The Novel's Extra-Chapter ss25: Side Story 25 – Dream in a Dream (25)

I stood in front of the castle gates of a noble whose name I didn’t know. The castle looked huge even by my standards, but Yoo Yeonha didn’t seem fazed.

She approached the guards standing watch.

“My name is Yoo Yeonha. I have an appointment today.”

“…”

The two guards grimaced at her.

“Yoo Yeonha?” one of the guards asked.

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

They whispered between themselves before the other guard took out a communication crystal. He spoke through the crystal before nodding and opening the door.

“A guest has arrived!”

The guard shouted for the servants, who suddenly appeared as if they expected us. They immediately walked up to Yoo Yeonha and took the two portraits from her.

“Welcome.”

The head butler greeted us at the gates and looked at me.

“You must be the artist our lord mentioned.”

“Yes, I am the artist and this child here is my manager.”

I immediately drew the line between Yoo Yeonha and I since no artist should be treated the same as their manager.

“Ha…” Yoo Yeonha scoffed in disbelief.

The butler nodded without a change in expression.

“I see, but may you please remove that mask?”

“…”

“Hmph…”

Yoo Yeonha scoffed again, but for a different reason this time. The first scoff carried a sense of disbelief and annoyance while this one carried a sense of triumph.

“May I remove it when I meet the head of this household? I will be troubled if my identity is exposed, you see…”

I roamed around without my mask a few times during the second test, but only because I already disposed of Lancaster’s minions. However, Lancaster and numerous guilds had their eyes and ears everywhere in this third test.

“I understand,” the butler replied before opening the castle’s front doors.

One couldn’t possibly see everything at a glance in this vast castle foyer. The chandelier illuminated the entire interior and its light reflected off the marble walls. Yoo Yeonha managed to reel in a capable and wealthy noble.

“Our lord is waiting in the meeting room. I will guide you there.”

The butler respectfully led us to the meeting room. We climbed a flight of stairs and stood outside the room as he knocked twice on the door.

Knock… Knock…

“The guests have arrived.”

— Let them in.

A response came from the other side.

The butler opened the door and we saw the noble sitting at the head of the table.

He exuded a strong sense of masculinity with sideburns that came all the way down to his chin. He glanced up from his book and looked at us.

“Are you… the artist that Rohan mentioned?” he asked.

His voice sounded rough and deep, which made him seem even more suited for martial arts than arts and crafts.

“Yes.”

Yoo Yeonha gratefully replied for me.

“Hmm… Alright, my name is Ritten de Kayden. You may call me Count Kayden. I don’t need to hear your names, so why don’t you just show me your works?”

“I understand.”

Yoo Yeonha replied with a bow before unwrapping the paintings and passing it to the noble.

“Hooo…”

He exclaimed under his breath.

One painting depicted the general assembly hall and the other showed a beautiful woman bathing in the sunset’s orange hue while surrounded by lush greenery. Yoo Yeonha decided to keep her own portrait, so this portrait featured a different woman.

“It looks flawless.”

Count Kayden rubbed his beard in satisfaction at my works.

“But you still have to pass the most important test,” he added.

The count clapped twice and a man appeared from another room. He wore clean white gloves and a headband. Obviously, he worked as an appraiser.

“I will start the appraisal,” the man said.

I found it all a bit strange. An appraiser usually analyzed works to distinguish counterfeits from originals, but there wouldn’t be any fakes of my paintings since I was a nameless artist.

“Are you gauging the mana within it?” Yoo Yeonha asked.

The count burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Exactly. Who would buy a painting for just its looks? A good painting should also have mana. That mana will spread in the air and fill the room. Isn’t that what’s really important?”

Only then did I understand the situation.

A master or expert naturally infused mana into their art. Only those with a great deal of experience could achieve this.

“H-How can this be?”

Meanwhile, the appraiser became shocked at my paintings. Yoo Yeonha raised an eyebrow and Count Kayden looked as if curiosity would kill him too.

“You… are you really a nameless artist?” the appraiser asked me in awe.

I smirked and nodded. Then he bit his lips as if he wanted to say something, but remained silent.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?” Count Kayden asked.

The appraiser nervously gulped before forcing his trembling lips to speak.

“This piece is one of the three best works I’ve seen in the past twenty years…”

Count Kayden ended up buying each painting for one billion won. That was an astronomical amount for this stage. I gained a lot of renown thanks to that and I entered an alliance with Yoo Yeonha as promised.

“Here, two hundred million as your fees and one hundred million for your efforts.”

“Thank you.”

I handed Yoo Yeonha a check for three hundred million won and she pocketed it with a smile. I stared at her for a while before asking.

“Did you notice the mana from the start?”

“Huh? No, not at all. You can only do something like that if you receive special education from an early age.”

“So you just liked the painting?”

Yoo Yeonha placed a finger on her lips and briefly pondered before shaking her head.

“Who knows? I guess I just trusted you? Or should I say I had a good feeling about it? Even I had no idea how special your painting was.”

“Really?”

“Yes, what in the world happened? How did you move that appraiser so much?”

“That’s… it’s a trade secret.”

“Pfft!”

Yoo Yeonha snickered and turned around to look at me.

“Anyways, thank you for your hard work today. When do you plan to paint another one?”

“Who knows?”

“Please take your sweet time. You should let your name spread first before limiting the number of customers to one hundred. Then, you can start releasing one or two paintings at a time to attract the king’s attention.”

Indeed, that sounded like a strategy she would think of.

I laughed and simply nodded.

“I’ll excuse myself now.”

Yoo Yeonha said her farewells and cheerfully walked away with the check in her hand. She even patted it a few times like a pet.

I watched her leave before turning around and heading off.

***

I dreamt of a palace built with red bricks that seemed to belong to the 14th century style. A very sad memory took place here. The palace had a lot of people. A child, an elder, and a young couple stood out among the crowd and cheerfully chatted in the garden.

I noticed the child with a hat shying away from this cozy atmosphere. The child looked around with tearful eyes and had always wanted to visit this place. The child’s mother had given birth and passed away here. However, everyone at the palace dissuaded the child from coming here and the child couldn’t understand why.

Why can’t I come when my mother passed away here? Is it because I might feel something where she passed away? But I’ve never even seen my mother’s face.

The child impulsively ran away from home…

The child’s emotions came crashing down on me. I felt dizzy and I had no idea why I felt such emotions.

“Ahjussi, are you alright? Are you not feeling well?”

The child grabbed onto my clothes as I staggered and a question suddenly crossed my mind.

This shouldn’t be possible. This child only existed in my dream, so how could this child touch me right now?

“I’m alright.”

“I don’t think you are. You should go to the hospital if you’re not feeling well.”

“Sure…”

“Hehe.”

The child smiled and turned around.

A thought that felt closer to an instinct flashed in my mind. I approached the child as if bewitched by something.

Whoosh!

I lifted and placed the child on my shoulders.

“Kyak!”

The child screamed and protested.

“Let me go!”

The child kept resisting, but I ran as fast as I could out of the palace. The child screamed and caught everyone’s attention. The guards swarmed towards me.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I said in my dreams.

“Everyone is in danger, including you. Come, follow me. You shouldn’t be here…”

The space surrounding us began to fall apart. The palace crumbled and the child that kept resisting now blankly stared at the surroundings too.

Both of us watched as the world around us collapsed…

“Ugh!”

Rachel groaned and immediately woke up.

Her eyes shook and sweat drenched her entire body. She calmed her breathing to lessen the sharp pain hammering her head.

“Haa… Haa… Haa…”

She had dreamt the same nightmare about that day at the Hampton Palace. Rachel suppressed the urge to vomit as she looked for her medicine, but suddenly felt that something had changed. She didn’t feel as bad as usual.

“It wasn’t… that nightmare…”

The nightmare today didn’t play out until the end as everything crumbled. A man suddenly appeared and ran away with her younger self. A different twist had taken place in her recurring nightmare, but she couldn’t recall the man’s appearance.

“I wonder what that was…”

What else could it be, but a horrible dream?

Rachel kicked away her blanket and got up from bed. She went to her bathroom in her pajamas and washed her face. The tournament would take place today, so she had to prepare and do her best. She couldn’t drop her guard even at the 128th round.

Fuuh… Fuuh…

Rachel washed her face with the cold tap water when a message briefly popped up on her smartwatch, which she had set on the bedside table.

[The General Assembly is closely watching you.]

***

Fermin greeted Rachel when they met at the hall in the early morning.

“Vice Leader! I expected you to be up by now.”

“Yes, how are you today, Fermin? I’m sure you’re busy tending to the sick.”

Fermin increased her renown by tending to people with incurable illnesses. The guild members regarded her as their ace for that.

“Yes, I’m fine! Rather than that, have you seen this? This Xtra guy is insane!”

Renown Ranking:

1. Xtra: 2,000

2. Kim Suho: 1,250

3. Yun Seung-Ah: 95

4. Chae Nayun: 800

5. Yoo Yeonha: 800

“He gathered two thousand points all alone to take the top spot!”

Fermin exclaimed and Rachel’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Is this… is this even possible?”

She had no idea how Xtra raised his renown by so much.

Knock… Knock… Knock… Knock… Knock…

Someone suddenly knocked on the door that led to the general assembly hall, which meant visitors from another guild had come. Rachel made her way across the room and opened the door.

“Yes, this is the English Royal Court.”

Quite a crowd stood outside. She counted at least thirty of them. Yun Seung-Ah, Kim Suho, and Raygun from the General guild stood out among them. The English Royal Court would never even dream of speaking to these big shots. However, things had changed.

“Ah… Hello, Vice Leader Rachel. It’s nothing important, but is the mercenary Xtra there by any chance?”

“Hello, Vice Leader Rachel! Sorry for intruding so early. Haha! Actually… we’re looking for Xtra…”

“I have something to say to Xtra.”

“Can you arrange a meeting with Xtra?”

Yun Seung-Ah, Raygun, Kim Suho, and the rest all wanted to see Xtra. Rachel blankly stared at them for a while before bitterly smiling.

“I see… but Xtra is currently not here. He went to the archery tournament—”

“Ah, is that so?”

“I see.”

“Well, I guess I have no business here then.”

“Sigh… I wasted my time. Oh, but your accommodation looks quite nice. Anyways, have a nice day.”

“Ciao!”

The crowd disappeared almost immediately and the bustling corridor became empty again with only Rachel at the door.

“Haaa…” she subconsciously sighed.

They technically came to the English Royal Court, but only wanted to meet Xtra. Hey, I’m the vice leader of this guild. Aren’t they crossing the line?

Rachel grumbled inwardly while also feeling confused. Still, she managed to compose herself and closed the door.

The swordsmanship tournament’s 128th round would take place today, so she didn’t have the luxury to be distracted by such small matters.

***

Rachel ran to the archery tournament stadium as soon as her 128th round finished.

The entire stadium had been filled. She looked around and saw big shots like Yun Seung-Ah, Raygun, Kim Suho, Yi Yeonghan, Yoo Yeonha, Refren, Ryu Wei, etc. As expected, they all came to watch Xtra.

“I think contribution points and renown is all that matters on this stage. Some guilds are actually having internal conflicts about this.”

Sehat suddenly appeared beside Rachel and continued.

“Also, I heard it’s possible to recruit normal people into your guild. I mean the people who originally live in this world. Chae Nayun from Essence of the Straits already recruited a high-ranking knight from the Black Tiger Knight Order.”

Rachel only found out about this shocking news thanks to Sehat. She never expected Chae Nayun to make a smart move like that.

“Ah… I see. Thank you for the information.”

Rachel nodded while focusing on the tournament.

Sehat briefly observed her before asking.

“But Ms. Rachel… Did you come here to try and keep Xtra? I heard it’s possible to leave one’s guild as long as they pay the right amount of contribution points.”

“Leave the guild? No, not at all… not at all… I… I’m just here to scout the other guilds’ capabilities.”

Rachel lied without batting an eye.

“Also, there’s no way Xtra would leave our guild.”

She said that, but couldn’t help feeling nervous since the English Royal Court technically did nothing for Xtra. Rachel tried her best to hide her anxiety as she bit her lips and waited for the tournament to begin.

— Ladies and gentlemen! The archery tournament will now commence!

Xtra went first in the round of 128. The man wearing a lotus mask came up to the stage along with fifteen other contestants.

“Oh right, here. Drink this coffee.”

Sehat offered her a cup of coffee. Rachel quickly drank it as she felt a bit peckish.

— Targets spread!

“Oh?”

The archery tournament couldn’t be compared to the boring swordsmanship tournament. First, a total of sixteen contestants competed in each round and something suddenly shot up from the ground.

Pat! Pat! Pat!

Everyone in the stadium looked up at the sky and the things that shot up from the ground exploded. Bang! A bunch of paper birds appeared and spread all over the place.

The paper birds flew in a relaxed manner before speeding up faster than a wasp as they zoomed through the air.

— The one who shoots down the most paper birds will win!

“Wow…” Rachel muttered in amazement without even realizing it.

The archery tournament looked fun compared to the swordsmanship tournament she attended.

“It looks fun.”

She said as her gaze landed on Xtra. However, she couldn’t help but flinch when they made eye contact.