The portal put Il Ji on the side of a hill, and he noticed that Mr. Addlesby was already waiting at a nearby table with his sister.
"Il Ji! I see you have put my necklace to good use."
"Mr. Addlesby. Thank you once again for allowing me to hold to your legacy. And also the gift you gave my sister."
"Yes yes, she was just telling me about how much you both appreciate it. Come, sit down and I'll tell you what we've discovered here."
Il Ji followed him. "This is the central hill of this world. Around this area, there are no butterflies whatsoever."
Il Ji noticed a really large butterfly not five feet in front of them. It didn't match any of the previous descriptions in the bestiary.
"Eggs keep appearing here out of nowhere without any indication of rhyme or reason."
Il Ji watched as the beautiful butterfly laid seventeen eggs.
"See, look!" Mr. Addlesby exclaimed. "It just happened right in front of us."
"Anyways," he continued, "Everybody else arrived and immediately split up. They're trying to collect as many adult butterflies as they can to sell in the marketplace."
"I'm old. I don't care half as much as they do. So, I volunteered to hold the fort over here."
"Mr. Addlesby, how long was it between the time I arrived and my sister did?"
"Why, about 10 minutes."
"..." Il Ji was silent for a moment. "Mr. Addlesby, I want you to take my sister back to the shop."
"Oh? Why?"
"I was only in the shop for less than ten seconds. That means one of three possibilities. Either Adele hired a researcher, and the researcher lied about the time variance; she hired a researcher who didn't do their job properly; or, she didn't hire a researcher, and brought you all here to make her look good."
"Ah, I see, I see. And what of you?"
"I'll go look for the other shopowners and bring them out. I'm the fastest of us three. Don't worry, I'll see you soon."
"Laila, I love you. Sorry you have to go. Tell you what, though. When I get out, I'll take you to my friend's house. He has a reaaaaally big pool and a sister your age."
"It's okay, Il Ji. I know you're just trying to protect me."
He rubbed her head and kissed it before sending her through the portal.
"Don't worry, I'll watch over her." Mr. Addlesby added, before going through himself.
Il Ji turned to face the butterfly and sat down. He wasn't half as worried as the time dilation as he was about this.
Pulling out the gun in his back pocket, his mind went back to a day several days before. He had been shopping in the Police Department using a Contraband Absolution Ticket.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find anything he wanted. So, he looked for the top dollar item.
Luckily, he was able to find a gadget that contained stolen material.
Awaiting trial for grand larceny was Im Ka'el- known as the White Shadow- the greatest thief in modern times.
The only thing that had detained him was this: he had become too greedy. He had found the location of one of the greatest treasures of all time.
Every year, the Chrono Federation holds the Chrono Cup. The top three winners of the [Diamond] Cup are given a fruit from the Chrono Federation's [Great Tree].
The Great Tree only produced fruit once a year, and it only ever produces three fruit. The fruits are a crystallization of the fallen people in the Federation within the last year. The many soul fragments of the fallen are combined into a single soul, given shape by the tree's fruits.
Upon eating a fruit, one can obtain a new profession soul- similar to Il Ji's second soul from his previous life. However, the soul comes bound to its own profession.
When the [Thief Soul Fruit] came to fruition, it was given to the second rank player in the competition. In turn, rather than using it, he had traded it with the Tyrant Queen for an [Archaic] rank beast. While even this was shortsighted on his part, it got the time-honored thieves of the world off of his back.
In the end, White Shadow himself had gone to steal it from the Tyrant Queen, once and for all time displaying his ability. He even managed to steal the fruit using a Dimension Gun.
However, in the end, even he, the great White Shadow, was trapped. The Soul Fruit- and the Dimension Gun holding it- were both consigned to the Chrono Federation Beast Association's lockers.
However, due to the rules of the Chrono Federation- and the Tyrant Queen's forgetful nature- Il Ji was able to take the gun as the trial ended, along with the priceless fruit held within it.
It was this very gun that he held trembling before him. The reason?
The very large, very beautiful, dazzling butterfly in front of him didn't show a ranking on the gun.
And for a device that could read from [Copper] up to [Archaic], this was impossible.