When I left the training room, I wondered if I could leave it like this, but since Kwon Jeong-han wanted to deal with it alone, I had no choice but to believe in his ability and wait.
About an hour later, the door to the training room, which had been tightly closed, opened. I didn’t leave my seat in case there was an unexpected situation, so I looked at Kwon Jeong-han coming out into the hallway.
“Did you get a problem?”
“Of course not.”
The way he shrugged his shoulders with a smile on his face didn’t seem like a lie. That’s a relief.
Even if Kwon Jeong-han’s ability was great, I was worried because he had five opponents and even B-rank people.
When I entered the training room, I saw men lying on the floor tied up.
It didn’t look much different from before, but now they were all awake. When we came in, there was no response, just blinking eyes while lying down.
“Can I leave them like that?”
“They will be fine again after a while. Now it’s a little…”
Kwon Jeong-han, who was contemplating what to say, soon continued.
“They’re doing that because I touched their emotions a lot. I kept using my ability to feel conflicting emotions over and over again.” (감정을 많이 건드려 놔서 저러는 거예요)
It was only then that I understood the condition of the five people who couldn’t control their bodies properly. Their pale white faces resembled that of a disabled person.
‘Terrifying.’
It was true that whenever Kwon Jeong-han showed his ability as the sameside, it was a great help, but on the contrary, it was also true that I felt chills when I thought I was being victimized.
Anyway, it didn’t matter now. Unlike the other five, I turned my gaze to Kwon Jeong-han, who was standing next to me with a normal face.
“What about the side effects of your ability? You got the same way before.”
Through his ability, Kwon Jeong-han was able to manipulate the opponent’s psychology at will. However, the problem was that the same damage was applied to himself.
I was concerned about how much Kwon Jeong-han, who had touched the emotions of not one but five people, would have received back the price.
“Yes? Aa…”
Kwon Jeong-han, who touched the corner of his mouth, smiled awkwardly.
“I’m not fine, but… not that bad. Those people are lower ranker than me and I have trained myself.”
“If it’s training, is it emotional control training? Does it work?”
“To some extent, yes.”
The answer to the question came from Woo Seo-hyuk, who took a step back.
“Training is essential for those with mental abilities. Most mental abilities, including Bodyguard Kwon Jeong-han, have severe side effects, so it’s difficult to endure without training.”
“It seems to be very different from the training that physical talents do.”
“Yes. From the training room to the person in charge of training, everyone is different. Mental training is unconditionally accompanied by professional equipment and specialists. Depending on the situation, they also use helpful items.”
Woo Seo-hyuk, who stared at Kwon Jeong-han for a while, added.
“Bodyguard Kwon Jeong-han has participated in all trainings since taking over the job without missing a single one. So he will be far more adept at using his abilities than others.”
“Aren’t you giving me too much compliments?”
Kwon Jeong-han jokingly said something to Woo Seo-hyuk, who praised him, and gently shook his hand. I could see Kwon Jeong-han’s slightly heated ears. It seemed that he was quite happy that the blunt Woo Seo-hyuk was recognizing his efforts.
Hearing Woo Seo-hyuk’s explanation, I remembered the moment I had a conversation with Kwon Jeong-han a while ago.
“I’m the last shield for Hyung and Healer Min Ah-rin.”
It was bittersweet that I couldn’t tell Kwon Jeong-han, who had already made up his mind, that he didn’t have to. No matter how mature he looked, he was the youngest among us.
It had already been a while since he took over as my bodyguard… How much effort had he made behind the scenes without showing it to us? I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you sooner.
Hopefully there wouldn’t be anything dangerous in the future. Of course, it wouldn’t be easy.
Feeling a heavy burden on one side of my chest, I patted Kwon Jeong-han’s back lightly.
“Great job. Thanks to you, information was easily obtained.”
When I deliberately expressed my gratitude with a bright voice, Kwon Jeong-han, who had been looking at me with strange eyes, smiled similarly to me.
“Well. You’re asking me, but it’s only natural.”
Ha Tae-heon, who checked the condition of the five people while we were talking, opened his mouth.
“How are you going to deal with these guys?”
“We will hand them over to the guild management headquarters. Management headquarters has no interest in behind-the-gate dealings, so we should come up with another reason.”
I handed over the document Woo Seo-hyuk was holding to Ha Tae-heon. The document summarized the crimes committed by the five people in the past.
“Originally, I was going to make a criminal record and hand it over, but when I looked it up, it wasn’t necessary. If this is enough, the guild management headquarters will take good care of it.”
It was the best decision since we couldn’t touch people’s memories and couldn’t release them like this. I could only admire Woo Seo-hyuk’s ability to prepare this part in advance.
“Please clean up. Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi.”
“Yes. Please go upstairs first. I will follow you with the original CCTV footage from the training room.”
* * *
As mentioned before, we all gathered in the room on the 23rd floor and watched the training room CCTV on the TV screen connected to the laptop.
The five people who appeared in the CCTV video spat out an answer with difficulty as if they would stop breathing at any moment, with their emotions severely controlled by Kwon Jeong-han.
[I just… did what… they told me to do.]
[Drop items… where the Trappers are gathered…]
[Fuck, we risked our lives too!]
In the video, Kwon Jeong-han opened his mouth.
[What item is it?]
[I don’t know… R, red…]
[Looks like a red jewel…]
It was a red jewel. Min A-rin said, thinking of the same thing as me.
“It might be an item made with Kali’s blood.”
“Yes. I don’t know if it’s a different colour, but It’s more suspicious because it’s red.”
It was still too early to confirm it, so I watched the video some more.
[Who asked for it?]
[I’ve never met… the requested person.]
[That, that’s right. Someone else delivered it instead.]
[There’s a youngster who walked out with us and ran awas as if it was his limit. He suddenly came and said he had something worth the money…] (우리랑 같이 다니다가 손을 털겠답시고 빠져나간 새끼가 한 명 있어)
[What is his name?]
The man who was silent for a long time with his head down finally answered.
[Kim Kyung-wook (김경욱)… a C-rank talented person.]
[Is there any other special?]
[S, special? Wearing glasses… there’s a big mole on the corner of the mouth. Other than that, I don’t know.]
At those words, I raised my head and exchanged eyes with Ha Tae-heon.
I had seen the name Kim Kyung-wook a while ago. Like Park Byeong-seok, whom Ha Tae-heon and I met in person, he was one of those who were lucky to be released from working in the Praus Cult.
Of course, they could be the same person with the same name, but it was highly likely that they were the same person because they were C-rank, wore glasses, and even had a mole around their mouth.
“This is how the link continues. It seems that a man named Kim Kyung-wook requested it before he was freed from mental control.”
“By now, the guild would have investigated Kim Kyung-wook. Let’s go back and look at the relevant documents.”
People who had been released from mental control were being looked after by Roheon, so we just had to check if Kim Kyung-wook really had a past of working with them. It probably wouldn’t take long.
Cheon Sa-yeon, who was quietly watching the video, spoke in a low voice.
“It’s clear that the Praus Cult is doing something to the gate.”
Cheon Sa-yeon seemed very complicated when he learned that the Praus Cult was involved in the back-of-the-gate transaction. I also had the same mind, so I understood him.
It was fortunate that we were able to find traces of the Praus Cult and at the same time prevent their plans. However, the reality of having to collide with the Praus Cult again came as a great burden.
Cheon Sa-yeon was more worried because he had already suffered many failures against the Praus Cult. The black eyes staring at the TV screen where the video was playing looked darker than usual.
“I will go back to the guild for now. I will contact you right away after I personally check Kim Kyung-wook’s data.”
After watching the entire video, Ha Tae-heon stood up without delay. I followed Ha Tae-heon as he walked to the front door and sent a greeting.
“Thank you for helping me today, Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”
Ha Tae-heon, who looked at me for a while after wearing his shoes, stroked my hair with his big hand.
“It will take some time to check the data, so please give him some comfort in the meantime.”
“Pardon?”
Confused by the unknown sound, Ha Tae-heon pointed to the living room hidden by the wall with a glance. It was the position where Cheon Sa-yeon was sitting.
Ha Tae-heon also noticed Cheon Sa-yeon’s feelings. It was bittersweet to see him caring about Cheon Sa-yeon as much as I was.
“I will try. I don’t know if my comfort will help.”
“It would be best for you to do it.”
Ha Tae-heon, who clicked his tongue, whispered in a dissatisfied voice.
“To be honest, I wish it wasn’t you, but it seems I can’t help it.”
“Um…”
It was a word with many meanings. I didn’t know what answer to give back, so I just smiled awkwardly.
Cheon Sa-yeon called me the leader like a joke, but I thought the centre of our team was Cheon Sa-yeon. If he collapsed, no matter how much I said, we wouldn’t have been able to come this far against the Praus Cult.
“I’ll take some time to talk with him. Master Cheon Sa-yeon is the most important.”
Ha Tae-heon, who had never talked about it before, was worried, so it was true that Cheon Sa-yeon was in a bad state. When I said it eagerly, he smiled lightly.
“Yeah.”
His hand that had been stroking my hair came down and ran lightly down my cheek. The warm body temperature left like a trace on the cheek.
Eventually, the front door opened and Ha Tae-heon left the room. After seeing off Ha Tae-heon with a smile until the end, I let out a deep sigh as soon as he disappeared in front of my eyes.
I didn’t know how to relief Cheon Sa-yeon’s mood. Although I confidently answered Ha Tae-heon… I was frankly unsure.
In the first place, it wasn’t an easy problem to create a place to talk with Cheon Sa-yeon alone.
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