“What are you all talking about?”

When I glanced over, I saw a face that I didn’t want to see. It was Lee Seol-Ho and his lackeys.

“Is Miss Lee Sang-Hee still…”

“Yes, she’s still with the guild master in the basement. I guess she’s very sad about his death,” he answered.

“It’s understandable since he was like a father to her. The master was a special person to Miss Lee Sang-Hee, but of course, that applies to everyone else…” Hwang Jung-Yeon said.

“I agree because I even had a hard time sleeping at first. Who knew something like this would happen when no one was here. I feel bad for not being there when he passed away. By the way, congratulations again on your safe return, Miss Hwang Jung-Yeon. About the other party members… it’s such a shame,” he said.

His voice was filled with kindness and of course, it wasn’t toward me. He was talking to Hwang Jung-Yeon, the leader of party two. It was as if their argument before leaving for the expedition never happened. Even Hwang Jung-Yeon herself seemed surprised by the gramp’s change in attitude because her eyes widened.

‘Pffft.’

I couldn’t help but laugh because it was obvious what he was up to. He definitely didn’t expect us to return. It didn’t have to do with whether Lee Seol-Ho really killed the guild master or not, but I was certain that he yelled in delight when the guild master died. If the scums didn’t return from the expedition, then the Blue Guild would basically belong to those old gramps. That was why they delayed in sending reinforcements and wasted time, but during that situation, the expedition party suddenly returned.

‘I’m sure they were surprised.’

If I were in their situation, I would have sweet-talked us too, however, the fact that they weren’t doing it to me meant that they weren’t that desperate. Trying to keep their dignity during this situation was a funny thing to do. I noticed them talking to Hwang Jung-Yeon again.

“I’m very relieved.”

“Oh.”

“We were actually getting worried because it was taking some time to create a support party and the guild master suddenly passed away… I asked others for help since I didn’t want to lose Miss Lee Sang-Hee either, but no one was available. I was worried, but… I’m glad to see that you’re doing well. I’m really… really glad that you came back alive,” Lee Seol-Ho said.

The way his eyes started tearing up was a sight to see. If he wasn’t being sincere, then his acting skills were top-notch and was worth receiving the best actor award at the Academy Award. Even Hwang Jung-Yeon didn’t seem happy either after hearing what I said, but hearing her talk to him didn’t seem like a bad idea either.

‘Let’s watch their reactions.’

“I think it was a bit too late for you to do that… I wonder if there was a different reason, Mr. Seol-Ho.”

“I don’t understand what you mean,” he said.

“I’m just saying my thoughts. It’s understandable for the Red Mercenary Group since Hee-Ra unnie hasn’t arrived yet, but I’m sure the Black Swan Guild was available. There are dozens of people looking for jobs at the plaza… I thought that it wouldn’t be that difficult to create a support party. Of course, creating one in such a short amount of time is impossible, but… our time there hadn’t been short,” Hwang Jung-Yeon explained.

“T-That’s…”

“Well, even if we ended the conversation here just because it was all in the past… hm… actually, can you explain in detail exactly how the guild master died?” she asked.

“It’s just like I said. He quietly passed away three days ago. I guess he could be considered lucky for dying in his sleep,” Lee Seol-Ho answered.

“So you’re saying that he died quietly, right?” she asked.

“That’s right.”

“Have you thought about the possibility that someone could’ve murdered him?” she asked him.

“What do you…”

“It’s like I said. You said a moment ago that you couldn’t protect him during his last moment. That means that no one was in the guild master’s room during that time,” she explained.

“That… right,” he said.

“Based on your reaction, I guess you didn’t consider the fact that he could’ve been murdered,” Hwang Jung-Yeon pointed out.

She didn’t forget to smirk either.

Lee Seol-Ho must have realized that he was being targeted because he had a nasty look on his face.

‘You killed him, right?’

Naturally, the crazy gramp’s face turned red. Lee Seol-Ho was originally a hot-tempered person, so if he didn’t get angry here, he wouldn’t be called a condescending person.

“What are you talking about?!”

“Why are you getting angry, honorable Mr. Lee Seol-Ho?” she asked.

“What do you know?! Are you implying that we killed the guild master?! You’re talking nonsense!” Lee Seol-Ho yelled.

“There’s no need to get all worked up, Mr. Lee Seol-Ho. I never said that our guild members were the ones that murdered him. I was just asking if there were any intruders that night… I think you're overreacting. I don’t understand why you’re reacting this way. Pffft.”

“You… how dare… you…”

“Or are you guilty about something?” she asked.

“How dare you say something like that! To someone that’s been protecting the Blue Guild!” he yelled again.

“It doesn’t matter to me how long you’ve been protecting the guild. However…”

“...”

“Why are you talking so rudely to me? We’re both executives of this guild, so don't I have the right to say something? You should be on the ground and apologizing for what happened. So what exactly do you have up your sleeve that you’re yelling at me like this… huh?” Hwang Jung-Yeon asked.

“You…”

“You should be careful of what you say, Mr. Seol-Ho. Do you really think that it’ll be over just because the guild master is dead? Yes, he died, but did you really think that was the end? There’s a limit to being incompetent too… we excluded you from entering such a dangerous place and yet, you call yourself an executive when you can’t even protect our own home… what a bunch of bullshit. It’s so ridiculous that I don’t even know what to say…” Hwang Jung-Yeon said.

“...”

“Shouldn’t you first look into whether there had been an intruder or if there was someone within the guild that could have entered the master’s room? It seems like you’re working hard, Mr. Seol-Ho, but… if you’re incompetent, you should think about giving up your position instead of holding onto it and being a useless person in the guild. Also… what did you say? You couldn’t do anything because it was taking too long to form a support party? Society calls people like you incompetent. I can’t believe you’re using that as an excuse. Did you really think that if you said that, we would just go and be like, ‘Oh, I see! So that’s what happened. How unfortunate,’ and just accept what you said? Look, you’re a smart man so I don’t know why you’re doing this…” she paused midway.

“...”

“But you should know that this isn’t a school. It’s not a place where you can just apologize for not being able to do something. To everyone that’s been protecting the Blue Guild, if I was the head of the guild, then I would have had your heads. All of your heads!” she yelled.

“You… how dare you!” Lee Seol-Ho yelled.

Magic started to form in his hand. I knew that he wasn’t going to aim for me since he wasn’t that unreasonable, but it seemed like he had to take out his anger somehow.

‘Getting hit by that.’

It would definitely hurt since I was a weak alchemist.

Jung Ha-Yan looked surprised, so she immediately started reciting a spell, but his fist approached me a lot faster. I didn’t bother dodging, but that didn’t mean that I was a masochist. His attack was pointless and the reason why I didn’t bother to dodge was that there wasn’t a reason for me to dodge. Why?

“My lovely, Juliena, no need to be so worked up,” I said.

Buzz…

It was because of my new support that was pointing at the gramp’s neck.

‘It’s nice having support. Very nice.’

“Th-This is…”

“Oh, it’s an item that I coincidentally came across at the dungeon. It seems to have a lot of functions. For example, it has the function to help people with anger management issues. Could you remove your hand, Mr. Lee Seol-Ho? My Juliena is quite aggressive,” I told him.

He slowly put his hand down with a dumbfounded look and as he did that, Juliena started to return to my side. I also noticed Jung Ha-Yan biting her lips.

‘Don’t be jealous of a sword…’

I wasn’t sure why she was jealous of a sword, but it was probably because the sword was able to do something she couldn’t. During the crucial moment, she felt ashamed for not being able to protect me from the threat.

“I’ll take my leave since I have an appointment, Mr. Seol-Ho,” I said.

“...”

“At least write a report on what happened that day. You should write about what the security was like the day the master passed away, whether anyone entered the guild and what the ordinary guild members were like. Oh, you need to also submit a report on how creating the support party got delayed. Based on how you’ve been acting, we’re probably going to have to do another investigation… you should’ve at least cleaned up your mess so that you won’t look so incompetent. That’ll make you less of an embarrassment when the ordinary guild members look at you. Let’s go, Ha-Yan,” I said.

“Okay!”

I didn’t feel that bad. Actually, it felt really exhilarating. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the old gramps faces as Jung Ha-Yan hurriedly ran toward me. They looked very angry. If we were at a place where it was just us, it would’ve been fine, but when the ordinary guild members started coming out due to the commotion, it became a problem. For him, his reputation was important so I was sure that he was really shocked and as expected, I heard people whispering.

“Did you see it just now?”

“What… was that… weapon?”

The majority of them were either admiring it or were inspired by it. The situation was like a well-written script.

‘I wonder what’s going to happen next.’

Naturally, the old gramps were now wary of us and they may even think that I was onto something. If they were guilty of something, they were either going to move a bit faster or calmly curl up. Regardless of what they were going to do, I was certain that something was going to happen to them soon. All we had to do was create the issue. When the corner of my lips went up, Jung Ha-Yan cautiously asked a question.

“Oppa.”

“Yeah?”

“Y-You know.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“If… those people really killed the guild master, then… shouldn’t we have kept quiet?”

“About what?”

“You told them just now to submit a report,” she answered.

“Ahh, that’s not true. Making a move based on the small number of clues we have is better than not doing anything,” I explained.

She looked as if she didn’t understand. It was a bit interesting how a genius mage like her was slow-witted when it came to things like this. Of course, it was also possible that she understood, but was merely pretending that she didn’t. But it didn’t matter which one it was since I was bored anyway.

“It really depends on the person. I just think that doing this will be more comfortable,” I said.

“I see…”

“Humans aren’t animals that can do things perfectly. No matter how hard Lee Seol-Ho tries to describe the situation that day…” I started.

“Yes?”

“I’m sure there will be some false information. It happened three days ago, so how could he remember every single detail? It doesn’t matter if Joo Seung-Joon really died of natural causes. I’m sure that there will be something that won’t add up so it’ll be more comfortable if we use that against him. On the other hand, it’ll be the same if we think that our guild master was murdered. All the reports about that day are going to be false anyway,” I explained.

“Oh, I think I understand. T-Then having proper proof…”

“Having proof isn’t what’s important,” I said, cutting her off.

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“What’s more important is whether our suspicion of them is reasonable,” I told her.

“...”

“As long as we strongly believe that that’s what happened, we can make the evidence anytime. If the majority believes that it’s true, then that’s the truth,” I said.

I thought that maybe I said too much to the innocent Jung Ha-Yan, but that regret only lasted for a moment. Jung Ha-Yan nodded as if she had realized something and that was when I discovered that our conversation just now was a mistake. It was because I was getting worried that the cautious Jung Ha-Yan was going to grow even more.

‘I hope she won’t evolve.’

I was certain that wasn’t going to happen.