182 – Rumors (2)
[The Mysterious Merchant has been detained.]
.
.
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[The Mysterious Merchant has been detained.]
[The Mysterious Merchant has been detained.]
[The Mysterious Merchant has been detained.]
[The Mysterious Merchant has been detained.]
[The Mysterious Merchant has been detained.]
[The Mysterious Merchant has been detained.]
[The Mysterious Merchant has been detained. Her secret letter will arrive in 10 days.]
Kim Hyun-woo was momentarily taken aback by the notification window that suddenly filled his vision, but he soon stared at it intently and thought.
‘…The Mysterious Merchant has been detained?’
The thought of who could have done it crossed his mind, and Loria’s face instinctively came to mind.
‘Surely not…?’
Doubt crept into his mind. Of course, there was no way to know for sure if Loria had really done it, but as far as he knew, Loria was the only one who could have done such a thing to the merchants who had a somewhat transcendent aura about them, at least in his opinion.
After all, the first time she had revealed her true form to him, she had looked very much like something transcendent.
‘…A secret letter.’
Kim Hyun-woo made an ambiguous expression as he read the explanation written at the end of the dozens of notification windows that delivered such an important message.
It was hard to say whether he should be relieved that the secret letter would arrive in 10 days, or if he should be disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to meet the Mysterious Merchant…
That’s why.
“…My Lord?”
“Ah.”
Kim Hyun-woo, who had been frowning in deep thought until Elena’s voice reached him, quickly waved his hand as if to say he was fine and then spoke.
“Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”
“…You just said you were thinking about something, but your expression was more serious than I thought.”
“Was my expression that bad?”
“Yes, if only for a moment.”
Kim Hyun-woo sighed at Elena’s affirmation, then seemed to ponder something before saying.
“It’s late today, so call Merilda, Lynn, Aria, and Charles tomorrow.”
He finished giving Elena that order and continued to ponder for a long time after she left.
####
An abyss where nothing could be seen.
“My, my—I tried so hard not to get caught, but I got caught anyway. How unfortunate.”
In the pitch-black darkness where nothing could be seen, a woman opened her mouth with a leisurely laugh.
With her black hair and black eyes, she looked quite ordinary except for her slightly outstanding beauty, unlike the blue or red merchants.
If there was anything unusual about her, it was that the pupils of her eyes were not round like everyone else’s, but star-shaped, as if they would emit a brilliant light.
And.
“Surely you didn’t think you could pass through my territory without being caught?”
At Loria’s words blocking her path, she—no, the ‘Mysterious Merchant’—said with a smile.
“To be honest, I thought I would get caught, but I didn’t think I would get caught so quickly. I was confident that I could shake you off to some extent.”
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“How do you feel about being caught so quickly without even trying to shake me off?”
“Naturally, I’m not feeling very good. Everything was going according to plan, except for you, and I didn’t expect to be caught at the very end.”
“Well, that’s only natural since you entered my territory.”
“But if I hadn’t entered this territory, you would have been able to kill Kim Hyun-woo before I arrived. That’s not something I would have wanted.”
Despite the fact that her entire body was wrapped in something black, the Mysterious Merchant replied with a leisurely expression, as if she were simply expressing regret. Loria smiled at her words.
“That’s unfortunate. All that’s left is a future where your plans will be completely shattered.”
Loria spoke with a smile that exuded a clear sense of triumph.
However.
“Hmm, do you think so?”
“You don’t think so?”
“Well…to be honest, I think there’s about a 20% chance.”
“Why?”
Loria asked questioningly at the Mysterious Merchant’s words.
“Well, you see,”
He chuckled.
“No matter how hard you try, you’re only half-baked anyway.”
As soon as the words left the Mysterious Merchant’s mouth, the lips that had been smiling until just a moment ago drew a flat line.”Surely, you didn’t think that just by turning over a shell, everything would be perfect? That’s why you’re going to such lengths to create what you want.”
As if that were the starting point, the mysterious merchant began to speak incessantly.
However-
“Thanks to the shell that didn’t fit well in the first place, working hard-“
Thud!
Something black on the mysterious merchant’s body instantly covered her entire body, completely covering her mouth.
Soon, Roria, who was watching the mysterious merchant disappear as if sinking into the black abyss,
“…Ugh-!”
She frowned deeply, as if she had heard an unbearable insult.
It was as if her reverse scale had been touched.
However, after a long time, Roria, who seemed to have regained her composure, began to walk forward again, wandering through the dark abyss.
However, the smile that had always been on her lips had long since disappeared.
“…I can become perfect. Definitely.”
She muttered to herself as if hypnotizing herself, and walked through the dark streets.
And so, thanks to the mysterious merchant’s nerve-wracking words, she did not see it.
The fact that a letter with a faint glow was disappearing into the darkness somewhere.
####
The next day.
Kim Hyun-woo looked at the four heroes gathered in his office early in the morning and said,
“Thank you for coming. The reason I called you today is…wait a minute. Why are you all so nervous?”
He stopped talking and made a slightly bewildered expression.
That was because the heroes who were looking at Kim Hyun-woo now had expressions that anyone could see were very nervous.
Meryl tilted her ears back and forth as if she was about to break down, her tail wrapped around her stomach.
Rin put her hand in and out of the darkness she usually carried around.
Not only that, but Aria was staring at Kim Hyun-woo with her eyes wide open, and Charles was making a sound that was barely audible if you listened closely, as if he was in some kind of despair.
“Y-you’re not nervous, master.”
Meryl, who was bewildered, spoke for the first time.
“I’m not nervous at all, so you can speak comfortably.”
“I’m not nervous either.”
“Me neither.”
I asked if you were nervous… I didn’t ask if you were bewildered… Kim Hyun-woo thought to himself, but he didn’t think he would get an answer if he asked why, so he just asked the question.
“…The reason I gathered you here today is to ask you about Roria.”
“Roria…?”
“Roria…you mean that person?”
“…Who is that?”
“T-thank goodness-“
The four of them let out a low groan as if they were relieved by Kim Hyun-woo’s words and answered quickly.
Especially in the case of Charles, Kim Hyun-woo wondered what was so fortunate that he was relieved with his hand on his heart, but he soon continued with his question.
“Does anyone remember or know anything about someone named Roria?”
“Master, someone we know?”
“…No, it’s not like that.”
Kim Hyun-woo, who answered that way and thought for a moment, gave a brief explanation about Roria.
From the moment he was with him from the very beginning, to the fact that he later showed useless notification windows to intentionally delay the heroes’ joining.
…Of course, since he didn’t understand the notification window, he replaced the story with words.
Then.
“…That son of a b*tch?”
The first to react was Rin, who muttered with a creepy expression.
“So because of that guy, I couldn’t come back to you, master…?”
“…Well, it was also because of the gold, but that guy’s share was a bit more.”
“Master.”
“Yeah?”
“Where is that guy now?”
“…I don’t know, so I called you to ask if anyone remembers.”
At Kim Hyun-woo’s words, the four heroes stood still for a while as if searching their memories, but soon they all gave negative answers.
“…I’m sorry, master, but there doesn’t seem to be a name like Roria in my head.””I feel the same way, my lord. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone like that before.”
“I don’t remember anything.”
“…Me neither.”
“I see. Well…don’t be too sorry. I thought it would happen. He’s such a suspicious guy.”
Kim Hyun-woo, who had answered the heroes like that, suddenly said.
“Oh, but why were you all so nervous earlier?”
“Ah-“
“That’s…um”
“…Ahem..”
The heroes began to ponder, glancing at Kim Hyun-woo’s words.
However-
“I came here thinking you were going to give me a proposal ring!”
““Ah.””
The heroes let out a soft exclamation at Aria’s bold statement.
“…Oh. Now that I think about it, I had a ring.”
Kim Hyun-woo also let out a soft exclamation.