NOVEL NEXT Chapter 67
Aaron Hae Beach Walkway
“Who are you?”
Isabel’s low voice echoed through the air.
In front of her stood an Unknown Boy.
This boy, shorter than most males, blinked his eyes at Isabel.
“Who am I? I’m Hanon.”
Hanon stared at Isabel with a look of bewilderment.
Suddenly, a sharp tension radiated from Isabel.
“Don’t lie.”
Isabel glared at him with a serious expression.
Hanon rubbed the back of his neck, looking flustered.
“Well, this is strange. I’m really Hanon, but you’re treating me like a fake.”
It was baffling that he clearly introduced himself but was still mistaken for an imposter.
Hanon chuckled incredulously.
“Alright, I’ll let that slide.”
With a lazy grin, Hanon looked at Isabel.
“How did you know?”
All he had done since arriving was call out to Isabel.
Yet, the moment Isabel laid eyes on him, she realized he wasn’t the person she knew.
For Hanon, this was quite a marvel.
They looked so much alike after all.
“That person doesn’t make that expression.”
“Expression, huh?”
Hanon touched his own face.
A slight change in expression can dramatically alter one’s impression.
Though the face may be identical, traces of time leave their mark.
Isabel keenly understood this difference.
“The look in your eyes is different too. Do you think that person would give me that teasing look like you do?”
To Isabel, Hanon was always a serious person.
Occasionally, he might act exaggeratedly.
However, he was fundamentally straightforward and caring toward others.
There was no way he would show such frivolity now.
“And your posture is different too.”
Unlike the person who always stood tall and straight, Hanon slouched with his legs crossed.
After hearing all this.
Hanon was impressed.
“I see, impersonating someone else isn’t so easy. I’ve learned something.”
He admitted his mistake.
“Still, even with that in mind, your observational skills are uncanny. What’s the deal with you two?”
What’s the deal.
Upon hearing that question, Isabel fell silent.
If asked what her relationship with Hanon was.
Isabel couldn’t quite define her connection with him.
Though she did somewhat see him as a rival.
Separately, she found herself emotionally leaning on Hanon more and more.
It was a complex feeling Isabel herself couldn’t clearly define.
“Are you perhaps in unrequited love?”
Hanon asked with a wide grin.
Unrequited love.
At those words, Isabel felt a deep, constricting sensation in her chest.
“…No.”
Isabel laughed self-deprecatingly.
“It’s not that beautiful.”
Swoosh—
The sea breeze brushed past Isabel.
Perhaps it was the shade created by the sun casting trees.
It seemed as if there was no light left in Isabel’s eyes.
“It’s complicated.”
Hanon couldn’t decipher Isabel’s emotions.
He simply felt that the emotional shadows hanging over her were quite profound.
This was not something good to intrude upon.
Hanon decided to stop the teasing here.
Instead, he resolved to extract the information he desired.
“So, tell me. Is there anyone you got involved with before he showed up? Someone who declared they’d help you?”
“…What do you mean?”
Isabel stared at Hanon with a puzzled expression.
“He couldn’t have come to the academy without any purpose, you know.
And the first thing he did on his first day was bump into you, right?”
Based on the information Hanon had gathered, he was trying to piece things together.
So when he asked about it, Isabel stood silently without answering.
But Isabel’s eyes were trembling.
Because she had unconsciously thought something similar.
That person constantly insulted Lucas and tried to provoke her.
As if they were deliberately trying to bring out her anger.
At first, she charged in without a second thought, believing Lucas was the one getting insulted.
But as time passed, Isabel had continued to watch him.
He wasn’t someone who would casually slander others.
In fact, he was quite similar to Lucas in many ways.
So it was hard for her to believe that he would insult Lucas.
But.
What if.
Really, what if?
What if he insulted Lucas to save her?
Hearing Lucas being insulted reignited Isabel’s fury.
She clawed her way up from the abyss of death.
Isabel felt that nothing but that level of insult toward Lucas could stir any deep feelings within her.
As Isabel reflected on it, she realized that the only thing that could drive her was that.
Who was it that insulted Lucas?
‘It was him.’
In the process, Isabel came to realize that what she had done was also insulting Lucas.
That’s why Isabel fell apart once again.
At that moment, who was it that came to her side and lifted her up again?
‘It was him.’
Isabel’s eyes trembled fiercely.
At the same time, yesterday’s events flashed through her mind.
The fear that had blossomed in her heart the moment she heard he was dating Hania.
Like her brother and Lucas.
He might leave her forever.
He would no longer care for her at all.
As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she plunged into an indescribable fear.
Desire and obsession.
Another form of separation anxiety.
Then, he appeared in front of her once again and comforted her.
Thud—
Isabel felt something pounding in her chest.
She didn’t know what it was yet.
But one thing was certain: every time Isabel was about to break, he had lifted her up.
Isabel opened and closed her mouth repeatedly.
If this is true.
‘What on earth.’
Why?
Why was he trying to lift her up like this?
Isabel first saw Hanon during the first semester of her second year.
Naturally, she had no connection with him until now.
Did that kind of person, upon first seeing her, immediately recognize her state and insult Lucas?
‘That doesn’t make sense.’
Even if a mere coincidence piled up.
There were many peculiarities about his actions.
‘Above all, he seemed to know all about Jerion Academy from the very start.’
He was well-acquainted with Jerion Academy from his very first day.
Not only that.
He also had detailed knowledge about second-year students.
That would be impossible unless someone intentionally studied second-year students beforehand.
A person who knows Jerion Academy in detail and can also investigate second-year students.
Isabel raised her head.
She looked back at Hanon.
Hanon had proclaimed with his own mouth that he was the real Hanon.
While she didn’t believe him outright,
there had always been empty spots in her thoughts from before.
However, if Hanon wasn’t the real Hanon.
If he was actually a fake from the beginning,
the gaps that had been empty until now would fill in.
As Isabel reached that conclusion, her pupils widened.
In response, Hanon grinned.
Then, who on earth was he?
‘…Someone who knows me?’
And someone who would come all the way to the academy to save her.
Isabel’s lips twitched.
She didn’t jump to conclusions.
There was no guarantee that everything Hanon said was true.
He could have fabricated the story just to confuse her.
So Isabel decided to shake off the various questions fluttering in her mind for now.
“What purpose do you have in saying such things?”
Isabel slowly pulled out the sword she had brought for training.
The blade glimmered sharply in the sunlight, showcasing that it was genuine.
“I have no intention of playing along with your nonsense anymore.”
Whether or not what Hanon said was true,
his appearance would surely complicate matters for that person.
The truth could wait until after she captured Hanon.
“Ah, how scary!”
He looked nothing but scared.
With a slightly annoyed expression, Isabel immediately grounded her stance.
In an instant, the distance between Isabel and Hanon closed.
She gripped the sword tightly and swung it towards him without a hint of hesitation.
Her plan was to knock him out with a strike to the chin.
Just before the blade made contact.
Hanon bent backward with remarkable flexibility, avoiding her attack.
Dodging was something she predicted he would do.
Isabel didn’t stop; she chased Hanon and kept swinging her sword.
But Hanon dodged all of her strikes.
‘What kind of moves are those?’
Hanon seemed to perform acrobatic feats with reflexes and flexibility like he was in a circus.
He was quick.
It was as if she were trying to catch a squirrel.
That person believed in his own physical strength and engaged in brutal conflicts.
In contrast, Hanon had no intention of taking a single hit.
Both of them had completely different approaches to combat.
Hanon tumbled repeatedly and landed back on his feet.
“100 points!”
That lighthearted behavior was infuriating for no reason.
But Isabel admitted it.
This was something that couldn’t be captured without sincerity.
“Alright, calm down. I don’t want to fight. I just came to ask a genuine question.”
“Trying to provoke me and saying that doesn’t fly.”
“Provoke? I was just trying to befriend you!”
Isabel felt there was no longer any value in conversing.
Isabel caught her breath.
A different aura began to emanate from her than before.
Seeing this, Hanon tilted his head and made a decision.
“Fine, I’ve got something to take care of, so I’ll be leaving.”
With that statement, Hanon turned around without hesitation and dashed away.
Isabel immediately chased after him, but the distance between them widened in an instant.
Hanon’s running feet had become a blur.
“What.”
Isabel wore a momentary dumbfounded expression.
No matter how she looked at it, that was too fast.
She questioned if that was the speed a person could truly reach.
“What the heck is going on?”
Isabel threw aside her complex thoughts and put her sword away before sprinting after him.
＊＊＊
On the beach walkway.
Hanon was kicking up dust as he sprinted forward at an incredible speed.
Even while running at such a speed, he didn’t seem to get tired; his legs kept pushing forward.
‘Originally, my plan was to deceive him and gather information.’
He never expected to be identified so quickly.
He had certainly misjudged his first target.
‘Who should I target next?’
There was definitely the daughter of the Blue Magic Tower Lord.
He thought he should meet her when he unexpectedly realized that the sky had brightened above him.
When Hanon looked up, beams of light were pouring down.
“Oh.”
Involuntarily exclaiming, Hanon immediately changed direction.
As he did so, a beam of light crashed down where he had just stood.
Boom!
The ray of light struck the walkway, causing devastation.
As Hanon witnessed its power with his own eyes, he increased his running speed.
He zigzagged to avoid the rain of light.
As he did, Hanon’s gaze caught sight of the girl hovering gracefully above with a staff in hand.
Sharine Sazarith.
The daughter of the Blue Magic Tower Lord.
“Seems like they’ve already unveiled their identities over there.”
He regretted not heading toward them from the start.
Hanon steered his path towards the forest.
The woods were full of cover.
Shooting from above would have its limits.
As expected, Sharine’s sniping magic ceased.
Hanon darted through the depths of the forest with ease.
‘Isabel and that girl, Sharine…’
He couldn’t understand why Jerion Academy was so violent.
Although he felt disappointed about missing out on valuable information, he wouldn’t be able to gather more with the daughter of the Blue Magic Tower chasing after him.
Just as Hanon decided to slip away,
a hand suddenly burst forth from a tree near him.
“Whoa.”
Was it possible to pierce a tree like that with a hand?
Hanon stood frozen for a moment.
And beyond that tree.
A man with sharp eyes looked out.
Crack!
Hanon was seized by the neck along with the shattered tree.
It was already too late to escape.
His body dropped vertically toward the ground in an instant.
“Gah!”
Hanon’s arms and legs sprawled upwards when he hit the ground.
The man looking down at him was Bickamon.
Bickamon loosened his collar.
“I got you.”
Bickamon exhaled deeply.
“I understand your position, and I’m sorry for using violence. But this was the only way to catch you.”
“That’s regrettable. I was just getting started with the fun.”
As Hanon recovered from the impact, he wore a smile.
It seemed he was simply enjoying himself, regardless of what Bickamon did.
Bickamon clicked his tongue.
“Sorry, but it’s the end of the line for you.”
Now it was closing time.