* * *
I will make sure to repay the pain I felt—exactly, without fail.
If I can make him kneel and apologize for dismissing my love as a mere misunderstanding, then it will prove that my feelings—pure and truthful—were never mistaken.
Even to those ignorant fools who dared to tell me to “just get over it.”
“What… should I do?”
There were many things he wanted to ask—how exactly the other would help, what their true goal was.
But for Irina, none of that seemed to matter anymore.
What came out of her mouth wasn’t a question—it was a declaration.
That no matter the method, she would achieve her aim.
“Ahaha. Great. Then let’s do something fun.”
‘Click.’
With a soft flick, the cigarette, burnt down to the root, traced a graceful white arc as it fell to the ground.
The ash, still glowing with red embers, danced in the breeze like a showy dive, as if it knew it would crash yet chose beauty in the fall.
Irina briefly wondered—could she dive from this height and still land safely, dazzling all the while?
But that was a foolish thought, an illusion.
She lifted her head and looked straight at Roilnia.
‘Clack.’
With the quiet sound of metal on metal, a small tin case was held out to Irina.
Roilnia pushed it open with crimson lips curled in a sly arc.
Inside, dozens of tiny pills, smaller than fingernails, greeted her.
For a moment, Irina thought they might be poison apples.
“I don’t usually share, but this might be a good first. Let’s start by removing those suffocating restraints. You should get revenge on the ones who made you so pathetic—like a half-eaten cake tossed aside.”
Either way, kneeling in regret and misery would be far worse than this—ten times, a hundred times worse.
That’s why Irina Sheril finally made her decision.
She would take the hand of the serpent before her.
∗ ∗ ∗
She was a woman like a snake.
That slithering voice, that flickering tongue, even the wine-colored hair and eyes played a part—but her figure and clothes were so seductive, so sinuous, there was no better animal to compare her to.
‘Ah. F.’
When her airy voice suddenly chilled, Ben caught the deep disgust that bled through.
He’d been underestimated plenty as an “F,” but never had anyone looked at his entire being with such hatred.
From the moment she’d mentioned guides, there had been a strange stiffness to the red-haired woman’s tone.
She made no effort to hide the lump of hostility buried in her.
Like a hunter eyeing prey, she sized him up.
The contempt that had briefly flashed in her eyes melted away in seconds—but Ben could still feel it burn through him.
It was enough to make him wary, to know she was dangerous.
But what confused him was this—this same redhead had seemed surprisingly cordial with the esper woman Ben had helped earlier.
It made him wonder—was it not that she hated F-rank guides in particular, but the very idea of guides altogether?
…No. Maybe he was reading too much into it.
Ben shook his head to dispel the thought.
He hadn’t even spent ten minutes with her—too soon to be jumping to conclusions.
If Haimar’s call hadn’t come in right when he asked her name, maybe he’d have learned something.
Still, he had to answer that call.
He’d already arrived late after calming down the woman he’d bumped into at the entrance.
And since he’d been listening quietly, he hadn’t messaged anyone either.
Missing that call would’ve made everything ten times worse.
He’d reluctantly answered—and in the brief moment he’d looked away, both women had vanished without a trace.
‘Truly vanished.’
There was no other explanation.
The distance from the table to the exit wasn’t short—how could they have disappeared from his sight so fast?
But they had.
Even the coffee cups they’d been drinking from were left behind, like they’d evaporated into thin air.
Being left alone like that felt like getting dragged onto a magic show stage as an unwilling guest—awkward and clueless.
Later, Ben had returned with a cold panini and croque-monsieur in hand and received a scolding barrage from Elgran.
He explained—briefly—what had happened with the women, and Enten left with a thoughtful look.
Elgran, who usually kept things light, didn’t press further.
Haimar didn’t look too pleased but brushed it off with a “who cares” kind of attitude.
And so, a day passed, leaving behind a strange unease.
Ben was now heading to the lounge that Enten had prepared for [Integra] while checking the event schedule for Neadegu.
The building was buzzing like a marketplace with people preparing for the upcoming event.
Everyone wore name tags, talking and mingling.
In the central hall, staff were tangled in a chaotic rush, finishing last-minute tasks.
Ben pushed open the lounge door.
Clack.
“Where’s Mr. Lusna Nigel? Why are you here alone?”
“What? Why do you care? Annoying.”
“I don’t—it’s just that someone like him never leaves your side unless there’s a reason.”
Elgran was already sprawled comfortably on the couch, giving Ben a thoroughly unimpressed look.
“That damn Anton or Enten or whatever—he really wants to rope us into work.”
“It’s not even that hard, though.”
“Yeah right. You could just stick with Haimar and take it easy—why volunteer for work?”
Ben had nothing to say to that.
In truth, Enten had considered Ben’s role as Haimar’s guide and hadn’t assigned him anything.
But since he was already here, Ben thought it’d be unfair not to help at all—so he agreed to do something simple like check if there were any irregularities in their assigned zone.
Haimar had offered to help too, but the attention they’d attract together was obvious, so she’d agreed to wait in their room while Ben handled things.
Elgran’s complaint was simply that, while they were already here, Enten had slyly asked him and Lus to help out a bit.
Ben offering to help only gave Enten more reason to put the two “idle extras” to use.
Of course, the ever-agreeable Lus said yes.
But Elgran, his sharp-tongued esper, had absolutely no intention of agreeing.
Now, sitting with every inch of his body radiating “I don’t want to do this,” Elgran looked like the very embodiment of lazy rebellion.
“I’m just an average salaryman. Sitting around doing nothing makes me more uncomfortable.”
“Listen to yourself—so ordinary. Anyway, I get it. They want to use high-quality assets like me, but this is the end of it.”
That comment was… layered.
Since arriving at Eternita, Elgran had been less like a capable asset and more like a walking headache.
But Ben didn’t bother pointing that out.
“‘The end,’ huh? So are you going back to [Integra] now?”
“I’m planning on it. There hasn’t been much progress here anyway, and once I’m gone, the Leablem twins will probably show up and take over. It’s not like I don’t have a ton of other things to do elsewhere.”
“Oh, right. I think I heard something about that. They said you found Shienon’s match guide?”
“Yep. He’s coming too. The twins are just tagging along to see your face.”
So even now, in Integra, who Haimar Eilec’s guide is remains a hot topic of gossip, huh?
Ben remembered how Elgran had said he looked ordinary at first, or that he’d been brainwashed so thoroughly his spine must’ve melted out of his skull—endless exhausting remarks.
If the twins were anything like that, this was going to be twice as draining.
Even though it hadn’t happened yet, Ben sighed inwardly in dread.
“Anyway, remember what I told you last time?”
But Elgran went right on, completely unfazed.
Ben blinked at the sudden shift in topic, and Elgran snapped like a cat baring its claws.
“The kiss, idiot! Don’t tell me you actually thought I was gonna just let that go?!”
“You still haven’t given up on that?”
The word “kiss” made the memory from the supermarket come rushing back.
That was ages ago. It had been quiet for weeks—Ben had thought it was all over.
For Elgran to suddenly bring it up again now—Ben was more than shocked; he was horrified.
Sure, it was nice to see someone so passionate about their guide, but this was not the kind of advice Ben could offer.
“Hey, do I look like a guy who gives up easy?”
“I seem to recall suggesting a solution last time.”
“If porn could fix this, do you think I’d still be stuck like this?!”
“I was the one who suffered because of you, Elgran!”
Elgran’s outrage was like someone blaming others for their own farts, but Ben wasn’t backing down.
He threw it right back.
This whole thing started with Ben’s countermeasure plan to put Elgran in his place—but in the end, he got caught in the crossfire and had to endure Haimar’s relentless teasing at the officetel.
* * *
