CH 198

After cleaning up the finished lunch and moving to the living room, we added coffee to the cake that Kwon Jeong-han had bought. As Kwon Jeong-han said that he bought it from a popular handmade dessert shop, the cake tasted quite good.

Piiik?

Fox, who had been hovering around my piece of cake with a curious look, poked the tip of his nose.

“Ya, wait a minute.”

Even if it was a ghost monster, could he still eat a cake or something while looking like an animal? I couldn’t figure it out, so I quickly covered the guy’s face with my palm.

Come to think of it, I didn’t eat cake when I was in the temple, so I couldn’t check if it was okay to give it to Fox. There was no way to contact Elohim. I didn’t want to give it because it could be bad if I gave it for nothing.

Piiik! Piiik!

Fox stretched out and swung his paws towards the cake, even as his face was pressed down. It was I who was embarrassed by that passionate act. Why was he like this? What did the cake do to him?

Eventually, I put down the fork and took Fox into my arms.

“Why are you suddenly greedy for cake? Stay still.”

I put him on my thigh, grabbing his front paws and shaking them gently, Fox blinked his big eyes and cried in protest.

Piik, piik.

“You can’t…”

“Well, Yi-gyeol-ssi.”

“Yes?”

Even so, I pat Fox, who had become a little calmer since I hug him, and Min Ah-rin, who was drinking coffee from the other side, called me. As I lifted my head for something, my eyes met those who were looking at me strangely.

“What is it?”

Kim Woo-jin, who was sitting close to me, glared at Fox with terrifying eyes. What’s wrong with him again.

“I also have a question…”

Min Ah-rin, who put her glass down, licked her lips as if contemplating something and eventually continued.

“Yi-gyeol-ssi. You were in China a while ago, weren’t you?”

It was ambiguous to say China, but I couldn’t tell them about the Prophet, so I answered yes for now.

“Were you… alone?”

“No, I wasn’t. I left here because I had someone to meet in the first place. We met without any major problems and we got along well with what we had to do.”

As I gently scratched Fox’s belly, he bit my hand softly playfully. I didn’t really feel sick, so I left him alone and asked Min Ah-rin.

“More than that, I wanted to ask you since yesterday, how did you know that I went to China?”

Min Ah-rin looked at Kim Woo-jin for a moment with a hesitant expression on her face and said.

“I heard that Deputy Master Roheon went on vacation to China. I don’t think with Yi-gyeol-ssi’s personality, you wouldn’t force yourself to leave alone, so I asked him when I met him in person.”

“Ah, now that you mention it, you’ve been gone to the new gate with Master Cheon Sa-yeon, right? I saw it on the news.”

“That’s right. To be honest, from the point of view of Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon, he could ignore me, but I thanked him for kindly letting me know.”

As I listened to Min Ah-rin’s explanation with a faint smile, my mood became somewhat strange.

Come to think of it, didn’t Ha Tae-heon and Min Ah-rin develop into a relationship with pretty good feelings in ‘Abyss’? Min Ah-rin moved from Requiem to Roheon because of Ha Tae-heon.

Those two were still in such an awkward relationship. I felt like a lot of things had changed.

Recalling the contents of ‘Abyss’ for a while, Min Ah-rin opened her mouth with her eyes twinkling.

“Yi-gyeol-ssi. So, did you meet that kid in China too?”

“Yes. He has a lot of different abilities. So I got permission and brought him.”

Kwon Jeong-han, who heard the answer, intervened with a voice that was unexpected.

“It’s very good for you to bring him here because he’s useful.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. You were dying because of his cuteness just now.” (방금도 귀여워 죽으려고 하시던데)

“That’s what I saw as well.”

Park Geon-ho immediately responded to Kwon Jeong-han’s opinion.

‘All I did was scold him not to eat the cake.’

Damn, I don’t understand. Meanwhile, Fox, who quickly escaped from my hand, flew to Min Ah-rin. I was the only opponent the guy followed. …was he possibly male? (…did I make a mistake!? Should I change it into a ‘she’!?)

“Waa, you are beautiful.”

Piik.

Min Ah-rin reached out to Fox, who approached her, and smiled broadly. I stared blankly at the scene and pondered.

I didn’t really know anything about Fox. I thought I should know something about him before I brought him.

Regretting it belatedly, I asked Park Geon-ho, who had already emptied a plate of cake.

“Is there anything you know about the Praus Cult?”

“Praus Cult?”

“Yes. It’s a crime committed by a member of the Praus Cult. Is there anything else besides what appeared in the media?”

Of course, there was a possibility that the drunkard talented person I encountered was also a member of the Praus Cult, but there was no evidence, so I couldn’t confirm it hastily.

“Well. Not in my memory. Everything seems to be in the news or articles.”

“Um…”

“I think it would be better to ask Master if you want to know for sure.”

“Even if not, I was going to see him later.”

I answered and checked the time. It was almost ten o’clock. By the time lunchtime was over, Cheon Sa-yeon would be in free time.

I licked my lips as I put together a plan in my head.

“I think two o’clock would be appropriate. Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi said he would deliver the words.”

There were many problems that could only be solved with Cheon Sa-yeon. Wasn’t it a good decision to stop by Requiem first?

After this, I had to meet Cheon Sa-yeon and get information about the Praus Cult, then release my shackles and go meet Ha Tae-heon. Feeling like things were going smoothly, I smiled happily and took another bite of the cake.

* * *

“What a shrewd.” (꿈도 야무지군)

“……”

“What is two o’clock…”

I glared coldly at the person sitting in front of me with a sneering remark.

“What is it?”

“What do you mean?”

“What are you here for?”

As soon as it was one o’clock, Cheon Sa-yeon came to my room very naturally with Woo Seo-hyuk behind him.

How ridiculous it was to enter the door naturally after pressing the door lock password that I had never told before.

As I pressed down my irritation, Cheon Sa-yeon rested his chin on the armrest of the sofa and raised the corner of his mouth slightly.

“I heard you were looking for me. Isn’t it?”

“What kind of bullshit…”

When I turned my gaze to Woo Seo-hyuk, who was standing behind him in shock, he quietly shook his head. That was a lie too.

“Stop joking around. Why are you really here?”

“I’m serious. Isn’t it true that you want to meet me?”

What the hell were you up to? Cheon Sa-yeon, who smiled brightly despite my suspicious gaze, looked around once.

“By the way, there is no marketplace. What are you all doing in Han Yi-gyeol’s room together? I don’t think this room was given to you all.”

Kwon Jeong-han quickly responded to that harsh point.

“I’m doing my work diligently.”

Min Ah-rin, who was standing next to Kim Woo-jin and holding Fox, continued.

“I and Woo-jin-ssi are on our annual leave today.”

Everyone’s attention was focused on Park Geon-ho this time. But he shrugged rather skillfully.

“No, I have no work, what should I do? If you are dissatisfied with me being close to Talented Han Yi-gyeol, give me a job, Master.”

“I will. I let you say hello to Han Yi-gyeol in advance. You won’t be able to see him even a single hair from tomorrow.”

“Both of you, stop…”

What were you doing in front of all the guild members, now? Do you not feel ashamed.

I couldn’t help it. I didn’t think it was possible to continue a normal conversation in this state.

“I think it would be better to just change place.”

“As you please.”

“Follow me.”

At my suggestion, Cheon Sa-yeon readily nodded his head and stood up from the sofa. So I took Cheon Sa-yeon and passed Kim Woo-jin and Min Ah-rin, who looked worried at me…

I entered the bedroom.

“……”

“……”

Cheon Sa-yeon’s gaze moved back and forth between me and the white bed. What. Why. What should I do if there was no drawing-room. After making the chain dragged on the floor transparent with the remote control and closing the bedroom door, the room was filled with cold silence.

“…please sit down.”

Unable to withstand the awkward atmosphere, I finally spoke first.

“Where?”

“Just sit on the bed please.”

Watching Cheon Sa-yeon meekly put his buttocks on the edge of the bed following my hand gestures, I sat next to him at a reasonable distance from him.

In the strange situation of having to sit side by side on the bed and have a conversation, Cheon Sa-yeon tilted his head with a smile.

“Do you usually do this when you chat?”

“Is that possible I usually do this?”

“Then that means I’m special.”

“Ha…”

Just by sharing a few words, I was exhausted. After touching my forehead and barely calming myself down, I immediately brought up the main point.

“I’d like to get some information about the Praus Cult.”

No one was listening now, so there was no reason to use respect. When I asked him comfortably as usual, Cheon Sa-yeon folded his arms and blinked.

“I don’t know what information you are talking about.”

“Information that hasn’t been released to the media. I’ve read all the news and articles that appeared.”

Just in case, I watched them every single day while I was at the temple. Most of them were trivial things.

“Well. I don’t really have anything to say. The only thing I’m worried about is the case of a drunkard talented person making a fuss.”

“I heard about that part roughly from Min Ah-rin-ssi. She said that there were a few talented people that were similar to the one I caught yesterday.”

“If you add up the records that weren’t caught in the media as of 16 days ago, there are 9 cases in Seoul, 5 cases in Incheon, and 7 cases in Busan.”

“What? Incheon and Busan?”

I hurriedly asked for unexpected information. Then, Cheon Sa-yeon tapped his watch and took out his tablet PC. Why did that bastard keep it in his inventory?

“All crimes are the same, without exception. A person with a lower level of B-rank ability was drunk and was caught wielding his ability or a weapon against ordinary people.”

“…you haven’t experienced this?”

Cheon Sa-yeon stared at me for a moment to a question with many meanings and then answered softly.

“Yeah.”

On the screen of the tablet PC he handed over, there were graphs and explanations that summarized the incident.

“Fortunately, there have been no fatalities yet, but it’s true that it’s dangerous.”

“Is this possible? How can 21 people do the same thing at the same time?”

“There are a lot of things that bother me as you said. That’s why there is a high possibility that it is the Praus Cult’s doing.”

“If 21 people were equally drunk and wielding their abilities or weapons…”

My eyes met Cheon Sa-yeon’s. There was no way that Cheon Sa-yeon couldn’t have thought of the idea that I had thought of. I was convinced and opened my mouth.

“It has something to do with the alcohol?”

“I suppose so. If it’s alcohol, whatever you put in it will be easily hidden.”

“Even the talented person I met yesterday smelled so badly that it was difficult to check anything else. Above all else, I thought he was just a drunkard.”

“Everyone else would think so.”

“Wait…”

At that moment, an ominous thought ran through my mind.

“What if they drank without knowing or were forced to drink?”

A corner of my chest fell coldly. Cheon Sa-yeon’s black eyes, who faced me, were tinged with a heavy light.