Chapter 98 – The Lodger’s Return

He was so disappointed that he was almost on the verge of bursting into tears.

‘Was constipation that painful of an illness?’

It was a desperate state of mind that Hee-na, who knew nothing of the fear of constipation, could not comprehend.

“Hey, lady. No, Hee-na. This space is not one that exists in reality, is it? It’s a third space associated with your skill, right?”

Won Deok-sam asked in a heavily resigned voice.

Since he knew that Hee-na possessed a space-related skill, he seemed to have reached that conclusion after staying in ‘Home Sweet Home’ for the past few days.

“Yes. That’s right. This place is a space different from reality.”

Hee-na answered while hiding the fact that this place was inside a dungeon. That was content she didn’t need to reveal.

“Sigh. Then it’s not even possible to purchase this entire house!”

Won Deok-sam was extremely heartbroken by the fact that he could not buy Hee-na’s ‘Home Sweet Home’—specifically, the Home Sweet Home with the A-rank bidet.

“Why is there no way to buy someone else’s skill with money!”

Osaek-i, displeased with his wish, wiggled its antennas and grumbled.

Statement of position as the house manager: Oppose change of landlord. Current landlord is optimal. Dislike constipation middle-aged man.

Then, extending its antennas long to draw a heart, it clung to Hee-na.

Our relationship is sailing smoothly♡

The snail that had been so strict during their first meeting had somehow become a lovebug.

Hee-na smiled broadly and gently patted the bouncy head of Osaek-i sitting on her shoulder.

“Thank you. I like you too, Osaek-i.”

Leaving that sweet scene behind, Won Deok-sam hugged the toilet and wailed.

“Oh, my bidet! My bidet! My constipation!”

* * *

Thus, a few days passed.

“Sigh, since I’m just staying at home without doing anything, time passes so slowly!”

Hee-na stretched her stiff body and complained to Hee-won.

Hee-won, who had just returned from weeding the field and was drinking cool water, wore an expression asking what she meant.

“Is the spring cleaning you did this morning, turning the whole house upside down, not work? You cooked for us, swept and wiped the house, and worked without a moment’s rest, yet you say you did nothing?”

“Indeed, Hee-na. While I sat here, you worked all day long. The sound of cleaning was noisy since morning.”

Won Deok-sam also agreed with Hee-won’s words.

He had just been kicked out into the living room by Hee-na’s hands because the storage room needed to be cleaned.

He having nothing to do, he hovered around, reading Hee-na’s expression, and was folding well-dried towels from the dryer.

“That was a spring cleaning done because I had nothing else to do! Now that the cleaning is finished, there’s absolutely nothing left to do…”

Hee-na muttered gloomily, looking at the state of the house, which was not just glossy but virtually shining.

“You don’t have anything to do even if you go to work anyway, right?”

Hee-won pointed out that since Kang Jin-hyun was away, she had no work.

“That’s true… but being bored at work is different from being bored from doing nothing at home. It’s a whole different level of boredom.”

She had thought that the only thing she did at work was kill time, but trying to rest only inside the house without going to work was pure torture.

Although she had the pretext of monitoring Won Deok-sam…

‘…Look at that. What’s the point of monitoring a constipated uncle who came out to the living room just to fold towels?’

In any case, inside this house, Won Deok-sam could not attack the siblings, and he did not even seem to have such intentions.

He was utterly carefree.

‘I must really be a person who has to work like an ant.’

Was it because she had only worked without properly resting since she grew up? This kind of empty schedule was heavily unfamiliar.

“Since I have spare time anyway, should I help brother with the field work?”

It was finally the moment Hee-na was about to invade her brother’s domain.

Click, clack, thud.

Along with the sound of the front door opening and closing, a familiar figure appeared.

“Hee-na? I heard you took a vacation, is there somewhere you are hurt?”

It was Kang Jin-hyun, who had left for a dungeon raid five days ago.

After moving in as a lodger, he had received a temporary pass from Osaek-i, enabling free entry and exit to ‘Home Sweet Home’.

Hee-na’s eyes went round.

“Oh? Jin-hyun? You’re already back? You said it could take over a week?”

“My condition was good, so I was able to finish the dungeon raid quickly.”

“You finished it extremely quickly.”

It meant he had arrived more than two days earlier than the predicted schedule.

Kang Jin-hyun smiled broadly and bowed to Hee-na and Hee-won.

“It was thanks to you, Hee-na.”

“How is it thanks to me? The only things I did were give you a place to sleep and feed you…”

“That is a great thing.”

Meanwhile, Won Deok-sam dropped the towel he was holding with a plop upon seeing Hee-na and Kang Jin-hyun conversing.

“…K-Kang Jin-hyun Hunter?”

For an opponent whom even he, the best information broker in Asia, found difficult to face directly to appear!

‘What on earth is that lady’s identity? No, what kind of place is this? A door appears in midair, it’s connected to a dungeon, and even an S-class Hunter appears?’

Won Deok-sam stared blankly at Kang Jin-hyun, unable to conceal his astonishment.

There was no way Kang Jin-hyun, who had sensitive senses, would fail to notice that gaze.

Indeed, he had already been observing Won Deok-sam from the moment he stepped foot inside the house.

His appearance looked calm and cool at a glance, but his dark pupils were undulating with confusion.

Kang Jin-hyun shook his head as if to shake off the numerous doubts, anxieties, or hostilities rising in his head.

“By the way, Hee-na, who is that person?”

At the straightforward question, Hee-na stammered.

“Uh, that mister is…”

It was awkward to answer suddenly. She could not remember any of the words she had thought about how to explain him.

In the end, there was only one word that could define Won Deok-sam.

“The person who was my kidnapper…?”

At Hee-na’s explanation, Kang Jin-hyun’s eyebrows twitched.

“A kidnapper? Did I hear wrong?”

Kang Jin-hyun demanded an explanation from Hee-na on the spot. At the same time, drawing out a black energy from his hand, he choked Won Deok-sam’s neck.

“Keup, cough!”

Won Deok-sam’s face turned crimson at the intense pressure felt from his neck.

Hee-na hung onto Kang Jin-hyun’s arm in surprise.

“J-Jin-hyun! Stop! Listen to my story first!”

“…You will have to give me a convincing answer.”

Kang Jin-hyun warned in a low voice and dispersed the black energy.

Feeling his momentum extremely fierce, Hee-na sweated profusely as she recounted the situation.

Everything, starting from going grocery shopping at the market, being kidnapped by Won Deok-sam who had received the kidnapping quest, and escaping the warehouse and capturing the kidnapper using the ‘Home Sweet Home’ skill.

“…So that’s why we are keeping him captured in our house right now.”

Hee-na explained why she was keeping Won Deok-sam captured inside the house.

“We couldn’t just release him like this, and we didn’t know what to do, so we decided to postpone our judgment until you returned, Jin-hyun.”

Kang Jin-hyun quietly listened to the words and easily drew a conclusion.

“I can just eliminate him.”

“Pardon?”

Hee-na gaped her mouth wide at the brutal answer that slipped out.

Perhaps Kang Jin-hyun thought Hee-na asked back because she didn’t understand, so he explained kindly.

“Hee-na, to eliminate means to kill and make them disappear.”

“No, I didn’t ask because I didn’t know the meaning…”

“P-P-Please spare my life!”

Won Deok-sam, who was sitting quietly reading their expressions, abruptly cut into the conversation.

“It is true that I committed an outrageous act! Of course! I deserve to be struck by lightning and die!”

“Since the person himself seems to agree, we can process him as is. Since we can enter the dungeon immediately through the front door, we can just throw the corpse there to dispose of it.”

The black energy crept up once again from Kang Jin-hyun’s hand. The pitch-black shadow wavered with a brutal aura, as if about to shoot toward Won Deok-sam at any moment.

At this, Won Deok-sam’s face turned pale.

“Huaaaak!”

Forgetting even his fear of the leaf-slaps, he rushed and hid behind Baduk-i, who was guarding him at his side.

However, Baduk-i’s slender stem could not completely shield Won Deok-sam’s body.

“Hunter Kang Jin-hyun! I regret my past mistake to the point of beating the ground, and I am reflecting on it! Such an incident will never happen again! I have even sworn an oath on a mana stone never to do anything that would harm the siblings!”

He bowed endlessly, making excuses and begging.

It was all because of the quest; he must have been crazy back then; he hadn’t caused any harm to the siblings while staying here for three days; since he was an information broker, if they wanted information, he could infinitely provide top-secret information to the Blue Dragon Guild, and so on…

“Excuse me, mister. Won Deok-sam. Just stay still for a moment.”

Hee-na was momentarily dazed by Kang Jin-hyun’s brutal aura, but then waved her hand and cut off Won Deok-sam mid-speech.

Then, Baduk-i lifted its leaf and slapped Won Deok-sam’s wagging mouth shut with a smack.

“Eup!”

Won Deok-sam shut his mouth at the familiar sensation of the leaf brushing his cheek.

Baduk-i’s hand-taste, no, leaf-taste must have been quite satisfying.

“Jin-hyun, I oppose your opinion.”

Hee-na pulled Kang Jin-hyun over and sat him on the sofa. Then she patted the back of his hand.

It was meant to tell him to calm down.

“…Hee-na.”

Fortunately, Hee-na’s touch was quite effective.

The black energy wavering in his hand completely vanished as soon as Hee-na’s fingers touched it.

The Homemaker of the Dungeon