Chapter 401: If he were an enemy (3) |
[Incomplete Aegis’ Shield - Legendary Rank]
[The shield the god of the sky gave to the goddess of war. The shield is incomplete and fragmented. Perhaps it is because of the mana contained in the shield, but the shield is still functioning despite being just a fragment of a complete shield. Greatly increases basic magic resistance. Consume mana to summon the Incomplete Aegis’ Shield for a short time. The Incomplete Aegis’ Shield will always block critical attacks.]
‘Wow, it’s such a high-quality item.’
I saw it through the goddess’ mirror, but calling it a high-quality item wouldn’t be enough to describe it. The fact that it would always block critical attacks was a testament to its value. This kind of item was more useful to tanks, but the fact that he was giving it to me showed how much he was thinking about me.
“Ah… this is…”
“I got it for you,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.
“No, it’s fine, Mr. Hyun-Sung. I don’t need it,” I told him.
“No, I think it’s best if you take it. I thought about it many times, but I think this is an item you should have, Mr. Ki-Young. There’s no guarantee that the incident that happened earlier won’t happen again.” He pointed out.
“The incident earlier…”
‘Look at that, Ji-Hye! This is our Hyun-Sung. How dare you talk about Hyun-Sung backstabbing me?!’
“It’s not an item I need, and I don’t really block attacks when I fight… I think it’s best if you carry it around as insurance, Mr. Ki-Young. I did think about assigning you a bodyguard, but… if you accept this, I’ll feel more relieved,” he continued.
“But, still—”
“You have to accept it,” he insisted.
“If… if you say so. Thank you,” I said.
I wanted to accept it right away, but as a Korean, I had to reject it a few times. Even if I rejected it, Kim Hyun-Sung would still attach the tiny, miniature-looking shield to my left wrist anyway. When I forcefully accepted the shield and equipped it, I heard a click and felt a comfortable grip around my arm. It didn’t fit me, but it felt good to have another way to protect myself. In addition, it wasn’t a large shield, so I could still comfortably move around.
‘Shit. Have I gotten stronger? I feel like I’ve gotten stronger!’
The Incomplete Aegis’ Shield didn’t have any base attack power, but it would still hurt. I couldn’t help but think that I could probably take on a few close-range players with this shield, but of course, it was just a pipe dream. Since the previous owner of this shield still ended up being defeated, it became clear to me that items weren’t everything.
I looked at Kim Hyun-Sung with eyes full of gratitude. He nodded at me, and the way he did that made it clear that he had infinite trust in me.
“However…” Kim Hyun-Sung started.
“Huh?”
“Please keep it a secret from Mr. Deok-Gu…” he requested.
“Ah…”
“I personally thought it would be more useful for you than for Mr. Deok-Gu. It was my personal judgment, so I’m worried that it’ll make Mr. Deok-Gu sad,” he explained.
“Haha, I understand. I won’t tell Deok-Gu,” I laughed.
“And the other guild members…” he added.
“I won’t tell the other members as well,” I said.
‘Why is he so cute?’
The worried Kim Hyun-Sung was so adorable that I had this urge to bite him.
I looked at Lee Ji-Hye again to see her reaction, but the way she stared at me suspiciously made me feel under pressure. Her suspicion about Kim Hyun-Sung seemed to have been relieved somewhat, but it felt like she was being suspicious about something else entirely. Moreover, she seemed worried as well.
“I think it’s best if Mr. Hyun-Sung rests for a bit because the next fight will be even longer. Fortunately, the enemy soldiers are starting to retreat,” I suggested.
“Does that mean we managed to weaken them?” Kim Hyun-Sung asked.
“They have to prepare for the next fight as well,” I replied.
“There’s… something I need to tell you about that,” he said cautiously.
“What?”
“I’ve told you this before, but… a part of me still feels uncomfortable…” he started.
“Ah… go on,” I said.
‘Here he goes again.’
It seemed like he had gotten PTSD from getting backstabbed so many times. Of course, it wasn’t as bad as the first time, but since the upcoming fight could be the final fight that would end the war, I was sure he was starting to think about many things.
“I can’t get rid of the feeling that this is all a trap. It feels too easy…” he said.
“A trap?” I asked.
“Yes.”
This was the first time Lee Ji-Hye saw Kim Hyun-Sung’s PTSD from getting backstabbed too many times, so her confusion was understandable. It was natural for her to be surprised because he suddenly started a serious conversation about how he couldn’t get rid of the feeling that all this could be a trap. Lee Ji-Hye looked at me as if she was asking what this guy was talking about, and she was definitely having a hard time accepting Kim Hyun-Sung’s sudden remark about traps. She listened to him and either nodded away or pretended like she was surprised. However, the highlight of the entire conversation was the look on her face, which seemed like it was telling me to get this weird man away from her.
“We have to be careful,” he said.
Kim Hyun-Sung pleaded. We could just laugh it off, but I couldn’t do that because of Lee Ji-Hye’s words earlier.
‘The demon summoner is definitely doing a good job…’
The problem was that Jin Cheong wasn’t showing sides of himself that would remind Kim Hyun-Sung of the masked scum. Jin Cheong had to appear crueler and more meticulous. Using standard tactics was enough to lay waste, but it wasn’t enough to convince Kim Hyun-Sung that he was the masked scum. The masked scum in Kim Hyun-Sung’s memory was basically the incarnation of the devil, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he was the king of scums. He was the scummiest person who had done all kinds of disgusting and perverted things.
‘This is gonna be a lot of work…’
Now that I thought about it, the situation felt really dangerous. The fact that the three of us were in this small room suddenly started to bother me.
‘Thinking about it now, she was a masked scum as well… I hope he hasn’t noticed it.’
We could end up in a situation where Kim Hyun-Sung might mistake Lee Ji-Hye and me as the masked scummy couple in his past life, so I had to take a step backward. I was sure their masks had various spells cast on them, such as a voice-changing spell, but I still wanted to avoid any strange misunderstandings.
“The things that Hyun-Sung oppa mentioned…” Lee Ji-Hye chimed in.
“Yes…”
“To be honest, I can’t say that it’s possible. Obviously, those things are prohibited based on the Continental War Act, and some of them are so cruel that the War Act even forgot to include them because of the extremely low chance of them happening. From my point of view, they’re shocking stories… If someone really were making a trap like that, then I’d call them scum—no, they wouldn’t be human scum. They would be hopeless filth that cannot be recycled,” she explained.
“He’s more than capable of doing that,” he said.
“I’ll think of it from different perspectives, Hyun-Sung oppa. It’s important to take a look at where you’re going to land before you leap,” she said.
Lee Ji-Hye’s comment really hurt my conscience, but I had no choice but to speak cautiously, “Even if he prepared a trap… I’m sure it’ll be difficult for him to use it so openly.”
“What?”
“If we think about the Republic’s current situation, I’m sure the demon summoner Jin Cheong will think that using inhumane tactics won’t be beneficial to him because he’s still rejecting the fact that he’s the one who caused the incident in Laios. I’m sure that doing such inhumane actions will affect his mind as well as the morale of his soldiers. It’ll decrease the Republic’s influence, and most of all, he will have to worry about foreign affairs…” I answered.
“Hm… I see.”
“He won’t do something stupid like turning those who haven’t participated in the war yet and are just observing the situation into enemies. I-I didn’t tell you this last time, but I think you can relax regarding that, Mr. Hyun-Sung,” I added.
“But—”
“Please.”
“If we’re so cornered that we can’t think about other situations, then…”
I clenched my fists in joy because it seemed like the conversation would finally end, but Lee Ji-Hye suddenly joined the conversation and said, “Well, it’s definitely possible. I believe the biggest reason this war even happened in the first place was that demon summoner Jin Cheong couldn’t let go of the things he has in his possession. If people like him got cornered, hm—do you understand what I’m trying to say? Those who have nothing to lose can become incredibly cruel.”
‘Lee Ji-Hye, you masked bitch!’
I didn’t think that she would pull a Park Deok-Gu and mess things up. It was amusing how Kim Hyun-Sung nodded while clenching his fists. He looked really worried, but there was no guarantee that the demon summoner would do something so inhumane.
‘Should I make preparations?’
I came up with a few things as insurance, but I still had to think if they were even necessary. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a choice because the battle here was still ongoing, and we would soon head over to Castle Rock. Lee Ji-Hye turned her gaze away from Kim Hyun-Sung toward the goddess’ mirrors.
“Don’t chase after those who are retreating. We need to reorganize our troops as fast as possible and head over to Castle Rock. This will be transmitted to every detachment, and the advance party shall move immediately.”
- Affirmative.
“Transmission complete. If there’s an unknown situation or you find anything suspicious, please report it to the command center right away. Please report even the smallest details. Additionally, we’ll form a separate scouting party with the remaining rangers and mages. We will also form a separate task force for unknown situations and variables,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
- Affirmative.
“Please encourage the soldiers. This is the final fight,” she added.
- Understood!
Kim Hyun-Sung nodded at Lee Ji-Hye. He was definitely satisfied with Lee Ji-Hye’s words. He still looked anxious, but he had definitely gotten the hint by now.
“I’ll stay here and make preparations with the adjutants. You two go out and get some fresh air,” Lee Ji-Hye suggested.
“It’s fine.”
“I’m not telling you to just get fresh air. Everyone is exhausted, and if you two stay with them, I’m sure it’ll lift their spirits up. You should also give them fatigue recovery potions,” she explained.
“Got it.”
“Ah, please stop by the area where the female soldiers are gathered. It’ll be very helpful,” she added.
‘Why would that be helpful?’
It smelled fishy, but I had no choice but to nod.
Comments 1