Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Fortunately, Jeong Seojin seemed satisfied with the answer he’d heard directly, because he let go of both my cheeks.

I silently rubbed my cheeks with both hands where his fingers had been. His body temperature seemed higher than most people’s, because the spots his hands had touched felt warmer than usual.

“Well, it looks like things have been sorted out to some extent.”

Hunter Kang Mujin, who had been watching us without a word until now, finally spoke up.

He grabbed hold of the conversation’s direction — which had been rolling along on its own, with no clear destination — and immediately started organizing the situation.

“First of all, Hunter Yoon Seohee. Do you intend to accept this request?”

“Huh? Ah…”

Come to think of it, all this conversation had been premised on me accepting the request.

I looked at Adam, who was still waiting with a smile on his face, saying nothing. A moment ago I’d thought it was just a friendly, good-natured smile, but now that I looked at it, it seemed awfully suspicious.

I forcibly swallowed the question that was climbing up my throat: “Excuse me, but are you really thinking about kidnapping me?” Then I put the answer I needed to give into words.

“Yes, I do. But before I accept the request, there are some things I’d like you to explain, Mr. Adam. For example… why it was so urgent that you couldn’t wait until I was discharged.”

“I will explain anything you wish.”

“…Since you say that, I think it’s fine to tentatively settle on accepting.”

After all, the whole reason I’d taken on work as an Equipment Adjuster was to use my ability to make other people’s dungeon raids easier. Thinking about it, I had no real reason to refuse this request.

Guild Master Kang Mujin, after confirming my intentions, turned his head back toward Adam.

“In that case, since we need to go through the formal request procedure, please visit Heewon Guild by car with the hunter waiting outside the door after the Q&A is finished.”

“I will do so.”

“Then, Hunter Yoon Seohee. I apologize, but I’ll head back to the guild first.”

“Thank you for today, Guild Master. Please get home safely.”

“I only did what was expected of me as guild master, so don’t worry about it. I’ll take my leave now.”

Guild Master Kang Mujin gave a slight nod as a final farewell, then immediately opened the hospital room door and headed out. I watched his retreating back for a moment before turning my head and meeting Adam’s eyes again.

“So, I’m planning to ask a lot of questions now. Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

That friendly, good-natured smile spread across Adam’s face again. As his eyes naturally curved into crescent shapes while he smiled, his blue eyes, transparent and shining in the sunlight, sparkled brilliantly.

“If there’s anything you’re curious about, Ms. Yoon Seohee, I can answer all of it, so you don’t need to worry.”

* * *

The Q&A with Adam ended faster than I’d expected. His confidence that he could answer anything wasn’t just empty talk — Adam gave sincere answers to every question I threw at him.

Thanks to that, I was able to learn all the information: why the British government had been in such a hurry to arrange a meeting between me and Adam, and what the current state of the “Britten Dungeon” was.

Oh, and I also found out that Adam’s fluent Korean wasn’t thanks to a dungeon-translated translator — it was entirely his own skill.

According to him, he’d started learning Korean a week ago just to talk to the Equipment Adjuster in Korea… It really made me realize anew that S+-Rank meant S+-Rank in intellectual ability too.

After the Q&A ended, Adam immediately left for Heewon Guild to keep his appointment with Guild Master Kang Mujin, and I went with Jeong Seojin to finish the discharge procedures I’d left incomplete.

Thanks to the guild and the government covering all the medical expenses incurred during my hospitalization, the only thing I really had to do was sign a few necessary documents.

After the discharge procedures were done, everything after that went like clockwork.

Jeong Seojin drove me home himself, and Avan — who would never miss a chance like this — took charge of packing my luggage. My incredibly capable gardener even taught me some simple everyday English.

Sometimes… no, actually, I often think that Avan seems to know more than I do, even though I’ve lived in this world for a full twenty-seven years.

Oh, and the passport issue was handled by Heewon Guild on their end.

Since I’d never actually been abroad before, I’d been a bit worried about that side of things… but this experience really made me understand why hunters scramble so desperately to get into big guilds.

And… throughout all of this, Mr. Yoon Juyeong never once showed his face in front of me.

Honestly, it hit me like a fresh shock. Even though I already knew he was avoiding me back at the hospital, I guess I never thought I wouldn’t see him at home either.

…No, actually, isn’t that obvious? Sure, now I’ve got Jeong Seojin and Avan as extra household members, but no matter how you look at it, this house’s owner is clearly Mr. Yoon Juyeong.

Normally, if there’s someone you don’t want to see, wouldn’t you kick them out of your house? Leaving your own place while keeping that person there just seems weird no matter how you think about it.

“That’s because the fake-nice guy doesn’t actually hate his master right now.”

I was standing there blankly watching Avan pack my luggage — not really helping — and mulling it over, when Jeong Seojin suddenly plopped down beside me.

Then, as if saying I was worrying over something trivial, he pinpointed the core of my concern in a calm voice.

“He’s avoiding his master, sure, but it’s not because he hates her.”

“…Hmm. Even so, leaving his own house behind — where on earth did he go…?”

“Just leave him be. Once he’s thought it over enough, he’ll come back on his own.”

That guy’s not the type to stay away from his master for long anyway. Jeong Seojin said this while tapping my notebook — which Avan had packed separately — with his fingertips.

Naturally, Avan responded in a low voice, like a beast growling.

“Move those insolent fingers, Jeong Seojin.”

Of course, Jeong Seojin wasn’t the type to heed such a warning. Completely ignoring Avan’s words, he started fiddling with a small keyring right next to the notebook.

Seeing that they were about to start another pointless squabble, I grabbed Jeong Seojin’s hand to stop him.

“Well, for now, I’ve decided to trust what you said, Jeong Seojin. I’ll see it through to the end.”

“…When you put it that way, it feels oddly burdensome. I wasn’t planning on taking responsibility for what I said about the fake-nice guy.”

“Ha, looks like someone’s got a loose tongue, don’t they?”

This time, Avan was the one who started it. In response to his provocation, I tightened my grip on Jeong Seojin’s hand as his eyes narrowed, then lightly pinched Avan’s cheek.

“Avan.”

“…My apologies, Master. I dare to behave so disgracefully before you.”

To think I, at this age, would bicker with a child. This Avan is truly ashamed of himself. Avan apologized to me in a tone that clearly emphasized the word “child.”

And naturally, Jeong Seojin wasn’t one to ignore such an obvious jab.

“Aha, I didn’t know the master’s gardener was that old. Should I start showing some respect for the elderly from now on?”

“Knowing your temperament, it wouldn’t be respect for the elderly — it’d be an attack on them.”

“Good thing you know me so well. That’s actually what I was getting at.”

Ugh, these people just make any attempt to stop them completely pointless. I finally gave up on trying to rein them in.

After all, no matter how much they fought, it never escalated beyond a verbal spat. I figured they both knew that if they actually came to blows, I’d get caught in the crossfire.

In the end, I left the two men to hurl insults at each other — old man, child, old soul, brat, and all sorts of other nasty names — and sank back into my own thoughts.

‘Come to think of it… England. What kind of local specialties does England have? I’d like to buy something nice for the Director.’

Once Avan and Jeong Seojin’s fight was over, I thought it might be worth asking them. Jeong Seojin had surprisingly broad knowledge in various fields, and Avan had probably already investigated everything related to me.

“As the saying goes, people have their proper order—”

“Even people who study Confucianism wouldn’t say crap like that—”

Of course, judging by the current state of things, it’d be a long time before I could ask them about English specialties.

I finally pinched both men’s forearms — the ones they were about to clench into fists — and forced a bright smile, lifting the corners of my mouth.

“If you two are going to keep this up, how about you dissolve your master-servant relationship with me first and then fight? If you do that, you can go at it all you want.”

Of course, neither of them responded to my words. As someone who had secretly hoped that even a slip of the tongue would make them say yes, I found it deeply disappointing.

* * *

It took a full four days to go through all the procedures for leaving to England.

One day to pack the essentials and inform the people around me that I’d be abroad for four days, another day to handle the related paperwork.

And two days to coordinate the details of the request and process the commissions I’d left untouched while lying in the hospital room.

“It’s ‘only’ four days. If the British side hadn’t urgently requested this as a matter of great haste, coordinating the request details would have taken ‘at least’ over a month.”

“R-right, I see.”

Come to think of it, Guild Master Kang Mujin was right.

Was it when I was twenty-four? Even at the company I worked for briefly, back when the aftermath of dungeon creation still lingered but at least minimal economic activity had become possible, it was the same. Preparing a single project took a month as a baseline.

After that, Guild Master Kang Mujin repeatedly explained just how hastily this request had been put together — like roasting beans in a lightning strike — and how rude it was for the British government and Adam Rogers to have barged in with a forced breakthrough.