Chapter 30 – Rest Assured. We’re Thieves.

Han Yoowol and Angela.

The two walked ahead of me, guiding me.

…What should I do?

The item.

It didn’t matter what I did, NAVI’s item would be stolen without fail. 

It was a byproduct of a gate.

In Russia, not South Korea.

It appeared in the capital of Moscow. It was a mana stone that came from the S-Rank gate’s boss. Moreover, it wasn’t a simple S-Rank stone, but more closer to a living monster.

The mana stone which was called the magic’s core.

If that was extracted from the monster’s body, the monster died.

However, the S-Rank monster “Moscow Fenrille”, which looked like a wolf, was an exception.

In a later episode, the revived Fenrille made a surprise attack on the cities of South Korea.

My current self cannot prevent this incident from transpiring. Since the worst evil, Fenrille, cannot be stopped, I’m kidnapping the second evil, Ban Hana.

As such, my current goal was to escape with Hana.

“Huh? Sijoon. Why are you staring at me?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

That was how I watched Yoowol walk in front of me while keeping a close eye on Hana.

Without a thought in the world, a naive face.

It feels like I’m kidnapping a child with candy.

Is it just me?

It seemed like I was feeling a slight sense of guilt due to the mood.

Step. Step.

As the footsteps rang out on the marble floor, we made it to the elevator on the outer side.

“You cannot come in her…”

“How noisy.”

Yoowol’s hand touched the man, who appeared to be the security guard, and he fell unconscious.

“Huh?”

Angela found that strange.

She looked like she couldn’t understand Yoowol’s behavior.

Leaving the man to the side, she got on the elevator and immediately asked Yoowol a question.

“Vice-Captain. Why did you let him live instead of killing him? You’re not like your usual self?”

“It’s no fun though. It’ll surprise the kids?”

“Bleck… Kids, she says…”

In Angela’s case, it was her first time seeing Yoowol not kill a person.

She looked at the two of us back and forth, then wore a fake smile.

“Hah. I just wanted to look good, I suppose. Right? You slick-looking boy?”

“…”

Does it make sense that Han Yoowol didn’t kill a person because she was conscious of my gaze?

There’s no way that’s true.

You can’t tell me that Han Yoowol is conscious of me?

I said nothing since it wasn’t worth answering.

“Well, I know you two are in that kind of relationship, but I’d prefer if it doesn’t interfere with the mission. Also it must be a shame since today’s the last day.”

“W-What…kind of relationship do you two…?”

“There’s nothing between us. Hana dear. Don’t mind it.”

Yoowol whispered in a cold tone.

She gave off a tinge of anger.

“Sijoon, what’s your relationship?”

“Kidnapper and the kidnapped.”

Is there anything else besides that?

Ding!

As we chatted, we heard the elevator make a sound announcing we’ve arrived.

The banquet hall was on the 32nd floor.

The floor we got off was the 50th floor.

After going up 18 floors, the interior of the dark building could be seen.

In the place with minimal light, a figure of a person was approaching us.

They…don’t seem like an enemy. 

The person walking towards us was Andale, the one we often saw in the library.

It looked like she subdued the guards on this floor.

Or they’re dead.

Since there was no visible blood, it was hard to tell.

“…Follow.”

”Ever so rude.”

Andale uttered just one word to which Angela grumbled.

No wonder Hana wasn’t able to grow up properly when she kept seeing things like this.

Such was the moment I became certain about her education.

The quiet corridor.

There were several rooms, but no sound could be heard.

If this was a place where S-Rank mana stones were stored, then several of the rooms were filled up with weapons, armor, and artifacts.

…I think I can understand somewhat.

After walking down that quiet corridor, I could grasp to a degree why they took me as hostage.

The absence of a magic core.

The awfully lax security at NAVI corporation.

If this was a place where they kept the S-Rank mana stone, they wouldn’t be this sloppy with the security.

By assuming that the thief was in general, a person.

Every person possessed magic. 

And NAVI was renowned for their technology in reading mana.

“Now then, we’ve arrived.”

Instead of being fussy, Angela spoke to me with a smile.

She was standing in front of a room and gesturing to me.

“Go in, get the stone at the very end. That’s the end of your mission.”

The theft of the S-Rank mana stone.

That was the reason why they kidnapped me, whose mana couldn’t be detected.

If there was CCTV, it would have been hacked.

When they launched a surprise attack back at the Hero Academy, they destroyed all the installed CCTVs at the exam site and also knew exactly where they were located.

A crime which went uncaught, and only the truth of what was stolen remained.

“Hurry up, we have no time.”

The CCTV transmission was currently blocked so Angela pressed me.

I looked at Hana standing next to me, then pushed myself toward the door.

Whoosh.

A sudden coldness.

No, this was likely magic.

It was a mana reverberation to check if an intruder entered the space.

As long as I didn’t wake up the Golem’s core that was asleep within my body, there was no way I’d be caught.

It was the bigger reason why they needed me here.

So freaking scary, that thing… It won’t fire out of nowhere, right?

There were dozens of firearms installed for security purposes.

Whether they were all pumped with mana or not, the barrel of the guns was as big as a cannon.

A room with guns on me.

A mana stone the size of my palm was in the middle.

I approached the S-Rank monster’s mana stone.

…It’s big.

Not the size, but the amount of the mana.

It wriggled around as though it was alive.

It was suspicious as to why NAVI had something like this.

Did they not trust the association?

They were also an old hand in the industry.

I wondered if they kept it because they were well aware the association would deny them approval.

“But still, they’re too negligent on security.”

Just as much they believed in their magic, the price was just as great.

Feeling threatened, I put my hand on the S-Rank monster, Fenrille’s mana stone.

–Grr…

“W-What the…”

I suddenly heard the cry of a wolf.

Because it was so sudden, I took my hand off the stone. Then I didn’t hear that sound again.

Wait, did the sound come from the mana stone?

I put my hand on top of the mana stone again.

–Grr…

…It’s true.

The mana stone cried like it was saying, “I’m alive here!”

I didn’t know the reason though.

In the meantime, I heard a language I could understand flowing into my ear from the stone making the noise.

–Human. What.

“What…? I came to take you.”

–You. Are not. Qualified.

“Qualified my ass… You’re just a stone.”

What is it saying? 

I just ignored Fenrille’s words, and held up the mana stone.

Ring!!

The moment I lifted it, there was a blaring siren noise.

It seemed that a quiet exit was impossible.

Did it decide that since things had been going too smoothly?

Now, the Black Dawn was in a situation where all they needed to do was run away using Hana’s ability.

–Qualifications. Weak. But still. Excused.

“What are you saying? Hey, wait…!”

I heard the wolf’s words along with the sirens.

Simultaneously as the mana stone wriggled, it began to spew mana at an unbelievably fast rate.

“What the hell is this…?!” 

It was a situation where I couldn’t help swearing.

The magic emitted from the mana stone was sucked into my heart where the Golem’s core was. Then as if something had happened, the flow stopped and it ceased working.

“What’s this?”

It was an incomprehensible situation.

I turned my head around, but the sirens kept ringing.

Eh, I don’t know.

For now, let’s leave.

Leave, then think.

I left the room and was greeted by the Black Dawn there.

“You’re late! Dumbass! For now, give that to me.”

Angela fumed as she put the mana stone in her chest pocket.

For now, I decided not to talk about what had happened inside.

If I tell them, they’ll just kidnap me again telling me to take responsibility. 

After she took the stone, Angela bid me a last farewell.

“I hope I don’t see you again. You should be grateful I left you alive.”

“…What’s she going on about?”

I ignored Angela grumbling, and looked at Hana.

“…Mhm!”

Hana bobbed her head like she was determined.

She invoked her innate ability, “The Spatial Gap.”

…This is the Black Dawn’s escape method.

Hana created a gap in space to which they were able to use freely.

If the place had been visited once, then you could head there anytime through the gap.

In V. AGE, it was an atrocious ability that blew a city through the gap, sending it out to sea.

Hana sent her colleagues through that gap.

“Sijoon.”

“…Yes?”

In the meantime, Yoowol was coming towards me.

Back to her usual appearance, she whispered in my ear, smiling.

“I’ll be able to see you another time, right?”

“That’s a bit…likely, isn’t it?”

“I’m really glad to hear that. Then, see you later.”

See you.

At the same time, Han Yoowol put her lips on my cheek.

Does she really have a thing for me?

If it’s that woman, it’s a serious no.

As I was haunted by the thought, Angela and Andale had left through the gap, and lastly, it was Yoowol’s time to leave.

“Um… Y-Yoowol Unni! Please make sure to tell Grampa…! I’ll come back a little later!”

“…?”

Yoowol tilted her head as she went in the gap.

Finally, the small gap which had swallowed the people disappeared.

“…So you’re really staying behind, Hana.”

“Mhm! I wanna go to school too!”

That’s right, innocence suits you.

“Hehe…”

I patted her on the head for a brief moment.

A few seconds after the Black Dawn members disappeared, we were met with a stampede of armed men.

“Don’t move! You’re under arrest!”

“Yes, please arrest me.”

“…A-Arrest? Not escape, but arrest, Sijoon…?”

I left Hana, who was holding onto my sleeves and shouting, “Y-You..tricked me!” behind.

This marked the end to my short yet long uncomfortable cohabitation with the villains.