"So maybe there was some kind of system error during his reawakening or something, but Mr. Pyo Haram's mana stat is still stuck at E-class."
"Huh? Wait, if his mana is only E-class..."
"...Sigh."
"..."
The moment Jihan heard Seo Munhyeok's explanation, he visibly deflated in disappointment.
Geumyi let out a quiet sigh without realizing it.
Taebeom glanced at her before speaking for the first time.
"...There must be a way around it."
"Huh? A way around it? What do you mean?"
"...?"
Jihan and Geumyi tilted their heads, looking back and forth between Taebeom and Seo Munhyeok.
Seo Munhyeok sighed and nodded.
"...Right. Remember what I said earlier?"
"Which part?"
"I told you Mr. Pyo Haram saved me when I was about to die."
This part was exactly as it had happened.
When his injuries had been so severe that death was imminent, Haran had saved him by using the dragon's mana stone.
"W-Wait! Then... does that mean there's a dragon's mana stone inside your heart, Guild Master?"
"...Yeah. Thanks to that, my mana stat increased dramatically. And for some reason I still don't understand, Mr. Pyo Haram became able to draw mana from my body and use it himself."
Of course, he also explained that it only worked through physical contact.
It wasn't something Haran could do from a distance.
"I'm treating this as a major weakness shared by both me and Mr. Pyo Haram. It'll stay confidential, so don't let this leave the room."
Truthfully, before coming here, Seo Munhyeok had agonized over whether he should reveal Haran's handicap at all.
No matter how much he trusted these people...
You could never be completely certain.
Ironically, it had been Haran himself who settled the matter.
"Just tell them. What's the problem?"
"But if I'm not around, you won't be able to use magic. If this information leaks, it'll become your weakness."
"My weakness? Hah."
At the time, Haran had answered Seo Munhyeok's concern with nothing more than a derisive snort.
"I don't consider it a weakness, so why should I care?"
"But..."
"Forget everyone else. At the very least, you need to tell your guildmates. They're the comrades you'll be fighting beside on the battlefield."
"..."
"They're the people you chose after living through four lifetimes, aren't they? Then trust them."
That last sentence had genuinely surprised Seo Munhyeok.
He had never expected to hear words about trust from Haran—a man who usually regarded other people as less valuable than insects.
When he thought about it, Haran was right.
The people who would fight alongside them deserved to know at least the minimum necessary.
"So you're still carrying the dragon's mana stone inside you?"
Jihan's voice pulled Seo Munhyeok back from his thoughts.
"...That's right."
The moment he nodded, Jihan launched into another barrage of questions.
"So that's why your eye color suddenly changed. The dragon you met back then was a Red Dragon, right?"
"Yeah... probably."
More accurately, it had been a Fire-type Lesser Dragon.
Naturally, he didn't explain that, since Haran's classification of dragons came from knowledge unique to his original world.
"Then what's your mana stat now?"
"Ninety-nine."
"Wow! I've never even heard of a number that high! Can anyone borrow your mana like Mr. Pyo Haram does?"
"I doubt it. It's probably something only Mr. Pyo Haram can do."
"Can I try?"
There wasn't really any reason he couldn't.
Instead of answering, Seo Munhyeok simply held out his right hand.
Jihan eagerly grabbed it.
Nothing happened.
Unlike Haran, he couldn't draw a single trace of Seo Munhyeok's mana.
"Aww... it doesn't work. I wonder what the mechanism is. Still... that's amazing. Sure, it's a little inconvenient, but a multi-type Mage! That's incredible all by itself."
Jihan's brief disappointment vanished, and he once again welcomed Haran with a cheerful grin.
This time even Taebeom quietly nodded in agreement.
Their reactions were far more positive than Seo Munhyeok had feared.
Relief spread across his face.
"Next time, tell us beforehand."
Taebeom lightly punched him in the shoulder.
The two were the only guild members the same age, and after awakening they had spent years together as close friends.
Even someone as indifferent to worldly matters as Taebeom seemed hurt that his closest friend had handled something this important without telling him.
"You're right. I'm sorry."
Seo Munhyeok smiled as he answered, fully understanding how Taebeom felt.
From the side, Jihan cluelessly chimed in.
"Ooooh~ You two really get along."
"..."
Only Geumyi remained silent.
She sat with her head lowered, nervously biting her fingernails.
"Geumyi?"
Seo Munhyeok looked at her curiously.
Startled by being addressed, she quickly snapped back to reality.
"...Ah. Yeah... right."
"Are you okay? Feeling sick?"
"No. It's nothing. Really..."
Despite her answer, Geumyi's complexion remained gloomy.
Seo Munhyeok tilted his head before glancing at the time.
The explanation had gone on so long that nearly an hour had passed.
"Ah. I should get going."
He couldn't stop worrying about Haran, whom he'd essentially left unattended in the next room.
What if something had happened while he was gone?
At this point, six-year-old Sua seemed far more dependable than the fully grown Archmage.
"Anyway, I'll be back tomorrow. And Mr. Pyo Haram will start coming to the guild tomorrow as well. We'll discuss the details then."
After pocketing Haran's Hunter ID, Seo Munhyeok hurried to his feet.
Once he had left, the brief silence was broken by Jihan's laughter.
"Wow... thinking about it again, the abilities of our new Hunter are actually terrifying, aren't they? How can someone use every kind of magic without any elemental restriction? I think I'll ask him to show me tomorrow. Right, Sis?"
As always, Jihan was talking to Geumyi.
The two were only a year apart and had always gotten along well, chatting about all sorts of trivial things.
This time, however, things were different.
The moment Jihan jokingly said that, Geumyi frowned deeply and snapped at him.
"I bet you're thrilled to have such an incredible Mage joining the guild."
"...Huh?"
"A Mage who'll massively increase the guild's combat power. That means fewer guild members getting hurt. Your life's going to be easy now."
"Uh... Sis...?"
Jihan froze in confusion.
Geumyi herself realized a moment too late what she'd done and bit her lip.
"...Sorry. I'm tired. I'm heading home."
She hurried out of the lounge.
The atmosphere instantly turned cold.
Looking completely miserable, Jihan turned toward Taebeom.
"...Did I say something wrong?"
Taebeom, who had remained silent all this time, gently patted Jihan on the head.
"You were just... a little insensitive."
"Me?"
Leaving the bewildered Jihan behind, Taebeom quietly sighed.
* * *
Inside the quiet car.
After eating near the guild building, Seo Munhyeok, Haran, and Sua were driving home.
Darkness had already fallen, and the evening rush hour had filled the roads with traffic.
"Mmm..."
Unable to resist her full stomach and the warm heater, little Sua had fallen asleep against her child seat.
In the peaceful silence, Seo Munhyeok quietly spoke to Haran.
"I explained everything to the guild members according to what we'd agreed on beforehand. There is one thing, though..."
"What is it?"
"...They were curious about Mr. Pyo Haram's rank. I told them you're A-class, so please keep that in mind."
"Fine. I don't particularly care about that. More importantly, there's something I want to ask."
"What is it?"
Seo Munhyeok glanced at Haran through the rearview mirror.
As Haran brushed a strand of hair away from the sleeping Sua's face, he asked casually,
"Those guild members. Were those three really all of them?"
One of Seo Munhyeok's eyebrows rose.
He hadn't expected Haran to take any interest in the guild members.
"Yes. For now, those three are everyone."
"Hmm. You planned to save the world with only that many people? You've got quite the nerve."
"That wasn't exactly the plan..."
"Oh? So you had one?"
This was the first time Haran had ever asked about Seo Munhyeok's plans.
Perhaps because he could finally tell someone what he'd never been able to share with anyone else, Seo Munhyeok felt just a little excited.
"Yes. I do."
"Go on, then. Let's hear it."
"I plan to gradually expand the guild. I'll recruit people who became famous in the future—those I personally knew and considered trustworthy."
"Hmm."
The reason Seo Munhyeok hadn't expanded Eclipse immediately was simply because the timing wasn't right.
Some of the people he wanted were still under contract with other guilds.
Others hadn't even awakened yet and were still ordinary civilians.
"As for those who haven't awakened yet, I'll approach them while making it look like chance. I've already established contact with some of them and have ongoing dealings."
"Really? And the ones already tied to other guilds?"
"I've already built connections with them behind the scenes, so there's no need to worry."
Haran let out a dismissive snort at the confident answer.
Soft-hearted fool. At least he talks a good game.
"Fine. Then that's reassuring."
"Anything else you're curious about?"
"Hmm... I'd like to know a little more about the abilities of those three."
Really now.
Haran had always looked utterly uninterested in other people.
The surprises just kept coming.
Seo Munhyeok wisely kept those thoughts to himself.
If he said something unnecessary, Haran would only chew him out again.
"Do you remember what the guild members looked like?"
"Of course. Do you take me for an idiot?"
"...The biggest one was Gi Taebeom. He's the same age as me—thirty years old. An A-class Defense Hunter whose position is Tank."
"Oh?"
Haran nodded absentmindedly.
That guy's already thirty? So he's actually a year older than I am.
"And the girl with the short hair was Ma Geumyi. She's twenty-one years old and an A-class Elemental Mage. Her specialty is fire magic."
"I see."
A Mage?
Haran's eyes lit up for an instant.
Unaware of the reaction, Seo Munhyeok continued.
"And finally, the slightly shorter young man was Eom Jihan. He's twenty, a B-class Healer, and the only Healer in our guild."
"A Healer. So he uses healing magic?"
"Well... yes. But in this world, healing is considered separate from magic. I explained that before."
"Right. I remember. In any case, I'll have to see it for myself. More importantly... Maguni?"
"...Pardon? Maguni... Ah. You mean Ma Geumyi?"
"That's right. Ma Geumyi. You said she's a Mage."
Perhaps it really was because she was a Mage.
Haran immediately became interested in Eclipse's only Mage.