The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 249

Woooong-

Lee Shin spread his internal energy thinly around him, forming a dome.

"What's this?"

"What is this all of a sudden?"

At Lee Shin's sudden action, the two looked at him with eyes full of caution.

At that, Lee Shin waved his hand lightly as if to say it was nothing and not to be wary.

"I just created a small stage so that the guys behind us can't hear the conversation from now on. It's not a grand story that needs to be kept secret, but if rumors spread, it'll get a little annoying for me."

At Lee Shin's words, Midra and Bodra rolled their eyes slightly and looked at the faces of their subordinates beyond the ki barrier Lee Shin had spread.

They, as if they hadn't heard Lee Shin's words, were still focused on their own conversation.

"Hoo, alright."

At that, the two acknowledged that Lee Shin's words didn't seem to be a complete lie and slightly lowered their guard.

"I don't know what kind of amazing story you're going to tell, but hurry up and say it. No, I'll ask."

Bodra spoke, making it clear to Lee Shin that she was in a bad mood.

"It's not in my nature to beat around the bush, so I'll ask you straight. Why are you trying to go to our village?"

At Bodra's words, Mio and Rwen also turned their heads to look at Lee Shin.

Going to the village was a decision Irehgue had made on the spot.

Therefore, the two also didn't know the reason why they were going and were curious.

-There are two reasons in total.

Irehgue, who felt Mio and Rwen's gazes, looked at them and opened his mouth.

For reference, for the two who couldn't hear Irehgue's words, Lee Shin explained by appropriately reciting Irehgue's words.

-First, it is to fill your lack of combat experience.

Irehgue pointed at the vigilante members following behind them with his tail and said.

-From the looks of it, those guys don't seem to have grown up receiving standardized training like the knights we saw at the lord's castle, but seem to have become strong by training using their own methods.

"Umm..."

"Certainly..."

At Irehgue's words, Mio and Rwen nodded.

They had recalled that when they were confronting each other in a battle of momentum with their internal energy a little while ago, their weapons were all different.

-To gain combat experience, it is best to face various types of enemies. In that sense, those guys can be said to be the optimal scarecrows.

"Wait, what kind of plan are you plotting with my subordinates without my permission?!"

Bodra, who had heard Irehgue's words recited by Lee Shin, shouted and began to argue.

"We're busy living day by day with food and village maintenance. We don't have time to play along with your silly games!"

"Ah, don't worry about that part. I can sufficiently solve the food problem."

Lee Shin said that and picked up a stone rolling on the ground, throwing it upwards.

Keeek-!

Then, a bird resting on a tree was hit by the stone and fell to the ground, having lost consciousness from the impact.

Lee Shin pointed at the bird with his finger and looked at Bodra.

At Lee Shin's eyes, which seemed to say 'See?', Bodra gritted her teeth, feeling an inexplicable sense of vexation.

"S-Still, no! What are you going to do if our subordinates get injured because the sparring gets too intense?"

"Hmm, that probably won't happen."

At Lee Shin's words, Bodra's eyes sharpened slightly.

"What, are you saying my subordinates will be so overwhelmingly defeated that they won't even have a chance to injure those two?"

"...Ah, I see. Well, if you only saw that much, it's not unreasonable to misunderstand."

Lee Shin, who had been looking at her with a puzzled expression at her words, recalled something and nodded as if in understanding.

"You guys are misunderstanding something. Their skills right now are not as threatening as you think. In terms of simple skill, they're probably a few steps below your subordinates."

"What? Then what was that appearance they showed back then?"

"And how are you going to explain them defeating ten of our vigilante members?"

At Bodra and Midra's words, Lee Shin told them only the key point.

"These kids get incredibly strong when they combine their powers."

The increase in output created by the resonance of the Dragon Hearts, the synergy created by the half-baked martial arts becoming one, and the joint attack formation unfolded by the two who had become one body, reading each other's thoughts with a single glance.

When Midra and Bodra saw them, the two were at a point where all these elements had combined to enable their best performance.

And what Lee Shin was trying to make them fight against the vigilante members was the two when they were separated, not combining their powers.

"Then that was half a bluff."

Midra, who understood that, looked at Mio and Rwen with curious eyes.

Regardless, Bodra still looked at Lee Shin with displeased eyes and said.

"I still don't like it."

"Do as you please."

Lee Shin, who had replied thus to Bodra's words, smiled and said.

"You guys don't have a choice anyway. If we just start a fight, they'll fight among themselves."

At Lee Shin's words, Bodra had nothing to say and quietly bit her lip, staring at him.

At that moment, Irehgue looked at Mio and Rwen and said.

-This time, you two focus on raising your own individual skills. If you could create ten (十) with two ones (一), then depending on what you do, you will be able to create a hundred (百) or a thousand (千) with two tens (十).

At Irehgue's words, the two were about to answer loudly as usual, but then they remembered that Midra and Bodra were here and nodded instead.

While Bodra was grumbling with displeasure, Midra stepped between her and Lee Shin and said.

"Alright, I get one reason why you want to come to our village. Then what's the other one?"

"Ah, to get some information."

"Information?"

Midra asked back with an exasperated face.

"I don't know what you thought when you saw us, but we're not some secret organization, just a small village made by people who have left the domain."

"I'm not looking for any special, grand information from you either. It's enough if I can just fill in some simple common sense."

"Is that all you need?"

When Bodra asked back with an uncomprehending expression, Lee Shin nodded and said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I can get other high-level information by catching the guys who are after you and asking them."

"...What are you talking about right now?"

At Lee Shin's words, a cold voice came out of Bodra's mouth, who had been listening to the conversation from the side.

The hand that had been crossed naturally loosened and grabbed the dagger at her waist, aiming it at Lee Shin.

"How do you know about those guys?"

Bodra was saying with her eyes that if he didn't explain it in a way she could understand, she would swing the dagger without hesitation.

Even while facing Bodra's murderous appearance head-on, Lee Shin opened his mouth without showing any agitation, smiling widely as if he didn't know what was going on.

"He said it when he was trying to persuade me at first, didn't he? That I don't seem like an enemy."

Lee Shin said, pointing at Midra with his finger.

"And if you think about that in reverse, it means there's some kind of 'enemy' out there targeting you, right?"

At Lee Shin's words, Bodra's momentum wavered slightly.

"...I certainly remember saying something like that, but you remembered all of it?"

"Something like that. Still, I didn't know if the enemy's identity was an organization or a strong individual like me..."

Lee Shin said, looking at Bodra.

"It seems to be the latter."

"Tsk."

At Lee Shin's words, Bodra clicked her tongue, put away the dagger, and crossed her arms again.

At that, Midra patted her shoulder as if to calm her down and said.

"You're going to use us as bait to draw out our enemies?"

"Something like that."

"Do you even know who our enemies are to say that?"

At Midra's words, Lee Shin chuckled.

"That's obvious. There's only one enemy that guys who have left the domain and gone against the Church's rules would talk about."

Lee Shin pointed at the sky with his finger and said with amusement.

"The forces of the Church and the nobles."

At Lee Shin's words, Midra stared at him blankly and then said.

"Are you perhaps smart?"

"Something like that."

At Lee Shin's words, Midra grumbled that it had become more troublesome and said in a voice mixed with fatigue.

"What exactly do you want to know by doing that?"

"Hmm, first of all, it's information about the location of the domain... but would you guys know this? If you've lived in a place like this continuously, you'd roughly know where the nearby domains are, right?"

At Lee Shin's words, Midra obediently nodded.

"What's the domain number?"

Lee Shin looked towards Mio and Rwen.

"Domain 361."

"A domain in the 300s... at that level, I can't tell you even if I wanted to. All we know are the domains in the 500s around here."

Midra said that and looked at Lee Shin.

"Instead, I can tell you the direction to the center, do you need it?"

"That's enough."

At Lee Shin's answer, Midra nodded.

"Alright, then is there anything else you're curious about?"

"What, you're quite proactive in telling me?"

At Midra's proactive attitude, Lee Shin looked at him with a puzzled expression.

At that, Midra answered as if it were obvious.

"Because the sooner you finish your business, the sooner you'll leave."

"...Ah, so that's what it was?"

At Midra's honest answer, Lee Shin grinned and said.

Seeing Lee Shin's smile, Midra momentarily thought he had said something he shouldn't have, but since the water was already spilled, he just let it go.

"Anyway, what's the next thing you're curious about?"

"Ah, the next thing I'm curious about..."

Lee Shin asked without much expectation, as he didn't think they would know.

"Do you guys happen to know about the Resistance?"

"It's an organization formed by people who resist the Church and the nobles. Even a street kid would know about the Resistance."

"Well, a few members of the Resistance have come to our village for scouting. But that's all, so we don't know anything in detail either."

"What...?"

So when he heard Bodra and Midra's words, even Lee Shin was a little surprised.

"Did something like that happen?"

"Well, we're completely out of the Church's sight. From the Resistance's point of view, it would have been worth a try to expand their forces."

Clap-!

Midra, who had said that, clapped his hands as if to say there was nothing more to tell.

"Now, this is all we know... has your thought of coming to our village still not changed?"

"Yeah, on the contrary, I'm thinking I should go even more. A village that both the Church and the Resistance are interested in at the same time, my curiosity is greatly piqued."

At Lee Shin's words, Bodra grumbled.

"I can't understand. When you came to the village, didn't you ever think about what we might do?"

"Of course I did."

At Lee Shin's words, Bodra said as if her pride was hurt.

"Are you saying it doesn't matter what we do? Is that what you're saying?"

"Well, there's that too..."

The focus of Lee Shin's eyes blurred slightly, as if looking at something in his mind.

And the moment the focus was adjusted again.

Grin-

"If you guys do something, the situation of breaking it would also be quite interesting."

From Lee Shin's eyes, along with a red light, a voice that was the same as before, but made the listener's nape feel cold, flowed out.

The moment they heard Lee Shin's voice, not only Midra and Bodra, but also Mio and Rwen who were next to them, felt a sensation as if their heads were in the mouth of a beast, and goosebumps rose all over their bodies.

Thud-

-What are you doing to my subordinates right now.

"Oops, it leaked out again."

Seeing Irehgue's attack and the color draining from the faces of everyone present, Lee Shin gathered back the killing intent that had escaped due to his mistake.

Gasp- Gasp-

The moment Lee Shin withdrew his killing intent, they gasped for breath as if they had been released from something that had been binding them.

"Hmm, it seems we can't move like this, let's rest for a while and then go."

Lee Shin, who had been observing their appearance for a moment, spat out those one-sided words and walked into the forest.

However, no one thought of stopping him.

They had noticed that it was Lee Shin's small consideration.

Squeeze-

Bodra pressed her nape as she watched Lee Shin move away.

She still felt the sensation of a sharp fang pressing strongly on her neck.

And then, Bodra finally understood the reason for the relaxed appearance Lee Shin had shown on the way here.

'Is it that a lion is not afraid of a kitten that has not even grown its claws...'

As Bodra muttered that, a feeling of vexation slowly emerged on her face.

(End of Chapter)