I looked around the chaos that was my office. Sure, there were some parts destroyed due to Sayoon and the girl’s duel, but the inn down below didn’t seem to be in much better shape either.
“Ugh… sniff…”
But what hurt the most was that Sayoon kept crying.
As I patted her head, I glanced over at the safe. The safe I had bought last time was wrecked, and its contents were strewn everywhere.
Even after I confirmed everything, Sayoon still looked confused.
Her face was filled with tears, questions, joy, and confusion.
I patted Sayoon’s head.
At this point, it didn’t feel right to say no.
And now that we had captured all five leaders of the Iron Blood Clan, there was no need to hide anything.
So I confirmed, and Sayoon had no intention of letting go of me.
“Mister… ugh… Mister…”
Not knowing what to say, Sayoon tightly hugged me and cried sadly.
I gently patted her back.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s all over now.”
“Wuuuu… sniff. Mister… Mister…!”
Burrowing her face into my chest, Sayoon quietly said, “I really… missed you…”
“…What are you doing?”
Just then, I heard a voice and looked up. It was Chaejin.
I was sitting on the floor.
Above me, Sayoon clung to me, refusing to let go.
And beside us, a corpse.
Chaejin looked at us with a confused expression and shook her head.
“Phew. Sayoon, I don’t know what happened, but you better…”
“Uuuu…”
Holding onto my clothes tightly, Sayoon wouldn’t let me go. Just then, Chaejin smiled brightly and seemed to gather strength.
“Ah, Miss!!”
Yu-an and Yang Juhui had come upstairs and were shocked to see the girl in the red clothes. Yu-an, looking at the corpse with Sayoon’s sword embedded in it, turned to me and asked.
“W-what happened here?!”
“Uh…”
I looked at her and said, “This is going to be a long story.”
In the wrecked office, I calmly explained everything. How the lady of the enemy clan was a subordinate of the Iron Blood Magician.
That the Iron Blood Magician had assigned her to distract Sayoon to take me down.
After hearing everything, both of their expressions had turned serious.
“…Are you telling me our enemy clan…?”
“Well, I doubt that the clan itself is the problem. And I’m not even sure if that lady is the real deal.”
“…She is indeed our lady.”
“Then we’ll have to investigate the rest. How did she end up teaming up with the Iron Blood Magician? Are there more collaborators? Of course, you couldn’t be ruled out as potential targets either.”
It seemed like quite a shock to realize that the lady they had been serving was actually affiliated with the Iron Blood Clan, which was threatening the world.
As I watched them sitting there lost for words, I turned my gaze outside.
I could see martial artists from the Murim Alliance rushing in from a distance. Looks like they dealt with the minions of Gi Yeonsan.
I was watching them when I let out a sigh.
“Well, everything seems to be over. By the way, outside…”
That’s when I noticed the darkened sky gradually clearing up. It was proof that Dool had been caught.
After seeing that, I spoke up.
“Looks like that side is done too.”
“Yu Seonsaeng!!”
The martial artists from the Murim Alliance came up from below. They looked flustered at the ruined office and asked me.
“What on earth happened here?”
Having to repeat the same story twice was ridiculous.
But since they were curious, I couldn’t just ignore it.
I explained the situation to them, and they nodded with hesitant expressions before heading out to bring the remnants of the enemy clan to the Murim Alliance.
Whether they understood or not, an investigation had to be conducted.
Perhaps the enemy clan would also become the subject of inquiry by the Murim Alliance.
But hey, that wasn’t my concern.
The important thing was that we had caught all the members of the Iron Blood Clan.
Of course, just because we caught the Iron Blood Clan didn’t mean we could say, “Wow! It’s all over!”
It was true that other enemies of the protagonists were still trying to threaten the Empire.
There were still demonic sects around, and evil monsters were not completely gone either.
But that wasn’t really an issue.
The most important threats had been dealt with.
I looked at those who were rushing in from afar.
They were members of the Hongseong. Though they looked hurt and exhausted, there was a glimmer of hope among them.
Yeah. Hope.
Having defeated their biggest enemy, the Iron Blood Clan, all that was left for them was a hope for the future.
I noticed Sayoon, clutching my clothing tightly and not intending to let go.
“It seems you have a lot of questions for me.”
She nodded.
Though she wasn’t crying like earlier, she was blushing and couldn’t quite meet my gaze as she nodded her head slightly.
“I really do have a lot.”
“That’s understandable. But let’s put that on hold for now. It doesn’t seem like I’ve got my thoughts sorted out enough to talk about it.”
“No…”
“I’m not going to run away or hide. And I’ll answer everything you’re curious about. But wouldn’t it be better to stay calm? You wouldn’t want to make mistakes in excitement, right?”
Sayoon hesitated but then slightly nodded. It seemed she was aware that she was quite worked up.
Good to know we could talk.
I patted her head. Her soft and warm hair wrapped around my fingers as she gently closed her eyes.
As I smiled at her, accepting my touch, a hurried voice called out from behind.
When I smiled at her, who was happily accepting my touch, an urgent voice echoed from behind.
“…No. How did this happen?”
“What’s going on?!”
It seemed that the Sword Saint and Hongryeon were confused by the fact that the inn was completely wrecked when they returned after fighting outside.
I began to tell them the same story again as I looked at them.
Even though it was the third time, it didn’t really feel burdensome.
“…So.”
The Sword Saint looked at me with a slight frown.
“Are you saying you did this expecting the Iron-Blooded Phenomenon to come after you?”
“That’s right.”
“How can you be so reckless?!”
The Sword Saint looked pretty angry. But sometimes, you have to do reckless things.
“If that guy had tried to kidnap you without using the Unawakened Great Art…”
“I have the Flame Priestess with me. Plus, with the Iron-Blooded Phenomenon’s level, it wouldn’t have been easy for them to take me out of here. And…”
I casually remarked towards the fuming Sword Saint and Hongryeon.
“It all worked out, didn’t it?”
“That’s just hindsight.”
“The result is what matters.”
“And that result has left the inn in this state?”
Well, the inn could be rebuilt. It’s not like I am short on cash or anything.
“No, that’s not the issue… Huh. Fine. I’m just glad you’re safe. Honestly, do you know how shocked I was to see the state of the inn from afar?”
The Sword Saint gently held my hand. Then she looked at me with moist eyes and gave a faint smile.
“But from now on, you won’t have to worry about such things anymore. I’m here.”
“…Um, Master? Can you let go of my hand while you talk?”
“You’re right.”
The two voices from behind made the Sword Saint frown slightly. But she slowly released my hand.
“Let’s talk again once things settle down a bit.”
“Hmm. Let’s do that. By the way, you must’ve had a hard time, so how about you go back and rest instead of staying here?”
The Sword Saint was probably tired, just like Hongryeon. It would be better to rest a bit first before continuing our conversation.
They stared at me for a moment and then stood up. Then they called over Sayoon, who didn’t plan on leaving my side.
“Come on, you too.”
“Yeah. Yu Wol should rest as well.”
“…Yes.”
Only after the Sword Saint and Hongryeon spoke did Sayoon finally release me.
However, her gaze was still fixed on me.
“We can meet again, right? Yes?”
“Of course.”
She seemed worried that I might run away or disappear. Sayoon kept glancing at me as she left, and I sat down on the long chair in the office, chewing on my connection.
“…So. What are you planning to do now?”
“What are you planning to do?”
Well…
First of all,
“Shouldn’t we rebuild the inn first?”
-THUD!!
The eaves of the tilted second floor suddenly came crashing down. I glanced at it and scratched my cheek.
“Since there’s nowhere for Chaejin to stay, we should return to Moonjeong first…”
“Why isn’t there anywhere to stay?”
Chaejin stepped closer to me.
She gently took my hand and slowly brought it to her face.
As she rubbed my hand against her cheek, she smiled like she was melting.
“Your side is where I should be.”
“Uh. Um.”
“…And I have something to say too.”
“But there’s no place to stay.”
“But there’s the garden. We can just stay there for a while.”
The garden we stayed in was partially destroyed by Gi Yeonsan’s attack, but the remaining one was fine as it hadn’t been attacked.
She clasped my hands together and said.
“From now on, we’ll be together all the time.”
Following her words, we decided to move our office to the garden. After moving everything that was intact and paying compensation to the guests staying at the inn, we decided to temporarily suspend the inn’s operations.
The innkeeper and Jeomsoi who worked at the inn were disappointed, but how could we run a business in this mess?
So, we left only a few people to stay in the garden and gave everyone a long vacation. Of course, it was paid leave.
“Do we have a lot of money?”
Yohwan said, looking incredulous, but what could I do? They had worked hard with me until now; I couldn’t just abandon them.
And if we rebuilt the inn, they would have to work again anyway.
“Then I’ll take that room.”
There were a total of three rooms in the garden. When Yohwan went into one, I headed towards the garden.
First, should I think about what I need to do?
As I sat on the long bench in the garden, contemplating my tasks ahead, I felt a presence behind me and turned my head.
But before that, a long arm hugged me from behind.
A pleasant scent tickled my nose.
It was Chaejin.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
If I had a tail, it would be wagging. Chaejin smiled kindly, resting her head on my shoulder, then asked in her bright tone.
“Well, just thinking about what I need to do?”
“What do you need to do in the future…?”
After a moment of thought, Chaejin leaned in so close her breath brushed against my face and asked.
“…Something like marriage?”
I glanced at her. Facing the expectation in her eyes, I thought to myself.
That too.
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