For Ethan, Kyle had become a nightmare that simply refused to stop appearing before his eyes.

He was like a bad omen that followed him everywhere. Whenever Ethan felt things were finally getting better, whenever he thought he could forget that dreadful existence, Kyle would appear before him once again.

Just like now.

When Kyle stepped into the room, everyone except Amanda was stunned.

Naturally, they would be.

Until recently, Kyle had been nothing more than an ordinary student in their eyes. Sure, he came from a prestigious family, but beyond that, there was nothing particularly remarkable about him. And until recently, he did not possess even a trace of Genesis.

Then—

"He is the same Nightwalker who saved your lives recently. The cloaked figure who had been operating in secrecy has finally decided to step forward and join us."

"Huh? It was you?" Clara instantly asked, her eyes widening. "So the one I beat that night was actually you?"

Amanda frowned while Kyle chuckled lightly. "Be thankful I was holding back."

Clara narrowed her eyes, but the moment she remembered what he had done to the Knull Residents afterward, she immediately fell silent.

There was no room for doubt.

He was monstrously strong, someone who had not only protected the people but had also taken down those rifts all by himself.

Hannah had gone completely silent as well, though for reasons entirely different from Ethan’s.

She was piecing things together.

Amanda hiding things. The locker incident. Ethan’s suspicions.

And the more she thought about it... the more everything began to make sense.

So Ethan had not been wrong to suspect him.

It really was Kyle after all.

Veronica then spoke, "For the next ten days, Kyle will be spending his time here as a trainee, so take care of him. I will—"

"Commander."

"Ethan?" Timothy frowned. "Do you understand who you’re interrupting?" The man looked visibly displeased.

Ethan raised his eyes and continued, "I apologize for being rude, but this situation is too absurd for me to stay silent."

Veronica nearly rolled her eyes at how predictable this was, though she still allowed him to continue.

"Ma’am... how can we share the same space with someone who should be locked in a prison right now?" Ethan narrowed his eyes at Kyle before continuing, "Not only did he break dozens of rules by hiding his identity, interfering in our operations, and misusing his powers in public areas, he also put countless lives at risk by launching an attack he clearly couldn’t control."

Snarling, he added, "How are we supposed to trust someone who never trusted us in the first place? How can we believe that a person willing to break the fundamental laws of our world won’t do it again the moment it benefits him? What—"

"Can you stop spouting bullshit?" Amanda interrupted, no longer able to hold herself back.

Everyone in the room was stunned by the way she spoke, especially with the two highest-ranking officers present.

Ethan scoffed. "Can’t handle the truth?"

Amanda glared at him, her fists tightly clenched as she spoke.

"Do you want to hear the truth?"

She turned toward him fully, staring straight into his eyes as she made herself loud and clear.

"That day... Layena, our first and last line of defense, was only a breath away from death."

The words knocked the breath out of Ethan’s throat. His eyes widened slightly.

But Amanda was not done.

"She had already given up, and even I knew I couldn’t take on hundreds of monsters alone. We had lost hope. There was no backup, no second plan. We were overwhelmed and cornered into complete helplessness."

A growl escaped her as she continued.

"If you had shown up back then and actually done something to change the situation, maybe I could’ve tolerated this crap coming out of your mouth. But now..." Her eyes burned with fury as they locked onto him. "Every time you badmouth Kyle, you just sound like a pathetic bastard. Fucking asshole."

The disgust in her voice was sharp enough to feel like a spit to the face.

Ethan had fallen completely silent.

Right... Layena...

Once again, he had not been there when she needed him the most.

Clara, however, did not stay quiet for long.

"Why are you speaking in his defense when you should be just standing there? And how disrespectful can you be toward your own team captain?"

"Alright, calm down, all of you." Veronica finally spoke up. She had enjoyed herself while Amanda was talking, but everything afterward had become a waste of time.

Clara shot Amanda one last glare before both of them turned toward the Commander.

Noticing Ethan still standing there with vacant eyes, Veronica glanced toward Timothy.

The vice-commander stepped forward and told Ethan, "Come with me."

Ethan moved like a lifeless puppet, silent and hollow.

Timothy led him away, leaving only five people inside the room.

Veronica let out a sigh before speaking again.

"Getting back to the topic, Kyle will be staying here as a trainee, and I’m assigning Amanda and Hannah as his mentors."

"Ah, me too?" Hannah sounded surprised.

"Yeah, her too?" Amanda sounded even more surprised.

Veronica rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I can’t have him wasting his time on trivial things. With Hannah, he’ll actually learn something useful."

Veronica already knew exactly how Amanda would spend her hours with Kyle. That was why someone else needed to monitor him too. Someone responsible, disciplined, and not overly familiar with him.

Layena would have been the perfect choice. She was reliable, and Kyle would not have felt awkward around her.

But with her hospitalized right now... Hannah was the next best option.

Amanda groaned inwardly. This woman was unbelievably mean.

She was absolutely doing this on purpose just to create distance between them.

Veronica ignored Amanda’s reaction entirely before turning to Kyle.

"Get to know them a little before reporting to my office."

Kyle slowly nodded, then watched Veronica step out of the room, leaving the four of them alone.

Clara did not waste even a second after the Commander left.

She shot Kyle one brief glance before hurrying away.

Kyle sighed. "Well, I clearly have quite a few opinions to deal with here."

Amanda immediately reassured him. "Don’t mind them, Kyle. You’re more than welcome here." She walked up to him and gently took his hand in hers.

Hannah knew staying around any longer was probably not a good idea, so she simply said, "I look forward to working with you."

Kyle nodded toward her before the short-haired girl left the room as well.

Once they were alone, Amanda hugged his arm and pulled herself closer to him.

"Tell me something, my dear boyfriend."

Kyle smiled and hummed softly. "It was a good surprise, wasn’t it?"

Amanda huffed. "Yes and no. I’m happy to see you finally taking your first step into the life of a Nightwalker, but I’m upset that you didn’t tell me you were coming."

Amanda had not even dressed up properly since she thought they would be assigned to a mission today.

But now that she thought about it...

"The Commander looked all dolled up... and I have a feeling it wasn’t random at all."

Kyle gave her a wry smile. "I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about."

Amanda narrowed her eyes at him.

Suspicious.

She definitely needed to keep an eye on that woman.