【Huh? Who is that?】
【I guess it hasn’t been that long since you were noticed by Kangrim?】
【Spring from the last room.】
【This is Joo Hye-ryeong, from District 4. She had a fight with Seo Kang-rim.】
The leader of District 4, where the murderer Nam Yu-jun belonged.
At that time, Nam Yu-jun accused me of being a murderer, and Joo Hye-ryeong believed him.
I don’t know if they still think of me that way, but I had to go there anyway.
“Hello. It’s nice to see you again.”
I jumped down and looked around.
This place was probably the Suragan, that is, the kitchen of the palace.
This magic realm was made up of numerous rooms, each with its own function.
Because of this, the space where they can eat and rest was popular among the trainees for various reasons.
Even now, it looks like they’ve gathered here to eat.
Joo Hye-ryeong looked at me with a wary look.
“… … I didn’t know we’d meet again.”
“I don’t think you’re in the mood, so I’ll go right away. I just have one question to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Do you remember the people from our area? Have you ever encountered them?”
I was uncertain whether the X sign meant don’t come this way or that it meant don’t go this way.
Joo Hye-ryeong glared at me and said.
“Why should I tell someone who might be a murderer?”
“I am not a murderer. Nam Yoo-jun was the murderer.”
“I can’t believe that. Then why did Yujun disappear?”
“He might have run away because he was a murderer.”
Of course, he didn’t run away.
It was a blessing in disguise that not many gods witnessed what happened at that time.
While Joo Hye-ryeong and I were having a staring contest, someone awkwardly stopped us.
“Okay, okay. Stop it. There’s no clear evidence that this guy is a murderer.”
“… … .”
“First of all, since it’s been a long time since we last met, let’s talk. You haven’t eaten either, right? Let’s wait a little bit and eat together.”
I had no intention of eating, but I sat down anyway.
Steam was rising from the pot, indicating that someone was cooking.
As I sat down, Joo Hye-ryeong sat across from me and looked at me with a quizzical look.
“You have a lump in your throat.”
She was looking at the giant’s belt around my neck.
Joo Hye-ryeong had a band around her right wrist.
I said, pulling up my collar and covering my neck.
“Are you left-handed?”
“No. Right hand.”
“It would be a big deal if my right hand was cut off.”
“Would you rather have your throat cut than mine?”
Joo Hye-ryeong laughed in disbelief at my answer.
“Some lucky people get lucky spots on their fingers or ears. Neither you nor I are lucky.”
As she said, the belt of the giant sea was attached to different parts of each person.
Some people, like Joo Hye-ryeong, had it on their wrists, while others had it on their ankles, calves, fingers, or ears.
In terms of number, most people had them on their ears or fingers, followed by those on their hands and feet.
But no one had it hanging around their neck like I did.
“So, I asked if you saw the people in District 2?”
“Yes. Did you see it?”
“No. I haven’t seen it. But if I do, I’ll let you know. But… … .”
Joo Hye-ryeong spoke with the eyes of a merchant conducting a transaction.
“You pass on the information too. If you find a badge in our area, tell me its location.”
Right now, my first priority was to find Shin Soo Ah, but this Demon King’s mission was to find the Ho-pae.
I asked, pretending not to know anything.
“Can’t I just pick it up?”
“You haven’t found your badge yet?”
Joo Hye-ryeong’s tone became slightly sullen.
She spoke with a look on her face as if she were bestowing me a great favor.
“No one can touch a tiger tag unless they are its owner. It is also impossible to destroy it. So, if you find a tiger tag, it is a good idea to write down its location.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
We exchanged the necessary information, but I couldn’t get up from my seat.
While we were talking, I scanned the room roughly, looking for the following signs.
But there was no sign in this room.
There is no way Shinsooah and the others could have disappeared from this place.
If so, the most likely possibility is that they did not have the luxury of leaving a mark.
That meant that everyone, including Shin Soo-ah, was in a dangerous situation.
The blood scattered everywhere seemed to prove it.
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They must have come here right away during a hasty evacuation during the battle.
If it had been a minor battle, they would have evacuated and returned to leave their mark.
But the fact that there was no trace meant that the situation was still critical.
A photo of Shin Soo-ah covered in blood came to mind.
At that moment, a strange sound began to be heard from far away.
-Doo-ung… … Doo-ung… … .
It was the sound of a drum.
The sound of the drums beating slowly could not be determined from which direction they were coming.
As soon as the sound of the drum was heard, people’s faces instantly turned pale.
“Damn, already?”
“They won’t let me eat even one meal.”
One by one, people rose from their seats, taking up their weapons.
Joo Hye-ryeong’s face was also tense and stiff.
“You too, get up and prepare to fight.”
I knew full well what was going to happen.
As I took up my sword and took a stand, the sound of the drums suddenly stopped without a trace.
At the same time, black things began to appear all over the room.
【Wow, it’s finally here!】
【Looking forward to Seo Kang-rim’s inauguration ceremony!】
【Hold on tight, Kangrim!】
-Gagagaga… …!
What appeared, making a strange noise, was a black mass the size of a person.
At first glance, it resembled a human figure, but it had no facial features and instead had red lines drawn all over its body.
It seemed closer to a statue made of tangled shadows.
Unlike the demons we’ve seen so far, these demons were carrying weapons.
-Ga… … Ga-gak… … !
The demons moved like broken dolls and rushed at the people.
As the black lumps swung their rusted and chipped swords, Ju Hye-ryeong swung her spear and cut down the demons.
“Everyone, run to the other room! Let’s meet again at the meeting place!”
They seemed to be choosing to retreat rather than fight.
That would be the case, as the number of demons swarming in was considerable.
About 20 bodies.
As I was trying to figure out the enemy’s numbers, a shadow that had been stuck to the ceiling jumped down over my head.
-Gagagak!
“Kyaarrung!”
At that moment, a fist-sized ball of fire flew in and blew off the demon’s leg.
As the burning demon fell to the ground, Yo-rong rushed forward as if he had been waiting and bit the demon’s neck.
-Ga, gagagak… … .
The demon soon turned to ash and scattered.
As Yo-rong opened his mouth and smiled as if he was satisfied, a black liquid like a bloodstain spread all over his mouth.
“What the hell is that? A demon?”
“Is it a dragon?”
“For a dragon, his legs are short… … .”
“That guy even brings a dragon with him?”
People looked surprised when they saw Yo-rong-i.
It was surprising since I would never see Youngsoo again.
-Gagagagagak!
On the other hand, the demons continued to attack without wavering even though their side was dead.
A demon was rushing towards me.
-Crunch!
The Chiljido immediately split the demon’s body in half.
He stabbed his sword again at the shadow that was collapsing like a clay doll, and it completely collapsed.
In my past life, I had a hard time dealing with these guys, but this time it was easy.
Just because there are a lot of them doesn’t mean each individual is strong.
-Whoaaah!
I deflected the swords the demons swung and cut off their heads.
It felt like I was cutting a living thing, but no blood was splattered.
While I was dealing with the front, Yo-rong was also running around, biting the demons.
In an instant, the demons were wiped out.
“I guess it’s over.”
It wasn’t worth running away to.
The fallen demons disappeared like melting ice, leaving no corpses behind.
Joo Hye-ryeong said with a surprised face.
“You… were this strong?”
I didn’t answer.
Yo-rong-yi was swinging his front paws to catch the disappearing demons.
Linney was hiding in the corner with a tired expression on her face.
Everyone else looked bewildered.
Joo Hye-ryeong looked at the people and said.
“Is anyone hurt?”
“No, everyone is fine.”
“This is the first time I’ve gotten rid of it this quickly.”
Since my business was finished, I had to move on.
While I was wondering which way to go, Joo Hye-ryeong approached me hesitantly.
“… … Hey, thank you. I survived thanks to you.”
The expression on his face, which had been stern until just a moment ago, had become much more relaxed.
She continued speaking with a slightly strange expression.
“I’ve been helped a lot by you. I feel like I owe you something in return… … .”
“It’s okay. I was just trying to protect myself anyway.”
“I guess so. But since I got help, I’ll at least tell you some information about this.”
I know information about this magic mirror.
But I nodded, thinking that maybe something had changed.
As soon as she sat down, Joo Hye-ryeong opened her mouth.
“This time, it seems like all the districts are participating. I haven’t seen the people you mentioned, but I’ve often encountered people from other districts.”
If the whole district gathered, it would be quite a large number of people.
But the fact that I haven’t encountered them yet means that they’ve all either gone too far, been eliminated, or passed.
“As we saw earlier, when the drum sounds, a demon appears. For convenience, we call it a shadow.”
It’s a shadow.
I thought it was a pretty plausible name.
As I remained silent, she continued her explanation.
“The time you hear the sound of the drum is random. Fortunately, it doesn’t chase you to another room, so you can escape to the next room and be safe.”
“And?”
“Um… … something like that.”
This would be pretty useful information for a first-time visitor, but it was information I already knew.
I was more concerned about something else than that.
Behind Joo Hye-ryeong’s anxious expression, something was felt.
It seemed like she was hiding something.
“Please, at least eat something. Fortunately, the pot is still intact… … .”
One of the members of District 4 quietly thrust something in front of me.
It was an earthenware bowl containing porridge, and the contents were like porridge boiled with vegetables and rice.
Just then, Linnie came over and sniffed at it, trying to eat it, so I quickly grabbed the bowl.
“Let’s eat well.”
I took a spoonful of the porridge and put it in my mouth.
It wasn’t a flavor that made me particularly want to eat more, but it had the charm of a warm dish.
I was about to take another sip when I looked at Joo Hye-ryeong in front of me.
She was looking at me with nervous eyes.
“Why aren’t you eating?”
“Uh, uh? Me? I’ll eat it later. I should treat my benefactor first.”
The word benefactor struck me as funny.
I put down the bowl of rice I was holding and spoke quietly.
“Do you serve poisoned food to your benefactor?”
