Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

Helping Glenn in the research wasn't easy at all. It was actually really hard. So hard that Kairen felt like dying. It was even harder than killing a level 2 monster! 

Searching for information, gathering everything that seemed to be related to the case, reading them all, and extracting the small pieces that seemed to be useful. It was a small part of what they were busy doing in the past few hours. Well, it was more than a few hours as it was now past midnight.

'Don't these guys go home? Aren't you tired? Don't you want to rest? What about a cup of coffee? Isn't there anyone to save me?'

Kairen had been having those thoughts nonstop while doing everything that Glenn asked him to do. Kairen felt like a slave. He was tired as fuck. 

'Why did the team leader bring me back to the capital? Only to help out Glenn? If he wanted someone to help Glenn, wouldn't Serria be better than me?'

No matter how much he thought, he couldn't understand the team leader's purpose. He thought if team leader Dains wanted someone to help out Glenn, Serria would be the best choice. She was intelligent and fast, not comparable to himself. She was also a mage so she could activate the device as well.

'Is it too late to change my job?'

Kairen sincerely regretted all of the decisions he had made in this world. If not for those decisions, he wouldn't be suffering like this right now. 

Was it his fault?

'It is that Kairen 1 bastard who caused this. And also that two friends of his!'

It was because of them that Kairen joined SMF. The thought of working in this place wouldn't even cross his mind if not for them.

'I shouldn't have agreed with them so easily...'

In the end, the only one he could blame was himself. He was too clueless back then, so he had almost blindly accepted what others told him. Maybe, there were other ways to find a way to go back to his own world even if he didn't work in SMF, he thought.

It was only his second day working here and only his first mission. How would the rest of the missions be if this was merely the first one?

'This world is a cruel and unjust place. There is no-'

"Don't doze off. Bring that file here."

"Yes."

Unlike Kairen, Glenn didn't seem tired at all. He was still focused on working without showing signs of exhaustion.

Kairen got up and picked the documents that Glenn wanted. The file in his hands was a summary of what they had found about that man since morning. There were some old reports, pieces of newspaper, and other things like that.

_2 February of the year 2555, was when a group of mountaineers lost their way in the snowstorm. They, who had ignored the warnings about the storm, decided to climb Mount Fiera but got lost due to the storm. Unable to find their way in the mountain, they wandered in the cold wilderness. When they thought that there was no hope to survive, they encounter a mysterious man who offers them to stay in his house! 

_The group couldn't believe him at first, they were afraid of the stranger that suddenly popped up and offered them help. But not having another option to survive, they accepted his offer and followed him. Surprisingly enough, the man really gave them a warm place to stay!

J.M, one of the mountaineers says: He told us to follow him if we wanted to survive. He didn't tell us his name but I can say that he was a young man with good looks. The only thing he said was that we weren't allowed to touch anything in his house. He gave us a small amount of food and kicked us out of his house once the storm was over. We are really grateful to him. We owe our lives to that man. I hope he lives well wherever he is.

. . . . . .

6 April 2551

_ 6 April 2551, 2 people died and 4 disappeared in an avalanche. According to the reports we've received, a group of unfortunate skiers had encountered an avalanche while skiing in the small mountains around Mount Fiera. Two ao them are said to be dead while 4 weren't found. The rescue team is still searching for the lost people, but it is said that they are most probably dead.

8 April 2551

_ The miraculous return of the lost skiers surprises everyone! The skiers that were lost in the avalanche two days ago return to the camp, safe and sound! When asked about what had happened to them, they talk about a man who had saved them! 

It appears that the said man, who had introduced himself as 'The man of mountains', was the one who saved the people trapped under the snow and helped them go back to the camp. No one knows who that man was but it is obvious that these skiers were saved by him.

. . . . .

"Man of mountains..."

Glenn mumbled that under his lips while flipping through the articles.

The man of mountains.

This was how the man had called himself during the interrogation. They didn't know if he had intentionally told them about this title or it was only his habit to go around and call himself like that, but something was obvious: They probably wouldn't have been able to find these few articles if the man didn't call himself by that title in the interrogation.

As the man had said, they couldn't find much about him using his own name. He called himself Alan Gill. When they searched that name, there was nothing. There were no records of his birth, residence, property, family, or any kind of social interaction as if such a person didn't exist at all.

After searching incidents that had occurred around Mount Fiera in the past few years, there were some cases that they could relate to him. Besides the few times that 'A mysterious and unknown man' had saved or helped people, there were a few other cases where wild animals got killed, old furnishings got lost. There was even a report of people encountering a 'ghost' at night in the mountain near the man's house.

"We are almost done."

"Really?"

"These are the only things I could find in just a day. I will keep searching for anything related to Alan Gill, but it will probably take more time. It can even take a few weeks. I guess this much is enough for now."

"I see."

Glenn glanced at Kairen for a moment before giving him another file.

"I also looked into the reports about the mission you mentioned before. Here are the summed-up details about that. Give this file and the file about Alan Gill to the team leader."

"Yes."

Kairen received the bunch of papers that Glenn gave him. He wondered if team leader Dains was still in the headquarters or not, but he nodded his head nevertheless and walked out of the room.

.

It wasn't hard to find the team leader. He was still in the room beside the interrogation room.

"You didn't find anything about any out-of-ordinary activities in that area besides these?"

"No, sir."

Team leader Dains asked that after carefully reading the information.

That man, Alan, was held in a prison. He protested so much to being held in this place even after he had answered their questions, cursing everyone he saw and struggling to punch team leader Dains in the face. The agents hurriedly dragged him away after seeing him nearly beat the team leader. 

Team leader Dains looked at Darren that was sleeping on the other side of the table with his head on the table and got up.

He walked towards Darren, stood beside him, and kicked his side hard.

"AAACK! WHAT THE SUN OF A- ...Good morning team leader."

"We are going back."

"Now?"

"Yes."

Darren got up from his seat while robbing his side.

"What about that dude?"

"He will be imprisoned here till we find more information."

Team leader Dains then turned back and headed to the teleportation room.

'Hold on a minute. We are going back? No, wait. I'm hungry. I want to sleep! Are there guys crazy? Don't you need to sleep and eat? We can't really go there like this...'

Darren gazed at the team leader's departing back for a moment before turning his head and looking at Kairen's face. He looked at Kairen's depressed expression for a moment before patting Kairen's back and nodding his head.

"Yeah, I know. I know"

He only said that before also heading to the teleportation room. 

Kairen held back his tears and followed them from behind. 

'I want to change my job. Help! Kairen 1 you bastard. Ah, Reyan! I thought you were my friend! Ah... trusting him was wrong from the beginning...'