The combat teams of K-dong were meticulously divided according to the strategic importance and difficulty of their missions. This was also a crucial criterion that affected the scale of the budget allocated to each team.

Team Alpha was one of the most autonomous special mission units, granted a generous amount of discretion in their operations. It was also renowned as the team where the aces from each national office gathered.

Lee Hae-kyung had also once been the leader of Team Alpha. After the senior center director passed away and she received an unexpectedly rapid promotion, the A-class esper Baek Sang-ho took over as the leader.

Baek Sang-ho’s nickname was Great White Shark. Slightly older than Lee Hae-kyung, Baek Sang-ho was a well-known veteran within the Korean office.

Yoon Tae-ha leaned back in the expensive conference chair, engaging in a staring contest with the fearsome Great White Shark. He declared war first.

“You’re definitely coming.”

“You said unstable psychics like me are only good as side dishes. I still vividly remember you telling me not to ruin missions like a bowl of gukbap and to get lost.”

“How many years ago was that?”

“Doesn’t feel like it’s been two years.”

“Two years for a normal person is longer for us. We’re in similar situations, let’s cooperate.”

Raphael, who had been watching their sharp psychological warfare, yawned openly. Ko Seung-won, who had been dragged to this meeting, expressed his deep regret with his entire body language as he tapped on his laptop.

“Boring.”

At Raphael’s single word, Ko Seung-won, who was attending as the secretary, timidly agreed. Yoon Tae-ha spun her chair around.

“Raphael says that because he’s not going himself, right?”

“When did I ever say I wasn’t going myself?”

The handsome man with white hair wore a subtle smile. His presence was intense, having come to the conference room in a white gown.

“I’m also attending this mission. Hey, you, the busy-fingered boy over there.”

Ko Seung-won looked up with an expression that seemed to ask if this foreigner was really calling him.

“Are you planning on going too?”

“No. I’m a recent graduate, so I haven’t been insured for long, and I can’t go to such dangerous places. I always carry the number to report if I’m taken, written on my palm.”

“I see. A valid reason. I especially like the second one.”

Raphael seemed to have understood less than half of what Ko Seung-won said. But he nodded as if he understood. Watching him, Yoon Tae-ha rubbed her forehead.

“Going to the Green Sea with Raphael, Esper Baek Sang-ho, are you serious?”

The man with formidable arm muscles nodded as if it were obvious. “Screen!” he shouted, and Ko Seung-won handed Baek Sang-ho the remote control.

“We’ve received a report.”

I wish we’d stop getting reports. Yoon Tae-ha crossed her arms, muttering words she couldn’t bring herself to say out loud.

“Esper Yoon Tae-ha has probably heard of it. She’s the next-generation ace of our Korean office. No, she’s already shed that ‘next-generation’ label.”

“I get anxious when the introduction is long.”

Baek Sang-ho winked.

“The information is that Orca is mining unregistered new materials in the Green Sea.”

It was something she had heard once through Jet at school. At that time, Jet hadn’t told her in detail, using authority as an excuse.

‘So, does this mean the internal conspiracy is over?’

She was assuming the worst. Therefore, she needed to critically evaluate the information the company was giving her.

“What’s the name of the material?”

“It hasn’t been registered yet. There’s no official name, and currently it’s called Green Feather. It seems they just call it Feather in the field.”

Yoon Tae-ha intently watched the green stone that appeared on the screen. It was a stone with beautiful silver patterns like bird feathers on its surface. It looked as if green feathers had been crammed into an oval bead.

“It looks similar to Seraphinite.”

“A well-prepared talent. I don’t think you’d die even if you left for the Green Sea right now.”

“So what does Orca want to do with the green stone? Build a castle or something?”

“I don’t know.”

“I understand that the advance team has been deployed for quite some time. Has the purpose still not been specifically identified?”

Baek Sang-ho expressed his own curiosity, saying he also found it questionable.

“We’ve investigated in various ways. Whether this stone is used in weapons, or in medicine. Or if it’s a new energy source with significant economic added value.”

“Isn’t it none of those?”

“It doesn’t seem to be any of the three. Usually, when it’s a new material, it somehow falls into one of those three categories. Orca is diligently collecting this material, but they’re just collecting it. They’re not smuggling it out.”

“So they’re just mining it and piling it up in their front yard?”

“Very suspicious, right? Don’t you feel an ominous and eerie energy rising from your toes?”

Baek Sang-ho was pleased when she showed a reaction. Yoon Tae-ha let out a troubled sigh.

“So what is Team Alpha supposed to do?”

“We’re not going to engage in a large-scale battle or anything like that. The risk level of the material hasn’t been identified yet.”

Raphael wiggled his eyebrows, observing the green stone. With a serious face, he distractedly clicked the cap of his pen.

“First, we’ll go to the Green Sea and investigate the area where this material is being mined. It seems a new rift opened and then closed nearby, so new reconnaissance is also needed.”

Baek Sang-ho rattled off words like a machine gun, worried that Yoon Tae-ha might object.

“The final step will be to smuggle out enough minerals from the research facility to investigate.”

As expected, it won’t just end with reconnaissance.

When they try to smuggle out the minerals, Orca will fiercely resist. A battle will break out. With the organization that had instilled trauma related to guides and fire in her. It was truly sickening.

“So basically, it’s an operation to go right into enemy territory and steal the jewels they cherish so much.”

“Wouldn’t you say there’s a certain thrill to it?”

He was adding a joke, but the leader of Team Alpha was firm. He wanted to include her in this mission no matter what.

“Listen carefully, Esper Yoon Tae-ha. What if this pretty green stone is a bomb?”

He asked in a heavy voice. Raphael listened intently to Baek Sang-ho’s words with an interested expression.

“What if it’s a material that can cause massive casualties even in small quantities? And what if they process it and hand it over to terrorists?”

Baek Sang-ho knew exactly how to provoke Yoon Tae-ha. He also knew that this seemingly cold esper often gave in when persuaded in this way.

“Then I’ll go in alone. I told you from the beginning. If I can’t go alone, I don’t want to participate in this.”

“Bring your guide with you.”

“My guide lived as a normal person and manifested as a guide recently.”

“Before that, he was the top student at the agent academy. What are you worried about? The kids who go there are also far from normal. My personal opinion is that the genes of their current students are closer to ours than to normal people.”

She gave a seemingly unconvincing excuse. She felt embarrassed even saying it. She was glad Cheon Geon-young wasn’t there.

“We’re not close yet.”

“Then you can get close in our team. After all, Team Alpha doesn’t allow anyone who isn’t an esper with a stable partner relationship to join. You know very well that playboys can’t join our team, right?”

There was no way to escape. Reluctantly, she played her trump card.

“We don’t have a bond strong enough for me to ask him to risk his life because of me.”

Baek Sang-ho, who had been speaking fluently, finally hesitated.

“You know. My guide and I have a lot of bad memories related to Orca.”

“......Are you cowardly bringing up the past?”

“If I’m driven into a corner mentally, I might mess up an important mission. Don’t you, as the leader, want to finish this cleanly?”

“That’s why we need Yoon Tae-ha. There’s no one in our office who uses telekinesis as well as you.”

“There are people in Team Alpha who use telekinesis well, if not as well as me.”

There definitely were. Yoon Tae-ha searched her memory. Among the colleagues who were particularly close to Baek Sang-ho, there was an A-class telekinetic esper.

“What was her name again? Was it Lee Ro-ah?”

Suddenly, Baek Sang-ho let out a burst of laughter with a raised tone. It was the kind of laughter he made when he was in a bad mood. Yoon Tae-ha was puzzled. Baek Sang-ho cleared his throat with a face that showed his pride had been hurt.

“Lee Ro-ah, that’s right.”

“Take her.”

“Can’t take her.”

“Was she perhaps injured?”

Baek Sang-ho scratched his thick forearm above his shirt, feigning ignorance.

Raphael was sitting next to Ko Seung-won, watching what he was typing so diligently on his laptop. Just then, through the conference room window made of transparent glass, an employee was seen sprinting frantically while holding a cage containing an unidentified creature. Fire was spewing from the cage. Other employees were scattering in panic to avoid him. Taking her eyes off the chaotic scene, she shrugged, meaning she wanted an answer.

“She defected.”

And an unexpected answer came. Yoon Tae-ha leaned back in her chair and straightened her posture.

“She went over to Orca, a combat operative from our team.”

The leader of Team Alpha, with a face that was hard to tell if he was laughing or crying, asked Yoon Tae-ha for help.

“It’s about dealing with a traitor.”

•

The meeting with the Great White Shark, the angel, and the recent graduate ended. Raphael stayed in the conference room, saying he had something to discuss with Baek Sang-ho.

Leaving the two men deep in discussion, Yoon Tae-ha went to find Seo Do-jin.

“Did you hear about Lee Ro-ah?”

Seo Do-jin frowned as if he was just hearing about it.

“Aren’t you updating on time?”

Black Lion and Orca. On top of that, Cheon Geon-young, who was on the government’s side. Yoon Tae-ha’s head had been a mess lately. Since she couldn’t talk about it, she had no choice but to silently listen to the nagging about her becoming lazy.

“You were close with Baek Sang-ho, right?”

“We were close. Too close, that was the problem.”

“Isn’t it standard for combat teams to be composed of espers who get along well?”

“Lee Ro-ah liked Baek Sang-ho. We’re not talking about camaraderie here.”

Yoon Tae-ha’s eyes widened.

“Although it hasn’t been personally confirmed, that’s the prevailing theory internally.”

“Then why would someone who likes the leader leave to join the anti-government forces?”

“Baek Sang-ho was in a life-threatening crisis, so he got a guide.”

His voice was calm, but the content within was not.