Chapter 130

I’ve encountered a similar situation before.

Back then, Yoo Se-byeol had stepped in to stop No Yeon-hwa and Cheon So-baek from fighting over me. The roles were reversed now, but the atmosphere was just as thin as ice.

No Yeon-hwa didn’t even spare a glance for Yoo Se-byeol as she asked curtly, “I asked what you’re doing. Why are you two walking around holding hands in the hallway?”

“Well, you see! There are rumors that a man-eating cannibal tentacle is wandering around this area, so…”

“Oh, really?”

“…”

Oh, really.

Those were the two scariest words in the world. To think the seniors would bring a being more terrifying than a man-eating tentacle here. Just what kind of nefarious plot were they hatching?

As I shriveled up like a salted slug, Yoo Se-byeol stepped forward boldly. Even though she looked embarrassed to have been caught wandering the halls for over an hour, she didn’t let go of our interlaced fingers. Moreover, unlike when she caused a fuss about living alone, this time she had a clear justification.

“H-Hayan is just on duty right now!”

“Holding hands?”

“Th-that’s because I’m currently testing if he’s qualified to be my adjutant. There’s no reason for someone who isn’t even in Division 3 to interfere.”

“Adjutant?”

Maybe I should just execute her… I pulled my robe down low and desperately tried to pretend I didn’t hear that chilling remark whispered near my ear. Meanwhile, Yoo Se-byeol explained why we were doing this with her own brand of logic.

Between the heavy workload and the final promotion evaluation of the year, she claimed I was helping her to reduce the fatigue from duels caused by the special advancement system. No Yeon-hwa nodded slowly.

“Right. Now I get it.”

“You understand?”

“So, basically, your unit is currently in a period where it’s legal to beat the hell out of anyone you don’t like.”

“Well, it could be interpreted that way, but since Yeon-hwa isn’t part of our unit…”

“Did I say I was going to hit someone? No, did I even say a single word about not liking the sight of you two acting like that?”

“…”

She hadn’t said it directly, but every action and look radiated an intense aura of displeasure. And as always, the words coming out of No Yeon-hwa’s mouth were more than just mere language.

“Hey, you guys.”

“Yes?”

“Isn’t it annoying seeing them act like that?”

“Hmm…”

“Come to think of it…”

As if it were definitely not a coincidence, the seniors who had been loitering nearby at just the right moment—the Division 3 agents eligible to challenge Yoo Se-byeol—drew their swords at No Yeon-hwa’s command.

“Aigo! Must be the Word-Spirit; my arm is moving on its own!”

“Sorry, Deputy Commander, but you’ll have to face our blades.”

“You guys…”

There were more than ten of them at a glance. Driven by No Yeon-hwa’s Word-Spirit, the tips of their swords emitted a sharp intent incomparable to before. Were they planning to drag her into a group battle to sap her stamina while I acted as a shackle, limiting her movements?

Once they took down these guys, Alexei would likely step up next. They were truly as petty and cowardly as expected of swordsmen.

Despite the situation, Yoo Se-byeol placed her free hand on her scabbard. Even backed into a corner, she clearly had no intention of abandoning me. A spark of competitive spirit flickered as she bared her teeth slightly.

“You really used your heads this year. Did you send Hayan, too?”

“No, we have no idea why he’s there.”

“He probably went to slack off as usual and got caught up in it.”

“Sorry, but you’ll have to die… I mean, go down with her.”

“Didn’t you just say ‘kill him’ twice!?”

Not only had they sold me out, but now they were trying to silence the witness. They were no different from the descendants of demons. The most painful part was that as long as Gargantua was held hostage, I couldn’t help Yoo Se-byeol.

I desperately avoided eye contact with No Yeon-hwa and raised my voice.

“Where is my smartwatch!”

“Who knows. Who had that thing?”

“Wasn’t it you?”

“I threw it away ages ago. I think I left it somewhere in the training hall… Ugh!”

The moment the lead senior’s focus wavered during the conversation, Yoo Se-byeol’s strike flew in. She lowered her body slightly and naturally took me onto her back as she lunged. Using Earth Pulse Step to close the distance instantly, she knocked the sword from his hand before he could even mount a proper counter.

The technique that followed was the Great Heaven-and-Earth Transposition she had shown before. It was a powerful attack that distorted even the coordinates of the poles.

As the walls and ceiling crumbled, space itself warped around her thrusting foot. Only about three people managed to keep their balance until the distance she had forcefully closed was widened again.

“Tsk, damn it…!”

“Use a formation! Don’t challenge her one-on-one!”

“We have to hold out until Alexei arrives!”

“Word-Spirit user-nim, please step back. This is Division 3 business.”

The agents scattered and then lunged from all directions. I could see their mana-infused swords moving in perfect unison, beginning to split into fragments. It was a coordinated energy)formation used by those trained in martial arts—specifically, a type of phantom sword technique called the Primal Sky Formation. The barrier set up around the mansion at Cheonsan was similar to this.

Yoo Se-byeol deflected dozens of sword tips spraying toward her in a single breath. Though she was a Middle-rank Awakened like most of the agents, strength couldn’t be categorized simply by rank. None of the Division 3 personnel could match her in pure swordsmanship and martial arts.

“Ugh…!”

“Change of plans! Deploy the ambush squad!”

“If you want to play hide-and-seek that badly, I’ll play along.”

There were two days left in the promotion evaluation. Within that time, she had to defend her position as Deputy Commander from every challenging agent. Seniors wearing black hoods emerged from the blind spots and pounced.

She twisted their wrists and pinned them to the floor, then dived toward the ground herself.

“Submerged Swim.”

“Ah…!”

Contrary to my expectation of a hard impact, we literally vanished into the floor, disappearing from the agents’ sight. Was this a type of martial art too? It felt similar to being wrapped in my Mimicry Tentacle.

The difference was that she hadn’t turned into an object; she had truly unified with the floor. Because our entire bodies were flattened, I felt much more pressed against her than when I was simply on her back.

Yoo Se-byeol’s heels tapped against my shins in a steady, rhythmic cadence.

It seemed she was moving quietly beneath the floorboards as if swimming through water.

‘How do you even learn something like this?’

‘Hic! Don’t blow in my ear! You’re breaking my concentration!’

Whether she was using mana to keep her body completely compressed or not, even opening my mouth for a second resulted in a mouthful of hair. At the same time, I could taste the faint beads of sweat that had gathered on the nape of her neck.

It was weaker than the sensation from her soles, but I could feel the Star Scar here too. It seemed that as she channeled power for combat, the energy of her incarnation was beginning to leak from every pore.

Should I keep the possibility of her going berserk like last time in mind?

With a hint of concern, we arrived at a small, secluded storage room out of public sight. After brushing the dust off her clothes, Yoo Se-byeol gave me a look that demanded an explanation.

“So, is it true that Hayan was bribed by them too?”

“Bribed?! I was merely being blackmailed.”

“What exactly did they tell you to do?”

“It’s all written here…”

I handed her the note containing the instructions. The third, fourth, and the dozen or so commands that followed were mostly designed to break her concentration during combat.

Things like blowing in her ear during a fight, or staying glued to her side to prevent her from getting a proper night’s sleep. The worst part was that I had to push forward with these even now, after the plot had been exposed.

Those bloodless, tearless humans would surely “naturally expire” my lovely Gargantua without a second thought.

“Of course, I don’t intend to just take this lying down. If you can just help me find where my smartwatch is, Deputy Commander, I will show them what hell looks like in return.”

“So, if I have that, I can make you do everything written here?”

“Pardon?”

Wait, that wasn’t why I asked her to find it.

Wearing a smile more chilling than when she was mowing down the agents earlier, she nodded repeatedly in the dark warehouse.

“I see… I get it. Yeah, it can’t be helped then.”

I found myself wishing that the seniors had smashed my smartwatch into a thousand pieces instead.

Two full days passed after that.

Yoo Se-byeol remained in the Bureau, engaging in duels with the Division 3 agents who pounced at every turn. From my perspective as a mage, it looked less like a duel and more like a series of cowardly ambushes, but as long as both parties accepted it as a “fair fight,” I suppose there was no need to seek justice.

Perhaps that was why the seniors’ methods became increasingly bold as time went on.

“Aack! My sword is moving on its own!”

“Is this the power of Magic Engineering?!”

From the second day, the swords they carried weren’t ordinary weapons. They were all-purpose magic tools slathered in various spells. It was obvious they had received weapons crafted by the Red Tower, their bitter rivals. I knew this because I’d caught a glimpse of Cheon So-baek earlier, and her expression was positively demonic.

A mob of swordsmen charging in with No Yeon-hwa’s Word-Spirit and Cheon So-baek’s engineering behind them was a disaster even by civilian standards. Notices were posted daily on the Special Unit Bamboo Forest board telling them to restrain themselves, but the seniors weren’t the type to listen.

Surprisingly, Yoo Se-byeol showed the magnanimity of a true commander, acting as if the pincer attack of those two was perfectly manageable. Honestly, if she had just left me—the literal dead weight—behind when she first ran into No Yeon-hwa, things would have been much easier for her.

However, there was one thing even she couldn’t understand. And that was the participation of an unexpected figure.

“Why on earth have all my escape routes been read for the past few hours?!”

“It seems Commander Ha Yeri has unleashed Division 2’s informants.”

“Not the other two, but Commander Ha Yeri? Why?!”

“Well…”

It was probably because I had recovered the magic swords of the agents I’d taken down, imbued them with different magic, and scattered them back out. I didn’t strengthen their performance; I just made it so that whenever a sword was swung, an afterimage of ‘Mala-nim disguised as Commander Ha Yeri’ would flicker like a phantom.

I had developed the photos I’d taken on my smartwatch when entering the Council, and I’d divided her embarrassed expressions and poses into four distinct stages. The agents, still unaware of her true identity, were delighted by the “beautiful girl” who appeared whenever they executed a perfect strike.

“Commander Ha Yeri just posted a notice saying, ‘I’m going to kill everyone and then die today’?!”

“Is that so? I wouldn’t know, since I don’t have my smartwatch.”

“You didn’t do something weird again, did you?”

“I think I’m much more normal than the people who have been hacking away with swords in the Bureau headquarters for three days straight.”

And so, the final day of the promotion evaluation arrived.

Before our exhausted eyes, the final boss appeared. It was Alexei.

“Brother, it has been a long time.”

“Alexei… Why?! Do you want the position of Commander that badly?!”

“I merely desire a fight with the strong. After Deputy Commander Yoo Se-byeol, it is Hayan’s turn.”

“I don’t want to fight you, Alexei…!”

Fighting him, who was like a brother bound by blood… was just too much work. I mean, too tragic. There was nothing for us zero-years to gain by fighting each other anyway.

However, he rolled up his sleeves as if he had been yearning for this moment for a long time.

“Hayan has never tried to face me head-on. Even during reinforcement training, you were too busy running away.”

“……”

“But that ends here. Because you’ll have no choice but to defeat me to get this back.”

“That’s—?!”

On his bulging, thick forearms, two familiar-looking smartwatches were strapped.