Chapter 44: The Bullet Was Already Fired

'...Damn it. You've got to be kidding me.'

Zeldryn could only stand there in silence after realizing just how badly the situation had twisted itself around him. What was he even supposed to do now?

Earlier, he had thought he was facing a gun pointed directly at his head with a bottomless cliff behind him. Moving forward was wrong, but backing away was just as dangerous. Apparently, however, he had misunderstood the situation from the beginning.

It was not just a gun.

There had been a sniper aiming directly at his head the entire time, and somehow, the bullet had already been fired before he even realized it.

'This is completely fucked.'

Zeldryn tried to remember how he had even ended up in a situation like this. His original intention had been painfully simple: find Kera, ask about mana, and figure out why he had vomited blood after trying to control sixteen particles at once.

That should have been it.

Instead, halfway through searching for Kera, he had overheard a nasty rumor involving himself and Hera. Since the rumor threatened to interfere with the life he wanted to build inside the mansion, Zeldryn had decided to deal with it immediately.

Now it seemed he had only made everything worse.

'Before this, maybe it was still fifty-fifty.'

Hera had already told several servants that nothing had happened the previous night. Some might believe her while others might not, but there had at least been room for doubt. There was still a chance that some of the servants genuinely thought Hera was telling the truth.

After Zeldryn himself had walked into the kitchen and openly asked her to clarify everything, however, that balance had probably disappeared.

His expression grew even more strained.

'Doesn't it look one hundred percent like I'm the one forcing her to say it now?'

He almost wanted to slam his head against the nearest wall.

'Fuck. This is so damn frustrating.'

Zeldryn had only been in this world for a little over twenty-four hours, yet the number of problems already occupying his mind felt endless. There was mana, the Giorry family, Anna, Kera, Zorin's birthday party, the writing system of this world, the language he somehow understood automatically, the old Zeldryn's reputation, and now this ridiculous rumor involving Hera.

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'I've only been in this world for a little over twenty-four hours, damn it.'

He was genuinely beginning to question his fate.

'If all of this is happening because I'm some kind of protagonist and there's actually someone out there writing my story...'

Zeldryn gritted his teeth.

'I hope that bastard gets to feel what I'm feeling right now someday, damn it!'

Several seconds passed while Zeldryn remained standing in place. The servants continued watching him in silence, and Hera stood directly in front of him with a nervous, slightly confused expression.

Meanwhile, Zeldryn had completely run out of things to say.

What else could he possibly add? If he tried explaining himself further, it would only sound like he was desperately defending himself. Denying the rumor would create the same problem, while ordering Hera to explain herself again would somehow be even worse.

In Zeldryn's earlier analogy, the sniper bullet had already gone through his head. He simply had not fallen to the ground yet.

Then, in the middle of the uncomfortable silence, one of the female servants suddenly gathered enough courage to speak.

“B-but...”

Zeldryn immediately turned toward her.

The servant visibly stiffened after realizing she had spoken up in the middle of the situation, but despite her nervousness, she continued.

“Wouldn't... that actually make a little sense?”

Zeldryn frowned.

The servant swallowed before continuing. “Because something strange really did happen to Lord Zeldryn last night...”

'Huh?'

Zeldryn immediately felt that something was wrong.

'What now?'

One problem had only just smashed into his head, and now it felt as though another one was charging toward him while carrying a hammer.

He turned more fully toward the servant. “What do you mean?”

The woman immediately tensed, fear flashing across her face.

“I-I'm sorry, Lord!” She hurriedly lowered her head. “I didn't mean to offend you!”

Zeldryn almost cursed aloud.

'Tch, damn it. Please don't suddenly get scared at a time this important.'

Right now, he genuinely needed information. He deliberately kept his voice as controlled as possible so he would not intimidate her any further.

“Tell me. What did you mean by that?”

The servant kept her head lowered for another moment before slowly raising it again. She glanced at the other servants nearby, and several of them exchanged looks as though they all knew exactly what she was referring to.

Eventually, she looked back at Zeldryn.

“Y-yes, Lord.”

Zeldryn waited as the servant took a small breath.

“Actually, there was a commotion last night.”

His attention sharpened immediately.

“One of the servants found you in a state where...” The woman hesitated, clearly struggling to explain what she meant. “Your body had turned bla...”

Before she could finish the word, Zeldryn suddenly felt something.

Mana.

A fluctuation of mana appeared around them without warning, and the servant's voice abruptly stopped. It was not because she had chosen to stop speaking. The sound that should have come from her mouth seemed to have been blocked by something.

Zeldryn froze.

'Huh? What the hell now?'

Before he could understand what had just happened, a very familiar voice came from the kitchen entrance.

“Yo, brat.”

Everyone in the room immediately turned toward the doorway.

“What are you doing in a place you seem to hate so much?” the voice continued casually.

Zeldryn turned his head as well, and the moment he saw the person standing there, his thoughts stalled.

The man he had actually been searching for from the very beginning had finally appeared.

'Huh? Kera?'