Chapter 226
I knew what Lydia meant when she warned me to watch out for the people involved in the Minerva hunt.
No matter how much the Association was beaten up, it was still the Association.
A group that had the government’s permission and was nominally the place where all the heroes and hunters belonged.
Such a place could not be powerless.
It was a sign that they had enough power to dare to confront the Ten Strongest or the World Tree’s Clan.
And there was a saying that a cornered rat would bite a cat.
I couldn’t just ignore it and hope for the best after receiving a warning from Lydia.
“Where…”
Their target was me.
And I knew very well that there were many forces around me that protected and supported me.
If I were them, I would have chosen to cut off those forces around me one by one.
Han Soo-Young and Choi Hyun-woo would be fine.
They only had to worry about Nam Hyun-hwa, but she was not someone the Association could do anything to.
She was not someone that any decent force could touch in the first place.
Jin Ye-seul… The only person she cared about was Jin Ye-jeong, but she was also under the absolute protection of Evangelin Loengrin, so I thought it wouldn’t matter.
‘Besides, the other family members would rather be happy if they were in trouble.’
Thinking that, I started to erase the names I had written on the notebook one by one.
I didn’t have to worry about Lee Ye-eun or An Do-hoon from the start.
As for Cass Lyle, he wasn’t there when we hunted Minerva, and he had nothing to worry about except Alice Blessbuck.
Then the only ones left were Ivan and Yuna.
They were the only ones.
“Keep an eye on the Hunt family without Ivan noticing. If you see anything suspicious, let me know right away.”
The Hunt family, Ivan’s family, had been ruined and had barely revived since Ivan’s father’s time.
I remembered very well that Ivan’s purpose of becoming a hero was to restore his family.
He was bound to be tied up by his family’s affairs, whether he liked it or not.
-Yes, I understand.
Shin Woo-seok answered politely as always to my request.
“And Ivan… He’s a very smart and quick-witted guy, so be careful.”
-Yes. I will pay special attention.
“And the orphanage where I was with the kids for a while. You know that, right?”
-Sir, that is…
“Just answer me. You know the orphanage where Yuna grew up, right?”
-Yes.
“There’s a high chance that they’ll mess with it. I heard that they’re not doing well financially anyway.”
As I tapped the paper with my pen, the ink spread next to Yuna’s name.
“And… Yuna is my caretaker. You can find that out with a little research. And if you dig deeper, you’ll find out that she’s hired by me, that is, a maid.”
A person who had a big gap to exploit and was close to the target.
Anyone would see her as the first target.
-Yes, I think so too.
“Yuna won’t betray me or anything. But that doesn’t mean I can leave her alone when she’s in trouble.”
-Yes.
“Please, Woo-seok.”
-Don’t worry, sir. As I said before, I will do my best.
After hearing Shin Woo-seok’s answer, I put down the intercom.
And I picked up my phone and called the person I had promised beforehand.
-I answered the phone.
I bowed my head and opened my mouth at the cold voice that sounded like a knife.
“I’m sorry to call you so suddenly, ma’am.”
-Oh, it was you.
The person was Nam Hyun-hwa.
I had told her that I wanted to thank her for the help I received during the Minerva hunt and the condolence letter I sent her.
-Well, are you feeling better?
“Yes, thanks to your concern, I’m much better.”
-I should have visited you in person, but I couldn’t because of the circumstances. I hope you understand.
“Of course I do.”
Nam Hyun-hwa was currently chasing the whereabouts of the children of Milited, the enemy of her friend.
It was a great help that she persuaded her colleagues and participated in the Minerva hunt.
“As I told you before, I wanted to thank you for joining the hunt of the Seven Evils. I should have told you sooner, but…”
-I’m not foolish enough to insist and ask for that from a patient. Besides, I heard how much you contributed. I’m glad you’re safe.
“Thank you for understanding.”
-Well… Let’s stop the greetings here.
Nam Hyun-hwa spoke in a firm voice as if cutting with a knife.
-Why did you call me under the pretext of gratitude and greetings?
I was silent.
Nam Hyun-hwa.
She was the family and teacher who had taken in and taught Han Soo-Young and Choi Hyun-woo since they were young, and the person who could tell her character from the fact that the two who had grown up under her teachings had a ‘good’ nature.
She was also a person who had an incredible strength that was no different from cheating, as she was proficient in both swordsmanship and magic, teaching magic to Han Soo-Young and swordsmanship to Choi Hyun-woo.
In the original work, Horizon of Clouds, there were only a handful of people who could match her.
And the only weakness she had was her old age, which she could overcome by using a unique skill called ‘Rejuvenation’ that only she possessed, and return to her prime.
‘Lastly…’
No matter which character I played as, she was a person who disappeared before the seal of Minerva was broken and died soon after.
And her death was very suspicious.
It was said that it was an attack by an unknown enemy along with the betrayal of a colleague.
It was not mentioned properly in the original work, but it must have been the involvement of Milited’s children.
Then I could understand to some extent why her colleague, who had been connected with her for a long time with a deep bond, would betray her in an instant, and why there was an unknown existence that could inflict a fatal blow to her even if she was wounded.
“…The Association is currently digging into the background of me and the people around me, as well as the people who participated in the Minerva hunt. You must be on their list of investigation targets, too.”
Hmm. I expected that much.
“And although it’s still a suspicion, some of the Association are connected to Milited’s children.”
-…Are you sure?
I answered her question right away.
“It’s just a suspicion, but I’m sure.”
-Hmm… Then it’s a bit complicated.
“Plus, the remaining forces of Milited’s children are vampires, liches, and dragons.”
Jin Ye-seul told me that one of Milited’s children, a vampire, had charmed and hypnotized her.
And the lich and the dragon were also proficient in magic.
“They are also the ones who have the skills to dig into people’s minds and capture their spirits. This time… The methods of the visible ones are also somewhat similar.”
-…
Nam Hyun-hwa was silent.
As I was worried that she might be upset by what I said, she opened her mouth quietly.
-Soo-yeong and you, you both worry about me.
“…Soo-yeong?”
I asked back in surprise, and she chuckled and answered.
-Yeah, she did too.
She spoke to me in a firm voice as always.
-Thank you for worrying about me. I know what you and Soo-yeong are worried about. But you don’t have to worry. I don’t take your words lightly. It’s just…
“…”
-Neither I nor my colleagues are weak enough to fall for brainwashing or hypnosis. And they are all friends who are no different from the heroes of reversal. Of course, we don’t overestimate our power. We all know that complacency on the battlefield leads to irreversible consequences. Yeah, and… Hmm. I was going to keep it a secret, but since I got so worried, I can’t keep hiding it.
She whispered in a quiet voice.
-I found a clue to Milited’s children.
“Really?”
-Yeah. And I was going to take action today. I was about to be out of contact for a while, but it turned out that the time was right today.
“…”
My head started to spin with her words.
Could this be the beginning of the incident as in the original work?
No, but if that’s the case, then her participation in the Minerva hunt in the first place was different from the original work.
And if that’s the case, aren’t the Ten Strongest, including Lee Myung-joon, still alive?
And I couldn’t stop her from moving for the ‘revenge of her murdered friend’ with a few simple words, and I couldn’t do anything in my current state anyway.
But surely, since Han Soo-Young and I warned her beforehand…
-The necklace Soo-yeong gave you.
And as if to cut off my thoughts, Nam Hyun-hwa opened her mouth.
“Yes?”
-The necklace Soo-yeong gave you. Please cherish it.
She sighed softly.
-It will surely save you from a crisis someday.
“Oh, yes. I will.”
-And it seems that you are very confused by what I just said… This is it, I’m a wicked adult who spoils the mind of a child. They say old people are nagging, so please understand.
“No, it’s not…”
She laughed as if to ease my tension.
-Besides, you are going to be my grandson-in-law someday. I have to be careful not to make you hate me from now on, and I will be more careful so that you don’t worry.
“…Excuse me, ma’am?”
I felt like I heard something strange.
Then I heard another voice from the other side of the phone.
-Yeah, sorry. I’ll be right there. …Sorry, but I’ll hang up now. I’ll contact you later.
With that, Nam Hyun-hwa hung up the phone.
When I called again, there was only a dry announcement that the phone was turned off.
“Whew…”
I sighed softly and put down the phone.
And I naturally brought up my status window that I always checked like a routine.
Name: Yoo Ji-hyuk
Gender: M
***
Health: D (+)
Strength: E (+)
Agility: D (++)
Magic: E (++)
Skill: D (+)
Luck: E (―)
Karma: 10
“I’m definitely recovering little by little…”
Maybe I was anxious because my body’s recovery was slower than I thought.
I thought it would be better to focus on recovering my body rather than worrying about other things, as An Joo-hyuk and the kids said.
I couldn’t do anything in this state anyway.
“…!”
“Laune?”
In the aquarium, Laune shook his roots as if to tell me to look at him.
On the table next to Laune, there was a piece of paper along with a snack that I had promised to offer to Belluna.
“A letter?”
The letter was written in crooked handwriting.
To Yoo Ji-hyuk.
I’ll come and get it later because of some urgent business.
Don’t touch it, or I’ll get angry.
And thanks for offering the tribute as promised.
In one corner of the letter, there was a stamp of the tiger character she always carried around.
I carefully folded the letter and muttered.
“Could it be…”
There was only one thing that came to my mind when she said she had some urgent business.
The children of Milted.
It had to be something related to them.
***
“It’s been a while.”
The voice that reached her ears made the high-ranking wind spirit who was once called Belluna Milted show a sign of displeasure.
“I should have eaten potato chips.”
“Hmm?”
“The tribute, I mean.”
The burly man nodded as if he understood from that short word.
“So there are still people who worship you as a god?”
“Yeah. But why did you call me here for some urgent business?”
Belluna Hunt moved her head with a click.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to say something about betrayal or something like that now? I think I’ve already paid the price.”
“Pay the price for betrayal, according to whom?”
I turned my head and looked at him at the sound of his voice.
The vampire who had a bad relationship with me was standing there.
“The only price for your betrayal is your death, Belluna.”
Belluna, who frowned as if annoyed, burst into laughter with a sound that lost her breath.
“Oh, ahahaha! You, where did your ankle go?”
“…Shut up.”
“Did you lose it? Your ankle?”
“I told you to shut up, Belluna!”
Belluna lowered her hand as if she knew at the sharp scream of the vampire, Natalia Milted.
Then she covered her mouth with one hand and deliberately started to shake her body.
“Pukipuki.”
Natalia showed her threatening fangs that were hideous enough at the words that were pronounced clearly like a news announcer.
“This, bitch is really…!”
“Stop.”
In the meantime, the burly man opened his mouth in a low voice.
At his words, Natalia spat out her tongue and backed away.
“Belluna. First of all, thank you for answering our call.”
“Well, I’m not afraid of anything.”
“Yeah, I guess so. And as you expected, we didn’t call you to ask for the price of your betrayal or to take revenge.”
“Then why did you call me?”
He raised his hand and pointed to one side.
Belluna turned her head at his action and muttered in a small voice.
“People?”
“Yeah.”
“There are bones there too.”
“Right.”
They were far away enough to look like small dots, but Belluna could clearly feel their presence.
It was a scene where a lich who was not here was fighting with some humans.
“Let’s watch that first and then talk. It’s not urgent.”
“Hmm…”
Belluna nodded as if she agreed with his words.
It was because there was nothing urgent as he said.
She had left a letter, so Yoo Ji-hyuk wouldn’t touch the tribute.
There was nothing that would make her hurry.
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“No, nothing.”
Belluna answered as if it was really nothing.
It was really nothing to her.
‘That human’s energy is definitely…’
It was a familiar and strange energy.
She couldn’t confuse that kind of energy.
Where did I meet him… As she was thinking, Belluna quickly found the answer.
Yeah.
The subjugation of Minerva that happened a while ago.
She had encountered that energy then.
‘Surely…’
That energy was the human’s energy who had the ability to make his body younger, which she thought was unusual even for her who had lived a long time.
