“You really are my favorite piece of trash.”
I didn’t quite know how to react to Cha Hee-ra’s suggestive look.
“Is there a connection between Lee Seolho and Yamato Guild? I might have missed something, but now it seems like the situation has become even more fun.”
“I’m not exactly sure about this yet. Still, it’s not unlikely. If that old man wants to kill me, would any guild within Lindel be willing to do so?”
“My cute baby, are you trembling?”
It was only natural for me to do so!
“A little…”
“It’s good that you’re honest. Elaborate further.”
“There is no one in Lindel who would dare defy you, Hee-ra. Therefore, it was only natural to think that the perpetrators came from somewhere else, somewhere where they won’t have to worry about the future consequences of their actions.”
“That makes sense. Yamato… Come to think of it, that unlucky bastard was the Guild Master…”
“Have you two met?”
“The masters of large guilds are supposed to meet regularly. The Holy Empire hosts these meetings. I ran into them quite often… Well, anyway, I guess we can bear this for some more time. Did you know that fighting between guilds in the Holy Empire is forbidden? I trust that you’ll be able to figure that one
out.”
“Go on. I know you’re also busy. My guild members will take you.”
“Yes, Hee-ra.”
“The list I sent you last time will be very useful. Ah. And little Hayan…”
“I’ll leave her to the Red Mercenaries. Only until this is over, however.”
“I thought that would be the case, honey. I wish I could spend some more time with you. However, I know you don’t feel the same.”
“Ah…”
“I’ll see you later, then. I hope to meet you in a more romantic place next time.”
“Let’s do that.”
As I slowly walked out, some of the people waiting outside ran towards me.
‘Red Mercenaries…’
It seemed that Cha Hee-ra’s scolding worked. I never imagined I’d be in a situation like this. It was fun seeing the trembling faces before me, afraid that they might have another slip-up. It was really interesting to have these guys watching over me.
“That… Lee Kiyoung.”
“Yeah.”
“I will take you to the guild.”
“Yes, please.”
I found no reason to refuse.
The area looked safe for the most part, but one could never be too sure with assassins. It was good to be as careful as possible.
Meanwhile, Park Deokgu, Jung Hayan, and Sun Hee-young would be temporarily moving in with the Red Mercenaries. Upon realizing that Kim Hyunsung was nowhere to be seen, I figured he was still trying to track down the assassins that had managed to escape.
‘Meanwhile, I have my own job to do.’
As I continued moving, I allowed myself to get lost in my thoughts. How could I deal with this old man in the most miserable way possible? How could I kill him?
I thought it wasn’t bad to revise some of the plans, but as I wanted to get things done as quickly as possible, it didn’t seem bad to adapt to the current situation.
‘Do not be shaken.’
The moment I let my emotions get the best of me would be the moment would lose.
So, instead of showing such a weakness, I let one corner of my lip curl upwards. Coming back with a full-on smile would prove to be too suspicious.
“This is enough.”
“We will be waiting for you to signal to us from a distance. One may never know what can happen inside the guild.”
“Ah. You don’t need to do so…”
I did have high luck specs, but it didn’t seem to be working in my favor. One of the Red Mercenary members pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me.
“This is…”
“Yes?”
“It’s something that can send a distress signal to us if trouble ever arises.”
As he spoke, the man’s eyes sparkled with determined aspirations.
It seemed that he had a different reaction to Cha Hee-ra’s harsh scolding. Was he actually willing to dedicate himself to protecting me?
‘Additional security measures are good, but…’
They had better not restrict my actions. I would have a good chat with Hee-ra about that later on.
After lowering his head slightly, he immediately entered the guild, and a very cluttered interior came into view. Since the situation had blown over, it seemed that everyone similarly thought of returning.
It was a sign that everything had gone back to normal once more.
“While I was talking to Cha Hee-ra…”
She was indeed a capable person. Perhaps there would be a meeting soon where all of the Guild Masters would gather.
In simple terms, it was an effort to pinpoint the terrorist mastermind. However, how to execute him would be a problem. It would also be difficult to find the evidence behind this attack, but at least the people were given sufficient warning not to try this again.
The media was also clearly spinning reports on the recent occurrences, and regretted not giving my statement. However, there was no need to utilize them now.
After entering the guild, I looked around cautiously. Kim Ye-ri was the only remaining person from my party. Still, it was nice to see a familiar, nice face.
I could also see an anxious Lee Sang-hee and Hwang Jeong-yeon rushing towards me.
“Mr. Kiyoung! Where did you get hurt?”
“I got away unscathed, Lee Sang-hee.”
“Good, that’s good. But, ah… I heard Jung Hayan got injured…”
“They said she would experience some aftereffects, but her life is no longer in danger. I was so distraught that I left her to the Red Mercenaries, along with Deokgu and Hee-young. Hyunsung, however, will probably be back soon enough.”
“Ah…”
“I think they’ll be safer there than here.”
Though I had not said this to target Lee Sang-hee, her expression still looked gloomy. Of course, my attention was not aimed at her but towards Lee Seolho and his other crooks.
The old man himself had a calm expression, but his followers all looked uneasy as they looked at me. The guy they had tried to kill me was still alive. They were probably regretting their choices now.
‘You idiots.
These humans really did take incompetence to a whole new level. Even if I tried to forgive them a hundred times, they would never change. They were the so-called guild-parasites.
Lee Seolho appeared to want something to say, meanwhile,
“Huh, you’re really lucky to still be alive. It must be terrifying to experience such a chaos of terrorism…”
‘Crazy old man.
He certainly had a knack for pissing people off.
“In any case, you must still be feeling anxious about what’s happened. Why don’t you take a rest?”
“Fine.”
“You must have suffered a lot after getting caught in such an explosion. When I heard the news, I was also in shock. To lose such a talent will be really heartbreaking.”
For a person who expressed his sincere worry, he certainly didn’t look genuine about it
“It seems that bad news has been overlapping recently, so this old man is feeling very anxious.”
As I thought about how to give a proper reply, I critically gazed upon the faces of the old geezers and his idiotic companions.
“It wasn’t just a mob.”
“Perhaps everyone will find out later. What happened wasn’t an act of terrorism. They were all well-trained assassins. They were specifically targeting Hayan and me.”
“But… But why…”
“I think it is probably because of the legendary item that Kiyoung has, Lee Sang-hee.”
‘Ha.
Of course, this wasn’t an unconvincing story. Legendary rank items did garner that much attention. If one were to think about the possibility of taking ownership, most people would keel over in their greed.
Nevertheless…
“Oh, it didn’t seem like that.”
“Oh…”
“Only the Blue Guild members know I have a legendary-rank item and that I have ownership over it. I don’t know who leaked the information, but it sure was brave of them to target me, thus making the Mercenary Queen their enemy.”
“Information…”
Lee Sang-hee looked shocked by this news.
‘You really are an innocent lady, Lee Sang-hee.’
I didn’t know what this guild meant to her, but she had to realize that this was no longer the Blue she had grown up in.
“The reason I was attacked is probably because of my curiosity.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m very cautious about saying this, but in fact, I have been wondering about the Guild Master’s death.”
“Ah…”
“I know how the Guild Master was said to have died naturally, but… I still have doubts about it.”
As I spoke, I carefully watched out for Lee Seolho’s expression. He looked curious as if asking me what the hell I was talking about.
“Huh’
Perhaps Lee Seolho wasn’t the perpetrator, after all.
The reason I was attacked may well be because I had hurt Lee Seolho’s pride or had discovered his plans to sell the guild to Japan.
In the first place, Seolho had never expected us to clear the Cursed Shrine dungeon.
Only
Cleared dungeon or not, the Guild Master was set to die anyway, so perhaps he found no merit in murdering him straightaway. Of course, if he wanted to get things done a little faster, he probably would have pushed through with it.
‘The Guild Master probably died a natural death.’
Unless Lee Seolho was acting… however, that didn’t matter now. The situation
That fact alone can give one a framework to help solve the scattered puzzle pieces.
As I slowly opened my mouth to speak once more, Lee Seolho looked as if he had just stepped on a pile of sh*t.
“Lee Sang-hee, it looks like there is indeed a traitor within Blue—someone who murdered our Guild Master.”
It wasn’t the truth that made the world go round.
‘It’s agitation and fabrication.