Chapter 2: Where is my brother?

De……

Liyami slowly awoke from unconsciousness.

She looked around and realized she was still in the laboratory, and apart from the shattered potions scattered about, everything was the same as before she lost consciousness.

Liyami turned toward the hidden door and heard sounds of battle coming from within, though much quieter now.

It seemed the fight was about to end.

She then glanced up at the ceiling and noticed the Magic Circle that had been there was now gone.

Frowning, Liyami sensed something was terribly wrong.

She quickly checked her body.

And then she understood what the bad news was.

“What??? What is going on???”

The Assassin Liyami—or rather, now the Assassin Liyami—looked at her feminized body in confusion.

Liyami’s skin had always been pale, but more like the sickly pallor of anemia.

Now, it was milky white, looking healthy and vibrant.

Her features, once quite androgynous, were now distinctly feminine.

Her height had decreased noticeably, her hair had grown longer, and her arms had become slender.

Her once-hard chest had softened and grown considerably larger.

Most importantly, she realized she could no longer feel her brother down there.

Slowly, she reached her hand downward but grasped nothing.

Her face instantly paled.

In short, Liyami seemed to have become…a woman.

Staring dumbfounded at her altered body, the words escaped her lips before she could stop them.

“No, this can’t be real. It must be a hallucination!”

She shut her eyes tight and counted down ten seconds before opening them again.

Unfortunately, nothing had changed.

Still unwilling to believe it, she pinched her arm hard.

“Ugh! That hurts!”

To Liyami’s dismay, it all seemed very real.

At a loss over her transformed body, she began recalling how this had all come to pass.

Twenty years ago, the Hero and the Demon Lord perished together, and the world returned to peace.

Though peace reigned once more, dark currents churned beneath the calm surface.

Remnants of the Demon Race had been relentlessly trying to disrupt the peace over these two decades, while many human villains brought chaos to the land.

To combat this, the Kingdom selected strong and trustworthy individuals to form special task forces dedicated to resolving high-risk incidents across the nation.

Among them, the Shadow Veil Society served as a powerful ally to the Kingdom.

The Society was home to many Assassins who eliminated evildoers bent on destroying peace and sowing discord.

Liyami was an orphan raised within the Society since she could remember.

At the age of ten, she was entrusted with the role of an Assassin—one who operated from the shadows to remove hidden threats to the Kingdom.

Under the Society’s rigorous training, Liyami grew into an outstanding Assassin.

After reaching adulthood at sixteen, she began her active missions and, in just four years, became the Society’s strongest Assassin.

Two years ago, Liyami was assigned a new task: to approach the Holy Knight Kelin and find an opportunity to assassinate him.

When she received this order, she was puzzled.

From what she knew, Kelin was a good man.

Young yet entrusted with the title of Holy Knight by the Sanctuary, Kelin was kind, compassionate, and immensely powerful.

There was no sign he was an enemy.

Still, she obeyed the Society’s orders and infiltrated Kelin’s circle.

But after two years spent by his side, her doubts only grew.

Why would the Society want to kill a man like Kelin, who traveled the country handling dangerous incidents?

Liyami could not understand, yet she could not disobey either, so she continued her covert watch, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Yet every time she prepared to act, her growing bond with Kelin and reluctance to harm a good man made her hesitate.

Just moments ago, when she heard Kelin say he was going alone through the seemingly trap-laden hidden door, Liyami thought: if Kelin died from the trap inside the door, then she wouldn’t have to kill him with her own hands…

But neither Liyami nor Kelin had anticipated that traps were set not only inside the hidden door but also in the laboratory outside.

“And such a trap!”

Liyami slammed her fist on the ground in frustration.

Now, Liyami was no longer Liyami.

Looking at her new body, a wave of sorrow surged through her.

“Ugh…my strong body, and my dear little brother, they’re all gone! Gone!!!”

She felt like crying but had no tears.

If only she had gone into the door with Kelin.

No, she should have gone with the Saintess and the others, leaving Kelin to come alone!

But now, no matter how much she regretted or wished for another outcome, it was useless.

The situation was set in stone, and all she could do was accept it.

“Damn it, did I get shorter too?”

Liyami should have been around 1.7 meters tall, but now she was probably only about 1.6 meters.

“Ahhhh! Why!? Now I’m barely taller than Sifuni!”

She shouted despairingly.

Finding a shard of glass, she used it to examine her face.

Then she froze.

Her face, once pretty and androgynous, now looked completely feminine, exquisitely beautiful and delicate, stirring a protective instinct in anyone who saw it.

“Is this really my face? So beautiful…no, what am I thinking!”

Liyami patted her face, trying to clear her head.

The immediate priority was to find a way to restore her original form.

She stood up to inspect the vanished Magic Circle on the ceiling.

Suddenly, she heard unusual noises from the hidden door.

“Brother! Hang on! I’m coming to save you!!”

Then came the loud clangs, like a huge beast was battering the door.

Hearing Kelin’s voice, Liyami grew anxious.

“What do I do? What do I do? If Kelin sees me like this, will he even recognize me? What if he thinks I’m some succubus or Demon Race monster? I don’t want to die by his sword!”

She tried to find a hiding spot, but before she could settle, the door shattered.

“So fast!”

In a panic, Liyami scrambled into the nearest shelter.

“Brother! Don’t be afraid! I’m here!”

Kelin swung his sword, breaking the door and the protective Magic Circle above it, then quickly stepped into the laboratory.

He scanned the room and spotted a figure hiding under a table.

He pulled the table aside and saw Liyami crouched beneath.

Their eyes met, and silence fell between them.

After a long pause, Kelin slowly opened his mouth.

“…………..Where is my brother?”