“Do you understand me, Irtis?”

Saying so, Reke, who was smiling affectionately, felt strangely unfamiliar.

No, he never properly knew about her from the beginning.
“After that day, the relationship between the two could never be the same.

The noble boy fortunately survived, but he was halfway mad due to the terror of that day.

Irtyss’ feelings for Reke could never return.

As time passed, the Matop theurgist mission came to an end, and Irtyss left the Elhas Kingdom.

Afterwards, several letters came from Reke, but he did not reply.

That was the end with Reke.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

At the moment Glawacus tried to harm Luka, Irtyss realized.

Once again, it was undoubtedly Reke who set the trap.

Although he didn’t know what the purpose was, it wasn’t important now.

He had to save Luka.

He gathered magical power at his fingertips.

Even if he had to be disqualified from the competition, he had no choice.

He didn’t want to repeat the same thing as back then.

But at that moment, someone appeared in front of them.

It was Reke.

“Take him and get away, quickly!”

At Reke’s shout, Irtyss hurriedly took Luka and stepped back.

Soon after, Reke’s sword pierced Glawacus’s throat.

Crimson blood sprayed in all directions, and the demon collapsed to the side.

With a pale expression, Reke turned to Irtyss.

“Irtyss, are you okay?”

Irtyss nodded.

However, blood was dripping from one of Reke’s arms.

Seeing the claw marks, it was undoubtedly from the recent encounter with Glawacus.

It couldn’t be true.

In those days, Reke had gone on countless exterminations with me, but he always excelled without a single scratch.

Could it be that he risked his life for me and Luka?

In the meantime, Reke was checking on Luka’s condition.

“It seems like he fainted in shock. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to be injured.”
At those words, Irtyss felt the tension release, and he slumped to the floor.

Suddenly, Reke bowed deeply in front of Irtyss.

“I’m sorry, I acted recklessly. I truly didn’t expect the demon to attack your friend.”

For a moment, Irtyss felt confused.

In truth, he had been suspicious of Reke.

Wasn’t he planning everything again this time?

But to apologize so readily…

‘Did Reke really not know anything?’

At that moment, Luka, who had been unconscious, opened his eyes.

“Ugh, where is this…?”

Judging by the tone, it seemed that the one who woke up was Paphier.

Irtyss was in a difficult situation.

Reke didn’t know the fact that Paphier had a dual personality.

As expected, Paphier asked Irtyss while looking at Reke.

“By the way, who is that?”

At those words, Reke’s face subtly twisted.

But soon, Paphier fell asleep again in Irtyss’s embrace.

Upon this, Reke spoke with a worried tone.

“Your friend seems to have been shocked.”

“Uh… it seems like it.”

Fortunately, it seemed possible to hide and pass over Paphier’s dual personality.

Suddenly, a strange cry echoed from the sky.

“Kara-rarak !”

Soon, a dark shadow loomed over their heads.

Everyone silently looked up at the sky.

The awaited celestial beast revealed itself.

Irtyss stared at Reke intently.

Everything was as Reke had said.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Treasure Hunt Competition had ended.

Everyone lined up in front of Princess Arlin, submitting the treasures they had found.

The four men did the same.

They divided the treasures they had found equally just before the end of the competition.

And just as they were about to present the treasure to the princess.

Suddenly, faces they hadn’t expected came into their view.

‘Prodia…?’

The nobles who had come to watch the competition, including her, had attended.

In an instant, everyone’s hearts became as heavy as lead.

To present a gift of affection to someone else in front of the woman in their hearts.

But soon, their turn came, and everyone presented their treasures with a heavy heart.

It was a more dreadful and brutal moment than facing any demon.

Meanwhile, as Irtyss was leaving the arena, he encountered Reke once again.

In truth, Irtyss was still confused.

What Reke had done to the noble boy in the past was still incomprehensible and unforgivable.

Yet, Irtyss couldn’t entirely hate Reke.

After all, he was once his dearest friend.

Moreover, if Reke hadn’t been there today, Irtyss might have been disqualified from the competition by using magic.

Or perhaps Luka could have been seriously injured.

However, Reke making a contract with Prodia was a different story.

He’s someone who could go mad and commit reckless acts at the blink of an eye.

Leaving such a person next to Prodia was too dangerous.
If Prodia is in danger…

That was something he didn’t want to imagine.

With a complex emotion, Irtyss, who had been watching Reke, soon nodded lightly and turned away after a brief bow.

It was the usual rough attitude, no different from usual.

However, Reke had already noticed that there was a change in Irtyss’s heart.

After he left, Reke discreetly glanced back to check on Paphier’s condition.

Because he hadn’t suspected the presence of a dual personality, he simply believed that she had forgotten memories about him.

“Tsk, it seems like Glawacus’s ability manifested unnecessarily on that guy.”

In fact, the rare demon Glawacus had a unique ability.

It was the power of oblivion.

When making eye contact with that demon, one would lose all memories about the first person they saw.

Reke had intended to use that ability on Irtyss.

The meaning of Irtyss as a friend was somewhat special to him.

The only person in the mundane world who brought him joy.

And…

A presence that would become a great strength when he eventually ascended to the position of the Grand Duke.

Irtyss seemed like a perfect creation made for him.

However, because of the trivial incident involving the noble boy, Irtyss stopped trusting himself.

So, Reke wanted to start anew from the beginning.

By using Glawacus’s ability to erase Irtyss’s memories about him.

Unexpectedly, the plan went slightly awry due to another person intervening.

And in the process of closing his eyes and fighting to avoid losing memories about Irtyss, he ended up getting injured.

But well, it didn’t matter now.

Ultimately, a gap had emerged in Irtyss’s heart.

Reke grinned and threw the water bottle he had been holding into the trash.

The Glawacus’s blood remaining in the bottle slowly dripped toward the floor.