I hooked my finger around the trigger.
The murderous standoff continued for a while, but at last Cheok Jungyeong seemed to give up first and let out a deep sigh.
“...Fine, you bastard.”
Then he threw Rachel toward me.
“Kyah!”
Rachel collapsed at my feet. I was curious why Rachel was here, but now wasn’t the time to ask.
Cheok Jungyeong’s heavy voice struck my ears.
“Now. Hand that over.”
“...”
This crystal was something I couldn’t handle anyway. The best plan had been to give it to Rachel and make the crystal the property of the British royal family, but now that Cheok Jungyeong had appeared, that was impossible.
“Fine.”
I threw the suitcase without hesitation. Cheok Jungyeong picked it up. In his hand, it looked less like a case and more like some kind of handbag.
That was when it happened.
Bzzzz—
A fly landed on my nose, and my gaze wandered for an instant.
But in the very next moment.
A violent gust of wind surged toward me.
Every hair on my body was swept backward. No thoughts came to mind. I simply stared ahead, and there was a fist the size of my head right in front of my eyes. Beyond that fist, I could see Cheok Jungyeong’s satisfied smile.
In the time it took to blink once, Cheok Jungyeong had charged at me and thrust out his fist.
3cm.
If it had been just 3cm closer, my head would have been smashed apart.
“...Guess you weren’t that rotten after all.”
As if satisfied with my composed(?) response, Cheok Jungyeong left those words behind and turned away.
His heavy footsteps shook the earth.
Until he disappeared completely, my body did not move. No thoughts continued.
My body and mind were, quite literally, frozen solid.
End
A massive forest had been built around the outskirts of Clancy Islet. This was to prevent falling accidents without damaging the island’s appearance, and every tree in the forest had a thick, sturdy trunk.
I leaned against a random tree and sat down.
“Ugh...”
My heart, which had stopped for a moment, trembled violently and began beating again.
Clutching my pounding chest, I did not... think back on what had just happened. I simply focused on the present. For the sake of stabilizing my mind and body, it was better not to recall it.
I looked around the dark forest. The sedan the Djinn had ridden in was overturned and smashed into the ground, and behind it lay my bike.
The bike was fine, as expected. Since it had been strengthened with Aether and another 40% reinforcement on top of that, there was no way it would have broken.
I quietly approached and stood the bike upright. I kind of want to take this with me. Isn’t there some way to bring it back?
As I was entertaining a slightly unlawful thought, I suddenly felt someone’s gaze.
“...”
Rachel was sitting like the Little Mermaid and staring at me. Because Cheok Jungyeong’s impact just now had been so overwhelming, I had briefly forgotten Rachel existed.
“...Are you all right?”
At a glance, she didn’t seem to be injured anywhere, but I asked anyway. Rachel nodded silently. Her face was dazed, and her mouth was half open, showing a glimpse of her front teeth.
A laugh slipped out.
“Why did you follow me?”
“...”
At that, Rachel firmly closed her open mouth. Then she looked at me for a while. I didn’t avoid her eyes either.
Upon the floating island, over the forest covered in darkness, an exceptionally bright moonlight settled. In that light, Rachel shimmered silver.
After staring into my eyes for a long time, she rummaged through her pocket and took something out.
It was a bullet. To be precise, the part excluding the cartridge case.
What is that? I tilted my head.
“Mr. Hajin.”
At that moment, I suddenly heard my name. For an instant, I thought something had gone wrong with my cochlea. But it wasn’t a mistake. Rachel had clearly called my name.
“...Ah, yes.”
I answered in a hurry.
“This belongs to you, doesn’t it, Mr. Hajin?”
“...”
I looked at the bullet. I didn’t have the ability to distinguish bullets just by shape, but it did look like a bullet for a Desert Eagle.
“Yes. I think so.”
I reached out for the bullet. But Rachel pretended not to notice and put the bullet back into her pocket.
“Um? Why are you...”
“I found it during the final exam.”
“...Ah?”
Only then did I understand the situation.
When I had sniped Rachel’s enemy from long range, she must have found that bullet and retrieved it.
“I followed you because I thought something like that might happen again.”
Rachel scratched her cheek and drew the sword at her waist.
I knew what that weapon was. It wasn’t some ordinary cadet rapier.
Galatyn.
A legendary sword said to have been used by one of the twelve Knights of the Round Table.
But no matter how good the weapon was, if the opponent was overwhelmingly powerful like Cheok Jungyeong, it couldn’t stand against him.
“...Aha.”
“But, Mr. Hajin.”
In that instant, Rachel’s voice became firm. She gazed steadily at me and asked.
“Back then, why did you help me?”
I had nothing to say, so I only looked at her.
Rachel wasn’t finished speaking.
“During the midterm exam, and during the final exam too. When I think about it, it feels like you were there, mmph.”
A chilly wind blew, and Rachel’s long hair curled into her mouth. I barely managed to hold back my laughter.
After tying back her troublesome hair, Rachel cleared her throat.
“Ahem. During the midterm exam, I could say it was a coincidence. But the final exam... no matter how I think about it, I can only explain it by saying you were watching me.”
I scratched the back of my neck.
Rachel was a main character exposed to high risk. If she died or got injured, the progression would get tangled. That was why I had been keeping an eye on her. It was something only I could do.
But I couldn’t explain all of that.
In the end, my answer had to be simple. Simple, yet clear enough to be convincing.
“Because I’m your fan.”
“...?”
Rachel widened her eyes and tilted her head.
“A fan. F-A-N in English. Ah, I even joined your fan cafe.”
Rachel’s fan cafe. It did exist. The British cafe had a whopping 500,000 members, and even the domestic cafe had around 10,000. I had checked myself when I had nothing better to do.
...But perhaps my excuse was far too absurd, because Rachel’s mouth shut tightly.
Whoosh— The blowing wind rustled the leaves.
An awkward silence continued like that, and perhaps about five minutes passed.
Rachel asked in a trembling voice.
“Does that mean... you like me?”
“...Pardon?”
* * *
Cheok Jungyeong returned to the main group with the crystal. The main group was waiting for him in a hotel suite.
“Hahahaha. Yes. I have arrived.”
When all four members of the Chameleon Troupe focused their gazes on him, Cheok Jungyeong burst into a broad laugh.
“Well, well. Looks like I’m the main character.”
As if needlessly embarrassed, he swept back his hair and set down the suitcase.
Jain snatched the case.
“Let’s see. It had better not be fake.”
She gulped and opened the case slightly. The radiant white light pouring out through the gap announced that it was genuine.
“...It’s real.”
A smile spread across Jain’s lips. Satisfied, she closed the suitcase.
“Good work.”
“Haha. Of course.”
“...Wait. Why are you in such a good mood? Don’t tell me you killed him.”
The Boss, who had been silent, flashed a cold look in her eyes.
“No. I didn’t kill him. Ah, of course, I did intend to kill him at first.”
Cheok Jungyeong gave a deep smile.
At first, he had certainly been of a mind to burst that head open.
If the man’s eyes had wavered even slightly, if he had shown any sign of trying to dodge, if he had revealed fear or terror, then Cheok Jungyeong probably would not have stopped his fist.
But that man stared straight at his fist until the end. Without agitation, he revealed the nature of a fighter observing this body’s movements.
Cheok Jungyeong liked that manliness.
“Wasn’t he just so scared that he froze? Did you check his lower half?”
“...Ahem. Jain. If you underestimate him like that, you might get your head blown off.”
“...Tsk.”
Jain frowned. Cheok Jungyeong muttered, Just joking, just joking, and shook his huge head from side to side.
“If that were the case, I would have known. I charged a little slowly on purpose. And his eyes were looking precisely at me. Even then, he didn’t so much as blink.”
As a demonstration, Cheok Jungyeong thrust his fist toward Jain. At that light punch, Jain flinched in surprise.
“See this? Strong people, and people who will become strong, are different starting from this mindset.”
Cheok Jungyeong thumped his own chest and continued.
“Valor, boldness, peerlessness... All of those are impossible without a strong heart. Closing your eyes at the moment swords clash is the same as having your neck cut—”
“Be quiet.”
Droon cut in. Cheok Jungyeong, who had been passionately holding forth, scowled at once.
“...Tsk. A little brat butting in when an adult is talking.”
But against Droon, there was nothing he could do.
Because even he, who loved fighting and adored killing, had one rule.
That rule was as follows.
“You, try acting that cocky three years from now.”
He did not touch children.
* * *
The disturbance that occurred at Clancy Hall was quickly suppressed.
They failed to capture the Devil’s Society executive, but thanks to heroes from all across Britain mobilizing, no major damage occurred.
“Sigh.”
Broken buildings and torn-up roads.
While heroes and emergency personnel hurried back and forth, Yoo Yeonha sat on some random street and looked down at her scorched hair.
A sigh came out on its own. How much time and effort would she have to spend at a salon to repair this hair damage?
...Damn it.
As Yoo Yeonha kept sighing deeply like that, Chae Nayun approached and sat beside her.
“Hey. Did you see?”
Chae Nayun asked without any further explanation. For a moment, irritation surged up in Yoo Yeonha, but she forcibly pushed it back down.
“See what?”
Yoo Yeonha had seen many things too. First of all, Kim Junwoo’s overwhelming might. The way he went around smashing everything with his bare hands, without even a weapon, truly befitted the “Hunter of Radiance.”
Next was Kim Suho.
Kim Suho was a needle in a sack, as expected. The metallic magic power coating his sword left nothing it could not cut. His final sword dance, in which he rapidly cut down the pouring flame stones, had been the highlight among them.
“You know Kim Hajin. He was riding around on a bike.”
“...Ah.”
It had been such a conspicuous sight that Yoo Yeonha had seen it too. Just as Chae Nayun said, Kim Hajin had ridden a bike and sped off somewhere. It was so fast that she wondered if bikes had always been that quick.
“I saw. But where did he go?”
“How would I know that? More importantly, where did he get that bike? I want to buy one too.”
Smack, smack— Chae Nayun smacked her lips and her eyes shone.
In today’s incident, Kim Hajin hadn’t shown any particular outstanding performance. However, Yoo Yeonha had one question. Kim Hajin’s driving skills. For a Cube cadet, he was far too proficient.
At that moment, Kim Suho hurried over.
“...What’s with you?”
“They say the princess disappeared. Have you two seen Rachel?”
“Huh?”
Chae Nayun and Yoo Yeonha looked around again. The situation had already been settled, but just as he said, the heroes were becoming busy once more. The word “princess” was not missing from their urgent conversations.
In an instant, the back of Yoo Yeonha’s neck turned cold.
Shocked, Yoo Yeonha muttered.
“...Could the princess have been their goal from the start?”
“What? Really?”
“Yes. It’s possible. Rachel is Britain’s most precious treasure. If they kidnapped her...”
It was at that moment.
In the distance, a pitch-black bike came rattling toward them. Everyone except Yoo Yeonha, who was seriously deducing, looked that way.
On the bike’s seat was Rachel, wearing a helmet. She was trembling as she drove.
“If they took Rachel hostage, then even if they demanded the rights to Clancy Islet, there’s a high chance the British government would accept. From the beginning, they weren’t trying to deal with a corporation, but a nation. As expected, those wicked bastards...”
“Hey, hey. Shut up and look over there.”
Chae Nayun tapped Yoo Yeonha on the shoulder.
“No, I’m busy right now... Huh?”
Yu Yeonha felt the strength drain out of her in an instant, but this time Chae Nayun muttered with a certain seriousness.
“That’s the bike Kim Hajin rode off on.”
“······!”
Yu Yeonha’s face turned deathly serious again. With her mind tauter than ever, she began to reason it out.
While all of us were distracted by this situation, Kim Hajin rode off somewhere on that bike. But now, the one on that bike isn’t Kim Hajin, but Rachel. Then does that mean Kim Hajin defeated all the Djinns by himself and rescued Rachel?
No way. No matter how strong Kim Hajin is, there’s no way he could pull off such a one-man army act······
***
I parted ways with Rachel in an awkward atmosphere.
—Does that mean······ you like me?
I denied it for the time being, but Rachel didn’t seem to believe me. She said she understood, but it felt like she was thinking something entirely different on the inside.
In any case, I returned to the hotel alone.
Of course, if I had returned with Rachel, I could have earned a lot of SP as the “cadet who saved the princess.”
However, drawing more attention than necessary would be poison instead.
Besides, Clancy Islet was currently crawling with Djinns from the Devil’s Society. The Devil’s Society had botched their job, and no one knew where the sparks of their rage would fly.
The Chameleon Troupe had the military strength and financial power to withstand the Devil’s Society, so they didn’t matter. But if those sparks flew toward me······ the future would be as clear as day.
“…But this is really nice.”
The hotel suite was beyond imagination. On top of that, it was all free. After winning two billion at the casino, I’d received a free upgrade under the pretext of letting me rest a little.
I sat down on the soft sofa and made a video call with my smartwatch.
The call connected, and soon, the face of a cute child appeared.
—Hajin!
“Yeah. Have you been well?”
Evandel learned everything easily and quickly. She had become able to use basic electronic devices, and when I told her not to call me Dad, she started calling me by name.
—Yeah. Look at this!
Evandel showed me a cat she had made.
A cat ghost.
Small and cute.
“Wow. You made it well. It’s really cute. I want to touch it.”
—Hehe. Right, right?
I learned from the internet that praise was important in childcare.
—And Hajin, when are you coming?
“Tomorrow morning. I’ll come as quickly as I can. Just wait a little longer.”
In truth, I wanted to go right away. But right now, inspections and searches were being carried out across the entire island, so even if I wanted to, I couldn’t leave.
“I’ll buy you something tasty on the way. Is there anything you want to eat?”
—I wanna eat chicken.
“Yeah. Got it.”
Bzzzt—
A text message came in on my smartwatch.
The sender was Chae Nayun.
[Hey. Wanna come outside for a bit? We decided to eat with our club members.]
End
Rachel returned to the royal palace under the escort of numerous heroes.
Her father and mother—in other words, the Queen of England and the Prince Consort—mistakenly believed that the Devil’s Society had kidnapped her and showered her with all sorts of worries.
Rachel corrected their misunderstanding. She told them that she had not been kidnapped by anyone, but had acted on her own. She had no choice but to tell them about the giant who had stolen the crystal.
At that, their worry turned into anger, and Rachel had to endure a round of scolding.
The nagging continued for thirty minutes. Never again should she commit such a reckless act. If she ever did something like that again, Cube or not, they would transfer her to the British Academy.
After enduring all those scoldings that sounded more like threats, Rachel returned to her room.
It felt like her ears were going to bleed.
She buried her tired body in bed.
“······Haa.”
So many things had happened today that a sigh escaped her on its own.
Roton Corporation’s CEO, Jellen, had lost consciousness and been transported to the hospital. Once the stock market opened tomorrow, Roton Corporation’s share price would no doubt plummet.
Of course, the incident that had occurred today would not deal a blow to England