Chapter 124: Rats and Rats (3)
Chapter 124: Rats and Rats (3)
“Is your conversation finished?”
The man who had guided us was waiting outside the room after I finished speaking with Elder Li.
Perhaps his previous attire had been a disguise for roaming the streets; he was now dressed sharply in a black suit and glasses, looking quite polished.
Is he a high-ranking official?
Judging by his clothes, he didn't look like someone who lived in Nanjido. He had the kind of respectable appearance that would allow him to blend right in as an office worker in a bustling district of Seoul.
He likely travels outside often. Perhaps he serves as a liaison with the Management Bureau.
Even considering that, I couldn't just overlook his brazenness.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know when you were watching the whole time.”
“I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about.”
How shameless.
“Behind The Wall… no, under the floorboards. You were hiding there, watching us, weren’t you?”
The wooden floor and the flimsy walls were all devices designed for an intrusion.
The room itself could be considered one giant trap.
“Are you perhaps mistaken? I have been here the entire time.”
The man continued to insist with a straight face.
I didn't know why he was being so stubborn, but it wasn't important, so I decided to end it there.
“Ah, sure. Next time you hide, pay attention to your breathing. If there’s smoke or dust in the room, it’s easy to see where the air is flowing.”
I waved my hand, signaling the end of the topic.
I was already exhausted from arguing with Elder Li; I didn't have the energy to bicker with this guy.
“…Thank you for the advice.”
“Whatever. Since you say you weren’t there, I guess it was someone else.”
As if understanding my point, the man simply bowed his head in silence.
“So, are you guiding us on the way back too?”
“Ah, about that…”
Just as the man raised his head to answer my question.
“Let’s rest! Rest! I’m exhausted!”
“…I’d usually say something, but I agree with Si-hyun this time.”
My two disciples started throwing a tantrum before he could even speak, as if they sensed something.
They aren't children; I don't know what they think they're doing.
“You’ve rested enough.”
“Sitting down for a moment after running for hours isn't called resting…”
“You were carried on my back.”
“I ran the whole way, so I can rest, right?”
“You’re still full of energy. Run some more.”
I wondered why an A-Rank Hero was making such a fuss.
Back in my day, I ran across the Siberian wilderness while chewing on tree roots.
I wanted to scold them like that, but I realized I was sounding like a total old-timer, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Just an hour!”
“If we do that, when are we going to get back?”
“Then thirty minutes!”
“Thirty minutes will turn into an hour.”
“Ten minutes!”
…Is there even a point in resting then?
Just as I was about to tell them to stop being idiots and drag them away.
“…May I say something?”
The man, who had been pushed to the background, cut in between us.
“What is it?”
“We’re resting, right? You’re tired too, Uncle!”
“Si-hyun. Calling someone you just met ‘Uncle’ is a bit…”
Perhaps because he was called 'Uncle,' the man’s facial muscles twitched slightly.
Even so, a professional informant is a professional informant; the smile didn't leave his face.
“I’m not an ‘Uncle.’ ‘Oppa’… might be a bit much, even for me. Please call me ‘Samchon.’”
…Is he actually an idiot?
How is it that there isn't a single normal person around me?
“Uncle, Samchon, Grandpa, squeaky rat, whatever—can we just get a move on? Huh?”
How long are they going to keep up this damn idiocy?
“Ah. My apologies. I was momentarily shocked by the word ‘Uncle.’”
If you've finished your Military Service, you're an 'Uncle.' What's the big deal?
…Wait, he’s from Nanjido. There’s a chance he never enlisted.
“Ahem. Ahem. Putting that aside, regarding the way back…”
The man cleared his throat awkwardly and continued.
“To start with the bad news… we are scheduled to depart immediately.”
“As we should.”
My disciples' groans served as background noise, but for me, it was purely good news.
Use this opportunity to get some leg exercise, disciples. In crucial moments, leg strength is all you have left.
“Now for the good news… the return trip won't even take ten minutes.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
My dumbfounded sound overlapped with my disciples' surprised cries.
It was something even I hadn't expected.
To cover a distance that took hours of running in just ten minutes. Even in Nanjido, where space is distorted, it would be difficult to compress it that much.
Besides, didn't the man in front of us only start actively using spatial distortion for travel after we entered The High Command?
If I had to guess…
“Did you dig a straight hole or something?”
If we just dropped from the top to the ground, we might make it in under ten minutes.
“In that case, I expect everyone except this Hero here would die…”
Well, that’s true.
“For now, please trust me and follow.”
The man said this and slowly opened the door we had entered through, revealing the same hallway from before.
“Ah…”
The disciples groaned just at the sight of the hallway, but since it didn't matter to me even if he was lying, I quietly followed behind the man.
“Ugh… I’m really tired.”
“He said ten minutes… bear with it.”
The disciples complained but followed us as if they had no choice.
As soon as the two corpses stepped through, the door closed.
“Then, please follow me.”
The man returned to his usual emotionless demeanor and guided us.
It wasn't a full sprint like when we came here, but a leisurely pace, as if taking a stroll.
My two idiots didn't seem to mind the slow pace, as they stopped complaining and fell silent.
After walking for about five minutes.
“We’ve arrived. Take these.”
The man stopped at a dead end and tossed something toward us.
Three objects flew through the air.
Since it looked like one for each of us, I snatched the one flying lowest out of the air.
“What is this?”
The question came out instinctively because I couldn't identify the object.
If it had been something bizarre, I would have understood it as an item related to the Otherworld, but it was an incredibly ordinary object.
A keychain with an animal tail attached.
The fur at the end was grayish, so I couldn't tell what creature it was from, but it was the kind of accessory you see often.
“There are rats that live in Nanjido.”
As everyone stared at it with blank faces, the man spoke.
“Those rats are terrifying creatures capable of Spatial Teleportation.”
Rats?
I was a bit surprised, but thinking about it, it was entirely possible. Since they were exposed to Otherworldly Power, there could certainly be rats that turned into monsters.
“The Elders took note of that and created this through repeated research. It’s a prototype, so it has the problem of only being able to connect two locations, and the Elders have to individually calibrate the items for the user, but…”
“Ah. I get the gist. Stop.”
So, holding this means you can teleport. The reason we ran all the way here was that I needed to see Elder Li’s face once.
“Eh? I don’t really get it.”
“A-bin will explain it to you later.”
Leaving the stupid Baek Si-hyun aside, I casually hooked the keychain to my waist.
“So, I just have to charge into that alleyway while wearing this?”
“Exactly.”
As I took a slight step forward at his words, I felt the nausea unique to Spatial Teleportation.
A floating sensation as if suspended in mid-air, distorted perception, and the feeling of my vision turning gray.
It was the real deal.
“Where does it lead?”
“To our hideout in the market. You are free to use it as much as you like, but please be careful, as there may be brothers occasionally trying to use Spatial Teleportation.”
Nanjido has developed some strange technology while I was away. Back in the day, we just ran everywhere, but now there's teleportation.
“Si-hyun, A-bin. Let’s go.”
When I turned back to the two of them.
“Wait a moment, please. This is Spatial Teleportation, right? Then the nausea… I need time to prepare my mind…”
“Huh? This is Spatial Teleportation? Master, wait a second, let me take a deep breath.”
Han A-bin, who had already caught on and was mentally preparing herself, and Baek Si-hyun, who had just understood and started talking nonsense.
“Shut it.”
I grabbed both of their arms and pulled.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
With a trailing scream, we crossed through space.
* * *
“We’re back.”
“You’ve… come… back?”
Perhaps because I brought a large amount of food yesterday, Dam, who had become strangely polite, came out to greet us.
Though that polite mask seemed to crumble the moment he saw the state of my disciples.
“I think I’m going to throw up… Ugh.”
“Si-hyun… move your hand… that’s my waist…”
“What’s wrong with your waist… it’s soft, feels nice…”
“Don’t touch me…”
…Is there some kind of intelligence-lowering barrier set up in Nanjido? Since coming here, it feels like all I’ve seen is my disciples acting like idiots.
“Why are the big sisters acting like that?”
“Teleportation nausea.”
I answered Dam’s question, but he just wore a dazed expression as if he didn't understand.
“Spatial… nausea?”
Well, Spatial Teleportation isn't common, so many people probably don't know it causes nausea.
“Ah… it’s hard to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it… Imagine if I grabbed you and spun you around over my head for ten minutes. How would you feel?”
“I’d die, wouldn't I?”
You wouldn't die.
When I twisted my face at his answer.
“Ah, I think I understand. You’re saying the sisters went through something that difficult.”
The quick-witted Dam spoke rapidly to cover up his mistake.
“Yeah.”
After that brief greeting, I turned around to see what my disciples were doing.
“You gained weight…”
“No, Si-hyun, you’re the one who gained weight…”
The two idiots were there, poking each other’s bellies.
“…It seems like their heads have gone a bit strange. Are they really okay?”
Seeing even Dam, who was choosing his words carefully, speak so bluntly, they must look truly, hopelessly stupid.
“…They’ll be fine. Probably.”
I didn't expect them to break down that much. It seems the unstable Spatial Teleportation affected their brains.
Well, since it uses something derived from beasts, there are bound to be one or two side effects like that.
Even I almost lost my balance and fell right after the transfer.
Let’s believe that. I feel like I’ve told myself that several times since coming here, but I have to believe it.
“Um… but…”
What is it?
“The sisters aside… um… today…”
Dam trailed off, looking at me.
It seemed there was something he wanted to ask for, but the words wouldn't come out.
I looked away from Dam and scanned the room.
Yeon, with drool escaping her mouth.
The two children, staring blankly at me while sucking their fingers.
I knew exactly what they wanted from me from the very beginning.
Under the children's gaze, I walked toward the table in the center of the room.
“You mean food, right? Here it is.”
Thud.
The bundle of food hit the table, proving its weight.
Compared to yesterday, the quantity itself hadn't changed much, but the weight had increased because it included drinks. I remembered the children choking yesterday as they forced the food down.
“Can we… eat it?”
“Why didn't you ask that yesterday?”
They ate just fine yesterday.
Did they realize after thinking it over for a day that they were being shameless?
“….”
As if my guess was correct, the four children focused their eyes on the food bundle and silently licked their lips.
I hadn't said that hoping for this kind of atmosphere.
I only meant it as a joke, but it seemed to have come across differently to the children.
I shouldn't have been criticizing Hyun-seok’s sense of humor.
I looked to my disciples, hoping they would lighten the mood, but the two idiots were just rolling around on the floor.
Nothing for it, then.
“Eat as much as you want. Why are you being so cautious? I bought this for you to eat.”
Slap.
I struck the back of Dam, who was sitting next to me.
With controlled strength, of course.
“Ah… Yes!”
Dam let out a brief cry of pain, but his joyful emotion quickly followed in his response, and at that moment.
Last night’s chaos was reenacted.
Perhaps because drinks were included, black and red droplets floated in the air.
Thanks to that, today’s dining table was even more of a mess than yesterday’s…
But it wasn't a bad feeling.
“Master, please put some bread in my mouth…”
“Senior… is there any porridge…”
Except for those two idiots.