Chapter 305. The Saint of the Empire (6)
When Cha Si-Eun left the flower garden, the two shadows watching her followed. They spoke in hushed tones.
“If my eyes haven’t deceived me, I think that was Seo Jun-Ho.”
“That’s right. I heard that he was in Dustang even up until a few weeks ago. I don’t know why he’s here.”
“…Anyway, now we have more things to pay attention to,” one of them muttered. His partner looked amused.
“You’re not worried about him, are you?”
“Bullshit. Carrying out the client’s orders is our first priority. There’s no need to put ourselves in danger.”
“Hmph. That sounds boring, but you’re right.”
As soon as they entered the building, Seo Jun-Ho slowly opened his eyes. He was still sitting alone on the bench in the garden. “Hm.”
He felt someone watching them when he was talking with the Saintess. They didn’t seem to have any malicious or murderous intent, so he let them be. However, they disappeared along with the Saintess.
‘That means they’re watching the Saintess, not me.’
He eavesdropped just in case, and their words confirmed that he wasn’t the one being watched.
‘They probably didn’t know that I could overhear their conversation from this distance.’
Right now, Seo Jun-Ho’s senses were sharpened thanks to the effects of Hunter’s Night. On top of that, his senses had improved after his body transformation, so listening to a conversation from dozens of meters away wasn’t very hard.
“They said that their first priority is to carry out their client’s orders…” His eyes furrowed a little. This was the creed favored by contract Players who killed for money.
“But something is strange. They would not have been able to get past the Count’s estate guards so easily,” the Frost Queen said.
“…What if they’re not outsiders?” Seo Jun-Ho suggested. Count Evian had told him that there were currently four Players at his estate. Two of them were him and the Saintess, of course, and the other two were Players from Silver Constellation who came to assist her.
“…If that is the case, something is wrong. Very wrong,” the Frost Queen said.
“Right?”
The Saintess that he had been speaking to just a few moments ago was being targeted by someone. However, when Seo Jun-Ho realized this, he actually felt somewhat relieved instead of uneasy.
“I wanted to pay her back for what she has done for me. Seems like I might be able to do that sooner than expected.”
Seo Jun-Ho stood and returned to his room. As he did, the magic power in his body unraveled like a spool of string, enveloping the entire estate with each thread. He did this inconspicuously so that no one would notice.
***
Cha Si-Eun collapsed onto her bed when she returned to her room. She stared blankly at the window, where the moonlight was peeking in.
“…I wanted to say so many things to him when we met again,” she muttered. She wanted to tell him that she was worried when he left all of a sudden. She wanted to tell him off for not being able to recognize her even after hearing her voice twice. She wanted to ask him why his hair was long and if he had fully recovered by now.
‘I bet he’ll be shocked when he finds out I’m the Saintess.’
She could clearly picture his shocked face, demanding how this was possible. She wanted to see that face when they met again, but to her, his appearance was too sudden.
‘I swear I’ll tell him tomorrow…’
She felt disappointed in multiple ways.
Just as she was about to change into her pajamas, she received a message. She nonchalantly checked the sender’s name, and the look in her eyes instantly changed when she saw the message.
“The information guild!” She jumped up from her bed with her heart pounding.
A few months ago, she had spent the tens of thousands of dollars she had been saving saved until then and commissioned an information guild. Their results had finally arrived.
She chewed her lower lip a bit.
‘…I don’t want to remember it.’
However, she had to remember it for the same reasons. After all, this was the incident that made the Schumern Saintess retire.
Cha Si-Eun slowly closed her eyes. It had already been a long time, but she could still clearly picture that face.
‘Hye-Joo unnie.’
She was like a real sister to her. She was a resolute and courageous woman with a mysterious charisma that attracted people. Cha Si-Eun was naive when she first came up to the 2nd floor, and she had fallen for all kinds of scams. At the time, she was constantly on edge. Cheon Hye-Joo was the one who healed her scars with her unique manner of speech and her warm smile.
They lived together in an underground basement apartment. They were a shabby duo who were too embarrassed to even tell others that they were a party. But every night, they would talk about their dreams of becoming a top-notch party or founding a Guild second to only the Big 6.
Cha Si-Eun both envied her and idolized her. Though she was good at doing whatever was assigned to her, people had always told Cha Si-Eun that she was bad at expressing her emotions. In her eyes, Cheon Hye-Joo was like a protagonist in a fairy tale, a superhuman who could achieve anything and everything.
‘But she wasn’t…’
One day, she told Si-Eun that she had to take care of something quick, but she returned on the brink of death. No matter how much Cha Si-Eun poured her skill into her, she showed no signs of recovering.
‘She didn’t receive those injuries from a monster. There’s no way.’
She had healed hundreds of people; of course, she could recognize the many types of injuries. Cheon Hye-Joo was stabbed by a sharp dagger; she didn’t get injured by a monster’s claws. Moreover, she was poisoned.
However, Cheon Hye-Joo herself told her that she had been attacked by a monster after pushing herself too hard.
‘…I lost my mind and ran around like crazy, asking people for a medicine that was good for poison.’
She contacted Players, Guilds, and nobles whom the two of them assisted often. She sent out a message to every single one of them and even sought them out in person if they were nearby.
Cha Si-Eun gripped her blanket as she trembled in rage while recalling those times.
No one—not a single person—helped her.
‘Those liars.’
Kim Tae-Soo, a leader of his own party always blabbed about how he would repay her for the things she had done for him.
Adrian, a rising star at the time …
The city lord, who had invited her to dine together several times before to thank her for voluntarily treating the citizens.
Countless others turned her away, no matter how much she begged.
“…”
Back then, she found it impossible. She felt as if the world was playing a trick on her.
However, when she returned home, completely dejected, there was someone waiting at the door.
‘I’m grateful for him.’
It took some time for the news to reach President Shim Deok-Gu, and when it did, he scraped together some medicine and sent over a person.
Cha Si-Eun bowed several times and quickly went to treat Cheon Hye-Joo, but at that point, it was too late.
”…Phew.”
It had been a while since she recalled the past. Cha Si-Eun closed her bloodshot eyes. Her unnie was like a gorgeous flower, constantly surrounded by others, but just like that, she died forsakenly in a damp basement.
“Hup, haa…” Cha Si-Eun eased her breath. After taking a few breaths, she managed to find the courage to face the past.
‘Jun-Ho-nim, I’ll be strong.’
She would walk straight down the path of believing in herself just like he had told her. She opened the file with a trembling hand and slowly started to read its contents. The more she read, the colder her eyes became.
“…Inventory.”
A file folder appeared in her hand. When she worked with Silver Constellation during the Blackfield incident, she had asked for these documents instead of monetary payment.
‘Because I thought that the Big 6 would have better information than most information guilds.’
But from her memories, the files she had received from Silver Constellation before were slightly different from the ones she had received just now.
‘That’s why I secretly commissioned another information guild…’
After comparing the two, she became sure of it.
She looked coldly at the door and bit her lower lip.
‘…I think I understand why Unnie told me off.’
She thought she finally knew why Cheon Hye-Joo wouldn’t reveal who injured her.
Silver Constellation was a renowned Guild back then, and they were still a celebrated Guild even now. And the top Guild was involved in the incident.
‘I have to leave.’
She started packing her bags in a hurry. With the Big 6’s capabilities, they had to be watching her every move. The two people assigned to her weren’t here to assist her; they were here to watch her. She was sure of it.
“Huppp, haaa.”
She had no time to say goodbye to Count Evian.
‘I have to go to Earth.’
The safest home she could think of was the Korean Player Association. She had connections there, and the Big 6 wouldn’t be able to follow her recklessly. On the 2nd floor, it wasn’t very hard to kill someone and cover it up.
When she snuck out of the apartment, two shadows naturally followed her.
“…They’re moving faster than I expected.”
After the two figures left, one more cold shadow lifted its head.
***
“I want to go to Gilleon.” Cha Si-Eun arrived at the Teleport Gate and quickly held out the fare and her ID.
However, the mage in charge observed her closely and shook their head. “Your ID is too old. If you want to it reissued, please come back tomorrow.”
“What? I used it to come here just a few days—” She shut her mouth, cutting herself off.
The mage was staring at the ground, but she sensed from the look in their eyes that the wheels had started turning.
‘Silver Constellation…They’re this powerful?’
To think that they could even block her from using the empire’s Teleport Gates. However, the Guild had always been the nobles’ and the Church’s dog, so this was to be expected.
She chided her own stupidity and snatched up her money and her ID before she left the building.
‘If I can’t use the Teleport Gate…’
The best option would be to hire a Player with a teleportation Skill. However, it wasn’t like they would just fall from the sky.
‘A carriage is dangerous, too.’
They had bribed the mage in charge of the Gate, so they could easily bribe a single coachman. She wouldn’t be surprised if Silver Constellation had bribed the entire town.
She swiftly ran over to the West Gate and stepped out.
‘There’s a river in the west. There should be fishing boats out at this time.’
Evian’s territory had a giant river that couldn’t be crossed by human means. If she got lucky and managed to get a boat, it would be easy to escape the two people keeping tabs on her.
Thankfully, there were several fishing boats anchored at the boat. She approached the fishermen and held up her money pouch.
“Let me buy those boats. I’ll pay you ten gold for each.” That was 10,000 dollars for one fishing boat made of splintered wood. The fishermen’s eyes grew wide, and they nodded.
Cha Si-Eun bought all of their boats and flipped all of them over to sink them, except for one. Then, she climbed onto the one remaining boat and raised the sail.
‘Now they won’t be able to follow me so easily.’
The sail was pulled taut by the night wind, which pushed the boat forward. She let out a sigh of relief as she watched the fishermen grow smaller and smaller.
Woosh!
The wind started to blow harder.
“Kyaa!”
Realizing that something was wrong, Cha Si-Eun immediately looked up at the sail.
The wind forced the current backward, and the boat started to move in the opposite direction at an incredible speed.
