75 – 14 – Error of Reunion – 5

When Gi-jun, wearing his mask again, returned to the room with Scintilla, the Lord teased him, saying that Unica had been restless since the two of them had left the room together.

“I didn’t see you that way, but you are fast. When did you seduce our butler?”

“Lord, you are probably making a huge misunderstanding.”

Gi-jun replied in a gloomy voice and shook his head from side to side at Unica, who was still restless, to signal that things had not gone well.

To Unica, who demanded with her eyes to know why he had hidden the truth, Gi-jun shot back a look saying she wouldn’t have believed it at all even if he had confessed, and reported to the Lord in a very displeased tone.

“Scintilla has decided to join my party.”

“Ah, I had suspected as much. She is a fire spirit summoner whose name is widely known even on this continent. She will probably be of great help.”

Indeed, it meant that while Gi-jun, a spirit summoner, posed as a Flame Human, she hid her identity as a Flame Human and posed as a spirit summoner.

…If the two of them stuck together, wouldn’t it be the perfect setup for both of them to get ruined?

Furthermore, since Gi-jun was not actually a Flame Human, it was a situation where Scintilla would unilaterally be in danger.

Therefore, it would be better for them to stay away from each other for the sake of her safety, but…

“Don’t worry, I’ve heard and know that we are dealing with vampires. Jun, as you also know, our race’s flame is particularly strong against such wicked things.”

Scintilla did not seem to have any intention of doing so.

No, seeing how she told him that he had suffered alone all this time and that she would protect him from now on, perhaps she had come looking for him prepared to face danger because of him from the very beginning.

—But Contractor, I really hate to admit it—but out of all the people I’ve seen since crossing over to Leta, this woman does seem to be the strongest.

‘That’s the problem.’

Gi-jun scowled and agreed with Lucy’s words.

Since Gi-jun also possessed Legendary-grade Mana and Spiritual Power, he was somewhat confident in reading his opponent’s abilities, but no matter how he looked at it, Scintilla possessed a strength of Unique-grade or higher.

She was quite high up even among them, perhaps to the point where one or two of her stats might be Legendary-grade.

If even her class was high-grade, and by some chance her skills were Legendary-grade… she would be able to put up a good fight against Gi-jun.

‘Unless I can overwhelm her, I won’t be able to chase her away easily…’

—Besides, it’s also questionable whether that woman would even face the Contractor in earnest.

Therefore, the conclusion was the same.

There was no way to separate this woman from Gi-jun right now.

“Sigh… Let’s leave it at that, and dismiss for today.”

“Actually, there is still some business left.”

Gi-jun did not care about Flame Humans or vampires and felt like resting alone where no one was around, but the tactless Lord held him back.

“Someone is supposed to arrive from Ars, a small city east of Gratia. I would like you to meet her with me.”

“Have you already dragged in the Lord of another city?”

“It’s not the Lord, but the Mercenary Guild.”

Gi-jun blinked, not understanding those words.

Why was the Lord contacting the Mercenary Guild?

No, of course he could cooperate with the Mercenary Guild, but why the Mercenary Guild of another city?

Was that not very strange?

“Listen, Jun. As you yourself have uncovered, there are already cases in the Gratia Kingdom where vampires roam around disguised as residents, or even as the Summoned.”

“Indeed.”

“Because of that situation, it has become even harder to inform the entire country to prepare for a large-scale vampire raid. Especially since we don’t know how deep they have penetrated this nation.”

“I can identify vampires, though.”

“Who would believe that other than me and my butler? If an influential figure is a vampire and turns the tables on us, how will we defend ourselves?”

‘Why are you dragging Unica into this?’

But he understood what the Lord was trying to say.

“If this fact is revealed, at worst, it could lead to changes in the vampires’ plans… Which means we must be careful about whom we even talk to.”

“Considering that the vampires tried to contact you this time, perhaps their plans have already changed. So from now on, we must move even more cautiously.”

Gi-jun nodded at the Lord’s words and asked, ‘So?’

“Is the person you chose so carefully an individual from the Mercenary Guild of a small city on the opposite side of Turis?”

“A very reliable choice. You know the general manager of our city’s Mercenary Guild, right?”

“Ah.”

A Half-Nymph.

According to the general manager, those with nymph blood reacted very sensitively to good and evil.

“Then by any chance, is the person from the Ars Guild also…?”

“Yes, I heard she has nymph blood. I believe she is the sub-master. Recently, they also suffered great embarrassment when it was revealed that their dungeon boss and even a guild employee were vampires, and she contacted me through our general manager.”

Gi-jun felt a deep sense of irony at those words.

“An employee… So even though they have the ability to judge good and evil, they couldn’t filter out vampires right away?”

“I hate to bring up a painful story, but wasn’t Tolchi also a knight of our territory for several years? You cannot judge and punish someone as a sinner based solely on the ability to distinguish good and evil.”

If he brought that up so cheaply, Gi-jun could not refute it either.

Good and evil themselves could never be the standard for punishment.

Seeing Gi-jun, who accepted that fact but could not hide a strange sentiment, the Lord chuckled softly and added.

“Instead, we can select who to trust and speak with. That is why those with nymph blood are helpful in this matter.”

“—Indeed.”

Just then, someone knocked on the drawing room door, and a soldier entered to announce the guest’s arrival.

The Lord nodded and said to Gi-jun.

“It seems they have just arrived. Let’s meet them together.”

He patted the seat next to him as if telling him to come and sit.

Gi-jun found his friendly attitude burdensome and had not forgotten his resentment over having the landmine named Scintilla dumped on him, but since the Lord had done nothing to harm him anyway, he reluctantly sat next to him.

Then, as if they had agreed beforehand, Unica and Scintilla stood at attention behind the sofa where they were sitting.

“Scintilla, it’s burdensome, so could you please not do that…?”

“Doing this makes it easier to protect you. And speak comfortably to me.”

Scintilla said, showing a reliable smile.

It deeply bothered him that Unica, who was standing right next to her, was staring intently at him.

If it had been up to him, he would have slapped the mask onto Unica, but the fact that the mask had wearing restrictions was a source of lifelong regret.

Just then, the drawing room door opened, and two women walked inside.

One was a beautiful young woman with sleek blonde hair and pointed ears, much like the general manager of the Turis Mercenary Guild, and the other was a human woman with striking jet-black hair and black eyes…

However, there was something even more shocking than the fact that she was human.

‘It’s Ji-hye?!’

She was the magician Ji-hye, who had been in the same party as Gi-jun in the first round of the tutorial!

No, how?

Come to think of it, did they say half of Earth’s humans had been summoned to the east of Gratia?!

But honestly, if he were to reunite with someone, he had thought he would meet Min-i first rather than Ji-hye…!

While Gi-jun wore a dazed expression at this completely unexpected, bizarre reunion, the nymph woman, having finished greeting the Lord, extended her hand to him.

“You must be the Flame Human Jun who has been causing a stir lately, the one who caught the divine beast. Nice to meet you. I am Bella, the sub-master of the Ars Mercenary Guild.”

“I’m Jun.”

He wanted to throw off his mask and hug Ji-hye right away, but it was a situation where he absolutely could not do so.

Gi-jun suppressed the urge with superhuman patience, briefly stated his alias, and reached out to shake her hand.

Ji-hye, who stood slightly behind her, seemed to tilt her head the moment she heard Gi-jun’s voice, but perhaps it was too much to grasp his identity solely from a voice she hadn’t heard in ten years and the alias Jun, so she stopped there.

“This is the first time… I’ve seen someone like this.”

“Hmm?”

Meanwhile, as if she had become interested in Gi-jun, Bella observed him with curiosity and spoke with a satisfied smile.

“No, he is indeed a great warrior chosen by the Monoceros-kin. I am impressed, Lord of Turis.”

“He is the one who came to find me. I am grateful.”

“Before we start the serious discussion… is everyone in this room…?”

“One is my daughter, and the other shares a common destiny with Jun here.”

“Of course. My life is bound to his.”

He felt like shouting at the top of his lungs, begging her not to do that, but no one understood Gi-jun’s heart.

“And who is the person behind you?”

“She is the one who wiped out the vampires hiding in the guild and brought the report to me. She is trustworthy.”

At Bella’s introduction, Ji-hye bowed her head.

Surely Ji-hye hadn’t hunted vampires alone, so the other party members had to be with her too, right?

Gi-jun was dying to ask her how she had ended up encountering vampires, but he had no choice but to suppress it for now.

“I thought I felt a dense scent of mana, and indeed, she is someone who has accomplished a great deed.”

“You flatter me.”

“Fufu. Her abilities have already been verified, and she will be able to perform well in the field too. Well, shall we get to the main point?”

Bella began a serious discussion about the vampire raid with the Lord, and Gi-jun also had to chime in and explain what had happened so far.

Honestly, many of Gi-jun’s achievements so far were hard to believe—but the record of him hunting a divine beast gave them a high degree of credibility.

When he revealed his vampire hunting record, his current party composition, and even his plan to find the vampires first and infiltrate their kingdom, Bella let out a ‘Hmm…’ and pondered for a moment.

“What do you think, Ji-hye?”

She suddenly turned around and asked Ji-hye, who had been listening to the story.

“Yes? What do you mean…?”

“It sounds like they have an empty slot in their party, so I’m asking what you think about joining them.”

“What?!”

Ji-hye cried out in shock.

“I think it’s a very honorable opportunity, but I already have a party I belong to…!”

“You won’t be able to return to your original party anyway until this situation is resolved. If so, I’m asking if it would be better for you to help Jun, who is the centerpiece of this ‘quest’, by his side. Your paths will also overlap a lot with mine.”

“Um, well, but my abilities are lacking, and even if Lady Bella says so, wouldn’t it be difficult for the others? Furthermore, depending on the quest progress, there is a good chance that the party I belong to will be active, so leaving them would make me feel too sorry to my comrades…!”

Gi-jun knew Ji-hye.

Right now, that girl was obviously struggling desperately because she didn’t want to party with Gi-jun, who was bound to take on the most dangerous role in this quest!

Of course, she also possessed a strong sense of loyalty and was a good person who would not shun danger for the sake of her comrades—but she herself did not know that the Flame Human Jun she was facing was actually ‘Gi-jun’!

“Ho.”

And as expected, the Lord was showing a positive reaction.

“I was just thinking that Jun’s party needs a magician anyway. If she is a talent whose character and ability are both verified, there is no reason to refuse! What do you think, Jun?”

“Hmm.”

When Gi-jun placed his hand on his chin and tilted his head as if contemplating, Ji-hye’s head also tilted in anxiety.

This time to the opposite side, and Ji-hye’s gaze followed suit.

This was fun.

He wanted to tease her a bit more, but Gi-jun, realizing that he simply wanted to relieve the gloom caused by Scintilla, smiled bitterly and stopped his mischief.

“If she is an outstanding magician, I have no reason to refuse either, so I will test her skills. There are also things we want to discuss as fellow Summoned… Bella, I would like to borrow her for a moment, is that alright?”

“Of course!”

Bella nodded with a smile, pleased that the talents she had paid attention to were matching up, while Ji-hye, perhaps realizing she could not resist this flow and resigning herself to it, let her shoulders droop and nodded.

“It is truly an honor… that Lord Jun himself will check my skills…”

“Yes, consider it an honor.”

Scintilla said, nodding heavily.

Anyone looking at them would think she had been active with him for about five years.

Gi-jun had a lot of things he wanted to say, but he suppressed them all and stood up from his seat.

“Then follow me.”

* * *

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): I just got an ominous feeling. Shivers went down my spine.]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): Jun, are you okay? You didn’t get hurt anywhere?]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): You didn’t meet anyone dangerous, right?]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): You only don’t look at messages at times like this, you jerk.]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): (This message has been deleted.)]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): Jerk…]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): Oh? The moth is here.]

……

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): Junnie? I take back calling you a jerk.]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): You know my heart, right?]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): The braised short ribs are delicious.]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): It’s so delicious.]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): Your cooking is seriously magic.]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): As for what kind of magic it is.]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): Ah.]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): I was trying to delete it, so why did you have to look at it at a time like this?!]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): Don’t ask what kind of magic it is. I’m not telling you.]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Rift): I told you, I’m not telling you?!]