Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Bodyguard (2)
On stage, a song themed around a woman's longing was flowing.
The pure voice of the youngest member, Jeong A-reum, had the power to moisten hearts.
"I'll wait for you
Waiting is also love, isn't it?
So that you won't be sad when you return
I'll be here in this place"
Was it because of Jang So-yeon's tears just moments ago?
My past life came to mind.
Eun-cheong.
I called her Miss Eun.
She was the daughter of a fallen noble family who had dismissed all her servants and lived alone.
After her parents died, I met her when she had settled alone by the riverside, before I established the Heavenly Demon Cult.
While traveling alone for training, I saw her being harassed by ruffians.
When I dealt with the ruffians, she thanked me and offered a hairpin and ring from her household. She said she would also leave.
Because as a woman alone, she couldn't endure the harassment from the ruffians.
She looked so pitiful that I dealt with all the ruffians in that village. And I returned the hairpin and ring.
I hoped my methods wouldn't bring harm to her.
But that was my selfishness.
Ruffians from other regions who heard the rumors eventually found her. And so Miss Eun endured humiliation over time as a woman.
When she had resolved to die, I found her again.
"I don't resent you. This is just my fate."
Having resolved to die, she told me this.
"Thank you."
"What are you thankful for?"
"I'm grateful for that sincerity."
I learned many things from her.
How to live, how selfish it is to only do things my way.
I resolved to save her.
I comforted her pain and stayed by her side, saying my sincerity remained.
Miss Eun was like homework to me.
Fortunately, after a long month of persuasion, she let go of death.
"I'll try living. So please leave now. You're not someone who should stay here."
"When I return, will you be here in this place?"
"Yes, I will. I'll be alive."
When I went back 5 years later, when I went back 10 years later, she was in that place.
"I've been waiting."
She always said that when she met me.
Even as time changed her face, her dignity and sincerity didn't change.
The last time I met her was 20 years later. In that place, instead of her, there was a letter.
"I lived my best as I promised you. But I don't know how much longer my sick body can endure. Still, I'll do my best.
I'm leaving, to live. If I stake everything and fight, won't I be able to live?
If I survive, I'll wait again. For you."
That letter was the last. I went back again 10 years later, but she wasn't there.
While I was briefly lost in other thoughts, the song ended. And the atmosphere shifted dramatically.
Female dancers appeared in tight leather outfits revealing their figures, and Jang So-yeon's solo stage began.
'How absurd.'
Jang So-yeon and Miss Eun were completely different people. Different atmosphere, different personality.
'Though their tears are the same.'
I watched the stage with an absurd smile.
'Hm?'
At some point, I felt something was strange. But I couldn't clearly identify what was wrong.
And so the stage climbed toward its climax.
Under brilliant lights, the music cheerfully transitioned and Jang So-yeon's solo stage began.
The dancers split to both sides for Jang So-yeon and exited, then came back up in the latter part of the music.
'The dancers!'
Now I knew.
The reason there was no suspicious person among the staff.
And the strange point on stage.
One dancer had disappeared.
The dancers weren't subjects of investigation.
'How foolish.'
I had missed those closest to the stage.
I hurriedly approached the stage. Then I saw a dancer who hadn't gone up on stage.
She was a woman in her early twenties wearing the same clothes as the dancers on stage.
When I discovered the woman, the dancers on stage split in two directions. They came down below the stage as part of the stage direction.
The problematic woman naturally joined them. And soon, when the dancers went back up on stage, she moved with them.
The woman who went up on stage danced skillfully, then approached Jang So-yeon's side according to the choreography.
At that moment, I recalled the choreography from when Jang So-yeon practiced.
It was the movement where the dancers swept down Jang So-yeon's body.
I instantly went up the stage stairs. And I saw a knife held in the hand of the woman approaching Jang So-yeon.
Using the darkness behind the stage, I quickly went up and got to Jang So-yeon's side.
The dancer's knife was already aimed at Jang So-yeon's neck. Jang So-yeon also momentarily saw the knife, and her pupils dilated.
Tuk.
Just before the knife reached her, I grabbed and twisted the dancer's hand.
'Oh no!'
There wasn't just one.
Another dancer who had normally gone up on stage swung a knife toward Jang So-yeon.
I quickly pulled Jang So-yeon toward me.
We narrowly avoided it, but the knife tip cut through the clothes on her shoulder.
Holding Jang So-yeon, I turned back and quickly took off my clothes to cover her. Jang So-yeon still had a startled expression even in my arms.
Then, So Iryeon had somehow come up on stage and subdued the knife-wielding dancer and went down.
The music continued flowing, and I asked Jang So-yeon.
"Will you continue the stage?"
Jang So-yeon had a terrified expression, but soon nodded. And she tightly gripped my wrist.
"Don't be scared. I'm here."
Those were the words I had said to Miss Eun in my past life. I unknowingly ended up saying those words.
Her frightened eyes made me do so.
I grabbed the cut shoulder strap of her clothes and tied it tightly. Then Jang So-yeon nodded her chin to match the beat.
"Now."
I helped Jang So-yeon up so she could naturally go to the front of the stage. And So Iryeon and I came out, dragging the subdued dancers.
This stage would become controversial. But it ended at a level that could be reasonably passed over.
I handed over the two dancers to Cheong Ak-sal and watched Jang So-yeon's stage until the end.
Having regained her composure at some point, Jang So-yeon was performing her inherently charming stage.
When the performance ended, Jang So-yeon came down and approached me, breathing heavily. Then she immediately embraced me.
Her heart probably hadn't calmed down yet. The heavy breathing continued for quite a while.
Meanwhile, as another member's solo stage continued, Jang So-yeon also regained her composure.
As her breathing gradually stabilized, the nearby manager carefully said,
"You need to prepare for the next stage."
Jang So-yeon slowly separated from my embrace. Even after that, she stared intently at my face.
She was wordless. She probably didn't know what to say.
At times like this, I should speak first. I learned that from Miss Eun.
"Be at ease. You just need to trust me."
Jang So-yeon nodded. And she followed the manager.
After she went to the waiting room, I unconsciously touched my chest. It was where I had felt her body temperature.
'As expected, magnificent.'
I erased my thoughts and focused on the stage.
'They won't only target Jang So-yeon.'
I thought it would be a tiring concert.
When several more songs had passed, Cheong Ak-sal came to my side.
"We've found out who they are working together with."
"Who?"
"Enders. He's the person in charge of the investment company involved in the concert."
"Catch him."
Cheong Ak-sal immediately turned around.
'They're really going crazy.'
When the members' joint stage began, 20 flaming arrows flew toward the stage.
Wind Dragon Palm.
I burst all the flaming arrows in midair with Wind Dragon Palm. And I used Wind Dragon Palm so that even the falling flames wouldn't touch the ground.
'What am I even doing?'
After that, the attacks continued. I discovered someone trying to change the stage wiring for electrical terrorism, and I also found out poison had been put in the members' water.
When the stage was nearing its end, Cheong Ak-sal caught the guy called Enders.
Cheong Ak-sal had already found out the guy's identity through interrogation.
Enders belonged to a Varia support organization and was a mid-level executive. Following Varia's orders, his purpose was to kill all Fairy members.
"You said kill all of them?"
"That's right. However, there wasn't enough time to find out everything."
Something was strange.
The first attack was on Jang So-yeon. If the terrorism had succeeded there, the concert would have been stopped. Then they couldn't kill anyone besides Jang So-yeon.
'Wait.'
Those guys couldn't have made such a clumsy plan. From Varia's standpoint, it was terrorism that had to succeed.
"In case of an incident, who's in charge of evacuating the Fairy members?"
"The security team here."
Cheong Ak-sal was the only bodyguard who came privately. Then the security organization contracted in Japan would lead the members.
"Catch the security team leader. Those guys must have been in charge of finishing it."
Cheong Ak-sal began moving again.
The applause was loud. The concert ended safely.
I called So Iryeon, who was coming down from the stage.
"Do you have a personal vehicle?"
"No. This is Japan."
"Then call a taxi and move. Change once in the middle, and don't do things like after-parties."
"Got it."
"Go right now."
So Iryeon nodded and immediately left the concert hall with the members.
Once the Fairy members disappeared, the security team's movements became the busiest.
I watched their every move. There were quite a few suspicious ones.
"We caught him."
Fortunately, Cheong Ak-sal caught the security team leader.
"Where did you catch him?"
"I caught him trying to follow Protector So."
"Where is he now?"
"I locked him in the car."
Following Cheong Ak-sal, I also left the concert hall.
The car Cheong Ak-sal was driving stopped on the roadside of a quiet road. It was the car the security team leader was trying to drive.
He was currently loaded in the trunk.
After confirming there were no passing cars, I took the security team leader out of the trunk and moved to below a mountain with no people around.
The security team leader was a Japanese man in his early forties with a tough impression.
"Find out everything. It's fine even if it takes time."
I left him with Cheong Ak-sal and returned to the car.
Two hours later, Cheong Ak-sal sat in the driver's seat.
"What was the original plan?"
"They were going to kidnap the Fairy members and film a public execution video."
Varia had planned a much bigger issue than I thought.
"Is Enders the one who led the plan?"
"No. There was a separate real person in charge."
"Who?"
"The president of Fairy's agency."
"What? What's the reason?"
"The Fairy members refused contract renewal. Two of them have already finished their contracts and are moving under provisional contracts. It's to wait for the other members' contract expiration."
In summary, the Fairy members were enduring losses to prevent disbandment and waiting for other members' contract periods to end.
"They have better loyalty than men."
"Protector So led it. The members really like Protector So and follow her well."
"So Iryeon had that kind of quality too."
Now everything made sense.
The reason they forced the concert despite the members being terrorized wasn't simply because of money.
The reason the agency's main group didn't appear in Japan, even though it was dangerous, was for the same reason.
'Fairy members who died unjustly. That would make more money.'
It would become a huge issue, and the Fairy members would remain forever as unjust victims. From the planner's standpoint, using this, they could make money for a very long time.
"Trash."
I organized my thoughts.
"Guard the members here. I'll go do some trash collection."
I immediately took off the ring and moved to Korea.
I came to Korea through teleportation.
"I'm really going to kill you."
The Witch glared at me with her skirt awkwardly pulled down.
She seemed to be in the middle of changing clothes.
"I didn't know. You know that too."
"Get out quickly!"
In the end, the Witch shouted. I hurriedly left the Witch's room.
"There's no way to know in advance."
Once I started using it, I naturally used teleport like a habit.
"This is really an incredible spell."
If I had my way, I'd want to use the other teleports the Witch created, but I held back.
'Oh, right. There's that deal.'
Although Rena didn't die, I definitely fulfilled the deal.
I would still cooperate in catching Rena, but I could request something similar.
'I should share the teleport magic.'
There's no need to particularly calculate this. With just this, not only I but Cheong Ak-sal, So Iryeon, and Jimun Seo-saeng can use it.
I hurriedly ran to the Witch again.
And the moment I opened the door, I realized my mistake.
The Witch was still changing clothes.
"Stop there. I'm really going to kill you."
I quickly closed the door and left the research lab.
"I should tell her next time."
I left the house as if being chased.