129 – Dating Is Banned in Our Party – 4

Gi-jun often thought.

Denying something—was that not an admission that a situation in which one could not avoid it was approaching?

To give an easy example, it was like how a girl in a comic who made it extremely obvious that she hated the protagonist would fall in love with him, almost without fail.

Perhaps declaring a ban on romance had caused the strange atmosphere flowing through their party to begin manifesting in earnest?

“Then, I’ll be off, Oppa.”

“Uh… I will be back.”

The next morning at dawn, after they received a large amount of supplies from Viv.

Watching Ye-min and Eun-shin hesitate as if they were somewhat anxious before departing for the operation, Gi-jun momentarily thought, *These two?* but he soon realized that was not the case.

This was because he noticed that the targets of their attention were different.

Gi-jun narrowed his eyes as he looked back at the target Ye-min was overtly wary of—namely, Tilla.

“Tilla, how hard did you push her yesterday? Wasn’t it just a simple spar?”

“It was just a simple spar, Jun. Right?”

“I got beaten black and blue, Oppa.”

Ye-min was the type of person who would willingly endure humiliation if it meant getting an opportunity to act spoiled.

However, just as Ye-min tried to throw herself into Gi-jun’s arms with a tearful face, she flinched at the gentle gaze Tilla sent her and backed away; it seemed yesterday’s spar had indeed been effective.

Failing to notice the strange hierarchy established between the two women, Gi-jun tilted his head—but soon gave Ye-min’s shoulder a light tap.

“Tilla is already a powerhouse who has reached the legendary stage, so don’t be too frustrated, Min-i. A person like you will surely be able to grow stronger from the experience.”

“…Thank you, Oppa.”

“How on earth does Oppa say such things so smoothly with a straight face? Does wearing a mask reduce embarrassment damage?”

With that, Ye-min’s mental state was somehow managed.

He ignored Ji-hye’s chiming remark from the side.

He was only bothered by the fact that Eun-shin was paying even more attention to her than usual—but it was frustrating that he couldn’t question her about it either.

Well, no doubt Eun-shin had tried a somewhat bold approach in his own way, but it hadn’t worked on Ji-hye at all.

“Lucy, I’ll leave it to you then. Please protect the two of them.”

—I knew it would turn out like this, of course. Contractor, you aren’t treating me like some artifact, are you?

“You’re not like an artifact; it’s because you’re Lucy that I can trust and ask this of you. When it comes to dealing with the dark faction, there is no force greater than Lucy, right?”

—I think that little magician is right. I really want to tear that mask off the contractor’s face.

However, unable to refuse the request of her beloved contractor, Lucy ultimately fluttered over and perched on top of Ye-min’s head.

On top of that, since Patum had even handed over an artifact treated as a treasure in the empire, it was highly unlikely that either of them would get hurt.

“Then, we’ll really be off, Oppa.”

“I’ll be back, Hyung, Nuna!”

The two of them really departed to join the expeditionary force.

Although he wished he could send Nabinya with them as well, he refrained since this operation was one where having more numbers would only make it easier to fall into danger.

“They have really left.”

Lectus watched Ye-min’s retreating back with an incredibly wistful expression.

Meanwhile, Patum shook his head in amazement, recalling the appearance of Lucy, who had flaunted her presence in front of everyone’s eyes.

“I accepted yesterday that Jun is a human spirit summoner and not a Flame Human, but what on earth is that spirit… If it isn’t rude, I would like to ask cautiously. Jun, has that spirit by any chance reached the legendary stage?”

“That’s right. She’s a Spirit of Light.”

“Ha.”

An ordinary spirit summoner was rare enough, but a spirit summoner contracted with a Spirit of Light!

Patum only now truly realized why he had been able to feel so confident in Gi-jun.

At the same time, he found it absurd that he had not even noticed the existence of someone harboring such a powerful light until now.

“But won’t you be weakened without the spirit? We also have to infiltrate the base of those Kudlak bastards, and furthermore, we must enter the deepest part of the kingdom and face their absolute elite.”

“Certainly, light spirit power is a great strength. But I have Light Mana, so it will be fine.”

When Gi-jun conjured a dazzling light over his hand without any warning, most of the people there, including Patum, were left utterly speechless.

“No, how can you do this when you’ve been pretending to be a Flame Human all this time…?”

“I have come to understand well that you are an incredibly terrifying individual.”

Shaking his head in amazement, Lectus adjusted his attitude and assumed a serious expression.

“Then we will also begin preparing for the infiltration now. The execution date is in two days. Until then, we must organize a suicide squad to penetrate deep into the enemy’s heart. Before setting out, everyone will meet His Majesty and formally receive the quest.”

“Gratia has certainly made up its mind.”

“Of course. Gratia and Kudlak can no longer coexist without one ending the other. Promoting falsehoods to incite the citizens and the summoned to organize an expeditionary force is absolutely unforgivable. We will spare no effort to eliminate them.”

He was so decent when Ye-min wasn’t involved, so why on earth…?

Without noticing Gi-jun sighing, Lectus continued.

“With expeditionary forces being organized all over Gratia, a significant portion of our military power has left Gratia. You understand what this means, right?”

“It means Gratia’s main base is left empty.”

“Exactly. Perhaps—no, definitely—Kudlak will take advantage of the gap in Gratia’s defense and attack us with their elite forces. Of course, the elite knights are hardening the defenses, but the only way for us to overcome this crisis is to seize the enemy’s heart and crush it as quickly as possible. You must keep in mind that time is not on our side.”

“Time… indeed.”

As Gi-jun seemed to be contemplating something seriously at those words, Lectus directed a questioning gaze at him.

“Is there a problem?”

“Ah, actually—.”

Gi-jun had brought it up thinking he had nothing to lose, but surprisingly, the royal family decided to help him.

Soon, Viv departed for Turis with the teleportation gate fee and returned with a single person.

* * *

“Let’s have a drink together.”

When Gi-jun opened the door and boisterously declared while holding the high-quality alcohol he had obtained from Viv in one hand, the aroma of liquor was already wafting through the room.

“Ah, Jun, you came at the perfect time.”

Mok-su, who had been drinking without any snacks, welcomed him with shining eyes.

“If you have any food you’ve prepared, bring some out.”

“Does this man think I’m some kind of food vending machine?”

Gi-jun still had one pizza left in his inventory, preserved in the exact same piping-hot state as when he had made it before.

He probably hadn’t expected pizza to actually come out even though he had been the one to ask; Mok-su chuckled as he tore off a slice without hesitation.

“It seems you’re playing the cook whether in the tutorial or here. Don’t you get sick of it?”

“Not at all. It is fun every single moment. It feels new every time I do it.”

“Bullshit… No, but this is also incredibly delicious! Did you do nothing but cook during the entire ten years we were struggling in the second round?”

“Actually, that’s true. Every time I made a delicious dish, the Demon King raised my stats.”

Gi-jun’s expression was so serious that Mok-su was almost fooled for a moment.

Of course, if it hadn’t been for cooking, he wouldn’t have been able to defeat the weakened Biche at the final moment, so it could not be denied that cooking had played a major role in his growth.

“Does it bother you that we sent just the two of them?”

“Of course it does. They are all my younger siblings, and sending just the two of them to a place of death…”

Mok-su muttered, his face contorting in a similar manner at Gi-jun’s words.

He was about to pour alcohol into his cup again while saying that, but Gi-jun snatched it away.

Mok-su, who was about to get annoyed, had his eyes drawn in the next moment to the bottle placed in front of him, which looked incredibly expensive just from its label.

“Let’s drink something expensive instead of cheap stuff.”

“And here you told me to bring the alcohol.”

“You just drink whatever alcohol is available, Hyung. I didn’t expect anything from the beginning.”

Amber-colored whiskey was poured into the two glasses in turn.

Looking at it with an ecstatic expression, Mok-su suddenly asked.

“I’ll ask just in case, but how much is it?”

“Uh… I think I paid about 50 gold coins, even after receiving a partnership discount.”

“…Wait a minute, we can’t just drink this alcohol normally.”

It was easy to forget because Gi-jun had been earning gold coins so easily lately, but when converted to Korean won, a single gold coin was worth approximately 900,000 to 1,000,000 won.

In other words, the two of them were currently drinking an absurdly luxurious liquor that cost 45 to 50 million won a bottle.

Considering that this was the result of Viv, who always tried to score points with Gi-jun, giving up as much of her margin as possible to hand it over at a cheap price, it might have exceeded 100 gold coins on the open market.

Of course, she had harbored some ulterior motives, hoping that she might be able to join him for a drink…

“So, are you going to drink it on your knees?”

“We aren’t drinking it; we are paying our respects to it. Follow my lead.”

“Seeing you like that, I’m glad you don’t seem to be in a serious mood.”

Because alcohol had been something that could not be shared unless it was with someone they truly trusted and relied on since the tutorial, Gi-jun also had barely any experience of enjoying a drink with peace of mind.

The members currently making up the party… well, they were all blindly devoted to Gi-jun in some sense, so it would probably be fine with them.

“Phew—it’s delicious! I don’t know in what way it is delicious, but it’s delicious anyway!”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Gi-jun also took a bite of a slice of pizza.

As he ate it, thinking it was truly delicious even though he had made it himself, he suddenly felt Mok-su’s gaze fixed on him.

“What is it, Hyung? Do you have something to say?”

“Aren’t you the one who has something to say?”

Gi-jun’s body flinched.

“Is it that obvious?”

“You should have at least come wearing a mask.”

“We all know each other now, so why bother? But… yeah, I’ll be honest.”

With the operation now only a day away, Patum and Lectus were putting their heads together to organize the suicide squad.

They had to leave behind personnel to defend the key points of Gratia, and if the numbers became too large, it would hinder the execution of the operation—so they had to carefully select those who could hold the upper hand against the vampires as much as possible.

The conclusion they reached was five parties of five members each, making a total of twenty-five people.

As a minimum qualification for participation, their species rank had to be at least Unique.

“They said it would be difficult for you to participate, Hyung.”

Of course, Gi-jun’s party was an exception.

Everyone was of Unique rank, and setting aside Gi-jun, who could easily be mistaken for even a Legendary rank.

Not only were Lora and Gin’s stats outstanding compared to their species ranks, but they also belonged to races that had an advantage against vampires.

Since Ji-hye was a genius magician who possessed a Legendary-rank magic power and Mana Circuit, in a sense, she was the most precious asset in this suicide squad.

But looking at it the other way, the exceptions ended there.

“So… I came to hear your thoughts, Hyung. But since I know very well that your skills are superior to your rank, if you say you want to participate, I will…”

“I’ll sit out.”

Mok-su said as he lifted the whiskey bottle and filled his glass.

Since he had finished paying his respects, it seemed he was now drinking freely.

“Actually, I had a hunch. Well, I’ve expected to fall behind ever since I came to Leta. Perhaps the moment I leave the party will come sooner than expected.”

“There is no way that’s true. Making such a fuss over missing just one quest.”

“If it accumulates a few times like this, there will be no meaning in being in the same party. I don’t want to drag you guys down. I hate looking pathetic.”

Speaking decisively, Mok-su smiled faintly at Gi-jun, whose expression had stiffened.

“We don’t absolutely have to be in the same party. I’m not saying I’m leaving right this second, so don’t make that face. Honestly, I’m a bit tired, too.”

“Tired?”

“Think about it. The tutorial was already so hard, and when I arrived in Leta, everything felt so hopeless. I tried with all my might in my own way, but the ceiling is just too high. It’s too, too high…”

“Jun,” Mok-su called out to him quietly.

“Can we really go back to Earth?”

“…”

Gi-jun could not answer him right away.

The ultimate goal of the heroes, which he had naturally forgotten at some point.

Yet Mok-su had been thinking only of that all this time.

Perhaps the reason he had been pretending not to notice Ji-hye’s feelings all this time was also…

“We can return. I will make sure we go back, without fail.”

If that was the driving force behind Mok-su’s fight.

Even if it was impossible now, he would surely make it possible someday.

When Gi-jun spoke in a firm voice, Mok-su widened his eyes slightly in surprise, and then…

“…Yeah, that’s a statement worthy of a party leader.”

“Did that sound okay?”

“Look at these goosebumps.”

Sweeping his arm in exaggeration, Mok-su chuckled and emptied his glass in one shot.

“Then I should put in a bit more effort, too. Hey, ask that prince fellow to let me guard somewhere like the royal palace. So I can get some quest rewards.”

“Leave it to me. Negotiation is also the leader’s duty.”

The two of them finished the bottle of liquor, celebrating their long-awaited reunion.

The next day arrived—the day the expeditionary force departed, and at the same time, the day the suicide squad went into action.

“It’s finally done! I finished your shield, VVIP!”

And the dwarf, who had been held back on the grounds of his work being delayed and had to stay up all night with the royal blacksmiths, also came to find Gi-jun.