The summer sun hung lazily above the town, warming rooftops and quiet streets that seemed almost unaware of the hidden world moving beneath them.
For the first time in weeks, there were no urgent meetings. No investigations. No mysterious buildings collapsing. No hurried departures to another country.
Life had slowed down.
At least on the surface.
John spent most of his mornings working at the café with Skinn.
Business had picked up because of the summer break. Families wandered in after shopping, students gathered around cold drinks, and office workers escaped the afternoon heat with iced coffee.
John silently wiped a table near the window.
He deliberately avoided making eye contact with customers.
It had become a habit.
Ever since Boss warned him about his grimoire's unusual nature, John found himself instinctively lowering his gaze whenever someone looked at him. Even when taking orders, he preferred staring at notepads or cups instead of faces.
He simply could not shake the fear.
What if I accidentally activate something?
His grimoire remained one large mystery.
He still remembered the illusion book Boss had examined.
"Be careful. Tricks that survive for centuries usually have a reason."
That sentence had refused to leave his mind.
While arranging clean glasses behind the counter, John experimented.
He imagined his grimoire.
Instantly, he could picture every detail.
Its black leather cover.
The faint silver markings.
Even the texture of the pages.
Yet nothing appeared beside him.
He smiled faintly.
"So... imagination alone isn't enough."
He focused harder.
Come here.
Nothing.
He relaxed.
The image disappeared.
"So it really does require intent."
That conclusion eased his worries.
Perhaps his magic wasn't something that activated by accident after all.
Across town...
Boss walked through the busy streets with both hands tucked inside his hoodie.
His eyes wandered from one face to another.
Not because he was looking for familiar people.
He was looking for mana.
Or more specifically...
People who had recently awakened.
"Twenty-one..."
He muttered while checking another list.
"...Twenty-one... twenty-two..."
Finding new mages this way was horribly inefficient.
Most awakened mages had already been recruited.
Working alone was practically suicide nowadays.
Every experienced mage knew that.
The moment someone registered at Manademia, their perception of mana improved dramatically.
Ironically...
That improvement made concealment even harder.
Weak mana signatures became clearer.
Strong mana signatures became easier to distinguish.
Hidden groups became easier to discover.
Which meant...
Boss sighed.
"We seriously need another S-Type."
Not someone powerful.
Someone useful.
Someone capable of hiding an entire area.
Just like Spartacus' manager.
Think.
The woman had managed to keep an entire organization hidden for years through planning and support rather than brute force.
Boss admired that.
Combat solved today's problems.
Logistics solved tomorrow's.
His thoughts drifted toward another memory.
The cafeteria attack.
The woman who attacked them...
She was undeniably an S-Type.
Yet...
She behaved like disposable manpower.
That bothered him.
S-Type mages weren't treated like that.
Not by Spartacus.
Not by Chord Group.
Certainly not by Kard.
Even Roof, insufferable as he was, enjoyed ridiculous levels of protection because losing an S-Type meant losing decades of accumulated value.
Boss stopped walking.
"...Then whose people were they?"
Not Kard.
Their methods were wrong.
Not Spartacus.
He knew every notable member.
Not Chord.
Not Moe-san either.
Moe-san members were almost absurdly proud of their trademark cat-ear accessories.
Those attackers had worn none.
"Nijongeria..."
He looked toward the distant horizon.
"...doesn't have any registered clan."
Which only left one possibility.
Someone new.
Someone building quietly.
Or perhaps...
Someone deliberately staying off Manademia's records.
Boss frowned.
"Too bad."
A faint smile appeared.
"The whole country is my playground now."
The smile disappeared almost immediately.
Then he remembered his promise.
Jaz's parents.
He stopped in front of a traffic light.
"...Just hang in there."
He looked down at the grimoire resting inside his shoulder bag.
"I may not be cut out to babysit..."
"...but I can build a fortress."
One sturdy enough that when they returned—
Jaz would still be smiling.
Elsewhere...
Jaz stepped out of a department store carrying three shopping bags.
She looked unusually pleased.
Inside one bag were children's clothes.
Another contained crayons, storybooks, and stuffed animals.
The last one held snacks.
She checked the receipt.
"...Worth it."
Back at the hideout, she quietly knocked on the office door.
"Bre?"
No answer.
"I brought something."
Still silence.
She gently placed the bags outside.
"...I'll leave them here."
Several minutes later...
The door opened only slightly.
A tiny hand reached outside.
The bags disappeared.
The door closed again.
Jaz smiled to herself.
"...Progress."
She had started calling Lambrei by a nickname.
Bre.
It sounded softer.
Less formal.
Less intimidating.
The girl hadn't accepted it yet.
But she also hadn't objected.
That was enough.
Bre still shut everyone out.
She rarely spoke.
Most days she stayed inside whichever room she occupied, quietly staring at walls or hugging the stuffed rabbit Jaz had bought.
Fortunately...
Her flames had become more stable.
She no longer accidentally burned furniture every time she cried.
Construction continued beneath the abandoned building.
Karl carefully aligned another treated wooden panel.
"Hold it."
Skinn pushed against the opposite side.
"Like this?"
"No."
"This?"
"No."
"...This?"
"...Yeah."
Boss walked over carrying another crystal.
The newly finished underground chamber already resembled a professional training facility.
Heat-absorbing crystals alternated with mana-absorbing crystals along every wall.
The arrangement wasn't random.
The first absorbed excess heat while releasing light.
The second absorbed stray mana before converting it into warmth.
Together...
The room naturally regulated both temperature and magical disturbances.
Boss embedded another crystal.
"There."
John looked around.
"...Feels different."
"It should," Boss answered.
"The room suppresses uncontrolled spell residue now."
Karl scratched his head.
"So... we basically built a magic bunker."
Boss nodded.
"Exactly."
The remaining crystals had already found their uses.
One powered a compact magic stove upstairs.
Another maintained a refrigerator without electricity.
Several more had been installed throughout the building as passive lighting.
The abandoned office no longer felt abandoned.
It finally resembled headquarters.
Their headquarters.
Late that afternoon...
Skinn began his usual jogging route around the abandoned district.
Since Boss was busy organizing their growing operation, Skinn had taken over the routine patrols.
He adjusted the earphones hanging around his neck before entering the nearby woodland trail.
The evening sun filtered through the branches.
Birds chirped lazily.
Everything felt peaceful.
Until...
He stopped.
"...What?"
About twenty meters ahead...
A gigantic spider rested silently inside an equally gigantic web stretched between two trees.
The web measured nearly three meters across.
It shimmered with an eerie bluish glow.
The creature itself barely moved.
Crystal-like hairs covered its legs and abdomen.
Each strand reflected sunlight like tiny pieces of glass.
"...That's definitely not normal."
Skinn slowly reached for his phone.
He scrolled to Boss's name.
Then pressed Call.
The line connected after only a few seconds.
"What is it?" Boss asked.
"I... don't know your definition of an anomaly..."
Boss immediately became serious.
"What did you find?"
"A huge spider."
Silence.
"The web's glowing."
More silence.
"The spider's covered in crystal-looking hair."
Boss interrupted immediately.
"The hairs sparkle like gemstones?"
"...Yeah."
"Don't move."
"What?"
"I said don't move."
Skinn blinked.
Boss continued calmly.
"Stay exactly where you are."
"I'll be there."
The call ended.
Almost immediately...
A notification appeared.
FROM: Boss
5:48 PM
Alert. Everyone.
Do not return to the office yet.
Area temporarily dangerous.
Our first UkPS has appeared.
Skinn is maintaining observation.
Time to celebrate.
Skinn stared at the message.
"...Celebrate?"
He looked back at the enormous spider.
The creature still hadn't moved.
It simply sat there...
Perfectly still...
As if it had been waiting for something.
Skinn lowered his phone and swallowed.
The spider remained motionless in the center of its glowing web. It almost looked artificial, like a sculpture made from crystal instead of a living creature.
"...You're celebrating that?" he muttered to himself.
The evening breeze stirred the branches overhead. The glowing threads swayed ever so slightly, reflecting blue streaks across the surrounding trees.
For another minute, nothing happened.
Then the spider twitched.
Its front legs slowly lifted.
A shrill screech echoed through the woods.
It sounded nothing like an insect.
It sounded closer to a bat.
Skinn instinctively stepped backward.
The creature's eight eyes shifted toward him.
"...Boss?"
He had barely finished speaking when a violent gust exploded past him.
A blur shot between the trees.
Boss.
His shoes skidded against the dirt as he stopped directly in front of the web.
His clothes continued fluttering even after he had already stopped moving.
"So that's where you settled."
The spider reacted instantly.
Its abdomen expanded.
The glowing web suddenly tightened.
Boss drew his blade in one smooth motion.
One slash.
The web shattered into hundreds of crystalline fragments before it could shoot toward him.
The spider lunged.
Boss stepped sideways.
Another slash.
The blade severed the creature cleanly between its cephalothorax and abdomen.
Its body collapsed onto the ground without another sound.
Skinn blinked.
"...That's it?"
Boss crouched beside the corpse and carefully lifted the detached head.
He pointed toward the long crystal-coated fangs.
"These are the valuable part."
"They're... poisonous?"
"Very."
Boss turned the head slightly.
"See these glands underneath?"
Skinn leaned closer.
Small translucent sacs rested beneath each fang.
"They contain magical venom."
"And that's valuable?"
Boss nodded.
"When refined correctly, it's one of the better bases for healing potions."
Skinn stared.
"...Wait."
"The venom heals people?"
Boss chuckled.
"No."
"It melts them."
Skinn immediately took another step backward.
Boss continued as though discussing vegetables.
"The venom rapidly liquefies tissue. Apothecaries process tiny portions until only the regenerative properties remain."
"...That's horrifying."
"It is."
Boss reached toward the shattered web, collecting the crystalline strands without touching them directly.
"They're even worse."
"Worse?"
Boss pointed toward a nearby tree.
"Look."
Only then did Skinn notice it.
The tree beside the web no longer looked like wood.
Its bark had turned translucent.
Crystal spread across the trunk like frozen ice.
Even the surrounding grass glittered unnaturally.
Drops of glowing sap slowly leaked from cracks in the crystallized bark.
"What..."
"The web crystallizes anything that isn't liquid."
Skinn stared in disbelief.
"So if someone got caught..."
"They'd eventually become part of the web."
Boss answered it matter-of-factly.
"The venom liquefies the victim first."
"The web finishes the job."
Skinn felt his stomach tighten.
"...Good thing I called."
Boss looked at him.
"Exactly."
He carefully packed the web fragments into several reinforced glass bottles.
"We'll make good use of these."
A familiar voice echoed through the trees.
"What'd I miss?"
Karl jogged toward them, slightly out of breath.
Boss tossed one bottle to him.
Karl caught it awkwardly.
"What is this?"
Inside the bottle floated what looked like finely ground crystal powder.
Under the fading sunlight it shimmered in shades of cyan and green.
"Powdered crystal spider web."
Karl raised an eyebrow.
"...And?"
"It crystallizes living tissue."
Karl nearly dropped the bottle.
"...Excuse me?"
Boss shrugged.
"Use it morally."
Karl looked completely unconvinced.
"...How?"
"If I throw this at someone, they're going to die."
Before Boss could answer, John finally arrived, breathing heavily after hurrying from work.
He looked from the dead spider to the bottle in Karl's hands.
"...Actually..."
Everyone turned toward him.
John scratched his cheek.
"...Didn't we still need stronger walls for the hideout?"
Karl blinked.
"Oh."
Boss looked interested.
John continued.
"If it crystallizes materials... couldn't we use it on wood instead?"
Boss smiled faintly.
"Good idea."
Karl looked at the bottle again.
"...So instead of murdering people..."
"...we waterproof the walls?"
Boss nodded.
"Much better use."
The following week became one long construction project.
With Jaz purchasing additional lumber and supplies, Karl carefully coated each wooden support with an extremely diluted mixture of the crystal powder.
The transformation was gradual.
The wood retained its appearance but became noticeably denser.
Its surface gained a faint glass-like sheen.
Boss repeatedly struck one finished beam with the back of his sword.
It didn't even dent.
"Good."
Skinn whistled.
"I don't think termites are eating that."
"They'd break their teeth first," Karl laughed.
By the end of the week, the abandoned office had transformed completely.
The underground training room was finished.
The hidden office had been reinforced.
The entrance mechanisms worked smoothly.
Their first true headquarters finally stood complete.
Boss looked around quietly.
"...This should keep everyone safe."
That evening, Karl returned home unusually excited.
During dinner, he could no longer contain himself.
"...Mom."
"Hm?"
"...We've been building something."
His mother looked up.
"What kind of something?"
Karl hesitated.
"...A hidden base."
Silence.
"...With magic."
The room froze.
His mother's expression changed instantly.
"What did you say?"
Karl realized too late that he had spoken far too much.
"It's not dangerous—"
She slammed both hands onto the table.
"I told you never to involve yourself in mage affairs!"
"It's different now!"
"There is no different!"
She stood abruptly.
"You don't understand what those wars become!"
Karl had never seen her this angry.
Before he could stop her, she had already left the house.
She found Boss standing outside the newly completed hideout.
"You."
Boss turned around calmly.
"...Good evening."
Without another word, Karl's mother launched forward.
A spear of condensed mana formed in her hand.
Boss leaned aside.
The spear narrowly missed his shoulder before piercing straight through a concrete wall.
John and Skinn froze.
"...She can do magic?"
Karl looked equally stunned.
"...Mom?"
She created another spear.
Then another.
Boss avoided each one with minimal movement.
He hadn't drawn his weapon.
He hadn't even taken his hands out of his hoodie.
"I said," she shouted, "leave my son out of this!"
Boss sighed.
"...Are you finished?"
She rushed again.
This time Boss finally moved.
One step.
A quick shift behind her.
A single precise motion.
Her arm twisted harmlessly behind her back before she found herself pinned against the wall.
She struggled.
Nothing happened.
Boss wasn't even breathing heavily.
"...You're holding back."
"I am."
"...Why?"
"Because you aren't my enemy."
She stopped resisting.
Several seconds passed.
Then she laughed bitterly.
"...You're stronger than the rumors."
Boss released her immediately.
She rubbed her shoulder before glancing toward Karl.
"...Sorry."
Karl still looked completely bewildered.
"...Mom... since when?"
She ignored the question.
Instead, she looked back at Boss.
"So..."
"...you're the one."
Boss remained silent.
"The bodyguard."
The words escaped before she realized it.
The surrounding group exchanged glances.
Karl frowned.
"...Bodyguard?"
His mother immediately looked away.
"...Forget I said that."
Boss simply sighed.
"...Some secrets really don't stay buried."
She nodded slowly.
"I knew Jaz's parents."
Jaz looked up.
"...You did?"
"We weren't close."
Her voice softened.
"But everyone respected them."
She lowered her eyes.
"I heard they died."
Jaz quietly nodded.
"...That's what everyone believes."
An uncomfortable silence settled over the group.
Karl's mother looked toward Boss once more.
"...If you're protecting what's left behind..."
"...then I'll stop interfering."
Boss extended a hand.
"I do have one request."
She raised an eyebrow.
"A business arrangement."
He explained the abandoned land, the construction, and the long-term plans for developing the area without attracting unnecessary attention.
By the time he finished, she smiled.
"...Practical."
"I like practical."
They shook hands.
Karl stared in complete disbelief.
"...You two just fought."
"And now you're doing business?"
His mother laughed.
"That's adulthood."
Boss immediately replied,
"No."
"That's survival."
Night settled quietly over the town.
Construction tools had been packed away.
The newly finished hideout stood silent beneath the abandoned building.
Inside his room, John sat alone.
The two books he had bought during their trip to Indorussi still rested on his desk.
He reached for the thinner one.
Marionette World Trick Book.
"...Might as well."
He flipped through the first few pages.
Most of it looked exactly like ordinary stage magic.
Hidden strings.
False compartments.
Misdirection.
Nothing unusual.
Then...
One page caught his attention.
It wasn't a trick.
It was a handwritten note tucked between two printed pages.
The ink had faded with age.
There was only one sentence.
"The greatest puppet master is the one who never touches the strings."
John frowned.
"...What does that even mean?"
He turned the page.
The next chapter was missing.
Someone had carefully cut it out long ago.
John stared at the torn edge for several quiet seconds before slowly closing the book.
Outside, the summer wind rustled through the trees.
Somewhere far away...
Someone else was probably reading another missing page.