Chapter 289 Don't Move
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Translator: JayM
Chapter: 289
Chapter Title: Don't Move
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When Jeong Yoo-shin raised his hand, Radament's body flinched.
"Radament-nim, calm down. What’re you going to do with me, gathering such an enormous amount of mana in your left hand like that? Are you going to kill me?"
The barbarian spoke in a soft voice with a gentle smile.
A chill ran down Radament's spine.
'A mistake!'
Skar.
The half-barbarian.
He had heard rumors early on that the man’s mind went back and forth.
Even so…
To show this much composure against a Mage Tower elder upon their first meeting…
"D-Do you know that I’m an elder of the Labyrinth Mage Tower?"
"Old man, you came here in quite a hurry. Your robe is completely disheveled."
Jeong Yoo-shin gave the mage an unexpected answer and adjusted Radament's disheveled robe.
Rustle. Rustle.
As Skar's hand moved on his chest, right below his neck…
No matter if Radament was a Mage Tower elder, his heart couldn't help but sink.
It was chilling.
This was like being in the hands of the Grim Reaper.
Jeong Yoo-shin fiddled with Radament's clothes for a while and then opened his mouth.
"Old man, I'm showing you respect because of Matthias. If you keep crossing the line, I won't hold back either."
The pupils of Radament, the head of the Elemental School of the Mage Tower, shook violently.
"..."
He had dozens of spells to kill this arrogant barbarian right in front of him, but he couldn't lift a single finger right now.
An unspoken pressure weighed down on his heart, warning him that if he moved his mana even a little, his throat would be slit.
Of course, he had put on several defensive artifacts.
'Although this man just saw through them…'
This shrewd barbarian tapped his defensive magic tools while pretending to tidy up his clothes.
How far was he looking ahead with just one move?
Radament's lips trembled.
Within the Mage Tower, there had been a debate over whether this barbarian was crazy or sane.
When he had heard the words of Elder Matthias, the representative of the Summoning School, he had thought that this man was undoubtedly crazy.
'I have no eye for people.'
No, this man wasn’t crazy.
Jeong Yoo-shin smiled and stared intently into Radament's eyes.
"You have a face full of thoughts. What’re you agonizing over so much?"
A subtle question.
It was a low and soft voice, as if trying to calm him down.
But cold sweat was pouring down Radament's forehead.
'Is he not?'
He didn't know.
Seeing the barbarian’s glistening eyes and his tone going back and forth, Radament couldn't be certain of the conclusion he had reached.
Why was such a person the next chief of the barbarians?
Ragna's barbarians were at least warriors with character.
But they started becoming strange with their next generation.
And now, this madman-like guy had popped out.
"What’re you thinking so hard about? A person is asking you a question."
Casual speech popped out again.
"I-I was thinking about your opinion. D-Did you really cut the Outer God's eye?"
"I cut it. If you're really suspicious, ask the explorers who were on the 20th floor."
"I-I understand. Please let go of this now."
Jeong Yoo-shin, as if satisfied, patted Radament's chest before stepping back.
Pat. Pat.
"Where’s Matthias?"
"He is confined in the Mage Tower branch."
"Confined?"
Why in the world was he confined?
Radament let out a deep sigh.
"Hoo. It was originally top secret, but while Matthias was entrusting the designated request, he ended up leaking the existence of the magic tool to a few explorers. You’re one of them."
"..."
"He's a truly foolish old man. I've told him time and time again that explorers are greedy beings."
Was Radament's bitter muttering.
Jeong Yoo-shin immediately grasped the situation.
Matthias had contacted a few explorers he was friendly with to gather materials for dimensional travel, and someone among the explorers had spilled the beans.
He didn't know how far the rumor had spread, but the culprit was eventually narrowed down to one profession.
An explorer.
"Radament, guide me to Matthias."
"I-I understand."
"No. Come to think of it, there's no need for me to go in this rain. Bring him here."
"..."
"Why aren't you answering?"
"I-I know your status, but aren't you being too outrageous?!"
"I think you're misunderstanding something. Right now, I'm giving you a chance."
"Wh-What does that...?"
"A chance to correct your mistake, Radament. Think about it now, it pisses me off that the Mage Tower snatched my stuff and swallowed it whole. But you lost it? Conceding a hundred times, I could endure it if it ended there, but you come here to interrogate me? Do you know how fucking bullshit that is?!"
Radament turned his head and looked down at Malakai.
The man had been hit so hard that he was wriggling on the floor, half-unconscious.
Jeong Yoo-shin's eyes glinted.
"You bastard, look at me! Me!"
"Hoo. I understand. I’ll bring Matthias and clear up the misunderstanding, so please calm your anger."
Jeong Yoo-shin raised his finger and pointed at the fallen Malakai.
"Leave that bastard behind."
"I’ll do that."
Radament left the inn.
Jeong Yoo-shin sat at the table, closed his eyes, and held back his anger.
'Asura Balbalta. Happiness and peace of mind.'
He thought it was a good thing that he hadn't followed Radament.
If he had gone to the Mage Tower branch in the central area in his current state, he would have caused another scene.
Jeong Yoo-shin, who had been holding back his anger for a while, stood up, stopped by his room, and brought down a healing potion.
"Malakai, you bastard, get up. Is this your bedroom?"
"Kuhuhup."
Malakai wriggled and let out a moan.
"Sigh."
Jeong Yoo-shin grabbed the mage by the collar, lifted him up with one hand, and sat him in a chair.
Jeong Yoo-shin put the potion down in front of Malakai.
"Drink. Your face’s pretty messed up."
"Kuuuut!"
Malakai drank the potion. Because his hands were trembling, the potion splattered on the table and the floor.
"Drink a little more carefully."
Flinch.
Even while drinking the potion, Malakai only moved his eyes and kept glancing at Jeong Yoo-shin.
When the barbarian shot up from his seat, Malakai coughed urgently.
"Cough!!! Kuhuk!!!"
Malakai trembled, spilling the potion in his mouth.
Jeong Yoo-shin clicked his tongue, took the lute he had left on the counter, and sat next to the mage.
Pluck.
Strum.
Jeong Yoo-shin, who had been strumming for a while, turned his head and looked at Malakai.
"How's my playing?"
"..."
When Jeong Yoo-shin's palm went up, Malakai shrank his neck and convulsed.
"I asked how it is."
"I-It's good!"
Formal speech popped out of the mage’s mouth urgently.
Only then did Jeong Yoo-shin grin.
"Right?"
Waiting for Radament to return, he kept this Malakai guy next to him and picked on the mage.
Had about 30 minutes passed?
Creeeeak.
Suddenly, the inn door opened.
And a group of people entered the inn.
They were mostly humans. They were a group he hadn't seen in Labyrinth City.
Their attire was similar to mercenaries, but the quality of their armament was different.
They wore attire similar to the private soldiers of the rich he had seen in the Eastern District.
Among them, there were two people who stood out.
One was a fat, middle-aged man with brown hair.
The other was a skinny man in his early 30s, and unusually, he was holding a single-edged sword used by elves.
The fat, middle-aged man grinned and looked around the inn.
"To think that there's a high-quality inn in a place like this, we're lucky."
Jeong Yoo-shin waved his hand.
"We're not open for business today."
The man in his 30s swaggered over.
"At least let us get out of the rain, okay?"
Jeong Yoo-shin looked at the people and clicked his tongue. Because the words he had said at the meeting this morning kept circling in his head.
"Tsk. Let's do that."
More than 20 men each took a seat at a table.
"Innkeeper, give us some liquor."
Jeong Yoo-shin rummaged through the cupboard, brought out liquor bottles and glasses, and passed them around to each table.
"What about snacks?"
He went back into the kitchen, brought out dry ham, cheese, and bread, and put them down on the tables.
He wasn't particularly surprised about their presence.
Because he had already heard the rumor that people were starting to flock to Labyrinth City for spring.
Whether they were veterans or newbies.
There was nothing for him to agonize over.
Because anyone could tell at a glance that these were people who had rolled around quite a bit already somewhere else.
The man in his 30s frowned and let out a sigh.
"Hoo. I'm back in this fucking bullshit of a city again. I thought I'd never look at it for the rest of my life."
The middle-aged man chuckled.
"Hehe. Didn't the 'item' we need for our business appear here? We have to get it this time."
Jeong Yoo-shin tilted his head.
"Have you been to this city before?"
The man in his 30s gave him a bitter smile.
"Yeah. I used to be an explorer. I got all the imprints I needed, so now I live outside the city."
The middle-aged man rubbed his protruding belly.
"Haha. Why’re you backing down so much? Weren't you also a well-known intermediate-rank high explorer once?"
"Well, that's an old story. And... Never mind. Tsk."
The skinny man stopped talking and shook his head.
The fat, middle-aged man turned his head and stared intently at Jeong Yoo-shin.
"By the way, what is your rank?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"I was just curious."
"Since you're around level 10, you're exactly an intermediate-rank explorer."
When the skinny man said that, Jeong Yoo-shin's eyes widened.
How in the world did he know his level?
The skinny man chuckled.
"It's an imprint that lets you know the number of Mana Adaptations a person has gone through. I didn't erase it because it's useful."
"Is that so?"
To jump from level 4 to level 10.
Did he jump up a whopping 6 levels?
He was honestly surprised that he had leveled up a lot more than he had thought.
The middle-aged man smiled faintly and looked at the man in his 30s.
"He's a lower level than you?"
"That's right."
Suddenly, the atmosphere became strange.
The fat man leaned back in his chair.
"It's been a while since I've seen a half-barbarian, how long have you been here?"
"It's been about a year."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
"How did you take over this inn?"
"It's not my inn. The innkeeper had something urgent come up and just left it to me for a while."
"Is that so? Did he say when he'll be back?"
"Not yet."
"I see."
The middle-aged man and the man in his 30s exchanged glances.
"Oh my. Look at my wandering mind. What's your name?"
"It's Malakai."
Was Jeong Yoo-shin's brazen answer.
Malakai's eyes, who was sitting next to him, widened.
The middle-aged man looked at the skinny man again.
"Have you heard of him?"
"No. He must not be that famous."
The middle-aged man cleared his throat and opened his mouth.
"Ahem! Malakai, I want to stay quietly at this inn for a day or two."
"We're not open for business."
"Ah. What I said just now wasn't a request. It was a notification."
"..."
The middle-aged man crumpled his plump cheeks and gave him a broad smile.
"I heard the news that a pretty good 'item' came out of the labyrinth this time. But oh my. Since it's not an 'item' that was transferred nicely, it's hard to walk around the city openly."
"But why did you come all the way to the Southern District? Isn't the Eastern District better?"
"There's no need to hide in the darkness. It's actually more dangerous to do so. Melting into the ordinary is the best way to be discreet. Besides, this inn is flashy, so commoners won't be able to come here carelessly either."
The fat, middle-aged man babbled on, perhaps thinking he had completely seized the victory.
Then…
Seeing Jeong Yoo-shin's still-negative expression, he put on a sneer.
"Don't tell me you're thinking of resisting? Do you know who the man next to me is?"
Jeong Yoo-shin made a fearful expression.
"Wh-Who is he?"
"Thunder Blade, Jern. He was once a famous explorer in Labyrinth City. No one has ever seen the blade Jern had swung."
"N-No way, did he even achieve an Imprint Synergy?"
Jern chuckled.
"Do you even have to ask?"
Jeong Yoo-shin nodded and picked up the lute.
At the completely incomprehensible, sudden action, the eyes of the men sitting at the table widened.
Even the subordinates who had been eating and drinking on the other side turned their heads and looked their way.
Pluck.
Strum.
Jeong Yoo-shin's insides were boiling.
It was a funny comedy.
Just this morning, he had advised the small and medium-sized clan leaders to show goodwill to strangers and get to know them.
'What day is it today? It's not just one or two guys treating people like dog shit.'
The fat, middle-aged man opened his mouth.
"Malakai, are you out of your mind?"
Jeong Yoo-shin shrugged and looked at the mage sitting next to him.
"Explain who I am."
"...Th-This person is…"
The people glanced at Malakai.
"This person is the butcher of the Eastern District."
"...!"
"He dismembered the slave hunters of the Eastern District, killed a ranked underworld executive, and recently, together with the hero's party, he even drove out an O-Outer God."
The men's eyes widened like saucers.
"The person in front of you right now isn’t Malakai. Malakai is my name, and this person is Skar-nim, the next chief of the barbarians."
Thump!
The people shot up from their seats and drew their weapons.
Clang clang clang!!!
However…
Jeong Yoo-shin just played his lute without a change in expression.
"Don't move. If you don't want to die."
"..."
A quiet inn.
The men, frozen like ice, looked at Jeong Yoo-shin.
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T/N - Hey guys! I have a new novel I'm translating called "I Built a Savior Organization". It's a Chinese web novel about a guy with a saviour system going to different worlds to save them from their doomsdays. Try it out! Who knows, you might like it. ♥️
Lol, so many idiots provoking the MC this rainy day. First was Radament, and now this rabble. Though, I feel like the ‘item’ they’re talking about is most likely the dimensional travel magic tool. But if that’s the case, then all I can say is that either news travels fast, or the Mage Tower is pretty slow in their investigation. Probably both.