”

“……Radel?”

Inette doubted her own eyes.

That bizarre rabbit mask was Radel?

“Long time no see, both of you.”

When Inette continued to glare at him suspiciously, Radel removed the mask and greeted them.

He looked visibly tired, yet unmistakably healthy.

Calm, as ever.

“You…!”

That child who had vanished without a word after losing consciousness.

She had worried so much.

Inette stared at Radel with eyes filled with a mixture of resentment and relief.

“You came as part of the imperial envoy too? What happened?”

“That is what I want to ask.”

As Inette finally steadied her emotions and snapped back, her eyes fell on Radel’s clothes.

Shabby, dirt-stained workwear.

The kind worn only by laborers on the Mage Tower’s lowest floors.

“You—you! Do not tell me you came in disguised as a laborer?”

“That is what happened.”

At Radel’s nonchalant answer, Inette was at a loss for words.

An imperial prince—no, a hero celebrated as the ‘Dragon Slayer’—infiltrating the Mage Tower as a mere laborer.

She shot a sharp look at the person slung over his back.

“And what is that you are carrying? What are you even doing right now?”

“Ah……”

Radel paused for a moment, then grinned.

“I am kidnapping someone.”

That was the moment the last thread of Inette’s sanity snapped.

“Have you completely lost your mind?!”

***

The lodging of the imperial envoy.

The innermost room.

As the door to the room where the Empire’s 7th Princess was staying closed, the outside commotion faded away as if it had all been a lie.

Radel carefully laid the 6th Prince, Harpel, whom he had been carrying, onto the bed, while Armandy gently placed the unconscious Helio beside him.

As their bodies sank into the soft mattress, their pale faces seemed to relax slightly.

“I will begin treatment immediately.”

Without the slightest hesitation, Gusto moved straight to Helio’s side.

Reciting a sacred prayer, he placed his hand over Helio’s chest.

“O Supreme Deity. Grant him Your warmth.”

FLASH!

A gentle, warm light flowed from his fingertips, softly enveloping Helio’s life, which had been on the verge of flickering out.

Warmth slowly returned to the old man’s body, which had gone cold from mana depletion.

Watching the scene, Radel felt some of the tension ease from his shoulders.

They had cleared the first major hurdle, at least.

He spoke to Inette and Gusto.

“I will explain what happened.”

Radel briefly recounted what he had experienced in the Mage Tower.

The shocking truth that the 6th Prince, officially declared dead, had actually been kept alive through the Mage Tower Master’s forbidden research.

The fact that the Acting Mage Tower Master was a heretic who had contracted with a great demon.

And Armandy’s tragic past—his senior disciple trying to seize his master’s position, forcing him to flee.

Even without mentioning the Ability Management Bureau, each revelation was more shocking than the last.

“What?”

Inette’s eyes went wide after hearing everything.

She pointed at Armandy, who was standing awkwardly in the corner of the room.

“You are the Mage Tower’s successor?! I thought you were just Radel’s slave!”

“…I am not a slave….”

Armandy protested in a small, defeated voice.

He would have preferred to be called a capable worker, but Inette had no way of knowing that.

A faint smile appeared on Gusto’s lips as he watched Armandy.

His gaze was filled with mercy and compassion, as though he were looking at a lamb who had finally been saved by the Prince after enduring countless trials.

‘What is with that look…….’

Feeling a chill down his spine, Armandy subtly avoided Gusto’s gaze.

With a complicated expression, Inette glanced at the bed beside them.

The 6th Prince, Harpel, lay there without the slightest movement, like a doll.

Jet-black hair, skin so pale it held no trace of blood.

It was hard to believe he was truly alive.

“I thought he was dead……”

Even she, a 7th Princess, had known nothing of this.

If the Imperial Family had officially announced his death, just how secretive must it all have been?

And yet, he was alive.

An inexplicable feeling crept over Inette.

It felt less like facing a sleeping person and more like standing before a corpse that had lain in a coffin for years.

She rubbed her arms reflexively as a chill ran up her spine.

Meanwhile, Gusto spoke to Radel with a deeply moved expression.

“To endure such hardship alone and still save both the 6th Prince and the Mage Tower Master… as expected of Your Highness.”

“Tsk! Alone, my foot! Was I not here as well, you know!”

The Spirit of the Library, watching from Radel’s shoulder, puffed out its chest and cut in smugly.

But then its pages began to tremble.

“Wait. Someone is coming this way.”

At the spirit’s warning, the air in the room froze instantly.

Who would come to the imperial envoy’s lodging, in the dead of night, and to the 7th Princess’s room no less?

Everyone stiffened.

Cold sweat trickled down Armandy’s face.

The soundproofing spell he had placed on the door, the locking magic, even the defensive spell that detected intruders—each one was being nullified in turn.

Whoever it was possessed the skill to dismantle them effortlessly.

‘At this level… could it be my senior brother?’

Click.

The doorknob turned.

Creeeak—

The door finally opened, and a single figure entered the room along with the chill of the corridor.

It was not Aaron Daryu.

It was the Empire’s 2nd Prince, Arteo Kudente Cretian.

“W-what? Why are you—!”

Inette shouted, but Arteo merely swept his gaze across the room in silence.

The tense half-siblings, the apprentice holy knight, the unfamiliar mage, the Spirit of the Library.

And the two unidentified people lying on the bed.

Yet he showed no sign of surprise at the sight.

If anything, he looked as though he had already known all of this.

After surveying the room, Arteo walked straight toward Radel without hesitation.

‘What?’

This was not the Arteo Radel knew.

Though he could not understand why, Radel saw boundless despair on his face.

A despair born of unbearable regret.

The profound helplessness of someone who had reached a end.

Arteo finally stopped in front of Radel.

As if wringing out the last of his strength, he spoke.

“…Help me.”

Radel’s eyes widened.

At that moment, a system window appeared before Radel’s eyes.

Ding.

[The Ability, ‘Momentary Corridor,’ is interfering with the user’s perception.]

[The Ability, ‘Momentary Corridor,’ is encroaching upon the user’s state.]

Words no one would have expected from the arrogant, prideful 2nd Prince who seemed unbreakable even if the sky collapsed.

And the system messages floating before Radel.

Ding.

[Repeated regression activates Status Effect Nullification!]

[Traces of time regression detected!]

The 2nd Prince’s Ability, Momentary Corridor.

It was widely believed to be the power to stop time, but Radel knew its true nature.

Because of Arteo’s maternal grandfather, Alexius Kudente, the Margrave.

‘I want to stop my grandson.’

Those were the words he had spoken when talking about his grandson at the Spirit Counseling Center.

‘If this continues, that child’s life will be in danger.’

The secret that slipped from Alexius’s lips had stunned Radel.

Even among royals, Abilities so dangerous that they demanded one’s life as payment were rare.

And now.

That very Ability was being activated at the cost of the 2nd Prince’s lifespan.

Only now did Radel fully grasp the source of the strange déjà vu he had felt while fleeing with the 6th Prince.

The sensation that had warned him that choosing that path would make everything irreversible.

Thanks to Status Effect Nullification, he alone had faintly perceived the distortion of time that no one else could sense.

Radel asked calmly.

“How many times is this now?”

At the question, Arteo’s eyes wavered.

“…The third.”

The 2nd Prince’s Ability, ‘Momentary Corridor.’

It was not merely the power to stop time.

It was an absolute Ability that rewound time itself.

He had already failed twice and had turned time back for the third time to appear here.

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