I felt really sad. I wasn't sure if this was the right expression, but it felt I had just caught my wife flirting with another guy when I was on my way home from a business trip with a gift for her in my hands.

‘I worked so hard…’

I even got you a griffon. I was sure Kim Hyun-Sung would be able to get one a few years later, but it was still a fact that I got him one sooner than that. Even across the continent, there weren’t many people with griffons so they were priceless. Of course, that wasn’t the only thing I brought with me. The griffon was the main gift, but I prepared more gifts. The Red Mercenary Guild member brought me so many things, including items, that it could fill up one small room. I could have made them all mine, but I decided to give them all to our regressor. However, I began to rethink giving him the griffon after I saw that bright smile he had never shown me before .

‘That bastard…’

I saw Kim Hyun-Sung waving his hand toward me and even though he was smiling at me, it was different from the sincere smile I had seen on him earlier. But still, I decided to wave back at him.

“Mr. Ki-Young,” he spoke up.

“Oh, Mr. Hyun-Sung.”

He didn’t run toward me like Park Deok-Gu did, but after walking a bit faster, he hugged me which made me feel a bit better. Despite that, the presence of the person next to him bothered me.

“I knew you had returned when I saw the griffon. I’m glad I came out earlier,” Kim Hyun-Sung remarked.

“There wasn’t a need for you to come out,” I told him.

“Of course, I should come out and greet you especially since I’m sure you went through a lot. I heard that you had been involved in a lot of things, but I’m glad you overcame them all,” he told me.

“Haha.”

“What happened to Ito Sota of the Yamato Guild?” he asked.

“It’s exactly as you heard. He was executed. He had so many charges, so there was no way for him to escape from his crimes. I wanted to save him from the death penalty, but Father Basel was pretty stubborn,” I explained.

“I see…”

“It seemed like he did something more than just simply insulting the goddess, but I don’t know the details…” I added.

Kim Hyun-Sung didn’t seem bitter, instead he seemed more relieved that Ito Sota had died. Based on his reaction, I couldn’t help but realize that Ito Sota must not have played a positive role in the future Kim Hyun-Sung once lived.

‘That’s just who he is...’

Obviously, Ito Sota acted that way because he was well-off and even launched a preemptive attack on Lindel. Of course, he wouldn’t have become a demon worshipper and cause chaos in the Holy Empire like I had shown Father Basel, but at the very least, the future him would’ve caused Kim Hyun-Sung to frown.

‘It’s a good thing he’s dead.’

Even a blind squirrel could find a nut every once in a while.

When I asked Kim Hyun-Sung about Ito Sota, he answered immediately.

“Have you heard about Ito Sota?”

“I have. People have been talking about the other city when mentioning his name and I have heard that he wasn’t the greatest person. Before this incident, rumors about him had been spreading, so I’m sure he got what he deserved. You shouldn’t feel guilty about it, Mr. Ki-Young,” Kim Hyun-Sung answered.

‘I don’t know what it means to feel guilty, Hyun-Sung.’

It could have been the starting point for war between Lindel and Celia or backstabbing the Holy Empire, but the important thing was the regressor’s future had become even more beautiful thanks to Sota’s death. Now, it didn’t matter what Sota had done in the future that our regressor had live in. 

“What have you been up to, Mr. Hyun-Sung?” I asked.

“My routine has been the same for me; I needed to stabilize the guild first and foremost, after all. When we heard the bad news, we have already completed the majority of the tasks you asked us to do and if you didn’t send us the letter telling us that we didn’t need to come, we would’ve gone to the Holy Empire,” he responded.

“Hahaha. You didn’t really have to worry about it; it actually went smoothly. I’m not sure if you heard, but the Vatican gave me a position,” I told him.

“What?“

"The position will, of course, guarantee my status as a free city citizen because Father Basel likes me. I don’t really deserve it, but they gave me the honorary bishop position,” I added.

“Oh, I see.” He nodded.

“I’m sure you haven’t heard the details because it has been a while since the Vatican gave a position to an outsider. It has been more than 254 years to be exact. I’m on the same level as the archbishop and have many benefits… so I’m sure it’ll help our guild as well,” I explained.

“Ah!”

I guess no one in his past life received this kind of position or he simply wasn’t interested in it, but when I mentioned that my rank was the same as the archbishop's, Hyun-Sung’s face brightened up. I knew he would react like this. After all, the shrine offered many benefits aside from being able to use the heresy inquisitors and the holy knights.

‘It’s me, Hyun-Sung. Your talented hyung.’

“I never expected this much… it’s more than I thought. Good job,” he said, complimenting me.

‘You think that’s all?’

Naturally, I thought about opening the present, but I heard Kim Hyun-Sung talk. He seemed like he wanted to show something off and I had an idea as to what he was going to talk about. He was probably going to introduce me to the person next to him. I understood his feeling of wanting to boast about his achievements, but I felt a bit bitter about it.

“We’ve actually changed a few things. I’m not sure if Mr. Deok-Gu has already told you, but we’ve recruited someone while you were away,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“Ah, so it’s this person,” I said.

“That’s right. This is Miss Jo Hye-Jin and she has recently joined the Blue Guild,” he introduced.

The woman next to Kim Hyun-Sung was holding a long spear. She was kind of tall and the way she tied her hair back reminded me of an old samurai. The atmosphere she gave off reminded me of a soldier or a knight and even though she had well-defined facial features, she seemed to have a stern personality.

‘I think she actually has a stern personality…’

“My name is Jo Hye-Jin. I’ve heard a lot of things about you, sub guild master Lee Ki-Young,” she said, introducing herself.

“Ohh, Miss Jo Hye-Jin. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Lee Ki-Young,” I replied.

“You’re exactly as how everyone described you. I am looking forward to working with you,” she said.

Naturally, I used Mind’s Eye and it immediately displayed her information.

[Name - Jo Hye-Jin]

[Title - Castle Rock’s Stubborn Woman]

[Age - 25]

[Nature - Upright Fundamentalist]

[Job - Spear Specialist - Epic Rank]

[Job Effect - Acquired basic spear knowledge]

[Job Effect - Acquired intermediate spear knowledge]

[Job Effect - Acquired advanced spear knowledge]

[Job Effect - Acquired advanced magic knowledge]

[Stats]

[Strength - 75/ Above epic growth limit]

[Agility - 82/Above epic growth limit]

[Stamina - 87/Above epic growth limit]

[Intelligence - 51/Below epic growth limit]

[Endurance - 71/Below epic growth limit]

[Luck - 50/Below epic growth limit]

[Magic - 60/Below epic growth limit]

[Attribute - Hard Worker - Legendary Rank]

[Overall Review - Nothing really stands out, but she knows about martial arts better than anyone. Not only that but her nature and attributes give her the power to grow above her growth limit. Out of all the geniuses you’ve seen so far, she’s a different type of genius.]

‘Nothing stands out my ass…’

There were many people in Lindel, but this was my first time seeing someone with her stats and potential. Excluding people like Cha Hee-Ra, I had never seen anyone else with this much potential. Even though Jo Hye-Jin didn’t have above legendary stats, I couldn’t deny the fact that she was well-balanced and it was just like the overall review stated. She was strong. Her stats were either above or below epic, so even if she did administrative work, she would do well, which was rather unfair.

“I’ve never seen you… in Lindel before. But of course, I haven’t seen every person in this large city …” I stated.

“You’re right, Mr. Ki-Young. Miss Jo Hye-Jin used to be in Castle Rock, not Lindel. She left her previous guild due to an unavoidable incident and after arriving in Lindel, she decided to join the Blue Guild,” Kim Hyun-Sung explained.

“Castle Rock?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s right,” he answered.

Castle Rock wasn’t a free city filled with free city citizens. It was the Holy Empire’s territory. I heard that a few free city citizens had settled there because there were a lot of useful hunting grounds and dungeons. It was located a little further south and considering the fact that it was close to the monster forest, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to settle down there.

‘Of course...’

There were disadvantages as well. Not only were you required to pay more in taxes since it wasn’t a free city, but there were a lot of limitations. The free city citizens were somewhat free from the imperial law, but that only applied in Lindel. Assuming that you settled in a city controlled by a noble, there were things you had to give up.

“I see,” I said.

Now that I thought about it…

‘I think Lady Marilyn was from Castle Rock.’

I was certain of it. Well, it didn’t really matter where Jo Hye-Jin was from because Kim Hyun-Sung seemed like he trusted her a lot—it was as if he knew her from his past life. Her title was Castle Rock’s stubborn woman and her nature was upright fundamentalist. No matter how you looked at it, she and I weren’t going to get along because she seemed inflexible. I didn’t really care about principles, so we would naturally be incompatible.

I wasn’t sure if Kim Hyun-Sung had realized this or not, but he was busy complimenting her and for some reason, I felt anxious.

‘I don’t think I can work with her…’

I was sure of it. Of course, it was just an assumption based on her nature, but I could bet on the fact that I wasn’t compatible with people like her.

“Miss Hye-Jin helped with some of the tasks you asked me to do,” Kim Hyun-Sung mentioned.

“Oh, I see. I’m sure it was tiring, thank you,” I told her.

“No, I just did what I needed to do. I just completed the work based on the documents you organized,” she said.

“Thank you,” I said once more.

“She’s a very competent and nice person. I’m certain you’ll understand what I mean once you talk to her, Mr. Ki-Young,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“I see,” I replied, nodding.

“She’s also very powerful. I wanted to appoint her to a key position within the guild right away, but I needed your approval as well, so I had to put it on hold,” he added.

“Oh…”

The fact that he had done that made me thankful. I thought it was a topic I wouldn’t have any say in, but this meant that Kim Hyun-Sung was respecting me at the least. But even so…

“It’s fine. Your offer is still really burdensome,” Jo Hye-Jin commented.

It was nice that she rejected the offer.

“Let’s not stand here. How about we return to the guild house? Ye-Ri and Miss Hee-Young will return once they’re done with their work,” Kim Hyun-Sung suggested.

“Sure.”

“Okay, Master.”

Kim Hyun-Sung was obviously excited about introducing his new friend to his other friends. It seemed like he wanted me to work together with Jo Hye-Jin, but I could already tell what it was going to be like in the future. Since she was sincerely loyal to him, I felt like I had become a disloyal retainer. As someone that wanted to be the closest to the regressor, I was in a crisis.

‘Hyun-Sung, I trust you…’