Chapter 33

“Don’t worry too much. It was just a little prank—I wasn’t planning to harass you. I do intend to apologize properly or offer some kind of reward.”

Yujin meant it. Anyway, this misunderstanding wouldn’t last long. Yujin isn’t even a real Dark Sorcerer and knows nothing about them.

And when the misunderstanding clears up, he does plan to sincerely apologize and compensate her. Of course, she’ll probably end up disliking him even more…

‘But what’s the difference?’

Yujin never really got close to people anyway. A bit of dislike won’t be a problem.

『Of course, I’m not scolding you either. Dragons often enjoy their play while influencing mortals—it’s quite common, after all.』

“Is that so?”

『After all, a Dragon’s play is sometimes about finding new stimulation in the immortal life which can get boring. Influencing mortals isn’t strange at all. Countless mortals influence each other daily—why should we be any different?』

“That’s true.”

『If this is your kind of fun, then I won’t scold you either. You’re not causing major harm to mortals anyway. Just… it’s unexpected, seeing how mature and carefree you seemed in some ways…』

“You mean I’m malicious?”

Yujin chuckled as he said this. Tiamat gave him a peculiar look before replying.

『Just that you have a slightly nasty personality.』

“That’s exactly what you said. Well, I admit it. I don’t think my character is particularly good either.”

Yujin laughed heartily as he said this.

“This brings back memories of old times. Something that happened on Earth… There were kids who always made me feel bad.”

『Kids who made you feel bad?』

“It’s nothing serious. This would’ve been around two years after my parents passed away.”

『……』

At the mention of his parents passing, Tiamat fell silent for a moment. It was inevitably a solemn topic.

Taking her silence as an invitation, Yujin continued speaking.

“At that time, I was still following my parents’ final wishes: ‘Yujin, don’t let others know what you’re thinking,’ ‘Always hide yourself and grow up like an adult.’ They warned me that revealing one’s true self in society is a fatal weakness, so never show it to anyone…”

『……』

“Even as a middle schooler, I kept those words in mind. I didn’t reveal my thoughts and always smiled. Formal speech became second nature to me. But back then, that was considered weird and alienating among the kids. Many avoided me because they found it annoying.”

Yujin recounted this old story as if it no longer bothered him.

“Also, there was something called the Gate and the Awakened Ones appearing on Earth, right? Did I mention that?”

『You did. A world without Mana or the Four Great Powers… truly fascinating.』

“It’s not like that now, but back then, around the age of 14, there was a trend to segregate the Awakened from the non-Awakened children for separate education. So I ended up among the Awakened kids. And when teenagers suddenly gain superhuman powers, they want to show them off.”

『I see…』

“Well, since I had no parents and was already disliked by the other kids, I became an easy target. Sure, there were non-Awakened kids who could’ve been targets for power displays, but using powers on them would’ve gotten the Awakened ones into legal trouble. So naturally, I became the fixed target—an Awakened kid with magic skills who seemed manageable.”

『……』

Tiamat’s expression hardened upon hearing this. Whether she realized it or not, Yujin continued talking.

“Haha, I vividly remember getting beaten up almost every day back then. But it’s all in the past.”

『…So?』

For some reason, Tiamat’s voice grew cold and tense. Though slightly confused, Yujin went on.

“Well, I couldn’t just sit there and take it, could I? So I came up with an interesting idea.”

『An interesting idea?』

“Nothing special. I just introduced those power-showing friends of mine to a great place to flaunt their strength.”

Yujin recalled that time. Looking back, it was pretty dangerous, but…

“I took them all to a monster-filled Gate. Isn’t that the perfect spot for showing off strength?”

『……』

“Well, everyone freaked out way more than expected, so I asked why they were being so serious.”

As he laughed while recounting this, Yujin could still vividly remember the startled faces of his fleeing friends.

“Just for fun, I tripped them over with telekinesis powered by mana and teased them to fight back… Thinking back, it’s all fond memories now. Haha.”

『……』

“After that day, nobody bothered me anymore. Maybe it was because I enjoyed those memories so much, but I occasionally pulled similar ‘pranks’ on others. Eventually, a dedicated incident/accident board for me was created on the Guild’s VPN.”

Thinking about it, Yujin might have been subtly avoided within the Guild due to his mischievous pranks.

…In reality, it wasn’t far from the truth. Over 70% of the reasons why he was avoided were indeed because of those “pranks.”

Though he himself didn’t realize it.

After staring blankly at Yujin for a moment, Tiamat sighed bitterly and spoke.

『I thought you were purely mature… turns out you have quite the troublemaker side to you.』

“Haha, did I seem that mature through Tia’s eyes?”

When Yujin said this, Tiamat gave another bitter laugh and looked at him.

Even though she discovered something unexpected about him, affection still shone clearly in her gaze toward Yujin.

She said,

『Still, well done. Definitely better than just taking it lying down. It must’ve felt satisfying to teach them a lesson.』

“But I got scolded by my teacher for going into the Gate recklessly.”

Yujin spent some time chatting casually with Tiamat like this, laughing brightly until the next dawn.

***

Meanwhile, Reina was currently thinking:

‘I judged wrong! He really was a Dark Sorcerer!’

Upon reflection, the fact that he sealed demonic magic should’ve raised suspicions. That alone should’ve been questioned thoroughly.

But she overlooked it, thinking the princess was fine. Turns out, it wasn’t the case.

‘Could it really be true? That magic energy festers like pus inside the body?’

Reina didn’t know. Completely sealing someone else’s magical energy is unheard of. As a Magic Studies Professor, even she couldn’t confirm if suppressed magic energy behaves like pus in wounds.

However, it didn’t sound entirely implausible. If the magic wasn’t removed but instead sealed within the body, no one could predict the potential side effects.

Perhaps it could eventually rage uncontrollably within the host or cause other negative impacts.

One thing was certain: as long as this Dark Sorcerer targeted the princess, this seal wouldn’t bring any positive effects.

She needed to report this to the President immediately. And they had to capture Yujin and find a solution.

With that thought, Reina hurried toward the President’s Office.

BANG!

“President!”

“Professor Reina?”

Reina burst into the President’s office, calling out to Ines who was inside. Startled, Ines turned around, flustered.

“What’s the matter? Why are you so rushed…”

“President! We need to capture Han Yujin immediately!”

Reina blurted out her urgent demand abruptly, leaving the President momentarily stunned.

Capture? Who?

…A Dragon?

“…Did you eat something bad?”

“President!”

“I haven’t gone deaf, so please calm down. Are you saying we need to capture Professor Yujin?”

Her face stiffened slightly as she looked at Reina and asked. Reina felt a bit taken aback by this.

‘The President is looking at me like this?’

Reina Sahart was one of the President’s closest confidants. The President trusted her, and Reina showed unwavering loyalty to the President.

True, barging into the President’s office uninvited and blurting out such nonsense was rude, but normally the President would’ve first asked for her reasoning.

However, this time, the President seemed to harbor a faint sense of displeasure toward her suggestion to arrest Yujin.

Sensing this, Reina felt a strange chill run down her spine. She desperately tried to explain.

“President, you need to listen to me. Han Yujin is a Dark Sorcerer!”

“That issue is settled. Why are you bringing it up again…”

“He revealed his true identity to me! Sealing the princess’s magic was actually suppressing her magic to create greater harm later!”

“What? What do you mean…”

The President was flustered and unable to continue.

Of course, the President knew Yujin wasn’t a Dark Sorcerer. After all, he’s a transcendent dragon—a being incomparably superior to mere insects.

Yet, the Professor standing before him didn’t seem to be lying. Reina wasn’t the type to deceive him, and there was no reason for her sudden outburst.

She paused for a moment, pondering the situation.

‘…Now that I think about it, Lord Yujin was disguised as a human.’

The mighty transcendents known as dragons.

Living through countless eons, they sometimes immerse themselves among mortals in disguise to seek new excitement in their monotonous lives.

A form of entertainment.

Perhaps, this entire situation was part of that entertainment. Maybe he pretended to be a Dark Sorcerer to trick her…

In that case, everything makes sense. She roughly understood the situation and said,

“…Alright, I understand. I’ll check separately, so please step back for now.”

“President! We need to capture him now…”

“How can we capture someone without evidence? Calm down. You’re not acting like yourself right now.”

“…”

Taken aback by those words, Reina hesitated and stepped back a pace.

“For now, calm down and retreat. I’ll handle the rest.”

“…Understood.”

With that, Reina withdrew from the President’s Office.

Once alone in the President’s Office, Ines sighed deeply and muttered,

“Ugh… Lord Yujin has certainly picked a troublesome game…”

Deciding to contact Yujin first, she reached out to him.

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