[1]
“It was a dream…”
It was a dream that I was somewhat used to now.
When I looked out of the window after sitting up, I felt like I could clearly feel the explosion and the light I felt at that time. I shook my head, but it didn’t change anything. When I gulped, I heard someone knocking on the door.
“Mr. Hyun-Sung, it’s time for our meeting. Miss Lee Sang-Hee called the remaining party members and executives in the guild.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll be right there,” I told them.
“Okay, within 30 minutes…”
“Yes, I’ll be there within 30 minutes,” I said.
A lot of things were going through my head.
When I dreamed about my first life, I always woke up to the same morning. I would look around and then remind myself where I was. When I got up and headed to the bathroom, my haggard face was reflected in the mirror.
‘I haven’t been able to sleep recently.’
I had been busy outside of the guild.
The terrorist attack that happened recently didn’t happen during my first life and to make things worse, I had never imagined that someone would do something like that at that time of day when the sun hadn’t completely set.
‘I was lazy.’
I should’ve kept a better eye on Lee Seol-Ho’s personality. I knew that he didn’t have a good relationship with Lee Ki-Young, but I never imagined that he would request something like that. Thanks to that, it put the Blue Guild in a favorable position, but the fact that Jung Ha-Yan got injured was a painful mistake that couldn’t be replaced with anything else.
‘We need her.’
She was going to be a mage that would represent Lindel, no, the Holy Empire of Benigoa in the future, and the actions she would show in the war, later on, would be beyond anyone’s imagination. If she didn’t actually die, then there was a good chance that the war would have ended in victory for the humans. As Lindel’s archmage who was respected by everyone, she was more overpowering than any hero and I was certain that in this life, she would be given the most important role. Based on how fast she had been growing recently, I could see it already.
‘Talent.’
She was a person that was born with magic. The more results she showed, the more I nodded in appreciation at the achievements of Lindel’s genius mage.
There wasn’t a lot of information about Jung Ha-Yan during my first life. She joined the Devil’s Guild as a researcher under the condition that she wouldn’t participate in expedition or war and for a long time, she never showed herself to the public. Based on her personality, I was able to assume what kind of life she had been living. Due to the influence of a situation I didn’t know about, she refused to socialize with other people and locked herself in the magic tower. Her life was probably really boring because all she did was study magic all day and then sleep so it was possible that she had never gone outside. Besides Kim Ah-Young, she refused to talk to other people, so my assumption was most likely correct.
‘She lacks social skills.’
That could be considered a flaw, but there was a reason why I took a lot of chances and considered her my comrade.
Growth wouldn’t happen overnight. Many people had their own stories and they grow through the personal pains they had experienced. Some people would experience the death of a comrade, the betrayal of a lover, while others would only be able to fulfill their roles after a near-death experience.
The same could be said for Jung Ha-Yan. The reason why she was so strong was that she was always in the magic tower studying magic while refusing to socialize with other people. When taking that into consideration, I thought that maybe sending Jung Ha-Yan to the Devil’s Guild was the right thing to do, but after thinking about her final moments, I thought that protecting her mentality was more important than her growth. But right now, the fact that Jung Ha-Yan was growing was one of the best choices I had ever made and not just on the outside, but on the inside as well.
‘Not only that…’
She was also in a relationship. This was something that I couldn’t imagine in my first life. She did have a flaw where she seemed slightly obsessive, but maintaining her relationship with Lee Ki-Young was the answer. By continuously maintaining her relationship with Lee Ki-Young, she could avoid making an extremely difficult decision in the future and she could avoid the horrible ending I saw in my dream just now. Even if she approached me for something I couldn’t provide her with, Lee Ki-Young would naturally step in and help her instead.
Lee Ki-Young was a type of person that was completely different from all the people I had seen so far, and he was also very competent. My assumption must be correct.
In many ways, The right thing to do was to continuously show interest in Lee Ki-Young and Jung Ha-Yan’s relationship because I needed a competent person that could handle this type of attack when I wasn’t around. The person I was thinking about was Jo Hye-Jin, my assistant. She was known as the goddess of the spear because she could defeat any enemy with just a spear.
‘She may be in Lindel by now…’
After thinking for a moment, I quickly washed up and when I walked outside, I saw a familiar sight.
Even though the guild’s guide was bowing, it felt like the empty guild was telling me that this was the fall of the Blue Guild and in the guild’s current state, it was difficult to call this a guild. Even though we were still maintaining our alliance with the other guilds, the guild’s commission office was closed and the majority of the ordinary guild members had already left the guild. On top of that, some of the party members of party two had already decided on transferring to another guild. If this continued, then the Blue Guild would really be forgotten in Lindel.
Recently, Lee Ki-Young had been spending a lot of time at the Red Mercenary Guild and people were worried that he was going to leave the guild, but I was certain that it wasn’t the case. It was all because I had an idea as to what he wanted.
‘I’m sure he wants me to do it…’
He was waiting for me to seize the power within the Blue Guild.
‘He’s competent.’
The Lee Ki-Young I knew might be able to handle this situation. The reason why he wasn’t getting involved with the guild was that he wanted me, the party leader, to have more power, so he understood what I wanted. It was like he knew exactly what I was thinking, so he prepared everything in advance after grasping the situation.
As expected, after taking a few steps, I heard voices from all over the place.
“Mr. Kim Hyun-Sung.”
“Yes?”
“There’s a document that I need you to take a look at.”
“Oh, okay,” I said.
“There are also some issues that I need you to take a look at today… because… Mr. Lee Ki-Young isn’t here right now…”
“Did you let Mr. Ki-Young know that there’s a meeting today?” I asked.
“Yes, I heard he’s on his way back right now. I heard he was at the Red Mercenary Guild yesterday, taking care of Miss Jung Ha-Yan…”
“Yes, I heard that too. Please leave the documents that require payment in my room. I’ll check them myself after the meeting and discuss it with the master,” I said.
“Okay, and would it be okay if I posted the announcement about the recruitment of guild members today?”
“I’ll make sure that you’re able to ask the guild master directly,” I told them.
I was asked a lot of questions on the way to the meeting room and I knew exactly what Lee Ki-Young was planning. After Lee Ki-Young left the guild by giving the excuse that he was nursing Jung Ha-Yan, many people ended up relying on me.
When I slowly started moving, I saw the meeting room and when I opened the door, I saw Lee Sang-Hee and Hwang Jung-Yeon waiting for me. Lee Sang-Hee looked haggard and Hwang Jung-Yeon, the leader of party two, was looking at her. The meeting room that was once filled with people only had five people now.
“You’re here.”
“Yes.”
“Is Mr. Ki-Young…”
“I heard that he’s on his way,” I said.
“That’s a relief.”
“It feels like it’s been a while since we had a meeting,” I said.
“It is and I’m sorry about that. I should’ve called for this meeting sooner, but… I didn’t have the luxury since so many things happened at once,” Lee Sang-Hee said.
Her eyes looked exhausted, but I knew that she would be able to overcome it because in my first life, she had overcome her pain.
“I think it would be best to tell you now even though Mr. Ki-Young isn’t here yet,” she said.
“Okay.”
“I’m sorry for constantly showing you this side of me. If I had thought about the people that remained in the Blue Guild, I should’ve shown a happier side of me and I’m very thankful for you two for supporting the guild while I was away,” she said.
“We only did what we thought was right.”
“While I was resting, I thought about many things and one of them was regarding what I should do with the Blue Guild moving forward. When thinking about the future of the party members, I know that disbanding the guild and sending you all to a different guild is what I should be doing, no, I’m sure it’s the right choice,” Lee Sang-Hee said.
“...”
“But, Mr. Joo… no, I just can’t disband the guild that the master built with his own hands. I’m very sorry to do this to you two, but I hope you’ll remain in this guild,” she said.
“Of course,” I said.
“Yes, with Master…” Hwang Jung-Yeon said.
“I’m no longer the master, Miss Jung-Yeon. It’s only right that I step down from this position,” she said.
“What?” Hwang Jung-Yeon asked.
“Not only did I put everyone in danger back at the Cursed Shrine, but when the master was healthy and even when he was lying in bed, I was simply wearing the title. I didn’t catch on to the fact that Lee Seol-Ho was colluding with the Japanese despite the fact that I was suspicious of him. Moreover, because of my relationship with him, I couldn’t do anything,” she explained.
“But…”
“This is a position that doesn’t fit me and as Mr. Ki-Young mentioned, I can be categorized as an incompetent person. Even if I obtain power over the Blue Guild again, it wouldn’t be any different from before, so it’s only right for me to step down. I know it’ll be difficult…” she said.
“I-I…” Hwang Jung-Yeon stuttered.
It wasn’t unexpected because I had a feeling that this was going to happen.
Even though Hwang Jung-Yeon didn’t finish her sentence, I had a feeling that she was going to deny what Lee Sang-Hee said and Lee Sang-Hee’s expression was turning serious by the second. If Lee Ki-Young was here, he would definitely say something right now. I was a bit cautious, but I thought that saying something right now was the right thing to do.
“If Miss Jung-Yeon doesn’t really agree…”
“I don’t,” she said.
“I’ll keep this position temporarily,” I said.
Saying something like this might make me seem more reliable.
“Oh…”
“Of course, it’ll be impossible for me to take care of every single issue, but if you two helped me so that I don’t walk down the wrong path, I’m sure that it wouldn’t take long to recover the glory that the Blue Guild once had,” I explained.
“I see…”
“There’s still a lot of competent people in the guild,” I added.
At the same time, I heard a voice outside the room.
“It’s Lee Ki-Young. I’m coming in...”
1. Kim Hyun-Sung’s POV ☜
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