A Brief Respite (1)
“This is bad… ah, damn it.”
I’d spent quite a long time trailing around with Jung Hayan, and in that time I’d come to realize that she was far craftier than she looked.
Of course, I was the last person who had any right to talk, considering the road of filth I’d been walking down, but Jung Hayan had a more meticulous, more devious side to her than most people would ever imagine.
Unlike the innocent Jung Hayan of old, she didn’t simply act the moment she decided she wanted someone dead.
What she’d shown so far, of course, was barely more than child’s play.
Things like casually mentioning the bad points of women who might become rivals, or exploiting the fact that I was weak to her tears—petty little tricks. But there was no denying that Jung Hayan had changed from the person she’d been at the start.
“Though once she gets fixated, she still can’t see anything else…”
I always thought the same thing about her: she was strong against the weak, but weak against the strong.
She understood the difference in power, the difference in authority, and more than anyone else, she felt all too vividly that she herself stood on the side of the comparatively weak.
That was likely why she’d thrown herself so violently into magic after meeting Cha Heera.
And it was probably for the same reason that she’d never shown her teeth to those she considered strong.
Of course, you could also say she’d gained the ability to distinguish between people who mattered to her and people who didn’t, but the background to her turning Han Sora into a rag doll at the training camp was probably less about trusting there’d be no fallout and more about knowing that she herself was the predator.
It was just a guess, but I understood Jung Hayan’s behavioral patterns in exactly the way I’d just described.
“Still not great…”
It was, of course, nice that Jung Hayan was getting stronger.
But at the same time, it was only natural to feel uneasy when I had no idea what kind of trouble she might cause next.
Her mana stat is 97…
For a core stat to climb into the high 90s was the minimum requirement for entering the ranks of the continent’s strong.
Just thinking about Cha Heera, who had 97 Strength before she’d inflated it with her trait, was enough to explain that.
Ito Souta also had an Agility stat in the high 90s, and Park Yeonju, who I was currently chatting with, likewise possessed that kind of spec.
Of course, raw stats alone couldn’t measure strength, but in Jung Hayan’s case, if she managed to fill in even a little more experience, she could become one of the top ten strongest in the Empire, at the very least.
To put it simply, she might already be aware of that now.
No—she definitely was.
She had always kept in mind that what she needed was time, or an item that could inflate her stats, which was why she’d secured the item while everyone else had their heads buried in Kim Hyunsung.
And the fact that she’d tossed the staff aside like a used rag after gaining those stats only confirmed that my guess had been right once again.
Back in the day, she’d been relatively weak compared to Cha Heera or Kasugano Yuno, but now she seemed to think she’d at least caught up to them.
“Heehee.”
The fact that she kept grinning like that was probably less because she’d obtained a legendary item and more because I’d been right about her.
There wasn’t a problem right this second, but it was obvious I’d have to get a grip on her sooner rather than later.
After we got out of the dungeon, I’d need to retrain her at some point.
That girl really…
It was a pain that I had to keep her mental state in check on a regular basis, but considering I could command the supreme archmage as a summoned creature, it was a cheap price to pay.
I started worrying that she might cause some kind of incident from here on out, but…
Probably not.
Looking at Jung Hayan, who was still clinging to my arm and glaring at the women of the Black Swan Guild, I let out another sigh.
That was when Park Deokgu came thundering over, his voice booming like a drum.
“Hey, hyung! Noona! Time to eat!”
“Oppa! It looks like dinner’s ready!”
“Already that time, huh?”
“Yep. Hehehe.”
“Krrr… seriously, the food is unreal! That Yeonju noona made it herself, and I swear my eyes nearly popped out of my head from how good it was!”
“Really?”
“This is just my opinion, but I think Yeonju noona likes our guild master hyung. That’s why she probably put in all that effort. This is the instinct of Kangwon Province’s love doctor, Park Deokgu. I can smell it. Smell it.”
He plopped down on the ground with a thud, as if only he knew a fact everyone else already understood. It was a spectacle, all right.
When I glanced toward Kim Hyunsung, he was indeed being held up by Park Yeonju and unable to make his way over here.
At the same time, Cho Hyejin, who was eating nearby, suddenly looked a little sulky.
So she gets jealous too.
I’d always thought she only ever wore that rigid, disciplined expression in front of me, but apparently she could make faces like that too.
“We’re still on an expedition, Deokgu. Those kinds of private matters should be…”
“Hyejin noona doesn’t exactly look too happy either, though… Could it be you’re feeling a little down because our hyung is all cozy with Park Yeonju noona?”
“What are you—”
“Ahem. If you don’t want to admit it, that’s fine, but the eyes of this love doctor see everything.”
“P-please spare me the unnecessary remarks…”
“If you don’t want to have him snatched away by someone from another guild, you’d better go now. The mood over there looks good. As a missionary of love, I’d still like to root for the one who seems closer to our hyung. You see, even if eating together doesn’t seem like much… it actually matters quite a lot.”
“Ah…”
“Usually, while you’re eating, you become his wife, and he becomes your husband. It already looks like the Black Swan ladies are backing her, so hurry up and go. If you don’t, you’ll regret it.”
“That… isn’t why, but… I suddenly remembered something I need to report to the guild master, so I’ll take my leave first, Vice Guild Master Lee Kiyoung.”
“Yes. Do your best, Hyejin.”
“It really isn’t because of that.”
Her face turning red as she shot up from her seat made me snort despite myself.
Apparently she hadn’t even had time to grab the spear she always kept with her.
She clutched her tray and hurried off toward the place where Kim Hyunsung and Park Yeonju were standing, her back practically shouting her feelings for the world to hear.
Kind of cute.
That was what fresh, innocent romance looked like.
It was different from Jung Hayan or Sun Heeyoung, who kept looking around and making it obvious they didn’t want anyone coming near.
What surprised me a little was that Sun Heeyoung didn’t seem especially close to the Black Swan guild members.
Maybe, as a priest, she simply didn’t mesh well with that side of them, who were rather free-spirited in their own way.
If anything, she seemed to dislike them.
She never showed it, but for some reason I could see it clearly.
I should really have a talk with her too…
I’d left her alone for a while, but Sun Heeyoung was another person who needed close management.
The reason I could afford to let my attention slip from her was that, unlike Jung Hayan, I believed she was more than capable of taking care of herself.
And that wasn’t just a vague impression—it had been true in practice as well.
Just as Kim Hyunsung trusted Cho Hyejin as his vice commander, I trusted Sun Heeyoung too.
She handles things cleanly… she’s rational…
And that was a completely separate matter, but honestly, even her looks were my type.
Who on earth wouldn’t like that “church sister” type, with her faintly holy aura? If you were asking whether Sun Heeyoung’s appearance matched my ideal type, the answer would be yes.
My body was tired, which probably meant I was having more pointless thoughts than usual.
The moment I got distracted by Sun Heeyoung, I felt Jung Hayan’s grip on my arm tighten.
It’s not like that, Hayan. Don’t get worked up…
When I lightly patted Jung Hayan’s head, Park Deokgu picked up the conversation again.
“Hey, hyung. This is a little different, but…”
“Yeah?”
“We really are taking a good rest right now, but… I’m not sure this is okay.”
“What isn’t?”
“Ahem. Whether we’re resting too comfortably. I mean, that’s what I’m thinking…”
“Aaah…”
To be honest, the atmosphere really was a bit like that.
We had already set up camp because we needed to sort the Heroic-grade items, and after preparing the meal right away, I’d made sure everyone in the expedition could rest comfortably.
Of course, the rangers were still doing perimeter sweeps in rotation, but outside of that, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say everyone was enjoying themselves pretty freely.
The ones quietly eating at least looked dignified.
Some people had already gone inside the camp to sleep, and a few of the Black Swan guild members had even settled down with books in hand.
The Genius Swordsman and the Alchemist’s Way of Love? Volume 3?
Without meaning to, my eyes were drawn to the title of the book, and I caught a familiar name in the corner of my vision.
It really did seem to be the novel that had swept through Lindel.
I should read that sometime.
I had no idea what it was about, but if everyone was gathered together reading it like that, it must be entertaining.
Anyway, with everyone resting so carefree, it made sense that she’d feel anxious in a way that didn’t suit her at all.
It probably looked like I was simply ignoring the mess I’d made.
But…
“There’s nothing we can do right now.”
“Ah…”
Sun Heeyoung spoke up softly.
And of course, I could only agree and nod.
“Heeyoung is right. For now, the only thing we can do is rest. It doesn’t make sense to head back there right this second either… Rather than pretending to rest, it’s better to just rest openly. Whether it’s a blessing or a curse, the fragment of the ancient god or whatever it is seems quiet for the moment, so we might as well relax our minds. For today, I plan to camp here. It’ll only be for a short while, of course…”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
For now, resting is the right call.
I wasn’t exactly calm myself.
If the museum suddenly collapsed and the fragment of the ancient god started raging again, it was only natural to worry about how I’d clean up the mess.
In fact, the current situation was alarmingly close to the worst-case scenario I’d imagined.
But there really was nothing I could do right this moment.
Dialuria had pushed herself too hard unleashing that output to stop the tentacles, so she’d gone quiet, wanting to focus on recovery. And more than anything, the two biggest assets in the expedition—Kim Hyunsung and Park Yeonju—were in no shape to be counted on.
They look fine on the outside…
But inside, they were pretty badly broken.
Of course, I was banking on Kim Hyunsung, who’d gotten a spec upgrade by obtaining a Mythic-grade item, but that only mattered if his condition was normal.
He was trying to act like nothing was wrong, but through my Mind’s Eye I could see just how much damage he’d taken.
That was inevitable, really. He’d been swinging his sword while forcibly drawing up mana through that explosion, so it wasn’t strange that he’d ended up like this.
He was smiling at the expedition members and telling them not to worry, that everything would be fine, but overall the situation was pretty desperate.
The most unsettling thing was that there was no telling when that off-the-charts existence we couldn’t do anything about might go berserk again.
We also had to consider the possibility that Manager Max might decide to treat us as targets for elimination.
“So don’t worry and get some proper rest, Deokgu. We’ve still got the rangers running sweeps, and once we confirm the location, we’ll move immediately and start cleaning things up from the beginning.”
“I’m fine. You’re the one I’m worried about, hyung. Your face is so pale even now—you really look awful.”
“This is the kind of thing that recovers with time, so I’m fine.”
Hearing Park Deokgu, who usually had no sense of danger whatsoever, say that only made me more uneasy.
I wanted to focus on recovery too, but it felt like I’d need to keep moving at least a little.
My gaze drifted, almost of its own accord, toward Dialuria.
The fragment of the ancient god.
She was the only one who had information about it.
As if the timing had been right, she opened the eyes she’d had closed a moment ago, looking as though she felt sufficiently recovered. At the same time, I’d finished eating as well. I quietly got to my feet and signaled her, and she rose too.
Apparently sensing that we were about to discuss something important, Park Deokgu didn’t bother following us, and Jung Hayan only hovered uncertainly, watching my face to see whether she should stand too.
Since I said nothing, she seemed to decide to wait after all. It was a little unsettling how obediently she backed off, but honestly, it was easier to talk without her there.
Better hear it first.
Since this involved the end of the world and all that, I figured it would be more useful to control how much information I revealed. If it ever came to choosing the selfish option, I’d have to be the one to pull the trigger on it.
Once we’d moved far enough away from the expedition members, Dialuria opened her mouth almost immediately, just as I’d expected.
She looked terribly urgent too. Clearly, the situation wasn’t normal.
“You may speak, Dialuria.”
“The continent will break apart.”
“Just as I thought. Then… we should probably deal with it…”
“In thirty thousand years… the continent will collapse.”
“We should probably—”
“It will vanish without a trace. How am I supposed to face our ancestors after this…? Do you have some way to solve this matter?”
“Then there’s no need to clean up after all.”
It was, unexpectedly, reassuring news. I’d been shaking at the idea that the world was going to fall apart or collapse, but I hadn’t imagined for a second that the trouble would happen after I was already dead.
Dialuria looked a bit dumbfounded by my answer.
Still, I could feel my mood rising more and more.
Thirty thousand years? Damn right! Then we can just leave it alone!
It was an absurdly selfish thought.
Sorry to the descendants stuck with such lousy ancestors…
I didn’t care whether the world ended after I died or not.
It was a trashy thought, sure, but I couldn’t help clenching my fist in good spirits.
YOLO.