Thanks to the staff giving them the key, Lucy and Daniel were able to enter the same room.
The room was decent, consisting of one bedroom along with a small kitchen and a bathroom.
The issue was that there was only one bedroom.
Given the limited sleeping space, the two would have to spend time together in the same area.
This fact made Daniel increasingly uncomfortable.
‘Surely she doesn’t plan to eat me…’
While attempting to guess Lucy’s intentions, Daniel broke into a cold sweat. Suddenly, he heard the sound of clothes being removed.
When he turned around, Lucy was hanging her coat on a rack.
Their eyes met briefly before Lucy let out a soft breath and approached Daniel, extending her hand.
“I can hang your coat for you.”
“Ah, there’s no need to…”
“Please hand it over. I’ll take care of your clothes while you prepare for bed.”
Unable to refuse, Daniel handed over his coat to Lucy.
He then headed into the bathroom.
After taking a shower and drying off with a towel, Daniel put on a bathrobe. Taking a deep breath, he exited the bathroom, finding Lucy inspecting under the bed.
“What are you doing?”
Reacting to Daniel’s question, Lucy stood up, brushed some dust off her clothes, and casually replied,
“I’m just preparing for any unforeseen situations.”
It was best to remove any potential bugging devices.
“And….”
Lucy mumbled something before pulling out a small paper box from her coat, holding it out as if expecting Daniel to take it.
Upon receiving it, Daniel felt an icy chill run through him.
‘This is…’
It was undoubtedly a box of condoms.
‘Does she plan to devour me? Is she trying to finalize her strategy of beauty by consummating our relationship?’
Confused and flustered, Daniel trembled while Lucy, with her innocent-looking eyes, spoke.
“The desk staff thoughtfully prepared this for us. It appears to be vitamins, and it would be good for you to take them before sleeping.”
Vitamins? The wave of tension Daniel had felt began to dissipate at her words.
He had initially thought it was a joke, but Lucy’s indifferent eyes revealed the truth.
Daniel felt he had misunderstood and chuckled nervously as he accepted the box.
“I’ll take it later. Thanks for thinking of it.”
Explanations were unnecessary since the truth about the content was better left unsaid.
Feeling somewhat awkward, Daniel smiled while Lucy tilted her head inquisitively, pointing toward the bed.
“It’s time for you to sleep.”
“And you?”
“I am here to protect you, Colonel. I do not need rest.”
“But I didn’t ask you to…”
“Assisting my superior officer is part of my basic duty.”
Realizing there was no way to argue, Daniel nodded and walked toward the bed.
Before lying down, he double-checked the situation.
“Are you sure you’ll be fine sleeping alone? Perhaps you can use the bed, while I take the couch in the main area?”
“I’m fine.”
Her resolve was firm.
Though bewildered, Daniel could not disregard her offer. He climbed into bed and pulled the blanket over himself. Meanwhile, Lucy sat down quietly on the chair set in the corner of the room, resting her hands neatly on her knees.
Despite closing his eyes, Daniel couldn’t fall asleep easily. His psychological burden grew just from knowing Lucy was keeping watch over him in the same room.
However, despite the tension, the softness of the bed and the warmth of the blanket eventually overwhelmed him. Reluctantly giving up, Daniel soon drifted off to sleep.
“Mmm… come here…”
He had fallen so deeply asleep that he started talking in his dreams.
Lucy, quietly watching him in the dark, stood up, curious about the content of his dreams.
Having never been this close to Daniel before, Lucy could even hear his breathing. As she blinked at his peaceful face, Daniel continued to utter words in his sleep.
“Kelly… here…”
Lucy’s expression slightly hardened upon hearing the name.
‘That woman again.’
Even in his dreams, he was so fond of her. Jealousy surged within Lucy, and she softly whispered into Daniel’s ear, feeling somewhat shy but determined to win against Kelly in his dreams at least.
“Lucy…”
After Lucy’s whisper, Daniel’s calm expression began to crack, and his hand twitched as if caught in a nightmare.
“Stop. Don’t come closer…”
Hearing Daniel’s sleep-talking, Lucy’s eyes widened slightly. While unsure of what exactly Daniel was dreaming about, it was clear his dream wasn’t pleasant.
‘So annoying…’
Feeling hurt that Daniel didn’t seem to trust her, she decided to pinch his cheek and annoy him a little more.
At that moment—
Whoosh!
A wave of malevolent magic slipped through the door crack.
Even for a highly-trained agent, the quantity was so minimal it would have been undetectable. But Lucy’s heightened senses picked up every detail sensitively.
Her sharp eyes narrowing, Lucy slowly stood up, ready to confront the intruder.
It was time to teach this cocky rookie a lesson.
—
Bilbosel approached Room 507, where Daniel Steiner was staying, stealthily.
Pondering how to assassinate Daniel Steiner, Bilbosel began by knocking lightly on the door to check if the target was awake.
If the person inside stirred, Bilbosel would adjust his assassination plan accordingly.
Footsteps approached from within the room, sounding light—likely not a man but a woman.
‘Perhaps Daniel Steiner’s lover?’
Thinking that eliminating her first wouldn’t be a bad idea, Bilbosel retrieved a pistol from his coat. Equipped with a silencer, the weapon was primed. As footsteps drew closer, Bilbosel smiled, ready to exploit the amateur mistake of someone who thinks a door can protect them.
‘You foolish woman…’
At the sound of the footsteps stopping by the door, Bilbosel pulled the trigger, firing through it.
Pew!
The bullet hit where the footsteps originated. However, there was no sound of a body falling or cries of pain. Instead, the footsteps drew even closer.
Bilbosel, breaking out into a cold sweat, pulled the trigger a few more times—but nothing changed.
‘Why? I saw the bullet penetrate through the door…’
Confused, but with no time to think, he realized the doorknob was turning. Quickly holstered, he stepped aside and drew a dagger.
He intended to kill whoever opened the door with this weapon. Energizing his whole body with magic to increase muscle density, Bilbosel tightened his grip on the dagger, steady and poised.
Creak…
The moment the door to Room 507 opened and Lucy appeared, Bilbosel sprang into action.
With terrifying speed, he darted toward Lucy and swung his dagger even before she could turn around.
WHOOSH!
Despite the silver arc of the blade slicing the air, there was no blood—no injury.
‘She dodged?’
Bilbosel froze as their eyes met.
His cold blood ran icy as Lucy’s blood-red eyes stared back, devoid of any feeling—no hatred, no emotion. It was as if engaging him didn’t even warrant any malice.
This sent Bilbosel’s survival instincts buzzing.
‘I’m dying…!’
Realizing hesitation meant being torn limb from limb, Bilbosel jumped back, widening the distance.
Relief washed over him as the distance increased, but his breath quickened, and his eyes trembled. Holding his dagger firmly, Bilbosel stared at Lucy, but something was wrong. His dagger… it wasn’t there anymore.
‘What happened? When…’
Looking up, Bilbosel saw Lucy examining his dagger, which she had calmly taken from him at some unknown point.
‘She stole it without me realizing…’
Realizing his only chance lay in striking now, Bilbosel drew his pistol from his coat, aimed, and fired.
Pew!
And…
“Ugh!?”
Bilbosel collapsed onto the floor, spitting out blood. Looking down, he saw a bullet hole in his thigh, the source of a gushing blood flow. To his utmost bewilderment, he had accidentally shot himself in the leg.
He had mistaken the target as Lucy but had actually aimed the bullet at himself.
‘Hallucination? Was I… under some kind of influence?’
Frozen with terror, Bilbosel heard the clicking of her heels approaching.
Looking up, he saw Lucy advancing slowly with her dagger drawn. Her mechanical voice cut into his ears.
“How many are there?”
Terrified, Bilbosel couldn’t move, as Lucy knelt and placed the dagger under his chin.
“Your friends,” she said, her blood-red eyes blinking in an unsettling rhythm, “where are they?”
Bilbosel finally understood.
The red-eyed reaper.
Her codename: Red Sand.
She was the catastrophic disaster created by the United Nations standing right before him.
