“I….”

I studied the situation from the watchtower. Boss and Shimurin were munching on snacks from a street stall, and Yi Yeonjun was wandering about nearby.

Not causing a huge commotion seemed to be most important.

“I found Yi Yeonjun.”

—What? Really?!

Aileen’s surprised voice rang out from the crystal ball.

“Yes, but we need to act reserved. For now, I’m just going to keep an eye on him.”

I would never let Yi Yeonjun meet Boss. At least, not until I killed him.

—The plaza is filled with tons of people right now… Can you keep tracking him, Hajin?

Yun Seung-Ah asked.

“Don’t worry about that.”

I answered and slowly released my spirit power. With my stats fully recovered, my ability to wield spirit power returned as well. I should be able to use ‘Miracle Creation’, the ability engraved into my spirit power as the original author.

「Observer」

[Summary – Summons a small bird to monitor a target]

[Activation Condition – User must call the ‘Observer’ directly.]

[Consumption Value – 1% of Kim Hajin’s spirit power per 24 hours.]

[Effect – The Observer can conceal itself while watching its target. It also shares what it sees with Kim Hajin]

I created a Miracle with my spirit power. Since I didn’t have Spartan with me, I needed something to replace it.

“Observer.”

The moment I called its name, spirit power leaked out of my body. The minuscule amount of spirit power formed a small bird which smiled at me.

—Coo.

The cute fuzzball resembled a Korean crow-tit.

I strengthened it with [Random Consolidation System] and set its target to Yi Yeonjun.

“Fly.”

—Coo.

The Observer left my hands and flew into the sky. I closed my eyes and shared the Observer’s vision.

It began to track Yi Yeonjun.

“It’s all good now.”

—I don’t know what that means… but fine. Just to be sure, Yi Yeonjun really is alive?

Aileen’s high-pitched voice rang out from the crystal ball.

I replied with a bitter smile, “Yes, he is. You don’t believe me?”

—I believe you, of course. It’s just that… Ehew, fine, fine…. Huh? No, I ordered a chicken kabob. No, not spicy….

Tk. The communication cut off in the middle. It seemed Aileen was busy eating street food as well.

“…Pft.”

I let out a chuckle and went back to observing Yi Yeonjun.

However, my face went stiff when I saw what happened next.

—….

Boss was staring in a daze with a kabob in her hand. She was looking at a spot 500 meters away, where Yi Yeonjun was standing. Yi Yeonjun had his back toward her. With the grey robe covering him, Boss shouldn’t be able to recognize him.

I quickly took out the crystal ball connected to Boss.

“Boss.”

I called her. Boss flinched for a second and then took out a crystal ball from her pocket.

“Boss, where are you right now?”

—Me? I’m…

Boss took a look around and continued.

—…in front of a street vendor.

“And you haven’t spotted anything strange?”

—No, nothing. What about you? Are things going well?

“Yes, of course.”

I continued to drag out the conversation until Yi Yeonjun grew farther away from Boss. Thankfully, Yi Yeonjun didn’t see Boss, as he left for somewhere else.

I let out a sigh of relief.

“Boss.”

—Hm?

“…I think you should go home for today. I think Aileen is near you. Also, contact Jain for me.”

I heard that Jain was now a general for the Arunheim Kingdom.

—Sure, what do you need?

Boss answered. But her complexion seemed dark. The grey-robed figure she saw must be bothering her.

“…Ask her when she’ll arrive at the Republic. You should go back home for now.”

Boss hesitated for a moment and looked around her surroundings. But Yi Yeonjun had already disappeared, and Boss had no choice but to agree.

—Got it.

**

[Sword Commander’s Office]

At the same hour, Kim Suho was in a meeting with Yoo Yeonha about Baal.

“We’ve recovered our strengths for the most part… but Baal’s strength is on a level of its own.”

Yoo Yeonha said seriously.

“There’s no way for us to confirm stories about Baal, but according to Jin Sahyuk, he destroyed the world he descended upon in just four days.”

“…Yeah.”

Kim Suho nodded his head.

An evil god capable of destroying the world in just four days was shocking to hear, to say the least, but that didn’t mean he could sit around and do nothing. If Baal wasn’t stopped here, he would undoubtedly descend on Earth.

“So after hearing about this, I started looking into items used in history for exorcisms. I figured we would need these powerful artifacts to combat such a powerful foe.”

Yoo Yeonha took out a catalog from her desk. Listed on the book were ancient artifacts used for exorcisms that she found out through her merchant group’s connections.

Kim Suho glanced at the catalog, which showed pictures of a sword, bow, spear, talisman, fan, and others.

“Contact the president’s daughter and ask her if she can find any of these.”

“…Seraine-ssi, you mean?”

“Yeah. I would buy them myself if I could, but they’re too expensive. We’ll need assets on the level of a nation to acquire them.”

“Mm… I’ll try to ask her.”

Hearing this, Yoo Yeonha scowled.

“Don’t just try. We need these items. There’s only one week left.”

Yoo Yeonha was more serious than ever, and Kim Suho knew he shouldn’t be indecisive.

“…Okay, I’ll ask her even if I have to risk my position.”

“Perfect.”

It was then. Just as the duo were discussing their plans, Tok, Tok— someone knocked on the door.

Speaking of the devil, Seraine’s voice rang out from the other side of the door.

—Sword Commander, it’s me, Seraine.

“…?”

“…?”

Kim Suho and Yoo Yeonha stared at each other in bewilderment. Then, they both grinned and nodded their heads.

“Come in, Lady Seraine~ I’ve wanted to see you so much~”

“Aiya! If it isn’t Lady Seraine, the future of our Republic~”

“…Eh?”

The duo warmly welcomed the ‘guest’ into the office.

**

Late night.

I returned to Shimurin’s workshop after a long day’s work. Boss and Shimurin were waiting for me at the kitchen table.

“You’re late.”

Boss spoke first, then Shimurin slammed her fist down on the table.

“Right, you’re too late. We almost died of hunger, waiting.”

“…Why didn’t you eat?”

“What?”

Shimurin’s face distorted viciously.

“This is your fault. Because you’re too good at cooking, everything else tastes horrible. So—”

“Alright, I’ll make you something.”

I chuckled and walked to the kitchen. Shimurin smiled in satisfaction, and Boss’s shoulders danced as well.

Today’s meal was spicy rice cakes, dumplings, and tempura.

After I finished cooking in 15 minutes, Shimurin put a third of it on a plate and went downstairs. She clearly wanted to continue her magical research while eating.

Poke, poke, poke. Boss sat on the kitchen table and ate spicy rice cakes with chopsticks. I sat down next to her. When I stared at her, she began to look at me strangely. Her chopsticks slowed, and her munching turned into tiny nibbles. Eventually, she couldn’t hold back her curiosity and asked.

“Do you have something to say?”

“…Something to say?”

“Yeah.”

I did have something I wanted to say.

I wanted to ask what she would do if she found out that Yi Yeonjun, the man she trusted the most, was someone who messed with her life.

“…Boss.”

And I wanted to know what she would think if I killed that man.

“It’s just an if, but….”

I tried to be indirect.

“What would you do if the person you trust the most disappointed you?”

This question was meant to have two meanings. One was Boss finding out about the real Yi Yeonjun. The other was her finding out that I betrayed her by killing him.

“…Disappoint?”

Boss’s expression turned cold. Seemingly having lost her appetite, she put down her chopsticks and stared at me.

“Mm… I don’t think you will ever disappoint me.”

“Oh, so I’m the person you trust the most?”

“….”

Boss’s frozen expression softened. She coughed in embarrassment and changed the subject.

“Did something happen? Why are you asking me that?”

“…No reason.”

I thought carefully about what to do. If I told Boss the truth about Yi Yeonjun… she would probably try to kill him herself. And if she did, she might be struck with sadness, regret, and anger.

“I was just curious.”

This was my duty anyway. Telling Boss the truth could wait until I killed Yi Yeonjun.

“I asked because I like you. That’s the sincere truth.”

“…!”

Crack! At that moment, the chopsticks in Boss’s hand snapped in half. She stared at me, with her shaking hands holding the chopsticks. Her eyes widened like a cartoon character.

“W-W-What are you s-saying. I-It’s obvious that a subordinate should l-like his boss… I’m leaving. Kuhum! Kuhum!”

Boss got up in a fluster and scurried away to her room, leaving behind the food she liked on the table.

**

[Transnational Peace Conference D-5]

Five days remained until the Transnational Peace Conference.

In a magic practice area inside the Secret Service Institute, Harin was teaching us how to hunt a devil.

“I am from a clan of exorcists.”

Harin released her magic power to demonstrate exorcism. Her magic power bloomed with a clear, red hue. This color represented the exorcist power that critically wounded ‘evil’ beings.

“As I explained before, a clan is determined by ‘bloodline’. When members of our clan hunt devils, we mix our magic power with our blood. Follow after me.”

We took out blood packs that Harin made with the help of Yoo Yeonha.

Borrowing the power of exorcism was surprisingly simple. We just had to imbue our magic power into the blood pack and let the two mix.

Kim Horak and Yi Yeonghan had trouble with this process, but Yun Seung-Ah, Rachel, and Aileen easily accomplished it.

“My magic power will mix with this blood and become an exorcising magic power.”

Aileen just had to say a single sentence. It was the same for me, as I just had to command Stigma’s magic power. It was then.

[Blood of the Devil Hunter Clan partially assimilates into you.]

[Your Authority, ‘Devil Hunter’, becomes stronger!]

[Partial Devilization – Devil’s Arm becomes stronger!]

[An incredible luck erupts! By absorbing the power of an exorcist’s blood, you received a part of their genes!]

[You obtained a new Gift, ‘True Exorcism’! An auspicious event may happen with an astronomically low chance!]

“…?”

A series of system alerts popped up in front of me. I blinked my eyes and stared at the windows. While I was standing in a daze, Aileen talked to Harin.

“By the way, don’t we have to tell Kim Suho about this?”

“Ah, I will go to Sword Commander and teach him later.”

“Ah, okay.”

“Then, next!”

Chak— Harin clapped her hands. The loud noise woke me up, and I turned my attention to her.

“Let’s start learning exorcism!”

But Harin’s words didn’t enter my head. For some reason, I felt like I obtained a huge hint.

Harin’s blood and Stigma’s magic power that assimilated with it.

My Authority, ‘Devil Hunter’, which was strengthened as a result.

“Um, Yurin-ssi?”

As I called Harin… Bzzzz— The crystal ball in my pocket suddenly vibrated.

“Kuhum, please turn off your crystal ball during lessons.”

Harin glared at me.

“…Ah, sorry.”

I took out the crystal ball with a wry smile. It was the one I received from Jin Sahyuk when I went to Arunheim.

“Hold on a minute.”

I left the area and picked up the call.

“What do you want?”

When I whispered, Jin Sahyuk said something strange.

—It’s important. There are things we need to settle and things we need to confirm, so come meet me at 1 a.m. tomorrow.

—Don’t be late, and don’t even think about not showing up.

Tk—

“…The hell?”

Jin Sahyuk hung up without even waiting for my reply. I furrowed my brows and glared at the crystal ball.

“Hajin-ssi, what are you doing?”

“Hajin, you’re the one who said we didn’t have much time.”

Rachel and Yun Seung-Ah voiced their complaints.

“Ah, sorry, I had something to take care of.”

I scratched my head and ran back to them.

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