Chapter 54: Contract Relationship

While Barkov was dealing with the pain of heartbreak, Hania suddenly pushed me away.

Hania and I ended up face-to-face.

If it had been Hania’s original face, I might have been fine.

But since Hania looked like Hanon right now, I quickly backed off.

I didn’t have a hobby of getting close to a man’s face.

“…I was wondering why Lady Iris suddenly called for me, and what timing this is.”

Hania sighed with a troubled expression.

It seemed that Iris was the one who sent Hania here.

I felt grateful to Iris.

I almost ended up in serious trouble today.

“Hania, Barkov, the associate professor, was your stalker all along, wasn’t he?”

When I asked, Hania glanced at me.

“That’s right. He was quite persistent too.”

An associate professor from a well-connected family.

With those two advantages, Barkov was a difficult opponent for Hania to deal with.

“I was waiting for him to slip up, but he has terrible timing, doesn’t he?”

Hania shook her head with a deeply annoyed expression.

“But now it looks like we’re dating. How are you planning to handle that going forward?”

Recently, people were getting rejected even before confessing.

And now, it seems we’re dating before any confession even happened.

My life is truly dynamic.

“…Even though he doesn’t seem like it, Associate Professor Barkov has this useless persistence.”

“So you’re saying if he finds out you’re not dating, he’ll just go back to being a stalker.”

“Yes, that’s likely.”

I understood the situation.

Having been ambushed by Barkov’s confession myself, I could empathize with how terrible it is to be stalked by someone like him.

“How long do you think it will take for Associate Professor Barkov to give up and understand?”

“…Probably a few months.”

“Then just pretend to date for a few months or so.”

Hania’s eyes widened.

“It’s already spilled water, isn’t it? Might as well put it to some use.”

“…It’s not because you actually want to date me, right?”

I looked at her with a straight face.

“That was a joke.”

It seemed like she was trying to lighten the mood, even if awkwardly.

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess.”

Hania offered a surprisingly sincere apology.

Because of what happened with Iris and the group event, I had been prickly, but her personality wasn’t fundamentally bad.

“It’s fine. It’s not your fault, after all.”

This was entirely Barkov’s doing.

I didn’t think Hania needed to apologize.

“Hanon Airei, you’re more decent than I thought. Maybe it’s because you share a bit of Lady Iris’s blood?”

“I just lowered my estimation of you from that comment.”

“I wonder how low it will drop. But won’t rumors of us dating cause trouble for you, Hanon?”

“Do you think my reputation could possibly get worse from adding something like that?”

Hania thought for a moment and seemed to understand.

I’m someone called ‘Lightning Punk’, after all.

If people think I’m dating Hania, she’ll probably get sympathy.

As for me, it wouldn’t make a difference now or ever.

“We’ve spent enough time on this. Let’s head back to our teams now.”

“Right, let’s do that.”

Hania turned around and spoke to me.

“Take good care of Lady Iris.”

The corners of my lips lifted.

“Sure, leave it to me.”

“Ha, seriously, do you think I’d entrust Lady Iris to just anyone?”

What was that supposed to mean?

Hania chuckled briefly, as if joking, and left for her team.

It seemed this incident left a good impression on her.

‘Getting along with the vice head of Martial Arts can’t be a bad thing.’

One person I don’t get along with, Isabel, is more than enough.

As I emerged from the forest, I spotted people gathered around Iris.

She stood with her arms crossed, and when our eyes met, she reacted.

“Hania.”

“I’m back.”

As I stood by Iris, she looked around before leaning slightly closer to me.

“How did it go?”

“Hanon came and sorted it out.”

Iris let out a brief sigh of relief.

Then, her crimson eyes glimmered faintly, exuding an eerie chill.

“…I’ll have to cut him off soon.”

…She must mean cutting him off from his position as associate professor, right?

A sudden shiver ran through me, and I hunched my shoulders.

“Hey, Hania.”

At that moment, a familiar voice called out to me.

Recognizing its owner, I turned my gaze.

Short, chestnut-colored hair and rings dangling from his fingers.

As soon as I saw him, a sense of disdain involuntarily welled up in me.

The second-year vice head of Magical Studies.

Dorara Korajin.

He, serving as the rear guard of Iris’s team, stood there.

“I saw that brat from earlier coming out of the forest. Were you with him?”

“Yes, and?”

When I answered, Dorara’s face twisted into a grimace.

His teeth ground audibly.

“Hania, let me give you some advice: don’t associate with that guy. He’s nothing but trouble, and being around him won’t do you any good.”

Dorara had been thoroughly humiliated by me not long ago.

Ever since, he seemed to bear a grudge, grinding his teeth with vehemence.

“Hahaha! Looks like you really got a beating, just like the rumors say!”

The laugh came from a large man standing behind Dorara.

Dark-skinned, thick-lipped, with a bulky physique and a Bible gripped tightly in his hand.

This was Joachim, the vice head of the Divine Studies department.

The thick muscles visible beneath his robes seemed entirely out of place for someone in Divine Studies.

Of course, there was a reason for that—he was a combat priest.

‘To think he’s just a year younger than me as Vikarmern.’

Joachim’s face bore the weathered look of a seasoned mercenary.

Even the professors couldn’t help but bow their heads when encountering him.

He was a man with a naturally commanding presence.

“Oooh, badmouthing others will get you punished!”

From behind Joachim’s broad frame, a much smaller figure peeked out.

In stark contrast to Joachim’s towering physique, this one was diminutive in size.

The woman had pulled her hood tightly over her head, her gray bangs obscuring her eyes entirely, making them impossible to see.

She appeared endlessly frail, but if one knew the truth, the story would be different.

The top student of the Special Studies Department.

A cursed sorceress.

Valencia Caze.

That completed Iris’s team.

‘Even seeing them again, it’s clear she’s gathered nothing but exceptional people.’

It’s only because I brought out irregulars like the Saint and Sharin that it seems balanced.

Otherwise, Iris had essentially assembled the best team she could manage.

And at the center of it all stood Iris herself.

“You don’t understand! If you knew how insane that guy was, you’d take back everything you just said!”

Dorara, as if unable to bear even imagining that incident, began to panic.

His face looked like he might start foaming at the mouth at any moment.

“Not long ago, you couldn’t leave Sharin alone, and now it’s Hanon. Truly, Brother Dorara is consistent.”

“That guy is far worse than Sharin—that crazy woman!”

For the first time, I was being rated higher than Sharin.

I think I can feel a little smug about this.

“Ahem, hmm.”

In the meantime, Iris turned her head slightly and covered her mouth.

It seemed she was struggling to maintain her composure while listening to Dorara insult me unknowingly right in front of her.

“Iris, this isn’t the time to be laughing.”

I said, nudging her arm.

In response, Iris gave a brief, apologetic smile.

It was the kind of smile that could captivate anyone.

“Tch, if I had dealt with him properly, that brat would’ve been reduced to pulp. I was just careless at first, that’s all.” Dorara grumbled.

He seemed to have completely forgotten about the time I knocked him out cold.

‘Right.’

I’ll make sure to remind him when I get the chance.

Quietly, I clenched my fist without anyone noticing.

“Team Iris.”

At that moment, it seemed all the third-years had entered the arena, as Team Iris was finally called.

Even though they placed second in the team event, their overall performance ranked them far ahead of anyone else.

As Iris moved forward at the call, even Dorara, who had been grumbling moments ago, and the other two team members fell silent.

Instead, they stepped forward with confident strides, as though flanking her in support.

As Iris advanced, awe-filled gazes followed her.

And as her team walked beside her, countless stares, ones I had never experienced before, converged on us.

The weight of those gazes was immense—admiration, jealousy, longing, resignation.

All these complex emotions dripped from the eyes of the other students.

Only now did I understand why Iris’s team always walked with such confidence.

To withstand those gazes, they had to be strong.

And this strength directly fed their confidence—a belief that they could achieve anything.

‘This is the strongest existing team, Iris’s team.’

The aura radiating from Iris at the front was one that no one could dare approach.

“Team Iris.”

Professor Beganon, her face worn with exhaustion, scanned all of us with a single sweep.

“Come back safely.”

She didn’t say much else.

What the strongest team needed wasn’t advice but trust.

Soon, Team Iris entered the Demonic Palace.

The peculiar, oppressive sensation unique to the palace brushed over my body.

After a moment, I slowly lifted my head.

“So, today it’s the Iron Dust Desert, huh?”

The first floor of the Demonic Palace.

The Iron Dust Desert.

Before my eyes stretched a desolate expanse of a metallic desert.

As I smacked my lips, a faint metallic taste spread in my mouth.

It meant that even the air was laced with iron dust.

At that moment, a gust of wind swept around us.

The iron dust, which had been clinging to the air, our clothes, and even seeping into our airways, was completely blown away by the wind.

“First the Gray Forest, and now the Iron Dust Desert. It’d be nice if the seniors cleaned up a bit before leaving.”

It was Dorara’s magic, activated as he gripped his staff.

“Well, the seniors are in a rush to descend even a single floor further.”

Valencia, the cursed sorceress, remarked while holding back her bangs.

And she was right.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

From beneath the Iron Dust Desert, a massive rumble began to resonate.

Thud!

A gigantic serpent burst forth through the iron dust.

With steel blades embedded all over its body, it was clearly a dangerous foe at first glance.

A beast controlled by an Apostle.

One that failed to become a dragon.

Clang-

At some point, Iris had already unsheathed her sword.

While the seniors likely concluded that battling such creatures was a waste of time and chose to avoid them, such concerns were irrelevant to the strongest royal.

“Team Iris.”

At Iris’s call, crimson aura began to radiate from her blade.

Resembling a rose, the aura was stunningly beautiful, stealing the gaze of all who saw it.

Iris stepped forward through the iron dust.

Her dignified strides carried the weight of a giant with every step.

“A hunt for a great beast.”

She declared.

“Yes.”

And so, all they could do was follow her lead.