Chapter 334: I have no shame in my life (2)
“Can I come in?”
“Yes, of course.”
It was Lee Jihye who had come.
As if she expected that someone was inside after hearing me speaking formally, she looked a little stiff when she came in.
It was natural to have such a face as we had always maintained a businesslike relationship in front of others. After seeing me immediately, she looked at Kasugano and seemed to tell me to get rid of her quickly.
“I’m here to talk to you about business, Blue Vice Guild Master.”
As I nodded roughly, I saw Yuno Kasugano getting up. She probably thought that now was the appropriate time for her to leave. I definitely liked that about her.
If it were Jung Hayan here, she would have insisted on staying. Even Cha Hee-ra would do the same. If Cha Hee-ra were here, Lee Jihye herself would have gone back.
Except for having a slightly strange taste, Yuno Kasugano fell within the category of extremely normal people, at least.
“Then I’ll be leaving, Blue Vice Guild Master.”
“Yes, Yuno Kasugano. You’ve worked hard.”
After showing a smile at my farewell, Yuno Kasugano left lightheartedly. Lee Jihye’s face became a little sulky when she saw a big smile on Kasugano’s face.
“Seems to be in a good mood.”
“Huh?”
“The woman who just left, not you. Yuno Kasugano of the Yozora Guild. She looked very satisfied, and recently, Jung Hayan seemed to have a similar face… Is there any fun story going around without me knowing? No, more importantly, do you remember what I said?”
“What?”
“Can we trust that woman?”
I saw a face looking at me with piercing eyes.
‘Gosh…’
It was no wonder that I, too, looked closely at her face. For some reason, she had overlapped with herself in the black world.
‘It’s really amazing.’
It was almost impossible to survive in the tutorial dungeon with Lee Jihye’s specs. No, considering her personality, she must have done her best to survive at all costs.
‘Who knew she would pop out of the brigade suddenly?’
If I were to think about this carefully, she didn’t meet Jung Jinho in the tutorial dungeon. This was because it seemed like Jung Jinho, the psychopath killer, had been trying to recruit me before her.
Perhaps she, too, had established herself and turns.
‘She is said to be my soul mate, right?’
I didn’t know how long she and I worked together in the first round, but it would have been a very long time. This was because we had been wearing the same mask, and I, in the black world, would have judged her to be useful.
So was Jung Hayan and Lee Jihye.
Even Sun Hee-young and Yuno Kasugano were also related to me in the first round. Human fate really was amazing.
‘Was her purpose of joining the brigade, revenge, too?’
There were plenty of possibilities.
Psychopath killer Jung Jinho and his gang were originally a group of crazy people, but Lee Jihye and I were basically gray humans.
It meant that she might’ve had a reason to reject me, too.
Of course, I didn’t know why, but I thought it would be most likely that.
As I stared at Lee Jihye, I could see a slightly embarrassed expression on her face, one that was so unlike her.
“W-Why are you staring at me like that? It’s embarrassing.”
“No. It’s nothing. Did you say you had something to talk about business?”
“I just said it. I just came to see you. Well, since I came, I tried to talk about something else… but why is it so hard to see you? Do you know how hard it was to get through the visit reservation?”
“But I was about to get up. It’s rather a problem because they keep asking me to rest around. I have to know what’s going on outside. It’s good that you came. How are things going lately?”
“Nothing has changed that much. The Republic is still silent. They said they would investigate, but they’re just pretending to be blind. Oh! The State side is preparing to mention this matter in the Continental Tribunal formally. Of course, the Republic will not respond, but they must care about the international perspective, right? I was surprised to find that Oscar has been so competent. Anyway, she keeps putting pressure in different directions. She is distributing data that the Republic violated continental law to neighboring countries this time… In fact, the reaction has been pretty good so far.”
“That’s good news.”
“In some countries sensitive to black magic, public opinion has already turned its back… Oh, especially among the different races, the atmosphere is really good.”
“Different races?”
“Elves hate black magic, too. Well, I don’t know how they are either…”
“Really?”
“Perhaps… Didn’t you hear that the delegation was coming?”
“I don’t think I heard it… Are the elves coming to Laios now?”
“Yes. Perhaps the alliance will start with three sides. The State as the main body with the elven kingdom, and even Laios, not being a neutral country anymore. Wow, you were really alienated. You’re not even a kid, but you don’t know that this is a secret? I guess you really took a good rest at this opportunity. Ah, I envy you.”
“I don’t feel so good. It’s true that I get anxious when I stay still…”
“This is also a work addiction. Anyway, the background is roughly the same as I said. I don’t know what kind of guts the Republic has to keep covering the demon summoners, but they’ll have mixed feelings, too. I heard that Jin Qing’s personal power also seems to be great. They must be thinking it’s too big a tumor to cut out, well. In fact, I’m sure he’s playing a part in his continuous plea of innocence. The truth doesn’t matter. He’s already known as a demon summoner…”
“Right?”
“What an evil face. How did he get caught up in this kind of thing…? I guess he sold his country in the past life. Anyway, this is all you need to know. Oh! About the elven delegation that I told you about… This isn’t clear to me either, but it looks like there’s quite a tycoon among the elven delegation visiting Laios.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Actually, I don’t know who it is. They’re so closed that I couldn’t find any information… Perhaps when the delegation arrives in Laios, they may first find you. Even if they’re not involved in the negotiations currently taking place, it doesn’t change that all of this is thanks to the heroes of the light who protected Laios. But how does it feel? To become a hero?”
“Do I have to say that? Look outside, Nuna. Having our own statue says it all, well.”
“You’re never humble. I like your trashy side.”
“I’ll take it as a compliment.”
“Of course, it’s a compliment.”
Lee Jihye approached quietly and sat down next to me.
She was smiling, but whatever the reason, she must be happy that I was achieving something.
When I were to think about what Lee Jihye had said when she first reached out to me, the answer comes out quickly.
‘I’m a woman who can turn a man like you into a king.’
I remembered that she had told me the story of the U.S. president.
Actually, I couldn’t even say that I managed to come up here without her help. Of course, most of it was thanks to me, but I knew how hard she worked in the areas I couldn’t overlook.
Actually, it felt like she was my invisible hands and feet.
“Come to think of it, before…”
“Ah. I guess you remembered it. I didn’t bring it up first because I thought it would be bothersome. So, what percentage is my share?”
“Well…”
“Don’t do that. Actually, it doesn’t matter what you think, but I’ve had already told you before. It doesn’t matter what you do with the mad wizard or the Mercenary Queen. A woman like me will be the one who is loved in the end, anyway. Do you remember that?”
“I do.”
“So… Do I look attractive now?”
“Of course.”
It wasn’t a lie or just a line. Actually, Lee Jihye was attractive enough.
As she noticed that I wasn’t lying about it, I saw her smiling. She looked satisfied.
In fact, when she mentioned Kasugano and Jung Hayan earlier, it seemed that she had a slightly anxious expression, but when she looked at my face, it seemed that her remaining anxiety had surely flown away.
“What are you going to do now, anyway?”
“Is there anything we can do? We’ll just do like we are doing now. You’re doing well enough. I should get up and get active here, too. I know you’ve told me, but it’s different from when we actually see in the field. I have no idea how’s the atmosphere because I’ve been lying down. It seems to be flowing to our advantage, but no matter how I think about it, I don’t know what guts the Republic has to be holding up like this… The atmosphere…”
“It was a little weird in the first place. It felt like they were preparing something, and in fact, there were still small disputes in Dawan. Maybe it’s not us who want to get the benefits, but them, but who knows? You’ll never know until you open the gift box.”
“Right. There’s definitely…”
‘There’s something that’s not right.’
Although my personal problems were important, I certainly needed to sort out the external issues, as well.
Anyway, the urgent thing to focus on was Kim Hyunsung.
As soon as I started to speak, I saw Lee Jihye opening her mouth right away.
“Do you know what Hyunsung is doing now?”
“Ah. Maybe he will be on the scene?”
“Scene?”
“Where the devil was summoned. Recently, he’s been only wandering around the scene with Deokgu. Honestly, I don’t know if there’s anything to be found there, but his face is a little scary recently. Still, I thought his face was a little loosen up, but… what should I say? Oh, when he was expressionless in the tutorial dungeon for a while. It looks just like then.”
“Ah…”
“Perhaps even now…”
‘This is not good…’
In fact, just having Kim Hyunsung in that place was already not good.
Even more, I couldn’t express how I felt now that I had seen the first round through Yuno Kasugano. The candles were burning for real from both sides.
He didn’t seem to be suspicious of me yet, but when I thought that an arrow might fly to me, anxiety started to rise.
“What? You look like…”
“Send someone over there and tell them that I got worse.”
“What?”
“Something like I’m not feeling well. You know.”
“No, why suddenly…”
“Quickly.”
“Okay, for now. I just have to tell them exactly what you’re saying, right?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Then I’ll be back.”
‘Let’s go with this first.’
First, it was natural to prevent our regressor from snooping around the scene as much as possible.
When Lee Jihye quickly went outside and called for someone, the outside became bustling in no time.
Of course, my physical condition was too normal to be pretending anything, but there was no other way.
There were not enough supplies to put out an urgent fire right away.
First of all, I had to hold Kim Hyunsung on my side as a pretext for being sick.
‘The problem is if this will work…’
Of course, I knew that Kim Hyunsung cared for me, but…
Kim Hyunsung was an outside man who had a very important task laid out in front of him.
It was clear that he would not completely abandon the work just because I had suddenly gotten sick. He might think it was more important to track the trash from the first round than me being sick right now.
“Kiyoung-ssi!”
‘Huh?’
“Do you feel better?”
“This bastard, why did you come so quickly?’
What I could see is Kim Hyunsung, whose whole face was pale and sweaty.
‘Phew!’
There was a saying: “If one could get even one true friend in his life, it would be considered a successful life.”
It was the moment I realized that I had been living without any shame.
‘I believed in you, Hyunsung!!!’