I Became a Foreign Worker Loved by Transcendents

Chapter 127: A Monster Who Dreams Of Reunion

Chapter 127: A Monster Who Dreams Of Reunion

Demons, undead, beastmen, and vampires…

In an era where countless things brought chaos to the world, humanity couldn’t help but long for salvation at every moment of their lives.

The Orion Empire was the sole hope for those who wandered in search of such salvation.

Everyone firmly believed that by pooling their strength in that still-civilized place, they would surely become free from all dangers targeting them.

Knock, knock.

The deepest room on the first floor of the Imperial Palace, where the empire’s leadership resided.

A maid, carrying a tray with a meal, quietly knocked on the door and spoke in a tense voice to the person beyond.

“Um, Miss Vivian. Excuse me. Are you there?”

Vivian Platonis.

A distinguished guest personally invited by the imperial family from the Magic Tower, whom they have defined as ‘humanity’s hope’.

However, despite being a being that could be called a savior, the servant who opened the door felt what could only be described as fear.

“Um, Miss… Vivian?”

Thunk.

“Eek!”

As soon as she stepped inside, something collapsed with a sound.

Fearing it might have been an attempt to attack her, the maid who screamed hastily covered her mouth and began looking around the room.

The room was so dark that one couldn’t see an inch ahead, even in broad daylight.

Not only were the curtains drawn, but any spot that could let in light was blocked by piles of books and documents.

The noise earlier likely came from books stacked at the entrance falling over.

Creak.

But the issue was not the cause of the noise, but whether the result might irritate the other party.

Creak, creak.

The inside of the room was cluttered with piles of documents.

A figure was half-lifting a chair in front of the desk and swaying, as if finding the situation tedious.

No, more than that, it seemed as though she was completely out of it.

Her poorly maintained hair, along with her dull eyes and pale skin, gave the impression of a walking corpse.

“Um, um, um…”

“Leave it there.”

The maid froze in surprise at the sudden, dry and lifeless response from Vivian, who momentarily stopped swaying the chair and began to look at her with eyes that seemed to glide over her.

“I told you to leave what you brought over there.”

Her dry, listless voice betrayed no sign of displeasure.

The dry, weak voice showed no sign of displeasure. Realizing that she hadn’t disturbed Vivian’s mood, the maid silently followed her instructions and placed the meal she had brought on the table. That was when she noticed the many trays, likely brought by someone before her.

‘She hasn’t eaten at all?’

The food, lavishly decorated befitting royal hospitality, showed no signs of being touched and had dried up and started to emit a foul odor, indicating it had been left untouched for quite some time. There was no news of her leaving the room; could it be she had been skipping meals for days to focus on her work?

“Aren’t you leaving?”

“Y-yes! I’m sorry!”

Yes, she was a being that someone like the maid should not dare to concern herself with. The maid, worried about being harmed, closed the door and hurried away, arriving at the arms of her colleagues waiting anxiously in the middle of the hallway.

“H-how did it go? Are you safe?”

“No missing limbs, right?!”

“Uh, uh-huh. F-fortunately…”

Every single concern was grave. But the maid who had taken the meal knew better than anyone that those concerns were not unfounded.

Some of those who had visited her room had returned as corpses, most because they had “offended her.” Nobles, knights who came to quell the disturbances, and even heroes jealous of the attention she received….

“Just recently, a hero entered her room without permission and lost his lower half in the blink of an eye, right?”

“Y-yeah. I saw it. He screamed with his lower body gone, and then his head disappeared…!”

“Eek. Why did the royals bring such a dangerous person to the palace? Shouldn’t she be imprisoned?”

“It’s beyond that. Seeing how she faces no consequences for killing nobles or heroes, it seems she’s been granted a complete pardon…”

The collective murmuring that formed around the servant who returned alive.

This meant her survival was considered miraculous, but such enthusiastic sentiments and fears were bound to be short-lived.

Clunk, clunk.

Soon, the sound of armor clashing began to be heard.

The noise came from the opposite side of the corridor, where soldiers were hastily running somewhere.

Soldiers running around inside the Imperial Palace, a place far from the battlefield, implied that something serious had happened.

---

“This isn’t it.”

But for Vivian, the uproar outside the door was of no concern.

From the beginning, she had no interest in the imperial family, the Magic Tower she belonged to, or even the future of humanity. Her sole purpose was to complete her research and expand the passage to the outer dimension.

Vivian cooperated with humanity solely for the sake of her research. Therefore, she felt no obligation to interfere with any problems arising within the Imperial palace.

Yes, she had moved her laboratory here to receive support from the palace, beyond the Magic Tower, for that very reason…

“…This isn’t it. This isn’t right.”

Yet, at some point, her research made no progress, seemingly stuck in place, merely repeating the same steps over and over.

No matter how many books she scoured or formulas she devised, it seemed impossible to come up with anything better than the current summoning spell…

“It’s all wrong. With this…”

She couldn’t produce results.

Opening a pathway to another world, her ultimate goal, seemed unattainable.

Days of such fruitless efforts had continued for months, and her mind had become filled with a fog so dense that she could no longer recall her initial purpose.

‘…Why was I doing this research?’

It must have been for an important purpose.

The reason she had been obsessed with her research since awakening must have been because the purpose was that important.

But when she tried to recall that important purpose, she couldn’t remember it.

Was it because there had been no progress in her research, leading to days without sleep, or was it because she was hungry?

Gurgle.

After all, even thinking requires energy.

Feeling the pangs of hunger exacerbating her frustration, Vivian reached for the dish the maid had brought earlier.

A sandwich made with fresh, high-quality ingredients by the imperial chef.

Just as she was about to take a bite, she dropped it to the floor and let out a deep sigh.

“…I don’t want to eat.”

Wasn’t it strange?

Despite being the finest food prepared by the best chefs, she had no appetite, not even the minimal desire to eat to sustain herself.

‘When was the last time I had a proper meal?’

Even so, the rising hunger led her to search through her foggy mind.

As the light from the window illuminated the room, those hazy thoughts began to clear.

Thud!

Yes, someone had invaded through the window.

Vivian, on high alert, looked up to see someone silhouetted against the sunlight streaming in through the parted curtains.

A man in a mask, dressed like a gentleman in a black cape and a tailcoat.

“Oh, I stopped by to hide for a moment, but it seems I have company?”

“…Who are you?”

“Just a passerby intruder. Not someone grand enough to introduce myself, but I hope you’ll accept that much for now…”

A man suspicious to anyone’s eyes.

After descending from the window frame, he began to swiftly scan the cluttered interior of the room.

As if habitually surveying a newly entered place.

“…Are you here to disrupt my research?”

As his gaze landed on her research materials, Vivian’s hand reflexively raised.

At the flick of her hand, the space where he stood would be isolated, and parts of his body would be sucked into a dimensional rift, disappearing.

If she aimed for a limb, it would be severed; if for the head, life would be extinguished…

“That’s not it. As I said before, I’m just here to hide for a moment…”

The unidentified man, not sensing the danger, soon apologized, bowing in front of Vivian.

“But that’s my business, so you need not concern yourself. If I’ve interrupted your work, allow me to apologize.”

His demeanor was more polite than the intruders who had come before.

Of course, she could use her powers if she found him displeasing, but she felt no inclination to do so at the moment.

With no progress in her research and her concentration broken, the arrival of someone wouldn’t necessarily be an intrusion.

“Ah, no… It’s fine. I’m just resting right now… It’s not really an interruption.”

“Haha, thanks for letting it slide. I appreciate your kindness.”

The intruder felt relief at having successfully asked for her understanding.

Then, with his masked face, he began to look around and examine the research results one by one in the room.

Complex and extremely precise formulas. Even without specific knowledge, anyone could guess she was a great scholar from the contents abundantly present.

Taking just a few of these documents to the black market could potentially interest scholars from the Magic Tower, willing to pay a hefty sum for them.

“Come to think of it, I heard there was a scholar directly invited by the Imperial Family… Hmm?”

His interest in her identity was brief. Soon, the intruder’s gaze shifted to a newspaper buried among the documents.

It was natural to be curious about the only item among the academically valuable documents that served to convey news of the outside world.

‘Hero Killer, Hero Hunter… and the war that broke out at the Dragon’s Tomb a month ago.’

The moment he realized all the news in the newspaper pointed to a single individual.

A gleam began to sparkle in the eyes behind the mask, and his gaze shifted back to Vivian.

“Do you, by any chance, know a man named ‘Woo Hyo-sung’?”

Thud!

The chair she had been sitting in tipped backwards.

Her body tumbled to the floor, overwhelmed by pain, but Vivian paid no attention to her own state, quickly turning her interest to him.

“Woo… Woo Hyo…?”

“I asked if you know a man named Woo Hyo-sung.”

“Y-you, you, you, you, do you know him?”

Vivian crawled towards him with trembling hands.

The way she looked up at him was not just pathetic but also pitiful, yet the eyes looking back at her sparkled with excitement.

“Well, just an acquaintance for a moment. He once attended to me.”

“Attended…?”

“Yes, he used to carry my things when we entered dungeons. Did you also receive such help from him?”

“Uh, uh-huh. Woo Hyo, he helped me a lot. He made meals, cleaned… Hehehehe.”

Her face blushed shyly, and her hand was placed over her fluttering heart.

Facing her timid laughter, the intruder quietly adjusted his silk hat and honestly expressed his feelings.

“Your expression has brightened.”

“Eh, what?”

“When I first saw you, you had a face as if the world were ending. Did you collect news about him because you wanted to meet him?”

Vivian closed her mouth and wore a blank expression in response to his question.

Did that mean she hadn’t fully grasped what he said?

Was it because she was unaware of the reason behind her careful preservation of news about him, buried among the piles of documents?

Thump, thump!

The sound of a fierce collision coming from the entrance interrupted their conversation.

It didn’t take long to realize it was those who had been pursuing her.

“Miss Vivian! Are you there?!”

“The leader of the rebels has invaded the Imperial Palace! We will be entering for investigation, please understand!!”

Yes, the current intruder was one of the most notoriously wanted individuals in the empire.

Though they risked angering her, the soldiers were determined to enter, even at the cost of their lives. Vivian was a figure critical to the survival of humanity, and protecting her was a mission that justified any sacrifice.

“Um… Uh!”

“Make sure to eat properly at least.”

As Vivian, not understanding the situation, was about to speak, the intruder handed her the sandwich. His actions were as refined and polite as his attire.

“If he holds no grudge against you, he might be saddened to see you like this.”

“Uh?”

“If you’ve seen the news, you might guess, right? If he has made achievements, surely the Imperial Palace would also be interested.”

Based on the news she had collected, it was certain that he was under the watchful eye of the Imperial Palace.

Despite the significant changes from the person she knew, she felt a sense of anticipation about possibly meeting him someday. Meeting someone with whom she shared a bond, even briefly, was a small achievement from this intrusion.

“While I can’t reveal my identity publicly, should you happen to meet that friend, please convey my regards. Your old friend truly congratulates you on your success.”

As he expressed such friendliness and jumped out the window, the entrance opened with a thud!

But by then, the intruder had already disappeared, and only Vivian, biting into a sandwich, sat dazedly inside the room.

To the palace, Vivian was a guest of utmost importance, even more so than the highest nobles. They feared that displeasing her could cost them their lives, yet as protectors of the palace, they had no choice but to ensure her safety first.

“Miss Vivian, are you safe? The intruder is…”

“…Pfft.”

The moment they approached with tension, a slight laugh escaped from her lips.

“Ehehehehe~”

“M-Miss Vivian?”

“This, after eating all this…”

Afterward, Vivian, having taken a bite of the sandwich, swiftly set it down and turned to look at them.

The moment they saw her face, their breath stopped because something they thought impossible had happened.

“If I keep eating well… we can meet again, right~?”

The monster, who had dismembered anything that annoyed her with a stoic face, was now smiling happily. Naturally, this sent chills down their spines.