Chapter 473: Driving A Wedge (4)

Regressor Instruction Manual

‘What the…? How is she doing this…? Is this even possible?’

Obviously, I[1] thought I was hearing things because Kim Hyun-Sung continued eating as if he couldn’t hear anything, but more importantly, I didn’t understand what was going on.

‘What’s going on?’

The voice asked me as if they had been listening to our conversation.

— I-I-I asked you where you heard that rumor. Ah… I suppose it’s hard to answer r-right now. I-It’s my mistake. It’s probably faster if I ask you in person.

‘How did she hear me? Wait, is this even magic?’

I had no idea what kind of magic was being employed here. I could feel the voice’s apprehension, so I was sure that it wasn’t just telepathy. I was even more surprised because there were no traces of mana in the air, and there was also a soundproofing spell around me and Kim Hyun-Sung.

I could see that there was nothing wrong with the soundproofing spell, so no one should have been able to hear our conversation. I thought about how the other party had to be using her unique ability or something, but I had never heard of a unique ability that could do something like this.

Naturally, I felt uncomfortable because the strange voice gave me goosebumps as well.

I looked around because I was curious about who was talking to me, but the only people here were the few party members of the Blue Guild and Kim Hyun-Sung.

“Miss Kylie, is something wrong?” Kim Hyun-Sung asked.

“No, Mr. Hyun-Sung… More importantly, just now…” I paused.

“Yes?”

“I-It’s nothing,” I stuttered.

‘Shit. What’s going on?’

“I’d like to hear more details about the thing you mentioned earlier… The one about Mr. Ki-Young being close to Gellahan of Hellfire…” he requested.

“As I’ve mentioned before, he’s not the greatest person. I thought it was just my misunderstanding, but after seeing your expression, I don’t think that’s the case anymore. Are you worried about something?” I asked.

“Not really, but there’s something else I’m a bit worried about… He has been returning to the guild drunk more often recently. I feel like he’s been overdoing it more than usual. He has always been attending the mock battles and joint training…” he answered.

“Then, the rumors…” I mentioned.

“No, I’m sure that’s not the case. Mr. Ki-Young enjoys meeting people, but he’s very strict about taking care of himself, so I’m sure that he’s not doing the things you’re thinking about,” he said.

“I see. Of course, I only mentioned it out of concern for you. I was worried that you might get caught up on the honorary cardinal’s bad rumors… He’s a pillar of the Sacred Democratic Country, so the bad rumors could ruin his image…”

”The rumors were probably spread by someone with ill intent. Of course, the content of the rumors is a bit bothersome to consider it just a simple rumor…” I trailed off.

“...”

“I think it’d be best if you keep an eye on him for a bit and then talk to him once you get worried. Issues like this have to be sorted out with a conversation,” I suggested.

— C-C-Come to the bathroom. If you don’t, bad things will happen. Y-You have to come to no matter what. If you don’t come, I’ll come to you. Hurry up and come.

‘What the hell is going on?’

I heard the voice once again, and I couldn’t find the owner of the voice. I thought that it wouldn’t really matter if I were to ignore the voice but for some reason…

‘I have a really bad feeling about doing that.’

I thought that it would be best for me to meet them, but of course, my conscience was telling me that I shouldn’t do that. My conscience was telling me to ignore the voice inside my head and that I would be safe. However, I wanted to know the owner of the voice as well. I felt like an extra from a cheap, B-rated horror movie that was intentionally walking into danger to kick-start the plot.

‘This nerd probably knows something.’

However, I didn’t want to complicate the issue…

— -I-I just want to ask you a few questions.

It could be a trap, or the Blue Guild might be up to something after discovering our plans. If that wasn’t the case, then this could be the machinations of a different guild. I wasn’t in our Manhattan Guild House, so I couldn’t completely put my guard down.

However, I would be jumping to conclusions if I assumed that the Blue Guild was trying to get rid of me within their own guild house. In addition, I was also confident that even if the voice belonged to an enemy, I was fairly sure that they wouldn’t hurt me.

— I don’t like that you’re s-s-slow…

“...”

‘I’ll just follow my instincts.’

I had no choice but to stand up because the owner of the voice wanted to talk to me.

“Excuse me…” I said.

“Ah, sure.”

I couldn’t help but gulp a mouthful of my own saliva when I started walking.

I didn’t want to leave the impression that I would dine and dash, but it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I had reached my goal with Kim Hyun-Sung to some extent. Of course, I didn’t really achieve that much.

‘However, the foundation has already been laid out.’

I could take my sweet time with it because I still had a lot of time and opportunities.

Right now, it was more important for me to know the owner of the voice.

I continued walking and eventually saw my destination. I took a deep breath and opened the door. I saw a familiar face behind the door. Well, I couldn’t really say that she was familiar because this would be my first time speaking to her face-to-face.

‘Jung Ha-Yan.’

The talented great mage of the Blue Guild. The Blue Guild was basically split between Lee Ki-Young and Kim Hyun-Sung. However, she was one of the many people whom the many guilds had their eyes on. She wasn’t one of the Eight Seats, but she was one of the strongest mages on the continent.

I walked in front of the sink while glancing at her, and I heard her talking to me.

“Y-You came. I’m glad,” Jung Ha-Yan commented.

“So it was you…” I said.

“Ah, yes. I-I’m sorry for the s-sudden request. Well, it’s because I was really curious…” she said.

“How were you able to penetrate the soundproofing spell? And did you just project your thoughts into my head? Is it because you have a unique ability or a special type of magic that allows you to do that? Wait, maybe it’s a spell—Actually, why—”

“I-It’s difficult… to explain… I-I’ll tell you later. I… a-asked first. Right? I’m the one who a-asked the question first. Right? Right?” she interrupted.

“Ah, right. So your question is…” I muttered.

“That… rumor. Where did you hear it from?” she asked.

“Which…”

“The rumor about my oppa spending time with bad people,” she replied.

“...”

“You said he spent time with b-bad women every night. T-That he gets drunk every night, r-right?” she continued.

“I’m not sure. I can’t recall exactly where I heard it from…” I answered.

‘She’s kind of weird? Is she a psychopath?’

I couldn’t really describe it, but it seemed like she had a loose screw.

‘People said she was a genius…’

I would be more convinced if someone told me that she was anything but a genius.

She was trembling as if she had caught a bad cold, and her eyes were bloodshot. Her skin had become really pale, and she was pouting. The way she kept stuttering also made it seem like she was suffering from a mental breakdown.

I knew she was strange the moment I met her, but the sight in front of me made me realize that she wasn’t normal at all.

“T-Then it could be a lie. I’m sure it’s a baseless rumor,” she commented.

‘Idiots are easy to use… I wonder if I can use her…’

“Who knows? I don’t think that it’s a completely baseless rumor because he hasn’t been returning to the guild dorm By the way, what’s your relationship with the honorary cardinal?” I asked.

“W-We l-l-love each other…” Jung Ha-Yan replied.

“I heard he’s dating the Mercenary Queen…” I pointed out.

“D-Don’t talk about that woman. I… really don’t like Cha Hee-Ra. More importantly… where did you hear that rumor from? Who saw it? W-Who heard that rumor?” she asked again.

“I heard it from others as well, so I don’t know the details, but I’m pretty sure that it’s true. The people the honorary cardinal has been spending time with aren’t the greatest people out there…” I answered.

“You’re not lying… r-right?” she asked.

“Why would I lie?” I asked back.

“D-Do you know what kind of women they are? Where are they from?” she questioned.

“No, I don’t know the details…” I replied.

“W-W-Why don’t you know anything? A-A-Are you sure you’re not lying? I really don’t like liars. Especially lies like this…” she said.

“The possibility that it’s a lie is—”

I couldn’t continue.

‘Huh?’

When my eyes met Jung Ha-Yan’s eyes, the bathroom became inexplicably dark.

I had no idea what was going on, but my arms were assaulted with a pain that was so sharp I felt like they had gotten severed in an instant. I wanted to scream, but my voice wouldn’t come out.

A sharp pain struck my abdomen as well, and I could feel the contents of my abdomen spilling out and falling to the floor.

The sharp wind flying around me simultaneously gave me a thousand cuts.

It happened in the blink of an eye and without any forewarning.

‘Ah, ahhhhhh!’

My muscles and skin were ripped apart. I felt like collapsing to the floor in a heap as my flesh was turning into mincemeat.

In fact, I felt like I had become nothing but a lump of meat.

‘K-Kill me. Kill me…!’

It was unimaginable, and I also couldn’t explain what was happening to me. I tried to move, but I couldn’t even scream, not to mention move. The crazy woman before me screamed, and she started stabbing at random.

Sqwelp! Shunk! Plorkk!

‘Please stop… Please. It’s. My… fault…!’

A minute later, I woke up and started vomiting violently.

“Bleeeck!”

I frantically groped around myself and my arm. I groped around desperately while trying to stop myself from vomiting again. I groped around because I wanted to know what happened and if my limbs were still intact.

‘What did I see just now? What the hell was that?’

The phenomenon I had just witnessed was unexplainable.

I couldn’t even understand it, not to mention explain it.

Perhaps it was the aftereffect of the scene I had witnessed just now, but my legs were trembling. My knees eventually felt weak, and I collapsed to the floor to sit on my own vomit as I continued crying.

I obviously had no idea what was going on, but there was one thing I knew for sure.

The perpetrator of the horrible scene just now was right in front of me.

“Tell me the truth right now! Y-You weren’t lying, right?” Jung Ha-Yan asked.

I had long realized that there was something wrong. Everything—my plan to create a rift between Lee Ki-Young and Kim Hyun-Sung so that the three major guilds of Lindel would collapse—disappeared. They all disappeared.

No, If I wanted to survive, then I had to forget them.

I couldn’t care less about anything else. The baseless rumor that I had casually spread as if it was a joke had to become the truth. It was imperative that I do that so that I wouldn’t experience the same thing I had experienced just now.

“Yes… P-Probably,” I replied.

I felt like I was falling into an endless pit. Now, all I could do was hope that the Honorary Cardinal of the Sacred Democratic Country—the symbol of righteousness—would fall into depravity on his own.

1. Kylie’s POV ☜