Chapter 373:

Chapter 373:

Lindel, a small city full of vitality.

Yu-hyun entered the city with Kang Hye-rim, moving cautiously. It was a natural choice, since he didn’t want to cause any trouble by bumping into someone.

He could have moved more aggressively if he was alone, but now he was with Kang Hye-rim.

Kang Hye-rim was not in her right mind.

She was like a child who had lost her memory and common sense.

Yu-hyun thought he would go crazy if he lost her even for a moment.

‘I can feel their eyes.’

Even before he entered the city, there were some eyes following him.

They didn’t seem hostile, but they were blatantly trying to figure out what he was up to.

‘Maybe they are informants from the Alliance. They must have heard that I’m the Lord of Books, and they want to check out what kind of person the Lord of Rumors is.’

Yu-hyun wondered what they would do next.

If he was in their position, he would report to his superiors while keeping an eye on the Lord of Rumors.

He wouldn’t do anything stupid like attacking him directly.

Then what would the superiors do?

‘They must have reached the ears of someone who can take responsibility for the city. That means the lord of this place knows that I’m here.’

He heard that the lord of Lindel was called the smallest lord.

That meant his skills were not that impressive.

Among the transcenders, a lord would be a formidable opponent, but for Yu-hyun at his level, the lord of Lindel was not much of a threat.

Rather, the lord of Lindel might be anxious about how to deal with Yu-hyun.

Yu-hyun was confident that it would be so.

‘I don’t plan to make any trouble here anyway. I’ll just stay quietly for a few days.’

He didn’t bother to talk, since they would be wary of him anyway. He wanted to show them his intentions through his actions.

If he stayed still, they wouldn’t bother him either. His purpose was not to send any message to the Alliance, but just to find his old comrades.

If he had any acquaintances in the Alliance’s territory, he would visit them, but he thought he would wander around the mixed world afterwards.

‘Meeting everyone again is just a matter of duty.’

If they asked him what he would do after that, he had plenty of answers.

He had to collect the fragments scattered around the mixed world, and find Jin Cheongun who might be alive somewhere here.

That wasn’t all. He had to meet Oelo again, who must have been worried about him for a long time, and settle things with his friends from Celestial Corporation.

And, the most important thing was.

‘The real end that Jia told me.’

Kwon Jia said that the destruction of Earth was nothing.

She saw the end of this universe itself.

The stars falling and all the stories ending... It was literally the end of everything.

He had to find out what caused that, and what it had to do with the fragments.

‘To do that, I have to find someone who seems to know something first.’

The first suspect was Seokgamoni who sent him to the future five years later, but now he was gone and he couldn’t meet him even if he wanted to.

Then what about Paradise Land where Seokgamoni belonged? Would they welcome Yu-hyun?

‘No, there’s one more thing.’

The one who laughs in the darkest place.

Satan, the ruler of the frozen planet.

He was also watching the situation from outside Earth when Seokgamoni intervened in Hell.

He was the one who retrieved Baekryeon from the explosion, and returned him to Yu-hyun when he confirmed his return.

That wasn’t all.

He gave him Laplace’s power as a gift, and knew about the existence of the fragments.

What did he know, and how much did he know? And what did he want from Yu-hyun?

He had to visit Satan’s territory at least once.

Squeeze.

Then Kang Hye-rim pulled his sleeve harder.

“Hyerim? What’s wrong?”

“...”

Kang Hye-rim didn’t answer and pointed at the market where street vendors were displaying their goods.

The smell of delicious food filled the street and tickled the noses of passers-by.

Kang Hye-rim’s eyes were full of longing for that food.

Yu-hyun didn’t ask if she called him for that, but rather smiled gently and nodded.

“Yes. I’m hungry too. Let’s go eat something.”

[Oh boy. You’re such a dad. A dad.]

Baekryeon teased him playfully as he saw Yu-hyun’s behavior.

Yu-hyun couldn’t argue with that.

His actions were indeed like a father to Kang Hye-rim.

I have translated your text into English and made some changes to improve the sentence structures, clarity, and flow.

Let’s go.

Saying that, Yu-hyun grabbed Kang Hye-rim’s hand and tried to drag her along.

But at that moment, he saw her in a different light.

-Why, why!

The memory of that time when he mercilessly slashed her with his sword, while she was bleeding and crying out to him, struck his mind.

His vision blurred and his muscles tensed.

He stopped abruptly, making Kang Hye-rim look at him with confusion.

He covered his face with one hand, not knowing where to look. His eyes shook violently as if there was an earthquake.

Aware of that fact, Yu-hyun answered their question obediently. He came here to look for someone, not to fight.

“Someone? Who?”

“Can you tell me if I tell you?”

“Only if you don’t cause any trouble.”

They already believed that this side would cause trouble.

“I understand your suspicion, but I have no intention of making a fuss. I’m sincere about looking for someone. I thought I might be able to find an old colleague who disappeared, since the alliance has good information.”

“An old colleague who disappeared? But you came to the wrong place for information. Rindel is a free trade city, and the smallest city at that. There’s no information here.”

“Then?”

“You’ll have to go deeper inside. Of course, it won’t be easy for you to enter with your status.”

“I see. Then I don’t need to stay here any longer.”

At those words, Yudarin clenched her fist unconsciously. She had been worried several times in her head that Yu-hyun might suddenly turn hostile and attack her.

“I’ll leave as soon as I finish eating.”

“Huh?”

“I told you. I don’t want to cause trouble. I’m content with just looking for someone quietly.”

“Oh, oh... really?”

As the tension eased, Yudarin’s tone returned to its original self. She was surprised and happy by Yu-hyun’s answer.

She quickly fixed her expression.

The Book Pile Lord was one thing, but what about the Black Thunder Lord next to him?

“She...”

“Don’t worry. She’s not the same Black Thunder Lord as before.”

“How can you be sure?”

One of the knights behind Yudarin blurted out.

He meant to say that he could not take responsibility for his statement that the Black Thunder Lord would behave peacefully.

Yu-hyun’s sharp gaze turned to the knight who spoke.

“I said so, didn’t I?”

“Ugh.”

The knight who met Yu-hyun’s eyes stumbled back and bumped into his colleagues.

The other knights and Yudarin also felt a chill on their skin as they watched him.

Yu-hyun lowered his head and sighed.

“I’m sorry. My nerves have been too sharp lately. I think I overreacted.”

“No, no. It’s understandable. If your nerves are sharp, it can happen.”

Yudarin quickly agreed with Yu-hyun’s words.

Then, her adjutant came up and whispered in her ear.

“My lord. If they are leaving so peacefully, did we need to call the executor?”

“Did I ever expect this to happen? But where is the executioner now? How long did he say he would take?”

“Uh, well...”

“Why are you hesitating? Tell me quickly.”

“...He said he would arrive in three minutes.”

“...What?”

Before their conversation was over, Yu-hyun got up from his seat.

In the blink of an eye, all the dishes in front of Kang Hye-rim had disappeared, leaving only empty plates behind.

He didn’t care much for the lord of this place and his meal was over, so he thought it would be better to head to the inner city.

“Let’s go.”

“Uh, uh.”

Yoo Da Rin wondered if she should call Yu-hyun back or let him go.

She didn’t want to let him go since the executioner was already on his way, but she also felt uneasy about his presence.

In the end, she couldn’t do either and Yu-hyun took Kang Hye-rim with him to the outside of the city.

Kang Hye-rim kept looking back with a longing for more delicious food, but she didn’t throw a tantrum.

It was the moment when they crossed the large gate of the city.

Kang Hye-rim and Yu-hyun looked up at the distant sky at the same time.

[Yu-hyun. Why?]

‘Something is coming.’

[What?]

They saw a small dot in the sky beyond.

As soon as they recognized it, the dot came close in an instant.

It was a huge hawk that was over 5m in size. And on top of that hawk, there was a person.

The man jumped off the hawk and landed lightly on the ground.

“I heard there was a lord of books here. Is that you?”

“You are...”

Yu-hyun’s eyes widened as he recognized the man.

His lips trembled and his fists clenched involuntarily.

How could he not know? How could he forget?

The indifferent yet sharp eyes that he had seen so many times in his previous life, and the aura that was honed like a blade.

He, that guy, hadn’t changed at all from before or now.

“Choi Do-yoon.”

The encounter with the guy who could be called his nemesis in his previous life.

It happened so suddenly.