Chapter 145 : Chapter 145

Chapter 145

The ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍start of the banquet drew near.

I ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍spent time seated in a reception room within the grand mansion, then followed Kim Songi’s guidance back to Cha Yeri’s room.

Cha ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍Yeri had transformed into a different person. Her already dazzling presence was heightened further, making it unmistakably clear that she was the star of the night.

“I ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍know I am pretty, all right? So do not stare at me so burdensomely.”

A ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍voluminous European-style dress.

Lip ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍color darker than usual, and flamboyant jewelry.

And because she had braided her short hair up so well, her neckline and jawline were revealed with striking clarity.

What stood out most was the ash-gray gemstone hanging at her neck.

A hue that seemed to symbolize Seoul itself.

It was smaller than a ping-pong ball, yet its beauty was enough to rival any jewel.

“Did I not tell you to stop staring?”

If there was a single blemish in this perfect harmony, it was Cha Yeri’s needless embarrassment.

She must have hosted countless banquets, so why was she reacting like this?

Was she… ashamed to be seen by me?

Well, her usual behavior toward me had been entirely boyish, so perhaps showing me a different side felt awkward.

Cha Yeri finally attached MA6 to her thigh and asked,

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah. Laugh at jokes, nod along.”

“If you only do that, they will think you are insane.”

“As long as they see me as a person, it is fine. If they do not recognize me at all, even better.”

“Do you know that talking with you sometimes shatters all common sense?”

“So you are saying I am a man whose common sense has shattered?”

“I am saying you are impossible to read.”

“Could you not praise someone who is doing his best to keep a promise?”

At my words, Cha Yeri walked toward the door and let her reply fall, barely audible.

“Well… you are tolerable.”

***

The banquet hosted by Hyeonseong was being held on a scale beyond imagination.

More than a thousand guests had been invited. Over a hundred hired staff hurried through the hall, and hundreds of dishes decorated each table in lavish display.

“So I told Deputy Manager Park, ‘How am I supposed to entrust work to you in that kind of mental state?’ And then…”

“Oh my, it is so nice to see you! How long has it been? Is your eldest preparing well for the exams? Which academy are you aiming for…”

“If we could not bring it down right there, it felt like we would be surrounded by a pack of trolls! So then…”

“Damn it! If I had only invested in the outpost project, my wife would not treat me like this…”

“Did you hear? Today, Chairman Cha is unveiling the ‘Red Mana Stone’ he has kept hidden for so long, for the very first time…”

I attended the banquet trusting only Cha Yeri’s lead.

But she was even more famous than I had expected, and people crowded around her so densely that I could not remain at her side. I ended up separated from her.

An unavoidable outcome created by the simple reality of bodies in motion.

It was, to a large extent, what I had wanted, but separation did not grant me freedom.

Because people who recognized me began approaching to greet me, almost as eagerly as they did Cha Yeri.

“You eradicated a Demonic Being? Haha, what a tremendous achievement at such a young age!”

“To meet someone so difficult to see here… Hyeonseong truly is Hyeonseong.”

“Excuse me, but is that rumor true? That you are not actually from the outskirts. Ah, am I being too impertinent to ask? Hoho.”

A barrage of questions poured down in proportion to the size of the rumors surrounding me.

Since every one of them was a figure with a known name, I had no choice but to smile with an expression that was neither affirmation nor denial.

Cha Yeri had said this was the best approach.

In the end, only after dealing with more than a dozen people did I finally lift the glass I had taken at the start of the banquet to my lips.

“So this is what they call networking.”

Even though I had done nothing but laugh and nod along, my energy drained in a strangely rapid way.

Thanks to that, I could at least confirm how exaggerated the rumors about me had become.

As I caught my breath, a man with a fairly familiar face approached my table.

Yoo Inseong, the superpowered attorney I had seen in District 8…

“And we meet again! What are you doing? Hurry and greet him, Hyeonjeong.”

And his daughter—Yu Hyeonjeong, the President of Hero Prep’s Student Council.

“Cadet Ji Seokhyeon… to see you in a place like this is… unexpected.”

“Hello. I happened to receive an invitation.”

I caught a fleeting desolation in her expression.

It was not obvious on the surface, but the usual look in her eyes—the one that had regarded me as beneath her—was gone. That alone made it clear she was not in a normal state.

It seemed Yoo Inseong had dragged her here by force.

In truth, he had little choice.

Tonight’s banquet had an unusually large number of sons and daughters from prominent families in attendance.

It was likely Cha Myeonghan’s scheme to mind Cha Yeri’s marriage prospects.

Other parents would be doing the same.

Yoo Inseong continued carefully,

“I heard the news. They say you played a major role in the incident a few days ago.”

“That is classified…”

“Ahem, do not worry. For legal professionals like us, rumors simply travel faster. In fact, we are more tight-lipped than Dispel officers who investigate alongside you.”

“I see.”

But just like last time, he was being overly familiar.

Did he have another motive?

“By the way, I am curious how you became close with our Hyeonjeong? You are not even in the same year. Even when I ask her, she refuses to speak these days. Haha—shall we call it a parent’s small curiosity?”

“We only exchanged greetings a few times through club activities.”

“Club activities? Which…?”

“There is the Mystery Investigation Club. It is newly established.”

“Ah, I see. A subject that suits the Special Affairs Division quite well. Speaking of which, do you plan to remain with the Special Affairs Division going forward?”

“For now, yes. As an Investigation Division cadet, the Special Affairs Division is also my ultimate goal. Assuming I do not get dismissed.”

“I thought you would say that. In fact, Hyeonjeong plans to follow in my footsteps and prepare for the superpowered attorney examination. Whether investigator or attorney, they are professions that operate within the same context, so it would do no harm for you two to get along well!”

“…”

Was that his real point?

That Yu Hyeonjeong and I should remain connected even after graduating from Hero Prep.

It was a remarkably “Seoul” kind of maneuver.

Yu Hyeonjeong herself did not look pleased.

Soon, Yoo Inseong glanced at me, then invented a pretext.

“Oh dear! I believe I left my smartphone at another table. Please excuse me for a moment. Hyeonjeong, speak with the investigator for now. I will be right back.”

With that, he disappeared into the crowd.

No matter how I looked at it, he did not seem like someone who would return quickly.

Yu Hyeonjeong, surprisingly, remained where she was.

No—perhaps she was not staying because of her father.

“Cadet Ji Seokhyeon… have you heard any news about that person?”

That person. She surely meant the wanted criminal, Lee Eunho.

I watched her for a moment, then answered belatedly.

“I do not know.”

“…Are you pretending not to know, or do you truly not know? Even if the world does not know, I thought you would.”

“I am sorry to disappoint you.”

Her complexion worsened.

She had come to ask me about Lee Eunho’s whereabouts, and she was clearly disappointed at not getting what she wanted.

Of course, it would be better to talk at Hero Prep, but the final summer of the third year was busy with field practice.

Many did not even participate in the seasonal term.

In the subdued atmosphere, another person approached our table.

Or rather, someone who had clearly been eavesdropping.

Choi Suhyuk.

I had thought he would be busy living as a freelance mercenary, yet he had managed to attend.

“I told you not to look for him, Yu Hyeonjeong.”

“…That is none of your concern.”

“It is not concern. It is discouragement. For your future.”

Choi Suhyuk turned his head toward me and continued,

“Do you know? There is a rumor that our Student Council President roams the outskirts whenever she has a moment, searching for him.”

Roams the outskirts?

“At first I could not believe it either, but I ran into her by chance out there. She was walking around the outskirts dressed like she was shouting, ‘I am from the inner districts.’ Yu Hyeonjeong, if you misstep, the Psychic Mafia will get you. Those bastards will strip you of everything if there is money to be taken. No matter that you are a Hero Prep cadet, when they swarm you on their home ground, it will be hard to handle.”

“…”

An elite who served as Hero Prep’s Student Council President, moving to find the criminal she loved.

That must have been the shadow hanging over her lately.

It was behavior that ordinary thinking could never understand, but as the original author, I could grasp her pattern to some degree.

By the setting, Yu Hyeonjeong was a perfectionist.

A prickly character who demanded perfection not only from herself, but from others.

For such a person, the absence of Lee Eunho—the only one she had ever acknowledged and loved—must have affected her deeply.

A man who had matched her standards perfectly, only to be revealed as a criminal tied to a Demonic Being, was not an easy truth to accept.

So perhaps it could be framed as, “After Lee Eunho disappeared, Yu Hyeonjeong could not fill the emptiness in her heart and gradually became obsessed.”

It was a different progression from the original novel, so I could not presume the human heart too confidently, but one thing was clear.

She was in a terrible state.

So terrible that even I could not do anything about it…

“I will go first. And Cadet—no, Choi Suhyuk. I ask you, do not involve yourself. Instead of meddling pointlessly, worry about your own future.”

Yu Hyeonjeong walked away quickly.

Choi Suhyuk watched her back with an easy gaze, then opened his mouth.

“I will ask just in case. You truly did not learn anything about him?”

“I did. I just cannot say.”

“Then that is enough. Hah… I came because it was a banquet, but all I have gained is irritation.”

“Then why are you here? I heard freelance mercenaries are all being hired for the outpost construction, so you should be busy.”

“Have you never heard that in this world, you should not turn your back on Hyeonseong? They invited even a vagrant like me from the outskirts, showing sincerity. The least I can do is show my face. And…”

“And?”

“There is talk that they are displaying the Red Mana Stone throughout today’s banquet. How could I not be curious?”

“Ah. The only jewel the Phantom Thief could not steal decades ago.”

“Exactly. I heard that aside from Chairman Cha Myeonghan, no one has even seen it in person. Since it became a target of the Phantom Thief once, it has been kept locked away ever since.”

The Red Mana Stone was part of the alibi Cha Jaehee had created to avoid suspicion.

In other words, he had “broken into” his own house.

Of course, the jewel called the Red Mana Stone did exist.

By the setting, Cha Myeonghan managed it personally, and aside from first-generation awakened individuals like Kim Shinwoo and An Hwigom, virtually no one had seen it in person.

With the Phantom Thief anecdote attached, it was likely the most valuable precious item Hyeonseong possessed.

“Oh. He is appearing now.”

Following Choi Suhyuk’s gaze, I turned my head and saw Chairman Cha Myeonghan of Hyeonseong standing upon a platform.

He was not as youthful as Kim Shinwoo, but he was a handsome middle-aged man with an impression far younger than his age.

Young enough that someone my age could call him “uncle.”

Of course, the moment one heard his frivolous laugh, that dignified image would evaporate at once.

“Hahahaha! Thank you all for sticking your heads into this old man’s modest gathering.”

An awakened person only in his sixties calling himself an old man…

“I wonder if you are enjoying the banquet.”

With each phrase Cha Myeonghan spoke, the crowd answered with cheers.

It was a response that looked almost like worship.

“Now, now, calm yourselves. To repay all this enthusiasm, this old man has brought a crude little spectacle.”

A servant soon carried a velvet-covered box onto the platform.

At once, the word “Red Mana Stone” spilled from every direction.

A rare jewel finally revealing itself after decades—and with the symbolic fact that the Phantom Thief had once failed to steal it—such a reaction was only natural.

“You all know my temperament. I hate these cumbersome formalities. All right, I will reveal it at once. This is the only one that Phantom Thief could not steal…!”

Cha Myeonghan pulled away the velvet.

A transparent case was revealed.

But—

“…?”

There was nothing inside.

The only thing that caught my eye was the number written on the outside of the case: 210703, the Phantom Thief’s criminal signature.

“…”

In an instant, the banquet hall fell into silence.

Then Cha Myeonghan cried out in shock.

“It is the Phantom Thief! The Phantom Thief stole the Red Mana Stone!”