The Information Guild Master

But the water had already been spilled — or rather, the flour had already exploded.

The mill owner was clearing his throat and brushing off his clothes, while Seoa still stared at me with that frozen expression. I could feel the eyes of everyone around us, and my face burned with heat.

Another failure at helping Seoa today. No — this wasn't helping. This was manufacturing disasters.

From that day on, I resolved to be more careful about "helping." Until I recovered my sense of strength control, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would be better not to jump in recklessly. That was the conclusion I reached.

But sitting still and watching Seoa bustle around alone was pure torment. Looking at her back as she pulled weeds in the corner of the yard made my hands itch all over again.

I'd failed before by yanking up the entire lawn, but I could control that much force now.

Weeding should be fine. This isn't about strength control — it's about delicacy, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠isn't it?

I quietly approached her and crouched down at her side.

"I'll handle this."

Seoa eyed me with suspicion for a moment, then snorted a quiet laugh and nodded.

"Alright. Then I'll leave it to you. Just pull these weeds here. The flowers next to them are ones I really care about, so please be careful."

She pointed out the weeds from the flowers, repeating her instructions carefully. Small pink blossoms sat there, blooming cutely — some nameless flowers I didn't recognize.

I still struggled with color perception in the real world, but I ought to be able to tell those apart. Since Seoa said she cherished them, I'd be especially careful.

I nodded and set to work on the weeds.

You're supposed to pull them out by the roots, right?

I applied force through my fingers, gripped the base of a weed, and yanked hard. With a soft shook, the soil crumbled and the weed came free. No shaking the entire ground like last time. Easier than I expected.

I did it...!

Energized, I started pulling every weed in sight. Compared to ripping the heads off enemies inside a Gate, this was nothing at all.

Focusing on the task, I soon had one corner of the yard looking reasonably clean. Feeling satisfied, I looked down at the pile of pulled weeds — and something was wrong.

Among the green weeds… pink petals were mixed in.

With a sinking feeling, I turned my head toward the flower bed. And I understood. What I had pulled out wasn't just weeds.

A considerable number of those pink flowers Seoa had so carefully tended were also tumbled in the weed pile, looking utterly ruined. Roots and all.

"……"

I couldn't say a word. Sensing Seoa's presence behind me, I couldn't even bring myself to turn around. Then I heard her sigh — deep, so very deep. A sigh that seemed to hold every resignation in the world.

I slowly turned my head to look at her. Arms crossed, she was glancing back and forth between the uprooted flowers and me sitting there blankly. This time she didn't get angry or raise her voice. She just… looked at me with eyes full of profound hollowness.

"…I'm sorry."

That was already my second apology. I bowed my head with genuine remorse. I'd truly wanted to help, but the result was always like this.

Why am I so clumsy at this? Pulling a single weed properly is harder than killing and demolishing buildings.

Self-loathing washed over me.

After a long silence, Seoa suddenly burst out laughing — puhuhu. Startled by a reaction so different from the expression I'd felt from her, I lifted my head. She was covering her mouth, trying to hold it in, but her trembling shoulders gave away how much she was enjoying this.

"Pff— ah, no… Taejun, your face is just so… so serious…"

She trailed off, still fighting the laughter. Was my dejected expression that funny? Well — the Sword Demon looking crushed over a few mispulled flowers. Anyone would find that ridiculous.

Hearing her laugh, somehow I started laughing too. A hollow laugh.

"It's fine. Really."

Having finally stopped laughing, Seoa patted my shoulder.

"Those flowers had grown too dense anyway. I was planning to thin them out. So it worked out, in a way."

She said it casually as she gathered the uprooted flowers, but I knew full well it was comfort.

"I'll just replant them. The roots are still alive, so they'll settle back in quickly."

The roots are still alive, so they'll settle back in. For some reason, those words felt warm.

Roots…

Seoa looked at my dirt-caked hands and smiled softly. Under that smile, the guilt and embarrassment over the mess I'd made melted away like snow. In their place, a warmth bloomed in one corner of my chest.

"From now on… I'll stick right next to you and show you how. Okay?"

A hint of playfulness colored her voice. I nodded. Next time, I wanted to do something properly — even something small. I wanted to lighten her load and make her smile.

The start was clumsy and full of mistakes, but in this ordinary process of laughing with her, getting scolded, and trying again, I felt something slowly changing.

I brushed off the dirt, stood up, and carefully sat down beside Seoa as she sorted the flowers for replanting. She was gently shaking the soil from the roots of the uprooted blooms. Her light brown eyes were fixed seriously on those small roots. Her touch was delicate beyond any comparison to my still-filthy hands.

I watched her profile in silence. The pale nape of her neck revealed under the sunlight, a few strands of brown hair stirring in the breeze. Something about that sight settled my heart strangely. It was a peaceful scene so utterly different from the blood and death I'd faced countless times inside the Gate.

"……"

I felt I should say something, but the words wouldn't come easily. Maybe I was afraid of ruining something again. For ten years, the only things I'd grown familiar with were destruction and slaughter. The act of tending and nurturing something was far too foreign and difficult for me.

Just as I'd failed to distinguish her carefully cultivated flowers from weeds and pulled them out, a sudden unease crept in — that I might destroy this peaceful daily life itself.

Seoa glanced at me. As if reading my complicated feelings, her gaze softened.

"Taejun."

"……"

"It's okay. Really."

She turned her eyes back to the flowers and spoke quietly.

"It's nothing to get worked up over. Just having you back is more than enough for me……"

A faint tremor clung to her voice as she trailed off. That tremor reached all the way to my heart and sent out gentle ripples.

Just having me back was enough. I couldn't even begin to guess the weight of those words.

Ten years. Ten years with no word at all — not even knowing whether I was dead or alive. Standing before this small woman who had endured that time alone, protecting me and my parents, I felt endlessly small.

I nodded without a word. Seoa smiled faintly at me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠once more and began preparing the spots to replant the flowers. To avoid ruining anything else, I simply sat quietly at her side and watched.

The smell of earth and grass, mixed with the faint scent of soap from her, tickled my nose. Senses long accustomed to the thick stench of blood and gunpowder felt like they were slowly coming back to life.

Awkward and clumsy as it was, something was clearly changing. Something frozen inside me was beginning to thaw, very slowly, in the warmth of her presence.

A few days passed.

After that day, under Seoa's "special supervision," I helped with a few more small household chores. Of course, I still failed at controlling my strength or made some ridiculous mistake more often than not — but at least the catastrophe of pulling up her precious flowers again never repeated.

Each time, Seoa would scold me while failing to hold back her laughter, and I didn't mind hearing that laugh. No — honestly, I rather liked it. Warmth seemed to fill a house that had been hollow and empty.

Today, I decided to take some time alone for the first time in a while. Early in the morning, I simply grabbed a fishing rod and headed to the river at the edge of the village.

The riverside must once have been filled with children's laughter without end, but now almost no one came — it was quiet. After the Gates appeared, the anxiety that danger could erupt anywhere, anytime, had driven people to hide inside the safety of their homes. Thanks to that, this place had become an ideal retreat for someone like me who preferred silence.

I found a suitable spot, sat down, and cast my line. Morning sunlight shattered across the gently flowing river. The float didn't so much as twitch. But that didn't matter. Catching fish wasn't the point.

I just wanted to empty my complicated head in this stillness. Cheok Jun-gyeong's power, the memories beyond the Gate, bothersome entities like Choe Kanghyuk and the Administration Bureau, and… Seoa.

Thinking of her warmed one corner of my heart even as it grew heavy. Did I even have the right to stay by her side? The right to enjoy ordinary happiness?

…Useless thoughts.

I shook my head lightly and fixed my gaze back on the fishing rod. I needed to focus. Empty my mind. Just as I had once strained every nerve to read an enemy's movements inside a Gate, now I concentrated only on the subtle motion of the current and the changes in the float.

That was when it happened.

"Oh my! Is that Kang Taejun? Fishing all the way out here? Completely picturesque!"

The bright, exaggerated voice from behind me made my brow furrow on its own. An uninvited guest, tracking me down even to a place this quiet. I didn't need to turn around to know who owned that voice.

Park Jisu. An S-rank Hunter belonging to the information guild Argos — and a loud, bothersome woman. She was an information-type ability user; we'd spoken a few times when she relayed intel from inside Gates to the outside.

Before I knew it, Park Jisu had come right up beside me, bending at the waist to look down at me. A yellow dress so vivid it was almost blinding, and oversized sunglasses covering half her face. From head to toe, her outfit screamed Look at me, I'm here! A thick cloud of perfume rode the breeze and stabbed at my nose.

"……"

I didn't answer. I just kept staring at the float dangling from the end of my rod. My cold shoulder didn't bother her in the slightest; she pressed on in that characteristically high tone of hers.

"Wow~ Even Kang Taejun's fishing look is somehow this sexy? Lonely city man… wait, no — country man? Anyway! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The vibe is insane!"

Shut up. You've been waiting for me to be alone these past few days, haven't you.

I muttered inwardly. That woman was always like this — an unreadable smile and needlessly theatrical gestures. But I knew her information network was something I couldn't ignore. A necessary evil, you could say.

"But do the fish bite well here? I love fishing too! Let's come together next time, okay?"

She plopped right down beside me. Her outfit looked rather inconvenient for sitting in the grass, but she didn't seem to care — she tucked her legs together, leaned toward me, and peered at me with green eyes full of mischief as she slid her sunglasses down a fraction.

"Loosen up that face, Taejun. Am I gonna eat you or something?"

I still said nothing, just kept watching the rod. The mere fact of her sitting next to me set my nerves on edge.

Park Jisu studied my reaction for a moment, then lowered her voice and whispered as if sharing a secret.

"I brought a piece of intel that's still piping hot. Want to hear it? I'm telling you specially — just you, Taejun."