At her calmness, Cheon Geon-young’s expression darkened.

“Imagine if one of the heads of state was found murdered tomorrow with their neck snapped. Which kind of person do you think the investigative authorities would put on the suspect list? An anti-government force with no name or face? No, they’d put an esper like me on the screen first thing.”

Yoon Tae-ha held the cup of warm tea in both hands.

“Suspicion is easy. Good at teleportation, uses psychokinesis. It wouldn’t take this woman five minutes to enter the victim’s bedroom, snap their neck, and leave. The motive for the murder can be fabricated. Maybe they’re an anti-government force, or a spy from a rival country competing for interests.”

“……”

“Then, agents from the agency would come after me. There’s almost no way to prove my innocence. How do you prove you didn’t use psychokinesis? It’s not that it’s a wrong suspicion. There are countless real cases. Even I, if an important figure was murdered, would check the movements of known espers first.”

“So you use Jet. To create an alibi.”

“Jet constantly records my location. And Arc, which created Jet, is a credible international organization. Attacking Arc is a declaration of war. Especially for high-ranking espers. Just being affiliated with it proves that esper’s identity.”

That’s why revealing Arc’s corruption was a delicate and complicated matter. For Lee Hae-kyung and Yoon Tae-ha too. It was also the reason they couldn’t move rashly.

Even a house made of rotten wood sheltered someone from the rain. There were people for whom that was their only home. Like her.

“It’s not about the annual salary, it’s about identity verification. Is that it?”

“I get enough money here anyway. What would an agent who could go berserk at any moment use a pile of money for?”

Cheon Geon-young, who had been drinking his tea, put down his cup with a clink. At the sharp sound, Yoon Tae-ha immediately noticed.

She shouldn’t have said that line just now. Self-deprecating jokes about lifespan were something she only occasionally made when she was with other espers. It was a joke that only worked among close friends.

“That woman seemed to believe you wouldn’t dare to defy her.”

While she cautiously gauged his mood, Cheon Geon-young changed the subject back to Moon So-eun.

“Did she find some kind of weakness of yours?”

Cool eyes that weren’t entirely gentle turned towards her. She had physically experienced that he could become quite persistent if he set his mind to it.

“Promise you won’t get angry.”

She cowardly asked for a promise first. Yoon Tae-ha took off her slippers and put her legs up on the chair. Cheon Geon-young patted his thigh with his palm. It meant for her to put them there. As she slyly placed her legs on his lap, he wrapped his palm around her lower legs.

“You must have quite a story to tell to be acting like this.”

“Bringing up stories about former guides is taboo between partners. Are you sure you really want to hear it?”

“I want to hear it.”

He massaged her legs as if loosening knots. His rough palm that had caressed her body. She liked this hand. Even when it touched her left leg, where painful memories were embedded like fragments, she didn’t feel any aversion.

“The doctor’s nephew was my guide.”

The words were difficult to utter. Cheon Geon-young waited for her. Until the rain, which had briefly subsided, grew stronger again, and their car cooled down. Yoon Tae-ha spoke slowly so that useless words wouldn’t spill out along with the important ones.

“He died when I was eighteen. He was Doctor Moon’s only family.”

Cheon Geon-young kept his hands moving. A name that existed in his memory.

“Moon Seon-woo.”

That’s what came out of her mouth. He tried not to put strength into his hand. Because his esper was doing her best while bringing up unpleasant memories.

“Since he was Doctor Moon’s nephew, he came to the North often. As we trained together, our compatibility was good, so he became my guide. I’d been going on missions since I was young. And among those my age, he was the only guide skilled enough to be deployed in actual combat.”

Do your best.

The resolve he repeated inwardly didn’t last long. Hearing the story of another man from her lips was more unpleasant than he had imagined. The expression she made when dealing with her childhood with other espers was completely different and dragged his mood down.

“We went on a mission together, and he died. Only I came back alive. Doctor Moon always said he was her whole world.”

Yoon Tae-ha couldn’t even say his name properly. Him. Those two insignificant syllables pierced his ear like nails.

No way.

Cheon Geon-young pulled her closer, forgetting that his face was revealing his displeasure. At the sudden closeness, the woman with a gloomy expression made a surprised sound.

“Do you think it was your fault?”

She hesitated.

A past he didn’t know. In it, Yoon Tae-ha had laughed with another guide. Even if that was a first love that would never be revived.

It became ridiculous that he had been conscious of Lee Hae-kyung and Seo Do-jin. He had never dreamed there was another being in her unrevealed past. A faded past existed within her. Still vivid in a place he could never reach.

“He was my friend. It’s natural to feel guilty, isn’t it?”

Friend.

This time, even Cheon Geon-young couldn’t argue.

* * *

I should get involved in the crow brothers’ family feud.

Lev made a sulky face after hearing Chertan’s decision. Mago said it was a wise decision and that she would follow the guild leader’s will. There was no need to ask the other members. They were ready to sink their teeth into Orca’s neck at any moment an order was given.

One evening, Chertan called Lev to the rooftop. Looking down at the underground city glittering with lights, Lev chewed on the jerky Mago had given him.

“Yoon Tae-ha’s arrival date isn’t far off. They might ask for new information.”

“I’m keeping a close eye on the area around the hotel Tae-ha always stays at. I’ll approach her when she checks in.”

Lev, who had been chewing jerky, hopped onto the railing where Chertan was sitting.

“But you know, Chertan, are you really not involved with Tae-ha at all?”

“No.”

The answer was as quick as if it had been prepared. Lev sat next to him with a suspicious expression.

“You approached Tae-ha first. Her information wouldn’t have been easy to extract.”

“I have 15,000 informants who deliver fresh information to me every day.”

“Ha! Lies. Chertan doesn’t have any friends.”

“That’s a funny joke. The leader of the Black Lizard has no friends? The lights of this city are my lovers and comrades.”

Lev pretended to spit out the jerky he was chewing. Chertan was silent for a moment, watching the colorful lights projected onto the opposite building. He opened his mouth when Lev turned the jerky bag upside down and shook it.

“Yoon Tae-ha won’t stay with us until the end. Once Orca is taken care of, I plan to let her go from the Black Lizard.”

“Huh?”

Lev, who had the last piece of jerky between his molars, replied nonchalantly.

“Why?”

“She doesn’t belong here.”

“Did Tae-ha give you any hint that she wants to leave the Black Lizard? There’s no way. Tae-ha likes us.”

“It’s my judgment.”

“Hoo-hoo. Getting more and more suspicious? You seem quite attached.”

“I’m advising you not to give her too much affection. Since you like Yoon Tae-ha the most. It’s a warning not to bother her like a cat with separation anxiety.”

Lev frowned. Did he really think his intelligence was at the level of a cat just because he was in the form of one? He prided himself on being capable of mature thought.

“Excuses!”

“Excuses? The Black Lizard doesn’t make excuses.”

“You could just say you think she’d be better off under the sun. That you don’t want to see her living in hiding like a rat. Like us.”

Chertan, frowning, suddenly snatched the empty jerky bag Lev was holding. He turned the bag over, confirmed it was empty, and muttered gloomily, “He really ate it all.” Lev swallowed the piece Chertan had in his mouth before he could covet it.

“But it’ll be difficult. I heard what Mago said. Do you know how many international laws Tae-ha has broken? From the moment she realized Orca was inside Arc, Tae-ha was already a human who belonged to the night more than the day.”

Chertan crumpled the bag.

“You want her to live under the sun? Then try to cozy up to a very wealthy and influential power broker and beg them to save one esper. Though I don’t know if they’d believe her even after seeing the life Yoon Tae-ha has lived. You’d be lucky if they didn’t just take her away and use her as a test subject.”

“Damn it. I have money.”

“It’s impossible.”

The man with the massive build of a bear was frustrated. Lev watched him and then stretched his arms out into the air as if bored.

* * *

From the next day, Yoon Tae-ha, with Amdukias’s help, dealt with the surrounding chimeras.

When she blew the whistle, Kuakuas sprang from the ground. The small hamster sat on the steering wheel, using its horns to indicate the direction they should go. When they arrived, there was a chimera devouring the innocent creatures of the forest.

Yoon Tae-ha turned a blind eye to Cheon Geon-young taking down the chimeras with only simple protective gear. This was after she heard him say that ever since he came to the Green Sea, he checked their lodging, the motorcycle, and the car for eavesdropping devices every day.

He burned twelve chimeras that looked like a hybrid of centipede and rat without leaving a trace. She could barely look at the sparks flying with her eyes half-closed.

“That’s eight.”

After finishing the job, he approached her in the driver’s seat and showed her the silver ether measuring device. His lips were pulled up in a proud smile. Seeing the gauge move one notch over, Yoon Tae-ha also relaxed and smiled faintly.

“Isn’t it heavy?”

“It feels like a 500-milliliter water bottle.”

“That’s a level you can move past. Try adding one more next time.”

Fortunately, just as their supplies were starting to run out, they arrived at the entrance of the Red Canyon.

Baek Sang-ho had given the order to wait for the main force there. The size of the chimera research lab wasn’t small. According to their reconnaissance of the forest, the types of chimeras were also more diverse than the allied team had anticipated. A decision was made that they could no longer stand by.

A plan was established for Guillermo’s team and Baek Sang-ho’s team to move simultaneously and occupy the lab. News reached Yoon Tae-ha and Cheon Geon-young that another team would also participate in the operation at Guillermo’s request for support.

‘Will the headquarters just stand by?’

For Yoon Tae-ha, who equated Arc’s headquarters with Orca, it was enough to give her a headache. Planning an infiltration based on Gaia was like playing into their hands.

‘We need to change the schedule without warning, or move with the Black Lizard to strike first.’

She needed to think about which option was safer. To meet the Black Lizard and share information, they quickly entered the canyon. They hid the camper in one of their hideouts and each slung a bag containing important equipment over their shoulders.