Chapter 414
Chapter 414
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 415
Chapter Title: Reunion with Elin
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Han Se-yeon, who had returned to the company, immediately met with Elin.
She had always shown a confident demeanor, but perhaps due to the Association's pursuit, her face looked haggard after such a long time.
“……Did you have a hard time getting here?”
“It wasn’t too bad. The Association’s pursuit was a bit annoying, though.”
Elin said that and subtly glanced at the Sword Ghost standing behind her.
Was she feeling tension from having one of the top powerhouses right in front of her? Elin stiffened her expression for a moment before turning her gaze back to Han Se-yeon.
“I have something I want to ask.”
“Please go ahead.”
“Kim Jin-woo. Do you know where he is?”
It was the question she had expected.
And in this situation, asking such a question implied that she knew Kim Sun-woo and Kim Jin-woo were the same person.
“……Unfortunately, I don’t know either.”
“……I figured as much. I thought you might know.”
Elin let out a short sigh.
It was completely different from the leisurely demeanor she had always shown.
Han Se-yeon felt a pang of doubt as she looked at her.
“……But why did you think I would know where Jin-woo is?”
“Well, because he…… no, Kim Jin-woo always paid a lot of attention to you. He even tried various things for your sake.”
At those words, Han Se-yeon felt a sharp ache in her chest.
Kim Jin-woo was that kind of person.
Someone who had shown her so much favor.
But the current her couldn’t offer him any help whatsoever.
She let out a short sigh, organized her thoughts, and asked again.
“Let me ask you something too. What’s your relationship with Jin-woo?”
At the question, Elin shook her head.
“I don’t know either.”
“……What?”
“I knew, but now I don’t. Or rather, ‘got confused’ might be the better way to put it.”
It seemed Elin was greatly confused by Kim Jin-woo’s berserk transformation.
She could understand.
She herself had been quite shocked when she first saw it.
And seeing Elin like that, she became convinced.
That she was not Kim Jin-woo’s enemy.
“Elin.”
“……?”
Elin looked up at her. Han Se-yeon stared straight into her eyes and said.
“Would you like to work under me?”
The head of the Choi family, Choi Jae-hyung, looked at the empty seat at the table and let out a short sigh.
It had been three days since he had forcibly brought his daughter, Choi Seo-yoon, back to the mansion in preparation for any possible accidents.
She was refusing meals as rebellion against having her freedom taken away.
Since she had always been such an obedient daughter, this first experience of her defiance left him flustered.
“Has Seo-yoon still not come out of her room?”
Having finished his meal alone, Choi Jae-hyung asked one of the disciples managing the mansion.
“Yes, she has completely locked the door.”
Choi Jae-hyung sighed.
Kim Sun-woo……
That bastard was the root cause of all this.
Ever since she met him, his daughter had been continuously influenced negatively.
This wasn’t the only incident.
In the past, Seo-yoon had even followed Kim Sun-woo into the mystical world.
It had worked out well, but it could have trapped her in the virtual world forever, forcing him to part with his daughter.
“……Kim Sun-woo.”
Tap, tap. He muttered the name while impatiently drumming on the table.
He seemed to be getting emotional over his daughter’s matters.
He had vowed to judge everything rationally, no matter what.
But he kept seeing his younger self overlapping with his daughter, making him even more concerned.
“I’ll go check on Seo-yoon for a bit.”
Choi Jae-hyung stood up and headed to Choi Seo-yoon’s room.
The door was firmly closed, as always.
He tried the doorknob, but it was locked tight and wouldn’t open.
“Seo-yoon.”
Choi Jae-hyung called out to Choi Seo-yoon beyond the door.
But there was no response.
Thinking maybe she was asleep, he knocked on the door.
“Seo-yoon.”
Still no response.
Even shaking the doorknob and knocking yielded no reaction, as if no one was inside.
“If you don’t answer, I’ll have to force the door open.”
But still, no response came.
Feeling a sudden unease, Choi Jae-hyung urgently gathered mana in his hand.
He smashed the doorknob and opened the door.
“Seo-yoon!”
Flinging the door open revealed an empty room.
Choi Seo-yoon, who should have been there, had vanished without a trace.
Choi Jae-hyung looked around the room with trembling eyes.
The window was wide open, and inside, a TV was on.
And sound was coming from the TV.
[The identity of the wizard who slew the black beast is speculated to be the missing Kim Sun-woo. The Association has also stated they will keep this possibility open and investigate.]
At that moment, a disciple who had arrived late came running and shouted.
“F-Family head! The young lady’s belongings are gone!”
Choi Jae-hyung didn’t respond and slowly entered the room.
The disciple, seeing his calm demeanor, felt puzzled, then noticed the empty room and the wide-open window.
“……Huh? The young lady escaped?”
“……Seems like it. Wonder who she takes after.”
Choi Jae-hyung let out a deep sigh.
“Uh…… I’ll call the kids and start searching right away!”
As the disciple hurried to run off somewhere, Choi Jae-hyung spoke.
“No need. Let her do what she wants. You probably won’t be able to stop her anyway.”
“Pardon?”
Choi Jae-hyung looked at a small note left in the room.
[I have someone I need to meet, so I’m heading to school.]
[Six days have passed since the birth of the new King of Demons. Accordingly, significant changes have occurred in demon activities. Notably, the number of incidents caused by demons has noticeably decreased. According to demon experts, the current demon regime……]
Three more days passed.
News was flowing from the small TV in the hospital room.
Yoon Ha-young, who had changed clothes and finished preparing for discharge, gazed out the window.
The dazzling morning sunlight warmly illuminated her face.
“Yoon Ha-young~ Congrats on your discharge!”
At that moment, the hospital room door burst open, and a welcome face arrived.
It was Shin Young-jun, holding a small fruit basket in one hand.
Yoon Ha-young smiled faintly as she accepted the gift.
“Young-jun~ Thanks.”
Behind him, Lee Seo-jun, Yoo Ah-ra, and Lee Hyun-joo also appeared.
They too gave Yoon Ha-young discharge gifts and celebrated her release.
Yoon Ha-young smiled at her gathered friends.
“Thanks for coming. It’s been a while since we’ve all been together like this, right?”
“Yeah. Though there’s an empty spot.”
A silence fell at Shin Young-jun’s words.
Lee Seo-jun let out a deep sigh at Shin Young-jun’s usual tactless remark.
Then, someone arrived late.
“Sunbae! Congrats on your discharge!”
“Seo-yoon!”
The identity of the surprise guest, whom even Yoon Ha-young hadn’t expected, was none other than Choi Seo-yoon.
There had been rumors she was forcibly taken back home, so she thought she wouldn’t see her today, making the joy even greater.
“How did this happen? Did your family allow it?”
“Nope. Of course I snuck out!”
Everyone gave bitter smiles at Choi Seo-yoon’s bold declaration.
Yoo Ah-ra looked around at everyone and muttered.
“Now everyone’s here except one.”
At her remark, which poured cold water after Shin Young-jun’s, everyone fell silent again.
“Yeah.”
“Come on, let’s get out of here first. It’s stuffy.”
To change the mood, Yoon Ha-young took the lead and headed out of the hospital.
A cold winter wind blew.
Yoon Ha-young took a short breath of the chilly air and said.
“Ah~ Freedom at last.”
“Ha-young!”
At that moment, an elderly woman approached her.
“Grandma.”
The woman was Yoon Ha-young’s grandmother, who had stayed by her side during her hospitalization.
At the same time, everyone politely bowed their heads in greeting.
The grandmother looked over Yoon Ha-young’s friends and gave a pleased smile.
“These are your friends? They all look so fine~.”
“Aw, Grandma, you’ve got great looks too!”
As sociable Shin Young-jun spoke up first, Yoon Ha-young’s grandmother burst into hearty laughter.
“Right, Ha-young. I heard school’s on break for a while. What will you do? Come home?”
Due to overlapping incidents, the Mage Academy was on temporary hiatus.
Of course, with finals remaining, it wasn’t expected to last long.
“No. I plan to stay in the dorms for a bit. I still have things to do.”
At Yoon Ha-young’s words, her grandmother looked at her with a worried expression.
Because she knew about the recent incidents centered around Yoon Ha-young.
“……I see.”
“Yes, don’t worry. And Grandma, I’m stronger than you think.”
The grandmother looked at Yoon Ha-young, seemingly overcome with emotion, tightly pressing her lips before speaking.
“……When did our Ha-young grow up so much.”
The grandmother gripped Yoon Ha-young’s hand tightly. Then she turned to her friends.
“Friends, take good care of Ha-young.”
Everyone smiled softly at the grandmother and nodded, to reassure her.
“Then I’ll be off, Grandma. Don’t overdo it, okay?”
“Grandma, let me walk you.”
“No. It’s fine. Stay with your friends; I’ll go alone.”
“……Grandma.”
After that, the grandmother said her goodbyes and left.
The group, including Yoon Ha-young, blankly watched her receding figure before looking at each other.
“Phew…… she’s gone. So, what now?”
Everyone caught the implied meaning in Shin Young-jun’s brief words.
“Shouldn’t we go look for him?”
“……Yeah. I want to hear what happened.”
As he said that, Lee Seo-jun scanned the surroundings.
A man sitting on a park bench reading a book, a woman on a call at the main gate.
They had already noticed that all of them were Association agents monitoring them.
“What’s the plan? He’s completely gone into hiding because of the Association. How do we find him?”
“That’s…….”
“We should use the Compass of Bonds.”
At Choi Seo-yoon’s words, everyone’s gazes turned to her.
Compass of Bonds.
An artifact that locates people connected by bonds.
It had been buried with a promise for 20 years later to protect personal privacy and prevent it from falling into villains’ hands, but in this situation, it was the only way to find Kim Sun-woo.
“……The problem is the Association.”
They were currently under Association surveillance.
Because they were the closest to the King of Demons, designated as a dangerous figure by the Association.
“We’ll have to find a way. One thing’s for sure: if we act rashly, the compass could end up in the Association’s hands. We have to avoid that.”
They couldn’t afford to cause harm to Kim Sun-woo through their own mistakes.
Because everyone believed he wasn’t a demon.
It was right then.
“Student Yoon Ha-young!”
A woman in a white coat was running over.
It was the doctor in charge of her room. The doctor held out a basket she was carrying.
“Someone left this behind.”
It was a small basket filled with various flowers. Yoon Ha-young stared at it blankly before saying.
“This isn’t mine.”
“Hm? It was left in front of Student Yoon Ha-young’s room?”
At that moment, her eyes trembled slightly as she looked at the flower basket.
“The gift has been delivered.”
My hideout as the King of Demons, brightly lit with lights to my taste.
Ha-ryeong approached me and reported. I nodded from my seat on the sofa.
“Good work.”
I had just sent a small gift through Ha-ryeong.
‘Healing Flower Basket’.
Not an ordinary flower basket, but a mystical magic tool with mana recovery effects.
I hadn’t bought it with money or anything.
While sorting through the numerous treasures piled in the hideout, I gave her one that seemed helpful, like clearing inventory.
Then Ha-ryeong spoke to me cautiously.
“……Your Majesty. I know you’re deeply attached to those children, but perhaps it would be better for them if you cut ties for now.”
“……I know.”
I knew what Ha-ryeong was trying to say.
Now that I had become the ‘King of Demons’, my relationship with them could only bring them danger.
Feeling bitter, I changed the subject.
“How’s the black beast damage?”
“It’s on an increasing trend. No major damage in Korea yet, but the damage in Mongolia is skyrocketing exponentially.”
“I see…….”
The black beasts’ encroachment was faster than I had anticipated.
The original events were already accelerated, giving me headaches, and now the difficulty had ramped up too.
“Demons ready for combat?”
“We’ve gathered about 50 A-Rank Demons, but…….”
Ha-ryeong let out a small sigh and said.
“The demon society is currently in turmoil. I think we need more time for stability to win public sentiment.”
It wasn’t wrong.
They might seem to follow my opinion now, but there was no guarantee a coup like during the Second King of Demons wouldn’t happen again.
“Nothing comes easy.”
Being the King of Demons didn’t grant absolute power.
If it did, neither the First nor Second King would have been betrayed.
There was no assurance I wouldn’t meet the same end as them.
“Gaining trust comes first, huh. Got it. You can go.”
Ha-ryeong bowed to me and vanished.
Alone, I stared blankly at the wall, lost in thought, then pulled out the [Ancient Demon’s Grimoire] I had obtained from the treasure vault.
Countless spells contained in the grimoire……
I spread my hand and manifested one of the spells inside with mana.