Chapter 73
Chapter 73
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: VIP Guests at Justice Guild
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The next day.
Justice Guild was bustling from the morning.
Han Ji-seong wielded a feather duster, the twins wiped down the window frames and glass, and Jang Su-ho, who had been handed a mop simply because he was strong, got to work.
Everyone had gathered in the office—not the underground training ground—for the first time in ages, cleaning up.
"There's still a stain there, a stain."
Jang Su-ho scrubbed harder at the spot Nayeo-ju pointed out with the mop.
"But why are guests coming all of a sudden?"
"VIPs. Real important ones."
"Ow, my arms hurt. Can't we just meet them in the basement? This place is cramped and kinda shabby."
Han Ji-seong, wearing a mask and dusting the shelves, replied to Lee Yu-eul's grumbling.
"The training ground's a guild secret. Can't show it to outsiders."
"Oh, right."
Jang Su-ho nodded, pushing the mop with his arm muscles bulging.
Everyone would be shocked to learn that this rundown, cramped Justice Guild building had such a space underground.
Or maybe they'd get suspicious.
"Yawn."
"Yu-chan, why are you yawning nonstop? What were you up to last night without sleeping?"
Yu-eul eyed her brother suspiciously.
"It rained and thundered last night."
"Huh? It thundered? How come I didn't know?"
Yu-eul, who slept so soundly she wouldn't notice if someone carried her away, asked in surprise.
"...You'd sleep through a lightning strike."
Yu-chan clicked his tongue at her and kept wiping the windows.
Only after scrubbing for a good while did the cleaning finally wrap up.
The office, now sparkling without a speck of old dust, had new sofas and a coffee table that Kang Han had bought placed inside.
And right on schedule, at 2 p.m.
Thud, thud, thud.
Click, click.
Footsteps grew closer through the open door.
The moment the owners of those footsteps entered the office...
Jang Su-ho finally understood why Nayeo-ju had told them, "Don't make a fuss—stay quiet."
"Ooh, so this is the famous Justice Guild office?"
"T-To be invited to such a historic place... it's an h-honor!"
"...No plans to fix the elevator?"
Yu Myeong-hwa, leader of Camellia Guild; Geum Eun-dong, vice-leader of Maestro Guild; and Seong Rosa, leader of Fantasia Guild.
Representatives from all four major guilds except Sama Guild had gathered in the Justice Guild office.
"Aigoo, it must've been tough coming such a long way."
Nayeo-ju greeted them with a bright smile.
Now the office held only me and the three guild leaders.
Anyone else would just make the small space feel even tinier.
I placed drinks I'd prepared in advance in front of them and said,
"It's hot out—have as much as you like. This is a tonic made by our S-rank creator Im Cheong-su."
It was less a "tonic" and more just the stuff Cheong-su brewed like back in the countryside—pumpkin and who-knows-what steeped instead of water.
But it'd be good for the body, sure.
"S-Sweet and nice. Th-Thank you, I'll enjoy it."
"If it's from Nayeo-ju-ssi, I'd drink poison if I had to."
Geum Eun-dong and Yu Myeong-hwa seemed to like it well enough, but Seong Rosa took one sip and quietly set the glass down.
Honestly, I'd agonized over inviting these three.
Should I sell Im Cheong-su's tonic to them?
For the four major guilds teeming with high-rank hunters, a potion granting +60 stamina for a whopping 10 minutes would be like strapping wings on them.
The high-risk large dungeons they tackled often took days to clear, especially before boss fights—10 minutes of sustained effect was basically an invincible item.
So selling Cheong-su's potion to them would widen the ranking score gap between us for a while.
But it'll reduce dungeon breaks and the danger to me that much.
Justice Guild was still weak.
Kang Han was the protagonist who'd stop this world's end, but he needed time to grow—so we'd use these guys in the meantime.
And the tonic has its downsides.
For one, the effect was too good.
Low-rank hunters who avoided dangerous dungeons wouldn't have much demand.
And the better the effect, the pricier it was, naturally.
Not many guilds could afford my asking price.
Can't sell it cheap, though.
Why take a loss?
I clapped once to get to the point.
"Alright, you've all been bummed out failing to recruit a healer, right?"
Yu Myeong-hwa smirked at my words, Geum Eun-dong made a sour face, but Seong Rosa swept back her stray hair and shot back,
"You said you were selling potions—did you drink one first? You don't seem right in the head."
That foul-mouthed granny.
She was putting on airs all refined in front of others, but as a reader, I knew better than anyone how sharp her tongue was.
"And if you have potions to sell other guilds, feed Han Ji-seong first."
Was that an insult or concern?
Han Ji-seong had once been with Fantasia.
But he'd collapsed spitting blood every raid and got booted.
Knowing that past, I couldn't let her slide even if it was "concern."
"I'm taking good care of my guildmates, making them nice and sturdy—so save your needless worries."
What're you glaring at?
You started it.
"Consider this a warning: badmouth my guild again, and Fantasia might not get the special discount. Warning."
"Ha!"
Seong Rosa let out a hollow laugh, utterly exasperated, and stood up.
"No point sticking around. I was a fool to come to a hole-in-the-wall guild like this."
"We don't stop departing guests. Safe travels!"
She'd regret it.
As I smiled at the thought, Yu Myeong-hwa stepped in to mediate.
"Seong Rosa, she wouldn't talk big unless she had something amazing. Why not see the goods before you go?"
Her temper was foul, but Seong Rosa was smart.
She was faking outrage to pressure me right now.
But since I wasn't flinching, her friend Yu Myeong-hwa stepped in to hold her back.
They synced up perfectly at times like this.
Seong Rosa pretended to relent and sat back down, and I shifted the mood to continue.
"Anyway, I've prepared something to ease your healer woes a bit—that's why I gathered you."
"I'd prefer if Nayeo-ju-ssi just came to Camellia herself."
Yu Myeong-hwa stretched her red lips into a smile.
"Aww, that's tricky. But look at this, and you won't think that way."
I soothed her like that, then pulled three potion bottles from my sub-space.
Standard potion vials weren't bad, but they say we eat first with our eyes, so I set down glasses too.
"Fair warning: limited stock."
So line up quick.
Surprisingly, Geum Eun-dong reached first.
Glug, glug, glug.
His hand poured the tonic into the glass hastily.
He must've already read the info with his item appraisal skill.
Then he lifted the glass to the sunlight, shook it, sniffed it—like he was trying to figure out the ingredients.
Meanwhile, Camellia Guild's Yu Myeong-hwa popped the cork without a glass and downed the potion straight from the bottle.
It was kinda bitter—should've prepped candy.
But Yu Myeong-hwa didn't grimace.
She went quiet, as if reading the info window that popped up, then spoke to me right away.
"Camellia Guild orders 100 bottles."