Noah glared at the black-haired human wearing a crimson mask.

Rael.

They were walking toward the gates of Anciana and every time Noah looked at him, an unfamiliar annoyance twisted in his chest.

Ever since orientation, Noah had kept talking to Viola. After all, she had promised she would kill him one day.

And through those conversations, he had learned many things about her.

Things he hadn't expected.

She was confident… but also surprisingly soft. Normally, Noah would have considered that a weakness but with Viola, he couldn't see it that way because that softness was her strength.

But that day…

The day Rael walked into the classroom three weeks ago, on the second day of academy, everything shifted.

Viola had cried that day.

She had hugged Rael tightly and said she would never let him out of her sight again… all because of some assassination attempts on his life.

That was the moment Noah felt something strange stir inside him…

Something he couldn't name and something which was very irritating.

From that day on, Rael joined every time Noah was alone with Viola.

So, Noah started picking fights with Rael on purpose, even over the smallest things and every single time, Viola took Rael's side.

It only made the feeling worse.

But today…

Today was different.

For the first time, Viola had spoken in his favor and that small, stupid victory over Rael made Noah feel happy.

He couldn't even remember the last time he had felt something like it.

But…

It didn't feel bad

—

[Rael's POV]

As we walked toward the city gates, our faces masked and disguised in place… especially Arza, Noah and me.

Unlike the others, we were far too recognizable.

White hair and crimson eyes were dead giveaways of Demon King lineage and Arza's horns made things even worse.

As for me, that stupid Demon King Ashavar had streamed my face across the whole Demon Realm… So yeah, I had to hide as well.

So the three of us relied on artifacts to disguise ourselves properly, while everyone else made do with simple masks.

Except Bearlo.

His entire body was wrapped in heavy clothing and a gladiator mask covered his face completely, hiding every trace of his crimson fur.

Fighting was mostly prohibited inside the city and Anciana didn't care about anyone's background. Still… There was nothing wrong with being careful.

But my mind wasn't on any of that as I slipped closer to Viola.

"Hey, Viola," I whispered near her ear. "Is something wrong? Are you mad at me or something?"

She didn't even look at me.

"No."

Her voice was cold again as she quickened her pace and walked ahead.

…Damn it.

That meant she was definitely mad about something.

Seeing that, my gaze shifted toward Seraphina but she shook her head helplessly before I could even ask.

"Sorry, Rael." She muttered. "I don't know either."

And with that, she walked after Viola, leaving me behind with more questions than answers.

Giving up on trying to figure out Viola's emotions, I decided to focus on more important things for now.

I slowed my pace slightly and fell in beside Sylvie and Arthur.

The two of them were chatting way too casually for people who were naturally supposed to be enemies.

I mean, Sylvie was a half-dragon and Arthur was a Dragon Slayer but I guess fate had a sense of humor like that.

I looked at them calmly.

"Thanks again for joining at the last moment, guys."

"Anything for you brother." Arthur replied immediately.

Him joining didn't surprise me as he had grown closer to me ever since the first day of class.

Sylvie, though… was different.

After our first sparring match in martial class and the pile of bullshit I fed her afterward, she had softened toward me just a little. That didn't mean she trusted me but at least we were on speaking terms especially since I was her sparring partner.

So her joining the party had genuinely caught me off guard.

She looked at me calmly. "It's a good experience. And I could definitely use the credits."

Fair enough.

The academy was offering millions of credits for this mission, so her reasoning made complete sense.

But honestly, I didn't really care why she joined. What mattered was that it worked out perfectly for me.

If she hadn't come along, I would have had to take Arckon instead… And that would've been a massive downgrade compared to Sylvie.

Sometimes luck really does pick sides.

I made some light small talk with them for the rest of the walk, while Bearlo and Arza followed silently behind us.

After another fifteen minutes or so, we finally reached the city gates.

Up close, they were even more massive than they had looked from a distance.

Circular walls, no shorter than the gate itself, stretched endlessly to either side. A long line had already formed outside with guards carefully checking permits one by one before letting anyone pass.

I moved to the front of our group as I was the one holding the permit.

We joined the line and waited our turn.

—

After a few uneventful minutes, we reached the front.

"Permit or coins, please." The guard said politely, as if this were some respectable institution instead of the largest black market in the Demon Realm.

I pulled an old parchment out from inside my cloak and handed it to him.

"Permit for eight." I said, lowering my voice slightly.

The guard studied me and the rest of my group for a long moment before finally stamping the permit.

"You may go in."

He handed it back to me and pulled open a smaller gate embedded within the massive one.

I stepped through the gate, the others following close behind and once we were all inside, the gate shut with a heavy thud, sealing us in.

The sprawling city of Anciana finally revealed itself in all its glory but before I could properly take it in…

A chirpy voice cut through the moment.

"So, you finally made it, huh?"

That voice.

I turned toward the source.

…What the hell was this nutcase doing here?

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