“Anything else you want to know or are curious about?”

Cheon Shin Woo looked straight into my eyes. I hesitated for a moment before deciding to ask about other things I had thought of.

“Um, I received a message from Baek Jang Mi.”

“……Baek Jang Mi?”

“Yes, Baek Jang Mi.”

I have no idea how she got my contact information though.

L.R. A guild named after La Vie en Rose, meaning “rosy life”. Rather than focusing on gate conquests, they concentrate on TV and entertainment activities. Though often criticized as a disgrace to the hunter world, they’ve proudly secured a spot among Korea’s top 4 guilds.

Baek Jang Mi, the master of that guild and Korea’s shining rank 3, contacted me.

“……”

Cheon Shin Woo nodded silently. It meant for me to continue.

“She said she wants to meet with me.”

That Baek Jang Mi said she wanted to meet me. I don’t know what she wants to talk about though. I secretly wondered if it might be an impersonator.

“No.”

“I think it would be fine?”

Cheon Shin Woo and Min Yu Shin answered simultaneously. I looked back and forth between the two. They glared at each other.

“No.”

“Isn’t Baek Jang Mi okay? Rather than vaguely hiding her identity and causing trouble, wouldn’t it be better to just meet her once?”

“No.”

“Hey, don’t just say no, explain why not. If something goes wrong and Baek Jang Mi uses Shin A for blackmail, that would be even more problematic.”

I’ve thought this before, but these people seem to have a habit of trying to decide my issues without my input.

I decided to just observe for now.

“It’s troublesome.”

“Troublesome, you say?”

“I don’t know what that old hag is thinking, but… It’s bound to be a nuisance, so why bother?”

“Huh……”

At a loss for words, Min Yu Shin looked back and forth between me and Cheon Shin Woo. It seemed he wanted me to say something since he couldn’t.

No, what am I supposed to do…

“Um, I think it might be an impersonator.”

“To boldly impersonate Baek Jang Mi and send you a message of all people, what an interesting fellow.”

“…… She sent ‘Hello, lovely spring miss. Let’s meet up, shall we?'”

“That’s definitely the old hag’s way of speaking.”

Old hag, that’s too harsh. She’s only in her 50s. Her appearance is even that of someone in her 20s.

When I gave him a subtle look, Cheon Shin Woo let out a small sigh.

“……She’s a person with at least a dozen snakes in her belly. It’s obvious what she’s thinking. She’ll propose cooperation while planning to exploit a new S-rank.”

“Oh, um……”

“If you meet her, you’re likely to get caught up in strange situations. It’s better not to encounter her from the start.”

So the conclusion is that he wants to block it in advance because I might get drawn into the world of hunters.

“Is she a dangerous person?”

“……”

“Is she a bad person?”

“……”

I asked because I hadn’t seen any particularly bad things said about Baek Jang Mi, but silence was the response. I realized a new fact about Cheon Shin Woo.

This person… he shuts his mouth when it’s disadvantageous to him…

“I understand your concerns, but if the person who sent the message is really Baek Jang Mi, wouldn’t it be better to confirm directly? If you’re that worried, you could come along?”

“……”

At my words, Cheon Shin Woo struck a pensive pose, then answered like this after 3 seconds.

“Tell her we’ll visit tomorrow.”

“……”

What kind of change of heart is that? I froze for a moment at Cheon Shin Woo’s incomprehensible train of thought.

Never mind meeting, how can he just decide the date so casually?

“No, there’s no need to contact them. Since they acted on their own first, shall we do as we please too?”

Someone listening might think he doesn’t usually do as he pleases. I decided to stop questioning Cheon Shin Woo’s actions.

So regarding Baek Jang Mi, it was decided we would visit L.R directly tomorrow.

Is that all we need to talk about now? Can I get up?

As I was needlessly watching the two of them, another question occurred to me. I decided to ask about it while I was at it.

“Um, you might laugh if I say this.”

“It’s okay, Shin A. I’ll laugh out loud for you.”

Can’t that guy just be quiet?

Ignoring Min Yu Shin, I asked.

“Silence appeared in my dream.”

At the same moment, a loud crashing sound echoed from over there.

“……And?”

The windows all shattered and the cups on the table broke. Though clearly angry, Cheon Shin Woo only uttered a single word, “And?”

Overwhelmed by his aura, I couldn’t say anything. He smiled his usual crooked smile and asked again.

“Did it, say any nonsense to you?”

“Oh. Not nonsense, but it asked me to save the world.”

This time, frost began to form on the floor. A terrified Min Yu Shin hid far away.

Min Yu Shin mouthed “I’m too fragile to handle this, so you deal with it!”

No, what am I supposed to do…

“Um.”

“……What.”

“Why are you so angry…?”

“……”

What could have made him so furious? I swallowed nervously.

“I see……”

Looking even angrier than when expressionless, he began twitching his fingers.

“I guess I’ll need to step on it once more to keep it quiet for a while.”

“……Step on it?”

“It’s fine. It won’t die just from being killed a bit.”

“No, you’re going to kill it?”

“To keep it from acting for about a month…… Killing it about 30 times should do.”

“You’re going to kill it 30 times−?”

What is he saying?

Ignoring my bewilderment, Cheon Shin Woo began muttering something in an ominous voice. By the time I heard “Burying it in the deep sea… tried that already. Next time, maybe throwing it into a volcano will make it behave.” I had jumped to my feet.

“No, I already refused anyway so there’s no need for that! There’s no point in killing the world’s 7th ranked hunter! You should calm down first…!”

“……There’s no particular need to keep it alive either.”

“Wouldn’t killing it cause problems? I know that Silence predicts all the most problematic gates worldwide in advance to prevent major damage!”

“Trash that’s only good at talking.”

“Even if it’s only good at talking, it’s still rank 7?”

“I’m stronger.”

What kind of logical leap is that? I couldn’t find any more words to refute.

There seemed to be no solution. The current Cheon Shin Woo didn’t look like he could be calmed down. He wouldn’t hate even a mortal enemy this much.

I glanced at the glass. Shattered fragments were scattered everywhere.

Should I run away before I end up like that too?

As I was watching cautiously.

“……You don’t need to worry about it.”

Cheon Shin Woo spoke in a somewhat calmer voice.

“I’ll take care of it myself.”

Raising his finger, Cheon Shin Woo looked indifferently at the broken glass pieces.

“You just……”

Without finishing his sentence, he simply made the glass fragments disappear without a trace.

Ever since the name Silence was mentioned, Cheon Shin Woo had been in a bad mood.

After awakening, I became able to directly sense people’s energy, and I stepped three paces away, intimidated by the black aura emanating from him.

The funny thing is, he still kept his word and accompanied me to L.R despite his terrible mood.

Moreover, this time he didn’t hide his identity. He boldly announced himself as Cheon Shin Woo. I still wore an item that prevents people from remembering my appearance to keep my identity hidden.

Finally, we arrived at L.R.

Befitting a guild focused on entertainment activities, everyone sparkled. Higher ranks tend to have more attractive people, but while Cheonrang had some rough-looking individuals mixed in, L.R’s people were so pretty they really looked like celebrities.

Though not comparable to Cheon Shin Woo, of course.

“Is that person……”

“Was there a meeting of the top 4 guilds scheduled today?”

“Cheonrang was famous for not attending meetings though……”

“Shh, they might hear.”

People passing by whispered among themselves upon seeing Cheon Shin Woo.

“Then who’s next to him?”

“Next to him? Is someone there?”

Some of them noticed my presence too. But most quickly lost interest.

If I could hear it all clearly, Cheon Shin Woo must be hearing it too. Yet he remained quiet, which was surprising.

Then.

“My, I heard there was a cute young lady, but you’re an even cuter little miss than I expected?”

A stunningly beautiful woman wearing sunglasses greeted us.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Baek Jang Mi of La Vie en Rose. My real name is Kim Jang Mi. Feel free to call me whatever you like?”

The person who had called for me smiled, leaving a dazzling impression.

Cheon Shin Woo frowned deeply as soon as he saw Baek Jang Mi. An unpleasant element was added to his already foul mood.

I was starting to think this person was more like a dog that barks at everyone than a ticking time bomb.

There was a reason Min Yu Shin didn’t come along and only sent me.

‘This bastard, he pawned off the leash role to me.’

Lately, Min Yu Shin kept trying to use me to control Cheon Shin Woo. Even though there’s nothing I can do.

“Looking at that shiny face, seems you’ve been gorging yourself on all the elixirs you can get your hands on.”

“Hohoho, you rascal. You haven’t mellowed out with age at all! I thought you might have calmed down a bit after finding your sister.”

“Enough, what’s your business?”

“My goodness, do we need business to meet?”

“Your business?”

“Tsk. You’re so unlovable as always.”

Baek Jang Mi, who had personally come out to greet us and escort us to L.R’s reception room, clicked her tongue.

“But are you sure? What if I reveal this cute little miss’s secret to the whole world?”

“Want the whole building to freeze over and die together?”

“I could still take off one of your arms, you know?”

“Seems you’re confident.”

“Of course, after all the years I’ve watched you.”

“How ridiculous. I don’t recall ever owing you anything.”

An incredible battle of wills ensued. Red and blue energies swirled as they tried to crush each other. Cheon Shin Woo had the upper hand overall, but Baek Jang Mi didn’t back down either.

Is this really a war of words between the 1st and 3rd ranked? I decided it was time to try and stop the two of them.

“Um, both of you should calm down first.”

“……Tsk.”

“Hehe, it seems like just yesterday you were a little brat crying about finding your sister… You’ve grown up so disgustingly.”

“Do you want to die?”