"Are you two... married?"
Lily's question dropped like a stone into the silence. She interlaced her fingers tightly, thumbs wrestling with each other nervously, while her head bowed low to hide anxious eyes behind a curtain of messy bangs.
Long, who had been idly twirling a lock of Lia's raven-black hair around his finger, paused mid-motion.
Feeling the weight of multiple gazes converging on him, his hand instinctively flew up to rub the back of his neck—a reflex born of awkwardness.
He offered a dry, strained laugh, though his eyes remained tender as they rested on Lia. He gently corrected her:
"Ah, not quite there yet. We're... just lovers. This is my girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?"
Lily tilted her head, testing the foreign word. Her amber eyes blinked softly, her expression as innocent as a child encountering a concept not found in any holy scripture.
Before Long could open his mouth to explain, Lia cut in. She tightened her arm around his waist, lifting her chin with regal pride, her voice firm, driving the point home like a nail into wood:
"It means betrothed. It's a done deal."
"...Is that so."
The corners of Lily's eyes curved down, strangely gentle. Her slender fingers drifted up, covering a small smile blooming on her lips.
Through the gaps in her fingers, her gaze fixed on Long—a look that was deep, cryptic, and intense, as if she had just discovered something far more fascinating than her own faith.
"When do we retrieve my bow from General Och's quarters?"
Arwen kicked a pebble viciously, her voice grumbling with frustration.
Jack exhaled sharply, leaning his back against the rough cave wall. He replied calmly:
"Patience. Recover first, plan second, then we counterattack. Rest assured, old Och isn't going to digest your weaponry."
He shifted his gaze to Long and Lia, lowering his voice:
"And you two? What is your next move?"
"We intend to descend to the deeper floors," Long answered without hesitation.
"Oh? Coincidence. Let's collaborate then."
Jack lunged forward, extending a massive, calloused hand toward Long.
Long hesitated for a beat, his eyes flickering with uncertainty, before reaching out to accept the gesture.
The moment skin touched skin, Jack's fingers clamped down like a steel trap, locking Long's hand in a vice grip.
The smile vanished from Jack's face. His red eyes bored into Long, his voice dropping to a gravelly, articulate growl:
"But first... the truth. Who are you, really?"
Sensing Long's attempt to pull back, Jack maintained the crushing pressure. His tone softened slightly but lost none of its weight:
"Don't misunderstand. I am grateful for the rescue, but business is business. I cannot expose my back to strangers whose origins are a blank page."
A bead of sweat rolled down Long's forehead. As he scrambled for an answer, Jack spoke again.
"You are... too pure."
The sudden remark froze Long's facial muscles. His eyes widened, staring blankly at the captain.
"The mana flow within you is crystal clear, silent as a lake that has never known a ripple. And yet..."
Jack narrowed his eyes, his voice heavy with suspicion:
"...The hue is entirely alien. I have never witnessed such a color of mana in all my years of warfare."
Long's Adam's apple bobbed violently, a dry, nervous swallow.
At this suffocating distance, Jack loomed like a mountain of flesh, blocking out the firelight and swallowing Long's vision into darkness. The captain's red eyes were like two drills boring into Long's core, dissecting and laying bare every secret hidden in his soul.
Yet, despite the crushing pressure on his chest, a strange current flowed from Jack's calloused palm into Long.
It was warm, forgiving, and steady... exactly like his grandfather's hand years ago.
The tension in Long's face evaporated. A soft, unconscious smile, filled with nostalgia, touched his lips.
Seeing that smile, Jack froze as if struck by lightning.
A jolt of electricity raced down his spine, signaling an impossible phenomenon occurring right in his palm. He recoiled as if burned, eyes wide with shock, staring at his own hand before looking back at Long in disbelief.
Mana... synchronization?
The insane thought flared, searing Jack's mind. His arm reached out instinctively, trembling fingers wanting to touch the boy's shoulder to confirm it, but he stopped mid-air.
The hovering hand slowly clenched into a fist and withdrew. Jack bit his lower lip until it bled, his red eyes lowering, heavy with an unnamed sorrow as they fixed on the cold stone floor.
"Jack, you're bleeding!"
Long exclaimed, pointing at the stream of fresh crimson trickling from the deep bite mark on the captain's lip.
Without needing a prompt, Lily rushed forward. She pressed her small hands against Jack's face, murmuring ancient incantations. A soft golden light, warm as the morning sun, radiated from her fingertips. Under the magic's influence, the torn muscle fibers on Jack's lip contracted, knitting together and sealing in an instant, leaving not even a faint scar.
Jack wiped the remaining blood with the back of his rough hand. His broad shoulders slumped slightly, his voice becoming heavy and sharp as a razor:
"Who are you, really? That demeanor, that conduct... it carries no scent of the trade."
He squinted, his scrutinizing gaze sweeping over the bicycle contraption and the scratched plastic helmet in Long's possession.
"You look as if you've never even heard the term 'Dungeon Hunter'. And this bizarre, non-standard equipment... You aren't from this world, are you?"
Without waiting for an answer, Jack's eyes shifted, pinning Lia—who had remained icy and motionless—in place.
"And you... A mage wielding Force Field magic."
Jack swallowed hard, emphasizing every syllable:
"And a Silent Caster, at that."
The phrase sucked the air out of the cave.
Except for Lucas, who continued to chew his bread with indifference, every muscle in Arwen and Lily's bodies pulled taut like overstrung bowstrings. They instinctively took a half-step back. Their gazes toward Lia were no longer filled with curiosity, but with the primal terror of facing a high-level monster wearing human skin.
Cold sweat drenched Arwen's spine. She recalled being flung against the wall earlier. She had assumed the woman had pre-cast the spell... but no. Instant casting without chanting or charging?
Lia tilted her chin up, her violet eyes meeting Jack's without a hint of fear, and declared boldly:
"I am Liana Vesperia Solari Evangeline de Valerius."
The lengthy name rang out like a spell, freezing the entire cavern. No matter the length, the cadence was unmistakable. It was a name every child in this world had grown up hearing in bard songs and heroic epics.
Lily covered her mouth, amber eyes wide with horror.
"Impossible... The Elf Princess Liana? History records that She fell in the Great War against the Demon King... Why are You here? In human form?"
Tch!
Lia clicked her tongue, shattering the solemn atmosphere. She scowled, grumbling like a street thug:
"Which brat started the rumor that I 'croaked'? It must be that loudmouth Anna again."
Jack threw his head back and roared with laughter.
"Hahaha! I get it, I get it. No wonder..."
Jack's red eyes narrowed, activating his unique Mana Sight.
In his vision, the world turned into shades of gray, leaving only flows of energy. While Lucas or Lily appeared as having thin, orderly threads of mana circulating through their veins...
...Lia was a blinding sun.
Her petite body had no "circuits," because she herself was a pressurized vessel. The mana inside her was so condensed it liquefied, filling every cell. It was so dense that excess particles were constantly forced out through her pores, evaporating into a glowing mist around her.
It was the unique biological trait of a Fairy—beings who didn't need to forge circuits, for their bodies were nature itself, absorbing and housing mana directly from the environment.
Jack exhaled a long breath, emptying his lungs as if he had taken a punch to the gut. He covered his face with a massive hand, hiding his bowed head, revealing only wide, bloodshot eyes peering at Long through his fingers.
His trembling index finger pointed straight at the boy, his voice choking in his throat:
"Then... what about him? Walking with a living legend, possessing a mana flow so pure it defies logic... Don't tell me he is..."
"Exactly what you think."
Lia cut him off, her tone as light as if discussing the weather, but her violet eyes gleaming with unconcealed pride.
She reached out, her slender fingers playfully pinching Long's cheek, causing him to wince in surprise.
"Allow me to introduce..." Lia smiled, enunciating every word:
"...The only grandson of the Sky Hero - Alex Nguyen."