TRPM 101

chapter 101

Just as she was leaving the dungeon she had cleared, Yeon Mirae felt someone’s gaze on her.

But she didn’t make the foolish mistake of trying to confirm the owner of that gaze.

…Whoever it is, they’re at least a kilometer away, watching me with something like a telescope.

If anyone had been beside her, they would have clicked their tongue in disbelief at how Mirae noticed someone watching her from a kilometer away.

During battle, one might excuse it as heightened awareness to dodge a stray arrow, but outside of combat? Even among Aura Masters, that kind of perception was rare.

Even an Aura Master would suffer fatigue if they constantly stayed aware of everything happening that far away during everyday life. That was unavoidable—not just for Mirae but even for someone stronger, like Han Geon-woo.

Of course, I don’t normally bother paying attention to things happening needlessly far away either.

Yet, in spite of that, Mirae was able to sense the gaze of someone watching her from over a kilometer away.

Why was that?

Because ever since I learned demonic arts, I’ve become more sensitive to negative emotions.

Last year, she had accepted demonic energy and begun learning the demonic arts.

Since both the energy and the techniques were fundamentally rooted in negativity, she had grown strangely attuned to negative emotions.

Thanks to that, she could immediately detect things like jealousy or lust directed at her.

And the one watching me now…

That person, too, was harboring negative feelings toward Mirae.

Suspicion.

Whoever it was, they were suspicious of her.

Are they suspicious of how I grew stronger? Or maybe… suspicious about my relationship with Master—Artist?

Having guessed at possible reasons for their suspicion, Mirae acted as if she hadn’t noticed.

Then, she began to leak out a bit of demonic energy to gather information about the watcher.

A Western male, early to mid-30s… and maybe a mage? Doesn’t seem particularly skilled though…

So even weaklings like this are trying to spy on me now, huh…

Mirae sighed inwardly—only to sense something strange.

More precisely—

What the… This man is being watched too?

The man watching her was himself under surveillance by someone else.

That other watcher wasn’t very skilled either—in fact, even weaker than the first one.

I can’t be sure about the one spying on me, but the one spying on him seems to be from the Association…

Mirae couldn’t understand what kind of situation this was.

“…Well, no need to understand it.”

She muttered that and raised her demonic energy.

Immediately, an ominous black aura swirled around her. She gathered it into her legs.

I’ve abandoned my old footwork.

In the past, she had used the footwork Han Geon-woo taught her.

When her martial art was the Heaven-Defying Divine Art, that was fine.

After all, Geon-woo had tailored the technique for her and for that art.

But now things were different.

What I use now isn’t the Heaven-Defying Divine Art, but the Heaven-Defying Demonic Art.

Just a single character had changed, but the difference was vast.

Her old footwork was incompatible with the demonic art, so she had been forced to discard the technique she had practiced for years.

In its place, she had to create new footwork.

Even Geon-woo hadn’t known much about demonic arts, so Mirae had had to craft a style suitable for herself from scratch.

Even then, the results weren’t fully satisfying.

Master really is incredible.

Though he never said so, Mirae was certain Geon-woo had created all of his own martial arts entirely from scratch.

That was why she respected him so deeply.

Just creating one footwork style was so difficult, yet Geon-woo had made not only his own footwork but every technique he used.

And he had even created martial arts for her.

Ah, I’m drifting off topic.

Anyway.

Using the energy gathered in her legs, Mirae stomped on the ground.

Her demonic-enhanced strength was such that, if she wished, she could collapse the roof of a building.

BOOM!

The ground beneath her caved in, forming a sinkhole.

“(!)”

Naturally, the watcher saw this too.

From his perspective, Mirae suddenly vanished—then the intact ground collapsed.

“(Damn…!)”

And he knew what that meant.

Either something urgent had occurred requiring Mirae’s sudden action—
Or—he had been discovered.

His instincts screamed it was the latter. Terrified, he hastily put away his telescope and stumbled backward.

“Good instincts.”

But he never had a chance to escape.

Before he knew it, Mirae was on the rooftop with him.

“(Khh?!)”
“(Why are you watching me?)”

She closed in, grabbed his collar, and demanded.

“(Ugh…!)”

Exposed to her demonic aura, the watcher—Alex—was completely paralyzed.

He had known discovery was likely… but not this quickly.

(I didn’t expect to be caught the instant I started…!)
“(Stop overthinking.)”
“(Ghhk?!)”

Her knee slammed into his stomach—not hard by her standards, but for a weak mage like Alex, it was like being clubbed by an ogre.

It wasn’t a lethal strike, but rather an internal-force-heavy blow that twisted his insides, made even worse by being infused with demonic energy.

“(Ughhh…!)”

Alex writhed, barely able to think. Mirae waited patiently for him to recover enough to speak.

“(Haa… haaa…!)”
“(Don’t drift off—answer me. Why were you spying on me?)”
“(Ghhk…! It’s because… I suspected you might have done something to Haeun…!)”

“…What?”

At those words, Mirae’s grip loosened slightly.

From that alone, it sounded like Alex had been watching her out of concern for Lee Haeun.

And—

He’s not lying.

Mirae could sense his sincerity. His gaze earlier had been full of suspicion, not deceit.

Still—

“(What do you mean, I did something to Haeun?)”

The suspicion stung.

To Mirae, Haeun was a precious little sister—someone who adored her.

Geon-woo wasn’t really a “younger brother,” so Haeun was her only sibling in truth.

And someone dared suggest she would harm Haeun?

If she hadn’t sensed Alex’s genuine concern, her fist would already have silenced him.

“(Because of… Fenrir… the one Haeun contracted with…)”

“(!)”

Mirae’s face hardened instantly.

No one had ever realized Haeun’s familiar, Sarang, was actually Fenrir.

Even Mirae herself wouldn’t have known if Geon-woo hadn’t explained the magic circle to her when Haeun formed the contract.

But now, some foreigner recognized it?

That was no ordinary matter.

“(It’s not Haeun… Someone else is making her… That aura, the strange energy… Fenrir’s true contractor is someone else…)”

Alex rambled incoherently, his thoughts disordered.

But Mirae understood why he suspected her.

The power sustaining Sarang is Haeun’s aura and Master’s internal energy.

But officially, Haeun was just a mage, with no aura.

So Alex assumed someone else must be Fenrir’s true contractor.

…What should I do with him?

Once she realized the truth, Mirae lost all interest in interrogating him.

It was all a misunderstanding—yet Alex had risked himself for Haeun.

Whatever his relationship with her was, someone who acted recklessly for a child’s sake wasn’t really an evil person.

The Association’s watcher… I still don’t know their reasons, but…

She decided to let Alex go.

She released his collar.

“(Cough—hack—!)”

Finally freed, Alex gasped desperately, regaining his breath and his senses.

(…So she’s not going to kill me…)

He had spoken the truth to survive, and it seemed to have worked.

Carefully, he looked up at Mirae.

“(So you spied on me for Haeun’s sake—I get that.)”

Did Aura Masters have the ability to see through lies?

Alex was startled at how readily Mirae accepted his words. Still, it was better than hostility.

“(But what’s your relationship to Haeun? I can’t imagine you’d risk yourself like this for some stranger.)”

He nodded.

Knowing lying wouldn’t work here, he answered honestly.

“(I’m her school’s native English teacher.)”

“…Ah.”

At that, Mirae finally dropped the last of her guard.

Alex found her sudden shift confusing, but she had her reasons.

If he’s Haeun’s teacher, then he’s also Master’s teacher, since they go to the same school.

Geon-woo must have met Alex before. And if he hadn’t taken any action against him, it meant Geon-woo judged Alex harmless.

Mirae always prioritized Geon-woo’s judgment over her own, so she stopped being wary.

“(I apologize for earlier.)”

“…Excuse me?”

Alex’s eyes widened at her sudden apology.

“(Haeun and Geon-woo are doing well at school, right?)”

“(Uh… y-yes, they are…)”

“(Are they getting along with the other kids too? Not just their usual group of five?)”

“(Uh… from what I’ve seen, they seem to have decent relationships with the other students too…)”

And so, although Alex had earned Mirae’s favor, the cost was being stuck for a long time, answering her barrage of questions about Lee Haeun and Han Geon-woo’s school life—like a parent cornering a teacher.