Until a moment ago, I didn't want to give Kim Hyun-Sung the griffon, but it was human nature to be cunning so I wanted to show him the gift right now. I knew he wasn’t the type to easily show his emotions, but who knew he could smile so brightly?

‘It’s nice…’

Honestly, I was almost disappointed because even though it was a short period of time, I had been loyal to our regressor for a year. I was worried about whether I had been pouring water into a sieve, but it had been rewarding. I was getting fond of him, so it would be strange if he didn’t feel the same way. 

When I first saw his serious expression in the tutorial dungeon, I thought maybe this regressor had lost his humanity after experiencing twists and turns, but the power of our friendship was slowly melting his heart. Thinking about it now, he showed various emotions recently. At first, he treated us in a business-like manner and the fact that we were still talking formally was proof of that. Recently, he was often joking and smiling, but I was anxious because we were still pretty distant. However, our relationship was improving more than I thought.

‘It’s not good to be so unsympathetic...’

If Kim Hyun-Sung had to choose between a friend in crisis and a world on the brink of extinction, I wanted him to pick the former.

‘He should save me first.’

He had to save me first no matter what. Obviously, I wasn’t going to say embarrassing lines like…

‘Save yourself!’

Or…

‘Save the world for me!’

Or…

‘Live a happy life. Live your life to the fullest for me!’

Maybe…

‘It’s a nice day to die. It has been fun, Mr. Hyun-Sung. Please leave this to me.’

And just die… If he decided to apologize and chose to save the world instead of me, it would be as if everything had gone to the dogs. It was a sign of hope that Kim Hyun-Sung was becoming fond of me.

I guess I couldn’t control my emotions after hearing the really good news because Jo Hye-Jin was looking at me as if she was amused.

“You seem happy.”

“Mr. Hyun-Sung usually doesn’t express his emotions, so I never knew that he thinks of me like that,” I told her.

“It must be nice to have a comrade,” she commented.

“He’s more like a friend or a younger brother. I don’t know if Mr. Hyun-Sung feels the same way, but that’s how I feel about him and it’s the same for the others in the Blue Guild,” I explained.

“I see...”

“I can’t say that we’ve spent a long time together, but the party members and I have made a bond,” I said.

“A bond…”

She would be amazed at how much effort we had put into creating that bond. As long as it wouldn’t kill me, I was willing to get stabbed for Kim Hyun-Sung, Jung Ha-Yan, and Park Deok-Gu.

‘I’ve actually done that, though…’

“I heard you came here because of an issue you had at Castle Rock. Would it be okay if I asked what happened?” I probed.

“Oh, that’s…”

Naturally, I was curious as to how this woman ended up in this guild, but it seemed like Jo Hye-Jin didn’t want to tell me. She kept stuttering, but it didn’t matter if she didn’t want to tell me because I had an informant that look into it for me…

‘I guess I need to write a letter to Lady Marilyn.’

Seeing how she didn’t want to tell me, there was obviously something fishy. She had either made a mistake or had something to hide. From the start, it was strange that she chose the Blue Guild, a guild on the verge of dying with her stats. Of course, I was sure that Kim Hyun-Sung worked hard to get her to join us, but I couldn’t help but think that something was off.

‘And Hyun-Sung accepted her despite knowing that…’

Kim Hyun-Sung was somewhat of a sweet talker, so I was sure he accepted her knowing that there was going to be some kind of penalty considering what she had done because she was worth it. It only took a moment for me to decide on doing my own investigation, so I didn’t need to pressure her anymore. Having a lot of connections was useful during situations like this.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to and I’m not questioning you so you don’t have to be nervous. I read your profile briefly when I was in my room and I noticed that you’ve done so much that you’re too good for our guild,” I told her.

“You’re overpraising me,” she responded.

“I think I’m the only one that hasn’t welcomed you, so welcome to the Blue Guild, Miss Hye-Jin,” I said, belatedly welcoming her.

“Thank you, sub guild master.”

“Sure…”

Our short conversation ended here and I didn’t need to worry about splitting the powers right now. It may be different a year or two later, but I just had to remind her that I was above her.

When I walked a few steps after greeting her, I noticed Jung Ha-Yan slowly approaching me. She was holding a plate filled with creative dishes. Park Deok-Gu avoided my gaze while Sun Hee-Young slipped away. Naturally, it didn’t take me long to realize that I shouldn’t eat Ha-Yan’s food, but when I avoided her gaze, she took a step forward.

“O-Oppa, would you like to try?” she asked.

“Um…”

I didn’t like gambling. Of course, there were times when it was necessary to do so, but this wasn’t one of those times. Since I already knew what was going to happen, I had no choice but to change the subject.

“Actually, do you want to go to the Red Mercenary Guild with me?”

“Huh?”

“I think it would be best if I gave him his gift today,” I told her.

“I see…”

A person would usually become emotional around 10 PM, and it was a decent time to give the griffon to our regressor, but the problem was that Jung Ha-Yan seemed disappointed that I wouldn’t eat her food. Considering the fact that I had nothing to give to her despite her going with me to the Holy Empire, I thought that taking a bite of her food, at the least, was the best thing to do. The moment I took a bite without thinking, I tasted something strange despite swallowing it immediately.

‘Shit...’

Although I was worried about the unidentified slimy food that I had just swallowed, I had to say something because I had to get out of this situation as soon as possible.

“It’s good.”

“Ah!” Jung Ha-Yan exclaimed.

“Let’s get going,” I said with a smile.

“Okay!” she answered excitedly.

Jung Ha-Yan must be excited about discreetly going out together, but our goal wasn’t to do something outside. Our goal was to pick up the present we left at the Red Mercenary Guild.

Thinking about it now, it had been a while since we came out in Lindel at night. The slums were a dangerous place as always, but it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the square and the area where the guilds gathered were safer at night. There were orbs that lit up the place until morning and merchants at the night market. Many of the houses were lit up and of course, the Red Mercenary Guild was no exception. There wasn’t a need to call for the Mercenary Queen since we wouldn’t stay long and I couldn’t help but focus on the griffon and the items stored in their warehouse.

“Coo.”

There were two griffons—a white one and a black one. Everyone seemed amazed by the fact that I was walking around with two griffons and if I had to make a comparison, it was like riding a foreign car in the countryside. Even the people in the city looked at the griffons with amazement and their reaction was natural because there were only four of these in Lindel.

‘This is my present to you, Hyun-Sung.’

Kim Hyun-Sung wasn’t different from those people and I was sure he rode a griffon often during his past life. Moreover, no man would dislike a car. These guys were also pretty practical and they could even be used in combat. In addition, since the black griffon looked pretty sharp and charismatic, it would fit Kim Hyun-Sung pretty well. Since Ito Sota really cared about his outer appearance, I was sure he took care of the griffon pretty well.

The sound of people murmuring got louder and they started gathering around me. I didn’t experience this back on Earth, so I never imagined I would experience it here. Seeing them stare at me until I reached the guild house made me feel burdened, but Jung Ha-Yan looked around as if she was showing off that I was her boyfriend.

‘This is embarrassing...’

But she seemed happy with the attention...

The moment we arrived at the guild house, the people inside were surprised because they thought that we only went out to stroll around. They didn’t expect us to come back with griffons in tow.

“Hyung-nim, where did you… huh? That’s…”

“I was actually going to tell you in private, but… I thought this was the best time. We were having a party, so I thought it would be good to give you a gift,” I explained.

“Woaaah!”

No one disliked gifts. The guild staff members didn’t seem interested because it didn’t involve them, but I prepared gifts for them as well.

“I couldn’t prepare gifts for every staff member, so I prepared simple gifts for you all,” I told them.

“Yay!” they exclaimed.

It wasn’t a simple gift. They were valuable items from high-end brands. The men received fountain pen sets and watches while the women received make-up sets and bags. They were pretty expensive but compared to the money I recently made, this was nothing and naturally, I wrote a letter as well and wrote each of their names. This was what having a social life was all about. Just remembering the names of your subordinates would boost their morale and seeing Jung Ha-Yan handing them the gifts made me nod automatically.

“I’m not discriminating, but I prepared gifts for the executives as well, so please don’t feel disappointed,” I told them.

There wasn’t a reason for them to be disappointed because the non-combatant staff members would usually be thankful when they received gifts like this.

“Since you obtained a shield during the last expedition, here’s a sword…” I told Park Deok-Gu.

“Huh? Th-Thanks. Woah!” Park Deok-Gu mumbled before exclaiming in shock.

Park Deok-Gu’s eyes widened when he saw the item’s description instead of it being a heavy type of weapon. I was certain that he was surprised by the sword’s stats and it was natural for him to react that way because it was a pretty high-quality item out of the epic-ranked items.

[A Greatsword Made From a Giant’s Dagger - Epic Rank]

[A greatsword made from fragments of a small dagger used by the now-forgotten race, the Giants. Made by the artisan, Kahalas, not many people were able to wield it properly, but if you’re able to wield this heavy greatsword properly, you’ll be capable of releasing destructive power. Just owning it will increase your strength by six points. No other functions exist.]

“For Miss Lee Sang-Hee and Miss Jung-Yeon, I’ve prepared epic-ranked necklaces,” I said.

“Thank you...”

“Thank you, Mr. Ki-Young.”

[Necklace Imbued with the Benigoa Goddess’ Blessing - Epic Rank]

[It’s a necklace imbued with the Benigoa goddess’ blessing. It contains intermediate-level curse removal, detoxification, and advanced healing magic. All stats will be increased by one point.]

“A dagger for Ye-Ri…”

“Thanks…” she said in a soft voice.

[Archmage Isaac’s Throwing Dagger - Epic Rank]

[A dagger capable of summoning and reverse summoning. No one knows where this dagger came from, but some experts believe that this dagger came from another dimension. The dagger is old and there are unknown letters written on the back. Agility will be increased by three points.]

“I prepared a ring for you, Miss Hee-Young,” I said.

“Thank you, Mr. Ki-Young.”

[Queen Carlena’s Wedding Ring - Epic Rank]

[Carlena, the Queen of Ruins, treasured this wedding ring her entire life. This very simple ring explains Queen Carlena’s personality better than anyone. The effect of her sincere prayer caused this ring to possess holy magic. The effects of all holy spells will increase slightly.]

They were all excellent items. Some of them I received from the shrine and the others were items we received when the Yamato Guild fell. There were other items like Ito Sota’s Wind Blade and a few others that the Yamato Guild’s executives used, but I thought it would be best to split them up later.

After giving everyone their gifts, the only one left was Kim Hyun-Sung. It was natural for him to feel a bit surprised by this because just a few months ago, I was the one getting gifts from him. Still, our regressor deserved it.

“I’ve prepared this griffon as a gift to the guild master of the Blue Guild,” I announced.

“Oooh!”

The griffon must have realized that I was talking about it because it spread its black wings and of course, I couldn’t help but take a closer look at Kim Hyun-Sung’s reaction since he wasn’t used to receiving gifts.

‘He can’t contain his smile...’

I knew he was going to like it, but he liked it even more than I had imagined. Of course, he didn’t reveal a really big smile, but what I said about him being unable to contain his smile was based on his standards. I guess he really liked my gift because he couldn’t stop smiling.

‘This is how I feel about you, Hyun-Sung.’

I felt proud of this moment.