The Table of Lepedor
Who's talking about me?
I dug a finger into my ear and mulled it over. Today was the day I'd finally enter the B-rank sustainable gate that had been handed down to me, together with Yu Jina and Jin Pung-rim.
"So this is yours, oppa?"
"That's right."
At some point, "oppa" had become her default way of addressing me. It rubbed me the wrong way at first, but after a little while, I stopped caring.
"This place…!"
Jin Pung-rim stared at me with wide eyes, as if he'd been here before. It had belonged to the Red Hunting Guild, so perhaps it was only natural that the heir would recognize it.
"Hmm… I received it as compensation."
"As compensation?"
His gaze grew so piercing that I finally gave in and explained the situation. And once the two of them had heard it out…
"Someone actually pulled such an underhanded stunt?!"
"No way…."
One was flabbergasted; the other flat-out refused to believe me. These guilds were run by their parents, after all — of course the two of them were attached. A negative reaction was only to be expected.
"Oppa, honestly, you're lying, aren't you?"
"Master, lying is bad."
Pung-rim had started calling me Master a few days ago and had been following me around ever since. Someone treating him this warmly had no reason to lie to him, as far as he was concerned.
"What would I even gain from lying to you two?"
"Well…"
"Hmm…"
They probably couldn't answer. There was genuinely nothing to be gained from slandering their guilds.
"If you really can't believe me, go home later and ask your parents."
With that as my parting words, I led the two of them into the gate.
You have entered the Table of Lepedor.
The moment we stepped through, four distinct terrains spread out before us — as if someone had gathered all four seasons into a single place.
"Whoa…!"
"Wow…!"
Yu Jina let out a loud gasp at the scenery around her, and even the stone-faced Jin Pung-rim couldn't hold back a small exclamation of awe this time.
This place is even more beautiful than I expected.
And it struck me as an extraordinarily good gate, too. The more unique regions a gate contained, the higher its value — and this one held all four seasons. In other words, this was anything but a cheap acquisition.
First, I should get a sense of how big it is.
I immediately stepped into my footwork. Reconnaissance Footwork — Seek. My five senses fanned outward in a wide sweep. Since this technique merely extended perception rather than concealing anything, there was no harm in using it in front of the two of them.
The gate's size is roughly… the area of Seoul?
More than enough ground to cover on foot. And with the terrain split into four separate regions, exploring each one thoroughly would eat up far more time than we had.
I guess slow and steady is the only way.
This was an always-open gate, and it was mine. I could come back whenever I pleased — there was no need to rush the survey.
"So, kids, where do you want to go first?"
At my question, the two of them screwed up their faces and studied the four regions intently. Since all four were forests, each carried a vivid, unmistakable seasonal character. After a moment's deliberation, they each pointed in a different direction.
"Spring and autumn, huh…."
Jina pointed at the spring region; Pung-rim at the autumn. Both were spots with weather perfect for being active.
"Let's start with… spring, then."
"Yes!"
"Aw…."
Their expressions split like night and day. Who, looking at those faces, would ever guess they were my peers?
That's the look only a sheltered young lady and a pampered young master could pull off.
Most kids their age would've matured by now, but I had a feeling these two wouldn't grow up until they were thirty.
"Let's do some scouting first."
"Yes, sir!"
At my word, they spread out their magic and qi sense respectively. Jina's magic covered a wide area but lacked precision; Pung-rim's detection range was narrow, but it picked things up with pinpoint clarity.
Maybe I should teach them the sixth sense someday.
I'd refused at first, but teaching had turned out to be its own kind of fun. And with my battle against Pride still ahead of me, I had room to spare for raising others besides myself.
"Found one!"
"A Honey Bear."
Just then, the two of them spotted the same monster. Honey Bears were famous for flesh that tasted of honey.
Why is such a rare monster here of all places?
Honey Bears were genuinely hard to find. Even the gates they spawned in were uncertain, which was exactly what made them a premium ingredient.
For me, the more the merrier, but…
From the moment the two of them laid eyes on it, they were staring at the Honey Bear with predatory intensity.
"Hey, kids… if you two catch that thing, I'll make Honey Bear for dinner tonight…."
"Really?!"
"You can't lie about this!"
Even divided up between the three of us, a beast that size would leave more than enough for my share. With that thought, I made the extravagant promise without a second thought.
"Deal!"
Hearing my answer, they fixed the Honey Bear with the eyes of wild beasts, waited for the right moment, and lunged.
"Now then, shall I go catch myself a little rat?"
I drew the dagger at my hip — the one that had been humming faintly — and hurled it toward a nearby tree.
"Gahk!"
A man burst out of what had clearly been empty air, my dagger buried deep in his stomach.
"You're awfully weak…?"
"Wh-who the hell are you?! I've never even heard of a monster like you!"
"Is that so?"
The concealment skill the assassin had just been using was A-rank. It was close to my own brand of stealth, which was exactly why I'd spotted him so easily.
"How did you detect my concealment…?"
"I just did? It worked, so whatever."
The truth was I'd used my footwork and my sixth sense — but there was no reason to explain any of that to this guy.
"So, Mister Assassin, mind telling me who hired you?"
"Kehk! I'll… I'll never talk…!"
Even with my hands around his throat, he went to his death without ever naming his employer.
"Weaker than I expected…."
When I'd seen an A-rank concealment skill, I'd assumed someone reasonably formidable had come. Instead, he'd been pathetic.
A scout, maybe?
That would explain why an assassin with nothing but a skill to his name had been sent.
Still — the Circus moving personally? This situation could balloon bigger than I thought.
The organization called the Circus was, on the surface, a outfit that would do anything you asked as long as the money was right. The problem was that it wasn't some independent outfit — it operated under the Black Market's umbrella.
I should pay them a visit in person later.
I swore to myself that the moment I left this gate, I would go see the face of the Black Market lord who'd pointed a blade at his benefactor.
"Oppa, aren't you coming?!"
"Yeah, yeah."
I wrapped up the cleanup quickly and rejoined the two of them to scout the spring region. We didn't finish it all, but for a single day's work, we'd covered a respectable stretch of ground.
"Alright, let's all head home for today."
"What about the meat?!"
"That's right! The Honey Bear!"
The moment we exited the gate and were about to part ways, the two of them muscled their way back into the conversation. Between the assassin business, I'd completely forgotten.
"It still needs to be butchered, so I'll give it to you later…."
"Aww…."
"Okay…."
They both looked disappointed at first, but they knew butchering had to come first, so they accepted it and headed home.
"Hello? Chairman."
After the two of them disappeared, I placed a direct call to the Association Chairman.
"I can't do this job anymore."
No way… it can't be….
Yu Jina denied reality with every step as she made her way to the guildmaster's office. Her lessons with oppa had ended abruptly after that day's gate conquest.
The suspense is killing me — I'm going to see him myself!
Driven by that sudden impulse, she had headed to the Association. To ask her grandfather where oppa lived.
And this was what she heard instead.
'I didn't know the two guilds would go that far either.'
'I didn't take you two for that kind of people, either.'
The voices drifting out of the chairman's office were both familiar to her. One she'd known for a long time; the other she'd been hearing a great deal lately.
Grandpa and oppa?
She moved to throw the door open on the spot — but the next words stopped her cold.
'Who could have predicted the guildmasters of Haeshin and Red Hunting would send an assassin?'
'Their love for their children — no, obsession is the better word. Even I didn't know their obsession ran that deep.'
The color drained from Yu Jina's face. She wanted to kick the door down that very second, but she couldn't bring herself to.
Haeshin. Red Hunting. Assassin. Guildmaster. Those four words wedged themselves into her mind, and her head filled with static.
'If I had clung to my teacher any harder, they would have tried to purge me too?'
'For now, I'll have a word with the both of them.'
The moment the conversation ended, Yu Jina bolted from her spot and out of the Association. Then she took a car to the guild headquarters.
There's no way. There's just no way….
Her father had always been gentle with her. That man — sending an assassin?
They must be in on a joke together. That has to be it.
She tried to believe it, but her body never stopped moving, carrying her relentlessly toward the guildmaster's office.
Dad would never do that….
And at last, she arrived in front of the guildmaster's office. The instant her hand reached for the door, her father's voice on the phone nailed itself into her ears.
"How's Pung-rim doing?"
— He keeps whining that his Master won't call for him.
"Haha, our Jina's just sulking for the moment. I suppose that's how deep the bond was."
— I'm glad I have such an understanding daughter.
Since Pung-rim had come up, the person on the other end had to be the madam of Red Hunting. Normally she would have pushed the door open and walked right in — but Yu Jina didn't move.
Dad… no. It can't be.
She could only pray, silently, that what she'd heard in the chairman's office wasn't true.
"So what are we doing about that Han Jin fellow?"
— Do we really need to deal with him? He stepped down as Master of his own accord, so there doesn't seem to be any need to kill him.
"The mere fact that he was with our daughter is reason enough."
At those words, Yu Jina's heart plummeted.
— We already sent an assassin before, and that failed.
"Didn't I tell you to use that guy last time?"
— I did, but the money-grubber refused for some reason. So I sent a low-grade assassin instead….
They had sent an assassin. Low-grade or not, they had sent an assassin after oppa. That alone was enough to wipe Yu Jina's mind blank.
"I see. Then this time we'll handle it on our end."
— That would be a great help, truly.
The phone call between the two continued long after that.
But the girl standing outside the door had already vanished.