But that’s not the case.

If it were her former self, she would have just ignored it or reluctantly responded due to being a celebrity. But not now.

If the other party was going to use Suji as much as they needed, she also had the right to use them.

It’s not like she’s opening the channel just for her own benefit. This much promotion should be fine.

“…Hm.”

The sound of Elaine inhaling sharply could be heard from behind.

Suji could imagine, without having to turn around, Elaine’s face failing to hold back a laugh.

Come to think of it, Elaine had been laughing more too. Not just Suji, but Elaine as well. And Peace. And Saint.

‘We’re going back to the tower… but I hope everyone can keep smiling.’

Thinking this, Suji continued to answer the next question.

“Someone asked about weapons earlier, but weapon information is sensitive for hunters. Like everyone else, it’s difficult for me to disclose equipment information, including tiers.”

The reporters all nodded in unison, as if fully understanding her feelings.

“And the reason for coming here specifically was to investigate the blacksmith’s data. As you know, Team Daphne is continuing to receive support from the Gate Stabilization Department for refinement and production, as we have been doing so far.”

“Are you saying, Lady Daphne, that you didn’t get the results you wanted here?”

“Still, it was good to meet and greet the people working on site. Please look forward to the upcoming tower conquest video.”

Suji deliberately gave an ambiguous answer.

Judging by what she said, it sounded as if she had done nothing here.

And that was exactly what Suji was aiming for.

She couldn’t cause unnecessary trouble for the grandmother who had broken her long seclusion for the sake of Suji and her team members. Suji knew better than anyone how important it was for someone who wanted to live quietly.

With those final words, Suji firmly bid farewell and made her way through the crowd.

The reporters looked dissatisfied, as if they hadn’t gotten the answers they wanted, but they didn’t bother following her.

Suji and Elaine headed to headquarters riding the unicorn.

Watching the passing cityscape from atop the unicorn, seeing the unicorn’s shadow cast over the city, was a much more refreshing feeling than expected.

“For people who have their death day set, we seem to be having quite a bit of fun.”

“We decided not to think of it as… a death day.”

Elaine’s voice came from behind.

Suji turned around, leaning back against the unicorn’s neck. Sitting between the unicorn’s wings in the sunlight, Elaine looked quite like a holy knight.

“I guess you feel more reassured now that the weapons have been upgraded.”

“There is some of that. I won’t deny it.”

“I like that you’re honest.”

“Just. It feels like a lot of other things have changed too, not just the weapons.”

Suji stared at him intently while stroking the unicorn’s mane with her hand.

The mention of many other things changing probably meant equipment or items. Somehow it didn’t sound like that was the nuance.

Perhaps because of the scene she saw in , every word seemed to sound meaningful.

She shook the thoughts from her head.

She didn’t want to see such a solid person cry. Especially not because of her.

The thing to do was to make sure that didn’t happen.

There was no need to be captivated by the contents of that video.

“Elaine, if everything works out well and we survive, what do you want to do the most?”

“I want to be by the side of the person I love.”

It was a question thrown out half-intentionally to change her thoughts, but what came back was a voice that couldn’t be more serious.

Suji was slightly surprised by the answer that came without the slightest hesitation, as if reciting a prepared response. She glanced at him with wide eyes.

Despite the 3-year age difference, unlike Suji who only chased after what was right in front of her, he often had times when he was quite leisurely and thoughtful.

Love.

‘So you can talk about such an unfamiliar, ticklish, and high-level thing so calmly.’

Somehow, it wasn’t strange that he harbored such emotions.

And it wasn’t odd that she hadn’t known until now that Elaine had someone he loved. He wasn’t the type to spell out every little thing.

‘How nice.’

Strangely, that thought came first.

She envied the confidence to be able to say there was someone he loved, and she envied the person who was loved by him.

It would undoubtedly be a mature person who perfectly suited Elaine. A clever person who knew how to return those feelings as they were.

“We really must survive then.”

At Suji’s words, he smiled shyly, averting his gaze slightly.

How could a grown man’s smile be so pure?

She stared at his smile, sparkling in the sunlight, as if trying to memorize it, before finally tearing her gaze away.

She felt her heart flutter again.

But she knew it was something to be grateful for, that he devoted all his time by her side even while having someone he loved.

Suji asked needlessly.

“Why did you suddenly feel like talking about it now, when you’ve never mentioned anything like this before?”

“I wanted to say it at least once.”

Suji nodded and then straightened up, sitting upright and facing forward again.

“I see. I’ll try to arrange some vacation time if I can.”

“That’s not necessary. It was about after everything is over.”

She opened her mouth to speak again, but realizing she was uncharacteristically trying to keep the conversation going as if chased by something, she closed her lips.

They were close enough to be comfortable without needing to say anything.

She didn’t know why she suddenly felt the need to add something to this silence.

As a brief silence fell while Suji reflected on her thoughts, her device rang.

‘The only remaining alarm settings are for communications from team members and the watchtower.’

Suji hurriedly checked her device.

An S-class wave is expected to be issued.] [Notice from the Ulleungdo and Dokdo Watchtower.

An S-class wave is expected to be issued.] [Notice from the Sinuiju City Watchtower.

An S-class wave is expected to be issued.]

The three alarms popped up one after another with barely a minute’s difference.

Suji was dumbfounded by the content that was completely at odds with the peace spread out before her eyes, and read the alarms again.

One at the southern end of South Korea. One at the eastern end. One far to the north.

And where she was standing now was near Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, where the blacksmith district was located.

After confirming the locations that were situated in different places as if coordinated, she muttered like a sigh.

“…Are they joking?”

But while she was a bit annoyed, she wasn’t flustered.

The original Suji would have been quite surprised.

Many analyses suggested that even one S-class wave occurring was a coincidence. They said it wasn’t time yet for such a strong wave to come.

While she didn’t agree with such naive analyses, having three S-class waves hit at once was an impossibly high difficulty.

But instead of being surprised, she was just dumbfounded.

Knowing what kind of monster was waiting at the end of all this, everything else seemed rather fortunate in comparison, allowing her to remain calm.

If her trait could detect it, the officials must have noticed it too.

Watching her device constantly ringing with disaster alerts related to the S-class wave, she quickly made a judgment.

“Elaine.”

“Yes.”

“They say there’s no one currently living on Ulleungdo, but it’s still better to stop it at the initial point. Elaine, go and stop it. I’ll head straight to Jeju. We’ll have to leave Sinuiju to other hunters. I’ll try contacting them.”

While Ulleungdo was quite far in actual distance, they could arrive quickly if they used the shortcut Elaine and Suji knew about. Conveniently, the entrance to the dungeon that served as the connecting bridge was not far from here.

Elaine hesitated for a moment, seemingly reluctant to separate from Suji, before forcibly nodding.

She dropped Elaine off near the gate as if throwing him, then readjusted her grip on her device. Then, from atop the unicorn that dashed off like a fired bullet, she contacted Yeonju.

“Aunt Yeonju.”

− Suji, are you okay?

It seemed they were busy moving at headquarters too, with the news of three S-class waves bursting at once. A sense of urgency could be felt in Yeonju’s voice.

“The wave hasn’t even started yet, why wouldn’t I be okay? I’m about to head straight to Jeju. I asked Elaine to go to Ulleungdo.”

Suji calmly replied, reassuring Yeonju.

− Alright. I’ll relay that to headquarters. But does this situation make any sense?

“I think we passed the point of things making sense a long time ago.”

And even more nonsensical situations would come in the future.

“Is there anyone who can respond in the north?”

− Nature has departed.

“Nature?”

Suji recalled his physical condition when she encountered him in the ward. He should have fully recovered by now, but she thought it was quite soon for him to be deployed.

In any case, it was reassuring if he was taking care of it. Nature’s combat sense was reliable.

− And there was a message from Freya that she wanted me to relay to you.

At a time like this.

How delightful, really.

Suji laughed in disbelief.