"Please help me, Miss Erdi."
Her face was faintly flushed — perhaps from the embarrassment of having laid bare the feelings she'd kept hidden in her heart.
The fists resting on her knees trembled ever so slightly.
And yet, Ji-woo held her gaze steady, asking for guidance, asking for help.
Erdis Arcana opened her mouth and spoke.
"What's in it for me."
"Pardon?"
"If I help you. What can you do for me in return."
What Erdis Arcana had just heard was unmistakably Ji-woo's sincerity.
Watching her lay bare her own shameful insecurities — it was true that Erdis Arcana's heart had shifted, just a little.
But stepping forward to help Ji-woo out of pity would be nothing more than sympathy. Compassion.
"Your desperation is not a bargaining chip."
The Erdis Arcana of the distant past had once helped a student out of that same compassion — and had ended up bitterly regretting it.
She had no intention of helping the Ji-woo standing before her, who had appointed herself as her student, for the same reason.
"Think it over carefully."
At the same moment — a deep, rumbling tremor.
Something enormous stirred among the grey ruins, shaking the very ground beneath them.
Ji-woo startled and ducked behind Arkiel's back, while Arkiel shifted into a guarded stance to shield her.
At the far edge of the horizon, colossal monsters began to slowly reveal themselves.
"You. What can you do."
And yet, not so much as a flicker crossed Erdis Arcana's face at the monstrous shadows stretching toward them from the distance.
She simply continued what she'd been saying.
"For me."
─KIEEEEEEE─────!!
A massive centipede monster with five eyes let out a grotesque shriek and twisted its body.
A venomous moth creature had already launched itself high into the sky and was now in freefall, plummeting straight toward them.
Ji-woo went pale at the sight, and even Arkiel's body began to tense — but Erdis Arcana, still without any notable change in expression, reached into her coat.
What she drew out was a small double-edged blade.
"Well, even so……"
[ Entity: Erdis Arcana's Favorability has increased. (-1 → 50) ]
"At least your honesty is one thing I like."
Shhk. A hand even smaller than Ji-woo's drew a single line across the world.
A line that connected the clouds to the earth at a diagonal.
A line that bisected everything in between.
─Crumble.
It took less than three seconds for the world, once filled with grotesque shrieks, to fall silent.
The shadows that had blanketed the midday earth collapsed and crashed to the ground.
"Being fooled by your lies once is enough."
Thud. Erdis Arcana settled back onto the rubble and held Ji-woo's gaze.
Ji-woo, whose jaw had dropped at the display of Erdis Arcana's power.
"…You'll catch flies like that."
If she were being honest, this new student she'd met 'this time around' seemed a little more naive than the one from 'last time.'
Put kindly, she seemed pure.
Put unkindly, she seemed dim.
Still, she didn't seem sharp enough to stab her in the back the way the last one had — whether that was a relief or not was another question entirely…
"Lead the way."
"Pardon?"
"And bring out some tea."
Go ahead and try to convince me, Erdis Arcana seemed to say, as she turned and followed Ji-woo toward her home.
The warning she had for her old student — who was watching them even now — she kept to herself, muttering it inwardly.
【Entity: Null expresses gratitude toward Entity: Erdis Arcana.】
'…Just you wait.'
【Entity: Null slowly turns her head.】
【Entity: Null gazes at Entity: Lee Ji-woo and smiles quietly.】
【Entity: Null begins to remark upon Entity: Lee Ji-woo's adorable appear………】
"Tch."
【Entity: Null kneels respectfully.】
【Entity: Null begs forgiveness from her former master.】
***
"This is it?"
"Ah, yes. This is my place."
"Hmm…."
Erdi stared at the living room sofa with curious eyes, then promptly plopped herself down on it.
She leaned back. Rolled onto her side.
She did exactly what I'd done the first time I came to this house a few days ago.
Even a Hidden Boss, it seemed, found an expensive designer sofa fascinating.
But before I could start talking with Erdi, there was one thing I absolutely had to ask her first.
"Um, Miss Erdi."
"What."
"Could you… possibly close the Gate?"
The small Gate Hwaran's talisman had created — the one connected to the Dungeon where Erdi had been.
It was thanks to that Gate that I'd been able to bring Erdi to my home, but a Gate was still a Gate.
Having a Gate just floating in the middle of the living room was kind of terrifying.
What if a Gate shock suddenly happened?
And if Kim A-rin found out I'd made a Gate inside the house, I'd probably get an earful.
"Haah."
Erdi got up with a mildly put-out expression and walked over to the Gate.
Then she raised her fist slightly.
And gave the top of the Gate a firm little flick.
…That sounds weird, but she really did flick it.
I had no idea if you could normally hit a Gate, but she genuinely rapped it with her knuckle — thwack.
The Gate slowly began to shrink.
A moment later, it vanished without a trace.
"Bring the tea."
Erdi looked at me with a 'happy now?' expression, and I headed straight for the kitchen.
The fact that she'd followed me all the way to my house meant she was at least somewhat willing to hear me out.
Her favorability had clearly jumped to 50 earlier, after all.
And more than that.
─Ding.
【Entity: Erdis Arcana prefers Ronnefeldt.】
【Steep the tea for Entity: Erdis Arcana at 95°C for 3 minutes and 30 seconds.】
"…Suddenly very helpful."
The message windows popping up beside me told me exactly how to brew the tea.
A full guide to winning over Erdi, delivered right to me.
I still had no idea why, but either way, it worked out in my favor.
Someone like me, who'd never made anything fancier than instant coffee mix in her life, was now able to brew a premium brand of tea with perfect precision.
"Would you like some too, Arkiel?"
"I, I'm fine. Really."
Even I could tell it smelled incredible, so I'd hoped Arkiel would join us — but she flatly refused, saying she couldn't possibly insert herself into a tea time between me and Erdi.
She'd just stay quietly off to the side, she said.
"Um, Miss Erdi. Here's the tea you asked for."
I picked the most expensive-looking cup from the cabinet, poured the tea in, and served it to Erdi in the living room.
Then I watched her face carefully.
"How… is it?"
"…Not terrible."
It seemed to suit her taste, thankfully.
Emboldened, I made another pitch for my usefulness.
If she became my teacher, I'd brew tea like this for her every single day.
"Free of charge, for life! Just say the word."
"You think I came here for the tea?"
"But you liked it, didn't you?"
"…What is wrong with you."
Erdi looked at me like she couldn't believe what she was hearing, but it was clear the tea had won her over.
She kept grumbling while steadily sipping away at it.
Right — when would a Hidden Boss living in ruins like that ever get to drink high-end modern tea?
I decided to show Erdi the wonders of modern civilization, just like I had with Hwaran.
Even Erdi would get sucked in once she saw a TV, wouldn't she?
Or maybe YouTube Shorts.
I figured I'd try to win her over with those kinds of time-thieves.
"It's not just the tea, Miss Erdi. If you become my teacher, you can enjoy things like this every day too."
"Like what."
"Heh heh. That over there is called a TV."
─Beep.
"All you have to do is press this little button and you can watch dramas, movies, all sorts of——"
｢——the multinational S-rank Hunters dispatched at the British government's request attempted to enter the Gate, but due to severe electromagnetic interference——｣
｢——notably, this deployment includes S-rank Hunter Kim A-rin of Korea's Haetae Guild——｣
"…Huh?"
Something was wrong.
Something strange was coming out of the news on TV.
I understood that some kind of Gate shock situation had broken out in London.
But why was Kim A-rin's name being said in the same breath as 'whereabouts unknown.'
That made no sense.
Someone that strong, whereabouts unknown…
"…Hey. Snap out of it."
"!"
I blinked, and Erdi was looking down at me steadily.
She wanted an explanation.
Why were monsters like that rampaging inside the thing I'd called a TV.
"P-please help me."
But all I could think about was Kim A-rin.
Something had clearly happened, but Kim A-rin was on the other side of the world — in England.
There was no way for me, here in Korea, to get to Kim A-rin in England right now.
But standing right in front of me were two Hidden Bosses.
"I need to get there. Right now."
Sitting here in a daze would be stupid.
Why was I already giving up just because they said 'whereabouts unknown'?
If she were dead, they would've reported it as confirmed dead.
"There's someone I have to save."
Every second counted.
Whether it was illegal for an S-rank Hunter to enter another country without prior authorization — who cared.
The precautions Yoo Do-a had drilled into me flashed through my mind, but I skipped past all of them.
Right now, Kim A-rin was all that mattered.
"Arkiel. Can you take me there?"
"…If that is your command."
"As fast as possible. Don't worry about anything else — full speed."
"Understood."
"Hold on, both of you."
Erdi stopped me and Arkiel just as we were about to head for England.
But even if it was Erdi — I didn't care.
Even if she tried to stop me, I was going to England.
"What exactly are you planning to do when you get there."
"Save her. Before she dies."
"And the chaos that follows. You don't actually think you and this lizard can go unnoticed."
"I don't care about any of that."
The worst outcome right now was Kim A-rin dying.
As long as that didn't happen, nothing else mattered.
"Arkiel. Let's go."
"…Yes."
【 'Gaia's Devoted' manifests. 】
─Crack.
─CRUNCH.
As Arkiel returned to her true form, I climbed on just like I had with Fenrion.
The Haetae Guild's front yard was left with enormous footprints as a result — but that was a problem for later.
"Let's go, Arkiel."
At my words, Arkiel spread her wings wide and launched straight into the sky.
Erdi watched us in silence from below.
But I had every intention of bringing Erdi along too.
Of all the Hidden Bosses I'd met so far, Erdi seemed the strongest.
"…Erdis Arcana. Summon."
─Ding.
【Entity: Erdis Arcana is puzzled by Entity: Lee Ji-woo's request.】
【Entity: Erdis Arcana is puzzled by Entity: Lee Ji-woo's request……】
【……Entity: Erdis Arcana has accepted Entity: Lee Ji-woo's request.】
【Summoning Entity: Erdis Arcana to current location………】
【Current Rank: Null → SSS】
Thud. Erdi appeared directly behind me, wearing a deeply disgruntled expression.
But we were already several thousand meters in the air.
Falling from this height — even Erdi wouldn't walk away from that unscathed.
Which meant.
"……!!!!!"
Erdi, having been summoned to my side, had no choice but to come with me to England whether she liked it or not — unless she wanted to die.
Suddenly finding herself flying through the sky alongside me, Erdi's eyes went wide.
"You — you brainless, reckless little ───!"
"I'm sorry, Teacher─! The wind is too loud, I can barely hear you──!!"
No matter how strong the monsters that had appeared in England were, they couldn't be stronger than two Hidden Bosses.
All I could think about right now was saving Kim A-rin.
Just you wait, Kim A-rin.
Twenty smacks on the backside for making me worry like this.
This time I'm not going easy on you even if you cry.
***
"Haah……"
【Entity: Erdis Arcana uses Cognitive Distortion (S) on Entity: Lee Ji-woo.】
【Entity: Erdis Arcana warps the space ahead of Entity: Arkiel.】
"…I didn't think you'd be this reckless."
Erdis Arcana said this with a mildly irritated expression, shooting a sharp look at Ji-woo in front of her.
Then she gave the dragon below her an order.
Charge straight through the rift she had just torn open in the air.
The dragon obeyed without hesitation.
─Flash!
That was why a mysterious enormous flying creature had suddenly appeared in the skies above London, England — already in absolute chaos.
Ji-woo looked bewildered at having arrived in London in an instant, but.
"Arkiel! Over there!"
She snapped back to her senses immediately and called out to the dragon she was riding.
Dive straight down toward the Thames River, which had already become the epicenter of the carnage.
Her plan was to find Kim A-rin right away.
If she Assimilated with Fenrion, her senses would sharpen to dozens of times their normal acuity.
But before that.
"That's not happening."
"What?"
Erdis Arcana, who had already grasped the broad shape of the situation, stepped in front of Ji-woo.
She had cast a Cognitive Distortion spell on Ji-woo, yes — but Ji-woo personally stepping onto the battlefield was the single worst move she could make.
No matter how inexperienced she was, what kind of 'master' threw herself into the front lines?
If the master — if Ji-woo — were to be put in danger, everything would fall apart.
"You are, by nature, the master of all things."
And so Erdis Arcana skipped every explanation and went straight to the most essential lesson.
"Rule. Command. That is your purpose."
She didn't bother specifying who that command was meant for.
There were only two beings here right now who would carry out Ji-woo's orders.
"The monsters that touched my little sister."
─Crackle.
"Drive them all out. Make sure they never come near again."
And in that moment.
─■■■■■■■■■■─────!
The dragon's thunderous roar split the dark storm clouds blanketing the sky.
─Crumble.
Countless lines appeared across everything in the area.
Silence settled over the battlefield that had been in utter chaos.
And breaking through all that stillness — the sound of small, rapid footsteps.
─Pitter-patter-patter──!
Ji-woo spotted a familiar figure collapsed in the distance and sprinted toward her.
But not a single person 'noticed' her.
The spell currently on Ji-woo was exactly that kind of spell — and on top of that, every eye was fixed on the enormous dragon that had just swept across the battlefield.
─Smack smack.
─Smack smack.
"You — you little. What did I tell you. Don't do anything dangerous, I said that, didn't I. Didn't I."
"Wh……who……?"
The only one who registered anything was Kim A-rin — half-unconscious until Ji-woo's slaps on her back jolted her awake.
No one else noticed the girl who had appeared out of nowhere and was now on the verge of tears.
No one but a bewildered Kim A-rin, staring at her suddenly-crying little sister.
