Vol 3 Chapter 18Vol 3 Chapter 19
"The reason for assigning the job to guys without any professional consciousness was merely to avoid suspicion—that must have been Father's opinion."
The man's black eyes slowly narrowed as he addressed those who didn't respond.
"Was it Brother's idea to attach listening devices to such guys to control any unexpected situations?"
"..."
As he spoke, the man approached the fallen men with steps that appeared almost leisurely, and slowly bent down. He then removed a tiny listening device that looked like a sticker from the waist of one of the fallen men, and slowly moved his hand illuminated by moonlight to examine its condition.
"As I listened... it was quite a spectacle. They almost dragged in an uninvolved person."
Crack.
The man, who had been looking at the fallen men indifferently, simply crushed the listening device between two fingers and stuffed it into his pocket.
"The request is canceled."
Having achieved his purpose, the man lightly mounted the black motorcycle with beast-like movements. Along with the fierce engine sound that came as soon as he started it, moments later, the man and the motorcycle dashed out of the empty lot in the blink of an eye. In that fleeting moment, the man's hair reflected in the moonlight had a chilling blue tint amidst the black that seemed as if it could cut to the heart.
As he rode away on the roaring motorcycle, the man suddenly recalled his brother's voice he had heard before leaving.
"You don't have to go yourself, why are you so insistent on going?"
"...Just because."
"How unusual. To think you'd take interest in something. Well, do as you please."
Simultaneously, a part of the sound he had heard through the poor-quality listening device replayed in his mind.
[ Static... static... 'Let go.' ...static... static... ]
[ ... 'While I'm... asking nicely... let go...!' Static...! ]
Why was it? For some reason, he had been oddly concerned the moment he heard that voice. It seemed the reason might have been that the cool tone felt in that voice, even amidst the noise where words could barely be distinguished, slightly resembled a certain figure he couldn't erase from his mind lately. Yet when he arrived at the scene, he had only encountered five useless guys beaten to a pulp.
In a moment of silence where nothing could be heard despite racing down the road at a dangerously high speed, the man slowly lowered his eyes. It was a night when he desperately wanted to see a certain person occupying his thoughts.
The day after the failed attempt to learn Superior's magic, Kapros and Kran went to see Ilumine again. Though they thought they had become quite accustomed to the unpredictable situations that occurred here, yet another unexpected event happened.
"...Huh?"
"What's wrong?"
"The way ahead is blocked."
"What do you mean?"
Puzzled by Kran's words, who was walking ahead, Kapros peered over his shoulder at the narrow path. He had thought it was a joke, but there was only a solid wall blocking the way as if nothing had ever been there.
"What's going on all of a sudden? How could a perfectly fine path be blocked?"
Kran, bewildered, tapped the wall with his palm. The place that had been open until just yesterday was now blocking their way as if nothing had ever been there. Kapros also reached out his arm through the gap beside Kran's head to tap the wall, but the result was the same.
They tried calling out to Ilumine from outside, but there was no response. Having no choice, they waited in front of the wall for a while longer before having to return to the elven village.
"Excuse me, could I ask you something?"
The elves who had initially looked at them with wary eyes gradually eased their guard as Kapros and Kran went back and forth between the village and Ilumine's cave. Moreover, Kran, who had stayed in the elven village for a long time with nothing to do after following Kapros, had fully demonstrated his incredible sociability and become quite friendly with the elves. Perhaps because of this, the elf caught by Kran turned around with a willing face and smiled.
"Of course, human friends. What is it?"
"You know that we've been going to Lady Ilumine's cave every day, right?"
"Is there an elf who doesn't know that?"
"Well, we just went to the cave, but the passage was blocked. We came back to the village wondering if something had happened..."
"The cave is blocked?"
The elf interrupted Kran's words and asked.
"Oh, um... Yes. It was blocked."
As Kran nodded, a bit flustered, the elf spoke with a worried expression.
"That... might mean someone else is trying to come to this forest again."
Again? Seeing their curious expressions, the elf erased the worried look and continued with a smile.
"Lady Ilumine always blocks the cave and uses her power in her own space when something is about to happen in this forest. Until now, she mainly did this when non-elven beings were coming, like when you or the human before you came, and also when humans who come to sell things at the forest entrance every few years arrive. That's why I thought someone might be coming again."
"Ah... I see."
"This place has been so quiet for 500 years... Seeing so many humans visiting lately, I wonder what's happening outside the desert?"
They thanked the elf and headed back towards the forest. Occasionally, little elf children would pop their heads out from the trees and look at them with interest, but neither Kran nor Kapros paid any attention.
"...So what do we do now?"
To Kran's deflated question, Kapros answered, thinking 'why ask such a thing?'
"Train."
"Huh?"
"We train while we wait."
"..."
For a moment, Kran's face changed strangely as he flinched greatly, but Kapros didn't see it properly as he was walking ahead. Afterwards, after one failed attempt to escape back to the village, Kran had no choice but to draw his sword next to Kapros, sighing deeply.
"Sigh... Why is a perfectly fine cave blocked... Really, now..."
"Let's begin."
Shing.
Ignoring the grumbling, Kapros lightly drew his sword to start the training they had been doing since yesterday, and Kran's expression darkened even more.
"But I really don't understand why they came all the way here because of that person. If I remember correctly, he did come to our house a few times asking about you, but when I got angry, he disappeared."
"Is that all? Really?"
"That's right."
At his master's wife's casual response, Kapros felt the tension that had built up until now suddenly dissipate. The nerves that had been stretched to the limit at the mention of someone asking about him relaxed as if cut when he realized it was nothing significant.
What was it, after all? Was it really nothing?
Because of this trivial matter, he had almost suffered unimaginable things after being dragged away while walking down the street. He had been wary of that man since their first meeting, disliking him, but to think he would set people up like this.
Regardless of why the former Yoon Seok-ho had come looking for him, it was clear that even Yoon Seok-ho himself had forgotten about it now, having soon lost interest. If not, he would have mentioned it at least once when they met.
As Kapros let out a chuckle, finding it absurd, his master's wife, who had been continuously wiping his blood, suddenly asked something out of the blue.
"So, you said you fought after telling them you didn't know... Seeing that you made it here safely... You won, didn't you?"
'I was going to mention that later... She's hitting the nail on the head.'
His master's wife's question seemed casual, but it contained a subtle tension that was almost imperceptible. Knowing that Kapros had been struggling to pick up the sword again, she didn't just gloss over that part. His master also tensed up, opening his narrowed eyes wide, glancing at Kapros while pretending not to look. Kapros nodded with a smile.
"Yes. I won."
At that moment, the hidden tension inside them dissipated all at once, as if it had never been there.
"..."
At the same time, undisguisable joy began to show on the faces of his master and his wife, realizing that Kapros had finally taken another step out of the swamp he had been neck-deep in.
"Of course. Who are you to lose to such guys?"
Even as she said this, his master's wife couldn't stop her hands from tending to Kapros's wounds with a sigh of relief. For a moment, Kapros thought he saw something glisten in her eyes, but no one mentioned it. His master turned his head as if nothing had happened and instead offered a reprimand.
"Ahem. To come back with these wounds after fighting such opponents. You've fallen quite far. How could this happen unless you've been slacking off considerably?"
But even that reproachful voice contained a slight tremor.
Kapros opened his mouth, showing them the most sincere smile he could muster at the moment.
"Yes. I'm quite lacking."
As the atmosphere calmed a bit, his master's wife, who had been making choking sounds, suddenly opened her eyes wide.
"Then, Mu-heon. If you took care of them, those bastards should still be there, right?"
'...That's right.'
His master's wife's words reminded Kapros of something he had momentarily forgotten.
Initially, he had planned to go back there right away, but unintentionally, a lot of time had passed while treating his wounds and talking. But judging from the state of those guys when he left after dealing with them, they should still be crumpled up there for at least half a day...
"Yes... Probably..."
As Kapros affirmed quietly, his master's wife sprang up from her seat as if there was nothing more to see.
"Let's go right now! I can't just let those bastards—!"
"Alright! Wait, we should each grab a stick."
Kapros was very surprised when even his master, whom he thought would try to stop her, not only didn't object but even added to it.
"Um... You don't have to..."
"What nonsense. We should catch those guys right away and hand them over to the police. Come on, get up too!"
With just wooden sticks broken off in the yard, those two were on a different level from criminals...
Ignoring Kapros's words that it was fine since he had already beaten them to a pulp, the two urged him to lead the way to that alley. Feeling the ominous killing intent emanating from their attitude, Kapros had no choice but to lean on his cane again and set out.
'I don't know. Surely those guys wouldn't have woken up and run away, would they?'
Kapros thought this while sheepishly scratching the back of his head, but when they arrived, what greeted them was an empty alley, as if that "surely" had come true.
"...What is this?"
The only proof that Kapros had beaten those guys down was the blood splatters here and there. Kapros shook his head at his master's incredulous words.
"I didn't think they would have woken up already... Maybe my strength was weaker than I thought."
The fact that the guys had escaped was baffling to Kapros as well. This meant he wouldn't be able to find out about their backers, which he had intended to ask about later. Well, it didn't matter much since he now knew about a related person with an unlucky email address.
"Tch!"
Unlike his master, who clicked his tongue in displeasure and turned around sharply, his master's wife carefully examined the place for a while before placing her hand on Kapros's shoulder.
"Mu-heon."
"Yes."
"I don't know why such a thing happened, and I hope it won't happen again, but I'm really glad you came back safely."
"...Yes."
As Kapros slightly bowed his head, his master's wife stroked his hair and smiled.
"Really. You should always stay safe and healthy like this."
It was a bit embarrassing, but Kapros ended up responding with another "Yes." His master's wife beamed at that, and even his master, who had turned away, could be seen slightly crinkling the corners of his eyes.
Kapros slowly closed his eyes. The real reason he had been trembling with anger until just now felt like an old memory, no longer affecting him.
...It was good that he hadn't told them about that part. He wanted to repay them by trying harder not to worry them anymore.
At the very moment Kang Mu-heon was making this new resolution, in a dark empty lot far from there, there were five people thrown like corpses and one man. The man's eyes were as cold as could be, with a huge black motorcycle set up behind him like a backdrop.
Unlike when they were beaten by Kang Mu-heon, the man slowly opened his mouth, looking down at them like a war god as they lay completely stiff and pale.
Hi, if you like the story, please rate and review this novel on novelupdates. Thanks!
Jin Soram, the top-ranked hunter representing South Korea's Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters, is stronger than anyone else and lazier than anyone else. As soon as he arrives at the office, he buries himself under a blanket and falls asleep. When he goes out on a mission, he causes accidents and returns to the office, often shirking his duties.
"Do you know how it feels to play a game that's already messed up? ...Anyway, the next round will come, so this time, I'm just going to play it recklessly."
In fact, his true identity is someone who has regressed through three lives, trying to save the world from the Great Rift but failing each time. After repeating a life where he couldn't sleep peacefully even for a day, he became completely exhausted before this life even began.
"I know. You worked hard, Jin Soram."
And then there's Han Tae-un, the man who saved Soram and died in all three previous lives. As he did in every life, he comes to Soram's side once again. The Great Rift is approaching soon. It's impossible to resolve it in this life without any preparation. Soram vows to save Tae-un in this life and die himself. At least, he won't let Tae-un save a failure like himself again.
"For now, until then, let's sleep..."
As Soram sluggishly lives his life waiting for that moment, a gradual change occurs in his heart.
'I thought this was a messed-up round... but I want to live a little longer here.'
Leonardo Blaine, the true war hero of the Raina Logia Empire and the commander of the Armsilver 11th Squad, is dishonorably discharged for disobeying orders during the final battle that could have led the Empire to victory in the territorial war. People criticize and point fingers at him, and after being released on parole from prison, he disappears without a trace.
Three years later, his name has been forgotten by the world. The Council has been persistently pursuing him, but he has proven difficult to capture. Frustrated by this, Hugo Agrizendro, the commander of the Council's army, decides to personally apprehend him.
"Since when have you been watching me?"
Leonardo was calculative and astute, so it wouldn't be surprising if he had been observing Hugo for some time now. However, Leonardo's answer was something that even Hugo had not anticipated.
"From the very beginning."
Graduate student Yi-han finds himself reborn in another world as the youngest child of a mage family.
– I’m never attending school, ever again!
‘What do you wish to achieve in life?’
‘I wish to play around and live comforta-‘
‘You must be aware of your talent. Now go attend Einroguard!’
‘Patriarch!’
My future would be guaranteed once I graduate. For my future!
Check out these other novels as well!!!
