Dawn.

Irtis, who was sound asleep, suddenly received an unexpected signal and woke up.

In fact, Irtis had set up a magical barrier near the viscount’s estate.

Anyone crossing that barrier in the early morning would send a signal to Irtis.

And today, for the first time after staying here, an alert came.

But the direction of the signal was a bit strange.

‘It means someone left the viscount’s estate?’

Who on earth would be crossing at this hour?

Irtis quickly moved outside the viscount’s estate.

Soon, he witnessed the back of the perpetrator who triggered the alarm.

Although he wore a black cloak flipped backward, his large build left no doubt about his identity.

‘… Sharak!’

Damn it.

He wasn’t going to make friends again.

Intense regret flooded in.

But now was not the time for such sentimental feelings.

Irtis quickly erased his presence and followed him.

Sharak, with monstrous physical abilities, almost flew through the sky.

But even so.

When Sharak stepped on the viscount’s barrier earlier, his magic had already imprinted on his foot.

So, Irtis could leisurely follow Sharak.

Wandering through dark alleys, Sharak soon entered a suspicious warehouse.

Irtis landed on the warehouse roof and quietly watched Sharak.

Unbeknownst to him, Sharak had taken out several portraits from his arms and was requesting an investigation.

The faces in the pictures weren’t visible due to the lack of light.

‘Could it be… he was investigating us?’

At that moment, the suspicious young man who had received the portraits left.

Irtis quickly flew down from the roof and landed in front of Sharak.

Thud!

With a loud noise, dust flew in front of Sharak.

Taken aback by the unexpected arrival, Sharak sat down abruptly.

“Irtis?!”

“Why are you so surprised? Do you have something to hide?”

At Irtis’s words, Sharak flinched.

Indeed, he was hiding something.

Irtis gave a bitter smile.

“I just saw something interesting inside that warehouse.”

“…!”

“Shall we check who you were investigating?”

As Irtis reached out into the air, the man who had disappeared after the request a while ago was summoned.

“Ugh, spare me!”

Soon, several portraits fell into Irtis’s palm from the man’s clothes.

At the same time, the man lost consciousness and slumped to the ground.

Irtis quickly checked the faces in the pictures.

However.

“…Who are these people?”

They were completely unknown to him.

Sharak laughed stylishly and calmed Irtis.

“Haha, it seems there was a bit of a misunderstanding. Let’s resolve it through a conversation.”

“So who are these people?”

“…I’m sorry, but it’s a bit difficult to explain.”

Sharak’s expression, saying that, was unusually firm.
But Irtis couldn’t step back.

“Could these people be related to Prodia?”

“I told you it’s a misunderstanding.”

“Are you entering the tournament to become a Buma?”

Sharak had no answer to that question.

It was now certain.

Sharak had been deceiving them all along.

However, Sharak seemed unwilling to open up about the individuals in the portraits.

In the end, Irtis tossed the bundle of portraits in front of him.

And he warned him sternly.

“…Considering the past, I’ll give you a choice. Go to Prodia now and confess the truth. If you don’t want that, disappear from her life forever.”

Early morning.

A knock was heard in Prodia’s office.

‘Who could it be at this hour?’

When the door opened, all four men entered.

But everyone’s expression seemed very serious.

Startled, Prodia quickly stood up.

“What’s going on?”

Especially, the atmosphere between Irtis and Sharak was not good.

Until yesterday, they seemed to get along well.

Something unusual had happened.

Suddenly, Sharak approached Prodia and knelt down.

“I apologize for deceiving you, teacher! In reality, I… didn’t participate in this tournament to become a Buma.”

…!

Surprised, Prodia looked at the others.

They all seemed to already know.

Sharak continued speaking.

“The reason I entered the tournament is that there is someone I must find among the participants.”

“Who is it?”

“Sorry, but… I can’t tell you that.”

Then Irtis shouted.

“Hey, you made a promise. You said you’d tell everything to Prodia!”

“I’m sorry… but I absolutely can’t say that. Forgive me.”

It seemed like they could guess what had happened.

Sharak had been caught by Irtis while doing something shady.

But by hiding it so much, Prodia couldn’t resist her curiosity.

Because this was a good opportunity to find out what Sharak’s real dream was.

She raised Sharak and asked.

“If winning isn’t your goal, there was no need for you to come to me. Is there something else you’re hiding?”

Then Sharak vehemently denied.

“There’s no way! My desire to learn from the teacher was sincere, and it still is.”

While looking at each of the remaining three men one by one, he continued.

“It was true that I wanted to meet skilled comrades. Anyway, to achieve my goal, I have to survive for a long time in the Buma tournament.”

“But comrades shouldn’t hide anything from each other.”

“Ah…”