Late at night.

Hong Yeonhwa was sunk in deep thought.

And that thought was—

...Should I go over there? To Kim Ho’s room.

When a friend came over, wasn’t it only natural to stay up late together, chat, have a midnight snack, and then keep hanging out?

And finally...

...Kim Ho pillow!

Sleep soundly with that comfortable pillow, then greet the morning feeling refreshed.

Still, there was some hesitation too.

...Is it really right to go?

Inside Hong Yeonhwa’s head, a debate broke out between the hardline Hong Bark-Barks and the moderate Hong Woof-Woofs.

The hardliners argued first, and fiercely.

Right now, neither number one nor number two is here.

Which means this is the perfect chance to monopolize the Kim Ho pillow!

If you miss it, who knows when you’ll get another chance!

Hear, hear!

The moderates answered with measured dignity.

A person ought to know how to be satisfied.

Excessive greed invites disaster.

Wasn’t everything that happened today already enough?

They had met Kim Ho again after a long time, sat side by side and eaten together, and on top of that, he had even done that “ah—” feeding thing that only lovers did.

“Heeheeheeheehee.”

Hong Yeonhwa buried their face in the pillow and rolled all over the bed.

But the hardliners still had no intention of giving up.

Such complacent thinking!

Don’t you realize the gap with the front-runners is already far from small?

Come to think of it, that was true.

Kim Ho was only going to stay at the Ruby Mage Tower for about a week.

Meanwhile, the time he had spent at the Dang Family was several times longer than that.

And the same would naturally go for the time he’d spent with Seo Ye-in and Dang Gyu-young.

The hardliners pressed even harder.

And it’s not just the front-runners!

Before long, number four—Song Cheonhye—might join too!

What if you get overtaken?

“...!”

The smile vanished completely from Hong Yeonhwa’s face.

If nothing else, that alone was unacceptable.

The moderates seemed to feel the same way, because they fell silent.

The hardliners shouted into that silence.

You have to narrow the gap with the leaders and widen the gap behind you!

Right now! You need to make your move!

But the moderates didn’t go down easily either, and launched a devastating counterattack.

The idea of making a move is good.

But what exactly are you planning to do if you go?

Are you going to say, “Let’s sleep together”?

This time, the hardliners fell silent.

So focused had they been on the goal of Kim Ho pillow that they hadn’t thought through the process.

The moderates followed up immediately.

If you push too hard, you only become less appealing.

Instead of closing the gap, you might widen it even more.

Sometimes patience is a virtue.

Watching the debate wrap up, Hong Yeonhwa nodded.

...I’ll hold back tonight.

Kim Ho was going to stay about a week anyway.

That meant there would be that many chances left for Kim Ho pillow.

Giving up just one day out of them shouldn’t be a problem.

...And about five minutes after thinking that, Hong Yeonhwa found themselves turning a doorknob.

Maybe I can just go say hi...?

Something like telling him good night? That much should be... okay, right?

Having finished rationalizing at high speed, they stepped out of the room.

“......”

Hong Yeonhwa kept looking around nervously.

Usually, they walked through the Ruby Mage Tower without a second thought, but now that their mindset had changed, it felt like they were infiltrating someone else’s tower.

Even their footsteps were cautious, like a spy in a thriller.

Creeping along, Hong Yeonhwa suddenly felt uneasy and hid in a corner.

They stuck their head out, checked the area, then started moving again.

But the unease kept coming back, and every time it did, Hong Yeonhwa repeated the same cycle—hide for a while, then move a little.

At this rate, I’ll be at it all night.

If they managed to reach Kim Ho’s room only for it to be morning by then, what would be the point?

Hong Yeonhwa decided to move more boldly.

This was their own tower to begin with, so what was wrong with walking around freely?

And not long after they started striding forward—

“Hong Yeonhwa!”

“Eek?!”

The shock was so great that a hiccup slipped out with the gasp.

Slowly turning their head, Hong Yeonhwa saw their older sister standing there.

Of all people, they had run into the absolute worst opponent.

With a deeply suspicious look, Hong Yehwa asked, 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

“Why are you wandering around here? At this hour?”

“What about you?”

“I was doing a round before bed.”

Now that she’d become the “next” Ruby Mage Tower master, she was apparently making a light inspection in case anything in the tower was off.

Even if it had been forced on her halfway against her will, she seemed to be taking it seriously enough.

Hong Yeonhwa nodded and said,

“I was... out for a walk too...?”

“You? Doing something you’ve never done in your life?”

“It’s just... I couldn’t sleep tonight...?”

Of course, Hong Yehwa wasn’t someone who would buy an excuse that flimsy.

One look at Hong Yeonhwa’s attitude made it obvious they were spouting nonsense.

If you took into account where their room was, where they were now, and predicted the rest of the route...

At the end of it lay the guest rooms.

The moment that realization hit, Hong Yehwa’s face twisted violently.

“You little—”

Lava boiled up in her palm.

Hong Yeonhwa immediately took a defensive stance and backed away.

“No, why! No, why! Why, no!”

“You. No. That’s not happening.”

“What did I do! What did I do!”

“You were going to Kim Ho’s room, weren’t you?!”

Hong Yeonhwa flinched and averted their eyes.

“I wasn’t...?”

“I put up with all the eye-searing stuff before, but this crosses the line.”

“I told you, it wasn’t like that...?”

“In the middle of the night! Barging into a man’s room?!”

BOOM!

Flames and lava collided and exploded.

Hong Yeonhwa barely managed to defend themself, then frantically waved both hands.

“Don’t hit me! Don’t hit me!”

“You’d better turn around and go back while I’m still asking nicely.”

“You already hit me.”

“Go.”

“Okay....”

Hong Yeonhwa trudged away with a face full of dissatisfaction.

But when they glanced back at their sister, Hong Yehwa was still glaring sharply at them, even from afar.

And the hand gestures and mouthed words were a bonus.

I. AM. WATCHING. YOU.

“Ah, seriously....”

Hong Yeonhwa had no choice.

All they could do was go quietly back to their room.

But they had no intention of giving up just like that.

Wasn’t it human nature to want something more the moment someone told you not to do it?

What, is she going to guard it all night?

Her sister needed to sleep too, so sooner or later she’d have to go back in.

So Hong Yeonhwa exercised patience and waited for the right moment.

And after a long while, they cracked the door open and looked outside.

...She’s gone!

Just as expected, she must have gone to bed.

Still, there was always the possibility that she was hiding somewhere, so letting their guard down was forbidden.

Hong Yeonhwa moved faster than before, but still kept their caution.

Whenever there was nowhere good to hide or a stretch where they were too exposed, they even skipped over it with ★Blink★.

And before they knew it, the objective was right in front of them.

After one last check to see whether their sister was lying in wait, Hong Yeonhwa hurried up to Kim Ho’s door.

Then they carefully raised a hand and knocked.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK,

“Um... are you... asleep?”

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK,

But no answer came, and Hong Yeonhwa’s mood steadily wilted.

Did I come too late?

Guess I should just go back and sleep today.

Just as they were turning away with dragging steps—

the tightly shut guest room door slowly opened.

...So he’s not asleep!

Hong Yeonhwa hurried ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ forward and slipped inside the room—

and immediately went pale.

Inside stood Kim Ho, wearing an awkward smile.

And next to him, waiting, was their older sister.

Her face was twisted like an evil spirit’s, and lava was fuming up from her whole body.

“She’s not asleep, you little menace...!”

“Eek...!”

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Explosions rang without pause through the once-quiet Ruby Mage Tower.

*****

Leaving that minor incident from the night before behind.

The next morning, Hong Yeonhwa and I had breakfast with Hong Yeonhwa’s mother.

The topic of conversation was what had happened at the Dang Family—more precisely, the clash with the Blood Cult.

After hearing the whole story, Hong Yeonhwa’s mother nodded.

“So something like that happened. We’re in a similar situation on our side. Not with the Blood Cult, but with dragons.”

Right after the Fixed Zone Tournament had ended, a dragon had suddenly flown in and unleashed a bombardment.

And then once more before winter break started.

Each time, the Hong couple and the Ruby Mage Tower had joined forces and repelled it.

But Hong Yeonhwa’s mother didn’t look bright at all.

“The problem is that we’re tied down. We have no way of knowing when they’ll come flying in again.”

The dragons’ attacks had no regularity, and their intentions were unclear as well.

At the moment, the best option was to keep their strength on constant standby and deal with each attack as it came.

If they left their post and were caught off guard, the damage would be catastrophic.

Hong Yeonhwa’s mother continued,

“The other mage towers are in similar situations. It’s even worse for the ones without an S-rank.”

Even a mage tower whose strongest member was only A-rank could probably hold out somehow if everyone pooled their strength.

But on the other hand, that also meant they had no margin at all.

That kind of tense, defensive holdout was the current situation.

So I asked,

“I assume you have no intention of just taking hits forever.”

“That’s why the guild coalition is moving. They’re trying to find the dragons’ base.”

Once that happened, they planned to switch to the offensive and subjugate the dragons.

Even taking down a few of them would likely make them falter.

But would the creatures really have failed to anticipate that?

Hong Yeonhwa’s mother said,

“They’re definitely preparing their next move while buying time.”

“By next move...?”

Hong Yeonhwa’s mother shared a notification message with us.

[Top Rank (EX) has been unlocked.]

“Because once one side reaches it, the balance of power can be shattered in an instant.”

She added that the scattered attacks themselves might be part of those preparations.

It made sense, so I nodded.

“Have you thought about how to respond afterward?”

“There’s no real choice. We have no option but to run too.”

If they reached EX-rank before the dragons did, or caught up immediately after, the balance could be restored.

Then Hong Yeonhwa’s mother looked at me.

“And we’ll need insurance too. There’s every chance we fail.”

“......”

“I don’t believe you came to the Ruby Mage Tower only because of Yeonhwa.”

“That is the main reason.”

“And the other reason?”

“As you’ve guessed.”

A curve formed at the corner of Hong Yeonhwa’s mother’s lips.

“You’re still young, but your potential is enormous. You’re more than worth investing in.”

“Thank you for thinking highly of me.”

“And Yeonhwa, who formed a [Bond] with you, will benefit from the spillover effect.”

“That’s true as well.”

“If there’s something you want, say it.”

I paused a moment, then answered,

“I’d like to ask for a magic demonstration.”

If she was a former Mage Tower Council head, then she would have mastered not only unaligned magic but a wide variety of spells.

There would be more for me to copy from her than from the Ruby Mage Tower master.

And there was a high chance her rank was S as well.

A hint of interest appeared in her eyes.

“Not teaching, but a demonstration?”

“In terms of results, it would be about the same.”

“What do you want to see?”

“Do you happen to have any Sapphire-side freezing magic?”

Depending on the type, it could be even more useful than Ice Wall.

And it would combine well with the [Diamond Freeze] I’d learned recently.

But Hong Yeonhwa’s mother shook her head.

“Unfortunately, I have no connection to Sapphire.”

That was more or less what I’d expected.

If she had possessed freezing magic, Hong Yeonhwa probably would have trained Aqua Flame more seriously too.

But then Hong Yeonhwa’s mother slightly raised one corner of her mouth.

“I do have this instead.”

She searched through her inventory, then pulled out a rolled-up parchment.

[Magic Scroll - Glacier Summon (S)]