Yoo Yeonha was unsure how to feel right now.
A mix of worry, shock, disappointment, maybe even a little angry.
But more than that was the subtle sense of stuffiness.
This trip to Paris was something that was more or less going to happen, whether it was with her classmates or not.
It being with her fellow cadets was nothing more than a coincidence, a welcome coincidence.
And because of that coincidence she thought it would be a good chance to network with her collaborator, Minori Nii.
Although he was the one to pull her back into reality and promise to work with her, the two hadn't spoken since.
The most they had done was exchange numbers with each other on the weekend, but she had to leave due to an important meeting.
Then when she finally had the chance to spend some time with him… she was rejected. And as if it couldn't get any worse the event she had invented him to had been attacked by djinn, forcing everyone to evacuate while heroes and police were notified.
"Yoo Yeonha, please clearly state your account once more." A police officer snapped her out of her daze.
The cool night air once more blew through as the sirens of dozens of police cars blared.
The red and blue flashing was beginning to give the girl a headache.
"Listen, how many times are you going to rattle off your little quizzes? I'm getting really tired of your impotency so if you could kindly move out of the way I would be very grateful."
Yoo Yeonha was close to swearing at the presumptuous officer, she was part of the Yoo family! They could show a little damn respect!
The officer, seemingly understanding this, nodded before toddling off to some other attendee to do the same.
A smart move, getting on the Yoo family's bad side was not a good thing, especially when you're no more than a common person.
With a sigh, Yeonha stomped away, presumably to catch a ride to the designated meeting place the Travel club had designated.
She was too tired and miserable to even think of doing anything other than getting the hell away.
Kim Suho can find a way back on his own, she wasn't in the mood to play babysitter twice today.
Yet her wishes went unheard as another set of steps made their way to only a few paces ahead of her.
Yeonha looked up, her patience wearing thin.
Standing just beneath the light of a lamppost was a man in a black suit. He was dressed for a ball but stood in a relaxed posture. His hands were covered by a pair of high quality gloves, covering his pale skin.
With dark, lightless eyes that betrayed no emotion and similarly dark hair, was the man who had pulled her from the depths of her own guilt.
Minori Nii.
"..."
Yoo Yeonha didn't speak, she wasn't exactly sure what she would say, lest something foul spill from her lips.
Thankfully Minori spoke first.
"Let's head back, the rest should be waiting."
Yeonha answered back with a nod and walked to his side in silence.
The two turned away from the masquerade, Yoo Yeonha's stuffy feeling having disappeared with Minori's arrival.
As the two walked Yeonha's brain, frozen from stress, emotions, and Minori never considered how he had shown up, where he had been or even the simple fact that the boy who claimed to have attended the masquerade had no mask in sight.
No, she was far too tired to hold any suspicions too close to heart.
Though she did wonder whether or not it was appropriate to stand a little closer.
…??? POV…
On the dark streets of Paris, along the side of the road stood a lonely bus stop. Its form is illuminated by the light of a lamppost.
The loud hum of electricity seemed to indicate its age as an object before the outcall.
–kshhh
A set of iron blue doors slid open with a hiss as a bus stopped off at his bus stop.
Out stepped a businessman, dressed in a fine suit yet looking as tired as could be. The man adjusting his cuffs before walking down an alleyway.
They made their way through a winding labyrinth before finally stopping in front of a decrepit wooden door. On the door was a thin metal slit where a pair of eyes could peer through.
They knocked on a door in a rhythmic pattern, one long three short before taking a step back.
There was a brief pause before a deep chuckle resounded from the other side. The metal slit slid open revealing the darkness that lay within.
Peering out of this darkness was a pair of fiery orange eyes, filled with malice.
The businessman was unfazed as he pulled a white robe out of a bag, donning it and going stiff.
"Back already? Did the boy do well?"
The 'businessman' nodded his head before speaking in a tone that sounded unfit for his body. It was higher in pitch and energetic like the sun.
"Haha! You should've seen the way he moved! It was like swish- bam-"
The 'businessman' was cut off as the voice inside the building flared with annoyance.
"I want a proper report, Drepa!"
The man's stiff body did not move but the voice made a frightened yelp.
"A-Ahh, fine. The boy with Lich and Omen seems to be using them well, though the trackers we put on him seemed to have been burnt away from the overwhelming magic output the boy has as we only occasionally get to see his location."
The flames glowered at 'Drepa'.
"B-But since my brother brought him managed to give him an offer he couldn't refuse we finally got some data off of him! F-From my notes he uhh-"
The man didn't move but paused as though looking through an invisible notebook.
"Right here! He has mana output and quality at the level of heroes on duty. His physical abilities look to be subpar for now but he seems to be able to increase it drastically in short bursts."
"And what of his skills? Any weaknesses? Have we not yet found his background?"
"...Well, it says here that he's skilled with twin blades as well as rudimentary hand to hand combat. As for weaknesses we've only seen him use fire and lightning so far, as well as that… inefficient warping. We should be able to take advantage of that as well as his physical weakness."
"And his background?"
'Drepa' paused before frowning.
"Nope, we have absolutely no idea who he is or where he comes from. All we know is that he could be Japanese since his name just means 'lie' in japanese."
There was a brief silence before the malicious voice behind the door spoke up once again.
"Keep looking into it. We have to find some leverage to make the recruiting process smoother. He is chosen by the lord's flames, do not snuff them out. Dismissed."
Drepa remained silent before bowing. The white cloak flickered with embers before being engulfed in flame and lightning, destroying the body inside along with the cloak.
Around a mile away a pane of stained glass flickered. Displayed in the reflection were a pair of dangerous pink eyes and tufts of snow white hair.
The eyes blinked before disappearing from the glass.
…
At the same time, on the shore of an unknown island. A woman with bright red hair and wore a dress for a masquerade crawled out of the sea.
The woman made her way onto a rock before looking up and sighing, her misty breath coming from a set of smirking lips.
The darker pigment of her skin dripped from the lighter parts, her red mane turning a dazzling gold as she squeezed the water from her hair.
Only after cleaning up her appearance did she pull a ring from her pocket. It pure gold inlaid with many small diamonds each worth a small fortune, no doubt.
She had managed to get her hands on it due to many fortunate circumstances. Her trip to Paris had resulted in a major success, her plan going off without a hitch.
It didn't matter whether her employer would pay her or not, she had gotten her hands on something much more valuable.
But that wasn't all. There was that merc who she had shared a nice dance with.
She had recognised the boy as the one from Cube, one of the candidates Boss had took note of before settling to keep an eye on the pathetic gunner.
Besides that, the boy had genuinely surprised her with his competence and wits. Whether it was paranoia or skeptisism, it had kept the boy from getting in her way.
And whats more, it seemed as though he was purposely trying to leave a good impression. Especially with how he left spell sheets along walls and under carpets.
"If all went wrong he was actually planning to blow the place sky high…pfft, I've seriously got to tell Boss about this."
He just seemed to get more and more interesting the more they saw him.
Though for some reason Jain felt she may be forgetting something.
…
Kim Hajin felt like the story was progressing pretty alright.
After the fight between the Dog man and Yun Seung-Ah he had made a swift escape and met up with the rest of the Travel Club.
The group was still missing many important people so they had been forced to wait patiently. At which point many discussions broke out among the cadets.
Much of which had been directed either at Kim Hajin and Chae Nayun's archery duel or the results for the midterms, though the man himself had his mind elsewhere.
...So now that the masquerade is over… how's the plot going to go…?
Although Jain changed circumstances she still made it to the masquerade and got away with the ring. I would've liked to get my hands on it but I can't be mad about it since that's how it was supposed to go.
Yun Seung-Ah who wasn't supposed to be here didn't make too much of an impact, nor did the Evil Society or the 'Dogman'.
Though the Dogman does seem to be a bit troublesome… they left spell paper bombs all over the place… thankfully I was able to shoot most of them down with anti magic but I burnt through an unbelievable amount of SP.
As for their power level… the co-author must be high to make everyone as unbalanced as they are. Djinn's warping around without constraint with items that can easily confuse high rank heroes.
Meanwhile Kim Suho who wanted to fight as well was forced to help the evacuation.
'The general plot seems to be the same… though there is still that unreasonable variable running around.'
Although Kim Hajin had made an agreement with Minori, it still felt incredibly flimsy, as though no progress was made at all to bringing him to the main cast.
'Though it's not like I can blame him. I created and destroyed him… my bias after writing what he does and why he does it in the future must be incredibly swayed so I can't exactly be a judge of character…'
Kim Hajin let out a sigh and frowned for the nth time today.
He wasn't barely even halfway through the arc…