The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 289

"...Is that all?"

-Yes, that's all.

Lee Shin, who had read from Muel's firm answer that he wouldn't be able to get any more information, quietly looked at him and then stepped back.

-So, are you going to listen to my favor?

"Yeah, I'll listen."

"Haa... I'll help you too. But although I'll do my best, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to defeat him. And I can't do it right away. First, I'm planning to bring down the church."

-That's enough.

Even at Cheon Yuhwa's ambiguous answer, Muel nodded as if it didn't matter.

It was when Muel was about to activate his magic to move the two back to where they were.

"Ah, wait a minute."

Lee Shin raised his hand and stopped Muel's magic from activating.

-What is it?

Facing Muel's puzzled eyes head-on, Lee Shin said with a grinning smile.

"It's nothing much... but since we're the ones listening to your favor. It should be okay to receive a little reward in advance, right?"

Cheon Yuhwa felt both a headache and admiration at Lee Shin's words, who was even playing a prank on a dragon.

"That's right. If you help us a little, Mr. Muel, it will be possible to hunt the Gold Dragon faster, so please help us a little."

And yet, a small hope of what she could get from the dragon swelled up inside her, so Cheon Yuhwa slyly withdrew her words about not knowing if she could catch it and agreed with Lee Shin.

-Really... do you even know what you're saying right now?

It was a bold and rude request, but Muel rather laughed.

Seeing them so confident even after feeling his presence head-on, he felt that he could trust the two a little more.

'Well, it doesn't matter. It's unlikely I'll get any more words than this in the remaining time anyway.'

Muel, who had made his decision, said with a smile to the two.

-Alright, tell me everything you want. I'll grant them all as much as possible.

At Muel's words, Lee Shin and Cheon Yuhwa smiled and stated what they wanted one by one.

◎ ◎ ◎

"Haa, I really shouldn't have entered a world like this, no matter what."

Eun Yeonwoo lamented so as he looked at the firmly locked door.

After the rare and terrifying experience of facing a dragon head-on, they were enveloped in a bright halo of light and returned to where Free was.

"Welcome... huh?"

The problem occurred at that moment.

Lee Shin and Cheon Yuhwa had not returned from the cave.

Upon confirming that, Free's smiling face hardened, and the guys who had been hiding in the cave popped out and surrounded Eun Yeonwoo's group.

At that, they, unable to escape the shock, gasped for breath and each took up their arms.

"What is the meaning of this all of a sudden?"

"Ah, my apologies. It seems I've made a mistake due to a slightly unexpected situation."

Free said so, but he did not withdraw his subordinates and quietly looked at them.

"What happened to Mr. Smile and Ms. Alice?"

"...We don't know either. We just briefly faced a dragon there and then came back here."

"Hmm, is that so?"

Free began and quietly looked at them.

"That person is the beginning and the pinnacle of our resistance. We basically have a strong tendency to move autonomously, but no one goes against his opinion. It's because his opinion is absolute."

"The fact that they didn't pass his judgment means that those two are spies sent by the church, and..."

Free looked at them with a sharp gaze, different from before.

"It can only be interpreted that you all had some contact with the spies. What do you think?"

"Can't you think that we were having a conversation other than the suspicion of being spies?"

"I'm sorry, but I can only think that possibility is slim. Even we, who have served him for a long time, cannot easily hear his voice."

Free said so and cut off Eun Yeonwoo's words with a single stroke.

"In other words, it's not a completely impossible story."

Eun Yeonwoo persistently dug into Free's words.

Thus, Free and Eun Yeonwoo quietly looked at each other's eyes and assessed the situation.

"Haa, let's stop."

And the one who moved first between the two was Eun Yeonwoo.

"Oh, are you going to obediently cooperate with our investigation?"

"No, of course not."

Eun Yeonwoo, who had answered so, looked at Free and said.

"Let's make a deal. We'll stay quietly in that room from before, so let's end the situation here."

At Eun Yeonwoo's words, Free looked at the weapons they were holding and said.

"Well, it's our base, so it's a bit... to leave those who are still under suspicion in an armed state."

"Haa, it would be better not to be so greedy."

Eun Yeonwoo said, pointing at the people behind him.

"Unlike that hyung-nim, I don't have any charisma, so I can't control all of these guys."

Behind Eun Yeonwoo, those who had somehow composed themselves were standing quietly.

But among them, only one, Irin, was staring at the magic circle beneath them.

But Free's intuition was fiercely shouting that among them, Irin was the one to be most wary of.

'I wasn't ignoring them, but to think it was to this extent...'

Free, who had acknowledged that their own forces were far from enough, clicked his tongue quietly inwardly.

Looking at him, Eun Yeonwoo said in a tone that said this was the last.

"We only have the suspicion that we might have had some contact with spies, right? In that case, as those who have a common enemy, I would appreciate it if you would listen to one of our requests."

"...Haa."

At Eun Yeonwoo's words, Free sheathed the sword he had drawn.

"An unexpected person has appeared again. Are you a negotiator or something?"

"I just naturally got better at talking after dealing with troublesome people."

Free let out a small laugh at Eun Yeonwoo and walked in front of him, extending a hand.

"I'll ask you one thing. Why did you choose to wait instead of escaping?"

At that, Eun Yeonwoo quietly took Free's hand and answered.

"Because we believe that the possibility you thought was slim is actually true."

At those words, Free shook his head as if in complete defeat and walked back the way they had come.

'I've succeeded in buying some time somehow...'

Eun Yeonwoo, who had retraced his memories with a sigh, let out a small sigh filled with anxiety.

'Nothing will happen, right?'

To the question of whether he believed that Lee Shin was not a spy of the church, he could confidently say yes.

But to the question of whether he believed that Lee Shin would return without causing any trouble, he could only shake his head after pondering.

The existence of Lee Shin was, even to Eun Yeonwoo, like a rugby ball, an existence whose bounce he could not predict.

"Hey, how long are you planning to wait?"

Just then, Irin, who had been quiet, approached Eun Yeonwoo and asked.

At that, Eun Yeonwoo felt a cold sweat run down his back.

Honestly, a moment ago, it was more difficult for Eun Yeonwoo to stop Irin, who was about to deal with the resistance members including Free, than to deal with Free himself.

"Let's wait a little longer. You also know that that hyung-nim is not someone who would die so easily."

"But I'm still worried."

Irin said so and pressed down on Eun Yeonwoo's words.

At that, Eun Yeonwoo said in a pleading tone.

"Let's just stay here for a day, no, twelve hours. If you don't believe in your oppa, who will."

As Eun Yeonwoo pulled out his Irin-exclusive cheat key, Irin thought for a moment and then said.

"Ten minutes. I won't wait any longer than that."

Irin, who had declared so to Eun Yeonwoo, returned to her original spot and sat down.

Seeing her, a sigh naturally came out, but Eun Yeonwoo decided to believe.

'Yes, Noona Cheon Yuhwa is also with him now, so let's believe. Even if hyung-nim tries to do something, noona will stop him.'

It seemed he would have fainted if he knew that Cheon Yuhwa was happily robbing a dragon with Lee Shin.

'Ah, should I have just run? But if I said let's run away, abandoning Lee Shin, that Irin kid looked like she would cut me up with shadows too.'

As Eun Yeonwoo was chewing on his regrets and praying to all the gods he knew.

"Everyone, please come out."

Free came back to them just before the 10 minutes were up.

And Eun Yeonwoo, hearing Free's gesture and voice calling them, was able to be sure.

That his prayers had been effective.

"Oh, you're here?"

And at the place they moved to following Free, seeing Lee Shin and Cheon Yuhwa, or more precisely, the two surrounded by the gazes of numerous people, he was sure.

'Damn, I should have only prayed to about 10 people if I knew this would happen.'

That his prayers had been too effective.

As Eun Yeonwoo was thus blaming himself, Lee Shin, who had broken through the numerous gazes, approached them.

"Hey, Hyun-seok. You came at a good time."

"Yes? Me?"

At Lee Shin's sudden call, he nodded and said.

"The things I gave you, you'll have to give them back for a moment."

"If it's what hyung-nim gave me... Ah, don't tell me it's that?"

"Yeah, that."

As Lee Shin nodded with a bright smile as if it were the right answer, Lee Hyun-seok looked at his gloves for a moment as if it were a waste, and then sighed.

"I've already given them names... You'll give them back someday, right?"

"Yeah, I'll give them back when I'm done, so don't worry."

At Lee Shin's words, Lee Hyun-seok sighed and moved his hands, taking out two swords and a dao from the subspace connected to his gloves.

Lee Shin, who received them, smiled and threw them to Cheon Yuhwa.

"Now, this is the proof that proves our skills."

Cheon Yuhwa, who had caught them lightly, raised the two swords high so that everyone present could see.

"Th, that's!"

"There's no room for doubt..."

Because they were those who had always held hostility toward the church, they could not refute Cheon Yuhwa's words now.

"The faintly flowing divine power, that is undoubtedly the real Sword of the Earth and Sword of the Sea."

At the words of their leader, the organization members present could not say anything and just looked at Cheon Yuhwa.

Cheon Yuhwa, taking in all their gazes, held out the huge silver scale, the dragon's scale, in her hand and declared to them.

"Then, to everyone present here, once again, with the consent of the Silver Dragon, Mr. Muel, I declare that the resistance has come under our organization, the Sabers."

Even after Cheon Yuhwa's words ended, no one answered.

It was natural, as no one with a head on their shoulders would move rashly in the current situation.

Clap- clap- clap-

"Wow, what a celebration~"

And among them, there was one person who didn't care about such things at all.

Clap- clap- clap-

And another person who would follow whatever Lee Shin did, saying it was good.

Eun Yeonwoo let out a small sigh as he heard Lee Shin and Irin's applause.

"I don't know what's going on all of a sudden."

Eun Yeonwoo's words were filled with deep sincerity.

(End of Chapter)