Beaver-Penguin-Fox—Ilendil—was completely bewildered.

Right now, Ilendil wasn’t inside Einroguard.

He was outside.

To be precise, he was inside the pocket of a student who had left the academy.

As soon as he heard that dangerous individuals were involved, he acted immediately.

...I almost broke the bottle...

Fourth-year students usually had at least one emergency method to escape Einroguard, but none of them were simple.

Ilendil’s method was to borrow a spirit’s power and hide inside a glass potion bottle.

Naturally, he had slipped in secretly without informing the student who owned it.

And if he was caught, everything would be over.

Suppressing his confusion, Ilendil moved the chalk again.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: There must be some mistake.

Gonadaltes: I confirmed it. It’s definitely Akdin.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: ...

Ilendil froze.

Grabbing at his hair—entangled with bits of plant matter—he began thinking rapidly.

Although Gonadaltes was insane (especially when it came to naming things), he wasn’t the type to bluff about something like this.

Could it really be true?

Among the mercenaries involved in this operation, there were many dangerous figures.

But if one had to name a leader, Three-Finger Akdin was the most likely candidate.

Cunning, persistent, and responsible for incidents like Garam’s Madness and the Flame Waterfall Attack, he always managed to escape cleanly.

And yet—he had been captured.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: He’s skilled in deception, traps, and escape. Check again carefully. Are you certain it’s really Akdin?

Gonadaltes: I checked. I ambushed him, and his artifact just happened to break on impact. He reacted too slowly.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: That’s all?

Ilendil couldn’t believe it.

A mercenary of that level, captured just because he was careless?

Gonadaltes sounded annoyed.

Gonadaltes: Then don’t believe it. Do you want to come check yourself?

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: ...I apologize. I was only being cautious because of who he is.

Ilendil forced himself to calm down and continued.

Given the situation in Granden City, the mercenaries involved were extremely dangerous.

That was why he had decided to personally intervene.

And there was another reason—he wanted the artifacts they were carrying.

If Gonadaltes cooperated, they could fairly split both the reward and the recovered items.

Gonadaltes: Fine. I’ll cooperate as a fellow Einroguard student. But in return, help me a bit with Club matters later.

Ilendil frowned.

This condition felt excessive.

The reward and artifacts were already enough compensation.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: That doesn’t make sense. Cooperation already includes the reward and artifacts.

Gonadaltes: Think carefully. If we work together, we’ll eventually infer each other’s identities.

That was true.

Even with disguises, watching another mage cast spells up close would reveal clues.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: ...So what?

Gonadaltes: I already know your identity. So only I am at a disadvantage here.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Don’t talk nonsense.

Ilendil tried to suppress his irritation.

This was clearly a bluff to extract more benefits.

There was no way his identity had been exposed. He had taken every precaution in the Watchman Club.

And Gonadaltes had joined relatively recently.

Gonadaltes: You can deny it, but I know what I know.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Then tell me. If you get it right, I’ll support you unconditionally in Watchman Club matters.

Ilendil snorted.

There was no way he could possibly guess—

Gonadaltes: Senior Ilendil.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: ...

Silence.

Gonadaltes: Correct. Please take care of me in future communications. And help me when I argue with Iaktus.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: ...How did you—

Gonadaltes: We’ll discuss that later. More importantly, Senior—how did you learn about the mercenaries’ plan?

Lee Han asked the question that bothered him most.

Even after wandering Granden City himself, he hadn’t figured it out.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: A spirit serving one of the mercenaries came to me and told me.

“...!”

Lee Han’s eyes widened.

A spirit... betrayed its own contractor?

***

“Everyone, gather around.”

Lee Han called his friends with a serious expression.

After the earlier incident with the collapsed mercenaries, the group had already realized the situation was serious.

They immediately came closer.

“I have something important to say. Spirits can betray their contractors. Be careful and check your contracts thoroughly.”

“...What are you talking about?”

“Weren’t you talking about those mercenaries?”

“I am.”

Lee Han relayed what he had heard.

The mercenaries’ rampage in Granden City was not random.

It was connected to worshippers of an evil god.

Such groups rarely acted directly. They used intermediaries.

This time, the mercenaries had been those intermediaries.

They had been paid in gold and given an artifact.

—Take this and deliver it to your comrades.

From their perspective, it seemed like a simple job.

No supervision, no restrictions. Just deliver the item and get paid.

They had even agreed immediately.

—Understood. We’ll handle it.

—You promised.

—Yes. We did.

They split up, planning to sell the artifact on the black market afterward.

It was an easy profit.

But that night, everything changed.

Monsters summoned by the evil god’s followers descended upon Granden City.

At the same time, a curse activated within those who had taken the artifact.

Listen... to the command...

Hallucinations and voices began to echo in their minds.

If they disobeyed, the curse spread through their bodies, tightening around their hearts.

Only then did the mercenaries realize they had been deceived.

And worse—something they had done had triggered the curse.

They had no time to escape.

They began obeying the voices.

Raiding shops and stealing the Swan Song was one of those orders.

Angrago frowned as he listened.

“But those mercenaries didn’t seem that strong. Wouldn’t the city mages and knights handle them easily?”

“I thought so too,” Lee Han replied. “But my senior seems to want that artifact personally. It must be valuable.”

From the mercenary inside the shop, Akdin, a thought twisted in frustration.

These arrogant mages... looking down on us...

He was furious—but also deeply humiliated.

To be dismissed as “weak” was intolerable.

If he revealed his name, even seasoned mercenaries would hesitate before opposing him.

I underestimated them...

But then he paused.

No.

He had made a tactical error.

Luring the enemy, lowering their guard, and striking when it mattered most—that was perfect execution.

He couldn’t imagine that his opponent had simply thrown magic randomly and gotten lucky.

The shattered artifact had been nothing more than coincidence.

***

When the knights and city mages finally arrived, Lee Han and his group prepared to leave.

But a staff member rushed after them.

“Wait! Please tell us your organization—we must repay this favor!”

The students froze.

They were still in disguise.

And revealing Einroguard might attract the Death Knights’ attention...

“We’re... from the Nago family,” Lee Han said.

“Oh! So you are!”

Even the knights seemed impressed.

“I heard Einroguard Death Knights once described them as an extraordinary family...”

Akdin silently engraved the name in his mind.

Nago family... dangerous.

He had no desire to fight people who could deal with mercenaries like this.

Better to avoid them in the future.

***

Ilendil waited nervously in a nearby flower garden.

He didn’t like meeting people in person.

Especially not someone calling himself Gonadaltes.

But there was no choice now.

This cooperation was too important.

He really subdued Akdin so easily... is he a fifth-year? Or even a fourth?

Ilendil had completely missed that he had been called “senior.”

Then—

“Sorry for the wait.”

“...Ah—no!”

Ilendil flinched as multiple students arrived.

“Senior Ilendil?”

“Why are there so many of you?”

“We thought cooperation would be easier this way.”

“That’s... true, but...”

Ilendil hesitated.

Lee Han tilted his head.

“...Is there a problem?”

Ilendil swallowed hard.

“I... I’m not very comfortable with large groups...”

“....”

The same man who confidently spoke in the Watchman Club.

And yet here—

He was afraid of a few students standing in front of him.

Lee Han gestured toward his friends.

“Wait outside for a moment.”

“If he attacks you, scream immediately, Wardanaz.”

“...Do you really think he would?”

“Isn’t he the one who summoned a dark spirit in the forest last time?”

‘I can’t even deny that.’

Creak—

The door closed.

Ilendil finally exhaled in relief.

“Now then... a face I don’t recognize...”

“I’m in disguise.”

Lee Han removed his disguise.

When the polite, kind-looking junior appeared—

Ilendil immediately screamed and fainted backward.