Mercenary Clan House, Third Floor Meeting Room
A long, rectangular table stretched across the room, with five members seated neatly on each side. There was always one empty seat on one side, but with a new member joining, the numbers were finally even. Today marked the first meeting for the newly inducted clan member.
Feeling oddly satisfied, I listened to Ahn Hyun’s hesitant report.
”…So, as of yesterday, we’ve completed the installation of the entry control magic using the wave of magic in the warehouse.”
“I checked it yesterday. So, who currently has access to the warehouse?”
“You and… oh, sorry, Clan Lord, and users Go Yeon-ju and Jung Ha-yeon.”
“Got it. Good work. User Shin Sang-yong, you too.”
Ahn Hyun let out a sigh of relief, then turned to me in surprise. Shin Sang-yong, who had been smiling beside him, did the same. They exchanged sheepish grins, and I returned their smiles with a gentle one of my own.
‘For something Ahn Hyun handled, it was impressively tidy.’
It was obvious. Ahn Hyun must have sought Shin Sang-yong’s help because it was too much for him alone. But I didn’t see any reason to make an issue of it. Asking for help isn’t a bad thing, and it encourages interaction among clan members, which I think is beneficial.
I then turned my attention to Jung Ha-yeon.
“We’ve received a request for the Mercenary Clan.”
As if on cue, Jung Ha-yeon spoke up as soon as she met my gaze.
“Oh? A request? I’m curious. Which clan is it from?”
“It’s not from a clan… it’s a personal request. And it’s a bit unusual to even call it a request…”
“A personal request? That’s unexpected. But go on, tell me.”
“Well… um…”
Jung Ha-yeon trailed off awkwardly, perhaps feeling the weight of my expectant gaze. She then glanced down, specifically at my lap. Following her gaze, I saw a baby unicorn yawning widely, seemingly bored with the meeting. It was curled up on my lap, lazily flicking its tail.
As I watched the increasingly cheeky baby unicorn, Jung Ha-yeon’s cautious voice reached my ears.
“They asked if we could draw some unicorn blood. They said they’d pay a high price…”
“Kyuu?!”
Startled!
The moment those words were spoken, the baby unicorn flinched and poked its head over the table. As it let out a plaintive cry, Jung Ha-yeon looked flustered, shaking her head. I gently patted the unicorn’s back, its eyes brimming with tears, and replied calmly.
“That’s insane.”
“Should I send that as the reply?”
“No, respond politely. Say that since it’s a young unicorn, we can’t accept such a request.”
“Understood, Clan Lord.”
With that assurance, the baby unicorn seemed relieved and began nuzzling against my stomach. Just then, a knock came at the meeting room door.
“Come in.”
At Go Yeon-ju’s gentle invitation, the door slowly opened.
Creak.
The person who entered was a woman in a maid outfit, revealing just enough skin. She was a user hired from the Night’s Blossom to work at the clan house. Whoever dressed her did a commendable job, and the garter belt visible on her exposed thigh was particularly pleasing.
“Ah, ah, ah, hello… I brought some drinks…”
“Thank you. Could you place one on each table?”
Go Yeon-ju nodded with a soft voice. The maid, aware of her reputation as the Shadow Queen, visibly gulped.
“Haa… haa…”
A displeasing sound of heavy breathing came from somewhere.
‘That guy.’
The maid, with a cute demeanor, looked as if she was trembling like a frightened bird. Ahn Hyun, seemingly having a thing for maid outfits, was letting out uncomfortable sighs and heavy breaths.
Tap tap tap! Tap tap tap!
It wasn’t an unusual sound. It was just the clinking of teacups as she trembled too much while walking towards me. Lee Yoo-jung, watching Ahn Hyun with a beastly gaze, checked his hand position, and he protested with a look that said he knew better than to act inappropriately.
“Th-then, I’ll be leaving now…”
After placing a teacup in front of everyone at the table, the maid hurriedly left the room.
“Well, we’ve received most of the reports… Shall we take a short break?”
The clan members nodded eagerly. As I lifted the teacup to my nose to savor the aroma, I almost grimaced. It wasn’t poorly made, but compared to the tea Go Yeon-ju brewed, it was like night and day. Still, I refrained from showing any displeasure, not wanting to make Im Han-na feel self-conscious, and quietly drank the tea.
“Ugh! This tastes awful! What’s with this flavor?”
“Yuck! Why is it so different from the tea Yeon-ju brews?”
’…’
Ahn Hyun and Lee Yoo-jung’s dramatic reactions were impressive. As expected, Im Han-na, though smiling faintly, looked apologetic. I sighed briefly and decided to change the subject. Fortunately, I had recently asked Jung Ha-yeon to oversee Baek Han-gyeol’s training, which provided a good topic to shift the focus.
“User Jung Ha-yeon.”
“Slurp. Yes?”
“How is Baek Han-gyeol’s training going?”
“Oh, it’s progressing very quickly. He’s smart, talented, and above all, he puts in a lot of effort.”
Jung Ha-yeon praised Baek Han-gyeol until the tea on her lips dried. His true name was ‘Talent of a Thousand.’ It seemed he was living up to it. Looking at Baek Han-gyeol with a pleased heart, I saw him blush and lower his head shyly.
Of course, Ahn Sol’s sullen face was a bonus.
Watching the two play cutely, I chuckled to myself, but then my gaze fell on Im Han-na.
To be honest, every time we accepted a new clan member, it was like going through a trial by fire, so I was somewhat hoping Im Han-na would help turn the atmosphere around. I quietly observed her while sipping my tea. Im Han-na had officially joined the Mercenary Clan yesterday and was attending her first meeting as a member. I was curious about what she was thinking.
‘She’s quiet during the meeting. It seems she’s not trying to stand out yet… huh?’
At that moment, perhaps due to her keen senses as an archer, Im Han-na suddenly looked up and met my gaze.
”…Slurp.”
”…Sip.”
Her eyes, as they locked onto mine, were filled with an indescribable, peculiar longing.
Seated in my office chair, I calmly read through the records. The document in my right hand neatly outlined the current squad of the Mercenary Clan. The basic maintenance of the clan house was nearly complete. The next step was to expand our membership.
As Go Yeon-ju mentioned, the Mercenary Clan has many mages. But in the long run, that’s actually a good thing. Of course, adding a close-combat specialist or a priest would be beneficial now, and bringing in another archer wouldn’t be a bad choice either. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter much which class we accept, but the most important thing is…
Knock knock!
In the midst of my thoughts, a knock came at the office door.
“Come in.”
The door swung open, and Lee Yoo-jung entered. Her steps were unusually demure, and she bowed deeply, speaking with a refined tone.
“Lee Yoo-jung greets the Clan Lord.”
“Pfft. So, what brings you here? I didn’t call for you.”
“As your attendant, I felt it was my duty to report something important, so I dared to knock.”
“Enough with the jokes. Come closer.”
Amused by her own antics, Lee Yoo-jung burst into laughter, clutching her stomach.
Last week, I appointed Lee Yoo-jung as my attendant. She seemed to think it was something grand, but honestly, in a clan of barely ten members, what could be so significant? The reason I chose her as my attendant was simple: to keep a close eye on her after returning the Scurep.
‘The Circlet of Purity alone isn’t enough to ease my worries.’
As Lee Yoo-jung approached with confident strides, I casually tossed out a suggestion.
“Why not try that with the other clan members? Ahn Hyun would love it. He might even ask you out right away.”
“You’re joking. I’d rather date Kim Han-byeol and become a lesbian than date Ahn Hyun.”
One unexpected benefit of having her as an attendant was that Lee Yoo-jung had become more relaxed. In the past, just hearing Kim Han-byeol’s name would make her tense, but now she seemed much more at ease. Of course, that didn’t mean they were friendly. There was still an invisible wall of ice between the kids and Kim Han-byeol.
“So, you said you had something to report?”
“Yes. You know the investigation team from Istantel Low returned yesterday, right?”
“I’m aware.”
“A messenger just came to the counter employee. It seems the temple wants to see you.”
“The temple?”
The memory of visiting the temple with Baek Han-gyeol not long ago flashed through my mind.
I calmly considered the situation. The investigation team from Istantel Row returned yesterday. The temple wants to see me. As I connected the dots between these two events, a clear answer emerged.
“It’s already late today. Tell them I’ll visit tomorrow.”
“No, no.”
“What?”
“The priest wants to come here instead. If it’s alright with you, they wish to visit the clan house tomorrow, even if it’s a bit late. And… where was it again? Ah, yes. With the clan lord of Istantel Row.”
“What?”
I nodded, thinking it was about the vagrant issue I’d heard of before, but the mention of someone important coming caught me off guard. Yu-jeong’s words implied that a resident with authority was planning a visit. Especially those from the temple, who stood at the pinnacle of power.
It’s rare for such figures to visit a clan house. And with Han So-young, the clan lord of Istantel Row, accompanying them, it was clear this was no ordinary matter.
“What should we do? Should I tell them to come?”
“Yes. And about Jeong Ha-yeon… No, I’ll call and talk to her myself. Just send the reply for now.”
As I gave my answer, my heart, which had been calm lately, began to race inexplicably.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
A groan of pain echoed through the room. The source was the bed, where a woman lay in a dire state. Her hands trembled as they clutched the sheets. Her hair, drenched in cold sweat, clung to her face, which was so pale it seemed almost blue.
“Hamil Lord, how did she end up like this?”
”…She was attacked by a banshee.”
“A banshee… Why would she go to such a dangerous place…?”
”…”
The room wasn’t empty. Two men watched the woman on the bed with pity. One was Kim Yu-hyeon, known as the lord of the Hamil clan, and the other was Seong Hyun-min, the lord of the Han clan.
“Ah! Aah!”
Once more, the woman’s loud groan filled the room. Kim Yu-hyeon looked as if he wanted to cover his ears, while Seong Hyun-min wore a troubled expression. Yet, they could do nothing for the suffering woman, only watch her helplessly.
After a moment of closing his eyes tightly, Seong Hyun-min calmed his expression and spoke.
“Thank you for informing us and sharing this. But how did you think to come to us?”
“It was a guess. I heard Hyo-eul was with the Han clan before coming to me.”
“Ah, I see. We’re doing everything we can. Not just us, but the Goryeo clan is also fully involved. We’ve contacted the south, but as you know, we’re facing difficulties in the central, northern, and western regions.”
“We’re not sitting idly by either. But now, with less than two weeks left… If we can’t find the elixir in time…”
“Hamil Lord.”
Neither wanted to imagine what would happen next, and both frowned deeply.
As the pain of the woman called ‘Hyo-eul’ intensified, so did the worries of the two men.
---------------------------= Author’s Note ---------------------------=
Hello, this is Ro Yu-jin.
Let’s begin the chapter’s turning point. :) The focus of this chapter is ‘condensation.’ Haha. The meeting with Kim Yu-hyeon is expected to appear at the end of this chapter or the beginning of the next, based on the four-part structure. (Of course, there might be some discrepancies.) I see a few eagle-eyed readers again. I didn’t expect anyone to remember that. Haha. But it makes me happy. It’s truly gratifying when readers remember past content accurately. :)
『 Reader Comments 』
SuirinKa: Huh? Wow! Congratulations on being first! I was surprised. Haha. Thank you. Enjoy this chapter too. :)
DrayBurn: The hatching of the Pegasus egg and the fairy queen’s egg will take some time. :)
UnchangingDay: The bed scene will be revealed soon. I’ll note a skip option for those who might find it uncomfortable!
DeluxeSandwich: Hmm. I see. I tried to highlight Vivian’s traits, which might have upset some readers. I sincerely apologize for that. (__)
ads123: There’s a response in the previous comments! Just in case, I’ll mention it here too. :)
CemeteryGates: Thank you for pointing that out. I hope it brought a smile to your face, even if just for a moment. :)
hohokoya1: Thank you for your constant support! Before the end of Part 1, a user 101 will make an appearance. :)
Sirong: Oh, really? I quite like it. Haha. It feels like there’s something subtly hopeful about it. :) As for An Sol, hmm. Some of you seem to have caught on, but I’ll refrain from commenting! Please forgive me! (If you’re really curious, send me a message…)
WaryongTeacherA: WaryongTeacherA! I’m seriously contemplating what to change about Vivian’s character. ㅜ.ㅠ
BlueCoralForest: Ah, BlueCoralForest! Shh! Shh! Oh no. ㅜ.ㅠ Hehehe. (?) Still, you seem really impressive. :)
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