CH 73

Chapter 73

Before Bae Jaemin finished speaking, I put the monocles that I had been hiding in my hands into the inventory. Judging by his gaze on my waistline, he must have noticed that I had accessed the inventory…I was grateful that he chose not to question me about it.

Of course, we both knew that many things were better left unsaid between us…If he were to recognize that the monocle had once belonged to Jung Garam, the damage would be too great to fix.

Besides…

“Ha….? Bae Jaemin?” I saw Jung Garam approaching from behind the Priest.

I quickly looked away from Jung Garam’s location, trying not to look so relieved at the prospect of another ally. His high tone pierced my eardrums clearly, “Why is Bae Jaemin here?”

“…….”

“Actually, more important than that, have you been caught by him? No wonder…you weren’t answering the chat.”

“……”

“If we ambush him right now, do you think we can kill him? Ah, shit. You can’t summon me today, right?”

“……”

“I’m right in front of him, but I can’t lay a hand on him.” Jung Garam lamented regretfully, standing straight in front of Bae Jaemin. I guess now really is the best time for assassination…

However, I’ve already summoned Seo Dawon. And even if I were to call upon the Treasure hunter, with my current capacity, I wouldn’t be able to bring out all of his abilities…It was like a pie in the sky. 1 Jung Garam was also well aware of that fact and did not further complicate the situation by rushing in headfirst.

He just closed his eyes and slowly took deep breaths, muttering soothing words to himself, “Haaa…There’ll be another….opportunity…Fuck. We’ll get another chance, right?”

“…….”

“Ah~ Taking today into account, I’m going to painfully kill him…I’ll use all the torture methods I know.”

Of course, Bae Jaemin heard none of this creepy conversation and took a step closer to me, grabbing the arm that used to hold the monocle. “You hid everything you wanted to hide, right?”

“…….”

Bae Jaemin gave me, who responded only by tensely biting my lips,  an elated look and soon reinforced his grip with his strength. Like that, I followed behind him as if I was dragged along…Bae Jaemin took his eyes off me for a short moment as he focused on unlocking the door with his card–I quickly sent Jung Garam a silent signal.

I looked between him and the painting, attempting to convey to him the need to investigate this painting…

“Hey, Bae Jaemin is looking at you.” Jung Garam stared at Bae Jaemin without bothering to give any attention to my desperation or the object in question. I pointedly glared at the picture, ‘Look. At. That!’ but, my efforts were in vain.

Just please stop staring at Bae Jaemin and check the picture! That’s the [anti-vision] anchor!

“Stop looking at me and turn towards Bae Jaemin. He keeps glancing in my direction.” Jung Garam rebuked me for my shifting focus.

Jung Garam, who frustratingly did not spare a single glance at the anchor, finally stepped inside the suite door. Eventually, I was forced to give up and return my gaze forward…

Damn it, Jung Garam! You’ve sold all your focus to Bae Jaemin!

“What are you doing? Come here.” Bae Jaemin only let go of my arm after the door closed behind us. He walked further inside.

Anxiety gripped my body–my rigid legs followed him at a snail’s pace…After we passed through a short corridor, a spacious and open living room came into view; the room was filled with antique wooden furniture, and an elegant carpet lay plush on the floor…

I took a single hesitant step forward. Bae Jaemin, who placed some cups on the white table near the terrace, turned around and beckoned at me, “Why are you so nervous?”

Despite his beckons, I still moved at a slow pace.

This is a situation where I was reluctantly dragged in through threats and coercion–why wouldn’t I be nervous!… He’s such a bully.

As if he divined my inner turmoils and curses, Bae Jaemin soothingly laughed, “Do you think I’d do anything to hurt you?”

“……”

“Hey now…If I were to kill you, would I have called you into my room? It would be a hassle to clean up.”

…Was that meant to be reassuring?

Maybe that was a threat. I managed to pull the corners of my lips up into a grim smile and replied, “It’s not like that.” I was a bit embarrassed because my denial sounded like a goat’s bleat.

Bae Jaemin, who smiled after hearing my answer, opened the refrigerator door and took out a new water bottle. He poured its contents into a kettle and pressed the power button. “What kind of tea would you want? Green tea? Or, perhaps, coffee?”

“…Green tea, please.”

“I guess you don’t drink coffee often?”

“It’s not exactly like that…”

“Then?”

“Hm? Ah….Um…I only drink Lattes”

“Ah, I don’t have milk.”

“It’s alright…I’m fine.”

Then, the simmering sound of water boiling in the kettle filled the silence that settled between us.

In the meantime, Jung Garam searched the room carefully. After watching the Treasure Hunter enter a room beyond the living room–away from my line of sight–I turned to face Bae Jaemin and his perpetual smile.

“Lee-kyung-ssi, at the Tower of Command…I heard you hired Kim Sangyoon to carry you through the raid for one ingredient?” As if he were waiting for my focus to return, he immediately asked me a question as soon as our eyes met.

‘I knew it–he ran a background check…’

I contemplated what to say, but, because I still couldn’t figure out Bae Jaemin’s motive, I decided to answer frankly. His question served to confirm information he had already discovered rather than to uncover anything new.

“Yes, that’s right.” I nodded calmly.

Bae Jaemin tapped the handle of his teacup with his neatly trimmed fingertips. “It was an item specific to necromancers, right?”

“….Yes.”

“Did you get it?”

“Yes…I got it.”

“Are you satisfied with it?”

Is that also part of probing after some peculiarities in my story?

At my hesitation, Bae Jaemin suddenly burst into laughter. Then he twisted his lips in a slightly despicable manner, “This is just…small talk. I have no particular interest in Necromancers.”

“…….”

The nuance ‘Would I, a priest, truly be curious about a necromancer?’ permeated his every word. I teared up a bit, but I continued to lower my head, thinking better of any rash reaction.

“You needed an ingredient for evolution, correct? It’s not much but…I asked because I was reminded of an old dungeoneering friend. He was an alchemist–he suffered through much hardship to create his golem.”

“Ah…Yes, that’s correct. It was an evolution…ingredient.” I couldn’t understand the point of this meandering conversation, though the subject never strayed far from my affairs.

" "

Without prior warning, he suddenly veered the conversation to Lackey. “By the way…I don’t see the skeleton you always carry around?”

“What?”

“You know, the skeleton that’s about…this high?” He gestured to his waist.

“Ah, Lackey…I briefly left it in my room.”

“Your summon’s name is Lackey?” When I heard Bae Jaemin’s counter-question, I wanted to bite my tongue and take back my reflexive answer.

Damn it! Why did I have to go and say its name…

Bae Jaemin glanced at my face–turning red with embarrassment and regret–and muttered a quiet, “Oh?” This time, he spoke without holding back his soft chuckles. “Pfft…That name…Did Lee-kyung-ssi name it?”

“……”

“Cute.”

At his jeer, I bowed my head and clenched my fist tightly, “I just…impulsively…”

The kettle’s switch turned off automatically when the water finished boiling; Bae Jaemin retrieved it, spooned some ground coffee into my cup, and poured water over it. “Ah, that friend also named the golem something funny…What was it? Kyung-sik’s Livelihood?” He smiled faintly. “I guess everyone names things similarly. Kyung-sik used to put his name in literally everything he made…”

“……”

“Do you have any other summons? What are their names?” He sounded as if he were joking, making casual conversation, but I froze at the references he made.

Is he really talking about Choi Kyung-sik? Red Lotus’s Choi Kyung-sik? He’s just talking about him…so casually like that? After he killed the man by his own machinations?

“Ah, Kyung-sik was my friend’s name. He was an alchemist…” Bae Jaemin said, comfortably, as if he were reminiscing about a close friend.

TL: MC…this is why you don’t follow strange men. That conversation was so uncomfortable but my PR and I were dying.

Footnotes It’s like rice cake in a picture was the original idiom. Pie in the sky is the closest English substitute–aka something pretty to think about/look at, but ultimately unattainable.