Wizard: I Add Points and Hunt Monsters

”Today’s special from the Cordo United Commerce Association: Blue Marlin...”

Aside from the picture of Marco on the front page, the newspaper didn’t contain much useful information for him.

However, when he saw the words ”Shetland Kingdom” and ”Caster City State,” his heart still stirred with a feeling that was both familiar and strange.

Caster...

He believed that one day, he would return to take a look!

After he finished with the newspaper, Tina took it and began flipping through it with innocent curiosity. When she saw Marco’s picture, a cute smile appeared on her face. ”Tina, Marco, Brother En.”

”Yes, that’s Marco. It’s me, too,” Wei’en said with a smile. ”I imagine the man himself has already seen this paper. I wonder how he’s feeling right now.”

”Tina... Marco... angry?”

”Angry? Perhaps. But I doubt it will affect him much. After all, given what just happened in the Caster City State, the Black Pearl won’t be heading there anytime soon.”

The white-haired girl nodded as if she half-understood, looking through the newspaper that was almost as tall as she was. Her bright eyes were fixed on the contents, and she seemed interested in everything.

Seeing her expression, Wei’en sighed to himself. ’If at all possible, I really don’t want Tina to revert to how she was before...’

”Tina, do you remember things from before?”

”Tina... before?” The white-haired girl peeked out from behind the newspaper. ”Tina remembers... some.”

”Tell me about it,” Wei’en probed. ”For example, back in the Caster City State... I remember you weren’t like you are now. You were so cold and distant...”

Tina lowered the newspaper and sat obediently on the tall chair, both hands clutching the hem of her dress. Her short legs dangled and kicked subconsciously as she looked directly into Wei’en’s eyes and said softly, ”Tina remembers everything.”

”Everything?”

Wei’en raised an eyebrow. That answer was unexpected. He’d thought Tina didn’t remember her past, but it seemed he was wrong...

’Well, perhaps that impression was partly my own fault,’ he thought.

He had never really tried to understand what was going on inside Tina’s head, simply assuming she was still that same girl living in a closed-off world of her own.

”Tina remembers,” the white-haired girl said, nodding emphatically. ”Tina remembers... a long time ago... Ales took me away from my home.”

”Your home?” Wei’en asked, taken aback. ”Where is your home?”

A flicker of confusion crossed Tina’s little face. ”Tina remembers... a very dark place. There were many people... they were all like me.”

’Many people like her?’

”And?”

”Ales took Tina, and Little Bear, and left... We went to Caster. And Clown.” Tina picked up the two dolls beside her and gestured with them. ”Tina and Little Bear remember. Clown doesn’t remember.”

’What does that mean?’

’Does she mean... she remembers the little bear doll, or that the little bear doll remembers their home?’

Wei’en couldn’t be sure, but he knew one thing for certain: when the Clown had lost control, it was only with Tina’s help that the members of the Secret Investigation Department had been able to escape.

”So, before you came to Caster, were you like you are now? Or were you cold and hollow, like when we first met?”

His reflection appeared in Tina’s bright eyes. ”Like now.”

’Like now...’

’So it’s just as I suspected. Did Ales do something to Tina to make her change like that?’

”So, you know how to use the power of the Calamity Origin?” Wei’en took a deep breath and asked the most critical question.

’If she remembers everything, it would be much easier to solve the problem with the Clown.’

”Tina... Calamity... no!” the white-haired girl frantically shook her head, her eyes filled with hurt. ”Tina isn’t!”

”I know. There’s nothing wrong with you. You are not a Calamity!”

Wei’en knew he couldn’t rush things. It seemed Tina’s condition was much better than he had imagined; at least she knew what a Calamity was.

’Maybe it wasn’t that she couldn’t enter the Calamity World, but that she was simply unwilling to go back?’

”Tina... doesn’t... want to hurt...” The white-haired girl lowered her head, her expression turning sorrowful.

’She doesn’t want to hurt anyone?’

An image of Tina losing control flashed through Wei’en’s mind—the sky filled with ominous clouds and lightning, the ground splitting to reveal rivers of lava that spread across half the city state, countless people wailing in agony as they were devoured and incinerated...

’That terrifying scene, like a Calamity descending upon the world... did Tina remember it, too?’

Wei’en pulled his chair closer to Tina, doing his best to soften his expression. ”I know you don’t want what happened last time to happen again, but I want you to know that it wasn’t your fault.”

”It wasn’t?” The white-haired girl’s voice was still dejected, as if she were pondering the truth in his words.

As she spoke, black motes of light began to materialize out of thin air around the dining table, flickering in and out of existence in the dim theater.

’What is this?’

Wei’en frowned slightly as he watched the black motes.

[Because your Origin Power exceeds 300, you are immune to the effects of the Calamity Origin. Evaluation: The little zombie and the little machine aren’t so lucky. Special Reward: Survival Points +10, Origin Power +1, Resilience Level +1, Spirit Level +1.]

’Calamity Origin?!’

Wei’en’s gaze changed as he noticed the prompt and looked back at the black motes.

’So it’s true. It’s not that Tina can’t use the power of the Calamity Origin, she’s just unwilling to!’

However...

’It takes three hundred Origin Power to be immune to that Calamity... Those two won’t be able to withstand it.’

With this in mind, he turned to Shawa and Type-Zero, who were listening quietly to their conversation off to the side. He gestured to them and said, ”Shawa, take Type-Zero to the workshop. There’s still some metal left there. Help me make some more bullets.”