The office finally fell quiet.
Some time had passed since the meeting ended.
Most areas of the Administrative Center were gradually returning to their nighttime state.
The footsteps in the corridors had become sparse.
Occasionally, a staff member would pass by.
A moment later, they would disappear into the distance.
Outside the window, the snowstorm continued.
Heavy clouds covered the night sky.
The city lights were blurred by the curtain of snow.
The glass reflected the lights inside the office.
It also reflected the silhouettes of the three people.
Snowflakes continued to fall.
They struck the reinforced glass, producing a faint and rhythmic sound.
The lights inside the office remained steady.
The terminal on the desk had not been turned off.
The analysis data was still displaying the page about the pollution crystal.
Several reports were neatly arranged on the right side of the desk.
They had not yet been organized.
A faint warmth from the hot drinks still lingered in the air.
The room was quiet.
No one was in a hurry to speak.
The discussion about the pollution crystal had ended.
Yet no one felt relieved.
Because everyone knew.
The real problem was not the department store incident that had already ended.
It was the creator who had yet to show himself.
Although the meeting was over, the pressure it had left behind still remained in the office.
The pollution crystal.
Something that should have disappeared into history.
Yet now, it had appeared once again.
That meant the past had never truly ended.
It also meant the future would not become peaceful because of it.
Oksana slowly sat back down in her office chair.
Her movements were as composed as always.
She leaned back slightly.
Her hands rested naturally on the desk.
Her gaze once again fell on Lucian.
During the meeting, what she had seen was an ability user.
A young man who had also helped Northveil contain the pollution.
But now, she wanted to understand the person in front of her.
She wanted to know what he truly intended to do.
After a brief silence, she slowly spoke.
"Changing the circumstances of ability users."
She repeated what he had said earlier.
Her voice was calm.
There was neither doubt nor agreement in it.
It sounded more like she was confirming the words themselves.
"That is a very ambitious goal."
Lucian nodded lightly.
"I know."
"And."
"It won't be easy."
His answer was calm.
There was no hesitation because of the size of his goal.
Nor did his age make him seem impulsive.
It was as if he had accepted this reality long ago.
The office became quiet again.
The snowstorm continued to strike the glass.
Warning lights on the tops of distant buildings blinked slowly.
The entire city continued its nighttime operations.
The Pollution Processing Center.
Hospitals.
Patrol departments.
People were still working without rest.
Northveil never stopped operating simply because night had fallen.
Especially after a pollution incident, there was still a massive amount of follow-up work waiting to be done.
Statistics.
Quarantine.
Inspection.
Resident relocation.
Site cleanup.
Every task required large numbers of people to continue working.
When a pollution incident ended, what truly ended was often only the most dangerous stage.
The remaining work could continue for many days.
Sometimes even longer.
Oksana looked at Lucian.
Then she slowly said,
"The problem with ability users."
"It has never been the abilities themselves."
She paused for a moment.
"It is people."
Her voice fell.
The office became quiet again.
Lucian did not argue.
Because there was nothing wrong with what she had said.
An ability was merely a form of power.
The people who possessed that power were the ones who ultimately decided how it would be used.
Some people used their abilities to protect others.
Some used them to exploit others.
Some fought for their country.
Some killed for their desires.
Abilities could not make choices on their own.
The ones who truly made the choices were always the people who possessed them.
Silence lasted for several seconds.
Oksana continued.
"Northveil spent decades building its pollution-processing system."
"Even now."
"People still die in pollution incidents."
"People still disappear."
"People are still forced to enter high-risk areas."
She spoke calmly.
There was no exaggeration in her words.
Because these things happened every day.
As the highest-ranking official in Northveil, she received accident reports almost every day.
Pollution levels.
Rescue operations.
Casualties.
Area lockdowns.
Post-incident procedures.
One report after another.
Together, they formed part of the machinery that kept the nation running.
Sometimes, a report was only a few pages long.
Yet it meant that an entire processing team would never return.
Sometimes, behind a string of numbers were several families who would never see their loved ones again.
These things did not decrease simply because time passed.
Nor would they stop because someone wished for them to.
Many ability users entered contaminated zones without even knowing whether they would make it back.
But someone had to go in.
Otherwise, the pollution would continue to spread.
Someone would always have to bear the risk.
That was reality.
It was also the reality Northveil had faced all along.
She quietly exhaled.
Her gaze turned toward the window once again.
Snow covered the entire city.
The lights remained on.
From above, Northveil looked no different from any other night.
The streets were still operating.
Vehicles were still moving.
People would still wake up to another morning.
Yet only a handful of people knew that just a few hours ago, a pollution incident capable of causing a major disaster had only just ended.
And incidents like this would continue to happen in the future.
"Many things."
"Cannot be changed simply because you want to change them."
She spoke slowly.
Her voice remained calm.
Yet it carried a weight that could only come from years of experience.
It was not pessimism.
It was the calmness of someone who had experienced countless realities and continued moving forward anyway.
The office fell silent again.
The snowstorm continued to strike the glass.
Time seemed to slow down.
Lucian looked toward the window.
Snowflakes continued to fall.
They covered the city of Northveil.
His gaze did not linger on the lights.
Instead, he looked farther into the distance.
After a moment, he slowly spoke.
"That is why."
"Someone has to start."
His voice was not loud.
Yet it was exceptionally firm.
It did not sound like a rebuttal.
It sounded more like an answer to himself.
The room fell silent again.
Irina sat to the side.
Her hands gently held the hot drink that was gradually losing its warmth.
She had remained silent throughout the entire conversation.
She had only listened quietly to the two of them.
But at this moment, she finally realized.
This conversation was no longer about the department store.
Nor was it about the pollution crystal.
It was a conversation between two different positions.
Oksana stood on the side of reality.
Every day, she faced the nation.
Order.
And the status quo that countless ability users had maintained with their lives.
Lucian stood on the side of the future.
He was thinking about what kind of future ability users could have.
Whether they could have a world different from the one that existed now.
Neither side denied the other.
Yet neither could easily convince the other.
The office became quiet once again.
Only the snow continued to fall slowly outside.
The silence lasted for a moment.
Finally, Oksana broke it.
"The Jace Family supports you?"
She asked directly.
There was no probing.
Nor did she deliberately avoid the subject.
For her, this was something that had to be confirmed.
If what Lucian represented was more than just himself, then the meaning of this conversation would be completely different.
Lucian smiled faintly.
"Partially."
The answer was simple.
Yet it brought a faint smile to Oksana's face.
That was very much like the Jace Family.
A family that large could not possibly have every member share the same position.
Nor could every decision remain unanimous.
Some would support him.
Others would oppose him.
That was normal.
The atmosphere in the office eased slightly.
After a brief silence, Oksana asked again.
"Then."
"What are you planning to do now?"
Lucian did not answer immediately.
Instead, he thought for a moment.
Then he slowly spoke.
"Observe."
"Learn."
"Record."
"See how different countries operate."
"See what ability users truly need."
His voice remained calm.
There were no grand declarations.
Nor did he paint a picture of some future world.
He was simply describing, step by step, what he intended to do.
Oksana listened carefully.
She did not interrupt.
"If you don't even know what the problem is."
"Then talking about changing it is meaningless."
Lucian continued.
"The problems facing ability users cannot exist in only one country."
"Every country has its own way of dealing with them."
"Only by seeing them for myself."
"Can I know what is worth learning."
"And what needs to change."
The office became quiet again.
Irina looked at Lucian.
Her gaze shifted slightly.
Until today, she had not realized that Lucian had been observing everything all along.
After arriving in Northveil, he had not rushed to judge this place.
Nor had he rushed to offer his own opinions.
Most of the time, he had simply watched.
The pollution-processing system.
The way ability users were managed.
The relationship between ordinary people and ability users.
And precisely because of that, every word he had spoken just now did not sound like empty speculation.
They sounded like conclusions reached after careful thought.
Irina suddenly lowered her head.
She looked at the cup in her hands.
What do ability users truly need?
She had never seriously considered that question.
Ever since entering the Pollution Processing Department, she had spent every day training.
Carrying out missions.
Processing pollution.
She had long since become accustomed to this kind of life.
She had even thought that this was simply what ability users were supposed to do.
Until today.
For the first time, she realized that there was someone standing farther away, thinking about the future of the entire ability-user population.
Just then, the communicator on the desk suddenly lit up.
A soft notification sound broke the silence in the office.
Oksana pressed the connection button.
The secretary's voice quickly came through.
"First Director."
"The first round of investigation has been completed."
"The evidence left at the scene."
"The statements from members of the terrorist organization."
"The remaining pollution crystal."
"All have completed their preliminary analysis."
Oksana spoke calmly.
"Conclusion."
The secretary paused for a moment.
Then answered.
"We found no leads that could allow us to continue tracing the creator."
The office became quiet again.
The secretary continued.
"The statements from the terrorist organization members are consistent."
"The pollution crystal was delivered by a third party."
"They only met once."
"They do not know the other party's identity."
"They also do not know its origin."
"Other than that."
"No information remains that can support further investigation."
The atmosphere gradually grew heavier.
The fewer clues they had, the more it suggested that the person behind everything had prepared thoroughly.
The secretary continued.
"The technical department has confirmed."
"The manufacturing process of the pollution crystal is highly sophisticated."
"The terrorist organization did not have the capability to manufacture it."
"We can determine."
"That the creator and the terrorist organization were not on the same level."
"But at present."
"We cannot confirm the creator's identity."
"We cannot confirm the organization they belong to."
"And we cannot confirm the manufacturing location."
The communication ended.
The office fell silent once again.
The terminal screen still displayed the analysis of the pollution crystal.
No one spoke.
Because everyone understood.
The investigation had not ended.
It had simply stopped.
Every path that could lead them forward had been cut off here.
The true creator of the pollution crystal had left behind no trace that could be followed.
As if they had never appeared.
Yet they had undeniably driven the entire incident forward.
Oksana slowly shut down the terminal.
Her expression was more serious than before.
"Looks like."
"This is more complicated than we thought."
Lucian nodded lightly.
"The terrorist organization was only a pawn."
Oksana did not deny it.
"At least for now."
"All the evidence points in that direction."
She looked at the documents on the desk again.
The department store.
The pollution crystal.
The third-party creator.
Three seemingly independent terms.
Yet they had already become connected to the same incident.
The truly dangerous person was not the terrorist organization members who had already been arrested.
It was the person who had never shown themselves.
The snowstorm continued.
The lights inside the office remained bright.
Time passed little by little.
After a long while, Oksana closed the final report.
"That will be all for today."
She looked at Lucian.
"Northveil appreciates your assistance."
"If we need to cooperate in the future."
"I will contact the Jace Family."
Lucian nodded.
"Anytime."
With that, he stood up.
He straightened his coat.
Then walked toward the door.
Just as he reached it, Oksana suddenly spoke.
"Lucian."
Lucian stopped.
He turned around.
Oksana looked at him quietly.
After several seconds of silence, she slowly said,
"Don't be too eager to change the world."
The office became quiet again.
Lucian did not answer.
He simply waited for her to continue.
"When people are young."
"They all believe they can change everything."
"Only later do they realize."
"The world is far more stubborn than they imagined."
The snowstorm continued to sweep past the window.
The city remained brightly lit.
Lucian was silent for a moment.
Then a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Someone has to try."
His answer was simple.
Yet there was not the slightest hesitation in it.
With that, he opened the office door.
His footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
The door slowly closed.
The office became quiet again.
Irina stared at the closed door.
After a long while, she quietly asked,
"Do you think."
"He will succeed?"
Oksana looked out the window.
The snowstorm continued to cover all of Northveil.
She remained silent for a long time.
Finally, she slowly spoke.
"I don't know."
"But at least."
"He has already begun."
The room fell silent again.
No one spoke anymore.
The snow continued to fall.
Northveil continued to operate.
And the department store incident had not truly ended.