Lord Howe Academy Outskirts.
Even the faculty and third-year students never ca near the southern coastal cliffs of the academy island.
A frail-looking boy was struggling to climb the cliff.
Sweat drenched his body, and a long rope hung from his waist, but his face was full of joy and anticipation.
After all, a sweet reward always awaited at the end of a grueling climb.
Of course, his expectations were never ant to co true.
An unexpected intruder, soone he hadn’t foreseen, was waiting at the top of the cliff.
ridis—or rather, Soemiri.
She sat in a camping chair and waved at him as if she had been waiting for him all along.
“You’re later than I expected.”
The boy, Baonic Lerak, blankly stared at the heroine from the novel.
‘What the hell is this bitch doing here?’
The question rose up to his throat, but the exhaustion from climbing the cliff left him too breathless to do anything other than pant.
While Baonic was still reeling, Soemiri stood up from her chair and approached him.
Just as Baonic lifted his head, wondering what she was up to, Soemiri had already snatched what she wanted from his pocket.
A red wooden box, custom-made to hold elixirs.
Soemiri opened the box—the miraculous find the ‘author’ had barely managed to uncover—and spoke.
“An elixir hidden in a cliff? The founder sure liked to stick to the classics.”
“…Who the hell are you?”
Baonic couldn’t hide his disbelief.
How? How was she here waiting for him? Did that bastard tell her? But didn’t he leave the academy in a hurry?
As Baonic’s face filled with questions, Soemiri naturally tucked the box into her arms and said:
“Baonic Lerak.”
“….”
“You shouldn’t go digging around just because the owner’s not around.”
“O-owner? Who the hell do you think you are to say—”
Baonic couldn’t finish his sentence. Soemiri abruptly held out a pink pill.
It had no markings, but Baonic already knew exactly how it tasted.
“This ti, I’ll let you off with a warning because of the elixir. But if you slip the leash again just because the owner’s not watching… I’ll boil you alive. Got it?”
“….”
“Next month, co to in person for your dicine.”
Baonic couldn’t stop Soemiri as she left.
He simply stood there in a daze, like soone possessed, and popped the pill into his mouth.
It tasted like strawberries—just as he rembered.
*****
[A minor accident caused by a student’s reckless behavior.]
That was the academy’s official announcent regarding the large-scale disturbance in the sewers.
Of course, no one believed it.
How many mages had sensed the twisted mana surging from beneath the academy? How many faculty mbers had seen the unidentified barrier? And yet, they expected people to believe such nonsense?
There was no way the rapid-response forces and special instructors who had been urgently dispatched were stupid enough to buy that explanation.
But disbelief and demanding the truth were entirely different matters.
So journalists foolishly protested against the academy, but within days, they were thrown out of the island.
By none other than the Crow Beastkin and the U.S. military.
Only then did people realize that this incident involved multiple governnts—and quickly shut their mouths.
For the academy to drag in the U.S., South Korea, and even the Holy Kingdom beyond the dinsional gate to bury the case…
Curiosity was all well and good, but sotis ignorance was bliss—or so people convinced themselves.
Of course, the truth was a bit more complicated than that.
“…I don’t know if this is the right thing to do. Covering up the incident at the Holy Kingdom’s request.”
Principal Jina sighed as she flipped through a stack of docunts.
The girl sitting across from her desk smirked.
“Are you thinking of exposing the truth? That wouldn’t be too bad. Ta-da! It turns out the Incheon Butcher was an academy student!”
“….”
“And that butcher tead up with a terrorist hiding in the academy to target Arica’s pride and the Saint at the sa ti, opening a dinsional gate… Hollywood would pay top dollar for a story like that.”
The girl with the black eyepatch spoke in a completely unserious tone, nothing like the public image she was known for.
Jina couldn’t help but wonder which version—the one before her or the public persona—was the real her.
But she didn’t bother to ask. Instead, she changed the subject.
“…And what about the Saint? Is she doing all right?”
“? Why do you ask all of a sudden?”
“You lost your friends right in front of you.”
Jina’s voice, filled with the concern of an educator, accompanied her placing the docunts on the desk.
The papers were labeled [Temporary Leave of Absence] and included photos of a boy and girl—the two friends the Saint had followed around every day.
Hong Seti. Cheon Yeomyeong.
The Saint glanced at the papers, then shook her head.
“I didn’t lose anyone. They’ll definitely co back.”
“Saint, I also confird the unstable traces of the dinsional gate in the sewers. No matter how lucky they are, the chances of survival—”
“Principal.”
“Yes, Saint?”
“Stop probing about my foresight. You wouldn’t want the Holy Knights glaring at you over sothing like this, would you? I like you, Principal.”
Jina smiled bitterly. So, even this wasn’t enough to shake her.
Not many people knew about the Saint’s ability to foresee the future, and even fewer understood its extent.
It was the Holy Kingdom’s top-secret information.
Jina had hoped to get even a glimpse of that secret, but instead, the Saint turned it around and even acted concerned for her.
There was a brief silence. Then a slightly longer pause.
It was the Saint who spoke first.
“Principal, can I ask you sothing?”
“Of course. After all, I owe you for helping with the aftermath.”
“Then… Who took the butcher’s body? Arica? Korea?”
“….”
Was it recklessness born of youth, or was it passion?
The Saint’s question was blunt.
‘Definitely not like her mother, who loves to dance around topics.’
Jina hesitated for a mont but decided to answer truthfully.
“Korea took it. As paynt for helping cover up the incident. Minister Kim Kwan-hyung personally handled it, so even the U.S. military left it alone.”
“…Korea.”
The Saint tapped her fingers against the desk, as if the answer was unexpected, and bit her lip.
At that mont, the door to the principal’s office suddenly opened.
Jina turned toward the door, expecting a visitor.
But there was no one coming in—only soone leaving.
*****
“Hey! What the hell are you doing, running out like that?! What if soone sees you?!”
On the path leading to the first-year girls’ dormitory, the Saint shouted angrily.
“Do you think an invisibility cloak is all-powerful? Especially your mom’s cloak—it’s mid-grade at best! The principal might notice it!”
Despite her furious tone, the person she was yelling at didn’t show much of a reaction.
Eventually, the Saint couldn’t hold it in anymore and exploded.
“Hey, you redheaded bitch! Are you just going to keep ignoring ?!”
Finally, Soemiri, who had been typing sothing on her phone, turned her head. She furrowed her brow slightly and added,
“…Saint, didn’t I already ask you not to call that?”
“You ignored first—!”
“And more importantly, you should think about your mother. That’s basically spitting upward at yourself.”
The implied aning was clear—your mom’s a redhead too.
The Saint was suddenly overwheld by the urge to shoot the damn elf, but she barely managed to restrain her anger.
Maybe it was the years of patience built up through monastic life, or maybe it was the desire to appear composed when eting the people they were about to see.
‘I’ll deal with you later, after this is over.’
With that thought, the Saint and Soemiri stepped into the dormitory and climbed the stairs to the room.
The room that, until recently, had belonged to Seti and Soemiri—and now was guarded by Soemiri alone.
But the two of them didn’t enter right away.
The Saint stood frozen at the door, gripping the handle and wasting ti with deep breaths.
“…Saint, they already know we’re here. Can you just open it already?”
Only after Soemiri broke the silence did the Saint finally swing the door open.
The red-painted room, bathed in the soft glow of the sunset, had three girls sitting inside. None of them were wearing uniforms—they were clad in skin-tight combat suits.
“You’re late.”
The tallest of the three, a girl with striking blue short hair, spoke first.
“I’m sorry. It took longer than expected.”
Soemiri glanced at the Saint, subtly implying it wasn’t her fault, but the Saint was too busy trembling as she looked at the girls.
She barely managed to resist the urge to hug them on the spot.
Ignoring the Saint’s emotional struggle, Soemiri turned to address the girls—or rather, Seti’s sisters.
“Is everyone ready?”
Ready.
The mont that word was spoken, the sisters pulled out military gear. Fully packed combat kits fit for soldiers heading into a war zone.
Combat suits and military packs?
It was only then that the Saint noticed sothing strange and looked confused.
“What’s with all the gear? Why do you need that?”
“Stalker—no, Saint, don’t you know anything?”
The red-haired girl, Siri, glanced at Soemiri, who nodded.
“If you did, you wouldn’t have followed here so easily.”
“What? What the hell are you talking about?”
While the Saint looked back and forth between them in confusion, Soemiri pulled out two items from her coat.
One was Yeomyeong’s blue rat-thed invisibility cloak.
And the other…
“Y-you! Why do you have that?!”
A strange gemstone swirled with gold and black.
It was the last thing left at the site of the dinsional gate where Seti and Yeomyeong had vanished.
Neither a Tainted Stone nor a mana-filled artifact—it was an ambiguous and unstable magic stone.
“…Didn’t the U.S. military take that?”
“Of course not. I grabbed it before they could.”
“Why didn’t I see you do it?”
“Because while you were bawling your eyes out until Corvus and the Aricans arrived, I was busy.”
“….”
At that mont, Seti’s sisters gave the Saint odd looks, and she turned away in embarrassnt.
anwhile, Soemiri placed the stone on the floor and addressed the sisters again.
“Like I said before, this stone has beco a miniature pseudo-dinsional gate. As long as we have enough mana, we can open a gate to where Yeomyeong and Seti are.”
“…As long as we have enough mana, huh.”
The youngest sister replied cynically, glancing between the stone and Soemiri.
“I trust you didn’t call us here just to tell us that, roommate.”
“…Of course not. I called you because I have a plan.”
Clearing her throat to gather attention, Soemiri carefully pulled out a ceremonial dagger.
It was the sa luxurious blade they had found in the underground sewers.
The Saint imdiately furrowed her brows, realizing what Soemiri intended to do, but Soemiri didn’t stop.
“Sisters, I need each of you to bleed onto this stone.”
“…You need our blood?”
Park Neti scowled in clear discomfort.
The term “sacrificial sisters” already rubbed her the wrong way, but now they were actually supposed to bleed? Weren’t they being treated as sacrifices for real?
“The dinsional gate in the sewers was completed using Seti’s blood. With proper adjustnts, your blood should be enough to open this one too.”
“But that ti… it was poured into a half-finished gate.”
The Saint barely finished her objection before Soemiri added:
“Which is why we’ll need a bit more this ti.”
More? How much more?
Before the Saint could even ask, Siri suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the dagger.
And then—stab!
She drove the blade straight into her palm.
Blood poured out, drenching the magic stone, but the mana inside the stone remained still.
As if mocking Soemiri’s hypothesis.
Was it a failure?
The Saint and Soemiri both frowned, but Neti and the youngest sister stepped up without hesitation and grabbed the dagger.
Neti sliced her palm along the lifeline, while the youngest tried to cut her wrist before Soemiri stopped her and made her prick her fingertip instead.
Blood from the three “sacrifices” pooled together, soaking the stone.
And then—
Flash!
The stone’s mana erupted.
The Saint grabbed Soemiri, who nearly lost her balance, while the three sisters stared seriously at the stone.
The stone, now hovering just above the pool of blood, suddenly projected a golden veil about two ters tall.
A dinsional gate.
Compared to true dinsional gates, it was no more than a speck of dust, but it was real.
The Saint swallowed hard, sensing the dense mana, and asked Soemiri:
“This… This will connect to Seti and Yeomyeong, right?”
“Not for you, Saint.”
“What? Why not?!”
“Because you didn’t make it. Only Yeomyeong and the sacrificial sisters can use it… theoretically.”
The Saint wanted to declare that she’d break through such theories, but she couldn’t.
The mana radiating from the gate was so faint it would collapse after sending just one person through.
The safest choice was to send one of the sisters who had created it.
“Which one of you will go?”
As soon as Soemiri asked, the sisters glanced at each other.
Neti, Siri, and Sis.
The youngest, Sis, was the first to speak.
“I have healing abilities, so obviously I should be the one to go.”
Siri shook her head.
“You’re just a half-assed healer who can’t even use blessings. On the other side of the gate, mages are the ruling class. I’m a mage, so it makes the most sense for to go.”
It was a reasonable argunt—until Neti fired back.
“I’m a mage too.”
“Oh, please. You can’t even manage precise control, you idiot.”
“You’re all idiots anyway. Let’s just send the smartest one.”
The youngest’s biting comnt.
Just as the argunt was about to spiral, Soemiri stepped in.
“Enough, everyone. We’re out of ti… Let’s decide with rock-paper-scissors, okay?”
Since none of them had a better idea, they agreed.
And the result…
“Winner: Park Neti. No complaints, right?”
The youngest muttered a quiet “damn it,” but Soemiri pretended not to hear and handed Neti the invisibility cloak.
“Take this cloak. Make sure you pack the potions and supplies too. And… Saint?”
“What? Why ?”
“Give Neti one of your holy relics.”
“…What? Should I give her a blessing too?”
The Saint rummaged between her breasts and pulled out a relic as she grumbled.
Soemiri leaned in and whispered,
“I know your foresight’s not working well because of Yeomyeong. But if you use the relic, maybe you’ll be able to see sothing.”
“….”
The Saint didn’t ask, “How do you know that?”
Soemiri already knew too many secrets about Yeomyeong, enough for it to be suspicious.
She could only assu there was so secret behind it—just like her own foresight.
‘Yeomyeong will tell eventually.’
With that thought, the Saint pulled out a relic engraved with a book and quill—the symbol of Wisdom’s Blue God, Bennul.
She firmly pressed the relic into Neti’s hand and hugged her tightly.
Neti froze in surprise, unsure how to react.
Then everyone in the room handed Neti items they thought might help her.
The youngest sister even slipped a secret object into Neti’s pocket, just as she had done for their oldest sister before.
Finally ready, Neti shouldered her gear and stood before the gate.
“I’ll bring my sister and brother-in-law back.”
“Don’t end up as cannon fodder or a damsel in distress.”
The youngest’s comnt made the Saint flinch just as Neti jumped into the gate.
Flash!
Golden mana engulfed her, familiar to both Soemiri and the Saint.
And for Neti, crossing through the gate took no more than the blink of an eye.
The first sight to greet her was her sister—Seti—in a black dress, running through burning streets.
And Yeomyeong, locked in battle with the red-haired elf as they tore the city apart.
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