Gaegukja Yeol sat on the air with her legs crossed, staring down at a screen that was floating just above her knees. Even though the backdrop of her screen was the blazing sunlike orb, it didn’t affect her vision of the contents.

“Is that an egg?”

“Similar but not quite,” Kim Hajun, the half-naked man, said. He held his extended arm out even further. “This is a princess ant pupa personally nourished by the queen. If you feed it your mana in this stage of its growth, you’ll be able to form a mental link with it. The ant colonies she creates in the future will all be under your control. If you have the resources, you could raise enough ants to conquer an empire.”

The demon, who through spying through the administrator’s lens Gaegukja Yeol learned was named Tafel, looked down at the Heart of Fire she was holding before looking at the ant pupa. If Gaegukja Yeol was in Tafel’s place, she’d gladly trade away the Heart of Fire for the pupa. One could buy a dozen Heart of Fires as if they were chicken eggs for the price of one White-Striped Princess Ant Pupa, and she wasn’t just thinking that because Heart of Fires were easy for her to obtain—because they weren’t. What was Kim Hajun thinking? Of all the trial takers this time around, he was the strongest of the regular folk. As someone able to slay the queen ant and identify a princess ant pupa, Kim Hajun should have had some knowledge about the pupa’s value.

Gaegukja Yeol’s eyes narrowed. Either Kim Hajun was a fool, or he had his own reasons for wanting to obtain a Heart of Fire no matter what the cost. Perhaps he was someone sent by a different faction in the tower to infiltrate the fire spirit race. Like how the administrator position could be bought through money, the knowledge of who was going to be the administrator could likewise be purchased. If someone was specifically targeting her…. Gaegukja Yeol’s flaming hair flared like a campfire given a burst of oxygen. Her hands clenched together, and her eyes locked onto the screen.

“I don’t quite understand,” Vur and Tafel’s other companion, the who they called Auntie, said. “You want to trade a beast capable of conquering empires when its older for a crystal that teaches you fire magic?”

Kim Hajun stared straight ahead, his stony expression betraying none of his thoughts. “Yes. That’s correct.”

“I don’t think any of us mind trading away the Heart of Fire,” the elf said before looking behind herself. “But first, let’s deal with these ants.”

The reinforcements the queen ant had called were swarming into the cavern through the vast network of tunnels. Vur raised a hand, but the elf grabbed his forearm and forced it back down, causing Vur to look at her with a questioning expression. The elf smiled at Vur. “I’m curious as to how our buddy here fights.”

Tafel nodded. “It looks like lightning magic,” she said and looked around the cavern. A lot of it was charred. “It doesn’t seem weak either.” She glanced at the diamond in her hand. If Kim Hajun was already capable of using lightning magic to this degree, maybe the Heart of Fire provided more than just a little mastery of fire magic. The members of Swirling Wind had warned her about swindlers and their tricks before.

“We don’t have to worry about the ants,” Kim Hajun said and gestured at the glowing pupa he was holding. “With this in our arms, they won’t make a move.”

The elf looked around. As Kim Hajun had said, the ants weren’t attacking. They were standing a certain distance away, their antennas were waving wildly, but none of the ants came any closer than the rest, creating a circle of insects around the charred corpse of the queen ant.

Kim Hajun cleared his throat and lowered his arm. “I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “And I will be completely honest with you: the only reason I’m willing to trade this ant pupa for your Heart of Fire is because that is Gaegukja Yeol’s Heart of Fire.”

“Gaegukja Yeol’s Heart of Fire?” Tafel asked, holding the diamond up.

Kim Hajun nodded. “Do you believe in love at first sight?” His stony expression was tinged with a shade of pink. “I was jealous when she offered your husband a gift, and I wanted that gift for myself. Also, I’m broke, and this is the only thing bargaining chip I have.”

Tafel’s eyes widened as her eyebrows rose. “You have a crush on that fire woman?”

“I…. Yes,” Kim Hajun said and took in a deep breath through his nose. “You could put it that way.”

“Wow,” Tafel said. “That’s really, uh, never mind. I hope things work out between the two of you.”

“Does that mean you’ll trade with me?” Kim Hajun asked.

“Yeah,” Vur said, answering in Tafel’s place. His eyes were and had been glued on the princess ant pupa ever since Kim Hajun first offered it to him. It looked like a miniature version of the large ants they had seen in the tunnels, but the pupa had wings. It had a glossy, red shell, and because it was curled up and unmoving, it looked more like a statue carved out of jade than an ant. There was also a bright glow shining from the pupa’s thorax, causing its whole body to shine with a red light.

“Vur, you can’t believe everything a person says,” Tafel said.

Vur shook his head. “It doesn’t matter,” he said and pointed at the ant pupa. “I want it.”

“What if Gaegukja Yeol resents you for giving away the gift she gave you?” Stella asked, sticking her head out of Vur’s chest, causing Kim Hajun’s gaze to flicker.

Vur paused and looked at the diamond in Tafel’s hand. Then, he looked at the glistening, appetizing, near-pristine snack pupa in Kim Hajun’s hand. Vur’s hesitation ended, and he grabbed the Heart of Fire before swapping it with the pupa in Kim Hajun’s hand. Vur swallowed down his saliva and held the ant pupa close to his chest, taking a step back towards Tafel and away from Kim Hajun. “No take backs.”

Gaegukja Yeol, who had witnessed the entire transaction, stared at the screen in the silence. Even her usual crackling flames were burning like low embers flickering on a piece of charcoal.