51 – You Want to Be My Partner – 1

After storing all the rewards in the secret space, including the sofa and bed, into his inventory, he returned to Turis with the Orcs.

Gi-jun distributed a reasonable amount of the gold coins obtained from the secret space to them and advised them to hide for the time being.

“The Lord said he wouldn’t hold me responsible, but one can never know a person’s heart. He might blame Tolchi’s death not only on me but on you guys as well, so hide in a safe place for the time being.”

“Are you telling us to let only you take the risk, Jun?!”

“I have the ability to escape by myself in any situation. Trust me.”

“Jun…”

Of course, the Orcs protested, but Gi-jun easily persuaded them by telling them to trust him.

“I will send you a message if things take a turn for the worse, so wait.”

Having said that much, Gi-jun suddenly asked Chabanvesh.

“Do you have a Letaphone?”

“Fuhu… Don’t be surprised to hear this, Jun. For a summoned mercenary, information gathering and mutual communication are our lifeblood. A year ago, the five of us scraped our points to the bottom to purchase a shared [Letaphone 6]!”

Chabanvesh looked proud as he held out a rectangular device that looked somewhat shabby compared to Gi-jun’s.

A Letaphone 6? That was a model that had definitely been discontinued by now.

Even if one subtracted 6 from 15, it would still result in 9, which was a newer model than 6…

Gi-jun could not bring himself to say anything more and exchanged Letok IDs with Chabanvesh. His ID was [Strongest Orc Five Brothers].

“Oh, is Jun a [Master Worshiper]? It is a good thing to continue respecting the master who taught you without forgetting them.”

“Yeah…”

Naturally, it was not an ID that Gi-jun had set himself.

However, he had no choice but to keep using it because he felt Biche would get angry if the nickname was changed.

Meanwhile, the bald Orc Kipuz saw his sleek Letaphone 15 and shouted in excitement.

“Isn’t Jun’s Letaphone the 15, the flagship model of Letaphone that was secretly released targeting the summoned of the highest civilizations on the Leta continent?! I heard that those in their second year don’t even have the permission to purchase a Letaphone 15, so how on earth do you have it?”

Gi-jun was more concerned about Kipuz’s suspiciously rich vocabulary, but for now, he readily answered his question.

“My master bought it for me.”

“Jun’s master is a really good person.”

“I understand Jun’s ID now.”

“I want to be taught by Jun’s master too…”

Deeply impressed by Gi-jun’s confession, the Orcs kept nodding their heads as they headed to the inn.

Thinking of Biche’s smile, he stroked his Letaphone once for no reason, took a deep breath as if he had made up his mind, and walked toward the Lord’s mansion with a hardened expression.

—Is it really a good choice to visit the Lord like this, Contractor?

‘I think so. At least, in order to solve the quests we will face in the future, this is much better.’

—But the Lord lost the strongest guy among his knights, didn’t he? What if he tries to bind the Contractor instead?

—Fuhu…

—Why are you laughing so scarily at this timing?! What are you planning to do to the Lord?!

Even though he had returned after clearing the dungeon, it was still evening, and the guards defending the mansion saluted without a moment of hesitation upon seeing Gi-jun slowly approach in his half-mask.

The way they saluted was a bit funny since it resembled the Korean military, but when he returned the salute, recalling the days he had served as a soldier more than twenty-five years ago, the soldiers were overjoyed.

“He returned our salute!”

“His hand was angled perfectly! See, I told you he must have been active in all kinds of places before coming to Turis!”

“Indeed, when it comes to a hero like our Mage, you can tell just by looking at his salute!”

It seemed the soldiers were starting another strange misunderstanding because of a salute his body still remembered even after twenty-five years, but since it was a bother to correct them, he decided to just let it go.

“I would like to see the Lord.”

“We have been waiting for you. The Lord said the Mage would come visit.”

“…Is that so.”

This meant he already had a rough grasp of Tolchi’s end.

Sighing inwardly as his heart grew heavier, he passed the soldiers and stepped inside.

As he walked alone through the garden where the awards ceremony had taken place yesterday, he suddenly spotted someone waiting for him in the center.

“Welcome, Lord Jun.”

A white-haired woman wearing clean butler’s attire, her short hair neatly cut around the nape of her neck, appeared and bowed to greet him.

“The Lord is waiting for you.”

Gi-jun gave a light nod, and the woman guided him into the mansion.

As he watched her glossy white hair, unlike an elderly person’s, swaying gently before his eyes, Gi-jun was thinking that perhaps the Lord’s white hair might not have been due to aging either.

Without looking back, she kept walking forward and asked in a calm voice.

“May I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead.”

Passing through the spacious first-floor hall, she led him up one of the grand staircases that split left and right, like in a Western-style mansion.

The maids cleaning the hallway quickly bowed their heads in surprise when they saw her and stepped aside.

After going up to the second floor, she guided him to an inner staircase leading to the third floor as she spoke.

“What do you think about a summoned person becoming a subordinate of a Letan… or as you would call them, an NPC?”

“I only respect each individual’s choice. However, I have no intention of becoming anyone’s subordinate.”

“Is that so.”

He thought she would say something more, but the woman shut her mouth.

Soon arriving at the Lord’s private office on the third floor, the woman knocked twice on the door, nodded at the quiet voice from within, and stepped back.

It seemed she did not intend to go inside.

“Well then—”

“The Lord is someone who does not welcome drastic changes.”

Only when he grabbed the doorknob and was about to turn it did she speak again.

As Gi-jun turned around—the woman was looking straight at him before he knew it.

“I am saying this because I hope you do not blame him too much.”

“Me? Blame him?”

“It wasn’t that he just neglected Sir Tolchi. He was afraid that rash action would cause even greater chaos. …Consequently, we are only sorry for causing you the trouble of dirtying your hands, Lord Jun.”

Only then did Gi-jun realize what she meant, and he could not hide his flustered look.

So much so that he felt glad he was wearing a mask right now.

“Do you think I came to hold him accountable for the fault of his direct knight?”

“Is that not it?”

Only then did it suddenly occur to Gi-jun that perhaps both the Lord of this small city and this woman before him were rating his abilities much higher than they actually were.

A knight directly under the Lord was strictly the fief’s top human resource. Even if the fault lay with the guy, asking Gi-jun, who had returned after killing him, ‘not to blame him too much’ was overly submissive. There was a limit to how low they could humble themselves.

Could this also be thanks to his Charm, which had reached the Legendary rank?

Although the growth process was a complete mystery, it didn’t feel bad to benefit from it like this.

“Not at all. The matter with him has already been settled. The reason I came to see the Lord is to explain why and how his knight died, and at the same time—”

“At the same time?”

To the woman waiting for his next words while stroking the horn on her forehead with a slightly tense expression, Gi-jun suddenly felt mischievous and spoke with a grin.

“You said the Lord does not welcome drastic changes.”

“Yes, indeed.”

“Then he might end up hating me a lot.”

“What do you mean by… Ah?!”

Gi-jun turned the doorknob and opened the door.

The woman could not say anything more, only groaning as she watched his retreating figure.

The door closed.

“How mischievous of you.”

Whether he had heard the conversation between the two outside, the Lord spoke as he shook his head.

He was sitting on a sofa set in front of his office desk, holding a glass filled with a large ice cube and amber-colored liquor in one hand.

On the table was a half-empty bottle of whiskey, an ice bucket, and another glass.

Gi-jun chuckled and leaned back on the sofa opposite him.

—Our sofa is much better, Contractor!

As he tried to pick up the glass while ignoring Lucy’s somehow proud voice, the Lord reached out a hand to stop him, placed the ice himself, and poured the liquor.

“It’s quite a good liquor. The alcohol content is a bit high, but once you get used to it, drinking it straight will be good too.”

“I’ll gladly accept.”

Taking a sip, he realized it wasn’t just ‘quite good’ but an excellent liquor, to the point that he regretted adding ice.

However, the liquor itself did not seem to be that important to the Lord, as he put on a bitter smile at Gi-jun’s unhesitating drinking.

He seemed a bit dumbfounded, yet also somewhat admiring.

“Did you perhaps drink the poison Tolchi gave you so willingly as well?”

“Do you know what he was trying to do to me?”

“I asked a kid I could trust to investigate his movements. It was a rather blatant move. A sleeping drug capable of putting a powerhouse of your caliber to sleep doesn’t circulate in the market so easily.”

“I suppose. Though in the end, it had no effect.”

Indeed, the moment the Lord found out that Tolchi had obtained the poison, he must have been certain that Gi-jun would not forgive Tolchi, and completely gave up on Tolchi’s life.

Nodding in understanding, Gi-jun took another sip of the liquor.

He made it clear that the fact that Tolchi had handled a sleeping drug was a completely separate matter that had no influence on him drinking the liquor offered by the Lord.

Of course, his confidence in his own high resistance must have also influenced such an attitude.

Based on absolute self-confidence, maintaining one’s own standards against anyone, in any situation.

That was the essence of the Übermensch.

At least, Gi-jun thought so in his own way.

“This is something I also told your butler, but—”

“She is my daughter. She is also my successor. Isn’t she beautiful? She looks a lot like my wife, who returned to nature first.”

“I guessed as much from the horn on her forehead. You employ your daughter and successor as a butler?”

“It’s my successor training policy.”

Gi-jun shrugged his shoulders, finished the rest of the liquor, and set down the glass as he spoke.

“Anyway, as I told her, I didn’t come to blame you. If you have no intention of blaming me either—”

“None at all.”

“Is that so.”

He had even prepared himself to be banned from Turis, and by extension, the Gratia Kingdom, so it meant the matter was resolved much more easily.

Asking the Lord for his understanding for a moment, Gi-jun sent a message to Chabanvesh telling him that the matter was resolved and there was no need to worry, and then faced him again.

“Should I explain his end?”

“…I have a favor to ask regarding that.”

As the Lord’s voice grew serious, Gi-jun also poured liquor into his glass, roughly anticipating what he was about to say.

What followed was a rather predictable story.

The overflow, which they had successfully blocked but had nevertheless left behind a lot of damage.

If the fact that Tolchi, who had made great achievements during it, tried to kill Gi-jun out of jealousy were revealed, the chaos would be unspeakable, and the morale of the residents would plummet to rock bottom.

Therefore, the Lord’s request was that even if the truth were to be revealed, could he wait a little while until the damage from the overflow was repaired and the city’s vitality returned.

To that, Gi-jun replied briefly.

“Just bury it completely.”

“No, that is…”

“It’s not for that guy’s sake. It is for the hearts of the soldiers who believed in and followed him as a knight.”

Gi-jun spoke firmly, recalling the image of the Strongest Orc Five Brothers, who had been deeply shocked upon confronting Tolchi’s true nature.

Of course, they had overcome the shock and burned with the determination to move forward, but was there any guarantee that everyone else would do the same?

Unless he could obtain a new achievement by putting the head of a guy whose corpse didn’t even leave a physical form on a spike, Gi-jun had no desire to ruin the atmosphere of the entire city just to satisfy his own feelings.

“Ha, you really are…”

“Fine, then the story about Tolchi ends with this. He was roaming around to clean up after the overflow and was killed by vampires. Do you agree?”

“I cannot lift my head to you… Wait, vampires?”

As the Lord, who had been bowing his head while looking at him with an indescribable expression, suddenly sat up straight in surprise, a pleasant smile played on the corner of Gi-jun’s mouth.

He had finally entered the ‘main topic’.

When Gi-jun generously presented the materials he had obtained from the secret space of the dungeon, the Lord read through them frantically with both eyes while letting out groans.

“You really are…”

It was the exact same words as before, but somehow the nuance felt completely different, causing a chuckle to escape Gi-jun’s lips for no reason.

“Will the royal court believe these materials?”

“I am sorry to say this to you, who readily handed over such materials, but it would be impossible.”

That was obvious.

By nature, the more critical information was, the harder it was to gain trust.

Moreover, Turis was a small city close to the frontier even within Gratia.

They blocked the overflow and explored the dungeon there, only to find a document containing the plans of the vampires that would sweep the entire kingdom in a year?

Even Gi-jun would have found it hard to believe.

“So we must start slowly from now on.”

However, at the Lord’s subsequent words, Gi-jun’s ears perked up.

“If you deal with things in a hurry because the matter is urgent, a big problem is bound to arise. That’s how everything in the world works.”

“That’s true.”

He said he disliked drastic changes; was that tendency showing itself in this manner?

Still, since he agreed, Gi-jun nodded, and the Lord, with a slightly relieved expression, continued speaking.

“Therefore, we must first secure reliable allies, expand our size, and raise our voice. Then, since it will look like we have something to back us up, others will start sniffing around. Once we recruit the decent ones among them and form a group, the royal court will have no choice but to listen.”

“That’s easier said than done.”

“Of course, action is difficult. You will be the one working hard.”

Look at this guy.

Catching Gi-jun’s words perfectly, the Lord smiled at him this time.

“First, let’s start by raising your fame. I mean we should expand our size with you at the center. Tracking down other traces left by those vampire bastards comes after that.”

As he shook the document held in his hand, it was as if he were teasing him, asking if he planned to step back after bringing this himself.

Of course, Gi-jun had no intention of just ‘lying low for a year’ as Biche had said, but… he got a premonition that he would be run ragged in earnest, causing a chill to run down his spine.

“So you’re telling me to roll down from the top of a snow-covered hill.”

“That’s a good expression. Wouldn’t that be a novel experience for a Flame Human like you?”

The Lord reached out a hand to him and smiled gently.

“For the next year, I look forward to working with you.”

Gi-jun shrugged his shoulders and shook his hand.

Somehow, it seemed they had started off on the right foot.