Knock. Knock.
The sound echoed through the quiet corridor on the upper floor of the Beast Tamer Agency.
Mounted neatly on the polished door was a nameplate:
Head of the Beast Tamer Agency — Red Leaf City
Inside that office sat the most powerful authority in the city's beast-taming hierarchy.
"Come in."
The voice was calm. Melodious. And unmistakably in control.
Officer Bart swallowed.
It wasn't fear of meeting the Head that made his throat dry—not exactly.
Two hours had passed since the Awakening Ceremony ended, yet his body refused to relax. Every nerve remained taut, coiled tight as if danger might strike at any second. His thoughts moved sluggishly, weighed down by the memory of that unseen pressure… that suffocating presence.
He hadn't been able to shake it.
That was why he was here.
Bart exhaled and pushed the door open.
The office beyond was spacious and immaculate. Sunlight poured through tall windows, illuminating shelves lined with reports, sealed artifacts, and meticulously organized files. At the center sat a woman with silver hair tied neatly behind her head, sharp blue eyes focused on the document before her.
Elara Aquaris.
Head of the Beast Tamer Agency.
She didn't look up.
Flipping a page, she asked calmly, "Was there something you needed?"
Bart stood stiffly, hands clenched at his sides. He swallowed again before speaking.
"C-Chief… I'm Bart. Division Two, Awakening Center." His voice wavered despite his effort to steady it. "I have something important to report regarding today's awakenings."
Elara paused.
At the mention of the Awakening Center, she finally lifted her gaze and regarded him properly. Recognition flickered briefly across her eyes.
"I see," she said. "Bart, was it?"
Her gaze dropped back to the desk—resting briefly on the file placed neatly on top.
Sarah Ardent.
"Don't worry," Elara continued, her tone casual. "You'll receive a commendation. Possibly a promotion as well. Awakening both a B-rank and an S-rank in one ceremony is commendable."
She picked up her pen again.
"You may go."
For a moment—
Bart nearly did.
Every instinct urged him to salute, turn around, and leave while he still could.
Then—
That memory surfaced.
The pressure.The fear.The unmistakable sense of being watched.
Bart exhaled slowly.
"I'm not here about that, Chief."
The pen stopped.
Elara looked up—fully this time.
She set the document aside and folded her hands atop the desk. Her expression remained composed, but the air in the room cooled almost imperceptibly.
"Oh?" she said. "Then what are you here for, Officer Bart?"
The politeness remained.
The warning beneath it did not.
Bart straightened.
"I need to report something… abnormal," he said carefully. "Something that occurred during one of the awakenings."
Elara studied him in silence.
She disliked wasted time.She disliked emotional exaggeration even more.
Still—
Bart hadn't spoken lightly.
And he hadn't left when dismissed.
"…Very well," she said at last. "Speak."
Her eyes sharpened.
Bart nodded quickly, relief flickering across his face.
"After you personally escorted Sarah Ardent and the other awakened candidates away, the ceremony resumed," he said. "The next awakener was someone connected to her. His name is Kael Soren."
He took a breath to explain further—
But Elara raised a hand.
Stopping him.
"Officer Bart," she said calmly, "this is the Head Office. State what happened. Do not recount the entire ceremony."
Her voice never rose.
Yet Bart felt weight settle on his shoulders all the same.
"Yes, Chief," he replied immediately. "I'll be brief."
He straightened.
"I believe," Bart said carefully, "that Kael Soren's talent assessment may be… incorrect."
Elara's eyebrow lifted slightly.
"Incorrect?"
That was new.
She leaned back, fingers tapping once against the desk. Over the years, she had heard countless claims of faulty awakenings—almost all of them nonsense.
But rarely did such claims come from a seasoned officer.
"And what," she asked evenly, "leads you to that conclusion?"
Bart nodded, encouraged.
"When Miss Sarah awakened her talent, the crystal reacted abnormally," he said. "The glow was stronger. The color differed. The system addressed her by name."
Elara nodded once.
She already knew this.
Her fingers tapped again—a silent reminder to move on.
Bart swallowed.
"But when Kael Soren touched the crystal… it was different. Entirely different." He hesitated. "Fear filled the hall. Not panic—fear. Like something vast was—was about to surface. For a moment, I thought—"
"Officer Bart."
Elara's voice cut through him.
He stopped instantly.
Elara rose and turned toward a cabinet. She retrieved a blank document, returned to her desk, and wrote swiftly. After signing it, she slid the paper across the surface.
"For your outstanding service," she said calmly, "I'm granting you one week of leave. Effective immediately."
Bart stared at the paper.
A formal leave notice—authorized by the Head herself.
Slowly, he looked up.
Elara was smiling.
It was not a warm smile.
"B-But, Chief," Bart protested, gripping the paper. "What I felt wasn't imagination. It was—"
"Thank you for your dedication, Officer Bart," Elara said smoothly.
She gestured toward the door.
The conversation was over.
Bart understood.
No matter what he said next, it wouldn't matter.
His shoulders slumped. He lowered his gaze and nodded stiffly.
"…Yes, Chief."
He felt tired.
Not physically—something deeper. The kind of exhaustion that made a man doubt his own senses.
Maybe I really am overthinking it, he told himself.
He straightened, saluted, and left without another word.
The door closed softly behind him.
In the hallway, Bart exhaled shakily and looked down at the paper.
A week of leave.
"…I should just go home and sleep," he muttered.
And yet—
No matter how hard he tried, the memory refused to fade.
----
Only after Bart left did Elara allow herself to sigh.
She leaned back and rubbed her temples. "Honestly… why does everything complicated always land on my desk?" she muttered. "Looks like I'll need a talk with the Deputy."
In her mind, Bart's visit was already filed away—an overworked officer mistaking exhaustion for threat.
Nothing more.
Elsewhere—
In a cramped office buried under towering stacks of paperwork, the Deputy Head sneezed.
"Ah—choo!"
He frowned. "Who's cursing me now?"
Shaking his head, he picked up another report, eyes burning.
I never should've accepted this promotion, he thought bitterly.
Unaware of what was quietly approaching—
The Deputy sighed and returned to his work.
While beneath the calm surface of the Agency, something far more troublesome waited.
----
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