“The Wisty’s the octopus in charge of reincarnation, isn’t it?” Lindyss asked, looking at the sunlike runes on Vur’s arm. The runes flashed, and a red rock with ruby eyes appeared on Vur’s shoulder. It had sticklike arms and legs.

“That’s right,” Sheryl said. “Whenever someone dies, their soul finds the Wisty. The Wisty eats their memories, and the soul is free to be reborn. If you’re one of the Wisty’s favorite creatures like a fairy or an elemental, you don’t forget everything; you can pick which memory is eaten.”

“So, why is it attacking the tower?” Kim Hajun asked. The insect-type Oebu Sin were attracted to insect gold. The severed hand saw an opportunity to strike. The cephalopod, which the variables from Erde were calling the Wisty, well, he never discovered its motives. Perhaps in his prophetic dream, Malvina or Volearden wanted to establish a portal back to Erde and triggered the Wisty’s rage, making it attack the tower.

“My goodness,” Erin said. “It’s like you’re not even paying attention.” The fairy queen placed her hands on her hips and glared at the well-dressed man. “The Wisty eats memories of souls. If people die in the tower, it can’t access those souls to eat their memories. Your tower is taking away our Wisty’s food.”

Kim Hajun’s expression darkened. Why did the tower suddenly become his? It wasn’t like he was the lord of the tower. If anyone were to blame, it’d be Vur. He was in charge of the towers, and he was the one who opened the portal back to Erde.

“How troublesome,” Malvina said, placing her hands on her hips. After observing the tentacle on the display, she turned to look at the two fairies and elemental. “Since you’re the Wisty’s favorites, why don’t you go outside and ask it to let us establish a connection between Erde and the tower?”

“Oh, yeah,” Erin said, nodding her head. “I’ll go out there and talk to its leg.” She rolled her eyes. “That’ll solve the problem. Everyone knows the Wisty’s ears are just for show.”

“For a creature smaller than my talon clippings, you sure do have a lot of sass,” Malvina said, squinting her eyes at the fairy.

Erin blinked before smiling sweetly at the polymorphed phoenix. “Do you want to see something?”

Malvina blinked. She knew better than to—

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“I command you to aid my magic,” Erin said without giving Malvina a chance to respond. “Polymorph!”

Malvina stiffened as her body shrank down to Erin’s size in an instant. Then, her body shrank down even further until she was no taller than Erin’s pinky toe. A second later, she gasped as the fairy queen’s toe grew massive in stature, towering over her like a mountain. The pesky creature had polymorphed her to the size of less than a fairy’s toenail clipping! Of course, she had only done it with the help of Malvina’s own mana, but it was still the fairy queen’s spell that had stolen the phoenix’s mana in the first place, so it was still her doing! Malvina furrowed her brow as she closed her eyes, undoing the polymorph spell on her body, returning to a normal size. She might’ve only been small for a brief moment, but it was still unpleasant.

Volearden’s gaze switched back and forth between Malvina and Erin. He tilted his head. Since when could a fairy put a phoenix in a compromising situation? Not just any phoenix, but Malvina, the queen of the phoenixes. If Erin could polymorph Malvina, it meant she could polymorph him as well. Volearden nodded to himself and kept his mouth shut, deciding against offering advice to the group like Malvina had.

“Instead of commanding me,” Malvina said to Erin, “you should command the Wisty to let us through, and don’t give me that nonsense about its leg not having ears. You can always follow its leg up to its head.”

“No wonder why birdbrained is another word for stupid person,” Erin said, nodding her head.

Malvina frowned. “Who are you calling stupid?” she asked. “What’s wrong with my idea?”

“How do you think the Wisty collects souls?” Erin asked. “Its tentacles pass through the world of the living and the dead. The only way to follow its tentacle all the way back to its head is if you can die and come back to life as you please.”

“So, you’re saying I have to do it?” Malvina asked, tilting her head.

Erin blinked. Phoenixes did die and come back to life, but…. “Aren’t you reborn in your ashes as a baby when you die?” the fairy queen asked. “How long will it take for you to reach the Wisty’s head?”

Malvina shrugged. “In the first place, I don’t speak octopus, so it wouldn’t have worked out.”

“We can send Kim Hajun,” Lindyss said, glancing at the well-dressed man. His eyes widened like a deer in headlights as everyone turned to look at him.

Kim Hajun swallowed. “I, uh, don’t have to ability to die and come back to life as I please,” he said.

“I know,” Lindyss said, nodding her head.

A shiver ran down Kim Hajun’s spine. If she knew he didn’t satisfy the requirements, then what exactly was she planning? The well-dressed man cleared his throat. “I also”—he glanced at Malvina before looking at Lindyss—“don’t speak octopus.”

“That’s fine,” Lindyss said, causing Kim Hajun’s lips to contort into a sad-looking smile. The cursed elf shifted her gaze onto the tentacle on the display. “We’ll figure out the details as we go.”

Kim Hajun fell silent. After a bit, he asked, “Can we figure them out now? Please?”