[ TWATF ]

Chapter 18: Silver Bind (2)

James narrowed his eyes. There was a man and a woman approaching the gate. The woman was a beauty, she wore a black robe and had bright red hair. There was no way he would not remember such a beautiful girl.

"Did you forget me already? C'mon, James."

Something flashed in his head and the woman's features changed. Long black hair and glistening eyes. Pale skin that was almost white. James brightened up.

"...Wow! Who do we have here? Isn't it Mino from the Dark Forest?"

Mino frowned as she quickly changed her features again.

"Don't say that out loud!"

Jaehwan glanced at James and Mino. It seemed the two of them knew each other.

"So, you're now a Lieutenant Captain?"

"Yeah, that's why I did that speech."

James scanned Mino's body up and down as if he was starting a check at the gate.

"I waited too long for your speech to end. It would be great if you let us pass quickly."

James grinned.

"What brings you all the way to the North entrance? Don't you normally use the other side?"

"Yeah, I just happened to come this way today."

Mino didn't seem to want to go into detail and quickly answered,

"I don't need to 'Identify' myself right? You know my face."

Jaehwan then looked at Mino. She then sighed and smiled.

[You don't know about 'Identify' also?]

Jaehwan nodded, and Mino sent another Whisper.

[Everyone entering the fortress must identify themselves. You usually pop up the User Details to prove it... you know how to do that, right?]

Jaehwan had not done it, so he did not know. But, he had a bigger problem. He could not use the Interface System at all. Ever since he had broken out from the Tower of Nightmares, he could not use any of the abilities related to the Interface System. That was when Lieutenant James spoke, "Mino."

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry but things have changed."

"...What? What do you mean?"

"Our policies have changed. We need certification from everyone who enters the fortress now."

"Certification?"

Mino looked confused.

"You mean the old certification that [Big Brother] used to distribute?"

"Yeah."

"Why? Wasn't it gone after we were allowed to use the Interface System within the Tree of Imagery?"

"I heard that the system has some problems right now and doesn't work properly."

Mino then remembered her skill to identify failed. She thought her skill was broken, but it seemed like it was related to this.

"Anyway, there are a lot of cases where the User Status window is corrupted. That's why all the fortresses in <Chaos> now requires 'Certification' to identify themselves."

"Why now...?"

It was annoying. Mino ranted and looked at Jaehwan.

[Hey, do you have certification?]

Jaehwan did not answer.

[...I guess you don't.]

Then something came up in her mind. There were a lot of instances where the man made some rude mistakes such as asking about her past and asking taboo questions.

Mino grinned teasingly.

"James."

"Huh?"

"I forgot my certification, but won't this do? We're not strangers after all."

Mino smiled and handed James something. It was an envelope with white powder. James looked at it and answered,

"Good medicine. How many horns was this?"

"Bihorn."

"You must be having good hunts these days."

James smiled as he accepted the envelope stuffed it into his pocket, satisfied. He then turned to Jaehwan and asked, "Is he your friend?"

"I don't know him."

Mino walked past James and grinned teasingly.

"Uh, he said he lost his memory...? Or something."

Jaehwan stood without a word and James spoke,

"Then I need your certification."

"I don't have it."

"Huh? Then you can't come in."

"Do you need it?"

James and the other soldiers became dumbfounded.

"Of course."

"Because I can't prove myself?"

"Right."

"But I can prove to myself that I am me. Why do you need anything else?"

"Haha, are you trying to fool around with me?"

The soldiers began closing in as they gripped their weapons. Mino grinned as she watched from the entrance of the wall.

[Why don't you ask me for help now? If you want, I can help you.]

Even if Jaehwan was powerful, he was only an individual who needed to follow the rules of this world. This world had rules.

'Maybe I overdid it.'

Even without a Certification, it was easy for her to persuade one or two soldiers. But something weird happened. The energy changed within Jaehwan. His left foot stepped back and he lowered his shoulders. It was a slight change that only Mino noticed, and if he were to lay his hands on the swords...

'Wait!'

Mino quickly used Whisper.

[Wait! Don't do that!]

She sounded desperate.

[I know you're strong, but you will become a criminal if you kill them!]

Jaehwan didn't seem to want to budge and Mino bit her lip.

[You can't fight the whole fortress! Do you know what that means?]

However, that did not change Jaehwan's stance. The foolish soldiers did not know, but Mino shook at the powerful presence gathering within Jaehwan. It even gave her an illusion of Jaehwan killing everyone here and strolling in.

The devastation from yesterday came back to her. The terrifying stab that burned the entire forest.

Mino realized she had made a mistake.

This man wasn't just strong. He was also not bound by any laws.

She knew then that he would draw his sword. He would kill all the soldiers and if needed, fight the entire fortress. The matter of 'if he could win or not' didn't seem to bother him.

Mino became pale.