Hajin woke up groaning, the light coming through the window hitting his eyes like a personal attack as he pressed the heel of his palm against his forehead.

The headache from last night was still there, dull and persistent, which was annoying since he had hoped sleep would fix it.

He sat up slowly, letting out a long breath before swinging his legs off the bed and standing up. A quick wash and a change of clothes later, he felt slightly more human as he made his way downstairs with Juna following close behind.

The inn’s common room was quiet, a few travelers scattered across the tables while the innkeeper’s wife moved around behind the counter.

He nodded at her as he sat down at an empty table near the corner, Juna sliding into the seat across from him. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Before they could even look at the menu, the front door swung open.

Three knights stepped inside, their armor catching the morning light as they scanned the room with efficiency. Their eyes stopped on him almost immediately, and he felt his shoulders tense up while they walked over and stopped right next to his table.

"Are you Hajin?" the lead knight asked, his tone formal.

"That depends on what this is about," he replied, keeping his voice flat.

The knight didn’t react to the answer, just reached into his coat and pulled out a sealed letter before placing it on the table in front of him. The envelope bore the royal crest pressed into crimson wax.

"From the palace," the knight said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Delivered directly to you. Read it when you get the chance."

He stared at the letter for a second before letting out a long, tired sigh.

"Great, more problems," he muttered under his breath, picking up the envelope and turning it over in his hands before breaking the wax seal and pulling out the folded paper inside.

The knights didn’t leave, just standing there with their arms behind their backs while he read.

His eyes moved across the page, scanning the formal language about his assignment to a high-tier Gate raid team under direct royal order.

Deployment was set for tomorrow morning, meeting point was the capital’s eastern gate, and the raid roster included several elite knights and representatives from the Great Families.

He finished reading, folded the letter back up, and let it drop onto the table before letting out a tired sigh.

"Alright, I will be there tomorrow morning," he said, keeping his voice flat.

The lead knight gave a short nod, "very good. We will see you at the eastern gate at dawn," before turning around and leading his men out of the inn.

The door swung shut, and the common room fell back into its low morning hum.

Juna waited a few seconds before speaking, "Are you really going?"

"Well, it is higher ranked than I would like," he said, picking up his cup of water, "but we needed to go Gate hunting anyway."

"What is the rank?" she asked.

"Seven shards."

Juna was quiet for a moment, "a seven shard Gate, and the King assigned you to a raid team with elite knights?"

He let out a short, dry laugh. "Yeah, it does sound like they either want me dead or expect a miracle, maybe both."

"I do not like this one bit," Juna said, her ears pressing flat against her head.

"Yeah, it does sound fishy," he admitted, tapping his finger against the table. "I suspect it is the same Gate Kenny failed to clear, but I am sure he was not at a seven-shard level. Did they mess up the measurement somehow?"

She shook her head slowly, "if the measurement is wrong, that means the Gate is even more dangerous than they think, which is more reason not to go."

"I cannot decline this unfortunately," he said, his voice calm but firm. "The King is sponsoring me, and if I refuse a direct assignment, it will give me a bad image. The political fallout would not be worth it."

She let out a long, quiet sigh, knowing this was not going to be easy by the way her shoulders dropped.

He tapped the table again, then looked at her with a thoughtful expression. "Do you want a sister?"

She blinked, her head tilting slightly as the question caught her completely off-guard. "What?"

"Think it is about time I summon another soul from the Veil," he said, leaning back in his chair. "A partner for you."

She stared at him for a second. "Wait, last time I asked you said you could not. Can you now?"

"Yeah, I can."

That was still a shock to hear, the idea that he could just pull people out of a divine dimension, but she quickly pushed past it.

"Is the timing alright? What if they come out like I did? Running away and causing trouble?"

He let out a short breath, acknowledging the point. "True, but we do not have a choice right now. We are going to need more firepower for that Gate."

She was quiet for a moment, her tail curling around her leg as she thought it over before she finally gave a small nod. "Alright."

They finished breakfast quickly, dropping a few coins on the table before heading out. The streets were still waking up as they moved through the city and out toward the eastern forest, putting enough distance between themselves and the capital until the buildings were nothing but distant shapes behind them.

Hajin stopped in a small clearing, the trees forming a loose circle around them as he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck.

"Alright, I am ready," he said, pulling up the summoning interface in his vision.

Juna took a position a few feet away, her ears swiveling as she scanned the tree line before nodding. "I am ready as well."

He glanced at the stream panel and noticed CringeSlayer91 typing.

[ CringeSlayer91:] oh shit here we go again

[ CringeSlayer91:] remember the first time juna was summoned bro was not ready for a naked wolf girl LMAO

[ ShadowMage44:] hoping for another naked summon 🙏

[ DarkBlade:] chat is down bad as always

He ignored them and focused, pushing his mana toward the panel the same way he had done back then.

The dark gold lines spread open in front of him, forming the familiar circle, but just as he was about to complete the manifestation, the system panel flickered and a new window appeared.

[ Soul Selection Available ]

[ At your current level, these are the only souls you can summon. ]

He blinked, staring at the unexpected prompt. ’What the hell is this? This did not happen when I summoned Juna.’

He read the text again, his brow furrowing. ’At my current level... so back then I was too low for a selection? Or did something change after the Goddess fragment awakened?’

A list appeared in his vision, silhouettes and vague impressions scrolling down the page with a percentage value next to each entry, compatibility.

Some were as low as twelve percent, others hovered around forty or fifty, and a few sat in the high seventies.

He scrolled through them, frowning as the numbers shifted past his view, but then his finger stopped.

At the very bottom of the list, almost hidden behind the scroll bar, a single entry caught his eye.

[ Compatibility: 100% ]

He stared at it, his eyebrows rising slightly. "That cannot be right."

Juna tilted her head from her spot. "What cannot be right?"

Before he could answer, a new prompt flickered in front of him.

[ Summon this soul? ]

[ Yes ] [ No ]