"Faster! Faster—!"

Theseos ran after Tie with a stunned expression as she pulled him along by the hand.

Around them, things drifted past slowly—things he could not understand at all.

Roads laid high above, supported by stone structures.

And something thundered across them at great speed.

Even the trees and grass by the roadside looked strangely unfamiliar.

Whenever he glanced toward a place where he sensed someone’s presence, oddly dressed strangers stared intently at him.

"Over here!"

At that moment, Tie darted somewhere, still pulling Theseos with her.

It was behind a large building.

Looking at the child in front of him, gasping for breath, Theseos barely held back a sigh.

‘This isn’t an illusion.’

And yet nothing felt real.

In this space, the only things he recognized were the sky and the clouds...

Uuuuu—

At that moment, something gleaming burst out from the clouds.

Theseos reflexively pulled Tie into his arms and crouched.

He thought it was a flying magical creature rushing straight at them.

But no attack came.

For some reason, Tie let out a heavy breath in his arms.

"Not a magical creature... an airplane."

"What?"

Tie wriggled free from his arms and, as if struggling to explain, said:

"It’s something that flies in the sky by itself... like a carriage."

Theseos’s lips parted slightly.

A carriage that flies through the sky?

He let out a quiet scoff, but his expression soon turned serious.

Then he asked in a steady voice:

"You know this place?"

Astie’s face darkened.

The child pressed her lips together, then slowly nodded.

"I do."

"Then lead the way."

"Lead...?"

"We need to go back."

Tie flinched and lowered her gaze.

Her expression dimmed.

If only she knew the way back.

But Tie had not come here because she wanted to.

The child unconsciously touched her chest.

The moment when the strange stone beside Ardiana had suddenly been pulled straight into her chest still lingered vividly before her eyes.

After that, she had not been able to do anything.

She had been separated from Lucarion and dragged into Korea together with Papa.

The child’s face grew serious.

‘Did Kkamani’s magic disperse?’

But if that were the case, shouldn’t only Tie have returned?

Why had she come together with Papa? What had even happened? She could not understand at all.

However, Tie first clenched both of her small fists tightly.

Then, after taking a deep breath, she quickly ran ahead of Papa.

"King of the Dead. Where are you going again!"

Theseos hurried after her, but suddenly stopped.

Tie was standing in front of a strange green container.

The child pointed seriously at the bin, which was much taller than her.

"Deputy leader. Put your hand inside."

"What...?"

"Put your hand in like this and take things out, okay?"

Following where she pointed, Theseos saw a black opening at the top of the container.

He looked at Tie as if he could not believe what he was hearing.

"What are you talking about? We need to go back immediately."

But Tie did not falter at all and answered:

"Listen to Tie! This is how we go home!"

"...By putting my hand in there?"

"Yes! Everything Tie says now is to get us home!"

The child’s expression suddenly turned firm.

Theseos ran a hand through his hair.

But then—

"Hah."

He still put his hand into the green container as Astie had said.

There was nothing else he could do right now anyway.

Inside—he felt all kinds of strange things.

Whether he could take them out or not.

Something soft, something crumbly, pieces of unfamiliar fabric with fine fuzz.

"This is..."

"Deputy leader. Put them on, quickly."

Before he could ask anything, something black was placed into his hands.

It looked very strange, but by now Theseos could guess.

"Clothes?"

Tie nodded and was already rummaging through the pile he had taken out.

Finding a yellow raincoat, she quickly put it on over her clothes.

On the chest was a small duck holding an umbrella.

"Quick, quick. Take that off."

After putting on the raincoat, Tie urged Theseos on.

He sighed, but still took off his tunic.

Then he put on the strange clothes Tie had given him.

All black, with some kind of odd pouch on the back.

"Put this on your head."

Tie picked up another item and handed it to him.

"...A shovel?"

"It’s not a shovel, it’s a hat. Put it on quickly."

A hat?

How could something shaped like a shovel be a hat?

Theseos chose not to ask.

He was confused and irritated, but for now, it seemed wiser to obey the King of the Dead.

It seemed Astie knew something about this place.

When Theseos put the hat on, Tie reached out her hands, as if calling him closer.

The child pulled him down and tugged the hood over the cap, tightly covering his head.

"Mm, pants..."

Seeing Theseos’s torn trousers, Tie shook her head.

She rummaged through the pile of clothes again, but when she found nothing suitable, she frowned.

Tie looked up at him.

"Deputy leader. Can’t you get more?"

Theseos shook his head. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

He could not reach any deeper now—his arm simply would not go far enough.

Tie accepted this with a serious expression.

She pulled out a pair of thick quilted pants with a floral pattern that she had already chosen.

"Then wear these."

Theseos slightly parted his lips as he looked at the pants in front of him.

What kind of place was this, where all the clothes were like this?

The fabric was densely embroidered with pink roses and green leaves.

He did not know much about clothing, but even he could tell—this was not men’s clothing.

"...Wear this?"

"Mm. Better than blood-covered pants!"

"Hah."

Theseos took the pants.

And reluctantly put them on.

They were so short that his ankles were completely exposed, but Tie immediately grabbed his hand.

"Now let’s go!"

"...To the palace?"

"Home!"

He frowned.

Home—did she mean the base at Rosevelg?

For now, he decided to simply follow her.

They turned the corner.

And when they reached a crosswalk, Theseos suddenly froze.

Vroooom—

Across the open space, objects the size of mid-level magical creatures rushed in every direction.

And inside each one were people.

Beside him, the King of the Dead spoke quietly:

"Good thing we ended up close to home."

A strangely complicated expression appeared on the child’s face.

At that moment, the vehicles stopped, and people began crossing the street.

Tie tightly grasped Theseos’s hand.

"Let’s go, quickly."

And, leaving behind the police car visible in the distance, she quickly moved forward.

Gold Yonlip was about ten minutes from the park where Tie had been separated from Papa.

After crossing the road and turning into an alley, Tie let out a relieved breath—the number of people had decreased.

‘Our neighborhood...’

The child’s eyes trembled as she looked at the familiar scenery.

To be honest, it would be a lie to say she had not missed Jongno after going to Tallocium.

She had left for Papa’s sake, but too much had been left behind here.

Tie looked at Papa beside her again.

Papa had been silent for some time now.

Ever since Tie explained to him about the police and prison.

Because of that, she did not have to explain complicated things like identification or why it caused problems not to have it.

At that moment, a familiar building appeared ahead.

The child swallowed as she read the sign on the second floor:

"Gold Yonlip."

But when she saw the door to apartment 106, where they had lived together, she fell silent.

"..."

On the door of the dark ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) apartment 106 hung an unfamiliar lock.