Chapter 788: The Last (21)

-Vice Guild Master, where did the Guild Master go?

“I sent him to the north.”

-What?

“I sent him to the north. He should be on his way by now. Maybe he’s even there already. Since he flew, he must be…”

‘He has already arrived.’

-Is there something there?

“No. Why would anything be there? I sent him to a remote area that hasn’t been developed properly… I don’t know what clues he’ll find there, but I thought it would be better to put him inside a dungeon. Honestly, I don’t know if there’s even one, but he’ll find out on his own. You know Hyunsung. He’ll find something even if there isn’t any. Probably.”

-How could you send him alone to such a place?

“What are you worried about?”

-The Guild Master is currently mentally unstable. He needs help from the people around him. You should have sent at least the expeditionaries with him.

“If he doesn’t feel bothered, it’ll be fortunate. I’m monitoring him properly. He won’t do anything else… I’ll talk to him sometimes, so don’t worry too much. You should focus on your work. The most important thing right now is what’s in front of you. Oh, take care of Hayan too.”

-Sora seems to be taking good care of her.

It certainly looked like that.

They were having a meal in the camp, and it looked heartwarming in its own way. She was like a bomb that might explode anytime, but she was still stable.

I noticed that she liked Han Sora’s new character lunch box.

‘It looks like they’re on a picnic.’

Jung Hayan wouldn’t have much thought about it. Jung Hayan wasn’t in charge of such complicated problems in the first place anyway.

The elves completely locking their kingdom was none of her concern.

The reason Jung Hayan came over was to move Cho Hyejin and Elena to the kingdom, but…

-Do you think something big will happen?

-I don’t know for sure… It would be nice if nothing does, though.

-Y-Y-Yes, none should…

It might also be due to the possibility of Jung Hayan being able to write her own myth.

For some reason, I recalled the way she giggled when she heard that there was a problem with the kingdom of Eberia. She was the opposite of Elena, who had a nervous expression.

In fact, she looked no different now. Wasn’t it quite a contrast to Elena’s appearance, who couldn’t even eat her food properly due to anxiety?

Han Sora also kept looking at Elena as if it was bothering her.

In the end, she went to comfort her for a moment and came back, but I could assure anyone that that wasn’t a good choice. I was an authority in Hayan’s department, after all. I knew all about her.

-W-W-What did you talk about?

-It seems that she’s in deep sorrow… because there’s a problem in the kingdom. I thought I should comfort her a bit…

-W-What exactly did you talk about…

-You don’t have to worry too much about it.

-I-I’m asking you what exactly you talked about!

-I mean…

-Don’t get too c-close to her. She… she’s a bit weird.

Anyone could see that Jung Hayan was acting weird.

I was worried that her eyes would roll over when I saw her breathing wildly and glaring, but she probably wouldn’t do anything that wouldn’t be good for herself… Probably.

Ahn Ki-mo was on the left side of Jung Hayan and Han Sora, who were having their own conversation. He wasn’t with Kim Ye-ri and Park Deokgu, which hadn’t happened in such a long time.

Like the friendly guy he was, he was stroking Alps’ Whitey and giving words of comfort to Elena.

Alps, the owner of Whitey was looking at Cho Hyejin, who was talking to herself, with a worried face…

To others, it looked like Cho Hyejin was going crazy.

Even Hwang Jeong-yeon, the mage scholar who came to take care of the situation, joined the expedition. It wasn’t a bad lineup. No, I thought it was just right.

It wasn’t even for battle in the first place, and Jung Hayan would be able to cope with everything in case of an emergency. There was also a low probability of such events happening.

‘She’s probably observing the situation…’

She threw a large bait on it, so it was obvious that she would try to see how things were going.

“What did I say we should do?”

-I’m not an idiot, Vice Guild Master. Our priority is to have a conversation with Elios…

“No. The World Tree investigation must come first. The second is to find Lee Jihye’s traces. I didn’t call Jeong-yeon and Alps for nothing. We have to find her whereabouts.”

-I think it’s better to solve the immediate problem…

“No. We have to find her no matter what. If we deal with things in a way that solves the immediate problems first, we will only follow Lee Jihye’s tail until the moment the continent becomes ruined. We need to prepare and build a card that we can use rather than just plugging the leak. Do not intervene in the event of armed conflict between the two races with Elios. We do what we have to do.”

-But.

“Please listen to me. You know best that I’m not wrong. I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m telling you that my way is more appropriate. I know Lee Jihye better.”

-I’ll do as you say, for now. Just know that I didn’t give my free will to the Vice Guild Master. I didn’t choose to be a representative to become a puppet. If it’s something I think is right and it should be done…

“Yes, yes. I know. I didn’t think that you would completely agree with me in the first place, so you don’t have to react that much. You only need to remember the priorities.”

-Okay.

“Then let’s move. If we proceed with haste, we’ll get there in an hour. It would have been nice to go straight to that place with Hayan’s teleport…”

-The kingdom didn’t allow it, so we can’t help it. They’re being careful, and we must respect their choices.

“Yes, I know…”

-You don’t have to be too nervous. I know I’ve said this before, but I don’t think that Jihye would have done this. If she were involved in the loss of the World Tree, there would have been other reasons.

That was a remark that was difficult to accept.

‘How could she leave such a good impression on her?’

While clicking my tongue at Lee Jihye’s personality, Cho Hyejin spoke to the guild members.

Thanks to the fast-moving Alps, the camp was quickly organized, and the guild members were soon on the move again.

The scenery of walking while having various conversations was somewhat familiar.

Of course, a few members were missing, but it was still a scene that made me smile.

After walking for about an hour, the panoramic view of Eberia slowly came into my eyes. It looked different from before. A huge barrier surrounded the kingdom. No, it looked too solid to be called a simple barrier.

It was as if huge trees were covering the castle walls. I could bet that it was made with elven magic. Even at that moment, the branches were continually rising upwards.

‘That’ll end up covering the sky. Fuck.’

The way Elena began to bite her lips more and more tightly at the changed appearance of Eberia was a spectacle. Anyone could see she disapproved of Elios’s choice, the current elven leader.

She walked across Cho Hyejin, who was walking in front of her.

-Open the gates. It’s Elena.

-…

-Open the door. I’m Elena of Eberia!

‘Our Queen is so cool.’

The branches slowly gave way. It was probably equipped with a system that allowed it to do that whenever necessary.

‘It’s reasonable.’

Elves, originally protected by the World Tree, didn’t build walls and barriers. I thought they would have taken some other countermeasures, but they had adapted much better.

Humans weren’t the only ones influenced by the elves. The elves were also very much influenced by humans.

Before long, the place where the walls of the branches were scattered was filled with armed elven soldiers together with Elios. I didn’t feel like he was hostile to the party.

No matter how sensitive the situation was, they wouldn’t be crazy enough to make an enemy out of the heroes who saved the continent. Rather, some even showed respect to Jung Hayan.

Those wearing robes in the back were bowing to her, and she smiled at the sight.

‘What? Are they believers of the magic goddess?’

It also occurred to me that the journey Jung Hayan was showing recently might not be just a trip.

-What is this fuss, Elena?

-I should be asking you that, brother!

-…

-…

-Let’s go in and talk.

-No. I have something to say before I enter. You are detaining guests of the kingdom! I need an explanation about what’s in front of me right now. Are you thinking of turning your kingdom into a cage?!

-That’s none of your business.

-I-

-It was you who chose to leave the kingdom, Elena. You’re no longer in a position to interfere with matters relating to Eberia. I’m just doing what I have to do.

I didn’t know how to intervene in the drama that started out of nowhere.

As Elios raised his voice against the angered Elena, I thought that they were real brothers and sisters after all. The troops standing in the back couldn’t figure out what to do.

Eventually, the argument ended only after one of the aides spoke carefully to Elios.

To be precise, they had entered a truce.

-I’m sorry, Blue Guild members, and… Cho Hyejin.

-Long time no see, Elios.

-Yes. Nice to meet you, Cho Hyejin.

Elios raised his ears slightly and greeted Cho Hyejin.

I thought they were a weird combo, but it seemed that they had many official meetings.

No, I felt that the bastard had a crush on Cho Hyejin.

My guts were telling me that he definitely had a crush on Cho Hyejin. His ears, which were shaking a little, were proof of that. It was a situation where I had no choice but to look at Cho Hyejin in a different light.

‘Wow… When did this one…’

What did those two have? Or was it one-sided? What was it? When did they meet? Had they ever met for personal affairs?

I was regretting why I didn’t watch Cho Hyejin continuously through the telescope.

There was a high possibility that Elios developed a one-sided crush on her, but who knew if the two sometimes talked.

-Sorry for not coming to see you.

-No. I know that you are busy.

-How have you been doing?

‘Look at this bastard.’

He no longer looked serious. Earlier, it was just a suspicion, but now I was certain.

Cho Hyejin was a type that seemed to be popular among elves. Still, fuck, it shouldn’t have been her. I didn’t have bad personal feelings for that elf, but I thought it’s not enough to share a tickling love with our Hyejin.

‘You have Hyunsung.’

-First, I would like to express my gratitude to the Blue Guild members who came to this place. Thank you for bringing Elena safely.

-We just did what we had to do.

-I would welcome you as a guest of the kingdom if it weren’t for…

-…

-The current situation is not good, so it seems that we will not be able to treat you properly.

‘This asshole.’

He was obviously sending us back.

-What do you mean?

-Elena.

-To the heroes who saved Eberia and the continent…

-Elena!

-I’ve told them about it, so you don’t have to worry about the secret leaking out, brother.

‘This family’s relationship couldn’t get worse.’

-I told Cho Hyejin everything, whom you are so passionate about!

A remark I couldn’t even imagine.

‘Ahhhhhhhh… that’s so embarrassing…’

“That’s too cruel.”

Elios, biting his lips, could be seen blushing.

‘Pure evil, Elena. Fuck.’

I didn’t know when he arrived, but I could see Belial applauding Elena.