That Proposal, I Accept (1)
“……Ah, it’s nothing.”
Tiriya, who had called out to Yeong-sik as he turned away, shook her head with a hesitant expression.
Yeong-sik tilted his head, gazing at her.
“What’s up?”
“Ahem. Like I said, it’s nothing. I’ll tell you later.”
Tiriya said this with a flushed face. Yeong-sik looked at her curiously for a moment before turning back around.
There was far too much to do right now to indulge his curiosity.
“See you later, then.”
“Yes.”
With that, Yeong-sik activated his Boost and flew toward where the Salvatore Guild members were.
The battle with the monsters was nearing its end; hardly any were left alive.
Tiriya watched Yeong-sik’s receding figure and let out a deep sigh. A whirlwind of complex emotions churned in her chest.
Why am I like this…?
With a trembling expression, she placed a hand on her pounding heart and continued staring at his back.
This isn’t the time for this.
Remembering Yeong-sik’s request to secure the Black Cube from the boss monster in advance, she shook her head to clear her thoughts.
Tiriya descended into Talion’s plaza, which had been utterly devastated by Yeong-sik’s attacks and Rekras’s breath.
The angelic wings sprouting from her back fluttered beautifully.
The plaza of Talion, the site of the fierce battle, was a wretched sight. Buildings lay in ruins, and the neatly paved roads had been torn up.
The areas swept by the breath attack were especially horrific—the ground had melted into glowing lava.
Thankfully, the fortress’s residents had been evacuated to other cities before preparing for war. Otherwise, the casualties would have been catastrophic.
No, even without loss of life, the near-total destruction of the city was a disaster for those who had made their livelihoods here.
Tiriya landed on the ground and approached Rekras’s corpse, which had unleashed its breath before meeting its end.
She extracted the Black Cube from the dragonian’s mangled body—shredded by Yeong-sik’s assault—and tucked it into her bosom.
Normally, secretly taking something from a monster’s corpse that had been felled by a group would be considered stealing.
But the Black Cube, which emerged from monster corpses, was treated as worthless junk compared to blood, bones, hides, and the like. Snatching one wouldn’t cause much fuss.
At that moment, Kang Ha-rin approached Tiriya, who had just landed.
“You… who the hell are you?”
She voiced the question she hadn’t had a chance to ask amid the fight with Rekras.
She’d never heard of a ranker like this on the eastern continent.
“My name is Sophia. I’m the guild master of Eclogion Guild.”
Tiriya calmly introduced herself without flinching at the sudden query.
Kang Ha-rin’s eyes narrowed at her words.
“Eclogion Guild? Never heard of it…”
“We’ve been operating in the southern continent until recently and only just migrated to the east.”
“The south?”
Kang Ha-rin frowned and tilted her head. As far as she knew, the south’s natives were so powerful that summoners rarely formed guilds there.
Tiriya nodded calmly in response.
“Yes. We were just settling in when this incident broke out, so I joined the subjugation force to help.”
“Hmm… Are you a native, by any chance?”
Kang Ha-rin asked sharply. All summoners on this continent shared the commonality of being Korean.
But Tiriya’s appearance was too Western to pass for Korean, prompting the question.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And you’re a guild master?”
“Yes. I built ties with the summoners from the Arnan Empire, and it just sort of happened.”
Tiriya offered the excuse she’d prepared.
“Hmmm.”
Kang Ha-rin swallowed a grunt, eyeing her. Native guild masters were rare but not unheard of.
Even on the eastern continent, Salvatore Guild’s former leader had been a native, hadn’t she?
Wait a second.
As her thoughts turned to Salvatore Guild, Kang Ha-rin’s gaze sharpened.
She had no direct connection to them, but she remembered seeing their face at a major guild conference on the eastern continent.
She looks a bit similar…
Kang Ha-rin stared intently at Tiriya’s face and tilted her head. In her memory, Salvatore’s guild master, Tiriya, had lustrous golden hair like molten gold.
“Then I’ll head back to my guild members.”
“Ah, wait…”
Kang Ha-rin grabbed Tiriya’s arm as she turned to pass by.
“Is something wrong?”
“Oh, no. You saved my life, so as your benefactor, I just wanted to at least say thanks…”
“It’s fine. We had to take down the monsters invading the kingdom anyway—for the sake of the powerless citizens.”
Tiriya tried to step away again, but Kang Ha-rin gripped her arm tighter with a desperate expression.
“W-Wait…”
“What’s going on, Ha-rin? Did you take down the boss monster?”
Just then, Park Sia appeared, having finished mopping up the monster units to assist Kang Ha-rin.
Tiriya’s expression stiffened slightly at the sight of her.
“Oh, Sia unnie. This person helped a ton with the boss. There was also some guy in a black suit whose identity I couldn’t figure out, but he vanished somewhere.”
“Hmm. I see. No wonder you took it down faster than expected—you had help.”
Park Sia nodded and extended her hand to Tiriya.
“Hello. I’m Park Sia, guild master of Leviathan Guild.”
“I’m Sophia, guild master of Eclogion Guild.”
Park Sia clasped Tiriya’s hand and fell silent. Kang Ha-rin spoke up in her usual bright tone.
“They were operating in the south and just moved to the east.”
“Oh? The south, huh…”
Park Sia narrowed her eyes and met Tiriya’s gaze. Tiriya averted her eyes with a troubled look.
In the distance, she spotted Yeong-sik approaching with the Salvatore Guild members.
“Well, my guild has arrived, so I’ll be going.”
Tiriya released Park Sia’s hand and turned.
Park Sia watched her back and spoke softly.
“So you’ve decided to keep hiding your identity and evade the kingdom’s eyes after all, Ms. Tiriya?”
“Huh? What are you suddenly talking about, Sia unnie?”
Tiriya’s body jolted at Park Sia’s words. Kang Ha-rin tilted her head, still not grasping the situation.
A heavy silence descended.
Then Yeong-sik arrived with the Salvatore Guild members. Noticing Tiriya’s stiff expression, he guessed something had happened.
Park Sia’s voice, cold as ice, continued.
“I have no intention of blabbing about your identity or acting as the kingdom’s lackey. I’m sick of Elnot Kingdom too, if not as much as you are.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying. We’re not Salvatore Guild; we’re Eclogion…”
“You didn’t seriously think anyone would buy such an obvious lie, did you?”
Kang Ha-rin reacted first to Park Sia’s chilling words.
“Eek…”
She turned her head stiffly, like a broken wooden doll, with a flustered expression.
“H-Ha! R-Right! No one would believe that for a second, Tiriya! I knew your identity from the start!”
Kang Ha-rin forced a laugh and shouted desperately. It was like the lame excuse someone blurts out after failing to guess the culprit in a mystery movie with friends.
“Ha-rin.”
“Y-Yeah? What’s up, Sia unnie?”
“Shut up already.”
Under Park Sia’s pitiful glare, Kang Ha-rin clamped her mouth shut and drooped her shoulders.
Lee Chae-rin, watching the two, narrowed her eyes with a hum and tugged at Yuna’s sleeve.
“Hey, Yuna unnie.”
“What?”
Yuna replied cautiously to Chae-rin’s approach amid the tense atmosphere.
“Big trouble. Someone’s stealing your position, Yuna unnie.”
“……What are you talking about?”
“There’s another loudmouth airhead girl besides you over there… Kyaaah!!”
Chae-rin couldn’t finish before screaming.
Yuna pressed down on her cheeky antics with a fist and spoke.
“This brat never knows when to shut up. What did you…”
“B-But your characters overlap too much! At this rate, your image will get diluted… Kyaaak! Stop! It hurts, Yuna unnie!!”
“How the hell am I anything like that idiot-looking girl?!”
Yuna pointed at Kang Ha-rin and yelled. Offended, Kang Ha-rin stepped forward.
“What? Idiot? Do you even know who I a—”
Sparks flew between Kang Ha-rin and Yuna. They closed the distance, ready to throw down any second.
Park Sia and Tiriya hardened their expressions, glaring at the pair.
“Ha-rin. I told you to be quiet.”
“Yuna. Read the damn room for once.”
At the two women’s icy words, Kang Ha-rin and Yuna deflated and stepped back.
“Haa. Sorry about that.”
“No, we’re the ones who caused unnecessary commotion.”
Park Sia sighed deeply and continued.
“Ms. Tiriya, I didn’t speak up to cause you harm. So please don’t be so guarded.”
“On my name as Leviathan’s guild master, I swear Salvatore Guild’s name won’t leak. So hear me out.”
Tiriya’s expression stiffened at Park Sia’s words. She glanced at Yeong-sik, who sighed deeply and nodded as if to say there was no choice.
It was already out; no taking it back.
“What story…?”
“You’ve heard we discovered a new dungeon? I’d like your help with that.”
“……A dungeon?”
Tiriya tilted her head at Park Sia’s utterly out-of-left-field remark.
“Ah… right, Salvatore’s guild master has angelic powers!”
Kang Ha-rin, who had been listening quietly, clapped her hands with sparkling eyes.
Park Sia shot her another sharp glare. Kang Ha-rin swallowed a grunt and retreated.
“We’re struggling to clear the newly discovered dungeon. To reach the lowest floor, we need someone with angelic power.”
“……So you’re asking me to help explore the dungeon?”
“Precisely, the entire Salvatore Guild. If you assist us, we’ll pay 300,000 gold plus five A-rank equipment items. Of course, we’ll split any rewards from the dungeon too.”
Not exactly 5-way split given our size difference, Park Sia added.
Murmurs rippled through the Salvatore Guild members at her words.
300,000 gold. A dizzying sum just to imagine.
For Salvatore Guild, striving to reclaim its former glory, it was money they desperately needed.
They’d gained plenty from Han Cheol-ho’s warehouse, but it was peanuts compared to this staggering amount.
Even Tiriya stammered, stunned by the unimaginable figure, trailing off in bewilderment.
Then Yeong-sik, who had been listening silently, stepped forward.
“The reward seems a bit lacking.”
All eyes turned to him.