The door creaked open.

  Standing before them was a woman with dark hair pulled back in a messy, practical tie. Her honey-colored eyes caught the dull gray light, making it look sharper, colder. Pale skin—the kind everyone in the sectors had, from years of smog and bad food. But her gaze was different. Piercing. Cutting through the air like the winter wind Kael had been shivering in all morning.

  Her voice was flat. Unimpressed.

  "You're late, Cole. It's already eight. You should've been here an hour ago."

  Cole let out a small, nervous laugh.

  "Hahaha... things happened. We couldn't help the delay."

  "We?"

  Her eyes flicked past Cole, landing squarely on Kael. She frowned.

  "Who's this?"

  Cole gestured toward the door.

  "Can we come in? We can talk inside."

  She made a face, eyeing Kael from head to toe. Then shrugged.

  "Fine. Get in."

  She stepped aside, though her eyes never left him.

  The cabin was cramped. Smaller than Cole's place. Packed to the brim. Crates stacked against the walls. A table in the center dominated by a strange device—buttons, flickering numbers, a small glowing screen. Kael stared at it.

  'A calculator?'

  Looked like something from the Inner Circle.

  His eyes kept moving.

  A young man sat perched on one of the crates. Not much older than Cole. But his build was completely different—taller, broader, more solid. The sectors had still marked him—pale skin, tired eyes—but his frame said he could handle himself. Short brown hair. Brown eyes.

  'Great. Seeing giants doesn't bring back good memories.'

  Cole broke the silence.

  "Sorry for the wait. Ara, Jaed—this is Kael."

  He turned toward Kael.

  "Kael, these are my comrades."

  Ara’s eyebrow twitched.

  "Wait. Just... that? You bring a stranger to our place, and that's all the explanation we get?"

  Cole smiled.

  "Exactly."

  "YOU—"

  Jaed raised a steady hand from where he sat on the crate.

  "Relax, Ara. We know Cole usually has his reasons."

  Cole's thoughts drifted.

  'Not that I actually have one, though.'

  Jaed looked toward Kael, who was still draped in that suspicious cloak.

  "But even so… I don’t mean to insult, but…"

  He tilted his head slightly.

  "He looks… questionable."

  Ara nodded vigorously.

  "Right?"

  Cole covered his mouth. "Pft."

  Kael felt the sting. Drew himself up.

  "Such big talk." His voice dripped with disdain. "Coming from kids role-playing as a secret organization."

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  'What are you all, middle schoolers? Damn. I expected too much from this job.'

  Her eyes narrowed.

  "What did you say?"

  Kael looked at her with feigned confusion.

  "I didn't realize I was speaking to a wall."

  He smirked inwardly.

  'I learned that one from a kids' story.'

  "YOU BASTARD—"

  Cole quickly stepped between them, laughing.

  "Hahaha, relax, relax!"

  Then his tone softened slightly.

  "Ara. I know what you're thinking. But don't worry. He's trustworthy."

  She stared at him for a long moment.

  Tension filled the room.

  Finally, she let out a jagged sigh.

  "Fine."

  Jaed nodded from his crate, eyes closing like a weary sage.

  "If that's what you say."

  She pointed a sharp finger at Kael.

  "But you're going to explain everything. Now."

  Cole nodded. "I will."

  Kael turned his face away. Refused to meet her gaze.

  Several minutes passed while Cole sat at the table in the middle of the cabin, explaining things to his companions. From the tone of their voices, it seemed they were discussing work matters.

  Kael used that time to take a careful look around the cabin.

  The first thing he noticed was the wooden crates scattered across the entire room. Some were stacked near the walls while others were simply placed around the cabin. As he examined them more closely, he realized that many of them—perhaps even all of them—contained food. Most of it consisted of protein bars, but the sheer quantity truly surprised him.

  That alone was already impressive, but it wasn't the only thing that caught his attention.

  He shifted his gaze toward the table where that strange device sat. Beside it were several small bags filled with credits.

  Kael's eyes widened.

  'Money.'

  For a moment, his old instincts as a thief resurfaced. The thought appeared almost automatically in his mind, tempting him to consider the possibility.

  However, he quickly shook his head and forced the idea away.

  'What's the point of that? It would only make my situation worse than it already is.'

  His eyes remained on the table as he noticed several papers and notebooks lying beside the credit bags, along with a few writing pens. Some of the pages contained tables and lines of writing arranged in neat columns. Kael couldn't really understand what any of it meant, but the numbers alone were enough for him to guess what kind of records they were keeping.

  'Damn… these bastards really are rich. I've never seen this many zeros before.'

  His gaze briefly drifted toward Cole and Ara, who were still talking.

  'Are they really some kind of secret children's organization? I said that as a joke before, but now I honestly don't know.'

  Kael then shifted his gaze toward Ara and examined her from the top of her head down to her feet.

  As if she had sensed his stare, Ara suddenly shivered slightly before turning toward him. She looked at him suspiciously and raised an eyebrow.

  "What?"

  Kael continued staring at her for a long moment—longer than necessary—before letting out a disappointed sigh.

  "4/10."

  Her sharp gaze pierced him again, but Kael simply turned his head away and ignored her.

  Ever since he had seen that Second-Rank Awakened, his expectations for women had risen considerably. Ara was almost the first girl he had seen properly since that moment, so he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

  Some time passed while Kael drifted into his thoughts, and he almost missed it when Ara suddenly shouted.

  "What, Borias?! What the hell did you get yourself involved in?!"

  Cole quickly tried to calm her down.

  "Alright, alright, calm down. Things turned out fine."

  She immediately snapped back at him.

  "Fine?! What do you mean fine?! Out of all people, you got yourself tangled up with that damned monster?!"

  Cole sighed.

  "Well… that's just how things went."

  Before Ara could continue, Jaed finally spoke. His voice was calm and steady.

  "Calm down, Ara. What happened has already happened. Your scolding won't change anything now."

  Ara gritted her teeth.

  "Damn it."

  Then she shifted her gaze toward Kael.

  "Why don't you remove that suspicious thing?"

  She pointed directly at the black cloak he was wearing.

  Kael raised an eyebrow while the hood still covered his head.

  "Are you a pervert?"

  Several veins instantly appeared on Ara's forehead. Seeing that reaction, Kael felt a small sense of pride.

  'Even though it was hard, I'm glad I studied that book about the art of comebacks.'

  Just as he was enjoying the moment, Cole's voice interrupted him.

  "Now's not the time for jokes, Kael."

  Kael sighed in disappointment and finally removed the hood, revealing his raven-black hair and his faint green eyes. They were slightly brighter now after he had spent two weeks living comfortably in Cole's house.

  Jaed simply nodded in acknowledgement.

  Ara, however, only sneered.

  "Look at that. Just another ugly one."

  At that moment, Kael's eyes lit up slightly as he remembered another comeback he had learned from the book. But unfortunately, before he could say anything, Cole interrupted him.

  "That's enough, Ara."

  Cole then turned his face toward Kael.

  "Well, as you can see, Kael… this is our place."

  He gestured lightly toward the crates and the table.

  "Here we store our money, our goods, and our records."

  Kael nodded along as if he understood everything perfectly.

  'As if I understand any of this damned nonsense.'

  Cole seemed to notice his expression, so he added calmly,

  "You could say it's a very important place."

  Kael looked at him for several seconds before finally speaking.

  "What makes you trust me that much?"

  He paused slightly before continuing.

  "I could stab you at any moment, you know."

  Cole raised an eyebrow.

  "Would you?"

  Kael replied immediately.

  "No."

  Cole shrugged.

  "Well, then I trust you."

  Ara's mouth fell open as she turned to look at Jaed.

  "Do these two share a single brain cell or something?"

  Jaed sighed in resignation.

  "I honestly don't know at this point."

  Cole heard them and laughed quietly before looking back at Kael.

  "Well, no need to worry. I can always sell you to Borias to make up for my losses. I'm sure he'd pay a lot for his dear friend."

  A shiver ran down Kael's spine.

  "Don't joke about that."

  He paused slightly before adding,

  "Not even once."

  Shortly after, the four of them set off toward their original destination.