Ch.62Chapter 62. The Wrong Path (4)

“A complete full set?”

“Just in case someone might spot us.”

After carefully putting on even the black mask and returning to the dormitory, Erika was waiting.

Unlike me, Erika hadn’t completely covered her entire body.

She had just tied back her noticeable silver hair to hide it.

“Where’s Cynthia?”

“She just started moving. When she stops, I think we should go straight there. We can go anywhere within the Academy anyway, right?”

“Okay. Make sure to track her properly.”

“I’m already doing that.”

“And there’s been nothing suspicious at all?”

Erika nodded and covered her face with a hood, leaving only her eyes visible.

“No. She’s been completely like a normal Academy student. A model one at that.”

Erika shrugged, securely tied the hood behind her head, and began stretching her limbs.

“Then today must be the day.”

Erika didn’t respond and had her eyes closed.

She seemed to be concentrating on something, probably because there was some change on Cynthia’s end.

I waited for Erika as quietly as possible, worried I might disturb her.

“She stopped.”

“Where?”

“From here… about 2km northeast.”

As soon as I heard Erika’s words, I had a hunch.

2km northeast from the dormitory.

Though not exact, judging by the approximate location, it was clear.

The Training Forest—where Cynthia had received candy last time and where the Cain incident had occurred.

“Let’s go.”

I reached out my hand to Erika, recalling the roof we had visited before going to the Vice Chancellor’s office.

The operation to catch them in the act was beginning.

**

“Phew.”

Cynthia hurried her steps, looking around anxiously, unable to hide her unease.

Though there was no one around at this late hour, she couldn’t be too careful.

Reaching the Training Forest, Cynthia suddenly recalled what had happened not long ago.

When Cain Hover went berserk, and once again, she couldn’t be of any help.

Even though she had eaten the candy at that time, she couldn’t react at all.

She had only helplessly received help from Ryu again.

Perhaps because of that.

Cynthia, despite knowing she shouldn’t, was becoming more dependent on the candy.

‘I’ll only use it when I really need to. Only when necessary.’

Cynthia tried to rationalize to herself.

Cynthia wasn’t a fool.

After taking the candy several times, she vaguely understood what effects it had.

As far as she knew, there was no drug that could enhance abilities in such a short time.

In other words, this candy from the Vice Chancellor wasn’t being provided through normal, legal channels.

It was strange from the start that she had to receive the candy secretly each time.

Moreover, Cynthia had been acutely aware that she was having trouble controlling her emotions lately.

Starting with getting irritated over trivial matters, she couldn’t stand it when things didn’t go her way.

It didn’t take long to realize that this change had started since she began eating the candy.

However, Cynthia couldn’t give it up.

Not just couldn’t give it up—she made sure to eat the candy and train at least once a week.

The difference between when she ate the candy and when she didn’t was too great.

That feeling of omnipotence after eating the candy.

Once she had tasted it, she simply couldn’t quit.

Even though she clearly understood that the ability she displayed for about 30 minutes wasn’t actually her own skill.

“Excuse me.”

Having arrived at the forest with these complicated thoughts, Cynthia called out to the empty air, just like last time.

Today, the surroundings seemed particularly quiet and dark.

“Excuse me.”

Cynthia called out to the void with a slightly louder voice.

“You’ve come.”

“Yes.”

After waiting briefly, the man she had seen last time appeared.

Cynthia inwardly sighed with relief when the man in the white robe appeared.

“I’m a bit busy today. Here.”

“Ah.”

The man took out a pouch similar in size to the previous one from his breast pocket.

Even from the outside, it looked bulging, suggesting it contained quite a lot of candy.

‘That’s quite a lot.’

Cynthia quickly reached out her hand toward the pouch the man was holding.

Just as she was about to snatch the candy pouch from the man’s hand.

“Is this it?”

*Flinch*

Both the man handing over the candy and Cynthia simultaneously shuddered and took a step back.

The candy pouch was neither in the white-robed man’s hand nor in Cynthia’s.

It was in the hand of a black figure who had suddenly appeared between them.

“Who are you…!”

The white-robed man, contrasting with the man in black clothes, quickly assumed a defensive stance.

Mana was already rising from both hands of the white-robed man.

‘Who is that person?’

Cynthia’s gaze was fixed on the black figure holding the candy.

The person was so completely black from head to toe that she could only describe them as a ‘black figure.’

They even wore a black mask on their face.

From the voice alone, she couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman.

“Such illegal drugs shouldn’t be circulating in the Academy, right?”

*Crackle*

Cynthia flinched at the words “illegal drugs,” but the white-robed man didn’t seem affected.

Regardless of what the black figure was muttering, the white-robed man charged without hesitation.

*Thwack*

“Ugh?”

The white-robed man threw a mana-infused punch at the black figure, but the black figure effortlessly blocked it.

The black man casually blocked the punch with his gloved hand.

The candy pouch that the black man had been holding had already disappeared somewhere.

“Who are you…!”

“That’s what I want to ask?”

“What…!”

*Woong*

Suddenly, the two people disappeared before her eyes.

“…Huh?”

Cynthia blinked several times, wondering if she had seen wrong, but she hadn’t.

The two people who had been right in front of her were gone.

“What the…”

Cynthia muttered in bewilderment.

With the two people who seemed about to fight now gone, the forest was even quieter.

Cynthia almost doubted whether she had been hallucinating.

But it wasn’t a hallucination.

The footprint where the white-robed man had stood on his toes to throw the punch was clearly visible on the ground.

“Huh…?”

*Woong*

“Phew.”

“Uh…?”

What she had just witnessed was definitely not a hallucination.

The black figure reappeared before her eyes, sighing as if refreshed.

The white-robed man who had disappeared with him was nowhere to be seen.

“Cynthia Surplus.”

“W-who…”

Cynthia got goosebumps when the black figure knew her name.

The person who had mentioned “illegal drugs” earlier knew her personal information.

She couldn’t help but feel anxious.

“I’m disappointed.”

“Uh…”

Her face flushed hot, though it wasn’t visible in the darkness.

Although it was coming from someone whose identity she didn’t know at all, somehow the words struck deep.

With just one sentence, Cynthia felt her earlier anxiety completely disappear.

It wasn’t anxiety she felt, but extreme embarrassment.

“I didn’t know you were this kind of person.”

“…”

Cynthia couldn’t respond to the man’s continued words.

It felt like he was not just hitting the mark but digging into her.

The black figure before her seemed to know everything.

“I think you know very well yourself.”

Though he wore a mask, Cynthia could clearly feel the gaze of the person behind it.

The man’s gaze, looking straight down at her, was sharp and cold.

Cynthia could only stand still, meeting that piercing gaze head-on.

*Swish*

“This will probably be the last time, would you like it?”

The black man took out the candy pouch he had taken earlier from his breast pocket and held it out in front of Cynthia.

Her gaze instantly went to the candy pouch.

Even while thinking that no one would ask for candy in such a situation, Cynthia couldn’t take her eyes off the pouch.

“I won’t tell anyone. In a way, thanks to you, I was able to catch that guy.”

“…What?”

After saying he was disappointed and didn’t know she was this kind of person, he suddenly says he’ll overlook this.

Cynthia was truly confused.

Actually, she had been confused from the start.

This man who suddenly appeared, snatched the candy, disappeared somewhere with the white-robed man, and then reappeared.

And after saying he was disappointed, he suddenly offers to give her the candy.

She couldn’t figure out what his angle was.

“What do you mean…”

“Anyway, the choice is yours, right?”

“…”

There was a sense of composure in the man’s words, but the message within was clear.

“Who are you?”

“That’s completely irrelevant right now. I’m out of time. I’ll just go?”

“…Go ahead.”

Cynthia hung her head at the man’s words but spoke clearly.

The man stood still for a moment after Cynthia’s response, then began to move.

“Well then, I’m leaving.”

*Woong*

Before Cynthia could respond, the man disappeared in the blink of an eye, just like before.

She waved her hand through the spot where the man had been standing, but there was truly nothing there.

‘What was that…?’

Cynthia stood dazed in that spot for a while, unable to move.

The black man who had suddenly appeared.

The situation that had unfolded and concluded so abruptly left Cynthia confused.

‘A man…?’

Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure when she had naturally started thinking of that person as a man.

It was difficult to determine the gender from the voice, which might have been altered.

The image of the man speaking to her as if reprimanding her naturally came to mind.

The man seemed to know her well.

Thanks to him, she had certainly come to her senses.

“Something…”

Feels off.