Chapter 297: Episode 297

Ha Yerin bid farewell to her love-hate alma mater and stepped outside. Beyond the school gates, reporters and recruiters were already lined up like a blockade. Slipping past them undetected seemed infinitely close to impossible.

Flaring her mana, a brilliant pair of wings sprouted from her back. She pushed off the ground and took to the sky.

“Huh! O-Over there…!”

“Ha Yerin! Let’s talk for a moment!”

The recruiters shouted and scrambled after her, but she flew off without giving them a second glance.

More importantly, her biggest worry today was figuring out where to sleep.

Recruiters had already set up camp outside her apartment, and the Sky Castle was currently under the temporary custody of the Hunter Association.

Though there was no denying that the Sky Castle had chosen Ha Yerin as its lord, a complex web of international interests was now tangled tightly around it.

The French government had risen up once again, claiming ownership over their greatest national treasure and branding Ha Yerin an illegal usurper. But while they publicly sued her through the Hunter Committee, they covertly offered her naturalization behind closed doors—even dangling the position of the next Hunter Association President as bait.

Moreover, countless other hyenas were lunging for a slice of the appetizing pie that was the Sky Castle.

Countries bordering the Black Sea—such as Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Romania—began to argue that France’s ownership of the castle had expired five years ago, and that the rights rightfully belonged to them since the Black Sea fell within their territorial waters. Yet even as they made these claims, it seemed they couldn’t outright dismiss Ha Yerin, so they too demanded her naturalization or aggressively attempted to recruit her.

The heat of the battle over the Sky Castle grew more intense by the hour.

Rumors even circulated that global superpowers with no connection to the castle whatsoever, like the United States and China, were preparing lucrative packages to win her over.

Desperate to get a head start, France and Russia swiftly dispatched their top hunters to South Korea under the pretext of providing “dungeon support.” The Black Sea nations scrambled to send their own hunters in response, bringing a palpable, razor-thin tension to the Korean Peninsula.

In the worst-case scenario, a war could break out on Korean soil due to a head-on collision of their conflicting greed.

In response, the Korean Hunter Association had seized the Sky Castle under the guise of an official investigation. Well, politics aside, there was also the entirely reasonable judgment that handing over a literal nuclear missile launch button to a high school student was far too dangerous.

For things to calm down, Ha Yerin, the Lord of the Sky Castle herself, needed to make a definitive move. She was well aware of this fact.

In the end, after agonizing deliberation, she pulled out her phone and typed out a message. At a moment like this, there was only one person she could genuinely ask for help.

—Ha Yerin: Please help me.

She didn’t add any further explanation.

A moment later, a reply pinged through.

—Kim Yusin: Meet me at our usual training ground.

The ’usual training ground’ was obvious.

She accelerated Icarus and made a beeline for Yacha Mountain.

By the time she arrived, dusk had settled over the city. She landed in the familiar clearing where she used to train with Yusin, but he wasn’t there yet.

Taking a seat on a nearby rock, Ha Yerin gazed out over the glittering night skyline of Seoul, her mind a tangled mess. What on earth should I do?

“You’re here early.”

“Ah!”

She turned around. Dressed in light workout clothes and slippers, Yusin strolled toward her.

“Mister!”

“I’ve been watching the news. You’ve become quite the celebrity since I last saw you, haven’t you? Lord of the Sky Castle.”

She fell silent.

She hung her head low.

“It’s too much pressure.”

“Hmm?”

“Honestly, I don’t feel like I’ve changed that much on the inside… Just a few months ago, I was just a mediocre magician trainee who completely failed her attribute draw. All this talk about me being an unprecedented rookie or the next Association President just feels so overwhelming.”

Yusin nodded, letting out a long breath.

“I understand.”

He turned his gaze toward the same glowing cityscape she had been staring at.

“I had a similar experience a long time ago. When you get swept up in the chaos surrounding you, everything feels complicated and suffocating. At times like this, it’s crucial to focus entirely on yourself.”

“On myself…?”

“Yeah.”

Yusin looked back at her.

“Other people’s circumstances or the unfolding political drama don’t matter. What’s most important is what you think. What is it that you want to do?”

Ha Yerin closed her eyes.

Stripping away the pretense, the expectations, and the illusions… what is it that I genuinely want to do?

When she framed her thoughts like that, the answer became crystal clear.

“Mister. I want to join the Magic Tower.”

That is what I want.

“Is this a decision you’ve thought through carefully?”

“Yes.”

She sprang to her feet and met Yusin’s gaze head-on.

“I don’t want to just be your disciple anymore; I want to be proudly acknowledged as your colleague!”

Everything had changed the moment she met Yusin. The grueling trial training, steering the massive Sky Castle, and fighting a literal demon side by side—these had been the greatest, most exhilarating moments of her entire life.

After surviving all that, returning to an ordinary high school classroom made everything feel terribly mundane. Nothing made her heart race anymore.

She didn’t care about the qualifications or international duties of the Lord of the Sky Castle.

She just wanted to be with them.

“Hmm.”

Yusin scratched his cheek, his expression awkward. Misreading the hesitation, a sharp jolt of panic pierced her chest.

Is he rejecting me…?

“Having you would be my honor.”

“…Ah!”

“I look forward to working with you, Lord of the Sky Castle.”

Yusin held out his hand.

Terrified he might change his mind, she practically launched herself forward, grabbing his hand and shaking it vigorously. His arm jiggled comically with the force.

“Ow, that hurts.”

“You mean it, right? You really mean it! I can join the Magic Tower?”

“Of course. And the role you’ll play in the Tower is crystal clear.”

The Sky Castle’s Icarus artifact was not bound to the traditional source mana system. Because of this, she could still cast magic even with the wings equipped.

Of course, mixing magic and innate abilities was usually incredibly difficult, but that wasn’t the case for the original spell Ha Yerin had developed: the Wind Chakram.

Because the spell was stabilized through a magic circle, once she cast and materialized it, she could wield it freely without breaking her control over Icarus. Though she hadn’t intended to, she had effectively created a signature spell tailor-made for Icarus users.

“Training magicians capable of aerial combat. I think the synergy between the two relics will be incredible.”

“I love it!”

Ha Yerin chatted excitedly with Yusin.

This is the feeling. This was the exact thrilling, heart-pounding sensation she had been craving. She felt as if her once black-and-white world had finally returned to vibrant, full color.

“First, let’s sort out this pesky lawsuit issue,” Yusin said, pulling out his phone.

“…Uh, you can fix that?”

“It’s just full-grown adults throwing tantrums like children. They’re throwing out whatever bait they can find because it’s a rare opportunity to get their hands on the Sky Castle. They’re the type to immediately back down the moment I make a move.”

The dial tone rang out, and a moment later, Jeong Seojin’s crisp voice answered.

“Seojin. Yerin has decided to join the Magic Tower.”

—”Ah! That’s wonderful news.”

“You know what I’m going to say, right?”

—”I will mobilize all twenty domestic and international law firms affiliated with Alchemia.”

“Good. But before that, plaster it all over the media that the Lord of the Sky Castle has officially decided to join the Magic Tower.”

Now that he was taking her under his wing, Yusin intended to handle things properly. Leaking the news to the media was a sheer display of dominance. It was a bold declaration that since the Magic Tower had claimed her, no one else should even dare to covet her.

Upon hearing the Magic Tower was involved, most guilds would tuck their tails between their legs and scatter. France might prove to be a persistent nuisance, but Jeong Seojin could easily handle the political maneuvering of that level.

Yusin hung up the phone and looked at her.

“And we should slowly start rebuilding the Sky Castle, too. Honestly, right now it’s more of a Sky Island than a Sky Castle.”

“Th-That’s true. But the Association has confiscated it right now, so…”

“Leave that to me as well.”

Yusin dialed another number.

Ha Yerin waited, burning with curiosity. Don’t tell me it’s another one of his connections? Who is it this time?

“Hey, Yeon. It’s me.”

Who is Yeon? As she wondered this, a certain name suddenly flashed through her mind like lightning.

The… the Association President?!

She shuddered, goosebumps breaking out across her arms.

Is it really okay to address that terrifying person so casually? Watching him made her feel inexplicably frightened on his behalf.

“We’ve decided to take the Sky Castle. Lift the confiscation order.”

Gah!

Ha Yerin clutched her head. That isn’t something you can just resolve by asking like that…!

—”Yes, sir. I’ll take care of it.”

That actually worked?!

“You gave up fast. Were you guys aiming for her, too?”

—”We were preparing a contract guaranteeing her the position of the next Minister of Magic.”

“What do you mean? You have Ms. Doyeon right there.”

—”Aren’t you planning to poach Minister Cha as well, sir?”

Yusin felt a twinge of guilt but brushed it off smoothly.

“That entirely depends on what Ms. Doyeon wants.”

—”Then, we will return the Sky Castle to you. Please be careful, sir, as we don’t know what those hunters from overseas might try to do.”

“Don’t worry.”

Just then, the loud clatter of a door being thrown open echoed through the receiver, followed by a frantic voice.

—”We have a major problem, Association President! The Magic Tower has signed a contract with the Sky Castle…!”

—”I am currently hearing it from the person involved. Please leave.”

—”E-Excuse me.”

The sound of the door clicking shut was heard again. Yusin chuckled.

—”You act as fast as ever, sir.”

“I try.”

—”In exchange, you haven’t forgotten the promise you made to us, right?”

“Of course not. See you tomorrow.”

After exchanging a few more words, Yusin ended the call.

Watching the entire exchange, Ha Yerin stared at him, utterly dumbfounded.

“That wasn’t actually the Association President, was it?”

“It was.”

She let out a hollow, defeated laugh.

“Setting that aside, Yerin.”

“Yes.”

“Ahem. Now that we’re officially part of the same family, I have to ask…”

Yusin rubbed the back of his neck, looking slightly embarrassed.

“It’s about what you said at the museum when we first met.”

“Ah.”

The main reason he had hidden his identity from her was because of the ongoing demonic human investigation, but in truth, there had also been a lingering personal reason.

When they had first crossed paths at the museum, she had glared at him and said:

“I hate Kim Yusin.”

Honestly, Yusin had secretly been letting those words bother him for months. If she harbored any bad blood toward him, he wanted to clear the air right here and now.

“Could you tell me why you used to hate me?”

“…It’s not really for any grand reason.”

She let out an embarrassed smile and finally explained.

“Actually, it’s because you failed my dad during the interview.”

“What?”

Yusin blinked, completely blindsided.

Listening to the whole story, it turned out that Ha Yerin’s father had been an officially certified Rank 4 hunter. He had participated in Yusin’s very first magician recruitment interview. The one where Yusin had told him:

“You fail for not meeting the standards.”

That first interview was back when he had been recruiting Na Daeyong and the rest of the fourth-floor team.

“My dad was affiliated with the Citizen Guild, and he probably caused a massive scene when he heard he failed. Even though he’s my dad… he’s stubborn, highly patriarchal, and totally close-minded.”

“Ah, wait, don’t tell me…”

A specific scene flashed vividly through Yusin’s mind. The man who had been the absolute worst nuisance during the interviews, screaming at the top of his lungs, “Who do you think you are to judge me!”

“Don’t tell me he was…”

“Yeah, the guy you’re picturing right now is probably him.”

Yusin tensed up, wracking his brain.

What did I do after that? He had immediately called the master of the Citizen Guild, and the guild members had rushed over to drag the furious man out of the interview room.

“After that interview, my dad got fired from Citizen.”

At the time, the Citizen Guild’s potion trade with Alchemia was their primary lifeline, so they couldn’t afford to cross Yusin. Ha Yerin’s father, who already had a notoriously poor reputation within the guild due to his abrasive personality, received immediate notice of his contract termination.

Kicked to the curb, he spent his days drowning his misery in alcohol. Finding new employment wasn’t easy for an aging hunter whose skills were already in sharp decline.

His symptoms worsened to the point where he was officially diagnosed with severe alcoholism. Ambition rotted into despair, and despair calcified into rage.

Coming home heavily intoxicated as always, he violently assaulted Ha Yerin’s mother when she nagged him.

To a young Yerin, witnessing that had been deeply traumatic.

Soon after, her mother filed for divorce and fled, taking Yerin and her younger sibling with her. From then on, she broke her back struggling to make ends meet while raising her two daughters entirely alone.

Yerin grew to resent not only her abusive father but also Yusin, who had been the catalyst for their family’s destruction.

The exact logic of it didn’t really matter. She just desperately wanted to hate and resent the man who had provided the spark that made her and her mother suffer so much.

Pinning the blame on a single target was simply much easier than resenting the entire world.

After hearing the whole story, Yusin spoke, his expression rigid.

“Yerin. I…”

“I know. I know you didn’t mean for any of it to happen, and that none of it was your fault.” She tilted her head slightly, offering a soft smile. “I guess I just wanted to throw a childish tantrum. Like a fan dividing celebrities they’ve never even met into people they love and people they hate.”

He fell silent.

“You saved my life time and time again. You completely changed my future. If my dad couldn’t reap the benefits of knowing Kim Yusin, then I’ll just have to reap the benefits myself! And maybe I can bail out my troublemaking dad while I’m at it, right?”

Yusin swallowed hard and nodded. “…Yeah. Thank you for saying that.”

“I’m the one who should be thanking you.”

“Could you give me your hand for a second?”

Yerin obediently held out her hand. Yusin lightly pressed his finger against her wrist.

“It’s the crest of the Magic Tower.”

A geometric crest etched itself into the skin on the back of her hand. The symbol of the greatest mage. As if immensely proud of it, she examined her hand from various angles under the light.

“I was actually planning to get it on my belly button.”

“Please don’t.”

The two laughed aloud, the tension finally breaking as they looked up at the night sky together, completely blanketed in a sea of stars.

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