We talked about various topics on the way to the guild house. Even though we mostly talked about how we had been and what we had been doing, it was still enjoyable. At first, Jung Ha-Yan was wary of Jo Hye-Jin, but after realizing that she didn’t make contact with me, she lost interest in her. She was simply…

‘...A new person who has just joined the guild.’

This was what she thought of Jo Hye-Jin and I expected Jung Ha-Yan to react that way. However, Park Deok-Gu was different. He didn’t seem that way when he saw me, but when he saw Jo Hye-Jin, he looked at her in a positive way. They must have gotten close while I was away because they looked really friendly and the conversation they were having wasn’t bad either.

“Miss Hye-Jin,” Deok-Gu called out.

“Yes?”

“What do you think about our hyung-nim?” he asked

“I think he’s wise, just like what everyone told me. I’ve always been curious as to who managed to organize the tasks so well despite the amount of work and he’s exactly what I imagined him to be,” she answered.

“If it wasn’t for Mr. Ki-Young, it would’ve taken the guild a lot longer to become stable,” Kim Hyun-Sung added.

“I agree, Master. The amount of work was too much for one person…” she mumbled.

“You’re giving me too much credit. I didn’t do them all by myself. I was able to do them because other people helped me. There are still a lot of people within the Blue Guild, after all,” I explained.

This was the kind of conversation we had. I really felt like I had come back home when I saw Kim Hyun-Sung having fun and Park Deok-Gu chatting. Of course, that was if I excluded the person who had unexpectedly joined the guild.

I felt a bit heartbroken, but I understood why Kim Hyun-Sung was in a good mood. Despite the fact that Jo Hye-Jin was still growing and she hadn’t reached her potential just yet, she was already this strong. Just by looking at her potential, she was obviously going to become even stronger in the future. Her attribute was Hard Worker, so she could grow strong enough to become a guild master, and assuming they knew each other in his previous life, Kim Hyun-Sung would obviously like Jo Hye-Jin.

The important thing here was the position I was going to take—was I going to reject or accept her? Selecting the latter was reasonable because people like Jo Hye-Jin were helping the guild. When I thought about Kim Hyun-Sung’s kingdom becoming bigger and bigger, a competent person like her would definitely be useful. Her literature and martial arts were good, but her martial arts and potential power were beyond imagination so there wasn’t a reason for me to reject her. 

The problem was that my influence was going to become smaller. As someone that had Kim Hyun-Sung’s love all to myself, I wasn’t happy when a rival like her had appeared out of nowhere.

‘It’s hard for me to imagine Kim Hyun-Sung going crazy over a girl…’

I was certain that wouldn’t be the case. However, I became worried that Kim Hyun-Sung would neglect his original party if his comrades from his past life, who were just as competent as Jo Hye-Jin, continued to join us. Since Park Deok-Gu and my combat capabilities would certainly be lower in comparison to theirs, we could become useless to them. Of course, if you think about it in another way, a division of power would be necessary since Kim Hyun-Sung wouldn’t want one side to have too much power. 

But I couldn’t help but think that things were moving along faster than I wanted. He could have appointed someone to keep me in check after his kingdom was established. Right now, we didn’t have the luxury to talk about growing fast or about principles. Naturally, it was just my imagination telling me that Jo Hye-Jin was going to attack me. In addition, my personality made it so that I would always think of the worst-case scenario in order to prepare for it. Still, Kim Hyun-Sung’s smile bothered me.

‘I’ll just go with my plan for now.’

Sometimes it helped to be worried ahead of time, but that wasn’t always the case. Being happy about the fact that a strong person had joined our guild was the right reaction to have for now.

As we continued walking, I soon saw the Blue Guild’s guild house and I expected people to welcome me back, but everyone looked really busy. I saw people outside the guild house and the guild staff members were even preparing something.

‘What’s going on?’

I felt better after immediately realizing the fact that they were getting ready for a party. Sun Hee-Young, Kim Ye-Ri, and Lee Sang-Hee started greeting me one by one.

“You’re back…”

“It has been a while, Ye-Ri,” I said.

Even though she didn’t say much, the child looked at me quietly and greeted me.

“Mr. Ki-Young! You’re finally back!” Sun Hee-Young excitedly exclaimed.

“It’s been a while, Miss Hee-Young,” I said, nodding.

Sun Hee-Young’s face brightened up a bit as she greeted me.

“You’ve done well, sub guild master.”

“Thank you, Miss Lee Sang-Hee.”

Even the guild’s advisor came to greet me. Aside from them, team leader, Kim Mi-Young came to see me and even Park Joong-Ki smiled brightly at me. Based on their reactions, I guess they were no longer busy because they all seemed relaxed and after greeting me, they all started talking to Jung Ha-Yan, which made the guild pretty noisy. During all of this, people were serving food in the yard and it became obvious who prepared all of this. I was sure he gave the order as soon as he saw the griffon.

‘Hyun-Sung…’

This guy definitely knew how to play hard to get and although it didn’t make up for the disappointment I felt, no one would be angry at their own welcoming party. It really felt like I was back home and I guess Kim Hyun-Sung saw through my feelings because he spoke with a small smile.

“Welcome back, Mr. Ki-Young.”

“Welcome back, sub guild master.”

“Good job.”

The short party began and naturally, the guild staff members enjoyed the party. Even though they were going to be the ones to clean the mess up, they seemed like they were enjoying it for now. Many people got drunk and everyone was enjoying the celebration. Now that I thought about it, this was the first time I felt relaxed after joining the Blue Guild. Jung Ha-Yan was sitting next to me while drinking her juice and Park Deok-Gu was stuffing his face while walking around and naturally, Hwang Jung-Yeon was standing next to him. The two must have gotten close because they seemed like a couple as they walked around. As time passed, more and more people got drunk, including the guild staff members.

“Hiccup… do you know how difficult it was? I honestly resented the sub guild master a little bit.”

“You’ve done well, Miss Mi-Young. Oh! I should call you team leader Kim Mi-Young from now on,” I said, complimenting her.

“What?” she asked.

“It was postponed, but I know better than anyone just how hard you’ve worked, Miss Kim Mi-Young. We’ll discuss your pay tomorrow,” I told her.

“Oh!!!”

“You’ll be able to work with better treatment and I’ll make sure your children receive better support,” I added.

“Oh!!! Th-Thank you, thank you,” she exclaimed in joy.

I didn’t forget to take care of the administration team that had been working hard all this time. Out of all of them, Kim Mi-Young worked the hardest, so she would naturally receive a promotion, and seeing Park Joong-Ki look at her with envy, it made me think that I needed to take care of him too.

“You deserve it. By the way, I heard Miss Jo Hye-Jin also helped a lot,” I said.

“She did. She seemed pretty uptight, but… she’s a nice person,” Kim Mi-Young replied.

‘She has a good reputation.’

It seemed like Jo Hye-Jin was liked by many people and as we continued talking, I heard a loud voice beside me.

“Hyung-nim! Try this, hyung-nim!” Park Deok-Gu yelled.

“You try it too, Miss Ha-Yan.”

Sun Hee-Young and Park Deok-Gu approached us. They probably brought a small plate of food over to us because it was delicious.

“It’s really delicious, Mr. Ki-Young. It’s better than the food sold by the restaurant nearby…” Sun Hee-Young commented.

“Oh, really?” I asked.

“You should try it too, Miss Ha-Yan,” Sun Hee-Young offered.

“Th-Thank you,” Jung Ha-Yan stammered.

“It’s really delicious. I was really surprised, seriously!” Park Deok-Gu remarked.

Park Deok-Gu was holding a bowl of stew and it was different from the fancy food that had come out so far. The stew was so simple that it made me think that the guild’s chef probably wasn’t the one who made it. The thickly sliced beef looked good, but this was the type of food you could easily make during an expedition, so I couldn’t understand why he was making such a big deal out of it.

“Hurry up and try it! Come on!” Park Deok-Gu yelled.

“Fine,” I said.

After giving in to his pestering, I took a bite from his spoon and I was hit with something unexpected.

“Huh?”

The difference in taste caused me to look up.

“Isn’t it tasty?” he asked.

‘It’s delicious…’

I didn’t answer Park Deok-Gu's question, but I was certain that my expression said it all because my eyes widened the moment I took a bite.

“Who made this?” I asked.

“The guild master bro and Miss Lee Sang-Hee. They went to the small kitchen and made it, but it’s so delicious! The meat just melts in your mouth, right?! It’s so tender!” Park Deok-Gu commented.

“Huh?”

“It just melts in your mouth, right?!” he exclaimed, once again.

“Yeah, it’s really delicious,” I told him.

“What do you think, noonim?” he asked Jung Ha-Yan.

“I-It’s delicious… Deok-Gu oppa. It’s… really good,” she stuttered.

For some reason, Jung Ha-Yan sounded defeated.

“Don’t you know how to cook, noonim?” Deok-Gu asked.

“Huh? Oh… well... I do! I did learn a few dishes…” she answered.

Obviously, Jung Ha-Yan didn’t look or sound confident and even though she headed toward the small kitchen, her expression resembled the way Ito Sota looked when he went inside the statue. She looked like a prisoner on death row walking up to the guillotine. It seemed like it’d be a good idea not to touch the dishes she made today. 

Looking around, I saw people in pairs and small groups, each enjoying the party in their own way, but Jo Hye-Jin caught my eye. She was sitting to the side, biting her lips quietly, so I approached her thinking that it would be a good idea to say something to her. Aside from her nature, I was curious about the kind of person she was and since Jung Ha-Yan was challenging herself, it was the perfect time for me to get to know her more.

After excusing myself from Kim Mi-Young, who seemed like she wanted to talk more, I started walking and I noticed Jo Hye-Jin looking at me.

“What do you think about the guild?” I asked.

“It’s a nice place. I had somewhat of an expectation after hearing the rumors, but it’s better than I thought,” Jo Hye-Jin answered.

“I see...”

“The atmosphere seems a lot better now that you’re here, sub guild master,” she added.

“It’s not always like this. It’s my first time having a party like this…” I told her.

“I can see how much the guild members trust their guild master and sub guild master,” she remarked.

“Oh…”

“I had also been in the tutorial dungeon and after arriving at the continent, I noticed people separating due to different interests and trivial issues, but the members here look like they’re good people,” she explained.

Her words sounded sentimental, but she was eating in an orderly manner which was the total opposite of how her words sounded like. I thought maybe she was drunk, but I guess she wasn’t that bad of a person. I had an idea how her first party disbanded and why she left Castle Rock to come here. 

‘That’s just how people are…’

“It seems like Mr. Hyun-Sung really trusts you, Mr. Ki-Young. While we were on our way to meet you, he kept talking about you,” Jo Hye-Jin told me.

“I see,” I said.

“I thought you weren’t really the type to smile, so it was surprising,” she added.

The things that Jo Hye-Jin was saying surprised me a lot and that was when I realized that I had misunderstood everything. I smiled when I saw him cooking with Lee Sang-Hee.

‘I was right to trust you, you bastard!’

I realized that I had been properly rewarded for being loyal to the regressor. There was nothing more I needed to say—Kim Hyun-Sung trusted me more than the people he had connections with in his past life.