Chapter 14

She was a ridiculous woman.

Before he knew it, Pado had walked right up to the bars and grabbed Morae by the wrist.

Even with her wrist seized roughly, Morae’s smile never faltered.

“What if you lose?”

“Then I guess I’ll end up in the Hunter Shelter, awkwardly living with you. So, are you going to answer me already? Are you coming with me or not? Let’s give those bastards a real reason to hate you.”

“…”

“If you come with me, I’ll make your dream come true. I’ll help you with anything you want. Someday, you’ll become my right-hand man.”

Pado had already seen what Morae was capable of.

He had no interest in becoming the right-hand man of a woman far weaker than himself. He’d only end up cleaning up after her, and that wasn’t his style.

“You don’t even know what my dream is.”

“I don’t have to. It’s fine if you haven’t figured it out yet. Whatever it is, I’ll help you as much as I can.”

She spoke with complete confidence, but Pado couldn’t imagine Morae actually making his dreams come true.

Even so, that day, he had been angry.

He was angry at his fellow Hunters, who had tried to kidnap an innocent—at least until today—young woman for such a despicable scheme, only to brand him a traitor when he stopped them.

He was tired of the fact that he would have to spend the next five years serving as little more than a prison guard behind bars.

And somehow…

A part of him was drawn to Morae’s invitation.

Eun Morae, who had come all the way to such a dangerous place to repay a favor, smiling so brightly before him…

She seemed to shine.

“I hate people who don’t repay their debts the most. If you leave me hanging after this, I’ll kill you.”

Pado decided to take her hand.

That day, Morae thoroughly demolished the Hunter Shelter.

Quietly slipping away would have been far smarter.

But when she heard Pado had a lot of pent-up frustration, she happily blew the place apart for him.

The fireworks she created by freely using the bombs and gadgets she treasured were spectacular.

She laughed so much as she watched the Hunters flee in droves.

Though Pado had to work far harder than expected to shake off the dozens of Hunters chasing them.

Not once did Morae complain.

She stayed cheerful the entire time as they escaped together.

It wasn’t until they returned to White City that Pado learned Morae had stubbornly insisted on recruiting him in the first place.

He also found out she’d gotten thoroughly scolded for recklessly blowing up the shelter.

It had been a night that felt like a festival.

Even now, Pado still couldn’t forget that night.

Perhaps he never would.

When he came to his senses, he was beneath the waterfall.

Controlling the water all around him was far easier than running on his own.

In fact, the entire waterfall, surging upward like a tsunami, had wrapped itself around Morae and driven the Justice Enforcement Division far away.

Even so, Pado ran.

Without thinking.

On instinct.

He chased after Morae.

By the time Pado reached the bottom of the waterfall, the rushing water had already caught Morae safely.

It took him even longer to fully come to his senses.

Breathing heavily, he looked up at Morae, who was suspended within the flowing water.

“Y-You lunatic… Hah…”

He’d pushed himself so hard in that instant that his ribs ached.

Morae had fallen from the waterfall without a scratch, yet he was the one in pain.

It felt completely unfair.

Pressing a hand against his aching ribs, Pado shot her a resentful look.

“What were you thinking, blowing up the waterfall? You didn’t even have a way to get out on your own.”

If Pado hadn’t saved her, she would have been seriously hurt.

Even knowing that, Morae, who had nearly gotten herself killed, calmly wrung the water from her soaked hair.

“I knew you’d save me. I just didn’t expect you to go this far. You really surprised me. You could do all this?”

Six people he could see, and two he couldn’t.

All eight had been swept downstream by the flood.

In only a matter of seconds, Pado had unleashed a torrent using every nearby body of water.

Looking at the lake whose bed had been laid bare, Morae stared in amazement.

“That’s incredible. You washed them all away? All eight at once? That’s awesome! I was ready to get a little hurt, you know!”

“And whose fault was that?”

The Justice Enforcement Division had said they wouldn’t lay a hand on Eun Morae.

But that had only been on the condition that she quietly went back.

They had merely decided not to repeat the mistake they’d made in the past—trying to seize the innocent daughter of a villain as a hostage.

That didn’t mean they intended to overlook Eun Morae herself.

The moment she deliberately destroyed the waterfall, she became a threat…

An enemy of the Justice Enforcement Division.

Seeing the collapse of the waterfall as an attack against them, they immediately turned their attention to Morae.

Pado reacted instantly.

He manipulated the waterfall and hurled the members of the Justice Enforcement Division into the raging waters.

Fortunately, there was more than enough water nearby.

The violent current swept them away in an instant.

Now…

Any chance he had of going back was effectively gone.

Before he’d even had the chance to seriously decide whether to return or stay, the choice had already been made for him.

All he could do now was hope the carefully selected members sent to subdue him managed to survive using their own abilities.

If even one of them died, the Justice Enforcement Division’s next target would undoubtedly be him.

As Pado let out a long breath, the stream gently lowered Morae back onto the ground.

Finally free, Morae pointed a finger at him and scolded him.

“This is your fault.”

It was a surprisingly sharp accusation coming from someone who had nearly fallen into the lake with the rocks and water.

“You were the one who made the choice.”

“You were the one who blew up the waterfall!”

“If you were really planning to leave, you should’ve just left me behind. You can’t leave unless you’re that cold. The moment you leave, we’re enemies.”

In other words, Morae had known all along before she blew up the waterfall.

She’d pretended to leave, hidden herself, eavesdropped on the conversation, and made her move before Pado could waver.

Asking how she’d managed to listen in felt pointless.

One way or another, she’d heard everything. The moment she thought she was losing him, she’d boldly blown up the waterfall.

She’d calmly risked getting seriously hurt just to keep Pado from leaving.

Clicking his tongue at Morae’s audacity, Pado crouched down.

“I’ve had enough of you. You seriously don’t know when to stop.”

“I knew I wouldn’t get hurt.”

“You charged in without thinking, and now you’re just too stubborn to admit it.”

“Let’s go back. I’ll take the scolding with you when we get back to my dad.”

“You’re the one getting scolded. I’m just there to watch.”

“So what? Let’s pick that up and go.”

Morae remained shamelessly confident from start to finish.

Pado shot her a glance before looking toward where the waterfall had once been.

Because he’d swept away nearly all the water, dark jade-colored rocks now lay scattered across the exposed lakebed.

They’d come to investigate the waterfall.

Instead, the entire waterfall had disappeared.

The water might eventually return, but for the time being, the place looked utterly desolate.

It was worse than simply coming back with no useful findings.

The investigation itself hadn’t been particularly important, but he still couldn’t help feeling guilty.

With a flick of his finger, a large sphere of water rose into the air, carrying several of the rocks with it.

He plucked the rocks from the floating water, placed them into his specimen bag, and stood.

Standing on the mud-covered ground, Eun Morae folded her arms and idly tapped the wet earth with the toe of her shoe.

“Heavy?”

“Maybe heavier than rocks. Doesn’t matter, though. I can just float them with water.”

“Then carry me on your back. I don’t feel like walking if it’s going to ruin my shoes.”

Morae spread both arms toward Pado.

“What? Why?”

“I don’t want my shoes getting dirty, and I’m tired after falling. Carry me home.”

“It’s a two-hour trip from here. What are you, a princess?”

“Weren’t you the one who called me a princess? Come on.”

Mocking her for wanting to be treated like a princess didn’t work on someone who had practically been born one.

Keeping her arms spread wide, she curled her fingers, beckoning him over.

Pado looked at her in disbelief.

“We don’t have time to fool around. We need to get moving before the Justice Enforcement Division comes back.”

“Exactly. That’s why I’m telling you to carry me. You’re faster than I am. Besides, it’s not like you have a girlfriend. How often do you get the chance to carry a girl as pretty as me?”

“We did a lot more than that three days ago.”

“Then you should carry me even more.”

Pado grumbled, only to find himself with no comeback.

After exchanging stubborn stares for a while under Morae’s insistence, he finally bent forward.

The next moment—

Morae was slung over his shoulder.

“Eek!”

With her stomach pressed against his shoulder, her body was lifted into the air.

The girl who hadn’t made a single sound while falling from a waterfall finally screamed.

“Why are you carrying me like that? I said piggyback me!”

“If it’s just about keeping your shoes clean, it doesn’t matter how I carry you. This is faster.”

“Of course it matters!”

Morae kicked her legs wildly, accidentally bumping his ribs with her knee.

Even the way she instinctively grabbed at his waist tickled enough to drive him crazy.

Pado lowered the protesting Morae back onto the ground.

His right shoulder, which had somehow stayed mostly dry even amid the spray, was now damp.

Having gotten soaked twice, Morae shivered.

It wasn’t cold enough to call it winter, but it also wasn’t warm enough to spend hours drenched in mountain stream water.

Without a trace of a smile, Pado draped a large towel around her.

The oversized towel wrapped around her from chest to knees.

“You actually have some sense— Eek!”

Morae had been about to praise him when she suddenly shrank back, her face flushing bright red.

Pado’s hand slipped beneath the towel and began removing her soaked clothes.

First came her blouse.

Then her pants.

Next were her bra and panties.

Morae let out one shriek after another, but Pado stripped off her wet clothes without the slightest hesitation.

The way his hands moved beneath the towel made it seem as though he could see straight through it.

Having lost her top in an instant, Morae desperately clutched the towel closed to keep herself from ending up naked in the middle of the open valley.

By the third shriek, her soaked panties and pants had been pulled down to just below her knees.

At least he hadn’t torn them off.

The downside was that she could barely move now.

“I feel so violated…”

She didn’t have a free hand to pull her underwear and pants back up.

But standing still was too embarrassing.

Wrapped in nothing but a single towel in the middle of the open outdoors, unable to do one thing or the other, Morae looked utterly miserable.