Swords, Dogs, and Bones—It's All in How You Use Them - 7
Crisp morning air.
A cool breeze drifted in through the wide-open window, brushing through the sleeping man's hair and gently drawing his consciousness up from the depths of sleep.
"Yaaawn…!"
Still half-asleep, the man pushed himself upright. He yawned widely and wiped the moisture that had gathered at the corners of his eyes.
Just then, a soft rustling came from beside him. He turned his head, and a woman came into view.
Silver hair that caught the sunlight and shone with breathtaking beauty. A pair of horns jutted from above it. One was worn down and slowly regenerating, yet even that looked adorable in his eyes.
The man, never one for patience, carefully reached out and stroked her hair. The touch was soft and full of affection, careful not to wake her—
"Mm… Bern-nim?"
"Sorry. I woke you without meaning to."
"Hehe, it's okay."
Rene had woken at the slightest movement. She didn't seem to mind, though; the moment she saw Bern's face she broke into a bashful smile.
After everything that had happened with Sherin the day before, the two of them had grown even closer. Smiling at each other in the morning sunlight, they looked so fresh and sweet it was almost too much.
They began the day with a light kiss, and it was a good start.
Meanwhile, some distance from the lodging where Bern and Rene were staying, stood a luxury inn. In the suite on the top floor, Kang Junhyuk was also waking to the morning breeze.
"Urgh… my head's killing me."
Squinting his left eye, Kang Junhyuk sat up. He rubbed the throbbing back of his skull, then found his gaze drawn to the lump under the covers beside him.
Someone was sleeping on the king-sized bed, blanket pulled all the way over their head.
He stared blankly for a long while before the events of the previous day slowly came back to him.
At the handshake event, Kang Junhyuk had been the only one who never got to shake hands. Instead, he had won a private meeting with Hades.
Convinced he was the luckiest man alive, he had rushed straight to the café. There he met the disguised Hades and spent time talking with her one-on-one.
No matter what topic he brought up, Hades had beamed and played along. Kang Junhyuk became certain she had feelings for him.
Recruiting Hades into his harem—the goal he had longed for so desperately—was right in front of him. The excitement was almost too much to contain.
From there everything had moved at breakneck speed. Their relationship had grown rapidly closer, they had even drunk together… and the last thing he remembered was Hades shyly tugging his sleeve and pointing toward the luxury inn.
Right, that's it! I came here last night to enjoy a wild night of mating with Hades, didn't I?
The fact that his memory cut off midway was unpleasant, but he didn't care much. What mattered was that he had spent the night with Hades at the inn—and that she was still sleeping right beside him.
Kang Junhyuk shrugged and grabbed the blanket.
Even if the morning air's chilly, covering your head all the way like that has to be hot, right?
Thinking he was doing her a kindness, he gently pulled the covers back.
Beautiful hair… no. A smooth, bare scalp bounced the sunlight straight into his eyes.
"Gyaaaaah!"
The angle was so perfect the light slammed into Kang Junhyuk's eyes. He clapped both hands over them and screamed.
The racket finally woke the woman who had been sleeping soundly.
"Junhyuk? What's wrong?"
"Th-that voice…? Fuck! Why the hell are you here?!"
"Why? Because… I'm your one and only girlfriend?"
"Bullshit! Why would I ever like a bitch who's lost not only her tits but her hair too and does nothing but cling like a damn stalker?"
"That's so mean…"
"The mean one is the person who tried to blind me first thing in the morning!"
Kang Junhyuk thrashed his way out of the bed. The person he had shared the night with had switched from Hades to Sherin. His mind went blank with pure chaos.
He decided to get out of the inn first and started gathering the clothes he had thrown on the floor. Once he was more or less dressed and ready to leave—
"Hey, you son of a bitch!"
"Uwaaagh!"
Crash!
A rock flew in from outside, shattering the window. Kang Junhyuk barely dodged it, but the shock left him drenched in cold sweat. He had never imagined anyone would throw rocks at a high-security luxury inn.
"Get your ass out here right now!"
"You dare lay a hand on our Cult Leader? We'll kill you ourselves!"
"Purify! Purify! Purify! Purify! Purify! Purify! Purify! Purify! Purify! Purify! Purify! Purify! Purify! Purify! Purify! Purify! Purify!"
Outside had erupted into pure pandemonium. Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, Kang Junhyuk carefully peered out the window.
Hundreds of people had surrounded the inn. Every single one of them was wearing a skull mask—the symbol of the Ske-chans. Among them were even people who had been standing right next to him waiting for handshakes the day before. There was no mistake.
"What the hell is this first thing in the morning?!"
"That… that bastard who deserves to die…!"
"What is this, you ask? You're looking at this and still saying that?"
The ringleader at the front hurled a wad of papers at Kang Junhyuk. He caught them with ease and immediately checked what was written on them.
Articles that looked like they belonged in some ultra-nationalist propaganda video flooded out one after another, and Kang Junhyuk's head spun. He didn't have time to read every single one, but he got the general picture of the situation.
Before things had gone too far, Hades had knocked him out and framed him. On top of that, she had left the one person he never wanted to see again—Sherin—lying right next to him and vanished.
It was the absolute worst-case scenario. Kang Junhyuk's face turned beet red with rage.
"This is all lies! It's a frame-up!"
"Trying to weasel out of it now?! Our Cult Leader herself went live at dawn yesterday and explained the whole situation!"
"This won't do! Let's purify him at once!"
"Ah, fuck…!"
The Ske-chans finally raised torches, ready to burn the inn down. He thought they had to be insane, but the fact that no one was stopping the riot meant the inn staff had already cut a deal with them.
Kang Junhyuk clicked his tongue and pulled out the transfer stone he had brought just in case.
First I get out of here and figure out what's really going on. I need to confirm whether Hades tricked me or if this is just some huge misunderstanding…!
He raised the transfer stone high and shouted, "Transfer!"
Nothing happened.
"Wh-what? Why isn't it activating?"
"It's no use, Junhyuk."
"What…?"
With a meaningful smile, Sherin pulled out a bust necklace. The two ice spikes that had once been set into it were long gone.
"You can't leave without my permission."
"What the fuck is that supposed to—! Y-you, what the hell did you do while I was asleep?"
"Nothing major. I just made our bond a little more solid."
"Crazy…! I don't know what you did, but undo it right now! Undo it, you fucking bitch!"
Kang Junhyuk roared and grabbed Sherin by the throat. Even so, she just kept smiling that little smile.
He even tried to hit her, but his hand wouldn't move. Whatever artifact she had placed on him during the night was working perfectly.
"Junhyuk. If you want to run, you have to leave with me. No other choice."
"You crazy bitch…!"
"Even if you say no, I don't mind. Then we both just burn to death. That doesn't sound so bad either!"
In the end, Kang Junhyuk was completely surrounded. He had only one option left.
"Fuck!"
His scream, closer to a shriek than a shout, rang out into the morning air.
"My Lord! I've handled everything exactly as you ordered!"
Hades had dealt with Kang Junhyuk without dirtying her own hands. She came looking for Bern with her eyes sparkling.
"Uh… yeah. Good work."
"Thank you! Then, if it's not too shameless of me, I'll be imposing on you for a while!"
"Why?"
"I announced I'd be taking a break from broadcasting for the time being, and more importantly, I need to avoid any retaliation from him!"
"You're strong enough to beat him easily, aren't you?"
"As a Lich I'd have no problem, but Death-Death Hades-chan is delicate, you know!"
"Fuck…"
At the same time, Bern was also having a morning that made his head spin.