Chapter 132

A shattered axe.

Severed tentacles.

“Why… why must it be like this?”

Tears streamed from one of my eyes as I looked down at the fallen Alexei. Though the fog had veiled us, ensuring no one witnessed the process, our struggle had been a desperate bloodbath—one where it wouldn’t have been strange for either of us to end up dead.

Even in that final moment, when the golden flash released by the newly awakened, Upper-rank Alexei collided head-on with the “Assassination technique that sounds like a thousand crying tentacles” blooming from my palm, it was impossible to tell who held the upper hand.

And yet, in the end, the victor was me.

“Rest in peace, brother.”

“…….”

“From today on, the bottom bunk is mine.”

I closed Alexei’s eyes and immediately locked onto my next target. The fight was over, but the settlement was not. Inside the sleeve of my tattered robe, Mala-nim was trembling. When I shoved my head into the sleeve, the fabric stretched taut, nearly to the point of tearing.

“What is the meaning of this? An adoption contract?”

『F-Fear not!』

“Did you decide to become Alexei’s little sister behind my back?”

『Fear!』

Mala-nim cried out as if she were the victim, claiming there was a ‘profound purpose’ behind it, but it was an excuse that wouldn’t hold water. Pulling my head out of the sleeve, I produced a large bottle of red chili pepper paste from my pocket.

I kindly tucked it into the sleeve and spoke.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had any, and I was actually craving some parboiled sashimi. This worked out perfectly.”

『Fear?』

“Go ahead and soak yourself in there. I’ll call for you once I’ve finished up here.”

The thought of eating Mala-nim’s tender torso for the first time in a while made my mouth water.

『Fear! Fear!』

Ignoring Mala-nim’s pleas, I turned my steps toward the final victim. For one who had struck down even a brother bound by blood, no mercy remained.

Kang Ha-neul, Yoo Se-byeol.

Even if it meant facing both at once, I was ready to sweep away everything in my sig—

Meowww!

…But then a notification chimed on my smartwatch. Was Gargantua asking for food again? Upon checking, it was simply a message from No Yeon-hwa, asking if I was studying well since it was the promotion evaluation period.

In truth, the promotion evaluation wasn’t originally supposed to be such a blood-soaked affair; it was just overshadowed by the terrible malady known as Division 3’s Special Advancement System. Its primary purpose was to adjust salaries as one’s rank rose and to evaluate personnel performance.

As part of that process, one had to undergo physical fitness tests and a written exam testing knowledge of monster hunting. Naturally, those exams still existed this year.

The evaluation period ended today—if I started cramming now, could I still pass? I didn’t want a repeat of last time, where I suffered the ignominy of failing due to a terrible score on the personality and aptitude test that evaluated basic common sense.

“Ahem, I’m glad to see you’re both alright. I’m a bit busy, so do you mind if I head out first? Please see that Alexei is transported to Division 6.”

“Where do you think you’re going? Get over here.”

I had no interest in a specific position and tried to slip away, but Kang Ha-neul caught me. He gestured toward Yoo Se-byeol, who was readjusting her scabbard with a complicated expression, and spoke to me.

“Hey, Hayan.”

“Yes?”

“Take the bus—no. I’ll give you taxi fare, so take the Deputy Commander to the Central Hospital and come back.”

“Is she hurt somewhere?”

“When a senior tells you to do something, you do it. Why are you talking back? Is your brain broken?”

“Ack!”

Isn’t your brain the one that’s broken? Considering only 30% of Division 3 agents pass the promotion evaluation, there was some credibility to that thought. This is why you can’t deal with ignorant swordsmen.

I didn’t say that out loud, of course.

Surprisingly, Kang Ha-neul didn’t look like he had sustained any critical injuries from his fight with Yoo Se-byeol. He was bleeding from the shoulder, but I wasn’t Alexei; if a “Zero-Year” agent pretending to be a Middle-rank mage won a fight here, No Yeon-hwa would get suspicious again.

I obediently took the cash he offered.

“Don’t wander off somewhere weird; just go to the hospital and back. I’ll take measures so the others won’t challenge her anymore.”

“Yes, sir.”

“If you pocket the taxi money, you’re dead. Bring back a receipt later.”

“You’re too much. Do you really not trust me that much?”

Under the constant scrutiny and suspicion of Kang Ha-neul, I finally left the Bureau headquarters after three days. The moment I confirmed his presence had vanished, I casually asked Yoo Se-byeol beside me.

“Ahem, Deputy Commander. I have a very good proposal.”

I was definitely pocketing that taxi money. A receipt? I could forge a scrap of paper like that with my eyes closed. The best way was to take the bus, but that was out of the question since I wouldn’t make it back before the written exam ended.

So, I brought up the proposal I had made earlier when we started the patrol.

“Remember the promise I made in the Tower of Proof to give you a piggyback ride? Can we do that now?”

“…….”

“Deputy Commander Yoo Se-byeol?”

“Huh? Oh. Sure. Do whatever you want, Hayan.”

Is she really okay?

Her reaction was vastly different from how she usually became flustered and embarrassed whenever I brought that up. It wasn’t that she was uninterested; it felt like all her focus was poured into something else, and she wasn’t truly listening. Did she hear something from Kang Ha-neul during their fight?

I found myself falling silent as well. Even as I sprinted through the city center, mixing magic with transparent tentacles, Yoo Se-byeol remained quiet on my back.

She didn’t ask why I had so much stamina if I wanted her to carry me before. She didn’t ask if the magic I was using was learned from Cheon So-baek. Usually, she would express doubt or nag me, but she said nothing.

After running for a long time, the Seoul Central Hospital building—rising as high as the Magic Tower—came into view. I felt a small tug on the back of my hair.

“We’ve almost arrived. How was the ride?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t bad, surprisingly.”

“Thank you. If you write a review, I’ll give you a cheese ball.”

“Hey, Hayan.”

“Yes?”

In a deserted alleyway littered with Choco Pie wrappers, just one turn away from the hospital entrance, Yoo Se-byeol spoke in a small voice.

“I have a favor to ask.”

“Are you suggesting we split the taxi money I got from Kang Ha-neul? If it’s an order from the Deputy Commander, I have no choice but to obey, but I was the one who came up with the idea. A 50/50 split is ridiculous; it should be 7:3, or at least 6:4—”

“It’s not that. Hayan, duel me. Right now.”

Did I hear that right?

After fighting other agents incessantly for three days, she now wanted to fight me too. I wouldn’t have been this surprised even if she’d said, “Actually, I know you’re the one who’s been stealing the foot shampoo.”

I tried to turn her down gently, but the arms wrapped around me in the piggyback position tightened around my neck as much as the “collar” she had gifted me.

“Uh… I might be mistaken, but does the Special Advancement System allow someone of a higher rank to challenge someone of a lower rank?”

“No.”

“Then there’s no reason for the Deputy Commander to fight me, is there?”

“There is a reason.”

“What is it?”

“Because you’re stronger than me.”

At those words, my thought process ground to a halt.

How did Yoo Se-byeol know that?

“You beat me, didn’t you? Back when you first joined Division 3.”

“Ahem, that was right after we exited the Gate. Your condition was poor, Deputy Commander. Everyone knows that.”

“Everyone thinks they know that. Just because my physical condition wasn’t peak doesn’t mean I’m such a fool that I can’t measure a gap in skill.”

“…….”

As I maintained my silence, she explained why she wanted to fight me now.

“I’m going to see my father now.”

“You mean Commander Yoo Cheol-jin?”

“Yes. I’m going to go take the position of Commander of Division 3. But before I do, there’s something I need to confirm.”

“…And what is that?”

What Yoo Se-byeol wanted to confirm was whether she could protect her subordinates even if Yoo Cheol-jin’s seat in Division 3 remained empty.

If I were as strong as she suspected—or perhaps even stronger—then Division 3 would no longer desperately need him.

“Keeping a place for my father to return to all this time… it was purely my own greed, my own regret. But I can’t run a unit on emotion forever. For the sake of all of you, and for my own sake.”

“Uh… what if I just drop you here and run away?”

“I’ll resent you for the rest of my life.”

“Does that mean you’ll never see me again?”

“No? On the contrary, I’ll plant you in a flowerpot in my office and glare at you for eight hours every single day.”

Heavy.

It wasn’t her body weight; it was her obsession that was heavy.

“I heard that’s a trend lately. What was it, a ‘Mirrorball’?”

“It is not a trend. It is merely a localized wave of madness started by a certain axe-wielding barbarian.”

“Anyway, cutting off your head is a bit cruel, so I’ll just plant you in a pot. I’ll give you food and water, so it’ll be fine.”

“It would definitely not be fine.”

It seemed no matter what I said, she wasn’t going to change her mind. Before I knew it, she was holding her unsheathed sword in one hand—while still being carried on my back.

“Surely you aren’t planning to start like this?”

“I’m not ignorant of the difference in our power. You won’t call me cowardly, right?”

“No, anyone would see this as cowardly. I’m a mage….”

“So give it your all. Absolutely do not hold back.”

Her attitude suggested that even fighting in this state, I would have a fair chance. Her words carried an unprecedented conviction, born of more than just the fact that I’d beaten her once.

Though, seeing how her arm around my neck was trembling slightly, perhaps she just desperately wanted to believe it. If so, should I live up to that expectation? Or should I make her believe that I only beat her by luck and that she still needs to protect Yoo Cheol-jin’s vacant seat?

“Because I… always believe in you.”

The choice was mine, but my deliberation was brief. Yoo Se-byeol raised her sword arm high.

“Those things happened, Dad. So I’ve been a bit busy these past few days.”

In Yoo Cheol-jin’s hospital room, Yoo Se-byeol explained why she hadn’t been able to visit recently.

Her uniform was clean, damp with sweat but free of any tears or scorch marks. She had tidied her hair, which had been windswept on the way to the hospital, before coming up. Overall, she didn’t look like someone who had just been in a battle with her most cherished subordinate and the unit’s only Middle-rank mage.

“So, I fought him at the very end. I lost in an instant.”

Instead, she wore a refreshed expression, her smile a mix of hollow defeat and genuine satisfaction.

“Actually, can I even call it a defeat? I didn’t even understand the fact that I’d lost. It’s the first time—even when I used to duel you, Dad, it was never like this.”

“…….”

“He said that to face him, one needs measures against Space-Time, Causality, and what was it…? Immortality. I guess the world of magic is just too difficult to understand.”

Yoo Cheol-jin remained lying in bed, his back turned. He said nothing. No apology for trying to send his daughter to China, nor any words of resentment for losing what little connection and influence he had within the Yoo family because that plan failed. The bond between father and daughter had long since been severed; all that remained was hatred on one side.

And Yoo Se-byeol had come today to deliver her answer.

“Anyway, that’s why I decided. To become the Commander of Division 3. Honestly, the reason I gave him for why we had to fight was only half of it.”

Division 3 had already been filling the void left by Yoo Cheol-jin for years. Ascending to the position of Commander now, even if Hayan was actually a powerful mage, meant the unit’s functional power remained the same.

The reason Yoo Se-byeol wanted to fight Hayan before coming here was to uncover a single truth.

“You know, don’t you, Dad? That Mom died because of me.”

Yoo Se-byeol had never been body-searched when coming up to the top-floor room of the Central Hospital. She was always allowed to wear her scabbard and sword. As she drew her blade, her silhouette was reflected in the sunset-lit window. Even Yoo Cheol-jin, with his back turned, could see it.

“I don’t remember anything from back then. The last thing was you telling me not to go near where the Archduke appeared because it was dangerous. I have no idea what happened after that.”

“…….”

“Since you changed after that, I naturally assumed the reason was me. Even though you never told me. That’s why I asked that boy to fight me. To not hold back and give it his all.”

Her sword fell from high to low. With a flash of light, fresh blood splattered across the bed. For the first time in years, Yoo Cheol-jin slowly turned his head. His pupils were filled with disbelief at the sight before him.

“Even I can notice it. I wasn’t normal when I fought Ha-neul.”

“You…!”

Yoo Se-byeol looked down at her own blood.

“There was a reason Grandfather gave this to me. It really does drink.”

Following the gash on her arm, droplets of blood were being sucked into the scabbard she held.