‘Shit…’

My mind went blank.

‘It’s over.’

It became clear why Han Sora kept begging to be spared.

“This is… you see… please…”

Han Sora looked pathetic while she was trembling like leaves and in some ways, she looked determined as well for some reason.

‘It had to be now…’

Regardless of the reasons, the situation looked pretty obvious. To Jung Ha-Yan, seeing me and Han Sora with her top ripped wasn’t a sight she wanted to see, and although I would probably have to explain that it was a misunderstanding, I didn’t think she would accept it. I was even more surprised because she was even more mentally unstable right now.

‘She appeared now of all times.’

Jung Ha-Yan knew I was going to visit Han Sora and since she was worried about getting caught, she quickly headed this way.

It didn’t make sense that Han Sora and I would enjoy a love affair at a time like this, but if Jung Ha-Yan had common sense, I wouldn’t be suffering like this.

Jung Ha-Yan’s eyes started quivering, and she had to be expressing her hostility toward Han Sora because she started biting her lips. Naturally, I had to handle this situation.

Tears filled Jung Ha-Yan’s eyes, and before I could even say anything, she started running in the other direction. I was about to run after her while calling out her name, but someone grabbed my ankle. When I looked back, I saw Han Sora covered in snot and tears.

‘What’s wrong with her?’

“Let go please,” I told her.

“Don’t leave me alone, please… Please don’t leave me alone,” Han Sora begged.

“Let go!” I ordered.

“Please don’t leave me by myself. Please s-save me and talk to her. Tell her that what she saw just now wasn’t anything. Please. I beg you. Cough. Please…” she pleaded.

“Let go of me first…” I repeated.

“No, I can’t. Don’t leave me here. Don’t leave me by myself. I’ll do whatever you tell me to do. Take me with you. Take me with you! Please… Heung…” she cried.

Taking Han Sora with me would definitely have a negative effect because it would be like taking the woman I was having an affair with to my wife who had just witnessed me cheating on her. I thought leaving her behind was the best choice, but like a cicada clinging to an old tree, she kept hanging onto my leg, so I couldn’t do anything. I wouldn’t be able to push this woman off of me with my low Strength stats.

“You must tell her that what happened just now was an accident. T-Tell her that you don’t have any interest in me. Please… tell her that you think I’m lower than the stones you see on the streets. Cough,” she requested.

“Alright, I got it,” I said.

“N-N-Nooooo! Don’t leave me! Please don’t leave me! I’ll explain everything you saw earlier, so please don’t leave me here. Please… don’t leave me alone… Cough. Spare me… Spare me! You mean bastard!” she yelled.

Something had to have gotten caught in her throat because the way she coughed was absurd. I knew very well that Han Sora was scared of Jung Ha-Yan, but it was worse than I thought. It seemed like her common sense had vanished, and she was shouting whatever came to her mind, so I felt like a fool for thinking that she had gotten better recently.

Naturally, I thought about how I shouldn’t spend any more time here because I kept recalling the future Kasugano Yuno had seen and told me.

‘Laios turning into a sea of fire.’

The fact that Kasugano Yuno didn’t know the exact time when it was supposed to happen bothered me a lot. However, since that day could even be today, I started to feel even more anxious. If Jung Ha-Yan actually turned the city into ruins like what Kasugano had mentioned…

‘There’s no way I can fix it.’

I had to stop wasting time here, so I thought that taking her with me was the best option. When I spoke after taking a deep breath, she looked at me as if she was questioning what I was saying.

“Let’s go. Right now. I’m going to go look for her right now.”

“What?” Han Sora asked.

However, she nodded desperately when I said, “If you don’t want to, you can stay…”

“I’ll go! I’ll go! Of course, I’ll go. Yes, I’ll go. Let’s go together. W-We have to prepare quickly. Fast… Let’s go quickly. That way we can work out this misunderstanding as soon as possible,” she stuttered.

She hurriedly tried to stand up, but her legs gave out, causing her to fall. She reminded me of a newborn zebra. I immediately threw a shirt toward her and Han Sora prepared to leave while trembling.

“You won’t be harmed or anything like that, so you can calm down, Miss Sora. I’ll tell Ha-Yan that what she saw was a misunderstanding, so there’s no need to worry,” I assured her.

“Okay, thank you,” she said.

“And you have to tell answer my questions earlier in detail. If you don’t want to, you can stay here by yourself,” I added.

“Of… course… I’ll. Yes, I will,” she replied.

“You can follow a few steps behind me,” I ordered.

“Okay, I’ll do whatever you tell me to do. I’ll do it and tell you everything. I-Instead, please—” she paused.

“I’ll talk to her about what happened,” I told her.

I spoke with confidence, but I was worried about myself right now.

‘You’re not the only one who’s in a bad position, Sora… I’m in a bad position as well.’

I didn’t know where Jung Ha-Yan went, but I had to hurry. I didn’t know why or how Laios would turn into ruins, but I had a feeling it was getting close. Jung Ha-Yan running rampant would turn Laios into ruins. This was nothing more than an assumption, but right now, Jung Ha-Yan running rampant was the only reason I could think of why the city would turn into a sea of fire.

I wanted to run as fast as I could, but I couldn’t because Han Sora was running while limping. She was worried that I would leave her, but at this point, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go together because there was no guarantee that the wild Jung Ha-Yan wouldn’t attack Han Sora. After completing her goal of splitting us up, she might appear to finish the event she had started at the training school.[1]

Jung Ha-Yan probably didn’t go far, so I was able to move while thinking about the situation.

“Let’s talk about what happened earlier, Miss Sora,” I suggested.

She seemed like she was too tired to run and talk at the same time, but she spoke for fear that I might leave her. She was desperate not to get separated from me.

“I-I don’t know where to start…” Han Sora stuttered.

“Start with why you have the mana exhaustion symptom,” I told her.

“It’s because I’m the one who created that mana orb,” she answered.

“You said you couldn’t create the same spell earlier…” I pointed out.

“No, I just cast the finishing spell and created it. I don’t know the process, but Miss Jung Ha-Yan transferred the spell to me, although I’m not sure if transfer is the correct word to describe it…” she replied.

“Is that possible?” I asked.

“It’s a one-time spell. Theoretically, it’s impossible, but the orb you saw earlier was made after I used all of my mana,” she answered.

‘Was it possible because it was Jung Ha-Yan who did it?’

Basically, the mana orbs were created after Jung Ha-Yan briefly borrowed Han Sora’s body, and she definitely made sure to mix their mana together so that traces would be more difficult to find. While Han Sora was creating the mana orbs, Jung Ha-Uan was probably casting another spell, and it was likely a spell to create confusion when the city started its investigation. Jung Ha-Yan cast the spell, but black magic caused it to manifest. I wasn’t sure if she knew it would happen, but there were still some traces of black magic Jung Ha-Yan couldn’t utilize.

My curiosity was somewhat resolved, and it felt like the puzzle pieces were falling into place.

“You didn’t think about telling me ahead of time?” I questioned.

“I’m sorry. I-I’m sorry,” Han Sora apologized.

I wasn’t blaming her because I completely understood why she acted that way. I didn’t know how the two ended up working together, but when the idea was mentioned, Han Sora probably couldn’t refuse Jung Ha-Yan’s offer.

‘As expected from a Black Mage...’

I was surprised because it was as if she had gotten into a contract with Jung Ha-Yan. Han Sora was afraid of getting killed, so she couldn’t refuse. As such, she reacted positively to Jung Ha-Yan’s plan and supported her.

“She cast spells so that there won’t be any traces. That was the reason she used my body. I tried to stop her, but—” she paused.

I was sure she couldn’t stop Jung Ha-Yan because she wasn’t brave enough to do that.

“She was getting really stressed…” she continued.

“...”

“The more she thought about it, the more she fell deeper into her thoughts. She said everything was ruined because of those… Republic members… That was the conclusion she came to,” she added.

“What was ruined?” I asked.

“She said she didn’t like you thinking of her as a strange woman, but I told her it was because you were jealous and even though she really liked it at first, you became very busy after that…” she stopped talking.

“Are you saying she became more anxious?” I asked.

“Yes. Afterward, she kept mumbling words I couldn’t understand. In the end, she said she thinks you dislike her now. She didn’t have the confidence to look straight into your eyes anymore, so she had to fix it. I didn’t know that this was what she meant. She said she had to prove her innocence and asked me to support her plan and although I had no idea what she was talking about, I-I just wanted to live… I didn’t want to get hurt anymore… Heuk…” Han Sora explained.

‘Shit…’

Han Sora kept talking, and it was definitely because she was sad. Honestly, I felt heartbroken as well when she started crying.

‘I think it's my fault…’

The guest I wasn’t happy to see caused me to push Jung Ha-Yan away and even though I thought I had made up for that, the problem was that it hadn’t been enough for Jung Ha-Yan. It was my mistake to think that it had been enough because she became really quiet after the incident at the Cursed Shrine. I let my guard down as well because Jung Ha-Yan was being obedient, but an incident like this still occurred despite that.

‘What did she mean when she said she couldn’t look straight into my eyes?’

All I did was warn her about talking to bastards like Jin Cheong, so I couldn’t understand why Jung Ha-Yan thought that she had become a strange woman. I also couldn’t understand why she had to prove her innocence, but I was sure Jin Cheong would be the target of someone’s resentment for the rest of his life for handing over a note to the wrong person.

‘It’s over.’

It felt like the end was getting closer, and the future Kasugano Yuno had seen kept appearing in my mind.

‘I’m sure she doesn’t want an ending where we all end up dying, right? Am I right?’

Even now, Jung Ha-Yan could be running around by herself, trying to prove her innocence, but regardless of what was going on, I was certain that I was in the worst situation.

When I turned around and looked out the window, I saw Jung Ha-Yan’s back. She was running outside with her fists clenched.

1. it’s that Bootcamp where Han Sora first met Ha-Yan ☜