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Chapter 81: The Moon Swallowed by the Sun (3)

The morning after my brief moonlit encounter with \'Yuren.\'

Waking up early, I found myself lost in thought, forgetting to practice my usual mana training (which was practically a ritual).

"What on earth is that guy Yuren thinking?"

It wasn’t hard to figure out that Yurina was actually Yuren.

From her small gestures to her gait, even the subtle nuances of her speech and habits—there was no fooling me.

Yuren had tried not to give himself away, but after ten years of facing life and death together in our past life, there was no way he could deceive my eyes.

\'Even if that weren\'t the case, the fact that Yurina is here itself doesn’t make sense.\'

Even if, by some stretch of the imagination, the rumor that Yurina Helios had died eight years ago by falling off a cliff was false, why would Rosanna Helios, who had gone so far as to fabricate her daughter’s death to conceal the existence of the \'Stigma of the Moon God,\' suddenly bring Yurina to school?

And not just on any day—but on the day when the most heroes gathered for the observation classes of the year.

\'Yuren must have known that too.\'

Despite this, Yuren clumsily pretended to be Yurina in front of me.

\'Why?\'

Two possibilities came to mind:

Either he didn’t care if he was found out, or—

\'The situation was so urgent that he had no time to care.\'

I frowned and let out a sigh.

No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t come up with a reason why Yuren would need to suddenly disguise himself as \'Yurina\' and appear before me so hastily.

“Speaking of which….”

I recalled the image of Yurina from last night.

Her silver hair was as if woven from moonlight, her snow-white skin was exquisitely sculpted, and her features were as though crafted by a meticulous sculptor.

While Yuren was naturally handsome, the transformation was astounding even with that in mind.

"Where the hell did that guy learn such skills?"

This wasn’t an amateurish cross-dressing attempt like Juliet’s.

It was a full-scale transformation, altering body structure, chest size, hair color, and even voice.

Such a sophisticated disguise would require professional-level magic tools, the kind used by national agents or spies from large guilds.

\'Even putting aside where he got such tools—\'

The most incomprehensible thing was why Yuren would go so far as to use professional-grade magic tools to disguise himself as his supposedly dead younger sister.

“It can\'t be just a hobby, right…?”

For a moment, I imagined Juliet’s face, but I shook my head, dismissing the thought.

\'He didn’t have such a hobby in our past life.\'

In all the ten years we spent together in a party, I never once saw Yuren cross-dress.

And who would use such advanced magic tools for mere hobbies?

“Professional disguise magic tools… huh?”

That’s when it hit me.

“Wait a second.”

A bolt of realization struck me, sending chills down my spine.

I pressed my hand to my forehead, recalling the events of the previous night.

“Where was he wearing the magic tool?”

For a tool that could alter body structure, it couldn’t be something small like a ring or earring.

Right.

Even with the finest magical stones, it would need to be at least the size of a pendant to function properly.

But—

"Last night, he wasn’t wearing anything, was he?"

I hadn’t had the time to check carefully due to the shock of Yuren suddenly appearing before me as a beautiful silver-haired woman, but as I retraced my memories, I realized Yuren hadn’t been wearing any magic tools on his body.

\'And Yuren definitely doesn’t know how to use transformation magic like Polymorph, either.\'

While Yuren had a natural talent with the sword, his ability with magic was so poor that he was worse off than me in that regard.

I could vouch for that, as could our mentor, Sophia, who had taught both of us magic.

"Wait, so… was that really Yuren’s younger sister I met last night?"

No.

That couldn’t be.

The Yurina I met last night had all the mannerisms and characteristics of Yuren that I knew so well.

Even if they were siblings, it was impossible for them to share the same small gestures, habits, and nuances to that degree.

“What the hell is going on…?”

My thoughts were a jumbled mess.

Suddenly, a memory from when Yuren and I went to the bathhouse together flashed through my mind.

—What’s that pendant?

—Oh? This... uh, it’s my, my younger sister’s keepsake.

Yuren had awkwardly smiled, trying to hide it, clutching the pendant around his neck.

If that pendant back then was a disguise tool, then everything would make sense—.

“No, no, no. It doesn’t make sense at all.”

That would imply Yuren wasn’t actually a man, but a woman who had been disguising herself as a man all this time.

“There’s no way Yuren was a woman.”

Ten years.

We had spent ten years together.

No matter how closed-off Yuren might have been, it was impossible that I wouldn’t have realized if he wasn’t a man during all that time.

Whether it was when his clothes were torn during battle, when we had to sleep cramped together in tight spaces, or when I had to strip his clothes to treat his severe wounds and pour potions over him—there were countless moments that confirmed Yuren was a man.

“…He wasn’t even wearing any disguise magic tools back then.”

Right.

The \'keepsake from his sister\' that Yuren had worn around his neck didn’t exist when we first became part of a party ten years ago.

\'That would mean Yuren was originally a woman who later became a man.\'

I chuckled to myself, shaking my head.

Turning from a woman into a man?

That was ridiculous—.

—I’m a direct descendant of the Helios family and bear the \'Stigma of the Moon God.\'

Suddenly, last night’s memory flashed in my mind.

Yurina—or rather, Yuren—had opened her shirt to reveal the \'Stigma of the Moon God\' etched on her chest.

But the Yuren I knew had the \'Stigma of the Sun God\' marked on his left chest.

"……."

I immediately bolted out of my room and headed straight to Professor Jade’s research lab.

Bang!

I roughly opened the door, and there I saw Professor Jade, slumped over his desk, sleeping.

“Huh? What is it, lad?”

Professor Jade drowsily opened his eyes.

“Do you have any research on the Stigma Exchange Technique?”

“Hmm?”

“Research on the Stigma Exchange Technique—do you have it?”

“Well, I do have some material…”

“Show it to me.”

“What’s the matter… hmm. Alright, just wait a moment.”

He was about to ask the reason when Professor Jade looked into my eyes and then rummaged through a drawer in the laboratory.

I quickly scanned the thick research material Professor Jade handed to me.

“Stigma Replacement Technique.”

It was a technique I had briefly looked into before to remove the "Blessing of Revival."

Of course, it was a nearly obsolete technique, so there wasn\'t much information left, and I lost interest when I learned that changing the Stigma wouldn\'t make an awakened "blessing" disappear.

“The most prominent side effects of the Stigma Replacement Technique are memory loss and physical transformation…”

I bit my lip as I read the material.

“Professor, this physical transformation… could it possibly include a change in gender?”

“Usually, one would have a seizure and die before that happens, but… in theory, it\'s definitely possible.”

Professor Jade stroked his beard and continued speaking.

“The stronger the Stigma being transplanted, the more likely it is.”

“……”

“But why are you suddenly curious about that?”

Without answering Professor Jade\'s question, I clenched my teeth.

Yuren, who had been like family, oddly kept a ‘wall’ even between us party members.

Yuren, who always insisted on having a personal tent, and even booked private rooms whenever we stayed at inns.

Yuren, who entered the bathhouse with Berald and blushed red while covering their body with a towel.

Yuren, who stared absentmindedly at the women’s clothing section when we skipped class and went to Valhalla City together.

Yurina and Helios’ true identities.

The swapped Stigma.

The Sun and the Moon.

The puzzle pieces that had been scattered in my mind started to fit together.

‘Yuren wasn’t Yuren… but Yurina.’

Now I finally understood.

Why Yuren in their previous life hesitated to talk about their past.

Why I felt an inexplicable distance from them.

‘They had changed.’

From the Moon to the Sun.

Yurina, who was born with the blessing of the Moon God etched on her chest, had been turned into the ‘Sun’ by someone’s hand.

‘When did it happen?’

For now, I had confirmed yesterday that Yurina currently bears the Moon God’s Stigma.

And 12 years from now, when she formed a party with me, she had the Stigma of the Sun God.

‘The range is too broad.’

How am I supposed to figure out exactly when Yurina’s Stigma was changed during the 12-year gap?

“Haa.”

A deep sigh slipped out from between my lips.

‘I need to talk to Yuren… no, Yurina.’

After thanking Professor Jade for lending me the research material, I headed to Yurina\'s dormitory.

I knocked on the door of the shiny dormitory, which was incomparable to the shabby one I lived in.

“Yuren! Come out for a moment!”

Bang, bang, bang.

Even though I knocked loudly, there was no response.

I tried sending a message and calling her through the Hero Watch, but all I got was a message saying she was unavailable.

‘Where could she have gone when it’s not even class time yet?’

I frowned as I checked the time on my Hero Watch.

“…No way.”

With a stiff face, I scrolled up through the message history on my Hero Watch.

-Dale, can you meet me for a moment?

Last night.

A sudden message from Yurina asking to meet me.

An ominous feeling crept down my spine and spread throughout my body.

“Damn it!”

I hurriedly ran to Lucas\' office.

Bang!

I barged into the office, and Professor Lucas, looking puzzled, stared at me.

“Where is Yuren right now?”

“Yuren? If you mean Yuren, he said he had an urgent family matter this morning and left after getting a leave of absence.”

“……”

I bit my lip at Professor Lucas’ response.

“…Professor.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Where is the closest warp gate to the Helios family from here?”