Nari, who I thought would finally take care of herself a little, looked at me.

He bowed his head deeply with a truly embarrassed expression.

“I’m sorry for asking a lady to get in my car and go with me so late at night. I wasn’t thinking at all. I should have been more careful given my authority and age…!”

“Ah, no, that’s okay.”

In the first place, Shin Binnari, the number one Wallung, had long since lost her fear of such direct physical attacks.

If someone tried to harm her, she could just open a dimensional crack and escape or reform their mind.

Nari, who realized that ordinary women would certainly not willingly follow in this situation, only then thought, ‘Oops, I made a mistake.’

I bowed my head deeply.

“No!! I fully understand your feelings that it’s not okay! So you can get out here if you want!”

“I don’t even know where this is, and it’s a night road?! It’s more dangerous for me to get out here?!”

At those words, I looked around and made an ‘oops’ expression. Then he rested his chin on his hand. Nari let out a deep sigh.

“It’s fine, just go….”

Nari stopped me from pulling my hair out, thinking that I had unnecessarily drained my energy.

How on earth did mom form a connection with this kind of person?

Nari spoke up to change the mood.

“…By the way, why did you go to prison…?”

I thought it was because he was a former gangster, but when I searched the internet, it seemed there was more to the story.

And frankly, I didn’t want to be associated with criminals.

If the reason he went to prison was because he was involved in a crime, I didn’t want to be associated with him anymore, whether mom knew him or not.

Nari lived in an obsessive morality after mom died.

After creating a sub-character, she could have made a lot of money by forging official documents like resident registration or binding people with illusions.

However, the reason she only committed the minimum level of illegal acts such as the ‘hunter registration card’ or the prank-level illusions of making seats invisible was solely due to her moral sense.

Even if no one knew her, she never wanted to do anything that could be accused by someone, and she didn’t want to be close to people who committed crimes.

It always seemed like mom’s label followed her actions.

So no matter what she did, it seemed like an overly strict moral standard was pushing her.

Therefore, the repulsion to this man whom mom had designated as a godfather was not simply wariness of strangers.

But if there was a story behind it.

“Well, I went because I did something wrong.”

“Exactly what wrong did you do?”

“Concealing gates, using offensive skills without obtaining a hunter license. Selling related items without reporting them.”

Gate concealment and unreported item sales.

Nari raised an eyebrow at the possibility of smuggling or tax evasion, which are serious crimes if done intentionally.

Moreover, if it was done in an organized manner, it would be rightly called a gang.

In the first place, wasn’t Nari also unable to sell high-grade items for fear of being tracked?

“Isn’t that really, like, an important crime?”

“Have you heard that story, Nari? In the Joseon Dynasty, people became criminals because they couldn’t understand the official documents written in Chinese characters.”

Nari nodded. I frowned as if stating the obvious and looked out the car window.

The small scars on his hands reminded me of that time.

“This place was restored later than Seoul. Naturally, the news was delivered late as well. So I couldn’t do it. That’s all.”

“Wouldn’t they take that into consideration if there was such a reason?”

“At that time, huge guilds were trying to destroy the Busan Awakener ecosystem and take the gates here for themselves. When force didn’t work, they reported it to the higher-ups. I think there was lobbying between them. So I took the lead and served a prison sentence. It was better for me to go in alone than for many of us to go in.”

With those words, I looked out the car window.

A small village, with grandfather and grandmother-aged people walking around even late at night.

“…Your mother told me that wielding a spear to protect is different from wielding a spear to attack. And those who wielded spears with me are now Mago, protecting this place.”

Nari followed his calm gaze and looked at the peaceful village.

Pagyeseung. It was a class held by someone who had done something to be dismissed from the monk position, similar to an excommunicated priest.

“…You didn’t commit a felony, right?”

“Yes, because your mother stopped me in the middle, it ended at that level.”

Nari leaned back deeply in her seat.

It was an era where power was everything. She couldn’t even guess the situation at that time, but she understood the sentiment.

“Okay. Then, well….”

Screech, the car stopped in the parking lot.

When the driver opened the car door, I nodded and let Nari get out first.

In the mountains where birdsong echoed, a few rooms in the 4-story building were still lit up.

“Where is this?”

“It’s a space used by Mago’s hunters. Mago’s accommodations collaborate with temples in various regions. This building used to be a temple stay facility, so a little noise is allowed, but right below is the monks’ space. Please be as quiet as possible.”

‘Temple?’

Nari, who had that thought, looked up at me.

The temple Jeong Suho mentioned. And a rough-looking man. Nari, who thought they might be talking about this person, rested her chin.

“Hey, do you know Jeong Suho too?”

“Of course I know him. I only remember him when he was as tall as my thigh, but every time he came here, he tried to knock down the stone pagoda with a slingshot, so I stopped him every time. I was also worried that he had lost contact and was keeping to himself, but I know he’s in Gunsin. Are you in contact with him by any chance?”

“Uh, yes….”

“That’s a relief. I think he’ll be a good connection that suits you, so please continue.”

I, who brought Nari to the 1st floor lobby, talked to the security for a moment, came out of the security room, and handed the key to Nari.

“Stay here for the night. I told them to give you the best room.”

“Grandma? Mother…? Aren’t you going to meet her?”

“I need to finish preparing a little to see mother. Nari, you should sleep comfortably and see her tomorrow afternoon.”

Nari spoke in a dazed voice behind me, who was about to leave the building after bowing.

“…No, are you leaving like this? Is that the end of the story?”

Nari, who thought he would tell more stories about mom, muttered.

I looked back with a puzzled expression, and after a moment of thought, he spoke.

“Mago is strong, but it couldn’t have been created without hunters.”

“So if you could tell me more about that….”

To Nari, who was about to say, please tell me more about how mom influenced you and what she did here, I uttered a word.

“So, Mago is always on your side. No matter what happens.”

Nari, who couldn’t make any more retorts to those words, stood there. And I turned my back and headed to the temple.

[This is the timeline separator]

The wind chime rang. The place they guided me to had a sign that said ‘Silent Retreat’ on the door.

It was a slightly large studio with only a closet, bathroom, an octopus-shaped power strip, and bedding.

Fortunately, the internet worked.

“They said it was a temple stay place, I guess it’s true.”

Nari, who had brought a guidebook from the building entrance and was reading it, muttered in understanding.

The guidebook had articles explaining Mago, along with cute little monk characters.

Mago, a guild that has grown centered around temples, and accordingly, there are many hunters with monk classes or who use ‘spiritual power’ as their main energy.

The 1st guild leader is Arahan, the 2nd is Nan.

It’s not like a holy war-like corporate atmosphere or a civil servant-like atmosphere like Gunsin.

Freedom of concurrent employment, freedom of attire, each temple has a branch, and each branch has a branch manager.

Here in Busan, where Nari is staying, the Naewon Temple is the main temple, and hunters who need accommodation can stay in the temple stay space of temples contracted with Mago.

“The purpose is not to make money, but this?”

[The Ruler of Chaos stares at the booklet together, saying it seems similar to a vigilante group.]

With this method, since the branch managers of each scattered branch have their own authority, power is never concentrated on the guild leader.

Even if it can’t be helped in the case of Gunsin, Kang Sujin of Seongjeon probably wouldn’t have operated in this way.

Although it was called one of the 4 major guilds, it was clear that except for Gunsin, which is a public enterprise from the beginning, it would not make as much money as the other guilds.

“I guess they focused more on protecting the region than money.”

[The Ruler of Chaos nods, saying it’s probably a form achieved by the current guild leader’s absolute charisma.]

Nari recalled the conversation with Nan. He said he wielded a spear to protect and that became Mago.

A person who protected Busan in times when there were no laws. And a person who treats locals well no matter what.

It seemed that Mago was running well with the guild leader’s beliefs and absolute popularity.

“I guess so? It’s interesting. How is mom related to these people? How could Mago not exist without our mom? And crucially, this.”

Nari tapped on the letters ‘Arahan’, the 1st guild leader. He was a famous figure.

The longest-serving among the 6 S-rank in Korea.

Also, the only person who reached S-rank ‘with his own strength without a constellation’.

The Green Sage, ranked 4th in Korea, who at some point stopped all external activities. Commonly known as Nahan.

[The Ruler of Chaos mutters that this person is probably Nan’s mother who they’re supposed to meet tomorrow.]

“Yeah, look at this.”

Nari pointed to the description of Nahan.

It said that after retirement, he handed over Mago to his son and is practicing with the monks at the temple.

“…Then that means Nahan knows mom.”

Nari frowned. Nowadays, it’s natural for S-ranks to know each other, but it wasn’t the case when mom was active.

The hunters at that time didn’t cooperate like now and kept each other in check, so mom didn’t often meet or build friendships with hunters either.

But to think Nahan knew her.

[The Ruler of Chaos grins, saying there must be a reason Nahan reached S-rank with his own strength without a constellation.]

“Then does that mean mom influenced Nahan to reach S-rank??”

Nari jumped up from her seat.

“Ah, this is frustrating. Tomorrow? I can’t wait!”

Nari, who recalled that Nan had said mom was a benefactor to him and his mother, thought it was certain that mom had influenced Nahan and looked out the window.

3:30 AM.

It was quite rude to go meet someone at this hour, but Nari hurriedly put on a hoodie.

The Ruler of Chaos burst into a satisfying indirect message toward Nari.

[Yes, this is our Nari’s personality! The Ruler of Chaos claps his hands!]

If Kang Ihyeon had been there, he would have tried to persuade her that this was a big rudeness and to wait until tomorrow, but unfortunately, he was not by Nari’s side now.

“How can I wait for that time? I always watch YouTube videos at 1.25x speed.”

[Trickster-exclusive basic skill :: ‘Perception Interference’ is activated!]

Nari muttered and flung open the door that said ‘Silent Retreat’.

In other words, Nari was a child who had massively failed the marshmallow experiment from a very young age.