“Why are you taking it out on that?”
Abellus gave Laika a look of exasperation as he righted the overturned trash can.
Laika, who remembered how Abellus had recently lost his temper, kicking wire fences and cleaning robots, looked at him in disbelief.
Laika soon dropped onto the sofa, anxiously stroking his chin before finally speaking.
“I need to borrow a monster. A strong one.”
“To catch the thief? Do you know who it is?”
“I have a suspect in mind…”
Not wanting Abellus to find out about Iris, Laika hesitated, then just called the person “him” and looked away.
Abellus sighed, rose from his chair, and pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses.
“Alright. I’ll keep this a secret for now. It would be troublesome for me, too, if this news reached Kaisar.”
“Haa…”
Laika covered his face with his hand and let out a deep sigh.
His anger toward Iris, his unwillingness to treat her cruelly, and his frustration with his own stupidity all collided fiercely in his mind.
Abellus, arms crossed, looked at Laika with disapproval, then dug into his pocket for his card wallet.
This was where he kept the Security Cards for the monster cages.
As Abellus rummaged through it, he suddenly stopped.
“Are you sure you can control a Chimera?”
“We’ve got the Chimera Controller, don’t we? You’ll have to lend me that too. If I can’t control it, I’ll kill the Chimera myself, so don’t try anything funny.”
“This isn’t my money, you know. It’s the company’s.”
Abellus shrugged, then leaned back, his gaze settling on Laika, who was scowling deeply into the backrest.
“I can lend you a monster anytime. They belong to J Corporation, not me. If you kill a Chimera, it’s J Corporation’s loss. Honestly, if you hadn’t lost the ring in the first place, the company wouldn’t have suffered at all.”
“Enough. I know… Huu.”
Seeing Laika responding honestly instead of snapping back as usual, Abellus let out a mocking snort.
At least he seemed to realize he’d made a mistake.
There was nothing to be gained by picking a fight in this situation.
Turning his gaze back to the trash can, Abellus suddenly remembered the Goddess’s Necklace draped over the statue of the armored knight.
That item had helped him awaken new abilities along with <Incredible Perception>.
It wasn’t just Laika who needed to be careful—he should be keeping better watch over his own Relics, too.
While the research assistants wouldn’t dare touch his belongings, there was one exception: Iris, the Awakening-type Hero, might covet the Relics.
‘I should store them properly, not just leave them lying around. Otherwise…’
Suddenly, Abellus recalled a brief conversation he’d had recently with “that” from the Enraka Church.
He had been told that for a Relic’s power to be complete, it needed a vessel to contain it.
After taking the vessel’s will, “that” had promised to let Abellus control it.
“That” seemed more like an evil spirit—or perhaps just a minor ghost—than a god.
A true god wouldn’t be trapped in some shrine’s corner.
Still, there was no denying “that” possessed special powers, so Abellus saw no reason not to follow its advice.
‘One of the Goddess’s Relics, the King’s Crown, is being kept in the Enraka Temple anyway.’
Abellus lapsed into thought.
To accept “that”’s help, he would need to find a vessel for the Relic’s power, but as far as he knew, only Iris had ever awakened through an object—whether Hero or Villain.
‘Iris is the most likely candidate to be a vessel for the Relic’s power. Maybe I should set a trap in case she shows up again.’
Abellus’s eyes flashed.
***
Unaware of Abellus’s scheming, Iris had been busy.
Time flew by, and before she knew it, it was the weekend she’d promised to see a movie with Johannes.
As she got ready to go out, she checked her phone.
In her call log, there were traces of missed calls—Johannes had called every morning.
They were supposed to go for morning walks together, but Iris had been too tired and missed his calls.
Yet Johannes never seemed the least bit upset.
Most people would have given up if their calls kept going unanswered, but he just kept on calling.
Johannes never sent messages.
He seemed to prefer calling.
‘Did he say he liked waking up early thanks to calling me? Is that really the reason…?’
Iris shook her head, speculating about why Johannes kept making morning calls even when she didn’t answer.
She was about to fall into her usual self-doubt.
‘Johannes has been in love with someone for a long time, hasn’t he? If it were me, he would’ve tried to get closer a long time ago.’
Last time she’d asked him about the woman he liked, Johannes had dodged the question, clearly embarrassed.
Maybe if they got closer, he’d tell her about his secret crush.
If she listened to that story, they’d get even closer, and eventually, she might learn more about the Enraka Church.
And maybe someday, she’d get the chance to acquire Johannes’s skill, <Mind Reading>.
‘Seducing Johannes… that’s just too much. I don’t think I could handle the consequences. For now, I’ll just focus on getting close and gathering information.’
Pushing thoughts of Johannes aside, Iris recalled the message from Abellus.
He’d promised she’d be satisfied no matter what it was, so she’d expected something extraordinary, but in the end, he wanted her to walk a small dog for him.
She’d freaked out, wondering if she’d have to walk a three-headed dog monster, but Abellus assured her it wasn’t that—just a tiny, cute dog.
‘Is it really a dog? Well, whatever. I need what I came for, so…’
Whether it was a dog or a monster, what did it matter?
Dog-walking was just a pretext; the real purpose was to get their hands on each other’s bodies.
Starting next week, she’d walk the dog at Abellus’s Laboratory.
She was nervous about running into Laika again like last time, but she couldn’t refuse the offer.
If she wanted to steal the chalk-shaped necklace she suspected was a Relic, she had to get back into the laboratory.
‘I just need to be as careful as possible. I’ll go with a hat and mask. Huu, back when I stole Laika’s power, I hesitated so much, but now, I don’t even feel a shred of guilt. The idea of stealing a psychopath’s power is actually kind of thrilling. Hmm, maybe Abellus has his own ulterior motives, just like me.’
Maybe Abellus was hoping to kill three birds with one stone, too.
But then she remembered his sudden politeness, which had felt so odd.
He’d acted so differently from usual.
And when Laika said things like “Magic Potion” or “She’s not a normal person,” Abellus hadn’t even bothered to make an excuse or play dumb.
Was it possible Abellus already suspected her true identity?
‘Even if he does, I can’t run away now. Chastity Belt, I’m counting on you. If I’m in danger, you’ll protect me, right?’
She looked down between her legs and muttered, but of course, there was no reply.
She glanced at the bracelet on her wrist, then at her bare fingers.
The Ancient Chastity Belt always disappeared at crucial moments.
The Ancient Bracelet never left her wrist.
And the Ancient Ring only showed itself when she transformed.
Thanks to that, she hadn’t been suspected when she met Abellus.
‘Thank goodness these Relics are so perceptive. Keep it up, alright?’
She silently asked the Relics to keep watching out for her, then slipped on her shoes and carefully stepped outside.
She moved quietly, eyes darting everywhere.
Ever since she committed her crime, she’d developed the habit of checking her surroundings wherever she went.
She double-checked her black mask.
‘I’m so afraid of running into Laika. He must’ve confirmed through careful inspection that the ring lost its power. Maybe he even figured out it’s a fake. Even if the Antique Shop Owner crafted the imitation perfectly, a close inspection would reveal it wasn’t real.’
Blinded by her greed for the ring, she’d acted without thinking about the consequences.
By now, Laika was surely convinced that Iris was the culprit.
At the time, she’d thought she could just block his number and move, but that was naive.
Who was Laika, anyway?
The third son of a rich, powerful conglomerate family.
For someone with his resources, finding out where Iris lived or what areas she frequented would be a piece of cake.
Once she realized that, Iris couldn’t sleep for several days.
Her eyes had dark circles, and she’d gotten into the habit of wearing a black mask and hat every time she went out.
‘It’s uncomfortable, but there’s nothing else I can do. Disguises won’t keep me completely safe from Laika, but at least it makes me feel a little better.’
Fortunately, she hadn’t filed her change-of-address report yet.
At least officially, there was no record of where Iris lived.
Of course, if Laika really wanted to find her, he’d figure it out soon enough, but still.
She couldn’t shut herself away just because she was scared of Laika.
If he ever found her and tried to cause trouble, she’d have to fight.
For that, Iris was training harder than ever—and it was paying off.
‘My level is up to 53 now. I’m pretty strong, aren’t I? I can’t wait to see how strong I’ll get once I gather the rest of the Relics.’