Chapter 101, Euphemia’s Grandfather

That single glance was enough for Mind Freya to make a judgment.

The old man was definitely a Rank Three or higher Scholar Path practitioner.

After all, Scholars were among the few who could see through [Psychological Invisibility].

But after looking at Mind Freya for a moment, the old man calmly turned his gaze away.

Mind Freya did not think much of it either.

They were complete strangers. Naturally, there was no reason for any conflict between them.

The two continued walking.

When they reached an intersection, the hypnotized Death Path practitioner ahead turned left.

That road led toward the police station.

Mind Freya turned right instead.

That was the way home.

Then she noticed the elderly Scholar turn right as well.

Mind Freya glanced at him again.

The old man looked back at her.

A little while later, the two of them stopped one after the other in front of Euphemia’s rented apartment.

At this point, they clearly could not pretend this was just a coincidence between two strangers anymore.

Mind Freya thought for a moment.

“Are you... Effie’s grandfather?”

The clues were obvious.

He was definitely on the Scholar Path.

He was elderly.

And he had clearly come here looking for Euphemia.

Who else could he be?

Her guess was correct.

The old man nodded.

“You’re one of Euphemia’s friends?”

He studied Mind Freya more carefully.

“Are you the girl named Freya?”

“...No. That doesn’t seem right.”

“Euphemia told me Freya was an ordinary person, but you’re clearly a high-ranking Mind Path practitioner.”

This family visit had come far too suddenly.

Mind Freya wiped at the cold sweat that did not actually exist on her forehead.

“Uh... I’m not Freya.”

“But I’m also one of Effie’s friends.”

The old man gave her another long look.

If he had not already known Euphemia had advanced to Rank Four, he might have started wondering whether Mind Freya had hypnotized or brainwashed his granddaughter.

After all, Euphemia had never mentioned having a Mind Path friend in any of her letters.

The Mind Path really did have a terrible reputation in the extraordinary world.

Then the situation became even more awkward.

Mind Freya almost never left the house.

Naturally, she had no habit of carrying a key.

And this time, Freya’s main body had pulled her out using the system’s recall-and-summon mechanism.

So now...

Mind Freya could not open the door.

⸻

At that exact moment, War Freya and Euphemia were out eating and shopping.

War Freya’s expression suddenly stiffened.

“Effie, your grandfather is here!”

“He’s standing outside your apartment right now!”

Euphemia froze with food halfway to her mouth.

“?”

“My grandfather? Why is he here?”

“How would I know?” War Freya replied. “Just hurry back. My Mind Path copy is already stuck outside with him in the most awkward silence imaginable.”

Euphemia did not waste time.

She stuffed a few final bites of food into her mouth, stood up, and immediately headed home.

Before they reached the apartment, War Freya said, “I’ll disappear first.”

A moment later, Freya recalled her into the system.

One extra person meant one extra problem to explain.

And besides...

The War Path’s reputation was even worse than the Mind Path’s.

When Euphemia finally reached her apartment, she found Mind Freya crouched obediently near the door with both arms wrapped around her knees.

Standing beside her was Euphemia’s grandfather.

Augustus Mo Holmes.

Euphemia immediately waved.

“Grandpa! Why are you here?”

Augustus turned toward her.

The stern expression on his face instantly softened into a warm smile.

He did not answer at first.

Instead, he simply opened his arms.

Euphemia immediately jogged over and threw herself into his embrace.

They hugged for a while before separating.

Augustus gently patted her head.

“What? I’m not allowed to care about my own granddaughter and come see her?”

“But Grandpa, aren’t you really busy?” Euphemia asked. “Don’t you have a ton of other things to do?”

Augustus was a Rank Five [Craftsman].

Normally, there should have been plenty of people commissioning him to create extraordinary items.

Augustus snorted.

“How could any of that nonsense be more important than my adorable granddaughter?”

“I pushed everything back.”

“They can wait.”

He glanced toward the door.

“Now, are we really going to stand out here talking all day? Aren’t you going to invite me inside?”

Only then did Euphemia pull out her key and open the door.

After the two of them entered, Mind Freya quietly rose from the ground and slipped in after them, closing the door behind her.

She had no intention of disturbing the grandfather-granddaughter reunion.

The moment she got inside, she started sneaking toward the bedroom, planning to leave the two of them alone.

Augustus waved at her.

“You come too.”

“I’m rather curious about Euphemia’s friends.”

Mind Freya froze halfway through her escape.

There was no helping it.

She followed them into the sitting room and sat down beside Euphemia.

Augustus’s reason for coming was actually quite simple.

Euphemia had been advancing far too quickly.

How long had it been?

She had already advanced two whole Ranks.

Augustus was worried that something might be wrong, so he had come personally to check on her.

“There’s absolutely no problem,” Euphemia assured him. “I have a very good friend on the Earth Path. She can check exactly how far I’ve digested my potion.”

“The Earth Path...” Augustus murmured.

Then he frowned slightly.

“Why have you never mentioned this friend to me?”

The Earth Path’s reputation was almost the complete opposite of the Mind and War Paths.

If an Earth Path practitioner told you that your potion was fully digested, then it was almost certainly fully digested.

There was practically no reason to worry about an Earth Path practitioner deliberately lying about something like that.

Euphemia pouted.

“Grandpa! Isn’t it normal for me to have lots of friends?”

“How am I supposed to mention every single one of them to you?”

Augustus looked at her.

“Then why do you mention that friend named Freya so often?”

Euphemia immediately froze.

She forcefully stopped herself from glancing toward Mind Freya.

Instead, she kept her expression as calm as possible.

“She’s my best friend. Isn’t it normal that I talk about her more?”

Augustus gave her a knowing look.

“Your... best friend?”

He deliberately put extra emphasis on the word “best.”

No one knew Euphemia better than her own family.

Augustus knew exactly what kind of person his granddaughter was.

And what kind of people she tended to like.

More importantly, Augustus was a Rank Five Scholar Path practitioner.

His powers of observation and intelligence were both exceptionally high.

Euphemia immediately raised her voice.

“Yes! My best friend. What’s wrong with that?”

Augustus smiled.

“Nothing at all.”

“As long as you like her.”

Whether it was because he spoiled Euphemia too much or simply had unusually open-minded views, Augustus clearly did not care about this sort of thing.

There was another practical reason too.

The Holmes family had plenty of children.

Euphemia alone had at least seven or eight siblings.

Even if she never had children of her own, it would hardly cause the family any problems.

Mind Freya, meanwhile, sat beside them with question marks practically filling her face.

What exactly were these two talking about?