Chapter 82
Translator: TrueDetective
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: 24. Regarding Faith (2)
Garung smacked its lips while looking at me.
When I looked at it, Garung had clear, innocent eyes.
But when I wasn't looking, did it make a face full of gluttony?
"For now... I'll be careful."
"OK. Good boy. Gotta give presents to good kids, right?"
With that, Lion Rep pulled a few ancient books from the shelf and handed them to me.
Lion Rep lightly pressed a finger to his lips and said,
"This is as far as the hints I can give to little Ox here. My lips won't be this loose after today... Got it?"
I nodded, and Lion Rep smiled back as we left the study together.
When we stepped into the courtyard, the others who had finished their treasure hunt were already gathered there.
The Alliance Leader shook his head when our eyes met, so it seemed there was nothing special in the warehouse either.
"Why are you coming so late?"
The Heavenly Demon approached, arms full of money envelopes.
This guy... must've had a blast with the treasure hunt.
Noticing my gaze on the money envelopes, the Heavenly Demon smirked arrogantly and held one out to me.
"Here, for you."
"...You're giving this to me?"
"You'll need money to establish the Hawkeye Clan."
So he could think of something that sensible.
I opened the envelope he gave me, but the amount inside was much smaller than expected.
Teacher Namgung Ryeo's mention of seeing checks must've been a lie to create a chance to talk to me.
The Heavenly Demon, not knowing bill denominations, probably thought this was a fortune.
I looked at the contents—made up of thousand-won and five-thousand-won bills, plus a few culture gift certificates—then pulled out just the gift certificates and firmly placed them in the Heavenly Demon's hand.
"I'll give this to you, Heavenly Demon. Use it for your idol training simulation game."
"This lord is a no-spend user."
But he still took the gift certificates.
Does he know how to use them? Maybe ask the Alliance Leader.
As I thought that, Nahani, who had been resting in the courtyard, approached with an impassive face.
Before I could even warn him, a white blur launched itself from its spot straight at Nahani.
"Garung, no!"
I shouted in belated surprise, but Garung was already perched on Nahani's head.
Even with Garung biting his head, Nahani approached me without a flicker of expression.
"We should head back to the dorm now."
Is that the issue right now?
"Uh... is your head okay?"
It felt weird asking, but...
Nahani replied as if it were nothing.
"I've heard about this kid from Brother Zaha roughly."
"No, even so, aren't you way too calm?"
"I'm fine. What we should worry about is Brother Ox staying here."
Garung dangled from Nahani's head, biting it with a face like a cat high on catnip, but Nahani maintained his usual composed demeanor.
Indestructible... or something like that.
I figured having an arctic fox biting your head would look weird to onlookers, but...
"B-Baek Nahani is talking!"
"Was that really Baek Nahani's voice just now?"
"Whoa, first time seeing senior Baek Nahani talk. Epic."
The fact that Nahani was speaking out loud seemed more astonishing than some random arctic fox jumping out and biting someone's head.
"Rep Sa would keep an arctic fox or even an elephant, so nothing surprises me anymore..."
Even an elephant is fair game?
Hwangbo Yun has bigger guts than I thought.
I finally pried Garung off Nahani when the shady rep appeared, smiling brightly.
"Did you enjoy the treasure hunt?"
The bandit kids gave the loudest reply to that question.
They looked so thrilled, yet it still felt kinda pitiful.
"You can just take whatever treasures you found."
For a brief moment, the shady rep's gaze lingered on the ancient books I held, but she soon smiled and looked away.
"I hope everyone found what they were looking for."
She probably thinks we didn't see the scroll, so this was just mockery.
"The party we've prepared ends here. We've got small gifts ready, so take one on your way out."
The "small gift" the rep prepared turned out to be a Lion 6.
The bandits and the Five Great Families members were thrilled, but the Gu Pa Il Bang crew—who'd been burned by a tracker once before—flat-out refused.
Of course, the perp himself grabbed one.
"The stab-proof phone vest was pretty useful."
At the mention of the stab-proof phone vest, the Alliance Leader glared at Dang Sacheon like he was insane.
The only ones getting that cold stare from the Alliance Leader right now were probably the Heavenly Demon and Dang Sacheon.
"Hyung, be careful."
As the manager, it was my job to see the van off, so I went to wave goodbye. Zaha, halfway into the van, grabbed my hand tight and spoke with genuine worry.
"Don't be alone. Stick close to Heavenly Demon hyung."
You're saying that after ditching me to go treasure hunting with the Heavenly Demon?
But his concern felt real, so instead of pointing it out, I just nodded.
"You guys be careful too. Call if anything feels off."
"Don't worry about us. The rep's crazy, but we've got Dang Sacheon, right?"
He said it so cheerfully.
After seeing off the Gu Pa Il Bang members one by one and turning back, the rep waiting at the entrance smiled softly and murmured,
"Come with me."
Following the rep inside, I noticed the Heavenly Demon—who'd vanished somewhere briefly—now trailing behind me.
The rep showed us to our rooms; mine and the Heavenly Demon's faced each other.
"This one's for you, Heavenly Demon. Little Ox, you'll take the one across."
I'd expected them to separate us, but she wasn't resorting to such obvious tricks.
I handed Garung, who was licking my cheek with a hint of reluctance, over to the Heavenly Demon.
"Why don't you take Garung and sleep with it, Heavenly Demon."
"Sure."
"Is that kid's name Garung?"
The shady rep chimed in with interest.
After summoning it yourself, now you're playing dumb?
Maybe my glare was icy, because the rep raised both hands and chuckled lightly.
"Don't look at me like that—I didn't call Garung here."
"You're saying you didn't summon it, Rep?"
"I sealed away something I couldn't handle. Whether my seal failed, or something from that world is trying to cross over... weird stuff happens from time to time."
Something from that world trying to cross over...?
Namgung Jun suddenly came to mind.
If Namgung Jun had ended up in the murim world so abruptly... wouldn't he try to come back?
But Garung, and that pile of eyes too—
If someone was attempting a crossing, it made sense they'd be from the North Sea Ice Palace.
Hoping it was Namgung Jun was just my selfish wish for the kid to be safe.
'Come to think of it, Garung...'
Since it came from the murim world, maybe it knew something about Namgung Jun?
I looked at Garung with that in mind, but it just dangled from the Heavenly Demon's hand, grumbling.
It was definitely half-human half-beast, so shouldn't it be able to talk?
"Still, it's good that Garung follows little Ox so well. No idea why, but it tried to rip my throat out the moment it saw me."
That's why she'd been keeping her distance from Garung earlier?
She said it like she'd nearly died, but knowing she was immortal, it just sounded like she'd died and come back once.
"Well, make yourselves at home and rest easy."
"Got it."
The Heavenly Demon seemed ready to lounge like it was his own place.
Isn't that a phone stand he's holding? The Alliance Leader gave him something weird again.
Once the rep left, the Heavenly Demon started heading in with Garung tucked under his arm, then turned to me.
"If anything happens, call me. Even without me saying it, you will."
"Stating the obvious."
"How'd you get so insolent?"
"Don't watch Nutube too late. Go to bed early."
"You're the only one who nags this lord to sleep early."
You're the only one I nag about Nutube.
Garung, tucked under the Heavenly Demon's arm, tilted its head.
"Garung?"
"Ah... goodnight, Garung."
Garung let out a small, cute cry and wagged its tail gently.
For some reason, the Heavenly Demon shook his head.
"Too soft. Total simp."
"Weird pronunciation there?"
The Heavenly Demon shrugged like he had no idea what I meant and went into his room.
Left alone, fatigue hit me hard.
The morning schedule to Tongyeong and back, plus staying tense in the rep's house—now alone, all that built-up exhaustion crashed down.
Entering my room, instead of a bed, there was a thick gold silk bedding laid out. Somehow, it maintained a cool temperature.
I scanned the room briefly, confirmed nothing odd, then washed up and lay down.
As far as I knew, the rep's house had a few live-in staff who handled meals and chores.
But I hadn't seen them all day.
The rep wouldn't have prepped the bedding herself, so they must be around somewhere.
Since I hadn't run into anyone on the way back from washing up, the rep must've told them to avoid this area.
'Spending the night at the rep's house, huh.'
First day here, I run into a yokai, find the scroll, and hear from Lion Rep that I'm the TS Heavenly Demon.
No, that was probably just to mess with me.
Still, staying here from now on made me a bit anxious about what might happen.
Lion Rep urged me to leave this mansion immediately, so something was definitely up...
-This mansion was built for the demons.
Should I have asked what "for the demons" meant?
If Lion Rep was telling the truth, establishing the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was imminent.
Was he planning to use this place as the cult's headquarters?
...Not an unbelievable story.
The bigger issue was...
'The Heavenly Demon still doesn't know the shady rep is trying to establish the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult...'
If that's what she was up to—bringing the cult to this world—did the Heavenly Demon really need to oppose her?
He was adapting to this world almost too well, to the point of unease.
Sometimes, he seemed more attached to this world's culture than I was.
Just look at his idol activities—he was the most sincere about it.
Plus, our last conversation nagged at me.
-And this lord knows it too. All you think about is sending me back as soon as possible.
Was that just resentment because I didn't trust him?
Or did he really not want to go back?
My eyes fell on the money envelope the Heavenly Demon had given me.
Counting the bills, it was barely 180,000 won.
I couldn't help but chuckle.
How did a guy like that become the Heavenly Demon?
What happened in the past that he came here branded with the infamy of killing his sworn brother?
If he really didn't want to go back, what should I do...?
* * *
Lost in thoughts like that, I must've fallen asleep without realizing.
Early morning, a delicious smell woke me.
"You're up?"
Following the aroma outside, the rep was preparing breakfast, wearing an apron.
Am I still half-asleep?
Where are the staff? Why's she cooking herself?
The Heavenly Demon was already up, calmly seated at the table.
Garung was gnawing on a raw chicken leg... bones and all.
Wait a sec.
"Isn't Garung a bird? Can you feed it chicken?"
"What's it matter? Falcons eat sparrows too."
That made a twisted sort of sense, so I sat across from the Heavenly Demon, and the rep placed a plate of food in front of me.
"Little Ox seems to find Garung awfully cute."
"It is cute, right?"
"......"
Oh, right—she said it tried to bite her throat.
Garung, you cute little monster.
The rep pondered for a moment, then spoke slowly.
"By the way, the Justice-Demonic Joint Training Chaos is over, isn't it? Heavenly Demon, maybe it's time for a fixed variety show...?"
She glanced between Garung and the Heavenly Demon.
"How about [Dogs Meow, Cats Bark]?"
[Dogs Meow, Cats Bark]...
That's the pet show where Teacher Namgung Ryeo appears with that two-tailed cat, right?
But the Heavenly Demon doesn't keep pets...
At that moment, Garung tilted its head.
"Garung?"
No way—they're not thinking of putting Garung on a variety show, are they?!