Yuder quickly turned his head.

“You finished reading it?”

“Yeah. You were right—it was a letter from Luma.”

Yuder had expected Inon to start explaining the contents of the letter immediately, but what came next was completely unexpected.

“Give me your hand.”

When Yuder stretched out the hand Kishiar wasn’t holding, Inon slapped his palm with a loud smack. It didn’t hurt, but it was startling.

“...What the hell?”

“What are you trembling for? Thought something might happen to me the moment I read it?”

As Yuder blinked slowly ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) and looked down at his stinging palm, Kishiar let out a laugh.

“Mmh. A truly elegant expression of anger. And thanks to it, even the trembling in this hand has completely stopped.”

Only then did Yuder realize all the strength had left both his hands.

“When people are lost in useless thoughts, the best way to snap them out of it is by giving them a different kind of shock. It works. Try using it yourself next time he zones out again.”

“Thanks for the advice. But unfortunately, I don’t think I could pull that off. That seems like a method only hyung-nim could manage.”

“Oh, is that so? Then go use your own tricks. You’re good at those. You know—talking your way through and charming people into a daze.”

“Lately I haven’t felt as confident in that as I used to... but hearing that kind of recognition makes me feel good. I’ll keep at it.”

Yuder couldn’t help wondering if Inon and Kishiar had somehow grown closer in the short time he wasn’t paying attention.

While he was still processing that, Inon turned and looked at Yuder directly.

“Before I go into what I figured out from the letter, I want to tell you about the promise I made with Luma. Sit.”

Both Yuder and Kishiar took seats in the newly arranged chairs. Inon idly turned the wooden piece in his hands as he began to speak.

“Mm... Right. I guess it starts from when I first opened my eyes. A long, long time ago, after I first woke up here, I spent quite a while living only inside this place. It was just me and Luma. A quiet time. He taught me everything—from the basics of human common sense to what I was supposed to do. He said that once I was ready, I would go to the Capital and become its guardian.”

“...”

“I was basically a newborn back then, so I didn’t know what exactly Luma was researching, or why he sometimes wouldn’t let me leave and would talk with someone upstairs. Now I suspect that ‘someone’ was probably the First Duke of Ta-in... though it might’ve been someone else, too.”

“...”

“I don’t know how long I lived like that. When I’d grown to about how I look now, Luma started leaving the hilltop of Girandru more often. He said he needed to find leads related to his changed research subject. He also said that the contract with the spirit that had offered me its soul was nearly complete, and that there was no longer a reason for him to stay here as before.”

It was hard to read any specific emotion from Inon’s expression. Normally a candid and emotionally rich person, in this moment he felt more like a tree, silent and still.

“Honestly... I felt kinda abandoned. Back then, Luma was my whole world. And suddenly he felt like someone who just saw me as a job to finish. So guess what I did?”

“...I don’t know.”

“Either ran away or started a fight.”

As Yuder silently reflected—he’d never felt that kind of bitterness, even when his grandfather passed—Kishiar raised his hand and casually answered.

“Those are the most common forms of rebellion for immature children.”

Inon nodded, lifting one eyebrow.

“Both correct. Sounds like you’ve done that kind of thing a lot, haven’t you?”

“Haha. I was the family’s notorious troublemaker. Even though I understood the people begging me to be careful with my body, I resented it and acted out a lot.” 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

That must’ve been after the young Kishiar realized his body was broken. The idea that even this endlessly resilient man had once endured a painful youth where he struggled to accept his fate suddenly felt real.

And the fact that he could talk about such a sensitive topic so easily with Inon—it likely meant he was offering up something personal in exchange for the heavy secret Inon was about to share.

“Anyway, I got mad at Luma and ran off. And that’s when I died for the first time and got regenerated. If Luma hadn’t chased after me, I wouldn’t have lasted even a year—some thousand-year guardian I would’ve been.”

Inon didn’t say much more about that incident. He seemed slightly embarrassed.

“When I woke up again, Luma returned my memories and taught me everything from the beginning again. And he told me honestly—why he created me, and why it had to be me.”

“...”

“He said... he wanted to preserve the legacy of a dear friend who had passed. And to do that, he needed a means of protecting the Capital for a distant future no one could predict. He asked me to help him, because I was the only one who could.”

A faint smile crossed Inon’s lips. His lemon-colored eyes gazed past Yuder, toward an empty tree behind him, as though retracing something distant.

“For the first and last time, I went outside with Luma. We went to the Capital. I ate food like a normal human, mingled with people, and slept there. It wasn’t as fancy as it is now, but it felt safe, peaceful. Back then, the world was still pretty chaotic. But I liked it. And Luma was genuinely happy. For the first time since I’d woken up, he was overjoyed. He finished his meal in one sitting for once, instead of picking at it like he usually did.”

The Grand Mage from history that no one had ever truly seen—listening to Inon speak about him, it almost felt like he was just the guy next door. For such a legendary, almost mythological figure, that feeling was oddly surreal.

Probably because Inon talks about Luma so casually, like he’s reminiscing about a close friend.

He probably never shared these stories with anyone before, but it was as if he’d recited them a thousand times. The way he remembered even the smallest details and expressions—it meant he’d kept those memories close for a long, long time. Yuder couldn’t imagine what that must’ve felt like.

“That’s when I realized how much Luma truly cared about the Capital. If he went so far as to create me just to protect it... then maybe it really was worth protecting. That was the moment I decided I’d become a real guardian.”

Inon looked down at his own hands—five fingers, just like a human, the hands of an herbalist.

“Even after I agreed to become the guardian, Luma didn’t immediately accept it. He was worried. I think he realized—especially after what had happened—that half of me really was human. It weighed on him. Even when I said I was sure about my decision, he couldn’t bring himself to believe it right away. So we made a deal.”

“...”

“I would guard the Capital as Luma’s representative until the time came. Luma, in turn, would support me so I could live comfortably as a guardian. The agreement would last as long as I believed the Capital was worth protecting. If I judged it no longer worth it, the contract would end, and I’d be free to leave.”

“What did Luma mean by ‘the time’?” Kishiar asked.

Inon answered calmly.

“To put it simply, a moment where the Seventh Wall might fall. Or something close enough that it felt like it might.”

“So he left the judgment entirely up to you.”

“Exactly.”

After saying that, Inon let out a soft sigh and continued.

“I don’t think Luma believed it was right to tell me too much at the time. Maybe even he wasn’t fully sure such a moment would ever come. In any case, we made the contract, and not long after, he left. One day I woke up, and he’d swapped out my hand and vanished—said it was his final gift to help me, and didn’t even say goodbye. I was furious.”

“...Wait. Swapped what?”

The way Inon said it so casually, Yuder almost missed the gravity of the words. Inon lifted his hand on the desk and waved it.

“My hand. This.”

“What exactly did he swap out?”

“You already know that the foundation of my soul is a wood spirit, right? So have you ever thought about what my body was made from?”

“...No.”

He’d just assumed it was a human body with a spirit’s soul attached—but now that he thought about it, where had the body come from? Inon provided the answer.

“Luma said it was incredibly difficult to make a body that could contain a spirit’s soul and synchronize with the Seventh Walls—basically allowing reabsorption and regeneration. After lots of trial and error, he succeeded. My body was made from apple blossom wood... with half of Luma’s heart blended into it. It was the only prototype that survived.”

Even Kishiar, who had remained composed through everything, was momentarily speechless. Yuder felt the same.

...He mixed what with what?

“Don’t ask for details. I don’t know—wasn’t even born yet. What I do know is my body’s based on Luma’s heart. And before he left, he chopped off his own hand and attached it to me.”

“Then... Luma lived without a hand? Why his hand, of all things?”

“Probably not. I mean, we’re talking about the guy who built a living human body—he probably made himself a new one. As for why the hand? It’s easier to control mana with it, even if you don’t know how to cast spells.”

Inon twisted his lips in a crooked smirk.

“I know magic—but I’m not a mage. So why do you think I’ve always been able to handle enchanted objects so easily and see through Luma’s spells?”

“...”

“Anyway, what Luma left me in that letter—it’s all based on that promise. It was written under the assumption that after a long, long time, the day he’d hoped would never come had arrived. That the guardian was still alive and had come this far, still trying to protect the Capital.”

Yuder felt his heart sink. Inon seemed to notice, and raised his voice slightly.

“But here’s the thing. What matters isn’t whether I follow some ‘final method’ Luma left behind. What matters is... none of this was here when I left. I think he came back here after I was gone and left it.”

For a moment, the air in Luma’s laboratory felt like it shifted. Yuder carefully asked,

“But earlier, you said you didn’t think Luma would have returned here. Are you sure?”

“I didn’t see him—but he did secretly visit when people he knew passed away. That much I’ve heard. And remember, this lemon flower brooch? It was discovered recently.”

Inon pulled the old lemon blossom brooch from his coat. It was the one found among the monster remains in the ruins left by the First Duke of Ta-in.