CHAPTER 65: You Must Completely Trust Hayang
Today, as usual, I was lounging around in the office at our guild headquarters—my house—sipping chocolate milk. Han Yuseol, who'd stepped out for a bit, came back and handed something to me.
"Master, here's the gate status board you requested yesterday. Please take a look."
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Thanks. Tell Seunghyeon thanks too."
"Of course. I'll make sure to pass it on."
It didn't seem worth checking right now anyway. I just shoved it to the back for later. I'd look at it when we headed into a gate.
"By the way, to think you'd even see through an illusion skill that I couldn't pierce. I'm truly impressed by your abilities once again, Master."
"Im, impressed...? You mean my luck's burning?"
"No. It means I'm in awe."
"Aha."
Ehehe, it's not that big a deal. But honestly, even I was a little surprised. Han Yuseol's stats weren't low by any means. Especially inside a gate with my buffs, her Intelligence was pushing well over 100. For someone with stats like that to miss it, but me to spot it...
Maybe the boosted Intelligence from buffs doesn't count for that?
Hmm, no clue. Buffs were still a pretty foreign concept to me. I had no idea exactly how effective they were. According to my old party members and Han Yuseol, they were supposed to have massive effects. But I couldn't really feel it myself.
"Why did you request the gate status board, though?"
"Oh, that... um..."
How should I even explain this? Could I even explain it in the first place? After agonizing over my words for a while, I finally blurted it out in frustration.
"Gates!"
"Gates, you say?"
"Yeah, gates!"
"Gates it is."
"Right, gates!"
"Indeed...!"
Huh? What did she figure out? Was there something in that conversation to get? Even I, the one involved, had no idea from just those words.
"You suspected they might have dumped the victims inside a gate?"
"Gasp! How'd you know?"
"Because you just told me, Master."
Did I? I didn't remember telling her.
"That does make sense. It's entirely plausible. If they're inside a gate, investigations wouldn't reach them, and location tracking wouldn't work either."
"R-right?"
"Yes. I had my doubts too. Normally, if it was a kidnapping, they'd demand ransom or something fitting. But they didn't. So negotiation wasn't the goal after all."
"Exactly...?"
As expected of Han Yuseol! She got the point right away. This was the insight of a master succeeding the Grand Master!
Er... not that? What was it? Attention? Insight? Ah!
"Gravitas!"
"Yes. You always exude the gravitas of a Grand Master."
Our conversation didn't quite mesh, but the point got across somehow. Yeah, she had gravitas, I had gravitas. All's well that ends well.
Anyway, preparations were done. I hopped off the sofa to head to a gate right away.
"Hm? Where are you off to, Master?"
"Yeah! Gotta hit a gate."
"A gate? I thought you'd rest for a bit to investigate this incident."
"...Gasp!"
Oh right! Han Yuseol didn't know the details of my skill. Since my Intelligence dropped outside gates, she didn't know I could only investigate inside them.
Ugh, but I couldn't just tell her straight. Not this, at least! It was too embarrassing! It'd ruin my Grand Master gravitas!
"N-no! Still gotta do what needs doing! Lots of people are waiting for strategy guides."
"Such a strong sense of duty. If that's your will, Master, I'll accompany you."
"Mhihit!"
Yes! Persuasion success! Moments like this made me think even outside gates, my smarts didn't really drop. Even without the skill, I was pretty clever.
"Shouldn't you leave those documents behind? They might get lost inside the gate..."
"Huh? Oh, this... I'm gonna check it bit by bit inside the gate too! It's important."
"How about taking photos on your phone instead?"
"Gasp! Yuseol, you're a genius...!"
Though she might be a tiny bit smarter than me. Yeah, just a teeeeny bit.
"Haa..."
At the Black Rose Guild headquarters, in the guild master's office at the very top. Ryu Sea-ah let out deep sighs as always, wrestling with a pile of documents that wouldn't even register in her eyes.
"Guild Master, please don't do this. Work while you eat. It's not like staring will solve anything."
Her secretary and guild member, Yoo Eunhye, finally scolded her, unable to stand it.
Given Black Rose Guild's nature, its members were more tightly knit than other guilds. Ryu Sea-ah shared the deepest bonds with them. When guild members went into gates and never returned due to accidents, she always volunteered to stand vigil through the funerals.
And now, she'd lost three precious family members in just three weeks. With no known cause or reason. It was a miracle she hadn't collapsed into the hospital herself.
"Yeah... you're right. Sorry, I just can't stomach it now. I'll eat it later if you leave it."
Watching her force a smile to reassure herself, Yoo Eunhye felt even more heartbroken. She'd probably only manage a bite or two at most. That's how it'd been the past few days. Knowing that, Yoo Eunhye had no choice but to turn away. Pushing harder here would be pointless.
"You have to eat, okay? The girls worry about you so much."
"Got it. Thanks, Eunhye. You've done me a real favor."
"...If you were a bit healthier, I'd scold you properly."
The master of Black Rose Guild, this elegant and pretty woman, having a taste for dad jokes? No one would believe it. Yoo Eunhye chuckled in disbelief, but felt a tiny bit relieved that it was better than before.
"Haa..."
The moment Yoo Eunhye turned and left, another deep sigh escaped Ryu Sea-ah's lips. She pulled out papers hidden among the documents—resumes from the three missing members when they'd applied to join the guild.
"If I do better, will you please come back?"
She knew it was meaningless, but murmured it anyway. If repeating it like this raised the odds of their return by even 0.1%, she'd say it a million times.
"...Time to eat."
After mumbling to herself endlessly, she pulled over the cooled food Yoo Eunhye had left. She had no appetite, but to avoid worrying her later—or getting an earful—she had to at least pretend.
Knock knock—
Just as she reached for her utensils, a knock made her ears perk up.
- Guild Master, we have visitors.
"Visitors?"
What visitors? Key figures from other guilds would have scheduled ahead. No prior contact today.
- Yes. Sword Empress and her little sister...
"What? L-let them in right now!"
Her eyes flashed as she realized who they were. She shot up from her seat in shock, and the door opened.
"H-hi..."
"It's been a while."
"Come in, both of you. Oh, Eunhye, could you bring some tea? One hot chocolate, please."
"Yes."
Remembering the little one had hot chocolate at the cafe last time, Ryu Sea-ah requested it. Once Yoo Eunhye left, she guided them to the sofa herself.
"Were you eating? I hope we're not interrupting."
"No interruption. I haven't had much appetite lately—just forcing down a bite."
"Y-you need to eat properly..."
"Hehe, thanks for worrying."
Ryu Sea-ah felt a rare moment of healing watching Hayang fidget with her tiny hands and speak so earnestly. She sat across from them.
"So, what brings you here so suddenly?"
There was only one possible reason, but she couldn't hold back her curiosity about the details.
Han Yuseol exchanged a quick glance with Hayang, then pulled out the documents from Chae Seunghyeon today.
"We've uncovered some facts from our own investigation into the recent incident."
"R-really?!"
Some facts? Despite pouring in public authorities and Black Rose's full manpower, they hadn't scraped together even a speck of info.
Ryu Sea-ah's eyes sparkled with life for the first time in ages.
"Yes. First, regarding the CCTV footage you sent before."
"The CCTV..."
She had sent it, but it only proved nothing had happened that night. No juicy details.
Yet Han Yuseol pressed on, tilting her head curiously—
"We confirmed illusion skill effects were at play."
"...Pardon?"
The absurd claim left Ryu Sea-ah dumbfounded. Illusion skills? Sure, some Awakeners had them, but they affected living beings. This was CCTV—a machine. Did that mean the skill fooled a machine?
"W-wait a sec. No offense, but I've never heard of illusion skills working on machines."
Moreover, on the day she sent it, Han Yuseol herself—who'd checked the footage live—had replied, 'The footage really shows nothing unusual.' Meaning even she hadn't spotted anything odd.
Why bring it up now?
"Yes, I'd never heard of it either. I thought it was normal at first too. But..."
Han Yuseol glanced down at Hayang. Their eyes met, and Hayang grinned sheepishly, nodding—like it was her turn.
As Ryu Sea-ah's mind reeled in confusion—
"This child saw through the illusion skill."
"......Pardon? Hayang did?"
"Yes."
"Ehehe..."
This little girl pierced an illusion skill that fooled two top S-grade hunters? To see through illusions, you needed either overwhelming Intelligence or superior detection skills.
No offense, but looking at Hayang, it wasn't the first. So the second?
But fooling a machine means its power is immense...
Did this girl have an even superior unique skill? A girl who looked no older than eleven or twelve?
I knew she was an Awakener, but...
She'd assumed Hayang was just a little sister protected by Han Yuseol. Even hearing Han Yuseol became master of Hayangne Guild, she'd thought it was for her sister—starting a guild in her name to run it cozily together.
But maybe not.
Turns out it's an elite few guild after all?
A little off, but Ryu Sea-ah had grasped the truth pretty closely.