“Whoa, whoa, this totally messes with my head.”

“Well, I’m originally of demonic nature, so people who see me using skills tend to lose their minds.”

“…And despite knowing that, you poured out your mental strength on me at school?!”

And the next day, at a small private cafe in the city.

Rude and Min Jaeyun in school uniforms were sitting in a corner. Min Jaeyun, sipping an iced Americano with a corn straw, looked awkwardly fidgety in front of Rude. Both of them had used perception disturbance on each other, fearing that someone might recognize them and post it on the internet, leaving Min Jaeyun mentally shaken.

“If the mental barrier of the Throne, a wizard dealing with demons, can’t withstand that much, maybe you should just terminate the contract with the Throne. Don’t you think so?”

Seeing the Throne grumbling in a red indirect message, Min Jaeyun twinkled his eyes and chuckled.

“So, why did you call me?! I was so surprised when I got a call from Hyunnie. Don’t tell me you missed me?!”

“No, it’s not that.”

In response to Min Jaeyun’s question, Rude buried himself in the cafe chair backrest, contemplating. How should he explain this? Seeing Rude, deep in thought with his hand on his chin, Min Jaeyun grinned.

“Why. What’s the matter?”

“Well, that’s…”
Rude, who had been contemplating, pressed his temples firmly. Anyway, this was something he had to resolve. Closing his eyes tightly, he took a deep breath and cautiously began to speak.

“I tried to hide it, but you were caught up in the Ma-seok-related matters at that school. That…”

“Ah~”

“Well, um. I knew how much you didn’t want to reveal it, how stressful it would be if it did, so I tried to keep it hidden. I’m sorry. That you couldn’t avoid it…”

In a situation where he had to somehow reveal that Jaeyun was a Awakened, Rude lowered his head and quietly continued.

“Oh, then do I have to make a statement that I haven’t registered as an Awakened?”

“Yeah… sorry. I tried not to talk about it unless absolutely necessary…”

“I’ll do it!”

“Huh?”

With a refreshingly clear answer, Rude raised his head in surprise. Jaeyun was smiling mischievously, and his red eyes sparkled behind his half-moon glasses.

“Oh, if that’s the case, worry off my back~ I was planning to register as an Awakened! I was a bit scared when Hyunnie told me seriously through Ihyunnie!”

“No, you were trying to hide it. You said your grandpa doesn’t like it! But now you’re saying you’ll do it?”

“Well, um…”

Jaeyun awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. After pondering for a while, he shrugged and laughed.
“Well, you see, it’s just because everything’s over.”

He tapped the glass in front of him with both hands. The green name tag on his dark school uniform jacket caught the eye.

Come to think of it, today is the weekend, and the school should be closed. Why was this guy wearing a school uniform? In front of Rude, who suddenly had such a question, Min Jaeyun spoke hesitantly.

“If I don’t become a hunter, I feel like I’ll be tied to that school for the rest of my life……”

Jaeyun tightly grasped the glass he had been tapping. His fingertips turned white, and his face also grew pale.

‘Ah.’

Rude let out a deep sigh. No matter how high-ranked an Awakened is with a Seat, there was no answer in the face of trauma. Nari also experienced panic as soon as she stood in front of the camera.

“Even if you become a hunter now, it’ll be tough, and you’ll face a lot of criticism. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Well, naturally, where there’s a capable person, there’s always jealousy, right? And I did something even the 1st and 2nd ranks couldn’t do. Building a school!”

“That’s true. You can’t do that with strength or psychic power.”

“Man, how much help am I to society? I didn’t study well, and I didn’t even go to a good college, but things turned out well. Well!”

“That’s really fortunate……”

Perhaps aware of the tense atmosphere, Jaeyun, in the end, slightly exaggeratedly chuckled and bumped fists.

“Anyway, can you and Kang Ihyun help me? I have a job recommendation.”
“No, no. I won’t go to the Holy War. I’m going to Baekya. I think I can get a lot of help there in dealing with demons.”

“Oh……. Well, certainly, Baekya might be better.”

“That’s right! I’ll become an S-rank now! I’ve already decided my alias. ‘Red Demon’!”

“But that overlaps with 2002. No, you can’t. Touching on national sentiment is a crime.”

“What happened in 2002?”

“Never mind. Forget it. You must have been a fertilized egg back then, right.”

Still, he didn’t seem to be in such bad condition.

What Nari had worried and pondered about seemed to be nothing to him. Rude recalled the guild leader’s advice not to casually guess other people’s feelings.

“Anyway……. Okay then. I’ll contact the police and the Holy War. Let’s disband now. Good job.”

“Oh! Wait a minute!! I have something to say!”