Did You Trick Me?

I'd asked how they'd gotten their hands on an SS-rank magic stone, but they sidestepped the question, insisting it was a closely guarded guild secret.

It smelled a little fishy, sure — but keeping the acquisition route of an SS-rank magic stone classified wasn't entirely unreasonable. Hard to call.

"…That's what they said. What do you all think?"

When I shared the contents of the message with my familiars, each of them reacted differently.

"Princess, placing your trust in their word alone and traveling to a distant foreign land is far too hasty."

Mitsu was worried about my safety.

"I'll follow Master's decision, I will."

True to his opportunistic nature, Unddung nodded along without a word of protest.

And Corneline…

"Heh heh, this body approves! Would this not allow even more people to know of Lord Angel's existence?"

Her answer and her inner thoughts were perfectly in sync, as always.

Two out of three familiars were essentially in favor, but Mitsu had a point too.

"And the other party is China, of all places."

China's image had never been great to begin with, and lately the country had been making plenty of noise over a guild civil war.

Mitsu's warning gave me pause, but in the end I landed right back where I'd started.

"Still, if we're just going to take a look, it should be fine, right?"

They went out of their way to invite us. Not showing up would be rude.

"And with you three watching my back, it's not like anything dangerous is going to happen."

Corneline's barrier alone made us practically invincible. Even if a fight broke out, Mitsu and Unddung could smash a guild or two without breaking a sweat.

Would they really try to jump someone with this kind of firepower?

"If that is Princess's will, then this one shall follow."

And if that SS-rank magic stone turned out to be a lie, I'd raise the most spectacular hell they'd ever seen.

The invitation said to come to the airport the next day, so there was a lot to get done before then.

First thing I did was message Seo-yoon that she was welcome to stay in the Mirror World.

Making that guild group chat had been a good call.

Once I got Seo-yoon's okay, I started digging through online stores. Gotta love this day and age — pay the money and you get same-day delivery.

"O Savior, what is it that you are doing?"

Corneline took an interest the moment she saw me browsing a shopping site on my phone.

"It's our first trip abroad. We ought to dress up a little."

"Then this body shall help choose as well!"

In the blink of an eye, a mountain of clothes arrived and lay scattered across the room.

"Lord Angel is quite taken with this garment!"

While picking through the clothes, Corneline snatched up a pair of oversized sunglasses. When I asked her why she'd chosen those, the answer was peak Corneline.

"An angel is not a being who reveals their form so readily!"

"You just picked them because they look cool, didn't you?"

The sunglasses went into the cart.

Mitsu, whose figure made it nearly impossible to find anything that fit, settled on a plain white shirt.

"I like this one, I do."

Unddung picked up a loud, colorful Hawaiian shirt. It actually looked surprisingly good on him. Probably because of the green skin.

"Everyone, gather over here?"

The moment I said it, my familiars naturally clustered in front of me.

"Oh! Are we taking a photograph?"

"Yeah. We don't have a single picture of us together."

We were going on a trip to China anyway — might as well take a family photo while we were at it, and announce it at the same time.

"Will Princess be in the photograph as well?"

"Obviously."

It was a commemorative photo. I couldn't be the only one left out.

I floated my phone in midair, set the timer, and took my place.

"One must smile when a photograph is taken!"

Corneline beamed as she said it, throwing up a V-sign with both hands.

Click.

"Pfft, what is this."

I checked the photo and a helpless laugh slipped out. In the picture, Mitsu wore a stiff, camera-shy smile, and Unddung was holding up a thumbs-up.

"No matter how many times this one sees it, it remains a wondrous function."

"Ahaha! This body came out the best!"

"Lord Corneline is definitely the most distinctive, she is."

"Even a lowly goblin has eyes, I see!"

"…"

Leaving my familiars' back-and-forth ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠behind, I posted a stream hiatus notice.

"This should do it, right?"

"Alright, we're all packed. Takeout for dinner tonight?"

"This body desires fried chicken!"

The day flew by, carried on the thrill of travel.

When you moved from inside the Mirror World back to reality, where exactly did you come out?

That question was answered today.

True to its EX-Rank, the artifact had a convenient function: if the owner had been somewhere before, they could travel there instantly. Which meant that even if something dangerous happened in China, we could jump straight back to Korea through the Mirror World.

Drawing on a childhood memory of the place, my familiars and I arrived at the airport in an instant.

At the designated meeting point, people in black suits were already waiting for us.

"Are you Miss Kim Ha-neul?"

The question came in clumsy Korean.

"Yes, that's me."

At my answer, the one who looked like their superior ran a brief verification.

"Please allow us to escort you."

Once the check was done, we were led through a VVIP-only passage.

"Isn't this a little too much red-carpet treatment?"

Even from the position of someone holding an SS-rank magic stone, did they really need to grovel like this?

"This one finds it suspicious."

Mitsu whispered in a low voice.

It left a slightly uneasy feeling, but we'd come this far. I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no intention of turning back.

Even as we boarded the private jet, Corneline was the only one having the time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of her life, staring out the window.

"This body soars through the heavens!"

"You already fly on your own."

"This is an entirely different altitude!"

Mitsu, apparently unaware that one could fly through the sky like this, sat rigid, staring straight ahead.

"Mitsu, you okay?"

"I-I am quite all right."

First flight, maybe. Mitsu was surprisingly frightened.

"Is it good?"

"It's decent enough, it is."

Watching Unddung happily work through the in-flight meal, I figured they at least hadn't poisoned the food.

I wasn't particularly hungry, so I pulled up the Hunter Gallery to kill the boredom. I'd linked it to my status window, so it ran just fine without an internet connection.

Most of the threads on the Hunter Gallery were about my whereabouts.

Where did the rumor that I was joining a Chinese guild even come from?

Like the gallery anons said, I couldn't speak a foreign language. And even if I were fluent, I still wouldn't go.

After several hours of flight, we landed at some airport somewhere in China.

Among signs in a language I couldn't read, more people in black suits were waiting for us.

"We will escort you to Tianming Guild."

Following their lead, we walked a short distance before a building one story taller than its neighbors came into view.

For a guild headquarters, it's more modest than I expected.

I'd figured a Chinese guild would have gold paint slathered over every surface.

We went inside, took the elevator up, and found a genial-looking plump middle-aged man waiting for us. He smiled brightly and held out his hand.

"Thank you for coming all this way. I am Wang Fu, guild master ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of Tianming Guild."

The plump man who'd introduced himself as the guild master offered his hand.

Ugh. I really didn't want to be the one taking that.

I shot Mitsu a look, and she took the handshake in my place. I'd have to praise her later.

Wang Fu's expression turned slightly awkward when Mitsu shook his hand instead, but he didn't comment on it.

"Before I show you the magic stone…"

Trailing off, the plump man hurled a cube-shaped artifact straight at Mitsu.

"Kh—!"

"Mitsu!"

The cube struck her body, unfolded, and restrained her in an instant. Then, as if they'd been hiding all along, Chinese awakened hunters began appearing one after another.

"You wretched mortals dare raise your hands against this body and the Savior?!"

Sensing the situation had gone south, Corneline deployed a barrier around us, holding them off.

"Haha. They said you were EX-Rank, but you're nothing special."

I examined the cube artifact with the Eye of the Non-Believer.

It was an S-Rank relic item.

"Based on our investigation of you — without that one familiar, the rest of you are mediocre trash."

"I don't know about that goblin, but this body is NOT trash!"

Why are you the one getting hung up on that and getting angry.

I looked at the cube pinning Mitsu down and let out a short laugh.

"Now we can finally have a proper conversation."

I couldn't understand why the plump man was saying that with that greasy little smile.

"Looks like you did a sloppy investigation."

"I can destroy artifacts, you know?"

Freed from the restraint, Mitsu drew her katana.

"So you can enhance even S-Rank artifacts?"

Wang Fu said it with a sour look, hurriedly sending a message somewhere.

"Of course. Now, shall we try talking again?"