Nam Da-eun

Lunchtime at Victoria Academy.

Elise sat at her classroom desk after finishing her meal, a crease drawn tight between her brows. An unexpected problem had been occupying her thoughts lately.

On the screen in front of her, a news broadcast was playing.

Centaur. An intelligent monster that had established itself in France.

Since Elise's Iris Guild held French nationality as well, the losses had been considerable. The very idea of taking real damage over a single monster was almost laughable — but on the ground, the situation was that serious.

...Should I go back to the main house?

No matter how important the Academy was, the Iris Guild came first.

No. What would I even do there?

One extra person — Elise — wouldn't change a thing. If anything, splitting her father's attention would be a burden, not a help.

"That man had such a kind face, too."

She remembered meeting the Buyer Guild's leader a few times. A gentle-looking middle-aged man — though she distinctly recalled not liking the way his eyes moved over her.

Come to think of it, Lee Ho-yeon was discharged too.

The thought of starting the massages again lifted her mood. She'd told them to report back once a masseur had been hired, but her father still hadn't said a word. Sebas Chan wouldn't have forgotten her request, so he was probably just buried in work.

Even better, actually.

The later you heard a lecture, the better.

Elise was killing time with idle thoughts when the classroom door opened. A cascade of glossy black hair strode confidently into the room.

Nam Da-eun?

She'd been absent from the Academy for quite a while. Elise had even wondered if she'd gotten mixed up in the Buyer Guild's crimes. Apparently she was coming back starting today.

She must have had her reasons.

Elise nodded to herself — then something clicked.

They said every Buyer Guild member had already been investigated. If she's walking around this confidently, that means she had nothing to do with it... and now that the Buyer Guild is gone, she doesn't belong to anyone, does she?

According to the information she'd obtained last time, Nam Da-eun had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠actually been the one with a weakness held over her head by the Buyer Guild. That had made Elise uneasy — someone with leverage hanging over them might have been forced into criminal activity. But if that possibility was off the table, she was a top-priority ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠recruitment target.

Recruiting Nam Da-eun had been the plan from the start. It had failed last time, but this time there might be an opening. The guild she'd been contracted to had simply vanished, after all.

And since they were the only two people in the classroom, Elise decided to try talking to her again.

"Ahem. Da-eun, long time no see?"

Elise's voice — the one she used for official business — sounded cute even to her own ears.

"Yeah."

Nam Da-eun, just back from lunch, turned her head at the sudden cute voice. Elise beamed and met her eyes.

"I was worried something had happened to you. I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks."

Being back at the Academy after so long felt awkward. She used to be used to going through life alone, but now that she was staying in Lee Ho-yeon's dorm, she'd come to know a little of what human warmth felt like. So she felt genuinely grateful that Elise was going out of her way to talk to her.

Come to think of it, Elise was the reason I started wanting to repay Ho-yeon in the first place.

The offhand jab Elise had thrown had changed Nam Da-eun's heart, so that wasn't wrong. Of course, Nam Da-eun had no idea it had been a jab.

"I wanted to thank you for last time."

"Hm? For what?"

"The advice you gave me at the flower shop. It helped a lot."

"Advice?"

Elise thought carefully about Nam Da-eun's words, but she had never given anyone advice at a flower shop. She'd talked behind Lee Ho-yeon's back... surely it wasn't that.

Whatever.

If someone said thank you, you just accepted it. No need to pick it apart.

"Mm-hm. So, about that... your contract with the Buyer Guild is over now, right?"

"Yeah. Since the Buyer Guild is gone."

"...Yeah."

Elise felt a chill run through her entire body. The hatred for the Buyer Guild packed into those few words felt like it might rub off on her.

She must have her own reasons too.

Working under a guild leader that rotten, she must have suffered all kinds of injustice. Feeling sorry for her, Elise pressed on.

"The Iris Guild. Still not interested? I'll give you the best possible terms. You won't find a better offer anywhere else."

An information guild's strength wasn't just secrecy. It was enormous financial power. Elise was confident. If a recruitment war started with other guilds, she would never lose on terms.

But there was one thing she didn't know: Nam Da-eun didn't care about terms.

"Sorry. I don't think I can."

Nam Da-eun felt grateful that Elise had spoken to her. But that didn't mean she could give a positive answer to that question. Where she belonged was no longer her decision to make.

It was Lee Ho-yeon's.

"...Oh. Yeah. Okay."

What could possibly be the problem for her to answer like that?

Unaware of the circumstances, Elise felt the awkwardness settle in and returned to her seat. The professional smile was still on her face.

Thursday. A private room at Chulhyul Hospital.

I talked with my attending physician in the hospital room I'd been staying in.

"You can be discharged whenever it's convenient. We only delayed it at Cadet Ho-yeon's request — your body has been fine from the start."

"Ahaha... thank you."

"Not at all. Famous people request this sort of thing all the time. The public eye is exhausting, after all."

I'd postponed my discharge to deal with Nam Da-eun's situation, and the doctor had conveniently assumed the best of me, so I didn't come under any extra suspicion.

"Um, what's Baek A-young doing?"

She should have been here by now. I didn't see her anywhere.

"There were a lot of emergency patients yesterday, so she's probably resting right now."

"Ah..."

She really worked too hard. If you came here to take care of me, you should only take care of me. Her work ethic was way too strong.

The attending physician exchanged a few more perfunctory remarks and left.

"Discharge... I should get it over with."

Honestly, I didn't feel like leaving. If I stayed here, I could just lie around and play with Baek A-young every day.

Of course I couldn't do that. There were still plenty of heroines I hadn't conquered yet.

Today's a wash, so I can head back to the Academy starting tomorrow.

Knock, knock.

"Yes, come in."

The door opened softly, and Baek A-young stepped inside.

"A-young?"

"Hahh... darling... I heard you're being discharged, so I came."

Dark circles hung heavy under her eyes. She yawned as she approached, looking utterly exhausted.

"I heard you pulled an all-nighter with emergency patients yesterday. Why'd you come?"

"Wanted to help you check out... haah."

"I appreciate it, but... no. Thank you."

When she was going that far, turning her down would just be rude. I accepted Baek A-young's kindness and got ready to leave. There wasn't actually much to prepare, but she said she wanted to help.

"So you're going back to the Academy?"

"That's the plan. You're coming back to the Academy too, aren't you?"

"I think I'll have to stay here through the weekend."

"Hmm. I see."

We made small talk as we went through the discharge process. Leaving a hospital room I'd spent more than a week in felt strangely off.

"I'll be waiting at the Academy, darling."

"Yeah... darling. I'll be there soon."

I stroked Baek A-young's back and left Chulhyul Hospital.

...Should I head to the dorm first?

If I was going back to the Academy tomorrow, I needed to get ready. I took the main road toward the Academy dormitory.

A low hum vibrated through the air around me.

My mana circuits really have improved.

I wrapped a strong perception-disrupting barrier around myself. Articles about my discharge were already circulating online, and reporters had camped out in front of the hospital. Putting up a strong barrier made the difference obvious — my mana circuits were more efficient than they'd been before I got hurt.

Nice, nice.

Getting stronger was always welcome. I took my time looking around as I walked, and before long I arrived at the dorm.

Beep—

I stepped inside to the familiar sound of the door unlocking.

"Welcome back."

"Jesus. You scared me."

Scarlet was standing right inside the front door in a demure posture, waiting to greet me. What was with her all of a sudden?

"Scarlet. Why are you standing there like that?"

"Ho-yeon. I think I need to focus on my work for a while."

"Work?"

"Yes. The Korean branch manager of the Iris Guild — the one I met when we dealt with Park Min-gyu — seems to have noticed my... deviation."

"You mean hanging around my dorm doing nothing?"

"That's right."

She wasn't even denying the slacking off. I was grateful for it, but from the Iris Guild's perspective, that was exactly what it was.

"The Korean branch manager... Kang Hyo-rin, right? Yeah, that tracks. She's definitely capable."

"She's not the type to go around spreading rumors, so I'm not too worried. But just in case."

"Hmm... alright. It's not like there's much work for you here anyway for a while."

Scarlet was bound to me by an unfair contract... but she'd already helped more than enough. I'd run into her again naturally once I started making my move on Elise.

"Thank you."

"You told Liliana and the others, right?"

I wasn't sure about Nam Da-eun, but Nam Daehee and Liliana had gotten pretty attached to Scarlet.

"I've already said my goodbyes."

"Thorough as always. Alright. See you later."

"It won't take that long."

Scritch-scritch—

Scarlet scuttled up the ceiling like a spider and vanished.

...That feels weird.

Actually, seeing her every single day had been the weird part. Running into her only occasionally, like before, was how it was supposed to be.

In the living room Scarlet had left behind, Nam Da-eun sat staring blankly into space. I walked in and spoke to her.

"Where's Daehee?"

"At school. I looked into the affiliated school the Academy sponsors."

"Ah..."

Well, she could go to school now. The Buyer Guild was finished.

"You're going back to the Academy too?"

"Yeah. I already went today."

Everything was finally back to normal. The thought of going back tomorrow made my head hurt, but it couldn't be helped.

"Thank you."

"Hm?"

Nam Da-eun, who had been staring blankly at the sky, opened her mouth.

"It's thanks to you. Daehee, and me..."

"I didn't do anything. It was you two, and the people around us."

Scarlet especially. Without her, it would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have been a massive pain.

"Yeah. I thanked the others too. Scarlet, Liliana. Elise."

"Good... wait. Elise?"

"It's nothing."

"...?"

Why was Elise's name coming out of Nam Da-eun's mouth? Nam Da-eun looked away from my face and stared off into the distance.

"..."

If she didn't want to talk about it, I shouldn't push. I was a sweet guy, after all.

"...Let's do it."

Nam Da-eun said it out of nowhere.

"Huh?"

"What we couldn't do yesterday. Let's do it now."

"Ah..."

Yesterday the mood had been good and I'd tried to slip away with Nam Da-eun... but Nam Daehee hadn't wanted to let her sister go, so it had fallen through. If I'd known that would happen, I shouldn't have brought her along.

From the other room, Liliana's stream was blasting at full volume.

"Hey, you sons of bitches! I'll kill every last one of you! Aaaagh!"

Nam Daehee was out of the house.

"...Yeah. The timing's perfect."

"Yeah."

Think I can get her affection to 100 this time?

Even at 99 affection, Nam Da-eun's personality hadn't really changed. Today I wanted to crack that personality ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠open a little.

Thinking thoughts worthy of a sweet guy, I slowly raised my hand to Nam Da-eun's face.