“Um, what happened?”

Rachel whispered. I looked back at Heuk Jeon and his crew following us without answering her. I said I would let him off even if he didn’t kowtow, but he decided to follow me like an attendant.

“Who knows?”

“…”

Rachel seemed suspicious of my vague reply.

“Well, like I said before. I trade stocks on the side. That’s it.”

“Stocks?”

It wasn’t easy to come up with a good explanation. After all, I didn’t want to seem related to djinns.

“Yes, I gave one of my clients a valuable piece of information. That client just happened to be extremely influential around people like them.”

“Eh? Then is your client also a djinn?”

“No. It’s all about money. That’s why they’re here too.”

I wasn’t lying. Boss was a money-loving fool. Well, maybe calling her a fool was too harsh. She only focused on money while the Chameleon Troupe was relatively free, but would undoubtedly show why she was called the Yaksha once they became involved in the main story.

“…”

Rachel didn’t seem to completely believe me, but didn’t ask any further questions.

“Stocks… stocks…” she mumbled to herself until her eyes shot open.

“Ah, Ha-Hajin.”

“Yes?”

She called my name while stuttering.

“Then did you make a lot of profit with stocks?”

“Uh… my nickname is the Invisible Hand.”

Rachel’s cheeks flushed with anticipation when I said that. The English Royal Court guild was currently in a financial crisis. They suffered from a lack of investors after last year’s incident on Clancy Islet.

“I see… it makes sense since you’re rank 1 in theory. You must be good at analyzing charts and data.”

However, she seemed too embarrassed to outrightly ask for any favors and fiddled with her fingers.

“I guess you could say that.” I acted obliviously.

“Ah… right.”

Rachel finally worked up the courage to speak.

“So, um, I heard guilds have recently started investing in stocks to make money…”

“Oh, is that so?”

I felt the urge to tease her. I could only relax in this situation thanks to Boss.

“Y-Yes… and um, the English Royal Court guild is looking to start a business at the moment…”

“Oh right.”

I cut her off to give her some important information. “Stay calm and head over to that building if the space distorts while we’re walking.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

Heuk Jeon interrupted me. I turned around as he flinched at my gaze, then took out a palm-sized orb from his pocket.

“Hajin doesn’t have to worry about that. We have a pathfinder orb.”

Pathfinder orb? That must be what they used to find Rachel.

“Give it here then.”

I put my hand out towards the black orb.

“…” Heuk Jeon scratched his neck, but didn’t refuse. Instead, he pleaded with me.

“Um, about this matter…”

“I know, I know. How many times do I have to tell you?”

I wasn’t interested in ordering him around. I’ve read this trope so many times in novels and even used it a few times myself until I got bored.

“Y-Yes, thank you.”

“He interrupted us in the middle of our conversation.”

Rachel pouted unhappily. I grinned and went back to the topic.

“So, Rachel. Do you want me to give you a recommendation?”

“Yes? Ah, well, you see…”

She quickly livened up and began to list all of the English Royal Court guild’s business plans. I found them lacking to Yoo Yeonha, but could see their passion and hardworking attitude.

“It’s going to be difficult to take all that on with just taxes. It’s a long-term plan, and with the economy so bad recently…”

We walked together while talking about the English Royal Court and arrived at the central building before we noticed. It looked like a small abandoned school in a rural town.

“We’ll talk about this later. Now isn’t a good time.”

“Ah, yes.”

Rachel nodded and looked at the worn-down building.

“Where are we?”

“It should be a building in Cube.”

To be exact, it was a lighthouse that went obsolete after Cube introduced portals. The spatial distortion dragged the building from the deepest corner of Cube here.

“Let’s go in.”

We entered while Heuk Jeon and his crew stopped at the entrance. I turned around and looked at them.

“We’ll go back, but Lancaster won’t give up.”

Heuk Jeon warned us before leaving. I didn’t stop him so others wouldn’t associate me with djinns.

“We’ll stay in the area and stop Lancaster’s subordinates if we spot them.”

Yesterday’s friend is today’s enemy. Djinns had a thin concept of loyalty.

“Thanks.”

Heuk Jeon was a trustworthy guy in terms of strength. He should be able to deal with Lancaster’s djinns somewhat evenly with his number of subordinates.

“By the way, you don’t need this pathfinder orb?”

“No, we have another one.”

“Good, then see you.”

I waved as they left. Then something rustled from a nearby bush.

“…!”

Rachel and I cautiously glared in the direction. However, we knew the person that popped out.

“Ah, Kim Hajin!” Chae Nayun shouted and ran up to me.

“Hey! Geez, I was so surprised. You suddenly disappeared…”

Chae Nayun almost ran into my embrace, but stopped when she saw Rachel.

“What.”

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”

“I’m fine, but why are you with her?”

“That’s not important. Anyways, follow me. We have something to do. You too, Rachel.”

“Yes.”

“Ah, what is it?”

We entered the building and walked up the stairs to the broadcasting room on the highest floor.

“Aah, aah.”

I fiddled with the microphone and tested the sound. Using this, I planned to gather all the cadets and instructors to this building. Kim Suho was supposed to do it, but the earlier the better.

“Will everyone hear us if we speak into this?” Chae Nayun asked.

“Yeah, probably.”

At least 10,000 people resided in Cube. However, one needed to have enough magic power for this broken mirror phenomenon to pull them in. Only about 3000 people, including the instructors, should be here. I could confidently say it had also transported me because of stigma’s magic power. My arm had been constantly throbbing ever since.

“Aaah, testing, testing, 1 2 3.”

I turned on the microphone and spoke. As expected, the speakers properly worked.

“This is an announcement to all cadets and instructors who might be panicking. I repeat, this is an announcement to all cadets and instructors who might be panicking.”

I cut straight to the chase after grabbing everyone’s attention.

“Space has been distorted due to the broken mirror phenomenon.”

I paused to choose my next words.

“… Do not panic if you are a cadet. Head to the building in the center of the island. Continue heading towards the building even if you get lost. I repeat, continue heading towards the building even if you get lost.”

I placed the microphone down after repeating the same thing several times.

***

People began to arrive at the central building after 30 minutes. Kim Suho, Shin Jonghak, Yi Yeonghan, and several others all arrived at the same time. Our former instructor, Kim Soohyuk, also ran over. First year cadets appeared after an hour, but didn’t look to be in good shape.

“Instructor! Some strange people in robes kidnapped Hyunsuk!”

“What?”

The djinns’ goal was to kidnap cadets with the potential to host devils. This invasion wasn’t happening only in Cube. The same should be happening in several hero academies across the world as one of the largest planned attacks on humanity.

“Ah, what should we do?”

Kim Suho stomped and glared into the forest. He probably wanted to save his comrades and juniors, but couldn’t because they would easily get lost.

“Hey, Kim Suho. Do you want to go?”

“Hm?”

Kim Suho’s current strength was far beyond any other cadet. He should be even stronger than in the original story. With Misteltein also strengthened, he could join the rescue team without a problem.

“But if I go into the forest…”

“Here.”

I threw the pathfinder orb to him. Kim Suho caught it with a curious look.

“That’s a pathfinder orb. The space shouldn’t suddenly distort with it. Go with the instructor.”

“Really?”

“Are you doubting me?”

“Of course not. Thank you, Hajin!”

“Pathfinder what?’ Kim Soohyuk joined in on our conversation.

“Pathfinder orb. You won’t get lost if you have it around. Oh, Shin Jonghak. Do you want to go too?”

I also asked Shin Jonghak, who stood guard with his spear like a sentry. His eyebrows twisted up. It didn’t look like he wanted to listen to me.

“Let’s go, Shin Jonghak.”

Kim Suho also chimed in. Shin Jonghak glared at us unhappily.

“I guess Yoo Yeonha isn’t here yet.”

However, he soon joined.

“I, I’ll help too.”

An unexpected individual hopped in.

“You want to go too, Rachel?”

“Yes, I want to help rescue them, ” Rachel spoke resolutely with her hands clasped over her heart.

“Mm…”

I understood where she was coming from since her trauma had to do with a rescue effort, but because of Lancaster… no. Objectively speaking, she was probably safer with Kim Suho, Shin Jonghak, and Kim Soohyuk.

“Ah, then I wanna join too.”

Yi Yeonghan also raised his hand. Only Chae Nayun and I didn’t take part. Kim Suho grinned.

“Hajin, you stay here and protect the other cadets.”

“Like I’m strong enough for that.”

Of course, I planned to do just that. Now was the time for Kim Suho to shine. Thankfully, other high ranking cadets also remained to protect the place. For example, the samurai Yohei and supporter Yi Jiyoon.

“Don’t worry about us.”

“Yeah, be safe!” Chae Nayun also waved at them from the side.

“You aren’t going with us, Chae Nayun?”

Shin Jonghak asked while pretending like he didn’t care. Chae Nayun would’ve followed them in the original story even if it cost her life. However, she currently didn’t hesitate.

“You’re all going, so it’ll be a waste if I go too.”

“… I see.”

Shin Jonghak faintly sighed and turned around. Kim Suho followed him as he stormed off.

“Ah, hey! You have to stay close to the pathfinder orb!”

“Everyone, make sure you stay in this building!”

The rescue team led by instructor Kim Soohyuk departed. After they left, Chae Nayun and I climbed to the roof to look out for any djinns that might ambush us.

“Wow, look what we got ourselves into this time.”

As always, it was best to maintain the high ground over enemies. Chae Nayun looked out into the horizon and mumbled, “First, Creator’s Sacred Grace. Now this. These things just keep happening to us, huh?”

“Yeah. After today, many things will change…”

This incident served as an important turning point in the original story. I skipped over the main cast’s time in Cube after this incident.

“Yeah, you’ll be leaving too.”

“That has nothing to do with it.”

Chwaaa— The cool breeze blew my hair.

“At least the wind is nice.”

“I guess so…”

The gentle breeze suddenly turned violent while we leisurely talked. It sharply slapped my face as a waterspout rose from the East Sea in the distance.

“What’s that?’

A fierce tornado shook Cube’s island. I couldn’t help but frown at this supernatural phenomenon.

“Ah, look at that!”

Chae Nayun jumped in surprise, but I remained calm. The monstrous waterspout sent a chill down my back as my smartwatch buzzed.

[Criticism – It doesn’t make sense that djinns, known to be vile and brutal, would only slightly provoke the azure dragon.]

“… But that doesn’t mean you can do this.”

You son of a bitch, how could you send a dragon after cadets! I quickly raised my head and looked into the distance. Then I became speechless. A single creature appeared from far away and I fell into a daze at its proud and noble figure.

A soft, beautiful azure body that resembled the clouds. A face that resembled a mix between a snake and a tiger. Two sacred horns protruded from behind its ears. The master of the East Sea, a creature that seemed too noble to be called a monster. The azure dragon was one of the cardinal guardians described in legends.

“…”

The beauty of this legendary dragon almost made me forget the gravity of the situation. However, the azure dragon wasn’t so kind. Krrrr! It glared in our direction and roared. His roar swept the entire island.

“Kyak!”

I was unaffected, but Chae Nayun screamed in pain and collapsed.

“Ah, hey!”

I quickly ran to her.

“Uuu, uuuaa…”

Veins protruded from her neck to her face. This was magic convulsion.

“Dammit!”

The azure dragon was especially skilled in handling magic power. However, Chae Nayun was directly exposed to such a being’s breath. The azure dragon’s breath must’ve flowed into her body and suppressed her magic power, leading to this convulsion. This theory also explained why it didn’t affect me because my body didn’t contain any magic power.

“Uuugh, huaa, huaaa…”

“Calm down. Don’t panic and collect your breath.”

“Hu, huu, huuuu…”

“BREATHE!”

Well, fuck. That was all I could think. A creature that could do this to Chae Nayun with just a single breath… such a monstrous creature simply opened its mouth. Its rage wasn’t directed at us, but its tantrum after waking up was a matter of life and death.

My sense of time slowed. I could see blue magic power forming from the azure dragon’s mouth. I couldn’t dodge it. This magic power bomb would surely be catastrophic as I looked at the unconscious Chae Nayun in my arms. I didn’t need to think. I would protect her this time.

I held her in my arms and released the magic power reinforcement seal on my obsidian bracelet. Then I added the Egyptian Archer’s sand barrier on top of it. However, I wasn’t finished with just 2 layers of protection. Gritting my teeth, I poured in every ounce of stigma’s magic power. Immediately, the stigma on my upper arm shone brilliantly through my clothes. I squeezed out everything without saving a single drop. The pain on my arm grew sharper, but I clenched my teeth and held on.

The dragon’s tantrum descended on us once my third barrier set in.

“… Uk!”

A mere tantrum, something that couldn’t be compared to a real dragon breath, made my body feel like it was bending in half.

“…”

I looked down at Chae Nayun while enduring the attack. However, she only stared at the symbol shining through my clothes. Her eyes seemed hollow and out of focus.