Chapter 320
An unmarried woman shouldn’t be visiting a man’s room this late in the night . However, Sungyoon let her in without any hesitation .
“Would you like some black tea?”
“Yes . ”
He knew what she liked . Well, it was more of a general guess, because the British typically liked tea .
Sungyoon poured water into the coffee pot to boil it .
“I've run out of all the high-quality black tea I had in my Storage Gem . You’ll have to tolerate the hotel’s teabag . ”
“That’s too bad . I was looking forward to it . ”
Sungyoon laid two cups of black tea on the table, and the tea's aroma spread throughout the room .
“Mmm . It isn’t too bad . ”
“By the expression on your face, there is no way it's any good . ”
It was subtle, but Grace grimaced each time she took a sip .
“Should I prepare you another cup?”
“I don’t want to impose on you . All cheap tea taste the same . Also, this is drinkable . ”
She took another sip, and this time, her eyebrows slightly shook .
In some ways, it was a funny sight .
She busily stuffed cookies in her mouth as she drank the tea . She looked like a person eating a side dish to get rid of the taste of strong alcohol .
The sipping sounds rang in the room for a while as the two of them talked about their private lives .
However, Grace wasn’t here for the tea .
Sungyoon decided to be direct .
“Are you here about what happened today?”
“…”
Grace’s silence was an answer in itself . She being awake at this time wasn't because of fear . She had been a Connector long before Sungyoon became one . Then, after teaming up with him, she had accumulated all kinds of experience, more so compared to the other Connectors .
What they had witnessed today was horrifying, but it couldn't make her heart sink like this .
Sungyoon knew that she was colder and more level-headed than his other party members . Her behavior was out of the ordinary .
However, he had a guess .
“Were there any Brits amongst the dead we found today?”
Clatter!
Grace's hand, which had been about to raise the teacup, came to a stop . She let go of the teacup, which lay several centimeters above the saucer .
The sound of porcelain hitting porcelain rang out . Thankfully, they hadn’t fallen a great distance; the teacup and saucer were fine .
Sungyoon continued to speak .
“We successfully reclaimed Armstrong city . Everyone was happy about our success, but Earth suffered heavy damage in the process . Since most of the strongest Connectors were busy in Armstrong city, Earth's defenses had weakened . It couldn’t be helped . ”
They knew it, and they had been prepared for it . However, it hadn’t been a priority .
Everything was further complicated by the fact that Earth was too large to defend . A massive number of casualties was bound to happen .
They had still gone ahead with it in the name of averting Earth's destruction . It sounded cruel, but the deaths were minor in comparison to Earth's eventual demise .
The casualties were a loss that had to be stomached . That was how everyone rationalized it .
“… After our mission to recover Armstrong city came to an end, I went over the entire list of people who either died or went missing in my country . I felt that it was my duty to see their pictures at least once . ”
One of the people who had disliked the plan the most was Grace .
She understood the plan had to be carried out, but she was more sensitive to the deaths on Earth than the others .
Most Connectors went to the Moon and the Moon's labyrinths for selfish reasons . The only thing they believed in was their own abilities . Unlike them, Grace had grown up in a special environment . She had been nurtured to think differently .
“Of course, I don’t remember all of them, but I do . . . remember some of the children . ”
Life was precious for everyone, but Grace couldn’t help focusing her attention on the children . The children were defenseless, and their lives were cut down way too soon .
The pictures of some of these children had stuck in her mind, and coincidentally, she had seen one of them today . The child's body had been dismantled in a horrifying fashion .
“I compared the still-recognizable corpses to those in the list of the missing people . A lot of them were on the list . ”
Grace’s voice was full of emotions; anger, grief, and hatred were all mixed within .
‘It seems Ms . Grace is holding on to a lot of emotional baggage . ’
Sungyoon’s family was fine, so he could react to other events in a rational manner . However, Grace was different . Her country was as important to her as his family was to him .
“I’m sorry to hear that . ”
That was all he could say . He didn’t offer platitudes . He didn’t tell her that he understood what she was going through . He didn’t tell her that everything would be ok . He couldn’t do it . He thought about the anguish he would feel if he lost his family . He wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if someone tried to give him cheap platitudes .
“Mr . Sungyoon, I can never forgive the being called Kevil . ”
“I feel the same way, and I don’t plan on forgiving Kevil . ”
All his party members also felt the same way .
Sungyoon and Grace continued their quiet conversation .
Grace lamented, and Sungyoon silently listened to her .
“Hoo-hooht! I was right to come here . The emotions weighing on my heart have significantly decreased . ”
“I’m glad to hear that . However, you should seek out a female friend next time . It isn’t good to be around a man so late into the night . Others might misunderstand what went on here . You can lean on Ms . Emily too . ”
“Well, I had thought about it, but Ms . Emily was also in rough shape . ”
“… I see . ”
Emily had a delicate personality . Her rich battle experience allowed her to somewhat overcome this delicate personality, but it seemed today’s events had affected her in a profound manner .
Sungyoon remembered that her face had been pale when they had returned to the hotel .
“Also, I don’t care if others misunderstand what happened here . ”
It was hard to tell if she was playing or not . A peculiar smile appeared on her lips as she picked up her teacup once again .
Sungyoon remained silent .
“Hmm . I guess it isn’t time yet . ”
Grace let out a sigh . She looked around the room as if she wanted to find something that would allow her to change the topic . The room had been expensive, but it was a normal hotel room . It wasn’t much different from her own room .
Her eyes landed on the large map rolled up on a table .
“Were you looking at the map?”
“Yes . I was wondering if there's a pattern to the ritual sites . That's why I was marking them all . ”
“Do you mind if I look at it?”
It wasn't something he had to hide .
Sungyoon put away the teacups so that they could have an easier time looking at the map .
Grace unfurled the map .
“It's quite detailed . ”
She spoke out in admiration .
“It's nothing . I just marked the locations that were reported on . I’m sure other intelligence agencies are doing a more thorough analysis . This is something I’m doing to satisfy myself . ”
“I didn’t think about doing this . There are two different marks . What’s the difference?”
“The circle signifies the recent rituals that don't involve any 1st Gens . They are large-scale rituals . The triangle signifies the previous rituals where 1st Gens were sacrificed . ”
Grace meticulously looked over the map . She glared at the map as her brows furrowed in concentration . Sungyoon remained silent since he didn’t want to bother her . It would be great if she found something he had missed .
“I wish there was a pattern, but I don’t see it . ”
It seemed it was an impossible task for Grace too .
Sungyoon wasn’t disappointed since numerous intelligence agencies couldn’t figure it out either .
“However, I feel a sense of deja vu for some reason . ”
Sungyoon stared at her . Grace shrank away, but Sungyoon didn’t plan on berating her for saying something useless .
‘Ms . Grace feels that way?’
Sungyoon had also felt an unknown sense of deja vu when he had looked at the map . It was the reason he continued to look at the map despite calling it a self-serving act .
‘What if the sense of deja vu we felt isn't a coincidence . If so, where could we have seen the same thing?’
Sungyoon and Grace lived completely different lives . It was to be expected since Sungyoon lived in Korea and Grace lived in England . It meant that the thing they saw was probably on the Moon . Moreover, there was a high probability that they had seen it in a labyrinth .
‘However, I doubt we saw something so distinct within a labyrinth . ’
His thoughts naturally flowed toward the next candidate .
‘The cities!’
Sungyoon thought about the pictures engraved in various places in the capital city, the holy city, the Mage city, and the fortress city .
The engravings looked artistic, but they also seemed to be made with the intention of expressing history .
“What’s wrong?”
Grace became worried as she looked at Sungyoon, who was deep in his thoughts .
Sungyoon suddenly grabbed her hand .
“Ah!”
Grace was taken aback, but she didn’t pull her hand back .
“Ms . Grace!”
“Yes, yes!”
It wasn’t like her to be this flustered . Her unbeaten heart circulated her blood faster .
Her face turned red .
“I remember something! I’ll have to go verify it! Please wait a moment!”
Sungyoon ran out of the room, leaving a dumbfounded woman alone in the room .
Grace felt as if he had dumped cold water on her rising passion . Her cheeks turned red once again, but it was due to an emotion different than the one before . It was the complete opposite of the previous emotion . It was 'embarrassment . '
She took steady breathes to calm her heart .
“… I expected it, but it really is a brick wall . ”
How did Hahn Jimin break through that powerful wall?
‘Still, I’m in a better place than before . I’ve made some progress . ’
In the past, Sungyoon wouldn’t have let her into his room no matter what time it was .
‘Also, I didn’t come here with that intention in mind . ’
She had been telling the truth when she had told Sungyoon that she had to unload her restless emotions . The goal with which she came care had been accomplished . Moreover, she also knew it was rude to stay in a room too long without the owner .
With a light heart, Grace returned to her room .
***
- After receiving your message, we searched through all the special cities .
The Mayor's excited face appeared on the screen .
- We found four likely candidates when we went through all the paintings on the wall and the ceiling . We pieced this together .
The Mayor proudly unfurled a paper . It was a large page, with a large drawing printed on it . It was the map of the world .
- Look at this!
The Mayor started pointing at various locations on the paper . Several small red dots had been marked on this world map .
Sungyoon kept staring at one particular red dot . He couldn't forget that location no matter what . The topography looked a bit different from this map, but it was the location where Kevil had conducted his damned ritual, the location he had been staring at all night .
“What’s the significance of these locations?”
- This is our conjecture, but we believe the ritual to banish Grenoid from Earth had taken place in these locations . A picture of Grenoid drawn near to us supports this conjecture .
“What does my mother-in-law think about this?”
“Ms . Plu-El and Mr . Aruwen agree with us . ”
“It isn’t a coincidence?”
- Probably not .
Got’em .
The two men had the same thought .