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Chapter 02.
“The most unforgivable thing in this world is laying a hand on someone else’s property.”
That’s what the Hero said.
Yes. He said that.
And yet……
—Breaking news. Hero Academy “Haven” solves the capital incident!
—Infiltrating demon intelligence agents executed on the spot!
—“Can humanity exterminate the demon race?!”
—Haven faculty: “It’s all thanks to the Hero. We thank the Hero for building the academy here!”
Rip!
Ruin tore the newspaper he’d been reading in half. The people in the cafeteria looked at him in surprise, but Ruin didn’t care.
No—did it look like he would care about something like that?
‘Are you kidding me?’
My house became the Hero Academy?
My retirement pay—no, my entire net worth—is sitting in the middle of enemy territory?
What kind of nonsense is this? Is this like saying all my assets got wired to North Korea or something?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and Ruin glared at the shredded newspaper. There was a familiar face printed there. The quality was poor, but the man smiling brightly in the paper was definitely the guy he knew.
‘Yeah. That bastard I fought at the very end.’
That shameless bastard who swallowed up someone else’s private property and built an academy on it. Seeing that slick face brought back memories of their fight.
“You again! Show your true face! Firefly!”
“I see no reason to.”
Ruin, who had disguised himself as the Hero’s closest aide, succeeded in annihilating the allied forces.
Since the opponent was the Hero, it took quite a bit of overtime, but it was fine. It was his final mission anyway.
“And stop grinding your teeth like that. You’ll never see me again.”
“What did you say?”
“I’m retiring after this.”
Firefly dropped his final spark.
With that, the Human Alliance Army, which had advanced relentlessly all the way to the demon capital, fell into a trap and was completely wiped out—all by Firefly alone.
But who could have known that afterward, through sheer bad luck, the Hero’s power would clash with his own and open a rift in space-time?
‘…Of all places to get flung to, it was a pain just getting back out.’
And when he returned, fifty years had passed?
‘My precious house… ended up in enemy hands?’
For once, Ruin was so dumbfounded that he immediately confronted his superior.
“I bought land in demon territory and built that house myself. Why does it end up belonging to the Hero?”
“Why? Because the Hero took that land.”
“…What?”
“After you disappeared, that land happened to fall to the allied forces.”
It was like a war breaking out and land in Seoul suddenly becoming North Korean territory.
“No. Even so, it’s clearly a house someone lived in. Why can they just use it however they want? And before that—if it’s a house on demon land, then it’s a demon’s house! Why—”
“Do you remember where you built that house?”
“In the mountains. A barren canyon wilderness where no one would ever go.”
“Right. No sane person would build a house in a place like that. The Hero said it was obviously a gift from the gods and built an academy there.”
That damn Hero!
What the hell is he doing with someone else’s house?!
“They said just looking at the outdated design, it didn’t seem like a place meant for people to live.”
You bastard! There’s a limit to disrespecting someone else’s taste!
Ruin had never wanted to get involved with other people to begin with. He couldn’t even imagine having neighbors, which was why he’d deliberately chosen a place like that.
Anyway, it was a troublesome situation. The world Ruin had been reborn into was one of extreme factional confrontation. On actual maps, instead of national borders, there were only two colors.
White and black.
The glorious “Union” and the immortal “Pride.”
All human nations had formed alliances, standing as the Human Alliance Army against the demon race.
‘It’s like looking at the U.S. and the Soviet Union in some era.’
This case was the same.
‘There’s no way the enemy would return someone else’s entire fortune.’
So he made a straightforward request.
“Since I effectively never received my retirement pay, can’t I request a reissue?”
“I know the shock has left you not quite yourself, but do you have any idea how much money we gave you?”
“…Pardon?”
“Decades’ worth of our intelligence bureau’s budget. If we give that money again during wartime, the demon army will stagger.”
Who cares?
He honestly felt that way, but arguing further would only get him branded a dissident and hurt him in the end, so he gave up.
‘Damn it. I can’t do without that money.’
And it was true—Ruin was carrying an enormous debt. That was why he’d endured working for an intelligence bureau he hated, but now even that was over.
“You’re really submitting your resignation? Someone as talented as you—”
“I’ve saved enough money now, so I’m resigning. Please don’t forget my retirement pay and the bonuses you still owe me.”
“N-no, wait! What are you going to do after retiring? Don’t tell me the enemy scouted you—!”
“Farming.”
“…What? What?!”
“With this damn wanderer’s fate, moving to the countryside is the only cure.”
With the retirement pay combined, he could wipe out that astronomical debt in one shot. More than that, it was enough to realize a dreamlike retirement life.
That was why he’d even calculated the date carefully and kept working—and now this happened.
‘Tch. I’m sick to death of spy work.’
Ruin rubbed his brow.
In fact, in his previous life he’d been an intelligence operative working for national interests. Worse, while undercover, a senior official’s mistake had leaked the agent list, and he’d been caught and killed like a dog—a black agent.
Of course, that experience meant that in this life he’d become a flawless spy who never got caught, but still—what the hell is this?
His anger at the Hero who’d seized his house flared up again, but he suppressed it.
‘Well, it’s not like he could’ve touched the safe anyway.’
Because although it was his house, it wasn’t an ordinary one.
‘That house was made by remodeling a shrine of the “Nameless God.”’
As a result, it was filled with countless incomprehensible mechanisms.
‘But damn it, that Hero bastard…’
The tension returned to the back of his neck, but that wasn’t the important part.
In any case, he’d hidden the most important safe in the hardest-to-find place, even within that place.
‘So the Hero probably didn’t find it.’
In short, all he had to do was get in and quietly take his stuff back.
The problem was……
—Hero Academy, the massive headquarters of the Human Alliance Army.
—A place of learning and the supreme command center of the alliance.
“……”
That’s really too much.
…This is seriously like my house becoming the residence of North Korea’s Supreme Leader. And it’s not like I can disguise myself as a professor and stroll in.
‘There’s no way the Hero wouldn’t recognize his own former ally.’
Anyway, barging in normally would end badly enough—but entering as an enemy spy?
‘Instant death.’
Then there was only one way.
“Thank you for your hard work today!”
“May the radiant light of the Union be with you!”
“Dirty Pride, get lost!”
Hero Academy Haven.
Called the “Absolute Safe Zone,” Haven was both an educational institution that produced heroes and the heart of the human faction.
Because of that, it was directly tied to real combat, and all the professors were famous heroes themselves. There was even a saying that the day Haven fell would be the day humanity ended.
In other words, Haven was an impregnable fortress among human lands—though lately it had been desperate to recruit talent due to Pride’s offensive.
“Understood? From now until break time, don’t let anyone in. Not even a cockroach!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Even if His Majesty the Emperor shows up, no exceptions! Got it?”
“Yes! We’ll stay sharp!”
The veteran guard units’ surveillance was indeed formidable.
Yes, a security net even the Emperor couldn’t breach—
“Delivery!”
“Oh, thank you for your hard work!”
“You can go in this way!”
It was breached.
Ruin casually pushed a cart inside.
‘No matter how impregnable a fortress is, it can’t refuse deliveries.’
No matter how great a fortress was, it couldn’t have zero visitors.
‘Cleaners, gardeners, delivery workers, guards… there are plenty of identities that can get you inside.’
All Haven employees underwent strict screening and were issued special passes. The process was so infamous that demon intelligence agents cursed it as petty—but Ruin actually liked that.
‘The guards don’t stay on high alert around people who’ve already been vetted.’
And borrowing such a person’s identity was basic, basic technique for Firefly.
【Leather Swallowing】
A mimicry technique that transformed him into the target he swallowed.
‘Well, I didn’t kill him.’
He just “ate” him and “spat him back out.”
The deliveryman whose face he’d borrowed would probably be sleeping soundly until the job was done. Though one thing the guard had said did stick in his mind.
“Not long ago, that filthy ‘Firefly’ bastard tried to infiltrate too! You hear me!”
What? This is my first time coming in.
An impostor?
Well, fifty years had passed—it wasn’t impossible. Not worth worrying about.
‘Either way, once I find the safe, it’s over.’
His honed senses told him no guard or student was paying attention to him. At the moment their gazes drifted away, his cold eyes flashed.
He pulled his cap down and passed through the students, his movement like a soundless butterfly. No one suspected him. Naturally, like the wind, he blended in with the other staff.
And there was a real reason he’d chosen this particular “deliveryman.”
“Move this to the dorms quickly!”
“Check the address!”
Ruin swiftly stole the delivery list from among the couriers. For a black agent rated top-tier even within Pride’s intelligence bureau, it was nothing.
Slip—
The list contained delivery destinations and recipients’ names. Most were dormitory students, who made up half the academy—but……
‘There it is.’
Staff.
Since Haven was an internal military facility, staff information wasn’t publicly disclosed. The only exceptions were the Hero chairman, the president, and a few heroes who liked showing their faces.
But a delivery list told you exactly who was inside Haven—and even where.
Information that could fetch an enormous sum in Firefly’s hands—but……
‘Garden… garden… there.’
A smile curved Ruin’s lips.
Because the door leading to the safe was located precisely in that “garden.” It was the easiest route—no need to venture deep inside Haven.
‘I heard it’s been turned into a greenhouse and used as a Herbalism classroom now.’
And according to prior intel, the Herbalism professor was effectively a sidelined posting. In other words, a nobody hero.
If you knew who your opponent was, knocking them out and infiltrating would be child’s play.
‘Alright then, this low-ranking hero’s name is—’
—Grancia Farwell.
…Huh?
Why does that sound familiar?
Ruin called over a nearby deliveryman.
“Uh, sir. About this person.”
“Oh, Professor Grancia? An elf, but with a nasty personality. Just leave it in front of the greenhouse. All the assistants ran away, so it’s just that professor.”
…Damn it. That’s her.
And not a nobody at all—a top-tier hero!
‘Damn it, why is the Hero’s companion sidelined?!’
No—actually, that wasn’t the real problem.
Grancia Farwell was one of Ruin’s former “targets”—someone he’d deliberately become “lovers” with to extract information, then abandoned. Her hatred for Firefly had to be at its peak.
At the name of an old lover, Ruin let out a brief groan and rubbed his brow.
‘…Let’s avoid the greenhouse route for now.’
There’d been rumors she’d gone mad searching for Firefly after he disappeared, so there was no benefit to running into her.
More than that, with how cautious that elf was, she’d surely set up wards—sneaking into the garden would be too risky.
‘It’s fine. There’s more than one route.’
In fact, there was a route even safer than the garden.
His superior had told him to take the professor recruitment exam—but was he crazy? He already knew the target’s location, and once he got past security, it would be over. Why go through all that trouble?
—It would be better if you did.
No, it wouldn’t.
—If you want, we can help.
Like I don’t know you’re trying to rope me back into work.
His superior’s message flared in real time as a flame-letter, but Ruin ignored it. What they wanted was reconnaissance of Haven, the heart of the Union.
—Find out Haven’s schemes and we’ll reward you.
The reward was tempting, but he didn’t want to work. Couldn’t he just take the money?
As Ruin stewed in irritation and circled around to avoid the garden, it happened.
“Found you, Firefly.”
“!”
What?
