Vol. 1 - Ch. 28

‘Who is that?’This was a face I was seeing for the first time.

Jangyang village was not as crowded as Hangzhou, even though this street is part of the Evil Blood clan's territory, and one might have seen their faces at least once on the way home.

But even with the other 3 men, I swear that this is the first time I have seen this man or the other man. They were characters of the novel.

“What fuck…”

‘Does he do nothing but curse?’

Judging from the curse words coming from the man’s mouth, he didn’t seem to like the fact that Tae-kyung had to be let go by someone else’s will and the fact that Tae-kyung went away with a normal expression and shook off the clothes as if shaking off dirt.

‘But it looks a bit scary.’

At first glance, the man’s appearance wasn’t something that would be liked by others.

I looked at the long sword mark on the right check and his eyes shining with an unpleasant light and quickly turned his head in case we made eye contact.

“It has been a while since I last saw you, Eun-ri, right?”

At that moment, this middle-aged man who was looking in this direction waved his hand, pretending to know me.

This was one I knew well.

This was one of the groups that used to hang out with Ju Cheol-rim before the Evil Blood clan began to expand its influence in the village.

"I guess once he joined the clan, Ju Cheol-rim lost his life."

Putting those thoughts aside, I gave him a bright smile. Sᴇaʀᴄh the N0ᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“Yes, it has been long. How have you been?”

One step, two steps. I walked forward and pulled the hem of Tae-kyung’s clothes, who was still standing blankly in front of the Old Dragon Association members, from behind.

It was a signal to stop and back off as I would solve the problem from here.

“…?”

“…”

“I…”

“Yes. Please speak.”

“If you pull it like that, the clothes will stretch out.”

“Ah, sorry.”

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have been conveyed to the other person. Well, that was the intention.

“If you came with your friends, why didn’t you ask the server to inform me?”

Instead of kindly explaining the situation to Tae-kyung or thanking him for saving Dong-mun, I pushed him away and took a step ahead.

Then, naturally, I placed Tae-kyung behind me and stood facing the Old Dragon Association members.

I will say that I did my best, even if I don't think a healthy adult man would be afraid of my slender body.

I spoke once again, wary of Tae-kyung stepping ahead without notice.

“It took a long time for you to move, but I couldn’t even greet you. Make sure to find me first the next time you visit. Do you understand?

“Haha. Thank you. I appreciate your kind words.”

From what I recall, well, destiny… It was called something similar. I followed him, who was laughing heartily and drew a fake smile on his lips.

"However, I've heard that our server was impolite to everyone."

“Hmm, it is alright. It just happened.”

“I will apologize on his behalf. Maybe it is because he is still young, but he doesn’t know how to treat such precious guests.”

“…”

“I feel uncomfortable because it seems like a mistake on our part has ruined the excitement of customers who have been visiting for a long time. As an apology, I will not charge you anything for anything you ate today; the server who made the mistake will personally select and bring good alcohol, so please enjoy it to your heart’s content and let it off.”

Right, that’s what you wanted.

“Ahem…”

The man cleared his throat. When I came out and spoke in a much more relaxed manner than expected, it seemed like he had nothing else to say.

They had prepared for Ju Cheol-rim or Wang Dae-geon to come ahead, but they seemed flustered when I, a young fellow and an unmarried woman, showed up.

When I saw them exchanging glances with each other, I felt a bit relieved.

‘As expected. I guess I came here to get free drinks without any special purpose.’

Although I didn’t show it to Dong-mun, I was secretly worried because the atmosphere at the Old Dragon Association and the Evil Blood Clan wasn’t great these days.

Fortunately or unfortunately, they didn’t seem to have any intention of directly harming me, who was known as Gyu-ho’s woman to the outside world.

But this wasn’t a face they didn’t know and probably had seen before.

If they didn’t know the extent of the situation, they would have done it without caring whether Gyu-ho’s prospective concubine or someone from the same village, but fortunately, Un-bo was the person who was aware of the situation.

“Alright, well… Eun-ri if you say it like that.”

I let out a little sigh of relief while Un-bo spoke and played with his beard. I can't believe it stops here. Today was fortunate for me.

But I had to listen to what people say… I thought Un-bo would say, ‘Ah, of course!’ and get lucky.

‘I and these friends say that we feel at ease because we are friends with you, Eun-ri, but I don’t know how the others feel. Especially this guy, the thief with the cool scar on his face.’

“Ah, yes… This friend and that one over there had just arrived in Jang-yang village. Unfortunately, something like this happened at a welcome party, so I’m unable to say whether something like alcohol will be enough to soothe the broken heart.”

As if the shyness earlier was a lie, Un-bo’s eyes were shining in an attempt to make me corner and him gain the upper hand.

‘I’d rather eat a flea than stay here.’

I guess someone is a third-rate idiot. I had no conscience. Despite the fact that I was cursing a thousand curses inside, I opened my mouth by trying to keep my face smiling.

“Well, then… I will make your food delicious.”

“Hmm, well…”

It was when Un-bo was talking with a nonchalant expression on his face.

“Eun-ri, you? That sounds impossible.”

A sly voice came from around.

I paused for a moment and looked back to where the voice came from.

Who made that statement? Who was the person trying to ruin the situation?

"Hehe, notice how that one is staring at me." I find it so cute.

“Eh, who is staring?”

While I made eye contact with this fish-like guy, who was smiling at me, Un-bo suddenly nodded at Tae-kyung, who was standing behind me.

“You, young man.”

“Me?”

Yes, you. Un-bo said.

“Don’t feel too bad about what just happened. It is true that this friend had a bit of a temper, but I cannot say that it was entirely our fault either.”

“…?”

“It seems like you don’t understand what I am saying here. I mean, it is your fault for being so careless. You must first assess your opponent and then attack him. Does it help you if you go against an opponent who looks better than you? As for this friend, this special person who has a title for himself, and here, there are people who tremble at the mention of his name alone.”

Un-bo puffed out his chest as if he was proud and boasted about the man called Jong Myung.

It seemed to me that rather than being a truly proud man with a unique nickname that no one had ever heard of before, he was more proud of himself for having connected with a man who had a position guaranteed inside the Old Dragon Association going forward.

“A man who seems to have gained knowledge. Found a place to lie down and stretch your feet. It wouldn't work to act rowdy while trying to appear like a gentleman.”

“Imitate a gentle man.”

Behind me, I could hear Tae-kyung murmuring softly.

Judging from the voice I heard, it didn’t seem like he was upset with anything.

“If you understand, please leave now. We will forget what happened today, so don’t keep that issue running in your mind for long.”

Un-bo said, waving his hand, but I couldn’t feel any movement behind me, and I was about to speak with Tae-kyung, who was standing motionless in the spot I had stayed, to get out.

“Yah, Eun-ri.

The guy who had spoken to me earlier spoke to me again, lowering the voice like he didn’t want to offend Un-bo.

“It seems like Cheol-rim isn’t here today? And same with Dae-geon.”

“ Ah-that…”

As I thought, there was no way they wouldn’t notice, so I bit my lip.

‘If this happens, I might be caught by them today.’

I cannot let Ju Cheol-rim and Wang Dae-geon know that those two were not in the guesthouse today.

Even now, I can only vaguely guess why they were behaving like this today, and if they realize those two aren’t there, I cannot even imagine how arrogant they would start to act.

“He had to leave for a while because I ran out of ingredients; he should be back soon.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Even in my opinion, it was an unconvincing statement. And that is what the lean guy must have thought too.

It was then.

“Cheol-rim?”

A hoarse voice rang in my ears.

“If you mean Cheol-rim, is it the Ju Cheol-rim?’

The owner of the voice was Jong Myung, the man with bloodshot eyes and those scars on faces.

I tensed up at the thought of someone who arrived in Jang-yang just today, only to know Ju Cheol-rim’s name.

This was because it was clear from how he spoke that this man had bad ties with Ju Cheol-rim.

“The one who was so proud that his niece was going to become the concubine of Gyu-ho of Evil Blood Clan… that Ju Cheol-rim?”

“Right, it is him.”

But perhaps I was the only one who thought it; the lean guy called Ah-gwi answered with a carefree look.

“Hmm, as expected.”

In those eyes, I felt the black pupil, which looked noticeably smaller than the white of the eye, scanning me from head to toe.

I couldn’t hide my discomfort and clenched my chin. When I looked down, I saw the fingers of the man resting next to my thighs, wriggling around.

“It is definitely worth taking a look at.”

Disgusting voice. Next, the behavior of licking the lips with the tongue felt so creepy.

‘Ugh, this guy seems to be a pervert.’

Only then did they sense something unusual, as the members of the Old Dragon Association all turned to look at Jong Myung.

“Look, Jong Myung.”

“If you mess up the face of the beloved concubine to the point where one cannot even look at her, won’t that guy called Gyu-ho from Evil Blood Clan be unable to drag the situation any longer? I was feeling a bit groggy, but it all turned out well.”

“Jong Myung, what are you…!”

As if enjoying the attention focused on me, Jong Myung smiled so loudly that the scar on his cheek twitched.

While everyone was distracted by the sound of laughter, I suddenly noticed that Jong Myung’s hand wasn’t on the thigh but the sword.

‘Oh my…!’

At that time, this comb like wind passed in front of me.

Kuak!

With the sound of something groaning, Jong Myung flew back and landed on a table near the wall.

The table collapsed, and not just Jong Myung’s body but also the dishes on the table fell to the ground.

‘W-what was it?’

I was startled and looked back at the spot where Jong Myung had been standing a moment back. There was a man standing there.