Baraki Jeokgwan.
On the private rooftop of the magic engineering skyscraper, where only those with S rank could reside, there was a red-haired man.
He stayed still for a while, bowing his head.
Ignoring the lowest-scoring green knight of the entrance exam, who stood before him.
Edwin Gwynn.
– Uwaaaa!!!
His pain-laced, pathetic shout still echoes in Caeran’s ears.
The moment the guy’s momentum burst forth… he couldn’t stop it.
No? The original Caeran would have easily blocked it and even counterattacked to seal the deal.
But the results spoke for themselves.
– Edwin Gwynn… win…
– Waaah!!!!!!!!
– Is it real?!!!!!!
Caeran had also proven his worth through results during that time.
From living on the streets to getting here, how much he had to build himself up.
He never stopped Edwin’s words or picked a fight because showing conclusively spoke louder than words.
But Caeran… he lost.
– Remember…! Melissa, Aveline, and Lily…! They are not the kind of girls to be treated like that.
He even received a somewhat embarrassing and ridiculous warning.
But losers have no words; even if they spoke, it would only be met with ridicule.
On the seventh day of the Academy Grade Before, the protagonist of the incident was undeniably Edwin.
“Khihih…”
For over two hours, he repeated getting angry and simmering in his own thoughts.
If he stepped outside this private room even for a moment,
He’d be surrounded by reporters from the Empire smelling money and representatives from Crow Pay who snatched Caeran.
In the end, this was the only place he could flee to.
Soon, he’d lose this too.
S ranks losing to C ranks is just absurd.
“Damn it…”
All that was left from his fiery anger was ash.
The ugly side of himself, just crumbs.
“Ha… hehehe…”
That was the moment.
The balcony door opened.
“Junior… why didn’t you wake me up?”
“…”
It’s not surprising. She sometimes sleeps in Caeran’s dormitory.
“Did you know I’d lose?”
“Mmhm…”
“So, you came to laugh at me?”
“That’s because, ah, your words yesterday were just…”
– Thud!
“!”
– Bang!
Caeran grabbed Yellody and sat her down on the opposite chair.
“Then tell me. Is there something you can do for me? If you’re not here to laugh at me!!”
“I can…”
“…!”
“But, I missed the golden time… last time was the last…”
In that instant, Caeran’s memory restored itself.
– No? That sounds like an external factor?
Was she referring to the day she visited his personal training room?
He was so focused on training that he became too sharp about it.
“So… I can’t go back to how it used to be…”
“…What is it? The method.”
He felt confident.
If there’s still a flame he can ignite,
If he could just erase the feeling of falling deeper the more he flailed,
There would surely be a way to take revenge on Edwin, that bastard.
And he’d declare it once more to everyone who laughed at him even for a moment.
“But… I’ve clearly helped you four times?”
“Please say it straight. I’m in a hurry.”
“Next time, it’s not free…”
Four times.
Since the first time Caeran received an inheritance ability from Yellody, she inexplicably appeared to help him.
“What is it? Money? Or should I be your lifelong slave?”
“No… that’s not it.”
And this time, it was Yellody’s turn to demand.
The end of a Contract with a Demon is…
“Will you die for me…?”
Because it belongs to the contractor’s soul.
“…”
In Caeran’s eyes,
Yellody’s smile, which was always languid, flashed ominously.
*
Yegudi Green House, Student Waiting Room.
The unexpected rebellion of the C rank stirred the Academy for several days, but as the written exam scores for the first semester were announced, it subsided to some degree.
– A, did it come out!!
– No, it’s a C root~.
– Yeah, just commit suicide and be done with it~.
At Clarice Academy, performance checks were analog, distributed on paper.
The distribution location, the waiting room, buzzed with students checking their scores.
And…
After coming out of the Black House dormitory, both I and Yeriel transferred to Raphae Cheong-gwan and Yegudi Green House, respectively.
For some reason… Yeriel was waiting for me in the Green House waiting room.
——————————————————
– General Studies –
Party Member Acumen: A0
Basic Student Law: A-
– Major –
[Operation of Internal Magic Power]: A0
[Magic Circuit Theory]: A-
[Light Magic Art Engineering]: A0
[Basic Magic Formula]: A-
——————————————————
Is there someone who is a Marksman but has a major in magic?
It seems like the power of the family tree helped him easily pass the written exam.
Although not everything was perfect, with no chance of being first, most subjects clustered around an accuracy of over 95% with an A average.
The lack of A+ may seem a bit suspicious, but it’s enough to wash away demerit points.
“Lev, that’s amazing…! You were studying in your spare time…?!”
Yeriel clapped her hands with a smile of amazement.
“You worked hard…! I thought recovery was tough to achieve, so I worried a lot…”
“……”
“Really, you’ve changed….”
At Yeriel’s frank evaluation, my conscience pricked me.
After all, it wasn’t my own skill.
Besides, she herself scored the highest in all seven subjects, so I found it somewhat funny that she was praising me.
As I was there, hesitant, Yeriel shyly brought her delicate little hand to my head.
– Swoosh. Swoosh.
With a pleasant scent, her soft hand brushed through my hair.
“Good job… good boy.”
“…?”
Suddenly?
I felt like a puppy.
– Swoosh.
“!”
When I quietly caught her wrist to put it down,
Yeriel made a flustered expression towards me, then quickly turned her gaze back to the score sheet.
Feeling awkward, she began mumbling to herself.
“It’s finally vacation…”
“Right.”
“Lev, did you know there’s a festival at the Academy during vacation?”
“Yeah, I know.”
Of course, I knew. I skimmed through the side story, and there was a festival between the schedules.
Of course, towards the finale of that festival, there’s a notice of a Demon Creature invasion [Demon Coming – Gate of the Underworld], so I couldn’t properly enjoy it.
“Then, what if we….”
Like in some Japanese anime, around the eighth or ninth episode?
Just when that line typical of ‘Exciting! Summer Festival, Fireworks Operation!! (Part One)’ was about to pour out from her lips.
“Little punk!”
“Eek!”
Yeriel got more flustered by Scarlet’s sharp voice.
– What’s this??
– Isn’t that Dustin and Scarlet??
With the appearance of the war heroes, the students’ gaze began to turn this way.
“We finally escape from this place…!”
“The inspection period is over. I just came to say hello before leaving.”
“Wow…! Hello!!”
Scarlet looked tired from her arduous duties, with noticeable dark circles under her eyes.
“Ah! Scarlet…!”
Since Yellody was a magician and also the head of the Magic Department, they had met each other.
They must have had a brief encounter last year when Scarlet awarded Yeriel during her first-year top student designation.
Meanwhile, Dustin leaned over to me and murmured loudly enough to hear.
“About Umberto, he has been declared missing for now. If they find him… I’ll send you word.”
“Yes.”
Umberto was probably dead, but I didn’t want to say that.
After all, he was a comrade.
Anyway, with the war heroes’ arrival, it seemed the atmosphere would become quite uproarious, and Scarlet’s eyes narrowed sleepily.
“By the way, what’s with you guys? What’s going on?”
“Four?!!”
Yeriel reacted with more suspicion than tension.
Scarlet, not wanting to miss this, crossed her arms.
“Lev, where have you put your girlfriend while you’re trying to charm my cute junior?”
“…?”
“Lev… girlfriend…?”
Girlfriend?
In that moment, ? ping struck me as my past words began to echo back.
– Yes, that’s right. We’re dating.
– It’s been two months, and I confessed first, it’s my private life now.
Ah, right.
Dustin also began to laugh heartily and joined in.
“Seriously, are you cheating? I heard Lev can use Healing Magic… girlfriend… huh?”
– Tap.
Scarlet looked at me with disdain, nudging Dustin in the side with her elbow.
“Lev has… a girlfriend….”
She must have seen Yeriel’s expression.
– ……
Thus, the atmosphere rapidly cooled down.
Even though it was just a jest from Dustin,
“……I didn’t know…”
Yeriel’s golden eyes… lost their light and turned dull; was it just my feeling…?
– What brings you here, you two?!
– Scarlet! Over here, please!
As more people began to crowd the waiting room, Dustin sheepishly said his goodbyes.
“Haha! Well then, we’ll be off!”
“Excuse me?”
“Just a little punk!”
.
.
.
The two war heroes who had handed me the bomb vanished into the crowd, leaving just me and Yeriel in the waiting room.
“Uh-huh… I see…”
– ……
Yeriel’s finely crafted profile began to tremble slightly.
“First of all, it’s a misunderstanding.”
“It’s okay… I expected it!!”
As she said this, mysterious tears glistened at the corners of her eyes.
If this continues, will I really see the Tarchangel ending for Yeriel…?
*
The Adventurers’ Guild of Evenbaugh.
Street mercenaries gathered to hunt the recently discovered mid-low level Monster, [Pleasure Lord].
“Miss, I tell you, if I make my payment tomorrow, there’ll be nothing left! Can you give me a little more?!”
“I understand your feelings, but there’s nothing I can do to help…”
“I have four kids depending on me!”
A man who looked as if he had only recently come of age pleaded to a girl with bedazzling hair.
The girl at the reception desk was Benia.
Having worked in the role of connecting mercenaries for two years, she had already figured out the situation in this field.
She dealt with the complaints of middle-aged men as part of her daily routine.
“Phew.”
It felt like just yesterday when she proudly told her parents about being a city official.
While magic engineering began taking over only in the capital, academy, and a few noble estates, life here hadn’t drastically changed.
Now accustomed to it, Benia dealt with another defeated middle-aged man emotionally detached as she awaited her lunch break.
Of course, she wasn’t entirely unsympathetic to the brutal words of the middle-aged men.
Generally, mid to low-level dungeons and monsters are the domain of street mercenaries, as profit margins do not need to be met by elite guilds composed of the academy’s elite.
However, lately, with Crow Pay intervening, their share of work has been decreasing.
‘I’ve heard there’s been a lot of talk about the distribution methods…’
There was no specific action taken from above.
More situations like this were becoming common.
– Stomp. Stomp.
At that moment, a man who appeared to be a young man with a hood drawn came up to her without hesitation.
“I’m here to join the raid.”
From his diction and voice, he didn’t seem too old.
“Are you referring to participating in the raid against the Pleasure Lord?”
He nodded instead of giving an answer.
‘Hmm…’
Concerned that there might be a hidden agenda, Benia cautiously stated a word.
“Though I’m saying this, it may actually end up being a loss in this raid after various deductions. The discoverers are from the Crow Pay guild; you’ve heard of Crow Pay, right?”
“I don’t care.”
“……”
His firm tone led her to reply, “Ah, okay.”
‘Well I’m working here too, so why not.’
It wasn’t the first time a young man with an enigmatic air visited the guild.
Such occurrences were not rare.
However, most of them tended to be useless.
In raids, participants without connections or guilds would usually end up becoming targets of political maneuvering.
Even if they had slightly better skills than the other middle-aged men, inexperience tends to lead to exploitation.
Moreover, given this was a raid headed by the Crow Pay, even seasoned mercenaries were hesitant to participate.
“An advance deposit of 30 silver is required, and you must have an adventurer’s license or a valid proof of skill in place of it…”
– Swoosh.
Three shiny silver coins, brand new, indicated that he was likely not from around here.
Moreover, this wasn’t even an adventurer’s license.
‘What is this…?’
Instead of that, he had the proof of marksman skill, temporary level two.
The ranks officially recognized in the Empire run from level one to five, of which level one requires a separate assessment and is the highest level you typically see here.
‘Seems unlikely he’s an elf….’
The crossbow strapped to his back was probably not a standard weapon for elves.
His rare talent paired with being a human would make it all the more pitiful.
If this guy had a good background, he wouldn’t have to participate in such low-level raids.
– Flick.
Feeling the stiffness of the new certificate, Benia stamped it down.
“The times and obligations, along with other things you might have questions about, are written here.”
Handing over the notice sheet, he merely replied, “Thanks for your hard work.”
He left behind that one line and disappeared.
“…Tsk tsk.”
Since it’s mid-low level, there won’t be any genuine life-changing rewards.
If they come out alive, it’s likely they’ll be hustled out by Crow Pay in a higher bid…
Considering the cost of life, it’s a foolish venture.
“He may even be younger than me… how pitiful.”
With that, Benia uttered a short prayer for him.
