...The young man was walking around nonchalantly, paying no mind to his own duty, even though he was a member of a special group specifically assigned to learn about this museum.
Lud, a highly ambitious and playful 1st-year student from the Isheevor Institute of Sorcery. As he walked, the pronounced veins on his arms clearly showed a body that had undergone intensive training. He wore a white short-sleeved shirt that contrasted with his dark greenish pants in a stylish, casual way.
He scanned his eyes around, detecting human signals, enjoying watching people's daily activities. Directly to his left was a shady park, densely covered with trees. While he was enjoying his observations, a man collided heavily with him. This man was neatly dressed in a suit, holding a briefcase in his hand
"Wait up... big brother..."
Lud looked at the man blocking his way with eyes full of curiosity, but he maintained his relaxed posture by keeping both hands in his pants pockets. Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of a large crowd behind the suited man. Lud decided to turn back and immediately walk in a different direction.
"I meant you!" The suited man shouted out, quickly running to block Lud's path again.
"Were you calling me?" Lud asked back with a playful, strange smirk "My apologies," he said casually, acting as if he was enjoying a game.
The suited man slowly walked closer to Lud before carefully opening the bag he was holding. Lud stared intently at the action. What appeared was a large number of documents neatly organized, showing a level of care and meticulousness that completely contradicted the man's urgent demeanor. He then spoke up: "I need a favor... please pick one sheet..."
Lud meticulously looked at the documents arranged in the bag before raising his head to look at the suited man again. His face clearly changed. He smiled faintly
"What do you want me to do...?"
"This is a game of chance..." the suited man explained "Every sheet has a drawing of a small animal on it." He pointed to a piece of paper filled with drawings of various animals. "And this is the rarity of each one."
Suddenly, the expression in Lud's eyes turned into a spark of excitement and understanding. He immediately grasped the meaning of those documents and what the man wanted him to do. The suited man intently watched Lud without looking away. His eyes were full of pressuring expectation, as if urging Lud to reach out and pick one of the documents immediately.
In a fraction of a second, Lud froze still for a moment, as if a current of electricity had secretly surged into his body. At the same time, one tree on the left side of the park stood still by itself, even though the other trees were swaying with the wind. However, this entire phenomenon vanished in the next second.
Lud regained awareness after only two seconds had passed, but the feeling that replaced it was different. The closer he moved his hand toward the documents, the more goosebumps he felt, as if intense coldness was pervading his body.
A strange feeling suddenly struck him a mysterious and secretive feeling, like the awakening of a primitive instinct buried within this young man. He silently recited words in his mind, which were like an incantation to guide himself in a moment of crisis.
"Pileka..." Suddenly, Lud's eyes saw dense red energy masses hidden beneath the pile of papers. The sight shocked him so much that his eyes nearly widened, but he instantly knew what this man wanted from him.
Lud used one hand to clutch his stomach with a pained expression, creating a smooth image of a young man who was feeling unwell or hurt. "Ouch!!... My stomach hurts..."
He decided to run off immediately, and he did not forget to bid the suited man a smooth and polite farewell
" I'll see you around... I really wanted to play this game with you!"
When he ran away from the suited man beyond the observable distance, Lud quickly turned and hid in an alley.
The suited man closed his bag securely before slowly walking away. His expression and demeanor remained calm. The feelings within him were too mysterious for anyone to truly guess. As he walked through the crowd in the city, he moved one hand to his pants pocket and secretly touched it from the outside. He spoke in a soft voice
"Southeast... ground cracked ahead... in the dark corner..."
...The large tree revealed the figure of Litva standing quietly, concealed. She was still observing everything, especially Lud's actions during the time he ran away. Litva continued to watch the suited man secretly. She monitored his every move, without taking her eyes off him for even a second.
Litva detected an anomaly in the suited man she was meticulously observing both his seemingly urgent manner of speech and some personality traits that seemed inconsistent with the situation. Her lips tightened slightly uncontrollably, and her eyes narrowed.
...In that short moment, before the suited man stopped talking, Litva moved her lips to re-state the words her leader had once spoken. The silent movement of her lips was like a Sorcery incantation being silently performed.
The sound of many people talking, the sound of horses' hooves running, and all the sounds of nature suddenly vanished from her ears. Litva could hear nothing.
However, the voice of the suited man, who was far away, was heard clearly by Litva, every single word. The sound was not loud, but was mysteriously locked and infiltrated into her subconscious.
The suited man's voice was clear in her ear despite the distance, completely unlike his previous conversation with Lu
"...Don't let them escape..."
"The Sorcery Institute students... are dangerous."
..The moment Litva heard the words implanted in her subconscious, her left ear suddenly twitched and spasmed. Litva instantly closed her left eye, simultaneously clutching her ear due to the momentary pain. Suddenly, all sounds returned to her ears as normal. The sounds of people, horses, and nature rang out again, as if she had returned to the real world.
She seized the opportunity when people were not looking, slowly ducking into the bushes in front of her. She then crouched down to the level of the bushes and tiptoed forward quickly but silently.
On the other side, Lud slowly walked out of the small alley and started walking back to the path he had come from. In front of him was the museum, not far away. While Lud was moving, Litva moved quickly and silently. Her stealth skills were incredibly powerful, far beyond what a normal person could achieve. She was able to sneak into the small alley without being noticed by anyone.
While Lud was walking absentmindedly, she quickly ran to the building in front of him, opened a window to prepare an entrance, and quickly tiptoed back into the small alley smoothly. In the meantime, to avoid drawing attention,
Because of her distrust of ordinary people, she took a chocolate bar out of her pocket and began eating it slowly with delight. The recent stress disappeared, revealing a face that was flushed with the hidden cuteness behind her expertise.
In front of them was a group of 'Kaman' soldiers wearing dark black uniforms. They were heavily patrolling and scattered across the area. Every soldier held a gun in their hand.
Meanwhile, three men were walking silently along this path. They wore solid black suits, moving in the same direction as Lud, who was walking, and Litva, who was hiding.
When Lud reached the building in front of him, he stopped right in front of the window that Litva had opened for him. Litva looked at Lud, who had arrived at the crucial point. Her heart was beating irregularly. This trembling feeling indicated the fragility of the plan she had set and the unpredictable outcome.
Suddenly, Litva uttered the word softly: "Al..." The moment the word left her lips, she felt a sudden surge of goosebumps all over her body, as if in reaction to the abnormality that occurred. The word was like a
"Mystical Sorcery" that cast some kind of spell.
...Upon finishing the incantation, Litva kicked off from the alley quickly, darting out onto the front path. She accelerated to her maximum speed, so fast that the people around her couldn't even register who the runner was. Litva immediately embraced Lud, a quick action performed according to the plan. Then, both quickly jumped together into the building.
Litva covered Lud's mouth tightly to prevent him from making a sound, while Lud struggled fiercely to fight back but could not easily escape Litva's hold.
"It's me... take it easy..."
Even though Lud struggled fiercely, he couldn't loosen Litva's tight embrace even slightly. The strength this woman displayed was astonishingly powerful, far beyond the capability of a normal woman. Lud raised his head to look at Litva, who was hugging him. The sight made his eyes instantly widen in shock.
Litva still held her hand tightly over Lud's mouth, but a muffled sound passed through Lud's throat: "...Senior..."
Suddenly, Litva quickly pushed Lud into a wardrobe and shut the door. She, in turn, grabbed a long white bath towel and put it on over her 'Farares' uniform. She pulled the zipper of her inner shirt down slightly to reveal her cleavage, making her look like a woman who had just finished bathing. She began to play the role of a victim, moving slowly and fragilely, pressing herself against the room wall to display pitiful, terrified vulnerability.
Suddenly, the three Kaman soldiers in black suits pointed their pistols into the room, aiming the muzzles at her location. Upon seeing this, Litva screamed out in extreme shock
" Al...!"
"Please have mercy... Don't... don't shoot me..." Litva gathered words that expressed weakness and forced out genuine tears to confirm her role as a victim about to be harmed.
Litva ran and squeezed herself behind the nearest soldier, then pointed her trembling hand toward the room door. Her demeanor was so pitiful that she looked like a victim desperately seeking help, a smooth act of misdirection.
"Please help! A mysterious masked person... grabbed that boy right in front of my eyes! He just jumped out that window!!!"
Her words were full of convincing fear.
While acting terrified, Litva revealed a cunning and sharp gaze for only a fraction of a second, like the seasoned hunter hidden within this beautiful young woman, before she returned to her role as the pitiful victim in front of the soldiers.
Stay tuned for the next episode....