Chapter 102

“Anyway, the reward will be given like this, so just keep that in mind. You can receive the reward by following the guide in three days. Since Eternity Clan isn’t fond of tedious procedures, we’ll skip them. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.”

The conversation was moving so fast that it was almost overwhelming.

Naturally, I had questions about the level of the reward, so I had no choice but to ask.

“Ah… Your Majesty, I have a question. It’s about the reward. I’m a bit confused.”

“Hmm… Just out of curiosity, did you not hear anything from Secretary Ray Hakter?”

“Uh…?”

I tried to recall, but I had no memory of hearing anything about the reward from Ray Hakter.

“No… I didn’t hear anything about the reward.”

Upon hearing my answer, the King placed his hand on his forehead, closed his eyes tightly, and let out a sigh.

“Ugh… That guy again…!”

“……”

As my companions and I stood there bewildered, the King slowly explained.

“It seems… the message wasn’t properly delivered. Originally, we planned to give you one item from the treasury as a reward.”

‘Originally?’

“However… after the incident with the outlaw spy and the recent discussion with the Myth Clan’s Master, we decided to increase the reward.”

I was taken aback by the King’s words. I couldn’t understand why the Myth Clan was suddenly brought up in the conversation.

It seemed Yoo Ju felt the same way.

“…The Myth Clan?”

“Hmm…”

The King looked slightly troubled by Yoo Ju’s question and then spoke.

“I can’t go into details, but recently, the Myth Clan did something helpful for the royal palace. However, the Myth Clan’s Master said that all the credit was due to a man named Lee Yun-seong from the Eternity Clan.”

‘…Yoon Yeon? What on earth did she do?’

I couldn’t understand why Yoon Yeon’s actions were being credited to me.

“By the way, the Myth Clan’s Master is currently staying at the palace, so after this meeting, that man will have somewhere to go with the guide.”

“…Your Majesty, where is Yoon Seong going? What exactly…”

“I’m sorry, Eternity Clan Master, but this is something I can’t disclose to you. It’s not top-secret, but it’s still a confidential matter, and the Myth Clan’s Master specifically requested to meet him privately.”

I was just as baffled, but Yoo Ju seemed even more so.

She couldn’t say much since she was speaking to the King, but it was clear she was feeling anxious about not knowing what was going on.

“Well, that concludes our discussion. Thank you all for resolving this matter.”

******

After the meeting with the King, as soon as we left the room, Yoo Ju approached me.

“Yoon Seong, what on earth is going on? What does the Myth Clan have to do with…”

But before she could finish, a maid interrupted her.

“Lee Yun-seong, please follow me. I’ll guide you.”

“Wait, hold on. I need to talk to Yoon Seong…”

“Yoo Ju, I’ll explain everything once I get back. I don’t know the full details yet either.”

“Ah…”

Since I didn’t understand the situation myself, I couldn’t explain anything to Yoo Ju.

Following the maid’s guidance, we arrived at another guest room, located in a different direction from where we were staying.

“Please enter here. After you’ve had a thorough conversation with the person inside, let me know, and I’ll guide you to your destination.”

“Ah… Yes. Thank you.”

Creak –

“Long time no see.”

“…Myth Clan Master.”

Inside, Yoon Yeon was sitting on a chair.

“Why are you calling me that again? I told you to call me ‘Noona.’ You did it last time, didn’t you?”

“…Alright. Anyway… Noona, why are you at the palace?”

“Straight to business, huh? I’m a bit hurt.”

“Stop joking around. What’s going on? I’m really confused.”

“Hmm… Honestly, I feel a bit sorry for you. I should have discussed it with you first, but I ended up at the palace without a chance to talk to you.”

“What…”

“First, take a seat. I’ll explain everything slowly.”

“…Alright.”

As I sat down, Yoon Yeon continued.

“You probably received a hefty reward, and that’s partly because of my influence.”

“…Did you tell the King about the spy incident?”

Earlier, during the conversation with the King, he had mentioned the outlaw spy incident as one of the reasons for increasing the reward.

‘The announcement was clearly made by the Myth Clan. If the King knows about it, it means Yoon Yeon told him.’

“Yeah, I told him.”

“…Why?”

“I thought it was about time… for the Eternity Clan to step into the spotlight.”

“Ah…”

“Of course, it’s my personal judgment… but isn’t it time to show your strength? I know you’re cautious by nature, but this was the only chance I had to give you credit. Once I told the King it was my doing, I couldn’t take it back later.”

“…I understand. But it’s still a bit strange. Just because of that, they increased the reward? I mean, I get that outlaws are a problem for the kingdom, but strictly speaking, isn’t the outlaw issue a matter for foreigners?”

From the kingdom’s perspective, outlaw issues are definitely a concern. However, outlaws are made up of foreigners, and fundamentally, the outlaw problem is intertwined with foreigners.



It’s a sticky situation.

In other words, from the palace’s perspective, there’s no need to give extra rewards for that.

“Right. That alone isn’t enough to warrant extra rewards. Of course, it’s not like it has no impact at all.”

“Then…”

“The decisive reason is Charis.”

“Ah… Don’t tell me…?”

“Right now, Charis is being held in the palace’s underground prison. Now you get what I’m saying, right?”

Only now could I fully grasp how the situation had unfolded.

‘So Yoon Yeon uncovered Charis’s identity and captured her, collaborating with the palace…’

“Actually, the information came from a deal I made with you, and at first, I thought about taking credit for it, but upon reflection, that didn’t seem right.”

“…..”

“Well, the Myth Clan and Eternity Clan are allies, right? So the fact that I promised to help you once in that deal essentially became meaningless.”

The deal where I sold Charis’s information happened before the Myth Clan and Eternity Clan formed an alliance.

Once an alliance is formed, it’s natural to help each other in times of danger. Because of the alliance, the deal I made back then essentially lost its meaning for me.

Yoon Yeon knew this and pushed the credit for this incident toward me.

Of course, it’s not like she gave me all the credit, but if we split it roughly half and half, from the palace’s perspective, it’s only right to reward me or our clan.

“I see. No wonder… something felt off. So that’s what was going on behind the scenes.”

“That’s how it turned out. Oh, and the reason I called you aside… Since you figured it out with your unique trait…”

“Thanks for considering that.”

“Well… Anyway, Charis is an indigenous person, and because of that, the palace is also tracking the group she belongs to. So the palace can’t just ignore rewarding you or me.”

“… What about Charis? If she’s in the underground prison… Have they finished interrogating her?”

“Ah… About that…”

“….?”

“I’m not sure how to say this… She spilled everything before they even started interrogating her… We still need to verify the facts, but both I and the palace are baffled by the situation.”

“…. She just spilled everything?”

Hearing Yoon Yeon’s words, I was dumbfounded. Even though Charis had retired from her activities, it felt strange that she would confess everything before even being interrogated.

“She seemed… kind of resigned. Anyway, you’ll have to come with me to the underground prison. You’re involved in this too.”

‘… The underground prison… I didn’t think it would come to this.’

Honestly, when I sold Charis’s information to Yoon Yeon, I had hoped she’d take care of Charis, but I didn’t expect things to turn out like this.

By “take care of,” I meant personally, not this whole mess with the palace getting involved.

The reason the king might have drawn a line with Yoo Ju about secrecy was likely because of the group Charis belongs to. If Yoon Yeon is to be believed, the palace is keeping a close eye on that group.

“… There’s one thing I’m curious about.”

“What is it?”

“What about the Border Lord? If Charis has been captured, the Border Lord must know by now.”

“Of course. In fact, the Border Lord is also at the palace because of this.”

“Sigh…”

It feels like things have escalated.

‘What kind of situation is this…’

I thought it would just be a clean reward and done, but things are spiraling in a weird direction.

“Don’t worry too much. Frankly, even though the situation has gotten complicated, you did well, and no one from the palace or the Border Lord will have anything to say against you.”

“… I guess so. That’s not what I’m worried about. It’s just… I was planning to cleanly take the reward and leave.”

Hearing my words, Yoon Yeon scratched her head and spoke with an awkward expression.

“Um… Did I do something unnecessary?”

She looked kind of apologetic. She probably thought she was helping, but seeing me feel burdened, she seemed to regret it.

“… No, it’s not that. Honestly, I was planning to start making a name for myself soon, just like you said. It’s just… the suddenness of the situation is making me a bit tired.”

“That’s good to hear. Oh, by the way… I heard you did something big this time.”

“……”

Since I’ve been staying at the palace, it seems word of this incident reached Yoon Yeon’s ears.

Yoon Yeon chuckled as she brought it up.

“I heard you caught a drug trafficker? You’ve got some serious skills. Solving shady business like that.”

“…. You know my trait. It’s all thanks to that.”

“A good ability is only as good as the person using it, right?”

Feeling like I needed to steer the conversation away from this, I remembered something I wanted to ask Yoon Yeon.

“… Anyway, speaking of which, Yoon Yeon, you’re from the Eastern Alliance, right?”

“That’s right. Why do you ask?”

Suddenly bringing up her origins, Yoon Yeon looked puzzled.

‘Does she not know yet that this drug incident is connected to the Eastern Alliance?’

Since I was planning to ask Yoo Ju or Yoon Yeon about this anyway, I decided to bring it up.

“By any chance… do you know a woman named Yanagiya Riki?”