Chapter 76: Julian really was still Julian after all

How Julian had ended up here, what had actually happened to him, and exactly what had shaped his expression into this.

Julian himself barely knew anything for certain. He also wasn’t sure what he should even say, how much, or how, because knowing his manager had actually been living in this world for so long already, Julian genuinely didn’t know whether he could trust this woman or not.

A long time had passed for his manager, and people always changed.

Still, if possible, Julian genuinely wanted to trust his manager. Not entirely, but enough to help her understand his strange condition and situation.

"So you’re saying, you have a Talent that freezes your expression like that? People misunderstand you? You can’t refuse and just go along with whatever happens? And somehow, you ended up being seen as some Hidden Master?"

Aveela blinked a few times, her lips pressed shut as she studied Julian, that same flat, emotionless face. She pictured it for a moment, Julian’s usual cheerful, naive expression, now trapped inside this cold mask of his.

"...."

"....."

"Pftt... What is that? Seriously? You just got misunderstood into all this?"

Aveela couldn’t hold it back any longer. Laughter burst from her lips, she clutched her stomach, laughing so hard it left Julian standing there in silence, his expression still completely flat, though genuinely irritated deep inside.

"Manager, I have no idea what’s so funny here?"

"Pfftt... that line... it really is you, isn’t it, darling? Hahaha."

It was a genuinely unique experience. Julian, who would normally say something like that with full, open emotion, was now saying it with a cold, indifferent expression instead, exactly as Aveela was watching now.

How was she even supposed to respond to this?

It was genuinely hilarious watching his true personality get locked away like that.

"Huhu... alright, I’m trying to hold myself back here, hehe," Aveela steadied herself, breathing a little heavily from her own laughter, then coughed and looked at Julian. "So, what’s your Talent Grade?"

"Sss-Grade."

"...What?"

"...SSS."

Aveela blinked, studying Julian as though trying to catch some hint of deception on his face, but what she found was...

"You’ve become genuinely hard to read. I don’t know if you’re lying or not, but can I assume this is why your progress is this absurd? You’ve only been in this world for about a month, yet you already have a B-Grade skill while still at Rank-E."

Just as Aveela had pointed out, Julian still hadn’t mentioned the fact that he boosted his own skill progress through his disciples, nor had he brought up something called his authority.

So Aveela’s conclusion was based entirely on what she already knew.

"...Just as expected, an SSS-Grade Talent really is this absurd."

Julian’s reason for keeping this a secret tied back to the unusual nature of his authority itself, something unheard of in this world. Julian had tried searching for information about authorities before, but had never found anything at all.

This world only recognized Rank, Talent, and Skill. That was all.

Well, Julian had no intention of keeping this secret hidden forever. He just needed time to think through how best to reveal it, and whether he even should, or simply keep it to himself.

After that, what followed was Aveela asking a few light, casual questions, like how Julian was living, what he’d been up to, and whether he was enjoying his new life here or not.

Then, at one point...

"What about Invaders? With your Talent, it’d be worth developing yourself, you know. I’m the head of the Hunter Association, I could get you set up as a Hunter in no time."

But Julian immediately shook his head, clearly refusing.

"I don’t want that."

"Why not?" Aveela blinked, then suddenly seemed to catch on. "Are you still scared of ghosts?"

"...I’m just scared of anything horror-related."

"That includes ghosts, doesn’t it?"

Aveela let out a small laugh, leaving Julian genuinely uncomfortable inside his own head.

Even though it had only been a little over a month since he’d arrived in this world, it felt like it had been ages since he’d been able to talk this casually with someone.

Lately, he’d become remarkably quiet, afraid his own words might lead to yet another misunderstanding.

This, in particular, made a few things about Julian feel noticeably lighter than usual.

Meanwhile, Aveela herself felt the exact same thing. When had she last been able to act like her true self?

Compared to Julian, she hadn’t been herself, the version from their old world, in a very long time. That thought made her smile gently as she looked at him.

She was genuinely happy to see Julian at least able to adapt and protect himself. But this world wasn’t what Julian believed it to be, far too much danger lurked behind the scenes, waiting to strike.

Julian’s desire for a relaxed life wasn’t a problem in itself, but if he kept living that way, eventually, he wouldn’t be able to protect himself.

Even if Aveela did everything she could to protect Julian, she’d fail too, eventually.

So her smile deepened, tinged with a hint of melancholy as she looked at Julian.

"Darling, since you seem to have plenty of free time, how about accompanying me the day after tomorrow?"

Aveela had no intention of disrupting Julian’s peaceful life. If possible, she genuinely wanted to let Julian live exactly as he wished.

But before that, Aveela wanted Julian to see it for himself.

"The day after tomorrow? Where to?"

Aveela adjusted her pajamas, pulling them back up as she answered:

"I want to visit a merchant located in invaded territory. Come with me, alright? Don’t worry about Invaders, I’ll protect you. All you need to do is tag along."

Once Aveela let Julian see more of this world for himself, more about the Aliens and Invaders out there, she wanted to ask Julian one more time.

Did he still want to hold onto his current life?

Staying passive, continuing to hide behind someone else?

The Julian Aveela knew was a genuinely kind man, always brimming with expression, but when it came to caring about others, Julian had always struggled to show it, always painfully awkward about it.

So, thinking back on everything Julian had shared so far, if he really was still the same Julian Aveela remembered, then he surely wouldn’t have just stood by and done nothing.

That Master-Disciple relationship, one that had started purely out of necessity for survival, was Julian really just using his disciples for his own gain?

’I don’t believe that.’

She was certain Julian would eventually take some kind of initiative after all this.

"Alright."

So, hearing Julian’s agreement, Aveela smiled teasingly, her eyes narrowing into crescents.

"In that case, want to sleep with me? I’m still a virgin here, you know."

"No."

Well, it seemed Julian really was still Julian after all.