Chapter 86

Originally, mages and knights were as incompatible as cats and dogs.

But fortunately, the knights I’d brought seemed to already know the mages from the mage tower.

They’d probably gone into gates together or something like that.

“Phew.”

Luckily, I wouldn’t have to force them to get along.

“So, shall we head up this building that doesn’t seem to have an elevator no matter how I look at it?”

I muttered to myself as soon as we entered the tower, staring at the staircase right in front of us.

This mage tower had an open center, with the stairs spiraling straight up in a circular fashion.

Mages didn’t even train, so how the hell did they climb this thing?

Of course, with B-rank stats, going up wouldn’t be a problem for me.

But even back when I was S-rank, I wouldn’t have wanted to run up twenty floors on foot!

It was just as I clenched my fist and took a step forward.

—Whoosh.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew up from below me.

“Huh?”

The moment I looked down in surprise.

Red mana that reminded me of So Yeri Hunter’s hair lifted my body lightly into the air.

“Wha?!”

What the… what is this?!

I flailed in panic, trying to grab the wall, but the wind wasn’t hostile toward me.

A cool breeze like a gentle zephyr tousled my hair.

And then it began carrying me upward, little by little.

“Oh, don’t tell me the reason the center is wide open is…”

Because there’s an elevator (open-air version)?

I hadn’t known about this.

[6F]

By the time I marveled at it, I was already passing the sixth floor.

“Does this thing carry everyone who comes up here?”

Even assassins or anyone trying to seal So Yeri Hunter’s skills? Would the system kindly guide them up too?

That wouldn’t do.

No, actually, if they came floating up like this, it might make them easier to deal with.

“They can’t grab onto anything until the wind lets them go…”

This body of mine had been top of the class in throwing, earning the phys ed teacher’s love, right?

I was confident I could skewer anyone who came flying in on the wind.

It was right at that moment.

—Whoosh!

Suddenly, the red mana around me vanished.

“Huh?”

Was I seriously about to fall from twenty stories up? It was just as I flashed a benevolent smile.

“Over here!”

So Yeri Hunter’s cheerful voice rang out.

“Ah!”

Over there! I whipped my head around.

And without even realizing the wind had set me down in the twentieth-floor hallway, I stupidly stared off to the side.

Because at the table where So Yeri Hunter was sitting, an unexpected face was sitting there, sipping tea.

“…Shin Jae-heon?”

Shin Jae-heon responded by taking a sip of tea and waving hello.

Seeing his face brought a flood of mixed emotions.

Joy at thinking I wouldn’t see him for a while!

And worry like, Is the Western Empire Emperor out wandering incognito again? Who’s handling work? Is the country really okay?

…

“I was worried.”

That was Shin Jae-heon’s simple answer to my question of what the heck he was doing here.

His gaze shifted to So Yeri Hunter.

“My attack came quickly too, so just in case.”

“Fair enough.”

That made sense. They were on the same hunter team; of course he’d be concerned.

But it was unexpected that he’d come running without a word, so my eyes kept drifting to him.

He could’ve at least said something in the hunter chat.

“…”

Meanwhile, So Yeri Hunter had finished her greetings and was sparkling-eyed over her book.

I knew that expression.

It was her thesis-reading face. The one full of… intense interest.

And at times like that, she usually got so absorbed that she wouldn’t notice if someone poked her in the side.

So I lowered my voice and asked Shin Jae-heon,

“No, but I thought you’d oppose it all the way to the end?”

I was talking about the plan for So Yeri Hunter to get hit with sealing magic.

Shin Jae-heon glanced at her before answering softly,

“The more I heard, the more sense So Yeri Hunter made. Where else could you learn skills as safely as here?”

“…”

Even as we chatted, So Yeri Hunter stayed glued to her book.

She definitely wasn’t hearing a thing!

Confirming that once more, I looked at Shin Jae-heon.

“You too, do you suddenly have this burning thirst for knowledge?”

Enough to think it’s fine to get hit by magic firsthand?

To my surprise, Shin Jae-heon just shrugged at my words.

For real?

I stared at him blankly. Why the hell had this guy awakened as a dealer? Was the system blind?

“Shin Jae-heon Hunter finally understands how I feel.”

That’s when So Yeri Hunter chimed in. She’d apparently torn her eyes away from the book for a moment.

Seizing the opening, I asked,

“So, that guy still hasn’t shown up?”

Both of them shook their heads in unison at my words.

“Nope, not yet.”

Along with So Yeri Hunter’s playful tone, Shin Jae-heon shrugged.

“He’s late. No way he’d know I’m here.”

I pointed at him in disbelief.

“You came with your face out like that and think he doesn’t know?”

Didn’t you get a penalty? At my words, Shin Jae-heon pulled the black hood from his greaves over his head.

“I came like this.”

“Oh…”

I let out a short sound of admiration. But wasn’t the problem that he wasn’t wearing it now?

If that guy popped out and saw the Western Empire Emperor’s face, he’d bolt out the door yelling about RP dungeon penalties, right?

As I stared at him, he took the hood off again. That’s when So Yeri Hunter burst out laughing.

“She says you should put it back on.”

“No, that’s not it.”

I immediately denied it.

Shin Jae-heon’s blue-tinged eyes met mine.

His black hair swayed gently as he tilted his head.

Seeing his face was nice. Really nice…

“I was worried about penalties.”

It was a valid point, but why did it feel so awkward hearing it from him? Like chewing sand. I raised an eyebrow.

Then it hit me that we were on the twentieth floor.

Was he exposing his face freely because it was the top of the tower?

No one could sneak up here…

I got it, but it still made me uneasy.

“But isn’t this place too easy to target?”

Was it really okay to hole up here with no escape route, not knowing when an attack might come?

At my worry, So Yeri Hunter nodded leisurely.

“Yep, yep. It’s fine.”

What confidence!

As I raised my eyebrow, she even started humming.

Our Yuri worries so much~

She hummed that before suddenly grinning mischievously.

“This is how you lure in mages!”

“Pardon?”

Lure them? I blinked, and So Yeri Hunter pressed a finger to her lips like it was a secret.

Shin Jae-heon listened without surprise, like he’d already heard it.

“They don’t know I read about it ahead in the Apocalypse of Destruction.”

“True, but—”

Mid-sentence, I caught on to So Yeri Hunter’s thinking.

Ah.

“So the mage tower lord is going for the ‘calmly focused on research’ concept right now?”

“Exactly!”

So Yeri Hunter giggled. Then she turned back to her book.

It was obviously filled with complex diagrams and text at a glance.

“Whoa.”

That wasn’t an eco-friendly sleeping pill, was it?

I waved my hand and looked away from the book.

Meanwhile, Shin Jae-heon was staring at it with a serious expression.

Confirming So Yeri Hunter was back into her book, I poked Shin Jae-heon.

“Can you read that?”

Shin Jae-heon kept staring at the book without a word, even at my question.

Two seconds after I thought, This guy’s actually support class, isn’t he? he replied.

“Copying it wouldn’t be hard.”

“Oh.”

Of course.

What an enviable skill!

While the two dealers marveled over the huge book, So Yeri Hunter remained engrossed in hers.

It must’ve really been that interesting. Her golden eyes sparkled.

I watched her for a bit before turning back to Shin Jae-heon.

“But seriously, why are you really here?”

Shin Jae-heon parroted the same line like a parrot.

“Someone has to protect So Yeri Hunter until you get here.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“For real, that’s the only reason?”

So Yeri Hunter’s stats weren’t lowered like mine.

He answered a beat late.

“…There are cases like Joo Hunter Yian.”

It seemed to mean preparing for any emergencies. I stared at him at his excuse.

Is that really all?

“Why… are you looking at me like that?”

Under my gaze, he trailed off unusually.

Look at this guy.

I crossed my arms.

“Joo Yian got attacked because it was her first time. But So Yeri Hunter’s a sturdy defense support, and she already knows about the attack. Yet you rush here right after returning to the capital?”

Plus, him suddenly siding with So Yeri Hunter was suspicious.

Above all, when this guy lied, he’d tilt his head slightly while lifting the corner of his mouth like it was nothing.

—Just like that.

Think I wouldn’t notice?

I pointed at his slightly tilted head.

“That’s your lying face.”

Shin Jae-heon froze at my words. Then he said,

“What lying face?”

He raised an eyebrow like it was absurd. I kept pointing.

“This one.”

“…”

Shin Jae-heon stared at me for a long while.

Then he let out a deep sigh, like the ground was caving in.

He was definitely hiding something.

But when he wanted to hide it, he did.

Prying it out would just get me endless deflections; that was his style.

So, in times like this?

I knew the right person to ask about Shin Jae-heon.

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him.

“You don’t have a crush on Yeri unnie or anything, do you? If you do, give it up. I won’t hand her over to a guy like you.”

—Rip!

At that instant, So Yeri Hunter half-tore the book she was reading.

“?”

It was a joke, but she got that startled?

I’d teased her like this once or twice back in Korea too.

“Ahem. Keep talking. I’m enjoying listening… no, watching.”

Listening? As I raised an eyebrow,

“Ha.”

Shin Jae-heon spread his hands in disbelief and asked,

It was prime time for his usual nonsense starting with, ‘I like So Yeri Hunter too, but it’s hard to choose just one when I’m this…’

But instead, he abruptly changed the subject.

“Don’t you have any interest in that Tenchia guy or whatever?”

“Huh?”

I echoed dumbly.

“You said you’d answer later. To his confession.”

“That was because I couldn’t brush it off right there…”

Mid-answer, I furrowed my brow. Wait a sec.

“How do you know about that?”

Right after it happened, I hopped in a carriage and rushed here.

He’d know about Viscount Tenchia confessing since I mentioned it in chat, but I hadn’t said how I’d responded.

Yet the news reached Shin Jae-heon faster than my carriage?

Did he have a faster info network than the carriage? Right beside me?

As I raised an eyebrow,

Shin Jae-heon tilted his head and said,

“Just like you said, you couldn’t brush it off there.”

“W…well, yeah.”

That’d be the normal reaction. I scratched my head.

Anyway, Tenchia or whatever wasn’t the issue.

“Anyway, I’m not interested in him.”

I waved it off. Why was he so invested in other people’s romance all of a sudden?

“I told you. What’s the point of dating in an RP dungeon?”

Shin Jae-heon just stared at me silently.

The moment I thought he was quieter than usual today, he asked abruptly,

“What about in real life, then?”

“Huh?”

“Do you want to date a guy?”