(27 Days Remaining to the Tournament)

Yuki’s voice returned to Yui’s mind, pressing with curiosity. – ‘Hey… I stopped you before when you were talking. But now I really want to know.’

Yui exhaled, breathing heavily. – “Huh? What exactly are you asking? You stopped me so many times when I tried to say it. Ask clearly.”

– ‘I mean that ‘once upon a time…’ part. Now that we confirmed it’s him, that’s why I’m asking.’

Yui inhaled slowly, calming herself. – “I think the Ren I know isn’t him. And anyway, we can’t talk about someone like this without being sure.”

– ‘Huh? Just tell me. Then I’ll know if it’s him or not. I’m sure about it.’

Yui sighed. – “I only used that line because it happened long ago—not because he was so powerful or anything. I only heard about him. I never saw him. My mother didn’t let me go outside.” She continued quietly, – “He was strong… and one day, he just disappeared. That’s all I know.”

– But you said there's a chance other kingdoms might have found him, right?’

– “Well, after Sujin-sama became king, he asked the allied kingdoms to try tracking his Kairo Energy. But there was no news. So, it was assumed he had died.”

Yuki’s tone turned inquisitive. – ‘Well… what if he’s living in another far kingdom?’

Yui clenched her fist, suppressing frustration. – “How do I know? I’m not a Sensemitter. And if he left that far, we can’t sense him.”

– ‘Then how do they think he’s dead? Your theory isn’t certain.’

Yui’s voice snapped with irritation. – “Hey! First of all, leave that news aside. Coming to your information—you’re saying the guy in the clothes shop is the Ren I heard about, right? Then how can he live in this kingdom without anyone knowing?”

– ‘Hey, why are you angry at me? I’m just asking…’

– “I’m angry because of you! You’re just blindly believing a dream and asking nonstop questions!”

Yuki’s tone dropped, quiet and hurt. – ‘But… my information is right, right? You know it too…’

Yui let out another long sigh. – “There’s only one option left. We have to ask my mother.”

After returning home, the kitchen filled with the aroma of fresh rice as they stepped inside.

Yui glanced at her mother, then turned slightly. “Mom, Yuki wants to talk to you.”

Miko raised an eyebrow but nodded calmly. “Huh? Fine.”

Yuki’s voice trembled a little, nervous. “Maa… can you tell me clearly if I ask something?”

Miko’s tone softened. “What do you want to ask? If I know, I’ll definitely tell you.”

Yuki hesitated a second. “Do you know any guy named Ren?”

Miko’s eyes widened for a brief moment before settling into a thoughtful gaze. “Ren!? Hmm… There was a guy… long ago…”

Yuki leaned forward, voice firm. “Is he strong?”

Miko paused for a moment, her gaze sharpening slightly. “Why are you asking that!? How do you know that name!? … Hmm… strong? Well, compared to others his age, he was strong—even without using his type. I don’t know how strong he’d be if he did.”

– ‘Hey, what is ‘type’? Wait—he’s not as strong as the king? Shit, that guy told all the lies!’

Yui replied in a confused tone. – “Who said what to who? Anyway, ‘type’ is like a born ability. I’ll explain later—just listen to Mom first.”

Yuki nodded. “Okay, Maa. My next question—how did he disappear?”

Miko blinked, her words catching slightly. “Huh!? How do you know about that!? … I don’t know. One day, he just disappeared. His friends came asking, but we couldn’t sense him.”

Yuki groaned, disappointed. “Ugh, you don’t know either… Wait, if any intruders came, can you sense them? Like—has anyone come long ago?”

Miko’s brows furrowed, her tone sharpened. “Hey, why are you asking questions like that now?”

Yui muttered internally. – “Ask clearly. My mom’s getting angry.”

Yuki tried to laugh it off with a forced smile. “Ah, Maa—hehe, it’s nothing. I just want to know how you sense people.”

Miko sighed and calmed slightly. “That’s it!? Ah well… some outsiders do come, but we handle them easily or we allow them to live here if there’s no threat.”

Yuki pointed carefully as she asked each question, her voice deliberate and clear. “I mean… any special incident?”

Yui panicked. – “Hey! Are you crazy!?”

Yuki whispered quickly. – ‘According to my dream, a woman talked about that guy’s past!’

Yui groaned. – “You and your shitty dream… why are you believing everything? And that guy—when I saw him, he didn’t look much older. If he is that Ren, then his age now must be around forty.”

Miko's eyes narrowed as she thought back. “Any specific incident? Haa… I haven’t forgotten it. I was there at the time. Some intruders came to the edge of the kingdom. The towers alerted us late. By the time I reached the village… I saw an about 8-year-old kid covered in blood, holding a katana, lying on the ground.”

Yuki gasped. “Huh!? Blood?”

Miko nodded slowly. “Haa… After that incident, tower security was increased. Two villagers died. The others said that child protected them. There was another kid too—he just stood quietly and watched.”

Yuki blinked. “Wait, wait—Maa, what are towers?”

Miko smiled lightly. “You don’t know, right? Towers are like a security system. If someone unregistered enters, pulses alert nearby Sensemitters.”

Yuki leaned in, voice low and confused. “Well… what happened to that kid?”

Miko’s voice softened as she recalled the past. “I saw pain… fear… trembling… nervousness in his eyes. There was something different about them. I felt sad for him. I don’t know what kind of conditions that child grew up in, so I took them to register their Kairo Energy at the nearest Sensory Tower. A few days later, I visited again… He was quiet and wouldn’t speak. But the other kid shouted at me, ‘Hey you! Why are you coming to this village? I can protect it!’ ”

She gave a faint, silent laugh. “I thought it was funny. ‘Why is he shouting at me? What did I do?’ Even though he said that, I still patrolled that area.”

Yuki’s voice turned thoughtful. “My mind is confused. I’ll ask two questions, Maa… then I can totally understand if my dream is accurate or not.”

Miko gave her a puzzled glance. “Dream? I can’t understand why you’re asking these kinds of questions. I’m only answering because you asked. If Yui had asked, I would’ve whacked on her head.”

Yui gulped internally. – “Uff… well, I can’t ask her that boldly.”

Yuki hesitated, then spoke. “Maa, is there… any de-aging art?”

Miko nodded casually. “Yes. But why are you asking? Only healers can effectively use it.”

Yuki pressed on. “Okay… last question. Does the de-aging art make you look younger… or actually become younger?”

Miko raised an eyebrow. “Huh? Both are the same, right? Looking younger means they become younger.”

Yuki waved her hands subtly. “Ah, I’m not asking like that. How do I explain… I mean, can a 25-year-old guy have a different face—like that of a cute 10-year-old kid—and also be the same height as one?"

Miko shook her head immediately. “No.”

Yuki clenched her fists mentally. – ‘Finally! My dream is accurate. That red-haired guy is a cunning liar!’

Yui groaned. – “What rubbish theory. They can still sense they Kairo Energy, you idiot. Well, I’ll ask now.”

– ‘Wait, I’ll ask one last question. After that, you ask.’

Yui let out a long sigh. – “Shit… okay.”

Yuki leaned in. “Maa, just suppose—for example—is it possible that Ren is an 8-year-old kid?”

“Huh!? Are you mad? No!”

Yui stepped forward hesitantly. “Mom, I’ll ask instead of Yuki. But don’t get serious, okay? I’m 30 years old now.”

Miko tilted her head, confused. “What do you want to ask?”

Yui looked at her mother intently. “Whenever I ask, you never tell me. Maybe it’s because my type isn’t that… but I want to know—what exactly are the Sensemitter abilities?”

Miko gave her a confused look. “What will you gain from knowing? You can’t use them, right? That’s why I never told you.”

“But I still want to know. I only know they sense Kairo Energy and transmit messages. I don’t know their limits or other abilities. Other Sensemitters use them, but I can’t see.”

Miko gave her a narrow-eyed smirk. “You want to know your mother’s abilities?”

Yui nodded seriously. “Yes.”

Yuki’s voice came through mentally. – ‘Why are you asking?’

– “Well, eventually we can ask our questions. And I also want to know my mom’s abilities. But… I think we can’t ask about that guy.”

– ‘Huh? Why?’

– “My mother doesn’t like it. I don’t want to ask either… I’m only doing it because of you.”

“Has nobody ever used Sensemitter power on you? Well… my abilities aren’t really meant for combat.”

“It’s okay, Mom. I still want to know.”

Miko sighed. “From where should I start…? Well, let me show you practically.”

She closed her eyes briefly.

– { Hey, Yuki. You can talk to me directly now. }

Both Yui and Yuki froze, eyes wide.

Yui gasped. – “Mom! I didn’t do an agreement, right?! How are you able to talk like this!?”

Yuki stammered mentally. – ‘Maa… did you enter Yui’s body like me?’

– “Hey, it’s not like that.”

Miko smiled calmly. – { This is one of my abilities. I can speak to anyone without needing mind voice exchange art. I don’t need their agreement. }

– ‘Mind voice exchange art?’

Yui explained with a small sigh. – “It’s a method to create a transmission link between minds—but both persons must agree to communicate.”

Yuki blinked. – ‘Wait… but you said maa didn’t agree with you. Then how did she come into our mind?’

Yui folded her arms. – “Didn’t you hear what mom just said? That’s her ability.”

Yuki’s voice echoed with hesitation. – ‘Then… isn’t that invading privacy?’

Miko’s body flinched slightly, her eyes softening. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to come across like that. I only wanted to show my ability practically.”

Yui shook her head. – “Why are you apologizing, Mom? It’s okay. Tell me more. That’s not your only ability, right?”

Miko relaxed a little. “Well… I can talk to everyone without their permission.”

Yui tilted her head. “Is there a limit?”

Miko nodded. “Haa… normally, it’s 10 meters like with the mind voice exchange art. But I can speak up to 30 meters.”

Yui frowned. “Then why is it called Sensemitter? Mom… you’re not telling me everything.”

Miko chuckled lightly. “Hey, I’m explaining slowly so it’s easier to understand. Well, I can also talk over longer distances with other Sensemitters. I can’t sense the exact location, but I can estimate distance based on the brightness of my transmission link.”

“Brightness?”

Miko sighed. “Uff… how do I explain this… When I activate my transmitting ability, I can see the transmission link in my mind—like a glowing thread connecting me to another Sensemitter. Depending on the brightness of the thread I estimate how far they are. But the range is limited to a few kilometers.”

“Oh, now I understand. But… is it the same for your sensing ability?”

Miko raised a finger. “First, I’ll explain the security system. Then it’ll be easier to understand.”

She cleared her throat and continued, “There are many Sensory Towers throughout the kingdom. Each one has a large Archive Crystal—a huge memory crystal—and a Pulse-Sending Crystal. You’ve heard of them, right?”

Yui nodded. “Haa, I know.”

Miko went on, “The Pulse-Sending Crystal emits a thin pulse into the air. It doesn’t harm or affect people. But when it touches someone’s Kairo Energy, it bounces back to the tower.”

“Then?”

Yuki’s voice cut in again, slightly impatient. – ‘Hey, what are you both talking about? This isn’t related to that guy, right?’

– “Keep quiet and listen to Mom. You’ll understand more about our world.”

Yuki muttered in a bored tone. – ‘Hmm… okay.’

Miko continued calmly, “The pulse touches the Archive Crystal which is a nearby pulse sending crystal, then verifies the bounced energy with registered Kairo data. If the Kairo Energy doesn’t match any known individual, the Archive Crystal sends out high-alert pulses across the area. We Sensemitters near that tower then receive those pulses.”

Yui blinked. “Huh?”

Miko continued calmly, “The pulses don’t affect people. Once we receive them, we activate our sensing ability and perform a deep scan to locate the direction of the intruder.”

Yui tilted her head. “I have a doubt, Mom… How can you also sense the enemy?”

Miko let out a soft sigh. “First of all, when anyone registers their Unique Kairo Energy in the Archive Crystal, the crystal sends their Kairo Energy—to nearby Archive Crystals through pulses. Those crystals then pass it on to others… and so on.”

Yui frowned. “But Mom, that’s not answering my question.”

Miko’s brows furrowed slightly. “First, listen to what I’m saying. I am getting to that question.”

She took a breath. “After that registration, we—Sensemitters—access the Archive Crystal regularly, either daily, or weekly, or monthly. During that time, our minds store the Kairo Energies of all registered individuals.”

She continued with clarity, “Normally, we Sensemitters can sense everyone’s presence. But we can’t instantly tell who is an intruder and who belongs to the kingdom. That’s why we access the Archive Crystal. If a high-alert pulse reaches us, then we perform a deep scan of the area. We cross-reference the energy we sense with the data in our minds to identify intruders and pinpoint their direction.”

“Then… Why can’t a Sensemitter do that directly? Why do you need the pulse-sending crystals?”

Miko gave a sarcastic scoff, her eyes narrowing slightly with a hint of irritation. “You dumb girl. You don’t even know that? The pulse-sending crystal emits pulses continuously. How can we do that? If we sent pulses nonstop, our Kairo Energy would be drained completely. Only after high-alert pulses reach us, we will begin sending our own pulses—ours can reach farther than the pulse-sending crystals.”

She added with a smug smirk, “And by the way, we can also store as much data as an Archive Crystal. Don’t underestimate us.”

Yui blinked again. “Wait… how can you store that much—?”

Miko interrupted confidently, “That’s an inborn ability of ours. Some people may be disappointed in it. some learn other basic arts instead, some accept it and make the best of it… and some, like me, just live peacefully.”

Yui puffed her cheeks, clearly sulking. “Okay, okay mom…” She raised her hand slightly. “So that means… the Archive Crystal sends out two types of pulses. One when someone registers, and one when an intruder’s energy doesn’t match?”

Miko nodded, letting out a soft sigh. “Yes. Now you’re starting to understand everything.”

– “Alright, now ask your final question.”

Yuki paused. – ‘Huh? What final question?’

– “You’ve been listening, right? I think you’re already guessing it… there might be a possibility.”

– ‘Yeah, I’ve been listening… but not to that last part. Before you ask about that, I want to ask one question anyway.’

Author’s Note:

> I use:

{ } - For Sensemitters

> What do you think that question is? I believe you can easily guess it. Thanks for reading!