Chapter 67 (2/2)

”Also, what was that about the restraining order, too?” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”You don't need to know, yet.” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Kim Hahn-Nah cut the conversation short right there, while licking her lower lip. Her face looked as if she couldn't figure out whether she was dreaming or not.

”Okay, for the time being, let's go inside.” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

”You want to go in?” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”I mean, she invited us in, so we must go inside. You think such an opportunity comes around everyday?” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Slap!

She slapped her own cheeks and recovered her usual demeanour right away.

”And besides, we'll be able to talk without a worry if it's in there.” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

”….Is that somehow related to the restraining order you've been talking about?” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”Yup. What a surprising turn of events this is. I even get to enter this place all thanks to you.” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

She said that while cautiously entering the side entrance. Seol Ji-Hu also hurried entered after her.

The interior turned out to be unexpectedly empty. There should have been a number of tables and chairs here, but there were none.

”I see that you're almost finished with the preparation to leave, ma'am.” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Kim Hahn-Nah mouthed ”Excuse us” with her trademark business smile and entered.

”Yes. The only thing remaining is choosing where to go.”

The woman grinned and lightly patted a long table attached to the counter. There were two chairs nearby; she must've brought them out just now.

Kim Hahn-Nah cautiously settled down on one of the chairs and opened her mouth.

”Although it is regrettable, it's also a honour for me. I'd never have guessed that I am going to drink the very last tea made by you, Lady Seo Yu-Hui….” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

‘Seo Yu-Hui?'

While taking a seat next to Kim Hahn-Nah, Seol Ji-Hu swallowed his saliva. Seo Yu-Hui, Seo Yu-Hui…. Fearing that he might forget this name, he continued to repeat it in his head.

Seo Yu-Hui gently chuckled before speaking up.

”Which tea would you like to have?” (Seo Yu-Hui)

”Oh, I'm fine with anything, actually.” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

”How about you?” (Seo Yu-Hui)

”Ah, well, I….” (Seol Ji-Hu)

Seol Ji-Hu was thinking of initiating a conversation with this mystery woman through this opening, but Kim Hahn-Nah was one step faster; she reached out with her hand and covered his mouth.

”This kid doesn't mind whatever it is.” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Seol Ji-Hu tried to pry her hand away, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Seo Yu-Hui simply formed an enigmatic smile.

”He must be your lover.” (Seo Yu-Hui)

”Eeeehh?? No, of course not!!!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Kim Hahn-Nah jumped up from her seat.

”Who would want to go out with this guy?! No, our relations.h.i.+p is simply one of a contractor and a contractee. Nothing more.” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

She laughed out loud and quite strongly denied it.

”Oh, I see. It's just that, you two seemed very familiar with each other.” (Seo Yu-Hui)

Seo Yu-Hui tilted her head slightly as if she was somewhat confused. When her gaze met Seol Ji-Hu's, she smiled brightly.

No matter how many times he saw it, that smile just fantastically suited this woman to a T. Not only that, her voice reading out each of the syllables, her smooth and silky hand gestures, and the graceful air about her, easily caused his heart to flutter almost uncontrollably.

She wasn't exactly…. his ideal type, no, but instead it'd be more like….

If he were to describe the feeling he got when meeting Teresa Hussey for the first time as a type of ‘strong attraction', then from Seo Yu-Hui, he felt a deep sense of familiarity.

An atmosphere that was kinda like, she'd gracefully accept whatever prank he'd pull, and shelter him from the storm, that sort of things.

‘Wait. Aren't I putting all the carts in front of a horse here?' (Seol Ji-Hu)

Nothing had been confirmed so far. Seol Ji-Hu could only form a wry smile after finally waking up from his deep dive into the sea of imagination.

”Please wait for a moment. I'll bring them out very soon.” (Seo Yu-Hui)

Seo Yu-Hui turned around and began wringing out tea water.

”You can take your time, ma'am. There's no rush.” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Kim Hahn-Nah politely pointed this fact out, and then poked Seol Ji-Hu on the side as the youth sat there rigidly and stared his front in a daze.

”So, speak up.” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

”M-mm??” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”Not ‘m-mm', I want you to start telling me what happened.” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Seo Yu-Hui softly giggled as if she found Kim Hahn-Nah's impersonation rather funny.

”If I'm honest, I still can't figure it out. It hasn't been that long since you left the Neutral Zone, yet you're already a member of Carpe Diem, you got a d*mn spear as a gift from Princess Teresa Hussey, and became friends with Ian Denzel? What the h.e.l.l?” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

”Mm…. Well, it's a long story.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”Start from the beginning. Don't you dare leave anything out, too. Don't worry, you can speak freely in this place.” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Seol Ji-Hu nodded his head and slowly recounted his experiences so far. He started from when he arrived at Haramark, in full detail. He gradually grew excited after seeing Kim Hahn-Nah respond at the right time, meaning that she was concentrating fully on his story.

”So, I went over to the inn with them, thinking that being a porter would be better than nothing. But, like a lie, I found Carpe Diem waiting for us there. We discussed the scouting mission of the Forest of Denial, and…..” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”What did you just say?!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Right at that point, Kim Hahn-Nah abruptly cut him off even before he could finish his sentence. She had been listening quietly until then, so Seol Ji-Hu had been left fl.u.s.tered by her sudden burst of fury.

”Forest of Denial?!?!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

”….Uh, yeah.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”Y-you, you dumba*s?! THE Forest of Denial?? FOREST of DENIAL?!?!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

When Seol Ji-Hu nodded his head, Kim Hahn-Nah's eyes opened super wide, before she…

”You idiot!!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

….She loudly yelled at him.

”D-did you lose your d*mn mind?! You actually entered the Forest of Denial?!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Kim Hahn-Nah's expression crumpled unsightly. Her lips bobbed up and down non-stop, and even her neck trembled visibly. Her reaction easily exceeded his expectations.

”You, you…. You promised me not to go any further South than….” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

She couldn't even finish what she wanted to say as if she was far too flabbergasted for that.

”Do you have any idea what kind of a place that forest is?!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Yup, here it was.

Her explosive nagging landed hot and heavy on Seol Ji-Hu, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut for a moment there.

”That's the border region!! A d*mn border region! Not only that, where the Federation and the Parasites meet, too!!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

”I know, but they don't invade through there because of the forest's effects.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”Oh, really now?! So, you saying you did a smart thing, is that it?” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

”….No, not necessarily….” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”Gimme a break, Christ on a pogo stick, somebody just shoot me, please! Don't you know how terrifying that place is?! Also, a group of Lioners including a leader and a female was found there, too…..?!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Kim Hahn-Nah fired out many words like a machine gun, before abruptly stopping there, her brows visibly tightening.

”W-wait a minute. I remember now, the guy who compiled the report on the Forest of Denial was Ian Denzel……. No freaking way?!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Kim Hahn-Nah muttered to herself, before glaring at him with eyes that could almost definitely kill somebody.

”L-listen. We did encounter a Lioner horde, but you see, I….” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”Keep quiet!!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Her loud roar reverberated within the interior.

Seol Ji-Hu went Oops, and quickly s.h.i.+fted his gaze over to Seo Yu-Hui, and saw her completely unmoving back. Only until a second ago, she had been wringing out tea water with great care, but she wasn't moving an inch now.

”You crazy buffoon!!! You deranged idiot! You really wanna kill yourself that badly?!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

”…………”

”Hey, you dumba*s! Those are creatures that not even the high rankers can…..!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Tak.

Just before Kim Hahn-Nah completely blew her top, two tea cups were placed on the table. It was Seo Yu-Hui.

”Please, calm yourself. And drink this.” (Seo Yu-Hui)

Kim Hahn-Nah grabbed the tea cup and took an unhesitating gulp out of her sheer enraged state. She probably didn't find the tea hot because she was drinking it with seemingly no problem.

”Fuu-woo! Fuu-woo!! I, I'm sorry for the d-disturbance….!!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Kim Hahn-Nah panted heavily like an angry bull. Meanwhile, Seo Yu-Hui was carrying an unreadable expression. There was even a hint of anger somewhere in there, too. The issue with that being, she wasn't looking at Kim Hahn-Nah, but she was glancing at him from the corner of her eyes.

‘But, why?' (Seol Ji-Hu)

Seo Yu-Hui lightly bit her lip.

”….Would you like a cup of iced water?” (Seo Yu-Hui)

”P-please!! I'm feeling really, really… this…” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

”Of course. Please wait for a moment.” (Seo Yu-Hui)

Seo Yu-Hui spoke as if she completely agreed with Kim Hahn-Nah and turned around. Meanwhile, the latter somehow managed to get a grip on her rage and spoke in a relatively calmer voice.

”Okay, so. You were able to get this and that all thanks to the meritorious deeds of surviving the Forest of Denial, is that it?” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

”Well….. Not exactly.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”There's more?!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Seol Ji-Hu avoided her glare.

”Y-you. You better look at me and tell me everything, you hear? Don't think you can hide anything from me, because with Sinyoung's information network, I can find out pretty much everything you wanna hide, okay?” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

”…………”

”You still not saying anything??” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

”….Only when you promise not to get angry.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

When he unwillingly replied, Kim Hahn-Nah formed eyes of an axe murderer ready to strike. She slapped the table, hard.

”You better speak up now, while I'm still being nice. Besides, I don't think I can get any more angry than right now, too.” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

”Well, I, uh……. When we were coming out of the Forest of Denial, there was a sudden communication from the royals.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”I don't care about that. Get to the point!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Kim Hahn-Nah coughed once and gulped down the remaining half of the tea still left in the cup.

”….Well, the Parasites attacked the Arden Fortress, so our team met up with the army led by the Princess midway and joined them so we could head to the Arden Valley…..” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”Phuwoooo!!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Kim Hahn-Nah grandly spewed out the tea water out of her mouth. Thanks to that, he was now showered with a mixture of liquids containing her spit, but that wasn't really important at the moment.

Kim Hahn-Nah was now staring at him with a dazed expression.

”….You also partic.i.p.ated in that?” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Nod.

”A Level 1 Warrior did what? No, no, no. Wait a minute.” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

If there was one thing Seol Ji-Hu hadn't been aware of, that would be the small fact that Kim Hahn-Nah had already heard of everything regarding the defence of the Arden Fortress.

To be more specific, all the related stories regarding the unexpected victory were some of the most hotly discussed topics among the humans for the past few days. Everyone expected the Haramark royals to abandon the fortress, yet them achieving a resounding victory took almost all who heard the news by surprise. And they were facing off against Parasites, too.

”A low level Warrior volunteered as a bait and successfully lured in the Parasite army, and at a certain ravine……” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Hoping that it wasn't so, Kim Hahn-Nah carefully remembered the contents of the report she read, but then….

”Aha, hahaha…. I, uh, those chasing c.o.c.kroaches can be pretty scary. Did you know that?” (Seol Ji-Hu)

Seol Ji-Hu awkwardly laughed out.

”You dumb mad son of…!!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

She swung her hand rather powerfully. SLAP!! Seol Ji-Hu spat out a pained moan when her palm landed his back.

”You crazy b*stard! Have you lost your mind?! Are you??! Seriously?!?!” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Slap! Slap!! Slap!!!

She slapped him on the back multiple times, but maybe that wasn't enough, because she then began panting out breathlessly as if no air was entering her lungs. She pounded on her chest and grabbed the back of her neck, which in turn, made Seol Ji-Hu enter a fl.u.s.tered state.

He was about to ask for that promised cup of iced water, but then…

”…??”

He spotted Seo Yu-Hui's unmoving back once more. As if she was also dazed out of her mind, her arms lay limp on her side and her head was leaning back, her eyes obviously staring at the ceiling above.

She then grasped the cup of water with enough force to almost shatter it and gulped the cold liquid down in one go. When she slammed the empty cup down, Seol Ji-Hu felt a certain sense of power from her, which he hadn't sensed before.

”…Fuu-woo….”

She then even spat out a long sigh, too.

Guessing that she was angry at all the noise, Seol Ji-Hu tried his best to calm Kim Hahn-Nah down before things could get worse.

A short while later…..

”You dumba*s moron….” (Kim Hahn-Nah)

Kim Hahn-Nah hid her face with her hands and began to tearfully mutter to herself.

Seol Ji-Hu sheepishly scratched his cheek and flinched somewhat when he realised that Seo Yu-Hui was staring straight at him.

‘And why is she looking at me like that now….?'

< 67.=”” an=”” encounter=”” (2)=””> Fin.