Chapter 106

Finally, the food began to arrive. Heness, who had been captivated by the view outside the window, gracefully took her seat at the table as the dishes were served. However, upon seeing more than ten knives, forks, and spoons meticulously laid out, her eyes widened again. The orderly arrangement suggested a specific sequence or etiquette, but having no way to know it, Heness furtively glanced between Jun-sang and Seo-yoon, hesitating.

Seo-yoon, noticing her predicament, smiled slightly and said, “Don’t worry about it, just eat comfortably.”

“Can… I really?” Heness asked cautiously, and Seo-yoon nodded, replying, “It’s natural for table settings to change just by crossing a mountain, let alone for someone from another world. We can’t impose our dining etiquette on you. In fact, this table etiquette has only been formalized for a mere one or two hundred years, and no one knows what it will look like after another such period. Don’t worry about it and just enjoy your meal.”

“Thank you for your words.” Heness smiled in response to Seo-yoon’s kind words, then subtly glanced at Jun-sang, who was quietly savoring his own meal with an expressionless face. He’s not like this when it’s just the two of us, but when someone else is around, he turns into a block of wood. Heness pouted as the thought crossed her mind and scooped some soup into her mouth.

The meal that followed was very satisfying. Leaving Heness, who was utterly enchanted by the sweet and soft texture of the pudding for dessert and constantly exclaiming in delight, the two men cautiously resumed their conversation.

“Are you… going to execute it immediately?” Seo-yoon asked. Jun-sang shook his head. “I should give them time to prepare. I don’t want to hear excuses about being defeated by a surprise attack.”

“…” Where does this endless confidence come from? Of course, it might be natural for someone who single-handedly slaughtered an army of over ten thousand darkness creatures, but even knowing that, Seo-yoon couldn’t help but be astonished.

“Then… for today, please stay here. I will arrange a room for you.”

“Whatever.”

Jun-sang’s response, implying “do as you please,” left Seo-yoon with no choice but to force a wry smile internally. After finishing the meal and standing up, Seo-yoon settled the bill first, then arranged for a suite.

“I’ve booked a room on an upper floor, so just mention my name when you check in, and they’ll guide you.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll bring the car catalog tomorrow.”

“Do so.”

Jun-sang led Heness into a secluded corridor and unsummoned her. Although she claimed to be an adult who had undergone her coming-of-age ceremony, she had no identification to prove it, and by all appearances, she still looked like a teenager. Taking her into a hotel might immediately summon the police.

Seo-yoon looked at Jun-sang with a questioning expression when he emerged from the corridor alone. “She…”

“I had some business to attend to.”

“Ah, yes…”

Something felt fishy, but he couldn’t directly ask, which was awkward. In any case, Im Seo-yoon escorted Jun-sang to the hotel entrance and only turned to leave after seeing a staff member guide him.

“Phew…” Although Jun-sang was certainly a VIP customer, it wasn’t as if Seo-yoon was his personal secretary, trailing behind him. As Seo-yoon walked towards the parking lot, recalling this thought, he suddenly realized that Jun-sang had been speaking informally to him the entire day. Just recently, when they traded the container house and gold bars, they had used polite language with each other.

“Huh…” Seo-yoon finally realized this and couldn’t help but wear another look of exasperation. It was so natural that the fact he hadn’t even noticed being spoken down to was more shocking. Can informal speech be that natural?

Seo-yoon shook his head and descended into the parking lot. As he walked towards his car, he spotted the Humvee forlornly abandoned in a corner and sighed deeply once more. “I’ll have to send someone to retrieve that later.”

Around the time Seo-yoon got into his car and started the engine, Jun-sang was already inside the royal suite. As the staff member quietly closed the door and left, Jun-sang first double-checked the lock, then summoned Heness. Heness’s eyes widened at the sophisticated interior, which couldn’t even be compared to the container house or love motel. She walked to the window, opened the gently rustling curtains, and the panoramic view of the lake came into full view.

“Wow…” Jun-sang spoke to the exclaiming Heness. “Do you like it?”

“Yes!”

“That’s good.”

As Jun-sang settled onto the sofa, Heness quickly approached and sat clinging to him, asking cautiously, “Are you going to… fight again?”

“…” Jun-sang gazed quietly at her worried face. “Do you dislike it?”

“…” Heness nodded silently. She disliked the fact that Jun-sang, who was unwillingly summoned to another world and constantly engaged in bloody battles with powerful enemies there, was now planning to fight even in this world. But Jun-sang quietly brushed back Heness’s flowing brown hair and said, “I don’t like fighting like this either.”

“Then…”

“However, sometimes showing your strength can be a way to avoid a fight.”

“…” Heness was not foolish. No, she was rather a clever young lady who could boast of being intelligent among her peers. Therefore, she immediately understood what Jun-sang was trying to say, but there are often times in the world when the heart cannot accept what the mind understands. When Heness bowed her head with a gloomy expression, Jun-sang stroked her head once more and said, “You must be tired, so wash up first. Then change your clothes and let’s go downstairs to watch a movie.”

“A movie?”

“Yes. You’ve seen it on TV, right? A movie theater.”

“Yes.” She had seen it, mostly in scenes where couples went on dates. Heness quickly got up and rushed to the bathroom.

Jun-sang watched her, then picked up the phone receiver next to the sofa as it rang. “What is it?”

“Mr. Im Seo-yoon has sent documents. May I bring them to your room?”

“Bring them up.”

It seemed he had already returned to his hideout. Aside from the fact that he was constantly trying to scheme, his work ethic was to Jun-sang’s liking. After a short wait, he heard a presence outside. Opening the door, a staff member greeted him and handed him a document envelope.

“Thank you for your trouble.”

“Not at all.”

Jun-sang took the documents, closed the door again, and checked the contents. Inside, it was filled with information such as the location and structure of the building the Alliance used as its headquarters, and the location and structure of the building where Kim Jong-kyung’s office was located. It was quite detailed and thorough for something prepared in such a short time, making him wonder if they had been investigating it beforehand. While he couldn’t know the exact power dynamics, judging solely by the fact that his whereabouts were revealed during Im Seo-yoon’s background check, it wasn’t difficult to infer that there had been a rivalry between the two families.

Could all of this be Im Seo-yoon’s own doing? But Jun-sang quickly dismissed that suspicion from his mind. Kim Jong-kyung, who didn’t properly know about his dramatically transformed self, might be an exception, but Im Seo-yoon was one of the few who had directly witnessed some part of his true power.

“…” As he silently looked at the documents, Heness, having finished her shower, came out of the bathroom wearing a gown.

“Are you done already? Didn’t you take your time?”

“It’s fine. Please give me some clothes quickly.”

“Alright.”

Jun-sang reached for the clothes, then realized something with a start. He had belatedly remembered that all his new clothes were in the closet of the container house.

“Oh no…” Distraught, Jun-sang took out a cabinet, pulled out a few spare clothes of his own, and said, “Wear these for now. I’ll buy you new clothes when we go out.”

“Yes!” Jun-sang said this with an apologetic expression, but Heness smiled happily instead. She somehow remembered wearing Jun-sang’s clothes when she first arrived here.

As Heness roughly put on the clothes, Jun-sang roughly bundled up the clothes she had taken off and put them into the cabinet. Then, he unsummoned her and headed downstairs to the shopping mall. On the deserted staircase, Jun-sang re-summoned Heness and, together with her, browsed the shopping mall for clothes. Jun-sang, having finally come to a place where he could buy high-end clothing, wanted to buy her prettier and more beautiful clothes, but Heness finished her shopping by buying two bright and soft-colored dresses.

“Will that be enough?”

“It’s plenty.”

The two then immediately went into the theater and watched a movie. Heness had subtly intended to create a romantic atmosphere, taking advantage of finally being in a dark place, but unfortunately, she could not achieve her goal. The movie she had casually picked happened to be an action film made in Hollywood. Heness, swayed by the constant explosions and overwhelming visuals, didn’t even get a chance to set the mood.

“Hmph…” Heness sighed again as they left the movie theater.

“Why? Was it not fun?”

“No, it’s not that. Hmph…”

“…” Jun-sang shrugged and didn’t ask further. The two went out onto the street and headed towards the lakeside. And they looked at the city sky, where the sunset had already begun.

“Jun-sang.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll go back in now.”

“Alright.”

Heness approached Jun-sang and, placing her hand gently on his chest, said, “If you ever get into danger… please, please call me. It won’t be much help, but…”

Jun-sang stroked her head and quietly replied, “Don’t worry.”

“…” As Heness quietly closed her eyes, Jun-sang finally released her summon. And then, he wrapped himself in the Cloak of Grunwald stored in his Inventory and disappeared into the darkness.

The first place he reappeared near was Kim Jong-kyung’s parliamentary office. Bodyguards in black suits, presumably having been alerted, were stationed around the office, but Kim Jong-kyung and his son Kim Sung-jin were nowhere to be seen in Jun-sang’s sight as he infiltrated via Phase Shift.

“Hmm…” Jun-sang approached a young man pacing nervously inside the office and grabbed his neck.

“Hee-eok!” The man gasped, startled by Jun-sang suddenly appearing from the darkness and grabbing his neck.

“Quiet.”

“…” As Jun-sang’s words escaped his lips, the man quickly nodded vigorously.

“Kim Jong-kyung?”

“H-he went to the Alliance headquarters.”

So that was it. Indeed, in the current situation, the safest place he could be guaranteed security was probably the Alliance headquarters, where ability users like Jun-sang gathered. Jun-sang nodded, then spoke to the man again, “Tell Kim Jong-kyung. Tell him I just left.”

“Ah, understood.”

Jun-sang released the man’s neck after hearing his reply and then disappeared back into the darkness.