“… Do you mean to say this will hatch if you incubate it?” Yoo Yeonha asked while inspecting my almond in a cave.

I nodded in response.

Yoo Yeonha raised a brow and asked, “Why are you telling me this? You should tell the owner of the blood you fed it, no?”

“I plan to do so,” I replied.

Evandel would be born soon, but I wouldn’t be able to raise Evandel on my own. I had the Pharmacy Club and also those strange people following me around. I didn’t dare imagine what would happen if they decided to kidnap Evandel all of a sudden.

“Anyways… You want me to help you feed this peanut, right?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“

Hmm…

I guess I could if this peanut is really as great as you claim it is…”

I extended a smoked jerky to her. This meat was cooked with smoke instead of fire, so it didn’t have any bad odors.

Yoo Yeonha frowned and her expression seemed to say,

‘I don’t really eat these kinds of food, but I’ll eat it since we don’t have a choice.’

She accepted the smoked jerky.

We finished our meal quite quickly and Yoo Yeonha went

fwah

from satisfaction.

“Oh right, how did you block my electricity?”

“

Hmm?

Oh, that…”

It was all thanks to the synergy between aether and Dazzling Dexterity. I was able to imbue certain characteristics to the formless aether thanks to my dexterity.

I immediately changed aether into a transparent rubber when I noticed Yoo Yeonha was about to use her ability, which made it impossible for her to win because rubber wasn’t a conductor.

“… It’s a secret,” I said with a smirk.

“

Hmph!

Whatever, I’ll be leaving now,” Yoo Yeonha said.

She really meant what she said and got up. Yoo Yeonha dusted her clothes and left the cave.

Barely a minute passed before she came back and pointed at the smoked jerky.

“Can I take some with me? I don’t think you’ll be able to finish it since there’s so much. I’m just helping you out so you don’t end up letting them go to waste…”

“Sure thing.”

Yoo Yeonha took a big piece of my smoked jerky and wrapped it in leaves.

“Hmm…”

She stole a glance at me before taking another, and another, and another, and another, and another… She took six big pieces in total…

***

[First Practical Exam: Basic Survival]

[Second Practical Exam: Hostage Rescue]

[Third Practical Exam: One Versus One Duel]

[Fourth Practical Exam: Fight for the Underground Artifact]

The final exams ended on a good note among the cadets. The long-awaited reward after an entire week without taking the weekend off was finally here.

Summer vacation!

“

Ah

, feels so good!” Chae Nayun exclaimed while walking down the road.

She seemed to be in quite a good mood since vacation started, but it would be a short one…

The rest of the Pharmacy Club members walked behind her.

Yoo Yeonha frowned while looking at her report card. On the other hand, Yi Yeonghan and Kim Suho walked like a pair of zombies. It seemed like they bombed their exams.

“Everyone, did you bring your luggage?” Seo Youngji asked.

“Yes!” Chae Nayun enthusiastically replied.

We placed our luggage in the trunk compartment of the SUV.

“Hey, can I see your theory report card?” Yoo Yeonha tapped my shoulder and asked.

I took out my report card from my pocket.

Whish!

Yoo Yeonha snatched it out of my hand and glared at my results with bloodshot eyes.

[Theory Exam Results – Kim Hajin]

[Mana Theory: 20/20]

[Dungeon Theory: 20/20]

[Hero Theory: 20/20…]

“Ha…”

Yoo Yeonha let out a sigh as if her whole world was falling apart.

I wondered just how bad her results were that she reacted in such a way, so I stole a glance at her results.

[Theory Exam Results – Yoo Yeonha]

[Mana Theory: 13.5/20]

[Dungeon Theory: 18.5/20]

[Hero Theory: 20/20…]

“The mana theory was quite difficult. I think you’ll place in the top five with 13.5 points,” I said.

“…!” Yoo Yeonha flinched before crumpling her report card. “H-How dare you look at my results without my permission!” she raged.

“Why did you look at mine then?”

“… You didn’t bomb your test, so it doesn’t matter,” she pouted and complained before giving me my report card back.

However, she seemed to cheer up almost immediately after hearing that she would be in the top five. After all, our ranks were given based on the other cadets’ performances too.

“Oh right… Hey guys, we have someone else joining us today,” Chae Nayun said after putting her luggage in the trunk compartment.

Someone else? Everyone tilted their heads in confusion at the mention of an additional member.

A familiar figure emerged from behind a tree. She wore silver armor with long golden flowing hair. She also seemed to be holding a crumpled paper in her hand that I assumed was her report card.

“… Hello,” Rachel nodded and meekly greeted us.

We were flabbergasted for a while after seeing her fully armed. Forget about the armor, she looked like a warrior going to war with her greaves, bracers, armguards, and even her sword, Galatine.

Yi Yeonghan was the first to break the awkward silence with a joke, “Your outfit… Are you going to war?”

“I dressed accordingly after hearing that we’re going to the outskirts of a neutral city-state,” Rachel replied.

“I see…”

“But why are all of you dressed so comfortably?” she asked.

I felt that it was a rhetorical question, but she asked with absolute confidence that we started to question ourselves why we were underdressed for the trip.

“

Ah

, forget about that. Just hurry up and get on. We have a long drive ahead of us,” Chae Nayun said as she opened the SUV door and threw Rachel in.

Rachel’s armor got caught on the way into the SUV, but she didn’t seem bothered by it as she comfortably sat in the front passenger seat.

***

The drive lasted for eighteen hours.

We headed for the neutral city-state, Trooper, which was where the mansion that Tomer mentioned was located. We traveled for a whole day without rest before we finally managed to reach the neutral city-state located near the borders of Pandemonium.

“You took your armor off,” Yoo Yeonha said to Rachel after getting out of the SUV.

Rachel only wore her breastplate now. The rest of her armor, such as her greaves, bracers, armguards, etc. remained on the SUV floor like a snake that shed its skin.

“I’m wearing it,” Rachel pointed at her breastplate and defended her honor.

“

Hmm…

Anyways, follow me. My informant is nearby,” Yoo Yeonha said.

First, we unpacked our luggage at the hotel and followed the directions Tomer provided.

The directions she gave led us to a mountain nearby the neutral city-state. The mountain’s forest was quite dark and filled with black leaves and rotting tree stumps. The overall atmosphere of the place was quite eerie. On top of that, the foul stench of organic matter rotting didn’t help at all.

We walked up the mountain for around thirty minutes.

“Hey, hey. Over here.”

Tomer and her group finally appeared. They already finished pitching their tents while they waited for us.

We went over and joined them.

“Over there. Look toward the northeast,” Tomer said as she handed us a pair of binoculars.

Chae Nayun was the first to take a look, but I used my sharp vision to look as well.

I could see it clearly… the dark greenish land was a complete mess as if it was bombed by a nuclear bomb. What remained of the mansion could be seen.

“

Ah

, I can see it. Is that what you mentioned last time?”

“Yeah, it’s the contamination that occurred after the mansion was destroyed.”

“So that’s the place we’re going to investigate today…”

Chae Nayun passed the binoculars to the others and said, “I’ll divide us into teams first. I already drafted our team composition in the car.”

Team 1: Chae Nayun, Kim Hajin, Rachel

Team 2: Zomer (Tomer), Kim Suho, Yi Yeonghan

Team 3: Shin Jonghak, Seo Youngji, Yoo Yeonha

Chae Nayun divided the group into three teams that she thought up. Team 1 would go and investigate the soil around the mansion. Team 2 would go and investigate the mountain. Team 3 would go to the nearby settlements and ask around for any information.

“Got it?”

The club members didn’t respond as all of them were busy looking into the binoculars they found in their tents. After all, the mansion's rubble and the contaminated ground were quite a sight.

“

Tsk…

Hey, Rachel and Kim Hajin. Both of you, follow me,” Chae Nayun clicked her tongue.

Our team made our way towards the mansion grounds.

Rachel seemed nervous and tightly gripped her sword on alert. Seeing her on the edge bothered me a bit, but what bothered me even more was… How did Chae Nayun convince her to come in the first place?

However, I didn’t bother asking her.

Chae Nayun was the first one to speak after we reached our destination, “Alright! Kim Hajin, I choose you! Go investigate!”

“… Am I your pokemon or what?” I grumbled in response before squatting down and touching the ground.

There seemed to be some sort of acid in the dark green soil as I could feel it was still quite hot with faint steam rising out of it.

“What do you think?” Chae Nayun asked.

“Hmm… Give me a while…” I replied.

I covered my hand with aether and grabbed a patch of the soil into my hand. Then, the soil suddenly started to squirm like a living organism.

Squirm… Squirm… Squirm… Squirm…

It looked quite disgusting, to be honest.

“

Whoa!

W-What’s that thing?!”

“What is that?!”

Chae Nayun jumped back while Rachel pulled out her sword. Both of them were extremely shocked after seeing the soil squirm and start to take shape. They intently watched the soil with curiosity in their eyes.

“Beats me… I have no idea, but I’m certain that something happened here,” I said before I turned aether into a trowel.

I took a scoop of soil from the area where I felt the concentration of mana was the densest and put it in a plastic bag.

“Let’s go back to the hotel with this for now,” I said.

“Already?” Chae Nayun asked.

“Yeah, you can somewhat feel it too, right?”

I was talking about the strange sinister feeling I was getting from this place. There was no need to mention that it felt like someone was watching us, but the air itself felt hostile towards us. In fact, it felt like the air in this place was trying to rip a hole in my lungs whenever I tried to breathe.

Chae Nayun nodded and agreed, “It sure does feel that way… Hey, before that. Should we break some of those rubble and take them back too? You know, just in case?”

Rachel looked at the rubble that was the remnants of the mansion, “… Let’s not mess with that.”

“Go ahead.”

On the other hand, I let Chae Nayun do whatever she pleased.

***

The atmosphere of the neutral city-state Trooper was quite extravagant, yet desolate. The entire city was lit up by magic, but the dark sky and low-rise buildings in the backdrop painted a gloomy picture.

However, its public security was good and the self-defense forces that were in charge of its security were known to be strong.

“

Sigh…”

Rachel let out a sigh as she walked into the back alley of this city that seemed far from modern civilization. Despite their good safety record, she could feel her temples throbbing from being on edge the whole time.

“Hey, child. I already told you that you don’t have to be so alert,” Chae Nayun said.

However, Rachel only weakly nodded in response. Her mind was fully occupied with thoughts like she was a princess, so she couldn’t afford to die a dog’s death in a place like this. No, it was more like she couldn’t afford to get abducted and held for ransom even if it cost her life.

However, a part of her was feeling excited by the fact that this was her first rebellious act in ten years.

“

Huh?

Look, it’s Shin Jonghak,” Chae Nayun spotted Shin Jonghak and Team 3.

They seemed to have decided to start from the city’s outskirts as they had quite a lot of food and souvenirs with them.

Chae Nayun frowned and walked over to them.

“Hey, are you on a picnic?

Ha?!

Are you here to play? I mean, supervisor, you should have stopped them, no? That punk looks like he came here to shop!”

“

Huh…? Ah

, don’t worry. We got some good information. We didn’t shop much,” Seo Youngji replied before she hid the shopping bags she was holding in both hands behind her back.

“Rather, what have you guys been up to? Where’s Hajin?” she asked.

“He’s doing some research. We’re on our way to the magic shop to buy some stuff he asked for,” Chae Nayun replied.

“Really? Then let’s go together. We wanted to see their magic shop too.”

“…”

Chae Nayun glared at Seo Youngji, but she didn’t say anything after that as they went to the magic shop together.

Trooper lived up to its reputation as a city of magic. They had things that one would not easily find in Seoul, which were readily available here. Well, technically, it was more of a case of it being illegal rather than being hard to find in Seoul.

“Here is the blue slime’s tail and witch’s powder you requested. Do you need anything else?” the shopkeeper asked.

“Blood of black frost mountain troll please,” Rachel replied.

She finally relaxed after coming into the magic shop. She looked around the shop in amazement like a little kid.

“That will be three hundred and fifty million won in total,” the shopkeeper said.

“W-What?! Three hundred and fifty million won?!” Rachel exclaimed in shock.

Three hundred and fifty million won was a huge sum for Rachel, but Chae Nayun nonchalantly paid it in full cash.

“

Hmm…

It’s not counterfeit… Alright, take it.”

Chae Nayun collected the materials and left.

Then Shin Jonghak walked up to the counter and asked, “How much are all of these?”

“

Hoo…

How did you pick all of this? You have good eyes,” the shopkeeper praised him.

“I asked you how much are they?” Shin Jonghak frowned and asked with a hint of irritation in his voice.

“

Hoho!

This is a magic tarot card and you won’t find it that easily even in this city. That’s going to easily cost you more than one billion won,” the shopkeeper said with a haughty grin.

“W-What?! One b-b-b-billion won?!” Rachel was shocked once again.

“I’ll pay you 1.2 billion won then,” Shin Jonghak nonchalantly said as he threw the shopkeeper the amount in full cash.

This was something that Rachel couldn’t comprehend, ‘

One billion and five hundred fifty million won is three years' worth of Cube tuition fees…’

Cube didn’t charge tuition fees to locals, but they charged foreigners. Most people wouldn’t be able to afford these exorbitant fees, so Cube would pay their tuition fees first in exchange for a guarantee signed by their country.

“Let’s go,” Chae Nayun said.

The party left the magic shop.

Ssak… Ssak… Ssak… Ssak…

Something suddenly zipped past them from a nearby alley. Rachel immediately pulled out Gallatine as she prepared to engage in combat.

“Don’t worry. Trooper has a lot of delinquents and street urchins. It might have good security, but that’s only when compared to other neutral city-states. Just ignore them and keep walking,” Seo Youngji said.

“… Yes,” Rachel replied.

“Oh, just be careful of pickpockets though,” Seo Youngji added.

Rachel finally relaxed only after the high rank hero assured her that it was going to be alright.

The party made their way to the hotel whilst being careful of pickpockets.

They were staying at the penthouse of the most luxurious hotel in Trooper as Chae Nayun rented the entire floor for the Pharmacy Club.

“Hey, we’re back!” Chae Nayun opened the door and smiled brightly.

Kim Hajin was supposed to be in the room waiting for her but…

“Hey, what are you planning to do with these…

huh

?”

He wasn’t there.

Whoosh…

A cold breeze entered through the open window. The room was empty.

“…?”

Chae Nayun blinked a few times. Shin Jonghak and the other members entered the room while she was staring blankly.

“Hey, Nayun…” Yoo Yeonha called her with some tension in her voice.

Chae Nayun flinched before walking over to her.

“Look at this,” Yoo Yeonha said as she handed her a piece of paper.

A single sentence was written on the white background.

[I’m going to borrow this guy for a while.]