Raising Alencia (2)

My use of the stun gun on Alencia was not simply to torment her.

It was because it was an act absolutely necessary to make her aware of the power she possessed.

The power that Alencia held.

In other words, it was because in order for a Saintess to realize her 'authority', such a process was unavoidable.

'The authority of a Saintess is the most universal value of the era she lives in.'

That could be an idea as intangible as simple knowledge or an energy as tangible as fire.

A Saintess is someone who is born with the power that humanity of her time most desperately needs and desires.

So, what was the power that Alencia possessed?

The answer could be found in one of her uploaded broadcasts.

"This machine isn't working? It's not operating properly."

"Don't touch it! You'll get electrocuted if you do!"

It was a video of when Alencia went to take an aptitude test for awakened individuals.

The video showed various machines measuring Alencia's magic power and physical attributes, but if you watched closely, you would see that at first, the machine could not measure her magic power at all.

Bzzzzt!

"Eek!!"

But then, the moment Alencia touched the broken machine, sparks flew, and though it was just a little, her magic power increased.

'Why?'

I focused on that situation.

The machine malfunctioning was just a brief incident, but after that, Alencia's magic power was properly measured. In other words, in that instant, Alencia was exposed to something that resonated with her authority.

'Why did the machine malfunction in the first place?'

The machine, which had no issues before checking Alencia, stopped working properly and broke as soon as it was used on her.

'Could it be...?'

That was when I realized something.

A force that is inseparable from modern humanity and closely related to what just happened.

***

"... Huh?"

Alencia cautiously opened her tightly shut eyes.

Her teary eyes moved rolling about, looking at the stun gun that was touching her neck.

"This wasn't turned on?"

"It was turned on."

As she stumbled over her words, I smiled softly and slowly took the stun gun away from her neck.

I made sure everyone could see me turning off the stun gun, which had clearly been on.

Seeing this, PD Jung Jun-su asked in a flustered voice,

"St-stun guns don't work on awakened individuals?"

"They don't, that's right."

"Is that so?"

"From about C-rank and above, they should be able to withstand it."

"... Excuse me?"

But Alencia was an F-rank awakener—if my claim was right, she should have been affected by the stun gun.

PD Jung Jun-su probably understood what I was implying.

"Then why...why is Alencia safe?"

His question was the same one everyone, including Alencia herself, was wondering.

Before answering, I used the magic power measuring artifact on Alencia.

"Take a look."

"...?"

People looked at me with curiosity as I suddenly used the artifact.

Then, they all widened their eyes in unison and dropped their jaws.

"W-why did her magic power increase? Alencia's magic power is at 19 now?"

The first measurement had shown her magic power was only 8.

Now it was 19.

Even with a rough calculation, her magic power had increased by more than twice.

Of course, compared to Yeon-ji's measurement of 2,400, it was still very low, but the important point was that her magic power had increased with no prior sign.

"Is this...is this a malfunction?"

"No, it's accurate."

"Then why did her magic power suddenly increase?"

Now everyone was clearly interested in Alencia.

This was the moment I had been waiting for.

"Alencia restores her magic power with electricity. In other words, you could say she 'recharges' it."

"What?"

"Is something like that possible?"

There were plenty of awakened individuals with unusual abilities.

But none of them had ever been said to recharge their magic power using electricity.

"Recharging magic power with electricity... I've heard there's a study about this being conducted in the US recently, but as far as I know, there isn't any awakened individual with such an ability."

Even Yeon-ji said so, making everyone's gaze lock onto Alencia.

They wanted an explanation for what was happening.

"I—I don't know either."

Alencia herself looked more like she wanted answers.

"If Alencia had known about this, she wouldn't have reacted so surprised to the stun gun."

"T-that's true. Then, manager Park, how did you figure it out?"

In response, I played the video of Alencia's broadcast that had been uploaded not long ago.

The moment during her test when she was briefly shocked, and afterward her previously unmeasurable magic power was suddenly detected.

"Wow, you figured it out from seeing this?"

"What if it had only been a coincidence?"

The staff asked, impressed, and I shrugged.

"Well, then there would have been nothing I could do."

"..."

Nobody seemed to expect that answer; they all looked at a loss for words.

'I never expected to fail in the first place.'

If Alencia truly was a Saintess, a stun gun wouldn't even leave a scratch on her.

"In any case, PD Jung."

"... Yes?"

"We have in front of us the only awakened individual who can recharge magic power using electricity."

"!!"

PD Jung Jun-su was no fool.

He would have immediately realized what that meant.

An exclusive opportunity to film an awakened who recharges magic with electricity.

The fact that she was "James Walker's daughter" was a secondary matter.

If they could broadcast this, it would be a surefire hit.

"T-this is definitely good. But what should the concept of the show be...?"

"In that case, as the person who brought Alencia, may I make a suggestion?"

I spoke carefully, and PD Jung nodded.

"Until the train arrives in Los Angeles, film the process of raising Alencia to at least a B-rank hunter."

"Wait, isn't Alencia currently F-rank? The train stops for a while at some stations along the way, but even so, it's only about a month. Are you saying you can raise her to B-rank in such a short period?"

PD Jung responded as if it were ridiculous.

Anyone with a bit of knowledge about awakened individuals would agree.

If someone could be promoted to B-rank in a month, awakened individuals wouldn't have to struggle so hard to raise their ranks.

'Good thing I didn't say S-rank.'

Even mentioning B-rank caused this much surprise—it was the right amount of ambition.

"It's possible. And along the way, we'll upload making-of videos to HSN's official YouTube channel as promotion."

"Making-of videos?"

"Yes, for example, the sort of thing where I use a stun gun on Alencia's neck just now."

"Ah!"

PD Jung's face filled with regret at my words.

"Come to think of it, we should've filmed that. It would have been so impactful—what a waste."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that."

Reporter Pyo Jiyul grinned and produced a camera of an unusual type.

"Just in case, I've been filming everything all along."

"Ha, as expected of Reporter Pyo. You captured it perfectly."

"I have a knack for catching a scoop, don't I?"

He spoke as he subtly showed off his camera.

"Don't worry about image quality, either. This one's worth a billion won."

"A b-b-billion?"

Everyone's jaw dropped at the camera's staggering price.

What kind of camera could cost that much?

"This is a special camera made for shooting in dungeons—it won't break no matter how hard the impact. Moon Halo's President gave it to me as a present before."

It was certainly a camera worth bragging about.

Anyway, the important thing was that the whole sequence had been captured by that camera.

"The making-of film—it's a good idea. Alencia's an unfamiliar face to Korean viewers, so she could become more familiar to them before the show airs."

While Alencia definitely had high awareness as 'James Walker's daughter', that was in America. Though some Koreans knew her, it was nothing compared to the US.

"... But are you certain she can truly become a B-rank awakener within the time limit?"

"Of course."

I replied confidently.

"As you know, except for S-rank, the ranking criteria are based on magic power and proficiency in controlling it. Alencia can compensate for magic power by 'charging' it with electricity."

"Then..."

"As long as she reaches B-rank proficiency within the timeframe, she'll be eligible for promotion."

Alencia had no fixed limit to how much magic power she could store.

She barely had the traces of mana halls, and didn't store her magic in them to begin with.

As long as she was given enough time, she could continually charge her magic power with electricity; raising her rank was a non-issue.

"... Alright."

After a moment, PD Jung seemed to decide and nodded.

"Let's go with it."

So began the "Raising Alencia" project, something that hadn't originally been planned.

***

"Never did I think I'd see someone recharge magic with electricity in my life."

Once PD Jung Jun-su and the others left the room, Yeon-ji spoke, giving me a look asking for an explanation.

She seemed to already know a decent amount about saintesses from Shin Ah-yeon, but she wouldn't have known anything about Alencia's power.

Such a reaction from Yeon-ji was natural.

Anyone in the modern day would react the same upon witnessing Alencia's ability.

"Alencia."

And so, I was concerned about the quiet Alencia.

She hadn't spoken for a while since learning about her ability.

She was deep in thought, lost in contemplation.

"Alencia?"

No matter how many times I called, she didn't seem to hear me at all.

Her brows were furrowed as if recalling a distant memory, and her lips parted slightly like she was about to say something.

"... Are they really the same person?"

"Huh?"

"Ah."

I reflexively responded to her muttering, which made Alencia snap back to her senses.

"I-it's just talking to myself. Don't worry about it."

"Alencia."

"I-I'm just startled, can I rest a little? I need some air..."

She turned her back and tried to leave the room as if trying to avoid me.

Normally, I would have let her go.

But instinctively, I reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Why..."

"Aren't you going to ask?"

She looked at me in confusion, so I calmly asked,

"Aren't you curious about what just happened?"

"That's..."

"Do you really not care why you can turn electricity into magic power? Aren't you going to ask me?"

"... Are you saying you know the reason?"

That didn't sound like she doubted I knew the answer.

Alencia clearly already knew something.

"Yes."

I replied firmly and held her wrist a little more tightly.

"Alencia."

"Why, why do you keep calling my name?!"

"What is it that you know?"

America's 'conman' James Walker.

He was called that, but it was clear he was not just a simple conman.

If so, Alencia might have heard something from him—and there was a high chance she knew something I didn't.

"... If I tell you, will you promise not to laugh?"

"I won't laugh."

Seeing me respond seriously, Alencia hesitated, glancing up as if struggling with whether to speak.

But only for a moment—she soon squeezed her eyes shut and spoke.

"I... I thought you might be the hero from three hundred years ago... The one who led saintesses and heroes and saved the world."

"... What?"

"Ah! O-of course, not in this world. In another world! Another world!"

But Alencia's answer far exceeded anything I'd expected.

I couldn't help but let out a wry laugh.

"Come on! You said you wouldn't laugh!"

"I'm sorry. I was just surprised. I didn't mean to laugh at your words or treat them as a joke."

It was sudden, but I had a hunch.

Three hundred years ago.

I had already heard something similar once before.

'He said he didn't know why someone from 300 years ago was here.'

The words Shim Chun-hoo had spoken before closing his eyes, back in Sillim.

At that time, he had definitely called me someone from three hundred years ago.

"Who told you that? Was it your father, James Walker?"

"T-that..."

Alencia pressed the tips of her index fingers together, unable to meet my eyes and bowing her head low.

She hesitated, struggling to decide whether or not to say it.

I continued in as gentle a tone as possible.

"First of all, just as you think, I am a returnee."

"..."

As I spoke so firmly, Alencia took in a sharp breath.

Yeon-ji, startled at seeing her lost for words, tugged on my sleeve,

"Is it really okay to say that so easily?"

"It's fine. From what she just said, it's clear she already knows something about me."

Even if Alencia went out and announced what I'd just said, it wouldn't matter.

No one in the world would believe anything she said about me anyway.

If the daughter of the conman James Walker went around claiming someone else was a returnee, people would simply laugh it off.

"... So it's true."

As I expected, Alencia didn't deny my words—instead, she seemed to accept them.

She probably thought that the "Park Jung-woo" she knew and the me in front of her were the same person.

"So please, Alencia, tell me properly. Who did you hear that from?"

I asked as gently as I could.

Alencia was clearly something more than just a Saintess—she knew something about me.

"... My mother told me."

At last, Alencia spoke in a serene voice.

"My mother was a reincarnator."

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=Damn, a reincarnator out of nowhere. And she's also nowhere to be seen apparently.This proves that James Walker isn't a 'conman'.And in an earlier chapter, he also recognized Jung-woo.【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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