novelraw Chapter 112 : Chapter 112
Chapter 112 : Chapter 112
Chapter 112 - The President's Daughter (3)
“So, did I fail?”
“You've passed.”
“What?”
For a moment, Yoon Joo-hee's jaw dropped.
“It seems you didn't hear me correctly.”
“No. I heard you clearly. You just said I passed……”
And then she followed up with a dumbfounded question.
“But, why?”
It seemed the result was incomprehensible even to her.
That's why she couldn't accept it even after being notified of her acceptance.
“Let's just say you barely scraped past the cutline. And since I'm the one making the judgment, there's no need for you to ask for the reason.”
In fact, that was about it.
I hadn't discovered a flash of genius, but it was to the extent that I thought she could be nurtured.
I could see her fundamental skills in the swordsmanship she displayed while waiting for me endlessly, and I could grasp her practical sense in the test just now.
Both had barely passed the standard.
She didn't seem to understand, but I actually gave her points for reacting to my attacks at all.
Most warriors would have been finished without being able to put up any resistance.
“So, does this mean I've really been accepted into your Chamryongdan, Commander?”
“Are you going to ask again later?”
“N-no! I'm sorry!”
“All contract conditions will be the same as the first-generation members. Because I didn't find anything special in you.”
“I accept!”
Her eyes showed that she was grateful just for being accepted.
“And I will assign you one special task, Ms. Yoon Joo-hee.”
“I will do anything you entrust to me!”
At the words 'special task', Yoon Joo-hee's eyes sparkled.
“There's an elderly person living alone that I know, who lives near the Haewon Sword Family.”
“……An elderly person living alone?”
Heo Gyeong-woo. Having lived cut off from the world for a long time, he was in a situation where he had to learn and master many new things.
No matter how much he said he wouldn't reveal himself to the world, he still needed to have an understanding of the changed world.
“Yes. I'd like you, Ms. Yoon Joo-hee, to visit occasionally to deliver food and clothing in person. Since he's living in solitude, please tell him some stories about the world. If you think this is an unfair task, think carefully before you sign the contract.”
“Unfair task! I knew the Haewon Sword Family wasn't a prestigious family for nothing! I will gladly participate in this community service activity!”
If she interpreted it that way, I was grateful.
I was just about to hire someone to take care of Heo Gyeong-woo, so this saved me the trouble.
The subsequent contract procedures went on without a hitch.
Usually, Ho-joong would handle such matters, but today I decided to take care of it myself.
I wanted to hear more of her story while we filled out the contract together.
“You said what you were using was the Jeongjin Sword Style?”
“That's right, Commander.”
“But there was one thing that bothered me. It felt like the swordsmanship was cut off in the middle, so I was wondering if you haven't learned the latter half of the Jeongjin Sword Style.”
At my words, Yoon Joo-hee hung her head low.
“That is indeed the case.”
“Since it's passed down orally, there probably aren't any remaining records. Right?”
“Yes. That is what I regret the most.”
As long as she had decided to rebuild the Jeongjin Sword Family, this was a considerable problem.
For the sword style that is the foundation of the sword family to be incomplete meant the identity itself would collapse.
“Then, do you have any special plans regarding that part?”
“It's embarrassing, but I don't have a definite plan yet.”
For a moment, a disbelieving laugh escaped my lips.
“How reckless. You seemed so bold when you said you would rebuild the sword family, as if you had some grand plan. In the end, are you just going to slowly think about it while broadening your horizons in the Chamryongdan?”
“Actually, I am thinking of one sliver of a possibility, but it's such a far-fetched story.”
“Tell me. I'll judge whether it's really a sliver or not.”
“Th-that is……”
Yoon Joo-hee wore a troubled expression, as if the content was difficult to talk about.
“I won't force you if you don't want to talk. Come to think of it, I think I've made a sucker's contract. Accepting someone who says they'll leave later. Right?”
“N-no!”
I was just teasing her a bit, but Yoon Joo-hee's face turned pale as she waved her hands in denial.
There was no need to react like this; she seemed to be an unnecessarily serious character.
But her reaction didn't end there.
She cautiously opened her mouth and began to talk about her plan.
“Actually, there is one thing I want to try when the time comes.”
“So you weren't completely without a plan.”
“As I said, it's just a sliver of hope.”
I didn't know if it was a sliver, but her story was quite interesting.
“I plan to visit the site where the Jeongjin Sword Family met their tragedy nine years ago.”
“And you have a way to go?”
“Actually, I have a portal map of the Abyss.”
“You have a map?”
It was incomprehensible.
I had heard that the expedition that went on the raid was annihilated, yet the map remained.
“The truth is……”
There was a sole survivor who came out of the portal.
However, the survivor left only the map and died immediately after.
“So he was intentionally sent out.”
“……To send the map back to the world?”
“Yes. There's no other explanation. Usually, you can't return to the world if you don't clear the quest.”
Yoon Joo-hee nodded her head as if in agreement with my words.
“Of course, this map may no longer be valid. It's been nine years, after all.”
“It'll be valid. I can guarantee that.”
Even a map that was 40 years old had retained its function to activate a portal, so what was a mere nine years.
“Hearing you say that, Commander, reassures me for some reason.”
“But one question arises. What do you intend to gain by going back to that site?”
“I intend to find any possible traces of the Jeongjin Sword Style.”
To search for those traces in the place where the warriors of the Jeongjin Sword Family lay in eternal sleep.
It was certainly a sliver of hope, but it was also the only way.
“I know it's a slim possibility. But even if things don't go my way, I believe it's a place I must go to someday, if only to recover the bodies.”
“So, the plan is to build up your strength in the Chamryongdan and then go there. And you plan to rebuild the Jeongjin Sword Family after you get what you want from there.”
“That's right.”
Of course, one most fatal premise remained.
The problem of whether Yoon Joo-hee could solve a quest that had caused the tragedy of almost all of the Jeongjin Sword Family's forces by herself.
Finding traces of the Jeongjin Sword Style or recovering bodies there would become secondary matters.
Once she passed through that portal, survival itself would become the most urgent task.
“By the way, that map. What's its name?”
I suddenly became curious.
Not that I would know it just by hearing the name.
“It's Nekarion's Castle.”
“What?”
I hadn't been this surprised in a long time.
Because it was a place I knew.
“Co-Commander!”
Moreover, it wasn't just a place I knew.
It was a place I had even visited during my Johan Raven days.
“Did you say Nekarion's Castle?”
“Yes. That's right.”
That place was a location that existed on my home continent, the Kalia Continent.
***
It had already been half a month since Rosie left the Haewon Sword Family.
Just when I thought things had quieted down, news about her finally reached me.
That a certain guild had been assaulted by a young girl.
In fact, many people dismissed this rumor as something of an urban legend.
The forces of the Titan Guild were not so lenient as to be taken down by a single, unidentified girl.
For now, the Titan side was keeping its mouth shut and had not made an official announcement, but according to the testimony of many witnesses, a short girl with an exotic appearance had run amok and beaten the warriors of the Titan Guild half to death.
But the reason for it was the most absurd.
‘They bumped shoulders while walking down the street and she dropped the ice cream she was eating?’
It was clearly Rosie.
There was no way anyone other than her could have caused such an incident.
Still, she had kept her promise to me.
Even though she beat them half to death, she didn't actually kill anyone.
The problem was that the girl had leisurely disappeared and vanished without a trace, and it was highly likely that she had polymorphed into another appearance once again.
She would hate getting embroiled in troublesome matters herself.
First, I needed to find Rosie.
I had to ask her not to cause any more accidents in the future, and above all, there was something I needed to ask her.
“Ho-joong. Let's run an errand.”
“Yes, Commander.”
“I said it's an errand, but it's actually no different from a vacation.”
“Is there such a thing?”
“Yes. Go to Baskin 41 and rest while eating some ice cream. You love that place, don't you.”
This place was Choi Ho-joong's favorite spot.
Thanks to him, Rosie had also become completely smitten with mint-flavored ice cream.
Considering Rosie's obsession with mint, she would surely visit Baskin 41 at least once a day.
I thought that if I had Choi Ho-joong lie in wait here, I could find Rosie without much difficulty.
“For the next three days, go to Baskin 41 from morning till evening.”
Upon hearing my words, Choi Ho-joong's expression hardened.
“For three days?”
“Why. I thought you'd be happy.”
“Just how much do you plan to work me later to be doing this.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Don't they say even a death row inmate gets to eat whatever they want for their last meal? Aren't you doing this because you plan to work me hard three days from now, Commander?”
An unnecessarily sharp suspicion.
“If you really want to be worked hard, I won't stop you, but for now, rest there for three days.”
At my words, he seemed a little relieved but still hadn't completely let go of his suspicions.
Ho-joong had been through some tough times training with the Stupeo these past few days.
“Since you said it's an errand, I assume there's something you want me to do.”
“Just find one person there.”
“Is it a wanted criminal?”
“Not really, just contact me if you see a peculiar woman while you're at Baskin 41.”
“A peculiar woman? In what way?”
An explanation of her appearance was impossible.
Rosie would definitely polymorph into the form of a woman, but there were no clues to guess whether she would be an old woman or a young girl, a beauty or an ugly woman, a Korean or a foreigner at present.
“There will be a woman who came alone to eat mint-flavored ice cream.”
“That's not very peculiar.”
“If a woman eats a family-sized portion of only mint flavor by herself, that's peculiar, isn't it?”
“That much is certainly peculiar!”
There might be such people if one looked for them, but they would be rare.
If Choi Ho-joong were to find such a woman in the next three days, it was highly likely that it would be Rosie.
To think I would miss Rosie this much.
I had something urgent to ask her when we met, so I just wanted to find her even a day sooner.