Episode 31
Arriving in front of the station, Lucia looked surprised when she saw a large line of people.
It was unusual for so many people to come and go where she lived.
“Where is the war?”
“no.”
“Is it a market day? Why are there so many people?”
“It’s like this every day here.”
Lucia looked surprised.
It seemed hard to believe that this was a scene I saw every day, not just for a day or two.
“How many humans are there in this world?”
“It would be around 7.7 billion or more.”
When Kang Jin-hyeok told her about information he had once seen on the Internet, Lucia opened her mouth in shock.
“What, what? Do the humans here have a higher reproductive capacity than the orcs?”
“Okrani, that’s harsh.”
Although they are sometimes called that, they are not truly more reproductive than orcs.
Kang Jin-hyeok looked somewhat uncomfortable because it was simply a derogatory remark based on appearance.
“There are so many humans, but there aren’t any elves.”
Lucia began to understand something on her own with a shocked face.
It seems she thought that the elf-like alien race was destroyed because they were overwhelmed by the humans.
It was completely different from the history that Kang Jin-hyeok knew, but he didn’t think it was necessary to correct it by explaining it.
It was because I came out to study history rather than to find out my own skills as a priority.
“Let’s see… … .”
Kang Jin-hyeok observed people passing by with his skill activated.
And then he quickly wrote down the numbers he had observed in a notebook he took out of his pocket.
“52, 81, 33, 92… … .”
Lucia turned her head around and looked around while Kang Jinhyuk recorded the karma numbers with a serious face.
When she came out to catch a new monster, the sights she had barely noticed because she was just looking around caught her eye.
“It’s still bright here even after the sun has set.”
The sight of the streets brightly lit with lights was a sight Lucia had never seen before.
In the world she lived in, even when there was a festival in the palace, the lights weren’t this bright.
Even in big cities, there are only a few streetlights.
In villages far from the city, it was essential to carry a personal lantern if going out at night.
“But if it’s this bright, won’t the monsters notice it?”
Lucia suddenly became concerned about the security of the city.
The reason why lighting was not developed in the place where she lived was probably due to differences in technology, but the biggest reason was the presence of monsters.
Monsters that are mainly active at night have a tendency to be attracted to light.
In a town with weak security, shining bright lights could easily attract concentrated attacks from monsters, so even lighting a bonfire had to be done with caution, unless it was a major event.
“Looking at this guy, it seems like the hunters here aren’t that strong.”
Lucia recalled the hunters’ struggles against the new type of monster she had easily defeated with a single arrow.
“How did humans who aren’t even strong survive against monsters?”
Lucia’s deduction, which she started without any information, was a suitable toy to kill time while Kang Jin-hyeok recorded the numbers.
But the fantasy that started out as a pastime ended when she didn’t want it to.
Lucia reluctantly turned her head because someone kept talking next to her.
The person who had approached her without her knowledge was a slender, handsome man with impressive brown hair.
Although he seemed like a likable person based on his appearance, Lucia didn’t like his sly smile.
In the place where she lived, anyone who approached her with this kind of expression was most likely to have evil intentions.
“#$%%@#.”
The man opened his mouth eagerly and said something, but Lucia could not understand what he was saying.
‘I guess this guy doesn’t have any interpretation items.’
When I first met Kang Jin-hyeok, we talked so naturally from the beginning that I forgot that we spoke different languages.
It was only after Lucia cast her interpretation spell that the man’s words began to be heard properly.
“So, are you by any chance interested in modeling?”
The interpretation was successful, but Lucia still couldn’t understand what the man was saying.
“model?”
As Lucia tilted her head and muttered, the man brightened his expression, believing that she was interested.
“Yes. We just happened to have an empty seat on our side.”
Lucia doesn’t know what the word ‘model’ means, but she knows why the man approached her.
The reason for this was easy to guess.
‘Let’s see.’
As Lucia amplified her senses with her aura, just in case, she felt eyes on her from all around her.
Among them, there were many people who felt a bit different from ordinary people.
‘Is he a colleague? Or just a passerby?’
As she hesitated, unable to decide how to respond to this right away, a familiar light blocked her eyes.
“What do you want to do?”
The brown-haired man looked quite bewildered at the sudden appearance of Kang Jin-hyeok.
It seemed as if he had not expected that there would be a companion.
The man who had been rolling his eyes from side to side hid his expression with a smile again.
“I’m sorry. Are you by any chance your boyfriend?”
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“No, that’s not it.”
“Then are you a friend?”
“Oh, yes… … . I guess you could say that.”
Lucia sighed inwardly as she saw Kang Jin-hyeok answering immediately and the man’s expression brightening.
‘This idiot.’
If I had spoken firmly, the other person might have given up and backed down.
Because she showed an awkward reaction for no reason, the man did not miss the opportunity and invited her to a nearby cafe to talk.
“How about you join me, my friend?”
The other party’s attitude was blatantly telling them that Lucia was their target.
But this kind of sloppy approach that only third-rate people would use was not going to work.
It was my first time meeting the brown-haired man, and I could have just backed out, saying I had other plans.
Since we had the excuse, it was easy to just avoid the situation.
But contrary to Lucia’s thoughts, Kang Jin-hyeok accepted the man’s proposal.
“I was just looking for a place to kill time… … Ugh!”
Lucia couldn’t stand seeing Kang Jin-hyeok quickly agree, so she stepped on his instep without hesitation.
The man was startled and surprised when Kang Jin-hyeok suddenly screamed, seemingly unaware of such behavior.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s nothing, so don’t worry about it.”
Kang Jin-hyeok bit his lip to endure the pain he felt on the top of his foot.
When the man took the lead and said he would find a place to sit and talk,
Behind him, Lucia delivered an additional blow to Kang Jin-hyeok’s side.
“Ugh!”
Kang Jin-hyeok covered his mouth with his hand, worried that the man might turn around.
“What if this idiot wants to follow me there?”
“It’s because I have thought about everything.”
“What on earth were you thinking with that dumb brain?”
“That’s really harsh. Just listen to it.”
Kang Jin-hyeok whispered carefully so as not to be caught by the man in front.
“That guy is unusually tall.”
“what?”
“What could it be? It’s just karma.”
“How long has it been?”
“300.”
Lucia heard that sound and stopped swinging her fist again.
“Then you decided to follow me on purpose?”
“It would be a shame to miss this long-awaited opportunity.”
Kang Jin-hyeok observed many people at the station and found that he rarely saw anyone over 100, let alone 300.
If you miss this opportunity, you never know when you’ll be able to meet someone with these numbers again.
Lucia, who understood the situation, suppressed her irritation and scratched her head nervously.
“I can’t help it… … . I don’t like this guy, but I guess I’ll have to get along with him for a bit.”
“If you see anything suspicious, tell me right away.”
What kind of behavior would a human with numbers far superior to those of ordinary people exhibit?
Lucia, curious, observed the actions of the man in front closely.
He looked around here and there, as if he was looking for a place to talk, but something felt off.
Lucia quickly realized the source of the discomfort and whispered something to Kang Jin-hyeok.
“That guy pretends to look around, but his steps are heading straight towards the building in front of him.”
“The destination was set from the beginning, that’s it.”
“It’s an obvious trap, so you’d better be careful.”
When Lucia and Kang Jin-hyeok saw the man in front turn around, they stopped whispering and hurriedly put some distance between themselves.
The man smiled calmly, unaware that he was being suspected, and pointed to the sign in front of him.
“That looks like a good place.”
The place the man had chosen as his destination was a ‘bar’ with a closed-off feel that was difficult to find unless you looked closely.
There are many cafes around, so choosing a place like this was tantamount to openly saying you have an ulterior motive.
But Lucia and Kang Jin-hyeok pretended to be fooled and followed the man.
“Why don’t you take a seat first? I’ll order and come over.”
When the man asked what he wanted to drink, Kang Jin-hyeok ordered a non-alcoholic cocktail on Lucia’s behalf.
It seems like caffeine isn’t a big deal for elves, considering they can eat a lot of chocolate and still be fine.
I thought it would be best to go with the safest option just in case.
The man who took their order seated them at a table and walked away.
While the man went to order, Kang Jin-hyeok and Lucia discussed what to do next.
“First of all, isn’t it clear that that human is after me?”
“It’s obvious to anyone.”
“Does revealing a woman also affect your karma level?”
“Well, I don’t think so.”
While Kang Jin-hyeok was surveying people’s numbers on the street, he witnessed many men being captivated by Lucia.
Lucia’s appearance was too outstanding to be considered as a simple approach to a woman.
Any man with normal aesthetic sense would want to talk to her.
From that perspective, it was only natural that she was offered modeling work.
If Kang Jin-hyeok hadn’t been able to confirm Karma with his hidden skill, he wouldn’t have had any suspicions.
“So you’re secretly plotting something?”
“That’s highly likely. But the way you’re approaching it is so old-fashioned.”
Lucia nodded in agreement with Kang Jin-hyeok’s words.
Even to her, who did not know the sentiment of this place, the man’s approach was so sloppy that it gave her goosebumps.
“There’s no chance that I’m just stupid… right?”
“You must have been thinking a lot since you passed by all the nearby cafes and came here anyway.”
“What is a cafe?”
“Umm… … A place where we can have a drink and chat?”
“Then it’s no different from here.”
“The only difference is that we don’t sell alcohol.”
Lucia tilted her head with a puzzled expression upon hearing that answer.
“What are you going to talk about without alcohol?”
Of course, sincere conversations flow more smoothly when aided by alcohol.
That was the law that Lucia had discovered during her long life as an adventurer.
“In my opinion, it’s more suspicious that a man trying to seduce a woman would take her to a place without alcohol.”
Because they lived in different worlds, Kang Jin-hyeok’s feelings and her thoughts were similar yet different.
The difference was quite an interesting topic, but Kang Jin-hyeok thought that now was not the time to talk about it.
“Anyway, let’s just see how it turns out.”
As of now, there is nothing but suspicion.
To make an accurate judgment, I needed to get more information.
“huh?”
Lucia reacted as the door opened with a jingle and several men came in.
Her long ears, visible only to Kang Jin-hyeok, moved up and down repeatedly like antennas.
“what’s the matter?”
Lucia glared at the men who entered the cafe without answering Kang Jin-hyeok’s question.
Her eyes, which became more murderous as time passed, told me that something unusual was happening.
“The humans who just came in. They’re definitely the ones who were watching me on the street earlier.”
“What does that mean?”
“Those people were near the man who spoke to me.”
Lucia pointed to a place where some large men were sitting at the bar, trying not to be noticed by the other person.
A sturdy, muscular build and a fierce expression that cannot be hidden by a suit alone.
No matter how you look at it, these cocktail fools are the type of guys who would suit a meat restaurant or bar.
“It can’t be a coincidence.”
“Absolutely not.”
Lucia could be certain from long experience.
The fact that those men and the man who approached her were in cahoots.
“It’s going to be more troublesome than I expected.”
Kang Jin-hyeok opened his inventory slightly so that he could take out the baseball bat at any moment.
