It would be perfectly normal for the old woman to take offense at Mariam’s actions, but she just laughed.

[And what is so funny?]

[Do you even know who this person is? How dare you try peddling your suspicious wares to her!]

Mariam seemed on the edge right now, which made perfect sense as the whole thing looked very suspicious indeed.

Han-Yeol thought while observing the old woman.

In the end, he decided to trust his instincts once again.

“I’ll buy it.”

“Han-Yeol-nim!”

Mariam knew there was no stopping Tayarana now that Han-Yeol had agreed to buy the suspicious old woman’s wares.

‘

She rarely expressed her emotions, but it was a different story when Tayarana’s safety was on the line. Tayarana acted as the key to the emotions she kept locked up inside her, and any event involving Tayarana could trigger her to unleash her emotions.

[I want to buy one too.]

[T-Tayarana-nim!]

Mariam was now on the verge of tears.

“Alright, then what if I go first? If I buy from her and nothing happens to me, then Tayarana should be safe too, right?”

[B-But still…!]

Mariam did not want that either. Han-Yeol might get lucky and avoid harm, but there was no guarantee that Tayarana would have the same luck as him.

“Then you go second, Mariam. There’s no way both of us will be safe then something will happen to her when she goes third, right?”

[A-Alright…]

Mariam knew there was no stopping the two of them after they made up their minds. In the end, she decided her job was to go for the safest option.

Han-Yeol grumbled inwardly.

The old woman basically meant that they could pick whichever item they wanted, but the outcome was already pre-decided.

‘

Han-Yeol shrugged and decided to go for it. He figured the random draw was already fun by itself, but knowing that something had already been prepared for him made it even more intriguing.

The old woman’s eyes grew bigger the moment Han-Yeol grabbed an item.

she thought.

Among the products on display, such as a mirror, watch, and kerosene lighter, Han-Yeol chose a compass.

“Huh? Excuse me, there’s something strange about this compass’ bearings,” Han-Yeol said.

Compasses were usually set up to point north and south at all times, but the needle of the compass he picked kept spinning, stopping, or pointing randomly even though he was not moving.

‘Han-Yeol thought there was a reason nobody was interested in this shabby street stall on such a busy road.

‘Han-Yeol concluded after seeing the broken compass.

“Oh really? Then please explain why a compass that should be pointing north and south is pointing all over the place as it pleases.”

“Huh?” Han-Yeol muttered, baffled by what the old woman said.

‘he wondered.

“What?! I-Is that even possible?!” Han-Yeol exclaimed. He could not believe what he was hearing—he looked at the compass with eyes full of skepticism.

‘

“Huh?”

Han-Yeol tilted his head in confusion. Was this old woman saying she could alter the effects of an item at will?

‘Han-Yeol realized something. Then, he asked, “Are you the one who created this compass?”

“Ah, I understand. Then I’ll test it since you increased its charge to two.”

The old woman clicked her tongue, but Han-Yeol paid no attention to her. Instead, he immediately tested the compass to see if it worked as she claimed.

“Oh? It’s true?” Han-Yeol muttered in surprise.

“I do not care about things like that. Anyway, Tara and Mariam, why don’t you guys pick something too? Ah, you too, Noras.”

[We are fine.]

“Really?”

[Yes.]

Noras did not seem to be that interested in the old woman’s wares.

‘

They might worship and follow Han-Yeol, but that did not mean they were fond of humans. In fact, it was safe to say that they disliked humans. The Bastrolings and humans could be said to be polar opposites, so it was inevitable for them to dislike each other even though they did not cause any harm to one another.

[Hmm, I’ll go with this.]

Tayarana picked a dagger with a golden hilt and a green jewel embedded in it. Judging by its sharpness, the dagger did not seem to be ordinary.

[I choose this.]

Mariam chose a hand mirror with a bronze frame.

“Oh? Both of them look quite good,” Han-Yeol said.

The items they chose indeed looked quite valuable, even in Han-Yeol’s eyes. It was without a doubt that they would choose something of value, as Han-Yeol might be a commoner but Tayarana was a royal, and Mariam was someone who served the Egyptian royal family, so their views would surely be different from his.

“Alright, please calculate the cost of these and let us know how much we owe you–

[What?]

[W-What’s going on?]

[Hmm…!]

Han-Yeol and the others turned around to pay for the items, but the old woman and her stall were nowhere to be seen.

Mariam scowled and clicked her tongue when everyone was in shock over what had happened.

‘

The fact that the old woman could evade Han-Yeol’s keen senses meant that she was an extremely powerful individual.

Suddenly, the old woman’s voice rang like an echo in their ears.

“W-What in the world is that old woman?!” Han-Yeol exclaimed. He could not help but be shocked that not only did the old woman escape his senses, but she even managed to speak directly into his mind when she was nowhere in sight.

It felt as if the old woman was a ghost.‘he exclaimed inwardly.

Of course, necromancers could summon ghost-type undead minions, but they were different from the ghosts that would haunt people as depicted in mainstream media. Hunters specializing in necromancy would always search for ghosts in places that were rumored to be haunted, but their hunt for a real ghost would always end up in vain.

Most importantly, even a ghost could not fool Han-Yeol’s senses.

‘Han-Yeol hurriedly looked at his hand just in case the compass had disappeared, but the compass was still there.

‘

He was unsure if this was fortunate or unfortunate, but it seemed that the compass he bought did not disappear with the old woman.

‘

He had no plans to throw the compass away just because he felt eerie about the old woman.

‘

Karvis did not respond to Han-Yeol’s praises. She recently started developing emotions after being with Han-Yeol for so long that it was only normal for her to be speechless in these kinds of situations.

‘Han-Yeol laughed after finding her silence funny.

Karvis was like an AI initially, but she slowly started becoming cuter the more time he spent with her.

Han-Yeol proceeded to share what he found out from his analysis with Tayarana and Mariam in hopes of reassuring them. Tayarana easily believed whatever Han-Yeol said, but Mariam was still suspicious of the hand mirror she picked.

They decided to put behind them the strange encounter they had in Mexico and made their way back to South Korea.

‘Han-Yeol thought. He found his trip around Mexico to be quite pleasant, and he found traveling to be an alright hobby.

Thus, a sense of wanderlust slowly grew inside of him.

***

‘Han-Yeol grumbled.

He found all five stones and even finally killed Dr. Santinora, but that did not mean everything was over. The Freemason still existed, and the hyenas were still a threat lurking around the corner, as they were not the type to be satisfied with conquering only the Bastro Dimension.

Han-Yeol’s rest was short.

‘

Han-Yeol believed in their abilities, but their opponent was simply far too strong. Thus, he was worried about them.

‘

Han-Yeol was enjoying a glass of expensive whiskey in the living room of his mansion. He could have crossed over to the Bastro Dimension as soon as he got back, but the Bastro Dimension was a place where his safety was not guaranteed, even though he was the most powerful individual on Earth.

‘

Naturally, the Dragon of Destruction would not disappear if it was slain—like a resilient cockroach, it would reappear whenever the dimension evolved.

How did Han-Yeol know that?

Because a god really existed in the Bastro Dimension.

The Bastro Dimension might lag behind Earth in quickly relaying information to others, but it possessed a supernatural occurrence that Earth did not. This supernatural occurrence was none other than the prophecies they received, and they could not be explained with science.

All of the prophecies told in the Bastro Dimension were kept in the Temple Library.