Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 70
The next day. AM 11:00
"Well then, let's depart."
Confirming that Eunha, who had gotten into the sedan, had buckled her seatbelt, Jehwi slowly pressed the accelerator.
"Did you finish the bracelet?"
"Yes, well... I managed to complete it somehow."
Eunha stealthily took something out from her bosom.
It was a wish bracelet woven with orange thread.
It happened just last evening.
'So, you're planning to visit the Corps Guild HQ? Alone, Ms. Hunter?'
'A promise must be kept.'
'Uuuuhm...'
Jehwi looked like he wanted to dissuade Eunha from visiting the Corps HQ alone.
It was natural.
Wolf had many rivals.
Corps was one of them.
However, Jehwi had neither the ability nor the authority to stop Eunha.
In the first place, having observed her for several months, Jehwi judged her to be someone who never went back on a decision once made.
It wasn't simply stubbornness; perhaps the expression 'an unstoppable force' was more fitting.
In the end, Jehwi decided to respect Eunha's wishes.
With Siwoo absent, he couldn't think of any way to stop Eunha.
'Understood. Then I'll prepare something for you tomorrow morning.'
'Prepare something?'
'Isn't it customary to bring something when visiting someone's home? Usually, fruit or drinks are recommended... But since the recipient is that Trickster, it's a bit of a dilemma.'
As they say, if you're going to do it, do it right.
It would be better to send a gift that Trickster would appreciate.
Beside Jehwi, who was deep in thought, Eunha suddenly spoke.
'Manager-nim, since it's something I'm delivering, I'll prepare it myself. But I have a favor to ask.'
'Do you have something in mind?'
'Yes.'
Eunha held out the wish bracelet on her wrist.
It was the new wish bracelet Jehwi and Siwoo had made for her.
'I think this will be good.'
'Huh? But why, specifically...'
'Because I was happy.'
Eunha, fiddling with the wish bracelet, smiled faintly.
'When I received this, I was truly happy.'
After that, thanks to Jehwi obtaining the necessary materials to make the wish bracelet, Eunha was able to complete it quickly.
A very long time ago, she had made one in elementary school and hadn't made one since, so she fumbled a bit, but it looked quite decent.
'I hope he likes it.'
Now that she had made it, the thought belatedly occurred to her that perhaps preparing a different gift would have been better.
Should she stop by a nearby supermarket now and buy something else?
Meanwhile, Jehwi, waiting at a signal with his chin resting on the steering wheel, glanced towards the passenger seat.
"It'll be fine, Ms. Hunter. A gift is originally something that contains the giver's heart. Since you worked hard to make it, Trickster will surely recognize that."
"You think so?"
"Yes. You recognized it too, didn't you, Ms. Hunter?"
Jehwi smiled faintly.
"...Yes, I suppose so."
Only then did Eunha's expression soften slightly.
Eunha, carefully putting away the wish bracelet with a more relieved face, was gradually approaching the Corps Guild HQ.
Songpa-gu, Seoul.
Corps Guild HQ Basement Level 1, commonly known as the 'Workshop'.
"Master, you seem to be in a good mood."
Junhwan, having set down a large box, glanced at Minjoo.
Click, clack.
The small hands manipulating the rifle were quite nimble.
From him, who usually strictly prohibited idle chatter during 'manufacturing', a reply came, for some reason.
"Yeah. Noona is coming soon."
Minjoo, taking off his work goggles, smiled faintly.
"I need to make as much as possible before then. I have a mountain of things I want to show her. This and that too."
Hehet.
Beside Minjoo, who chuckled while rubbing his nose, the 'works' he had completed just last evening were lined up like dominoes.
A V-42 stiletto with engraved spelling, a rabbit-shaped incendiary grenade, a rainbow-colored smoke bomb.
Junhwan, scanning them, casually began to speak.
"By the way, Master. Could it really be true that she closed the Busan Jagalchi Market Unknown Gate? And that she dueled with the Monkey King? The internet is buzzing about it."
"Perhaps?"
Minjoo replied curtly without even looking this way.
He had expected him to laugh it off as nonsense or scold him for spouting foolishness, but he didn't.
'Does he know something?'
Junhwan was curious but didn't ask further, keeping his mouth shut.
It didn't seem like he would answer even if asked.
Thwack.
Minjoo kneaded the rifle lying on the table as if it were clay.
[Passive ▶ 'Rabbit's Rice Cake Pounding' activated. Fun things are fun! Your imagination takes form.]
At that, the surface of the hard rifle began to yield like sujebi dough.
Junhwan, standing beside him, watched the scene as if mesmerized, like an audience member watching a magic trick.
It was always an amazing sight, no matter how many times he saw it.
"Done!"
Minjoo, with a satisfied face, held the rifle up high.
Tada! It was complete.
"Hmm, let's see. Next is..."
Rolling up his sleeves again, Minjoo began manufacturing with an excited face.
Knead, knead.
Occasional humming could be heard.
A faint smile also touched the lips of Junhwan, who was keeping Minjoo company.
'Is he really that happy?'
Beep beep.
An alarm sounded from Junhwan's wristwatch.
It seemed a visitor had arrived.
Junhwan quietly slipped out, careful not to disturb Minjoo.
"We've been expecting you."
As Eunha, arriving at the HQ entrance, was folding her parasol, Junhwan came out to greet her, somehow knowing she was there.
Eunha lightly scanned her surroundings.
It seemed there was a CCTV camera somewhere.
"If you had told us in advance, we would have sent someone to pick you up. Ah, I'll take your parasol."
Junhwan reached out his hand towards Eunha's parasol.
Eunha, looking at the extended hand, blinked slowly.
'Vigilance first, vigilance second. Please, Ms. Hunter. You understand, right?'
She recalled Jehwi repeatedly emphasizing this until the very moment she got out of the car.
Eunha, without letting go of her parasol, spoke.
"It's alright. I'm more comfortable holding it."
She wasn't being hostile towards Minjoo.
At least in Eunha's eyes, Minjoo was merely a young boy who admired soldiers.
However, accidents often happen in unexpected places.
There was no need to ignore Jehwi's advice to remain vigilant.
"Hmm, is that so."
Junhwan awkwardly withdrew his extended hand.
That dress, and that parasol too—it must surely be uncomfortable, yet how dedicated was she to her concept?
'Well, Master does sleep hugging his bazooka.'
For Junhwan, who served such an immense enthusiast as Minjoo up close, this was somewhat understandable.
"Then let's go right in."
Following Junhwan, they entered the Corps HQ, which, at a glance, had an ordinary interior resembling a guest house, and in terms of size, was only slightly larger than Siwoo's mansion.
One of Korea's top four guilds, yet its HQ seemed surprisingly ordinary.
No, perhaps it was just that Siwoo's mansion was extraordinary.
"Master is in the basement. I'll take you right there. He's been waiting eagerly since 6 this morning."
Passing through the kitchen and opening a large iron door, stairs leading to the basement came into view.
Following him down to the basement, a scene beyond imagination unfolded before her eyes.
'...A bunker?'
The Corps HQ basement resembled a secret base of a militaristic nation.
Thick iron doors lining the inner walls each had a mechanical password dial, and the floor, also made of iron, emitted a cool, metallic clang with every step.
Meanwhile, Eunha, walking through the passage and gazing at the various military weapons arranged on both sides, suddenly noticed something peculiar.
"There's no one here, it seems."
Even at Siwoo's mansion, she would often encounter cleaners or attendants upon opening the door.
But this place was different.
Having descended from the ground floor to the basement and walked for quite some time, she hadn't seen even a single ant.
For one of Korea's top four guilds, it was strange for its HQ to be this quiet.
"Right now, only Master and I are at the HQ. Of the remaining five, two are on a business trip to the Gwangju A-Class gate, and the other two are providing support to the Solip Guild. We usually move in pairs or trios."
Junhwan, folding his fingers one by one, added.
"My partner is Suhyeon, but she's out on an errand at the Association for a bit."
"I see."
"She knows we invited a guest today, so they should all be back before evening. Unless something major happens, all seven of us usually have dinner together."
"Seven?"
"Yes. Our Corps consists of only seven members."
...Did she hear correctly?
At Junhwan's answer, Eunha blinked slowly.
"Doesn't 'corps' usually refer to a military unit of several thousand, or even tens of thousands?"
"Because we are seven who are comparable to seventy thousand."
Junhwan smiled faintly.
"All of us are at that level."
"Noonaaa!"
Patter, patter.
A small boy came running.
It was Minjoo, his face smudged with black soot.
"Why are you so late?"
"My apologies, Master. It took some time to guide her through the HQ basement."
"Really? Ah, Noona. I heard you were hospitalized? Are you okay? I wanted to visit, but I was worried it would cause a commotion if I went."
Believe it or not, he was the master of one of Korea's top four guilds.
Information like Eunha being hospitalized was easily obtainable.
Clinging to Eunha, Minjoo whispered softly in her ear.
"That battle-crazed hairy old man, he wasn't much, right?"
"...How."
Eunha's gaze flicked towards Minjoo.
Minjoo flashed his canines in a grin and detached himself from Eunha.
"I saw it on the internet. Well, besides that, there are many ways to hear things. Noona, you're pretty hot these days."
"..."
Eunha said nothing in reply.
Minjoo, too, didn't seem particularly curious about an answer and quickly turned to rummage through a toy box.
"Anyway, Noona, look at this. Awesome, right?"
Chatter, chatter, chatter.
The excited Minjoo, and Eunha quietly listening to his stories beside him.
A few steps away, Junhwan watched them blankly.
The duel with the Monkey King.
The hidden contributor to the Unknown Gate.
Lately, various rumors were circulating about the Princess of Dark Flare, but truthfully, Junhwan wasn't interested in such things.
What did any of that matter in this situation?
"Noona, look at this too!"
Giggle. The boy's laughter.
Junhwan felt his eyes sting for some reason.
It felt like ages since he had seen Master looking so innocent and carefree.
Hoping the two would have a pleasant time, Junhwan slipped out.
From then on, time passed very quickly, at least for Minjoo.
Minjoo dragged a box larger than himself before Eunha with an "oomph."
When he removed the white cloth covering the box, a giant tank model was revealed.
"Is this a figure too?"
"Yes, this one I didn't buy; I made it myself. If you look closely, there are even people inside."
Want to see? Minjoo pointed with his index finger inside the tank's window.
"You're right."
"Right, right?"
As he said, a small human figure, about 3cm tall, was visible inside the window.
"And this time."
Minjoo, with a solemn face, opened a drawer.
What he carefully took out with his small hands was—
"Ta-da! A golden dog tag!"
"..."
A golden dog tag dangled before her eyes.
Facing it, Eunha's gaze flickered faintly for a moment.
"Quiz."
Suddenly, Minjoo held up his index finger.
"Is that dog tag real or fake?"
At the abruptly presented quiz, Eunha blinked slowly.
However, it didn't take long for her to answer.
"...It's a replica."
"Reason?"
"If this were real, it wouldn't have the 'MADE IN KOREA' mark."
"And the issuance date too."
Eunha rubbed the surface of the identification tag.
February 1998.
"Back then, dog tags were issued once every three months."
"So, a dog tag issued in January 1998 exists, but one from February cannot."
"..."
Minjoo, staring intently at Eunha, soon beamed.
"Correct answer. I predicted Noona would be able to tell it's a replica, but you know even more than I thought."
Whoosh.
Taking the dog tag, Minjoo turned around and began rummaging through the box again.
Eunha stared blankly at his small retreating figure.
'Just now, that was...'
Was it her imagination?
Minjoo's gaze seemed to have changed momentarily—.
Bang!
"Master, dinner's ready!"
The door burst open with force.
Junhwan, holding a greasy spatula, beckoned as if to say, "Come quickly."
"Oh, coming."
Heaving himself up, Minjoo grinned, "You too, Noona!"
Before Eunha could say anything, Minjoo pushed her by the back and sat her down at the dining table.
Then, in the blink of an eye, a crowd swarmed around Eunha.
"You're here! Hello, I'm Ham Suhyeon, active under the alias 'Bluebird'."
"My apologies for the late introduction. I'm Seok Gyeongho. My alias is 'Striker'. I've heard a lot about you from Master."
"Ah... Yes."
Eunha glanced at Minjoo.
Minjoo, with his usual innocent boyish face, was tearing open a bag of bread.
Was it just her imagination?
As she stared at Minjoo with a peculiar gaze—
"Noona, aren't you eating?"
Sensing her gaze, Minjoo quickly turned his head towards Eunha.
His acorn-like eyes were purely innocent.
"Earlier—"
The moment Eunha parted her lips,
"Master, this is her first time having a meal our way. An explanation comes first!"
Abruptly, someone squeezed between Minjoo and Eunha.
It was one of the Corps guild members, Suhyeon.
Our way of eating?
Only then did Eunha's gaze, glancing at the food on the table, turn peculiar.
Instead of plates, iron mess tins were placed on the table.
The contents of the mess tins were bread still in its plastic packaging, two patties slightly smaller than her palm, cabbage salad mixed with sauce, strawberry jam, and a carton of milk.
That was all.
"Have you ever heard of it, Gundaeria!"
Someone exclaimed proudly.
