Chapter 106

“Hmm~. Still something’s strange.”

Neither excited nor angry, though it’s night, the weather isn’t cold, yet her ear tips are unusually red.

The pink-haired woman finds this strange phenomenon peculiar while observing the condition of the girl beside her.

Since the story seemed to have ended, the girl’s guard has weakened, making her quite easy to observe secretly.

Although the woman told Erica she had called her for a deal, it’s not common to summon a girl who worked hard during the day for such a late-night meeting.

Erica thought the former queen, Kim Ha-neul, lacked common sense for calling her, comparing her to an ex-boyfriend, but this was merely an error caused by failing to recognize the true purpose of her summons.

Had Erica truly understood the real purpose, she likely wouldn’t have come here in the first place, questioning why they were so worried about her. They intentionally chose not to disclose anything for now.

If Erica were in her right mind, she might have noticed they were hiding the real purpose after just a little thinking.

While it was a prime time to act based on the information given to her, the one who called her knew that running to the Busan Association in her current physical state would have been an impossible task from the start.

The reason this girl was summoned despite her apparent fatigue was to observe her physical condition.

Not out of concern for a friend or lover, but with the eyes of a hunter targeting someone she deemed as an objective.

Although the boy who orchestrated for the former queen and Erica to meet here might have done it with more of a friend’s intention rather than a hunter, the woman herself had no reason to follow his lead.

Even though she is currently in a losing position, she didn’t lose to Erica.

And even if she did lose to Erica, accepting that defeat wouldn’t be part of her nature.

In conclusion, Erica hasn’t defeated her yet. She also doesn’t desire to lose because she wants to be the one to make Erica cry by defeating her.

“The light is dim.”

Having observed Erica closely beside her, she concluded that Erica before the strange incidents and Erica now were vastly different.

Primarily in the strength of her abilities.

If we equate the cost of using people’s belief to negate a fact as 1, and previously it cost 100 units of energy to negate something related to Erica, now it feels like it would take 200 units.

The cost hadn’t simply doubled. A certain type of force that previously protected Erica, along with a recently acquired sticky force, now impedes her from using her supernatural powers.

Some might say, “Since her strength has increased, isn’t this a good thing?” But the former queen, who as a school queen had handled many superpowers, recognized that this wasn’t a positive development for Erica.

Though it might be advantageous for the woman who had chosen Erica as her target.

Managing two superpowers isn’t a straightforward 1+1 equation. Depending on their compatibility, an existing power might weaken.

At first glance, Erica seemed to have become much stronger through the recent events, but the former queen who knew her past form was certain.

That the strength which had always protected Erica had significantly weakened before now.

To the point that what was once at a strength of 50 has now been replaced by another ability that took up 150, causing Erica to appear stronger—an insight the queen fully grasped.

The former queen hadn’t been able to deduce the third power embedded within Erica, but that was unavoidable.

Because even the owner of the superpower wouldn’t be able to predict an ability they hadn’t used yet without employing it.

“Her condition doesn’t look good, so I’m tempted to interfere…”

Looking at the girl standing there, blinking sleepily, the woman felt her desire burn strongly.

What would happen if Erica’s unstable new powers increased further under these conditions? What if her original power was negated altogether?

While such an event would be intriguing, she suppressed her desire out of consideration for the boy waiting nearby.

If the weakening of her abilities was only temporary, another opportunity would surely come. After all, they’d be left alone in the same house after just one more day, making this unnecessary.

Not just Erica, but she too could be in a weakened state soon. The likelihood of opportunities after they separate remains questionable.

“…So, are you done with what you wanted to say?”

During the time the former queen was gauging Erica’s state and deciding whether to hunt or not, Erica, who had been waiting for the woman to speak after the initial deal, finally asked.

Though her half-closed, sleepy eyes and feeble voice indicated a desire to return to her accommodation,

“The far from it. We have a long way to go.”

The woman, who took pleasure in tormenting Erica, forced herself to extend the conversation, intending to keep Erica from leaving.

Conversations can always be made up; even a discussion about the upcoming summer vacation plans could serve as a topic, albeit one Erica might not want to engage in.

Her intentions weren’t impossible to enforce.

However aggressive she got, the boy lurking nearby would likely intervene, given his reluctance to confront Erica directly, having chosen a substitute instead of himself. Nevertheless, it was easy enough to torment the girl while walking the line and keeping her from hearing the boy’s interference.

Just as dark emotions flickered in the former queen’s eyes, they vanished the moment she felt the warmth of a hand that had subconsciously grabbed onto hers.

“Sigh.”

Whom was this sigh directed at? At an adversary, one should always stay vigilant, but this sigh seemed directed towards the white-haired girl who had broken that vigilance by holding her hand.

Or was it a sigh directed at herself, the pink-haired woman, succumbing to her desires being stifled because of such behavior?

No one would ever know.

This sigh, brimming with emotion, dissolved in the night air, and the woman, who had seemingly lost or was already wandering from her place, looked at the girl who provided her with a sanctuary in more ways than one.

Even though the girl appeared younger and closer in age to the woman, her body looked no different from that of a fresh first-year student, but what it contained had changed.

Changes subtle enough that only those close to her could perceive, yet changes in Erica that even strangers might notice—a transformation so stark it occasionally made her appear like an entirely different person, though at times she retained her old gaze.

A gaze that treated humans as less than human, as demeaning as ever. Though maybe she had stepped slightly within the bounds of decency compared to before, the concentration of that look had lessened, it still evoked feelings of degradation in others.

Certainly, a person she wanted to help in no way, let alone when her previously formidable abilities had weakened. If she were the target, this situation presented the perfect opportunity.

“I’ll let you in on something important that you adore.”

Instead of pursuing the boy’s watchful timing to seize the opportunity, the woman whispered into Erica’s ear. Her startled body twitched visibly.

A reaction disconcerting enough that Kang Yu-ri paused momentarily, questioning if perhaps a draft had entered Erica’s ear.

Nevertheless, the girl, who had previously seemed on the verge of sleep, now appeared wide awake.

Though this clarity was brief, her eyes soon dulled once more, and the woman spoke in a voice so low that the boy nearby wouldn’t hear.

“—Did you know there’s a reason for choosing the queen at our school?”

Information crucial enough that if Erica had slept through hearing it, it would inevitably cause her trouble later. From among the knowledge Kang Yu-ri held, this was one such piece.

Such stories were always worth revealing when you wanted someone to later regret not listening carefully and ask to hear it again.

It went without saying that Kang Yu-ri’s network of information hadn’t been dismantled. Though the religious order she created that had lingered around Erica was dismantled by an unknown woman, naturally, it was merely the core. Other seeds were planted elsewhere. And these seeds all provided Kang Yu-ri with information, fueled by a desire for unattainable dreams through ordinary efforts.

The intelligence about rescuing the Busan girl from the Busan Association tonight before security was tightened had also been obtained from one of these planted seeds.

In comparison, uncovering information about her old school was hardly a challenging task using Kang Yu-ri’s network of information.

After all, if someone harbored an unattainable dream through ordinary efforts, exchanging insignificant pieces of information like the ones they knew was quite natural. Irrespective of whether this was trivial to the world or to the parties involved.

“Do you know why students at our school surpass operatives from the Association?”

[Collecting fragments of information regarding the main scenario.]

Which simply implies that what might seem trivial to some could still be crucial to others.

“Or why someone like me or Inna could run rampant in school without the Association intervening? Any guesses?”

The information Erica had longed for, possibly something Kim Ha-neul desired or may have already achieved, flowed out of her mouth now.

Such information that wouldn’t have emerged even under torture was being divulged simply because Erica might forget today’s events.

Had Erica been fully conscious, she might have responded with a derisive laugh or slapped Kang Yu-ri’s leg expressionlessly, but the tired girl’s hand merely weakly clung to Kang Yu-ri’s instead of forming a fist.

“Did she hear it or not?”

She opened her mouth once more, not to satisfy her curiosity but because the information correlated to both Erica and their school.

More accurately, it was related to those who brought Erica to this school, and also why the school was established.

[“This piece of information ties to the core of ‘Erica’s’ character scenario.”]

“—Our school, actually…”