“The client’s… ultimate goal, huh…”
Honestly, what I ultimately wanted was to uncover the schemes of the temple.
It would be great if, along the way, the children who were nearly sacrificed to adult greed could be made safe.
I can’t save every kid on the streets, but at least I could prevent them from suffering unfairly.
‘But something doesn’t add up.’
Didn’t he speak before as if he already knew I was targeting the temple?
Yet now he’s saying as if what I truly want is simply to ensure Tommy’s safety.
‘Is he trying to exclude me from the conflict with the temple?’
“…That’s right. But, as I mentioned before, isn’t that the kind of request your information guild refuses to handle?”
I decided — after this contract, I would cut ties with the Ruin Guild.
It seemed like the right decision.
It’s ridiculous to keep pretending we don’t know what the other is hiding while facing each other.
We both know exactly who the other is.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but let’s end the contract here. The information you provided today is already more than enough.”
Let’s leave. I need to get out of here — that was the only thing running through my mind as I rose from my seat.
“The payment’s already made, and the contract is concluded, so there’s no more reason for us to meet again.”
It was then.
“Then, are you going to disappear again?”
The Ruin Guild’s master… no, Raizen said.
“Or are you going to fight the temple here all by yourself? To save the children?”
The face I hadn’t been able to properly see — as if it had been covered in some kind of blur — slowly came into focus.
Like a dense fog lifting, little by little.
My mind screamed at me to shut my eyes and walk away.
But my gaze, as if nailed down, wouldn’t leave Raizen.
His hair, which had seemed like a faded ash color, now revealed itself as a deep, rich black.
His straight, strong brow, the gem-like vivid red eyes.
The proud bridge of his nose, running down from his brow line, and the lips, still pressed together with a hint of stubbornness.
‘Raizen.’
He was thinner than I remembered, and his expression was sharper… but it was unmistakably Raizen.
Still handsome, still beautiful…
‘…the one who doesn’t love me.’
A surge of heat welled up inside me — a tangled mass of resentment, longing, bitterness.
Even though a man so obviously out of place — looking every inch a Pantheon native — had just appeared in the café, the atmosphere inside hadn’t changed at all.
No one paid us any attention.
It had been about a year since I left.
A short time, really — but Raizen seemed to have grown a great deal during that short span.
‘Or maybe he could have done it all along.’
Back then, I was always inside the Pantheon operation building.
Raizen never had to hide anything from me — never had any reason to show what he could do.
Of course, there was no “joyous reunion” between us.
I had deliberately never once allowed myself to imagine running into him again.
Even so… I hadn’t expected it to be this painful.
“Whatever I do… it’s none of your concern.”
Ever since we met again under the guise of Ruin’s Guild Master, Raizen had been subtly trying to keep me from getting too involved.
He could have hidden it completely, but instead, he kept letting it show — as if he wanted me to notice.
“Se—”
“No.”
I hastily cut him off.
If he said that name out loud, I felt like there would be no going back.
“I’m Daniel. And our contract ends here.”
Without looking back, I walked out of the café.
∗ ∗ ∗
When had it started?
Since when had Raizen known I was here?
How long had he been circling around me, and with what thoughts?
Face down, buried into my pillow, I felt something climb onto my back.
[Food.]
“……”
[Please, at least eat something before you think.]
Seol’s voice came, laced with worry and guilt.
Slowly, I flipped my body over.
Matching my movement, the little one slid off my back and sat down beside me.
I sat up but couldn’t bring myself to meet Seol’s eyes as I walked out of the bedroom.
It wasn’t because I was going to eat.
My feet carried me instead to the farthest room in the mansion — a room I hadn’t opened since I unpacked.
Standing in front of the door, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
Inside were a few of my belongings from the operation building.
The notebook I first used when I came to this world, birthday presents from the duke and duchess and from Mila, and…
Gritting my teeth, I flung the door open.
Though I hadn’t been in here since organizing it, I didn’t need to search.
I knew exactly where it was.
I yanked open the bottom drawer of the dresser.
The box inside rattled from the force. It was a deep navy velvet box.
Opening it revealed a bracelet, set with a red gemstone.
‘This…’
It was the first birthday present Raizen ever gave me — a magic artifact he personally made, infused with his own magic.
After Kim Minsoo’s attack drained all its magic, Raizen had taken it to repair, even redesigning it anew.
When I first received it, I had Noah check whether it had any tracking magic.
He said it didn’t. But that didn’t necessarily mean it couldn’t be used to track me.
There was no ‘tracking spell,’ but it could still work in other ways.
‘Just like I can track an area using divine power.’
Mages could likely track magic too.
The first one was broken, and Raizen, instead of just refilling its power, had remade it entirely.
I have no idea what kind of magic he put in this one.
“Hah…”
I had known.
I knew that keeping this meant there was a chance Raizen could find me.
I hesitated so many times about whether to bring it.
But in the end, I had.
‘Why?’
The moment I asked myself, the answer was already there.
‘Because even though I didn’t want him to find me, deep down, I hoped he would.’
My vision blurred.
Everything was a complete mess.
From the moment I packed this bracelet, I had left an opening.
Even though I had intended to sever everything, to escape him forever — in the end, I hadn’t been able to throw away the last piece.
But, but…
‘..I didn’t want to meet like this.’
I had hoped, at least, that he would say sorry for deceiving me.
Just that one word.
But Raizen was still Raizen.
He had worn a mask and deceived me again.
“Ah… seriously… hah…”
I had run away with so much difficulty — only to realize that it had all been for nothing, just a selfish act.
Now, all I could do was laugh hollowly.
‘Did he need me that much? Why?’
Divine power could no longer suppress Raizen’s curse.
It wasn’t that my divine power had weakened — Raizen simply no longer needed that method.
Before leaving, foolishly clinging to hope, I had left behind a lot of relics — but even that was pointless.
In the past year, aside from monster waves, there had been no major incidents in the Pantheon territory.
Which meant the curse still wasn’t active.
And yet, Raizen had gone out of his way to find me, to hover around me.
“At this point, wouldn’t it be more accurate to just call it love?”
But then, seeing Raizen’s face again gave me the answer.
There wasn’t a trace of longing or guilt for me anywhere on his face.
It felt like I cried for a long time.
I wrestled with the thought of throwing away the bracelet hundreds of times, but in the end, I just put it back in the box.
I was disgusted with my own pathetic attachment, but… I don’t know.
Maybe I was just born to be this way.
Staggering, I stumbled out of the room.
This wasn’t the time to be trapped in my emotions.
I needed to eat something, and then meet up with Jack and Derek.
Tomorrow, Tommy would be coming back for the two kids, and before that—
“…?!”
Suddenly, a chill ran through me, making all the hair on my body stand on end.
Without even realizing it, I froze in place.
“Ugh…!”
An overwhelmingly strong scent of roses crashed over me like a wave.
It was as if it had form — wrapping around my entire body before swallowing me whole.
[■■Ah!]
Along with Seol’s shout, I heard the sound of something shattering.
Forcing my gaze to shift, I saw the front door — completely reduced to dust.
And then…
“Sei.”
Raizen… had stepped inside the house.
