Chertan said he was thirsty and took out a water bottle from the refrigerator on one side of the conference room. His single gulp only ended after emptying the bottle cleanly.

Crushing the plastic bottle flat like paper with a loud noise, he looked at Margo.

“If it’s a coalition proposal from Red Moon or Honjae, it’s okay to accept. Those guys are just crazy about money, they’re not the type to cross the line.”

Rehv and Margo exchanged meaningful glances. Chertan was very generous to his subordinates. Even when Rehv, transformed into a cat, scratched his cheek with his claws, he just laughed heartily, saying it was amusing. But even such a man tended to take a firm stance on exactly one, no, two organizations.

Margo’s neck stiffened.

“What about Orca?”

The light in Chertan’s eyes, which had been playful, became sharp as a dagger. Rehv warily stuck to Margo’s side like a magnet.

Margo calmly spoke, recalling the voice of the man she had met in the dark forest.

“The Crow Prince might betray us.”

“Who says that?”

“The person himself.”

“You didn’t mishear a crow cawing, did you? They sometimes talk like people.”

Chertan glared at the plastic bottle he had folded into a square with a harsh look.

“What’s his reason for becoming a turncoat?”

“He seemed to dislike what the higher-ups at ARC were thinking.”

“That’s in the realm of speculation.”

Margo recited the Crow Prince’s exact words to Chertan, not missing a single syllable. With the graceful posture of a poet.

“Those who are excessively arrogant are doing dangerous things. I will offer my help. Prove that the lion is the natural enemy of the orca.”

Humph. A rough snort came from Chertan. Rehv sat down next to Chertan and crossed his arms like him. However, his physique was less than half of Chertan’s, so he didn’t give the same sense of weightiness.

“How long has it been since he crossed over to Earth, and he still hasn’t lost that royal air. So old-fashioned.”

“He’s a man who’s more comfortable talking to crows than people.”

“My lifelong wish was to exterminate crows in the canyon.”

“Me too! Crows attacked Tae-ha too!”

At the mention of Yoon Tae-ha’s name, Chertan’s eyebrows twitched subtly. Rehv stomped his feet impatiently, oblivious to the atmosphere.

“There isn’t a single member who hasn’t been attacked by crows. It looks highly likely to be a trap.”

“There’s one more thing. I asked him why he was trying to betray them now.”

“Did the Secretary-General eat a crow or something? Did he fry it? Or boil it?”

“No.”

“Then?”

“He said dangerous brothers are coming.”

Having finished speaking, Margo shrugged, indicating that was all he had said.

*

Rain continued to fall every day after Alpha Team arrived in Cocytus. Despite the bad weather, Cheon Geon-young went out for training the day after receiving the collector.

Yoon Tae-ha couldn’t see him often either. He spent time outside from morning till evening before returning. Her guide. No, the man she didn’t even know what to call anymore was surprisingly diligent.

Before starting his training, he had given her coordinates. The coordinates of the base where the CH Vice-Chairman’s espers were staying.

It was clearly information Cheon Geon-young had learned through his individual investigation. The company hadn’t given her such information. Moving around those coordinates seemed like it would help her find Orca’s laboratory faster.

It was unexpected help for Yoon Tae-ha. Thanks to it, the time she would have spent wandering in the vast mountain range was reduced by more than half.

Does he trust me? Enough to think it’s okay to give me this kind of information?

The question soon rippled through her heart like raindrops falling on a puddle.

While Cheon Geon-young devoted himself to his personal training, she began scouting the surroundings with Baek Sang-ho. It wasn’t something that had been planned from the start. It was a partnership that had formed by chance.

Baek Sang-ho had urged the team members not to leave the camp for safety reasons. But Yoon Tae-ha had met Baek Sang-ho outside the camp one dawn when the rain was particularly heavy.

They had recognized each other as enemies and drawn their weapons before realizing who the other was and exchanging awkward smiles.

“Two are better than one, right? How about we break the rules together just until it stops raining?”

“Only if you promise not to report me to headquarters for insubordination.”

Baek Sang-ho shook his head, saying there was no way he would do that. Since then, the two had carried out unofficial reconnaissance missions, leaving the camp in the morning and returning to the accommodation before evening.

Yoon Tae-ha thought she knew why Baek Sang-ho was moving secretly without reporting to the company. The former Alpha Team agent who had joined Orca. He must be worried about her.

“It could be brainwashing. You and the leader both know that many agents have been framed and died unjustly that way. It’s no secret that espers are vulnerable to mental attacks.”

“I really like your habit of thinking positively. It’s good to think that way, especially on gloomy days.”

“It’s good to have at least one team member who thinks like me. The more options, the safer, don’t you think?”

He only smiled at Yoon Tae-ha’s words. The place they had to monitor was the Red Canyon. Days passed with them wearing camouflage cloaks, lying flat on the cliffs, looking through binoculars, and returning to the accommodation.

Then one day, while returning to the accommodation through the pouring rain, Yoon Tae-ha sensed a suspicious presence.

Actually, she had noticed it a few days ago. Nevertheless, she had left it alone until today to see how far the other party would go.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the man watching her didn’t seem to have any intention of directly harming her. Pretending not to notice, she teleported the moment the other party hesitated.

She went up to the roof of a nearby building and moved, listening for the sound of the watcher’s shoes stepping into puddles. And soon, she discovered the face of the person who had been following her.

‘Mr. Kim Doo-eon?’

Kim Doo-eon, wearing a black raincoat, was secretly hiding behind a recycling bin.

Carefully looking around, Kim Doo-eon soon gave up and turned around. He returned to his accommodation. His movements were quite agile. Yoon Tae-ha teleported to the rooftop of the building opposite Kim Doo-eon’s accommodation.

‘Did headquarters send him? He didn’t seem to have any particular contact with that side. Or someone else?’

She endured the stinging rain and monitored Kim Doo-eon’s accommodation for three hours. No new people entered, and no one hurriedly left.

She returned to the accommodation when she felt her body was reaching its limit. Because she had returned later than usual, Cheon Geon-young’s shoes were placed at the entrance. She took off her raincoat and neatly placed her shoes next to his.

“You’re back?”

Yoon Tae-ha deliberately asked cheerfully, wanting to hide her sinking mood.

“I just went upstairs for a bit. I’ll be right down.”

Cheon Geon-young’s voice came from upstairs. Not his room, which was strange. They rarely spent time upstairs.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was going to organize some unused luggage.”

As Yoon Tae-ha slowly moved, listening to his voice, a fishy smell wafted into her nose. It was completely different from the smell of water that filled the air due to the continuous rain. Forgetting that her body was completely soaked, she teleported upstairs.

The first thing that caught Yoon Tae-ha’s eye as she landed precariously inside the railing was a towel soaked with blood. Cheon Geon-young, whose calf was ripped open in a long gash, had a flustered expression.

“Ah.”

It felt like the floor was collapsing beneath her. Even if crows poured in through the window in the ceiling, it wouldn’t feel more terrible than this.

Yoon Tae-ha staggered towards him. Tissues covered in blood were piled up nearby. Judging by the amount, it wasn’t a light wound. Cheon Geon-young explained hastily.

“A salamander’s tail brushed against me.”

Crazy fire lizard. Should I exterminate them?

A chilling thought flashed through her mind for a moment. Surprised by the drastic solution that had unconsciously sprung forth, Yoon Tae-ha knelt down in front of Cheon Geon-young.

She wanted to say something. But it felt like something solid was stuck in her throat, and no words came out.

“It’s just a superficial cut. I wasn’t poisoned.”

“......”

“Are you angry?”

Yoon Tae-ha shook her head with a cold look. It was the typical expression of an angry person.

Clearing away the bloodied tissues, she snatched the ointment from his hand. Yoon Tae-ha’s face, pale with worry, was whiter than Cheon Geon-young’s, who had lost blood from the bleeding.

“You’re angry.”

“Of course I’m not happy if you come back with a 15cm wound on your calf. Geon-young-ah, if I came back with a wound like this, could you greet me with a smile?”

Cheon Geon-young shook his head as if he didn’t even want to imagine such a thing. The thorns on a salamander’s tail were like a saw. That was why the wound was so severely open.

“What were you doing in the forest to get so hurt? You have a gun too. There shouldn’t be any monsters in the forest around the camp that you can’t kill with the issued gun...”

Cheon Geon-young looked uncomfortable even moving in place. Yoon Tae-ha quickly went downstairs, washed her hands cleanly, and returned.

“Stay still. It’ll open up if you move.”

Biting her lip, she started disinfecting. Her face was that of someone carrying all the worries of the world alone.

Cheon Geon-young intuitively knew that if he confessed his training method, Yoon Tae-ha wouldn’t look at his face for a while.

Recently, he had been practicing catching monsters with only fire and his sword, without using a gun. It was a classic training method, but it was effective in increasing the lethality of his fire.

The forest adjacent to the camp was connected to the Crow’s Forest, making it suitable for training. Since it had been raining continuously, there was little risk of being discovered by others.

He thought he was doing well smoothly. But the salamander he met today was not an easy opponent.

Its skin was tough and thick, and it wielded fire just like him. If he had used the anti-giant monster gun, he could have caught it easily, but he didn’t want to revise the training principles he had set once.

Of course, he had dealt with the salamander. He had stabbed its weak point with his sword and burned its torso without a trace. Even the heavy rain could no longer extinguish his flames. Having killed a monster with very strong fire resistance, his confidence had also increased.

He just needed to treat his wound secretly.

Yoon Tae-ha was suffering much more than he thought. After finishing disinfecting, she applied the medicine and said,

“You complained even when you just had a small bruise on your ankle. If you come back this injured, what am I supposed to do?”