Damon spun around with a start. However, the only thing he could see was the empty hallway. He held his breath and focused all his senses but as expected, he couldn’t sense anything.

‘Maybe I’m just imagining it?’

In the end, Damon came to that conclusion and scratched the back of his head bashfully. Then he turned back to his front and began following the butterfly again.

* * *

‘What’s with this stupid guy?’

Lakis looked at the man in front of him with a bit of disbelief. The man had deep blue hair like the sea. It was none other than Damon Salvatore.

It had been around 5 minutes since Lakis discovered his presence. After confirming that Yuri had entered the auction house building a while ago, Lakis stayed outside the building instead of following her right away.

The quiet night breeze gently blew through Lakis’ hair. His sharp eyes were exposed by the swaying on his golden hair and they gleamed from the reflection of the moonlight.

Lakis’ slightly narrowed eyes stared at familiar building in front of him. He had come here before to check for the ruin’s fragment after the festival so Lakis was no stranger to it.

It was late and deep into the night.

Unlike the night of the festival which was noisy and boisterous, all the buildings had their lights off and there was no one around so the desolate streets were somewhat dreary.

Lakis couldn’t figure out why Yuri came to the auction house now after all this time, so he was puzzled.

‘Is it because of a ruin’s fragment? Or is it just something else?’

If it was the former, it would be difficult for her to find anything here since Lakis had already turned the place upside down. Most of all, there was nothing peculiar about the ruin’s fragment that was in this auction house.

Lakis had tried searching through many channels but learnt that the person who first discovered the ruin’s fragment had coincidentally found a stone of mysterious power in an eastern forest by the northwest border.

He had used a little of his brainwashing powers to confirm it himself, so he knew it wasn’t a lie. Of course, if you were to ask him if the appearance of the ruin’s fragment was really by chance then…he didn’t have the answer to that.

Either ways, Lakis wanted to go into the building in front of him and find out more about what Yuri was doing. But for some reason, he felt like if he entered the building, Yuri would catch onto his presence.

Of course, Lakis was able to erase his presence like no other but Yuri had also absorbed the ruin’s fragment and her five senses were abnormally advanced. Furthermore, Yuri was the only person inside the building. In such a situation, it was possible for her to notice something if Lakis went inside.

In addition, one thing bothered him…

.

‘Being too clingy is not attractive.’

.

Lakis’ face crumpled at the voice lingering in his ears. He still remembered what Yuri said the other day. It made Lakis feel conflicted.

And so, while he fell into contemplation outside the building, someone came up to the front. The man’s appearance was clearly visible to Lakis even in the dark.

Blue hair. Black eyes. And a fairly handsome face.

Lakis easily realized that this blue-haired man was the person he saw in front of the coffee-house not long ago. But why was this man coming to where Yuri was? Was it a simple coincidence?Lakis didn’t really hide himself, he only reduced his presence but despite that, the man didn’t even notice his existence.

Lakis quietly watched as the man approached. But then his attention was drawn to the white butterfly that kept flying in front of the man. Somehow, he didn’t think it was an ordinary butterfly…

Even the blue thread tied to it gave him an faintly odd sensation. However, the man was a hilarious sight. It’s not like he was walking a dog with a leash but there he was, following a butterfly with a thread tied to it. But there was something even more hilarious.

—This guy, is he dull? He doesn’t even know people are following him.

There were three people tailing behind the man. Judging from the atmosphere, they didn’t seem like bodyguards and the shadowing looked certain…

Yet, not knowing that, the man was only focused on the butterfly and looked straight ahead.

—Wow, he kept coming this way, so I had a hunch and he really entered this building. Did he and the landlady promise to meet up here?

Lakis stared at the man passing right in front of him with cold eyes. And the next moment, Lakis’ brows furrowed slightly. Now that he could see it up close, he was almost certain of it.

That butterfly. The feeling from it was definitely the same as the faint energy he felt whenever Yuri used her ability.

That moment, a subtle feverish heat surged inside Lakis.

Even though his mind was telling him that it might just be a simple marker like Odin’s feathers…

The fact that the butterfly with Yuri’s energy was in someone else’s hand made his mood fall to the bottom.

—Look who’s jealous again. Are you going kill this guy? Although, that might be fun too.

Lakis tried to push down the murderous intent that unconsciously leaked out of him. He clenched and unclenched the fists by his side a few times. Like the bug said, he had no intention of killing this man right now. However, he was sure of one thing.

‘To think he stupidly came with people on his tail; he’ll only be a hindrance to Yuri.’

Lakis coldly stared at the pathetic man who had no idea people were even following him. Even when one of the people tailing him followed him into the building at a slight distance, he still didn’t notice.

Then again, even the trailing person didn’t notice Lakis’ presence at the door.

Anyways, regardless of whether that annoying blue-haired man came to meet with Yuri or not, he couldn’t just leave the people tagging along alone.

Lakis moved quietly, like a shadow in the dark.

For now, it seemed like he had to quietly take care of the three people following the man.

* * *

Yuri also noticed that there was someone else following Damon early on. She was sure only one person entered the building initially but after a while, the presences in the building increased to two so she couldn’t help but notice.

But as Yuri was walking towards the uninvited guest, one of the two people, the one following behind, suddenly disappeared.

‘What was that?’

Yuri was puzzled by the sudden disappearance. She tried to focus her senses but she could only sense on person moving in the building. At first, she thought the person at the back changed directions and headed somewhere else but that wasn’t the case.

Yuri tilted her head.

However, with her easygoing personality, she wasn’t the type to be interested in everything, so her curiosity quickly went away.Yuri began to go down the stairs. And after a while, a man coming up the stairs from below came into her sight. Unsurprisingly, Yuri discovered Damon before Damon discovered Yuri.

Yuri frowned at the unexpected identity of the person who appeared in front of her. If she were to describe how she felt upon seeing Damon Salvatore in the empty auction house building…it was something like ‘Wait, why are you suddenly here?’.

Yuri felt this situation was a little ridiculous. The moment she saw the butterfly flying in front of Damon Salvatore, the ridiculousness she felt increase.

From what she could tell, Damon’s purpose wasn’t the auction house, instead he seemed to have used the piece of paper they exchanged as a way to track her down.

‘What is that thread?’

A ordinary thread wouldn’t be able to bind the butterfly so she wondered if he was using an alchemized version. Yuri looked at Damon with new eyes since he was using her communication butterfly as a guide to come all the way here.

Was he that obsessed with having the philosopher’s stone? Or was he angry because of the last note she sent to him?

Uh, if so, was this a real life PK? [1]

While Yuri was thinking that, Damon gradually narrowed their distance and finally climbed to about twenty steps from where Yuri stood.

“F**k…there’s way too many stairs.”

He didn’t seem to have noticed Yuri’s presence yet. Damon grumbled under his breath then he stepped on the next step and inadvertently raised his head.

And finally, he discovered Yuri at the top.

“Gah!”

Damon almost jumped out of his skin in fear. He seemed really taken by surprise. Then again, anyone would do the same if they were in a dark and quiet building and someone suddenly appeared in front of them.

“Ha, haa. T-The hell. Ku…”

Damon even grabbed his chest and roughly gasped for breath. It was to the point where someone might be concerned that he had a heart disease if they saw him like this.

Yuri unconsciously almost asked if he was okay, but she quickly shut her mouth. She had spoken with Damon Salvatore a few time already. And he seemed to be that type that caught on fast. So if she spoke now, even if she altered her voice, he might just notice who she was.

Fortunately, the surroundings were dark right now and Yuri was covering her face.

From the looks of things, Damon Salvatore was only surprised by the circumstances and nothing more. Might as well just deal with the butterfly and go.

Fwip!

With that thought in mind, Yuri shot out a thread and cut the blue thread connected to Damon’s hand. And with that, the caught butterfly regained its freedom and flew to Yuri.

“Ha, fu…Oi, are you the owner of that butterfly?”

Right then, Damon straightened his body which was leaning on the railing and looked at Yuri with anger in his eyes.

His face was red.

It was difficult to tell if it was red because he was out of breath earlier or because he was embarrassed by his actions later on.

Yuri didn’t answer and simply dismantled the butterfly flying beside her.

“F**k, I’m right. Eat this!”

That very moment, Damon threw something at her.

Translator’s Corner:

[1] [Player Killing.] If you’ve played games, you’ve either heard or experienced this.