Chapter 61

Upon seeing the newly updated quest information, Jun-sang couldn’t help but frown. The rather clichéd name, “Forces of Darkness,” aside, unlike previous cooperative quests, he was currently alone. While he was confident he wouldn’t lose in a one-on-one fight against most opponents, if the adversary was an organization called an “army,” the situation would likely unfold differently from any quest he’d encountered so far.

“Hmm…”

As Jun-sang’s face furrowed, Henes asked cautiously, “Does… the reward displease you?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“But…”

“…”

Jun-sang raised a hand to stop Henes’s continuing words, then thought for a moment longer before quietly asking, “Henes.”

“Yes.”

“How large is the army here?”

“What?” Henes, who had been holding her breath, worried that he was upset about the reward, was startled by his sudden question. “Army?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that… I’m not really sure…” Henes mumbled, looking troubled. Jun-sang asked again, “Is there anyone who would know?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps my father might…” Henes replied hesitantly. Jun-sang finally understood the causal relationship of this quest. Henes’s escort had been a mechanism from the beginning to create a connection with her father. Considering the situation when they first met, if he had found a carriage and traveled that way, it was highly likely that by the time he reached here, the battle would already be underway or on the verge of breaking out. This meant that, originally, Henes’s escort might have ended with a breakthrough into the city. If that had happened, Jun-sang’s sheer power would have left a strong impression without the need for persuasion, and he would have easily gained support from Henes and her father in the ensuing battle. In the end, arriving too early had messed up the intended sequence of events.

“Troublesome.”

However, it wasn’t entirely bad. Arriving early meant he could prepare in advance. Although no hidden quests had appeared yet, considering the previous village defense, he could easily deduce that the less damage taken, the higher the evaluation would be. After a brief consideration, Jun-sang stood up and told Henes, “Lead the way.”

“What?” Henes looked bewildered by Jun-sang’s abrupt statement but quickly pieced together the situation and realized he meant he wanted to meet her father. “You want to meet my father?”

“Yes.”

With his firm reply, Henes understood that this was “necessary” for Jun-sang. The moment she realized this, Henes immediately stood up and replied, “Alright. Follow me.”

“…”

Jun-sang followed Henes to her father’s study. As Henes opened the door and entered, her father, who had been tapping his desk with a displeased expression, frowned deeply upon seeing the two of them enter the study together.

“What is it?”

A hostile tone immediately flew at them. Henes approached her father with a troubled expression. “Father, I’ve already explained everything, yet you’re still like this.”

“That wasn’t directed at you, stand back.”

“Father!”

“Hmph!”

He tried to assert his paternal authority with a stern voice, but Henes, putting both hands on her hips, threatened him instead. “If you keep this up, I’ll get angry!”

“Oh…” Raising a daughter is useless, they say… Henes’s father was utterly defeated. Taking advantage of his discomfiture, Henes pulled his arm, made him sit on the sofa, and then brought Jun-sang to sit beside him. She quickly took the seat next to Jun-sang and then abruptly told her father, “Father, Mr. Park has something to say, so please listen.”

Mr. Park…? Jun-sang knew that in foreign countries, it was often impolite to address someone by their given name unless explicitly permitted, so it was common to use their surname or title. Henes calling him “Mr. Park” was likely in that vein, but Jun-sang felt as if he was being treated like a servant and was not pleased. So he said, “Call me Jun-sang.”

“What?”

“Call me by my name.”

“Oh…” Henes, unaware of the underlying reason, took this as a sign and blushed. Naturally, seeing his gently raised daughter sitting so close to a man, her face flushed, her father’s stomach churned again.

“Ugh… Alright, what do you want to say?” He spoke, thinking it best to hear him out quickly and get him to leave. Jun-sang then replied, “In about three days, this city will be attacked by the enemy.”

“…”

Not only Henes but also her father’s face stiffened the moment they heard that. Good heavens. He had thought something unusual was happening, but this? Henes’s father was equally surprised. He had heard that the world was quite chaotic with various incidents, but what was this sudden news? Henes’s father looked Jun-sang directly in the eyes for a moment. Jun-sang’s gaze was cold and serious, as if he had no intention of joking. After exchanging glances with Jun-sang for a while in a probing manner, Henes’s father suddenly said, “Now that I think about it… we haven’t properly introduced ourselves. I am Jester Balan Brea. If I may be so bold, I am one of those involved in the internal affairs of Iberia.”

Jun-sang didn’t realize it, but the Brea family, to which Henes belonged, was a traditional influential clan in Iberia, wielding even greater power over local affairs than the magistrates dispatched from the central government. Effectively, about a third of Iberia’s population was closely connected to the Brea family in some way, and it was no exaggeration to say that most citizens were related through two or three degrees of kinship. Moreover, over half of the agricultural land belonging to Iberia was owned by the Brea family or its branch families, and even the shops within the city walls were connected to the Brea name in some way. One could say they were the de facto rulers of Iberia. However, Jun-sang, unaware of this, accepted the introduction indifferently and then introduced himself.

“Park Jun-sang.”

“…”

For a moment, Henes instinctively covered her forehead, and her father, Jester, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Hmph… An unfamiliar name. Could you perhaps tell me about your family?”

Family, huh… Jun-sang chuckled and replied, “The Park clan were originally royalty of the millennium kingdom of Silla. Our clan seat is Miryang. Our progenitor is Park Hyeokgeose. Our mid-generation progenitor is the 30th descendant, and from the progenitor, I am the 75th descendant.”

“…”

Both father and daughter were startled again. “Y-you were royalty?” Henes asked, surprised. Jun-sang replied nonchalantly, “No need to mind it. It’s not an easy place to find from here anyway.”

“Ahem…” It wasn’t a lie. The Miryang Park clan originated from Silla royalty, and it was undeniably the main branch of all Park clans. Of course, for Jun-sang, family status didn’t matter, but when Jester, Henes’s father, showed signs of trying to exert dominance through lineage, he merely recited his genealogy. After all, among Koreans, how many families wouldn’t be considered prestigious if traced back through their genealogy? It might be exposed later by other travelers, but that was a future concern anyway.

“…”

Jester stared at Jun-sang. Could it be true? No matter how much he thought about it, he had never heard of a country named Silla, nor had he ever heard the surname Park. But to simply dismiss it as a lie… Henes had told him about Jun-sang’s mysterious abilities, and even his attire was utterly unfamiliar. “Do you perhaps… have anything that could prove your identity?”

“…”

Jun-sang frowned for a moment, then took out his cabinet from his inventory. From it, he pulled out his wallet, which he had placed inside to protect it during combat, and showed them its contents. First, he pulled out 10,000 won and 50,000 won banknotes. “This is money from where I lived.”

“Ohh…” Both father and daughter admired the banknotes with their intricate designs. But Jun-sang didn’t stop there.

“Open Will-o’-the-Wisp.”

As the command left his lips, a small ball of fire appeared before their eyes.

“Th-this… Is it a spirit?”

“You know about spirits?” Jun-sang asked. Jester nodded and replied, “I remember vaguely hearing a legend in my childhood about spirit weavers existing in Agalahan’s Forest. Back then, I just thought it was a fairy tale.” He didn’t realize it himself, but Jester had naturally started speaking respectfully to Jun-sang. Jun-sang nodded at Jester and said again, “Hold the money up to the light.”

“…”

Following Jun-sang’s words, both father and daughter picked up the banknotes and held them up to the floating will-o’-the-wisp, gasping in surprise. A human face magically appeared within them. “Have you ever seen an item like this before?”

“…”

Of course not. This place did not yet possess the technology to create such intricate banknotes. Jun-sang silently held out an identification card towards Jester, who was still staring at the banknotes in his hand. “As proof of identity… this should suffice.”

“…”

What Jun-sang pulled out were his resident registration card, driver’s license, and student ID. Both father and daughter gazed as if mesmerized at the three identification cards, made of an unknown material, with Jun-sang’s face intricately printed on them. These, too, were items they had never seen before.

“Do you believe me now?”

As Jun-sang put the ID cards and banknotes back into his wallet, Jester lightly cleared his throat and asked again, “However, I have never heard of a country named Silla.”

“That’s natural.”

“What?”

“Because it’s not a country that exists here.”

“What do you mean…” Jun-sang put his cabinet back into his inventory and said nonchalantly, “I came from another world.”

“…”

Henes looked like she finally understood upon hearing that. All the strange items and Jun-sang’s unfamiliar behavior, which seemed out of place here, suddenly made sense.

“Hmm…” However, Jester, who had no such experiences, frowned and pondered for a moment before asking Jun-sang again, “These are truly unbelievable things. Very well. But even if I believe everything you’ve said so far, how do you know there will be an enemy attack in three days?” Jun-sang answered simply, “Just because.”

“…”

Suddenly, a vein pulsed on Jester’s forehead, and Henes, who was watching, quickly intervened. “Mr. Jun-sang has the ability to know such things in advance!”

“What do you mean?” At her father’s question, Henes scratched her cheek and answered as best as she could recall. “Like… precognition, perhaps. No, it’s a bit different from that… it’s more like an ability to know in advance when someone is in trouble…” Even to herself, she felt she was rambling, but Jester listened to his daughter and asked Jun-sang, “Is that true?”

“Of course.”

At his confident reply, Jester asked again, “Can you prove it?” Jun-sang immediately looked at Henes and said, “Henes.”

“Yes?”

“Write this down.”

“J-just a moment.” Henes quickly got up, went to her father’s desk, and returned to Jun-sang’s side with paper, a pen, and ink. “Tell me.” Once Henes was ready, Jun-sang quietly recited names from the sub-quest list that appeared in his left vision. “Bers, Hoen, Barendil, Mia…”

“…”

Suddenly, names flowed from Jun-sang’s mouth. Jester wondered what was going on, but seeing Henes seriously writing them down, he decided to just watch. Jun-sang recited the names once, then repeated them again, and asked Henes, “Did you write them all?”

“Yes!”

“Then go verify them.”

“Yes, leave it to me!”

Seeing his daughter quickly jump up and run outside, Jester quickly called her back. “Henes, those names just now…”

“Oh… they’re people who need help.”

“What?” Henes grinned and clearly told her father, “This is a list of people in Iberia right now who need help.”

“…”

Jester looked at Jun-sang with an incredulous expression. And Jun-sang accepted his gaze as a matter of course. While the two men exchanged glances, Henes quickly ran outside and mobilized maids and servants to gather the people listed on the paper. As mentioned before, the Brea family had such influence that one could say almost everyone in Iberia was known to them through one or two degrees of separation. Because of this, it wasn’t long after the maids and servants rushed into the city that the people on the list began to gather at the Brea family mansion. Henes gathered them and said, “Ask us for a favor. Then it will be granted.”

Seeing that scene, Jester could no longer disbelieve Jun-sang’s words. “Is it really true… that this place will be attacked in three days?” Jun-sang replied, sounding annoyed at Jester’s repeated question, “You’ll find out in three days.”