Chapter 06
“Are you crazy? Let go of me!”
The mage shoved Eloise hard.
She lost her balance and fell, slamming her side against the edge of a desk.
“Eloise, are you okay?”
Merlin rushed over and grabbed her.
Clutching her aching side, Eloise watched the mages sprint out in chaos.
“Merlin… we have to stop them.”
“Huh?”
“They can’t all go.”
“What are you talking about? What’s wrong with you? Are you dreaming with your eyes open?”
She wished it were a dream.
The Orange Hole in Cloverfield.
It wasn’t classified as an extremely dangerous Rainbow Hole.
However, despite the announced radius of five kilometers, the inside was more than five times larger.
Because of that, finding the core took an extremely long time.
And during that delay, a Green Hole opened in Windfield, a village on the opposite side of the empire.
It was small, with a radius of only one hundred meters, but its suction speed was the fastest among holes of the same rank.
In an instant, an entire village vanished.
Houses, trees, and people alike.
The aftermath of a Rainbow Hole was always horrifying, but the devastation left by the Green Hole in Windfield went beyond what words could describe.
Most of all, there hadn’t even been a chance to respond.
People cursed the Disaster Response Headquarters for dispatching all mages to the Orange Hole in Cloverfield.
After a period filled with harsh accusations and written reprimands, low-ranking employees were punished one after another with pay cuts and demotions.
When one of the employees who had become a scapegoat even took their own life, several others packed up and left the headquarters.
For a long time after that, even the people in the Demonic Energy Management Bureau could barely breathe.
They avoided going outside, afraid of being verbally abused by civilians.
Eloise didn’t want to relive that time.
She wanted to save people.
And she wanted to protect her coworkers.
The Green Hole in Windfield was extremely small compared to its destructive power, and its core could be found quickly.
Eloise even knew the exact location of the core.
‘I read those reports over and over during damage control.’
While thinking desperately about how they could have saved them.
This was an opportunity.
And yet, no one listened to her.
“Where is Vice Director Raven?”
“She’s probably in her office right now. Why? Are you going to see her?”
Before Merlin could stop her, Eloise ran out of the cafeteria.
***
What were the chances that a low-ranking employee could meet a vice director without an appointment?
Probably less than ten percent.
And Eloise, who had never once won the lottery in her life, failed to beat the ninety percent odds.
“The Vice Director has been dispatched to support the Cloverfield Orange Hole.”
Morgana’s secretary said.
Eloise felt despair wash over her.
Merlin, who had chased after her, pulled her away from the office door.
“Eloise! You can’t just barge into the vice director’s office! You said you wanted a promotion, didn’t you? If our team leader finds out you skipped him to go straight to the vice director, he’ll lose his mind. You should be grateful you didn’t meet her.”
Merlin said it out of genuine concern.
But it didn’t comfort Eloise at all.
Eloise stomped her feet in agitation.
What if everyone really died?
What if the village was destroyed?
The helplessness of knowing how to save people, yet being unable to stop the tragedy, was far worse than she imagined.
Just as Eloise was pacing back and forth—
“Tap it often.”
“Whenever you need to.”
“…Gerard!”
Why hadn’t she thought of this sooner?
Gerard alone was enough.
Eloise turned to Merlin.
“Merlin, I’m going to the bathroom.”
“All of a sudden?”
“Yeah. It’s urgent. And I’ll probably be a while.”
Merlin frowned but let go of her.
“I’ll see you at the office!”
Eloise shouted back and bolted toward the emergency stairs.
Behind her, she heard Merlin yelling worriedly, “Eloise! That’s not the bathroom!”
But she didn’t have time to answer.
Eloise locked the emergency stairwell door and caught her breath after sprinting.
Then, with a praying heart, she tapped the ring.
‘Sir Gerard… please come.’
The inside of the pink gemstone began to swirl, and a gentle breeze brushed past her.
Her heart pounded violently, her cheeks flushing before she realized it.
‘He’s coming.’
Gerard’s scent rode on the wind.
Eloise breathed in the fresh, clean fragrance deeply.
The scent grew stronger, and the wind gradually died down.
When her fluttering pink hair finally settled—
A deep, steady voice resonated before her.
“What is it?”
“Sir Gerard!”
Overwhelmed with relief, Eloise nearly grabbed him, then stopped herself and stepped back.
‘I’m not close to him yet.’
Remembering her first life had nearly erased her sense of distance.
‘Be careful.’
She forced control into her expression and took another step back.
“Eloise, what happened? Did someone bully you? Or did another problematic mage threaten you again?”
“I’m fine. The problem isn’t me. It’s Windfield…”
She stopped mid-sentence.
‘Will he believe me?’
The mage’s eyes from the cafeteria flashed through her mind.
Eyes that treated her like a madwoman.
Or an obstacle.
‘If I were in his position, I wouldn’t believe it either.’
She wasn’t a prophet.
Nor a Rainbow Hole expert.
Just a low-ranking civil servant with no proof.
This wasn’t the time to be labeled insane.
‘Then… what if I wait until the Green Hole opens and tell him?’
It would happen in about ten minutes.
She could stall him with small talk until then.
But even in the brief moment it took him to teleport, people could die.
‘I can’t let people die just because I’m afraid of being misunderstood.’
Eloise let out a strained groan.
“Eloise, say whatever you need to say.”
Gerard’s gentle words came at the worst possible moment.
In the end, prepared to be treated like a madwoman, Eloise spoke.
“It might sound absurd. But… will you trust me?”
“If it’s you, I will.”
It wasn’t a joke.
She felt pure sincerity.
She didn’t know why he trusted her, but now wasn’t the time to question it.
She nodded slightly and spoke as if revealing a grave secret.
“Please go to Windfield right now. A Rainbow Hole will open there.”
“Very well. Hold on tight.”
Gerard asked no questions.
Instead, he pulled her into his arms.
As he wrapped her in his white robe and murmured a spell, a teleportation circle formed beneath their feet and flashed brightly.
Blinded by the intense light, Eloise closed her eyes.
When she opened them again—
“T-there! A Rainbow Hole is opening!”
“Aaaah! Run! Get away!”
“Mom! Waaah—Mom!”
They were standing in the middle of Windfield Park, right as the Green Hole opened.
‘I never told him the coordinates.’
Was it a coincidence that they teleported to the exact location?
Eloise looked up at Gerard in shock.
He released her from his arms.
The warmth that had lingered on his face was gone.
He stared intently at the green hole tearing open in the sky.
“Stay here.”
Without waiting for her reply, he cast flight magic.
He kicked off the ground and shot into the air.
Only then did Eloise realize she hadn’t told him the core’s location.
She shouted desperately.
“The core—! The core is ten meters southwest from the entrance!”
Did he hear her?
He had to.
The massive green hole began pulling everything around it inward.
People trying to escape tangled together and fell.
“Mom… Mom…!”
A child who had lost their parent collapsed, crying, as light objects like bags and strollers floated up and were sucked into the hole.
Eloise snapped back to her senses.
“Everyone! Grab onto the trees! Just hold on for five minutes!”
Shouting, she scooped up a fallen child.
“Waaah!”
Holding the sobbing child tightly, she ran toward the nearest tree.
“Hold on tight.”
She wedged the child between her body and the tree and wrapped her arms around the trunk.
The sounds of people falling, slipping, and screaming filled her ears.
The Green Hole slowly grew larger and more violent.
