Chapter 53

EP.53 The Meeting of Two Heroes #2

Sehwa brought Yuria to my hotel room.

It was funny how quickly they became close after just meeting.

“I’m Yuria Elenard. I heard about you from Sehwa. Ah, you probably heard our conversation since you were watching with a scout drone, right?”

Yuria approached me and extended her hand.

Come to think of it, this is the first time I’m meeting Yuria as Song Jihyuk.

Keep a straight face… straight face. I need to act like I’m annoyed and bewildered by Sehwa’s sudden actions.

“I’m Song Jihyuk. As for the conversation… I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

I shook her hand briefly and then glared at Sehwa.

I was scolding her for blabbing information to Yuria.

And for recklessly getting involved.

Sehwa stammered and apologized.

“Sorry for not listening… but she’s definitely not a bad person. I can vouch for her. I can even put up a guarantee.”

“A guarantee? Is that something you should be saying?”

“I’m sorry…”

“I’m starting to think bringing her here was a mistake. We absolutely shouldn’t be exposed. And what did I tell you? Don’t just barge in recklessly. And why did you undo your transformation? Are you always this careless?”

I didn’t really want to scold Sehwa.

But lately, she’s been acting like a rebellious kid, so it was necessary to teach her a lesson.

“…..”

Sehwa fidgeted with her fingers.

Even if she had ten mouths, she wouldn’t have anything to say.

Yuria glanced between Sehwa and me and then apologized.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come even if I was invited. It seems I made a mistake. But if you hear me out, you might want to praise Sehwa.”

“What do you mean?”

“About the Gates… where they come from and what their purpose is.”

“Should I believe what you’re saying, Yuria?”

“Not necessarily. But I really hope you’ll listen. Whether you believe me or not is up to you, Jihyuk.”

“Sigh… this is giving me a headache…”

As I pressed my thumb and middle finger against my temples, Sehwa cautiously approached and took my hand.

“I’m sorry… really sorry… but I really had to help… no, I had to meet her. It felt like I had to meet her no matter what…”

“Don’t pull any more sudden stunts like this. Listen to me.”

“Okay! I’ll listen no matter what! I swear on you…”

“What? Swear on me? Are you kidding?”

“No… I promise…”

I sat Sehwa, who was bouncing between excitement and gloom, on the bed.

Then I awkwardly guided Yuria, who was standing stiffly, to the sofa near the coffee table.

“Shall we sit?”

“Yes.”

Yuria, sitting across from me, moistened her lips.

She’s so captivating. I wish I could make those pretty lips say “Daddy! I love you!”

As I stayed silent, Yuria began to speak.

“Um… there’s someone helping me… they said they’d contact the Beast Slayer… but I ended up meeting you first.”

“Mr. Kim Taegon?”

Yuria looked startled.

“How did you…?”

But she quickly nodded, likely thinking about our technological capabilities.

“That makes sense. You even tracked me down when I was practically a shut-in…”

“Actually, this is a crazy coincidence. Mr. Kim Taegon and I are business partners. During a drinking session, the topic of Gates came up. I won’t go into details, but… that’s how I started keeping an eye on you.”

“Is… that so…?”

Yuria’s expression darkened.

Hmm… I’ll have to be careful when meeting her disguised as Kim Taegon.

I continued.

“And if we hadn’t contacted you first, he would’ve never found us.”

“…. Meeting Sehwa today must’ve been fate. This is going to be a long story…”

As Yuria spoke, Sehwa brought coffee to the table and sat next to me.

Yuria smiled warmly as she noticed the rings on our fingers.

She must think it’s cute.

“First, the identity of the one opening the Gates…”

**

Yuria spent about three hours talking about Erandel, the Gates, and her own story.

It was all stuff I already knew, so it was pretty boring, but I listened to her until the end.

“…. That’s it. Tairat is definitely lurking somewhere on Earth. We need to find and eliminate him to stop the Gates from opening.”

Meanwhile, I’m just strolling around openly… hehe…

“So the Beast Slayer’s ultimate goal is to find and eliminate Tairat.”

“Yes. Then peace will return. And that’s my goal too. Please let me into the lab. I promise I’ll be a big help. I have some knowledge about his physical abilities and the demons he sends out.”

Sehwa stared at me intently, her eyes saying:

Agree already.

Of course, I’ll agree. But I can’t make it too easy.

“The lab isn’t run by me. There’s a doctor in charge, so I’ll ask her and get back to you.”

“…. Okay. Please… please put in a good word for me. I’m begging you. Tairat is…”

Yeah, you’d want to tear me to pieces and kill me.

But you’re already in my grasp, so that’s not happening.

“Understood.”

“My contact number is 01…”

“I already have it. I looked into everything while investigating.”

“Ah, okay…”

“For now, Yuria, your current identity is too risky. The government isn’t watching you yet, but if they catch you, it’ll be hard to avoid suspicion. You’ve been lucky so far. I’ll create a completely new identity for you. I’ll keep your name, so don’t worry.”

Yuria’s face brightened.

“Just keeping my name is enough. Thank you for your kindness.”

“Do you have enough money?”

“Yes, Mr. Taegon has been helping me a lot.”

“Got it. We’ll contact you separately. Is that okay?”

“Of course. But if you could contact me as soon as possible…”

“I’ll do my best.”

I stood up and extended my hand to Yuria.

After shaking hands, I went back to the bed and started packing my equipment.

Sehwa took the opportunity to whisper to Yuria.

“Unnie… I’m sure there’ll be good news. I promise.”

Even if you’ve bonded, come on… since when did you get so close?

“Thank you, Sehwa. I’m really glad I met you. You’re wearing the same ring as Song Jihyuk… is he your boyfriend?”

Yuria whispered into Sehwa’s ear.

I can hear you, you know. My hearing is sharper than any living creature when I’m focused.

“Yes… he’s my boyfriend.”

“You two look good together. Let’s definitely meet again.”

“Yes, unnie…”

The two shared a long hug before parting.

After Yuria left, Sehwa hurried over to me and asked.

“Jihyuk, why didn’t you agree? You listened to everything… is it because of the doctor?”

“No. We don’t know if her story is true or not. The list of demon names she gave seems plausible, but…”

“Don’t you trust me? I told you. You can absolutely trust Yuria unnie. She’s definitely a candidate for the new Device.”

As I packed my laptop into my bag, I turned to Sehwa and looked down at her.

Her big, round eyes looked up at me before she lowered her gaze.

She looked like she was about to cry, probably trying to act cute.

I met her eyes and said.

“We need to be careful with this. But don’t worry too much. I think the doctor will give a good answer.”

“Okay…”

“And from now on, if something like this happens, I’ll handle it alone. My head hurts from all the things you blabbed to Yuria. It’s good you didn’t mention the Device, but… even so, I can’t just let it slide.”

“No… I like being with you…”

If you hadn’t carelessly undone your transformation, all the criminals in Jung-gu would’ve been wiped out, you know?

Of course, you don’t know about that.

Ah, even if you did notice, you probably wouldn’t feel too bad about it.

“It turned out okay in the end, but you’re too reckless. It was my mistake to involve you in this.”

“From now on… I’ll really do better… I won’t act on my own… just this once… just give me one more chance…”

Sehwa sniffled.

I sighed and reluctantly said.

“I’ll think about it, but for now, I’ll handle things alone. Got it?”

“…..”

“I said, got it?”

“Ah, got it…”

“Let’s go back. To Seoul.”

Sehwa, intimidated by my calm anger, just stared at the innocent carpet.

I firmly held her hand and finished packing with one hand.

Even until right before we checked out early and got in the car, Sehwa was in a gloomy state.

She must feel really sorry. Well, she did act impulsively, so it’s understandable.

After putting the equipment in the trunk, I got into the driver’s seat, and Sehwa handed me a straw.

It was coffee.

“You have a long drive ahead… you can’t fall asleep…”

I took a big sip through the straw, gulped, and said.

“I’ll just set it to autopilot.”

Maybe because my tone softened, Sehwa’s face brightened considerably.

“I’m really reflecting. Please forgive me… okay?”

“I already forgave you. But…”

“You’re not taking back what you said about thinking about it, right? Of course, I understand. I’ll stay put until you decide it’s okay…”

Good, she won’t whine for a while now.

I tapped my cheek with my finger.

Sehwa shrugged her shoulders and then kissed my cheek.

She even made a sound, clearly excited.

I made a kissing sound and pushed Sehwa away after a few pecks.

“Device charge level?”

“88 percent…”

“You used 12 percent. We’ll have to recharge on the way.”

You could say “only 12 percent.”

The capacity is plenty large.

I’ve met Yuria and secured the timing to introduce her to the doctor…

If the doctor decides to bring Yuria into the lab and gives her a Device, I’ll have to release an A-class demon.

Astaroth, who exudes an aura of lethargy, would be good.

Leona alone might struggle, but if Marcel and I create an opening, Leona and Yuria can team up to take it down.

But since it’s an A-class demon, there’s a chance they might get hurt… I’ll have to take good care of them.

“Jihyuk, aren’t we leaving?”

“Ah, right.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“Just… thoughts about what happened today and plans for the future.”

“It might not be the best time to say this, but… I’m really glad I met Yuria unnie. She’ll definitely be a good ally.”

Yeah, she’ll be a great ally.

I answered by gently stroking the back of Sehwa’s neck, then started the car.

After turning on autopilot, I pulled my pants down to my knees.

Sehwa naturally rested her face on my lower body.

We’ll have to take turns recharging the 12 percent we used.

To be continued―――――――――――――――――――――

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