Grade Announcement (4)

"Welcome to the Buyer Guild."

"Hello. I'd like to put in a request."

"Of course. May I see some identification?"

"…Ah, hang on. I left it behind. I'll just grab it from the car."

"A smartwatch will do just fine, sir. Sir? Excuse me?"

I slipped out of the Buyer Guild lobby and all but fled into the nearest café. I ordered an Americano, sat down, and let out a long breath.

"Yeah. No way that was going to work."

I'd only tried it because I couldn't stand sitting still. Of course it hadn't worked. From my seat I stared across at the Buyer Guild building — a small, utterly unremarkable structure with nothing distinctive about it at all. Nam Da-eun was probably in there.

I'd bolted from the dorms because I couldn't bear waiting around for Scarlet, but now that I was here, there was genuinely nothing I could do. I'd considered slipping in behind a Rune Barrier, but if this place were that easy to crack, I never would have needed the request token in the first place.

I spent a solid hour boring holes through that building with my eyes. I was seriously entertaining the idea of just walking in through the front door and tearing the place apart when someone sat down beside me.

"Ho-yeon."

"…Scarlet."

It wasn't the familiar blonde. A black-haired woman in glasses I'd never seen before was looking at me.

"Yes. We can't risk being spotted together out here."

"Good call. So? What did you find?"

"For a mid-sized guild, their security is absurd. It took longer than I'd have liked because I had to be extremely careful, but I did find traces of Cadet Nam Da-eun."

"…You did?"

Then the wait had been worth it.

"Yes. I caught her coming out of the guild master's office. The interior was packed too densely with magic circles for me to investigate any further. Cadet Nam's eyes were bloodshot, but her clothes were in order — no sign she'd been stripped — and there were no marks of assault."

"Hah. Thank god. All right. Let's head back to the dorms."

I'd expected they wouldn't do anything to Nam Da-eun right away, but expecting and knowing were two different things. The relief hit hard. If Scarlet hadn't been here, I really might have charged the guild half-cocked. If I couldn't win Nam Da-eun over, I was dead anyway — and from where I stood, knowing nothing about what was inside that building, caution was a luxury I couldn't afford. Even a slim chance of a bad ending had to be shut down.

I stood to leave the café. That was when I saw Nam Da-eun herself trudging out of the Buyer Guild building, each step heavier than the last. Those usually sharp eyes were dead. That sculpted face hung slack, emptied of all strength.

"Scarlet. Head back first."

"Understood. I'll wait with Lady Liliana."

"Yeah. Tell her to order chicken."

I sent Scarlet off and fell in behind Nam Da-eun at a careful distance. Fortunately she didn't peel off down some side street — she was heading toward the Academy. I watched her back, ducked into an alley, and took a wide loop so that I'd run into her as if by chance near the Academy gates.

"Oh? Nam Da-eun?"

A moment later we crossed paths. She heard my voice and lifted her eyes a fraction from the pavement.

"…"

"Where are you coming back from?"

A little color returned to her face when she saw me, but she still looked terrible.

"…Sorry. I'm not feeling well today. Let's talk later."

She dipped her head and shuffled on the way she'd been going.

Nam Da-eun's mind was completely wrecked.

Saturday…?

Of everything in that window, the word Saturday snagged and held. Was something happening on Saturday? Nothing in my memory lined up with it.

"…"

Watching her walk away like that, so emptied out, sent fury boiling up through my chest.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry… Daehee. I'm so sorry… Your sister should have done better.

The last image of Nam Da-eun's bad ending flashed unbidden through my mind — the scene where she slaughters the guild members and then takes her own life beside her little sister. I wanted to tear the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Buyer Guild's garbage of a guild master apart with my bare hands right then and there, but if I went in and killed them all now, I'd just get myself killed in return. And if I picked a fight with no plan, Nam Daehee's life would be on the line too.

The Buyer Guild's own strength wasn't anything special. Nam Da-eun could flatten them by herself. What mattered were the people behind them — the kind of people who would not sit quietly if you crushed their pawns. Professor Lim Sol, Baek A-young, Mun Su-rin and the others could probably keep me alive if they stepped in, but I couldn't let other heroines interfere in Nam Da-eun's route. That would only block the harem ending later on.

Exposing the Buyer Guild's dirt would make the major guilds cut them loose and eliminate that particular threat — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but it would also put Nam Da-eun's sister in danger. A guild master that unhinged might do something insane just to get at Nam Da-eun. So I had to extract her sister first, and then blow the Buyer Guild wide open. The major guilds would wash their hands of them, and without her sister as a hostage, Nam Da-eun would have no reason left to endure anything.

One day. That's all I need.

Once I made contact with the Iris Guild tomorrow, a way to save Nam Da-eun's sister would present itself.

"…Nam Da-eun!"

She stopped at the sound of my voice. I ran up in front of her and met her eyes.

"I don't care what it is. I'll help you. So just hold on a little longer."

"…"

Nam Da-eun looked at me with an expression I'd never seen on her before — something raw and unbearably sad.

"You…"

The feelings she'd been holding back broke. Tears welled in her eyes.

"Youuu…. Hic."

What do you even know about me? Do you have any idea what I'm going through? She couldn't finish the words, but her eyes were asking all the same.

"I know everything. Just trust me. I'll find a way."

Trust me. That was all I could give her. Bringing up the Buyer Guild here and now would be useless. She was far more likely to suspect a guy who'd appeared out of nowhere than to believe him. All I needed was to leave her a thread of hope thin enough to cling to for a little while. By the time that thread ran out, everything would already be over.

"Where did he go?"

Elise lay on her bed with the smartwatch resting on her hand. She'd only meant to check the exam results and give it back, but Lee Ho-yeon had vanished, and she still had his watch.

"I only missed one… and I'm still second."

Question thirty on Lim Sol's written magic exam. She'd gotten every other written question right. She'd given it everything she had because she'd genuinely wanted to win — and Lee Ho-yeon had turned out to be an even bigger monster. Rankings had been posted, not scores, but Elise was certain. She had answered every question except Lim Sol's number thirty. If she was second and he was first, that meant he'd gotten that one right too.

"…That lunatic. That impossible bastard. That jerk."

According to the answer key Lim Sol had released, there had been another magic circle hidden inside the spell itself. The difficulty was enough to make anyone sigh, but what stunned Elise more was that Lee Ho-yeon had actually solved it.

Knock knock.

"Lady Elise."

"Come in."

At her permission, Sebas Chan opened the door and stepped inside.

"Cadet Lee Ho-yeon opened the request orb around midday."

"…At a time like this?"

If he'd stormed out of the Academy the moment the grades went up and used the request token, it was almost certainly related.

"We've arranged contact with the Korean branch manager for tomorrow. Would you like to hear the contents of the request?"

"Of course I would."

She'd agreed to give him the request token. She had never agreed not to listen in. The more information, the better.

"Also, Scarlet said she'll be bringing good news shortly. If a recording turns up, shall the guild apply pressure?"

"No. No, no. There's no need for that."

Elise had only wanted material to get herself worked up. She hadn't actually intended to blackmail anyone with a video.

"But coordinated pressure from the guild as a whole would be far more efficient."

"It's fine. I'll handle this one myself. I want the experience."

"Ah. Forgive me. My perspective was too narrow."

Sebas Chan inclined his head slightly.

Phew.

Elise exhaled inwardly. She hadn't wanted to threaten Lee Ho-yeon at all, and Sebas Chan suddenly deciding ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to be a model employee had thrown her completely. He really didn't need to work that hard. If anything, she wished he'd slack off a little — that way she'd have more openings to work with.

And why hasn't Scarlet brought me that video yet? She gets paid a fortune. Is she slacking?

Elise grumbled to herself about Scarlet, who'd been so busy lately she was hardly around. It was only half-serious, of course. She knew perfectly well that as one of Iris's elite, Scarlet worked harder than anyone.

At that very moment, Scarlet was at Ho-yeon's place, licking Liliana's breasts.

"Hahh…"

I opened the dorm door to a familiar moan.

"Lady Liliana… nnh. Haaah…♡"

"You're baaack? I ordered chicken."

Not long ago she'd been an ace of the Iris Guild. Put her next to Liliana and she turned into a puppy in seconds. Scarlet was sucking on Liliana's chest with Liliana's tail buried inside her.

"Good work. I've got something to ask Scarlet, so let her go for a second."

"Mmhmm."

"Hah… hhnn. Ho-yeon. What did you want to know?"

"You said you had something on Elise."

I'd have a proper look into Nam Da-eun tomorrow. Might as well lock down the information on Elise ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠while I was at it.

"Ah… I confirmed that Lady Elise masturbates while watching the smartwatch. The massage recording didn't seem to do much for her — she watched it briefly and turned it off."

"Anything else unusual?"

"Well. It was extremely intense, it went on for a long time, and she chanted your name a great deal."

"…"

Useful information. Also kind of a lot. Still, it was enough to confirm that Elise had developed something in the neighborhood of a voyeurism kink.

"Drop the surveillance on Elise. Keep watching Nam Da-eun through tomorrow. She's in the dorms right now, so if she so much as steps outside, tell me immediately."

"Understood."

"Oh — and does Elise have anything important scheduled this Saturday?"

"As far as I know, Korea's hunters and the major representative guilds are hosting a party. Lady Elise declined to attend."

"A party? A party…"

What reason would Nam Da-eun have to go to a party? Was she attending with the Buyer Guild?

"Chicken's heeere~ Let's eat~"

While I was talking with Scarlet, Liliana came back carrying the delivery. I tore into the chicken and turned over how I was going to phrase the request tomorrow.

After Tuesday morning classes, I turned down Lucy and Rumi's invitation to lunch and went looking for Dr. Kang Hyo-rin. I was there to contest a grade.

I found her in her lab and laid out my case.

"So you scored a lot of points in the dungeon practicum and the live monster combat drills, and Cadet Nam Da-eun came up short compared to you. That's why even though she took first in the one-on-one duel, you still edged her out by a slim margin in the overall score."

"…I see."

And just like that, I was convinced. I'd expected this wouldn't work. I'd come on the off chance anyway. You had to try every angle.

"I don't normally discuss another student's scores, but you looked so desperate. What on earth happened that you'd come here asking me to dock your own grade?"

"Ah — it's nothing. I thought there might have been a scoring error. Thank you. I'll be going."

The scheme to get the scores changed was a bust, so it was time to leave. It was already eleven-thirty and the Iris Guild still hadn't made contact. Sitting around in Dr. Kang Hyo-rin's lab would only make that harder.

"Stay a bit. Have some tea, at least."

"I shouldn't. I have an appointment."

"Must be an urgent one."

Dr. Kang Hyo-rin smiled at me like she was enjoying herself. Wasn't this an invasion of privacy? If the genders were reversed, this would be reportable.

"Haha. It is, yes. I really should get going. I'll see you next time."

I tried to brush it off and stand, but she kept talking.

"It's all right. I expected you'd come by this morning. You're not late, so sit."

"…Excuse me?"

Dr. Kang Hyo-rin lifted the teacup in front of her, savored a sip, and set it back on the table.

"Shall I introduce myself again? Kang Hyo-rin, Korean Branch Manager of the Iris Guild. I'll be taking Lee Ho-yeon's request today. Though I think I already have a fair idea what it is."

"…!"

The pieces locked together and a shiver ran down my arms. At the same time, the thought of placing my request in this person's hands filled me with a startling sense of trust.

Kang Hyo-rin's eyes curved in a smile.

"Well then. Shall we hear the request?"