The masked man's presence made Shaan freeze completely. His heartbeat pounded faster as he saw the man walk closer toward him. This was bad—he had never seen that person before. The tall man could be one of the Resistance members who always threatened the Twilight Sanctum.

Shaan quickly raised his ArcGear, the only defensive mechanism he had right now, since he had left his dual short swords in Madam Jeshina's office and would only get them back after finishing his punishment duty. Even though the device didn't work at all, he still aimed it at the man, pretending to believe it did.

"Damn it! If I still had my blades, this guy wouldn't stand a chance.", Shaan muttered as he kept walking backward, away from the man who continued to approach him. "I just need to keep convincing him that I—"

Unfortunately, Shaan kept walking backwards without noticing that long plant roots were protruding from the ground. He instantly fell to the ground, and the ArcGear in his grasp slipped away.

"Argh, damn it!" Shaan grumbled as his body slammed hard onto the ground. He hit the rocky surface with a painful thud. "I have to get the ArcGear as soon as possible."

With all his strength, Shaan crawled backward to reach the ArcGear lying just a few inches behind him. But the moment his fingers touched it, the mysterious man appeared right in front of him.

"D-Damn it," Shaan muttered, his breath catching for a second. His eyes froze as he stared at the man's face more clearly now. At this distance, Shaan stood no chance. He couldn't move, couldn't fight, and could only brace himself." This is bad... If it goes like this, he's going to—"

"Hey, what are you thinking?" the mysterious man said, extending his hand toward Shaan. "Hurry up and get back to work like the other volunteers."

"Huh?" Shaan tried to process the man's words for a moment. "A-aren't you a member of the resistance?"

Hearing Shaan's words, the man immediately lowered his mask. "Resistance? What nonsense are you talking about? I am one of the twilight artificer officers tasked to supervise the volunteers' work while they are in this forest."

"Ah, so that's how it is." Shaan sighed deeply. 'Thank goodness. He's not a threat to me after all.'

"So, what's going on?" the Officer wrinkled his eyebrow. "When I was walking around the forest, I accidentally heard you grumbling here. Is everything okay here?" asked the male officer curiously.

"Uhmm, not...not really." Shaan scratched his head. "I'm having trouble with this machine. I've been pulling the lever to turn this thing on, but... "Shaan pulled the ArcGear lever with all his might. "Look, but the machine isn't turning on like I thought it would."

"Hmm... maybe there's a loose cable between the lever and the machine," said the officer. "Put that thing on the ground. I'll try to check if my guess is right or not."

"O-Okay. I get it."

The officer immediately took a small tool from his backpack and opened it. His hands quickly took several items from the small tool and began repairing the ArcGear.

'Surely, this will take quite some time—'

"Done. I've finished repairing it."

"Huh? What?" Shaan's face looked shocked. "B-but how could you do it so quickly?"

"I've dealt with this kind of problem many times, so it's actually pretty easy for me," the officer replied. "Now, try pulling the lever again. I'm sure the ArcGear will work this time."

"Oh... okay, I hope you're right."

Shaan quickly followed the officer's instructions and slowly pulled the lever for the umpteenth time. To be honest, Shaan had doubts when he heard the officer's words. He thought that the officer was just talking nonsense.

"Thrum-thrum-thrum..."

"Hey, the ArcGear actually works!" Shaan smiled broadly. "Wow, I never expected this thing to actually work."

"Come on, don't waste time and get to work," said the officer. "I'm going to check on the other volunteers now."

"Once again, thank you for your help. I really appreciate it."

Hearing Shaan's words, the officer nodded his head and responded with a slight smile on his lips. He then walked past the trees in front of him until he disappeared from view.

"Okay, it's time to get back to work."

***

'KRAAAK—WHOOOOSH—BOOOOM!'

"Ah, finally…" Shaan placed the ArcGear on the ground and leaned his tired body against a nearby tree. "Jeez, I never thought cutting down a single tree could be this exhausting."

While Shaan rested for a moment, a strange sound suddenly broke the silence of the forest. It sounded like someone whistling, yet the tone seemed to come from somewhere very close to him. The noise made Shaan instantly turn his gaze around, searching for the source of the sound.

"Strange, why don't I see anyone around here?" Shaan scratched his head, his face looking confused. "Could it be that I just misheard?"

His curiosity instantly prompted Shaan to look around again, but this time he thought to try moving his head more slowly than before, hoping to find the source of the sound.

"There must be something..."

Shaan's body froze. His face stiffened as his suspicion proved true. A mysterious figure stood on one of the tree branches nearby. The figure seemed roughly the same height as Shaan, but he couldn't make out any clear details. A long cloak covered the stranger's entire body, and a white mask without a mouth hid the face completely—its blank expression giving off an unsettling, eerie presence.

'Re-resistance?' Shaan's lips trembled uncontrollably. 'Is... is he part of the resistance?'

Shaan swallowed hard as the figure kept staring straight at him without blinking. A chill crawled down his spine, making every hair on his body stand on end. He tried to think of a way to scare the figure off using the same trick as before, but his body felt completely drained. Even lifting the ArcGear seemed impossible now.

'D-damn it… What should I do?'

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