Old Forces (2)
“What are you talking about?”
It was Lee Seolho and his followers.
“Lee Sang-hee is still…”
“Yes, she’s spending time with the Master in the basement. You also seem to be heartbroken.”
“It feels like someone in my family has died. The Master was such a special person to Lee Sang-hee. Of course, other people will feel the same, but…”
“Yeah. In fact, I also lost sleep at first. My sorrow was heightened as there weren’t a lot of people when it happened. However, Hwang Jeong-yeon, I must congratulate you on your safe return. And for other party members…. I am very sorry for your loss.”
His voice was full of favor. Of course, it wasn’t directed to me, but towards Hwang Jeong-yeon, who was considered as the second party leader.
Hwang Jeong-yeon must have also felt surprised by his sudden change of behavior, as her eyes had widened.
‘Ha…
I coughed into my fist and resisted the urge to laugh aloud. The old man was so blatantly obvious. Of course, he wasn’t expecting us to come back.
In the end, it didn’t matter if Lee Seolho had killed the Guild Master or not. The fact still stood that he would be delighted upon the occurrence of this event. If we had not come back, Blue would automatically be his for the taking.
For this very reason, he had chosen to delay the sending of reinforcements. Either way, we had come back.
‘It must have been embarrassing for him.’
It felt funny, but I couldn’t help but take pride in this situation.
As I mulled over these thoughts, Lee Seolho continued to talk to Hwang Jeong-yeon.
“I’m really glad.”
“Ah.”
“I was so worried because the reinforcements replied so late. Then, the Guild Master died. I tried my best to help out, but it just didn’t feel right. My anxiety… Anyway, it’s so nice being able to see you in person once more.”
Lee Seolho’s red, teary eyes were indeed a spectacle to behold. He would undoubtedly receive the Academy Award for Best Actor if he kept this up.
Hwang Jeong-yeon looked torn, so I figured it would be fun for me to step in.
‘Shall we see his reaction?’
“Isn’t it too late to say that? I wonder if there was any other reason, Mr. Seolho.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Oh, no, I’m just saying. Though the Red Mercenaries were late, there were also the Black Swans. There are also loads of people in need of a job. It wouldn’t be so hard organizing a unit. Of course, it would be impossible if you were given a short time. However, we had been gone for so long.”
“Well, that…”
“Ahhh. Well, what’s past is past. Can you at least tell me how the Guild Master died?”
“It’s exactly what I said. He died peacefully three days ago. He was fortunate to have died in that manner.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“Did you not think about the fact that he might have been killed?”
Lee Soelho’s eyes widened at my deduction.
“What are you saying?”
“Take it literally. From your story, does this mean that no one was in the Guild Master’s room when he died?”
“That… I do.”
“From your reaction, it seems that you didn’t even think about the possibility of him being killed.”
As I spoke, I couldn’t help but let a snarky smile slip through. It was because Lee Seolho had donned a nasty expression.
‘Did you kill him?
No wonder the crazy old man’s face had turned red.
In the first place, Lee Seolho had a hot-tempered personality. If he didn’t get angry in this situation, it would have definitely looked suspicious.
“What are you talking about now?!”
“Why are you getting all excited? I say this in total respect, Lee Seolho…”
“Are you saying we killed the Guild Master? I’ve never once thought about that!”
“I didn’t even say our fellow guild members did it. I was just asking if there were any possible intruders… You seem to be overly excited about this, and I don’t know why.”
Seolho was taken aback by what I said and struggled to find his words for a while.
“Yeah… You… Still…”
“Perhaps you feel attacked from what I said?”
“Do you dare talk to me like that? Me, who has maintained Blue Guild up until now?!”
“Your story has nothing to do with me, regardless of how many years you’ve spent in service. However…”
He fell silent.
“Let’s see, why do you keep speaking so plainly? Do you not mention your position enough? Why must you be so loud and defensive about it?”
“You…”
“You have to be careful with your words, Mr. Seolho. If the Guild Master dies, do you think that means the end for Blue? There are various degrees of incompetence. What kind of executive lets the guild’s reputation fall into disarray? Did you get sick of dealing with such affairs? It sounds ridiculous, and it doesn’t make sense at all.”
My arguments seemed to hit like daggers as he was at a loss for words.
“Isn’t it normal to make sure that there was no intrusion from the outside, or if there had been people inside the Guild Master’s bedroom? If your definition of working hard is not enough, then just step down from your seat. You’re not helping Blue at all. And then what? The reinforcement formation was late, so it couldn’t be helped? That’s what you call an excuse. That’s what you call incompetence. To say you couldn’t help it, it saddens me. Did you think we would accept that? Why are you doing this?” | exclaimed.
My tone rose as I speak further, but there was no response from him.
“You know. This is not a school. You can’t just apologize for your mistakes and leave it at that. Do you think of yourselves as pillars that have kept Blue standing? No, if the Guild Master was the head, then you are all just branches.”
“You… How dare you!”
In an instant, magical power had condensed in Seolho’s hand. Perhaps he wouldn’t even hit me. He would know better than to do something so careless.
On the other hand, perhaps he desperately wanted to do something to relieve his anger?
If he actually did hit me, it would surely hurt. I was just a weak alchemist.
Jung Hayan’s eyes had widened, and she had started to memorize her counter-spell. However, the old man’s fist was faster.
I knew it was coming, and yet, I did not try to dodge. This wasn’t because I was a masochist at heart. I simply found no reason to avoid the attack.
Why?
“Oh, Juliana? You don’t have to feel so excited, you know…”
It was simply because something else had targeted Lee Seolho.
‘It’s so nice to have insurance. So, so nice…’
“This… This…”
“Ah. This is an item that I happened to get from the dungeon. It seems to have multiple functions. For one, it has a function that could turn that anger of yours into a peaceful death. Could you please remove your hand first, Lee Seolho? My Juliana seems to be ready to strike.”
At this, Lee Seolho slowly retracted his arm. At the same time, my lovely Juliana also began to approach my way.
It was also nice to see Jung Hayan harboring such a bitter expression.
‘Don’t be jealous of the sword…’
She probably felt that way because the sword had been able to do what she couldn’t, which was to rescue me from the impending threat.
“I have something to attend to, so I’ll get up first, Seolho.”
“At least make sure you write a report on what happened that day. What was the security situation when the Master died? What about the people who entered the guild? And, what about the general guild members? Oh, also, you need to send us an explanation of how the rescue team was delayed. I might even have to open up an investigation. However, I am giving you a chance. Wouldn’t that be a less embarrassing scenario? Hayan, let’s go.”
“Of course.”
As I saw the expressions on the faces of Lee Seolho’s followers, I felt my lips curling up into a satisfied smile.
They all looked as if they were about to disintegrate.
If it had been a place where we were alone, they would have tried to teach me a lesson. However, the problem was that many guild members were curiously looking our way.
“Did you see it?”
“That… that weapon… What?”
There was admiration in their voices.
At the same time, I knew something had changed. Whatever it may be, I knew that they would treat me with more caution from now on… and perhaps, a little more respect.
As my smile began to widen, Jung Hayan asked a question.
“Oppa?”
“Huh?”
“By the way…”
“Yes?”
“If it’s true that those people killed the Guild Master… Can you inform me?”
“What?”
“You told me to write a report about it before.”
“Ahhh. No. It would be better for you to stay away from this situation, Hayan.”
Jung Hayan looked as if she didn’t understand. With her intelligence, I found it hard to believe that she couldn’t. Perhaps it was just her attitude talking. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter.
“New changes will soon take place. This was the best way I could think of.”
“Ah…”
“A human is not an animal that can do anything perfectly. No matter how accurately Lee Seolho can describe the time of death…”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Obviously, he’ll slip up somehow. It happened three days ago. Who’s to say he can remember every single detail? It doesn’t matter if Joo Seung-jun really died naturally, and the truth will come out soon enough. It’s only natural to think that someone had killed the Guild Master.”
“Ah… Then that means you need the right evidence.”
“It’s not the evidence that matters.”
“Really?”
“Are we reasonable for feeling suspicious? That is what will draw them in.”
“One can create ‘pieces of evidence’ if the said cause of death was, let’s say, a heart problem. People will believe them if we go down that route.”
Upon seeing Jung Hayan nodding at my words, I realized I had made a mistake.
I knew, for all she was worth, that she was still pure-minded. Informing her about this meant that I had just shown her another harsh feature of reality.
‘Will this mean she’ll evolve for the better?’
Obviously, the answer was no.