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Chapter 225: The Unique Harbour Breeze

The salty breeze of the harbour brushed against Yeon-woo’s cheeks. Through his sunglasses, Yeon-woo looked out at the seaside, his outfit a perfect representation of a traveler.

A straw hat and a light shirt, shorts with flip-flops. It was attire that shouted enjoyment!

Holding Yeon-woo’s hand was Shar, looking just as cheerful. In a delightful white dress adorned with floral patterns, she sported a straw hat purchased along the way from Dad.

Even the already cute and lovely Shar was dressed as if she popped out from a cartoon, causing the local fishermen’s children to glance back as they scampered around to try and attract customers.

As she sent off the curious children with subtle glares, Shar tugged at Yeon-woo’s hand.

“When will Mom, Tae-oh, and Dawn arrive?”

“Probably within half a day. In the meantime, can Shar play with Dad?”

“Uh-huh, since we’re out, I want to play with the kids too! Is that okay?”

“Of course! But until they come, let’s stick together, okay?”

“Okay! I’ll protect Dad with special care!”

With her chest puffed out and self-declaration, Yeon-woo couldn’t help but smile lightly at Shar. Such a cute little one.

“Alright, shall we wander around until everyone arrives?”

“Well, the basics of war start with intelligence. Good idea, Yeon-woo.”

“…I’m sleepy.”

“…Tsk.”

Hearing a voice from behind that caused Yeon-woo to click his tongue, he turned around sharply. There, with their striking yellow scales, was the dragon, Je Gal Seong-ryong, and the sleepy-looking Baek In-hwa, yawning broadly.

“You traitors! Why did you follow us?”

“They said a dragon was seen in the East Sea! How could I not go!!”

“Wow.”

Seong-ryong, unusually excited, opened his eyes wide and yelled. Normally more kind than intimidating, his fierce expression now was quite striking.

“Okay, I can understand Seong-ryong, but Baek In-hwa, why…?”

“I got permission from my sister.”

“…What on earth is Nea thinking?”

The day both Baek In-hwa and Nea went out together, it was unclear what they discussed, but Baek In-hwa approached without a care.

Even when asked about such matters later, Nea replied it was fine.

What was this? Did she plan on turning me into a polygamist? But that’s impossible. Choi Yeon-woo is an idiot who only has eyes for Nea….

“Haha, when something like this happens, it’s only natural to want to submit an outing request. Especially since Yeon-woo is going out along with the lab; they should let you go together.”

“Damn, did we make this scale too large…!”

“If you wanted to come quietly, it would’ve been better to find another way. I’ll go check out the sea where the dragon appeared; you two enjoy yourselves.”

“…Have a good trip.”

“…See you at dinner.”

With a bold declaration, Seong-ryong leaped towards the harbour. Just staring at the sea wouldn’t mean much, so he likely intended to roam around asking the sailors what was up.

As Seong-ryong waved lazily, Baek In-hwa yawned once more and turned to Yeon-woo.

“So, what are we doing now?”

“Hmm, Baek In-hwa, why don’t you go check out somewhere else?”

“I’ll follow Yeon-woo.”

“…Ah, damn it, okay, do as you please….”

To be honest, Yeon-woo found Baek In-hwa a bit uncomfortable.

Thinking seriously about the feelings conveyed, he pondered various thoughts, but discomfort couldn’t be avoided. It felt like he was doing something wrong.

‘But it would be rude to keep feeling this way….’

In truth, Baek In-hwa was quite similar to her usual self. Her words and actions became a bit clearer, and there was more contact, but it was merely a result of getting used to Yeon-woo’s usual caring gestures.

In other words, it implied that perhaps Yeon-woo’s behavior had led to this situation.

Baek In-hwa was just being a friend, acting as she always did, yet only Yeon-woo was having strange thoughts, and that felt improper in itself.

“If you show that reaction, it hurts me.”

“You don’t seem hurt at all, but I shouldn’t say something like that. Okay, let’s go. Shar, are you good with this?”

“Hehe, it’s okay! I’ll go with you, In-hwa unnie.”

“Yeah, alright. …Do you want to hold hands with me?”

After a brief moment of hesitation, Shar took hold of Baek In-hwa’s outstretched hand tightly. It was a relief that they didn’t look like parents at times like these.

*

“Can we really just give away such precious bodies?”

Christopher’s disgruntled inquiry was met with an unimpressed sigh from the masked necromancer.

Regardless of the circumstances, he always had a personality that would inform others of what they didn’t know, and Christopher patiently awaited a response.

“Do you know the first rule of a necromancer?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be the necromancer now, would I?”

“Do not handle bodies that you cannot manage.”

Ignoring Christopher’s snarky reply completely, the necromancer stated that rule. “Bodies you cannot handle,” Christopher pondered its meaning for a moment.

“…You said we need powerful bodies, right? Is there even such a thing as ‘manageable’ when it comes to corpses?”

“People often get it wrong. Necromancers think merely acquiring a strong body is enough. But that’s not the whole story. Do you understand why?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s because necromancy forcibly pulls souls from beyond the horizon of death and latches them like a collar, and the stronger the being in life, the less influenced they are by that collar.”

“Oh, so like countries?”

“Yeah, you’re the same. It would be better to use you while you’re alive; your body wouldn’t be useful even if I gave it to you.”

With the necromancer’s wearisome words, Christopher couldn’t help but smile. His emotions seemed to have returned at some point, causing the necromancer to shrink away, as if that level of reaction was pretty hurtful.

“If you deal with bodies you can’t manage, you’ll be blindsided unexpectedly. It’s a principle based on long experience.”

“Ugh, the smell of the old man.”

“…”

“Then why did you give that to your subordinate? It’s the first rule, after all.”

“Why would I need to keep a subordinate who can’t recognize such things?”

“You’re so cruel. I still wanted to fight.”

The Dragon Knight. If you think of it as a growth-type being like Choi Yeon-woo, it might just make a worthy training opponent.

In the hall adorned with countless bones, Christopher licked his lips and settled back into a wooden chair. He has some expectations for what will happen.

*

When an incident occurs, cities are sensitive enough to perceive the changes and alter their appearance accordingly. Although cities may seem like simple living areas, they are, in fact, akin to a collective organism.

Especially in districts crowded with restaurants and pubs.

Weapon shops and tool shops are bustling with people, while pubs are filled with loud revellers intoxicated even in broad daylight. One can understand the reason from a distance.

“Wow, just casting nets at the wharf, and we catch fish like crazy! Long live the dragon!!”

“Drink up~ Pour it down~!”

Rough-looking men funneled drinks around as if to say it was no big deal that their fishing activity was hindered by pirates. When even monsters flee in fear of dragons, it wouldn’t make sense for fish to just stick around peacefully.

However, that bounty came at the cost of people flocking to the weapons shop. If the fish flee ashore in fear of the dragon, naturally, the monsters would run to the harbour as well.

It wasn’t that there were many of them, and thank goodness they weren’t particularly strong. Otherwise, the area would have turned into a battlefield.

In fact, at the beach, there are still hunters occasionally seen battling merfolk.

“The sea depths are swarming with them.”

“A bit creepy, right? Isn’t it, Shar?”

“Uh-huh, I feel like I smell fish… Can we really go swimming?”

“It might be a bit dangerous, don’t you think? Anyway, since we’ve got plenty of time, let’s finish what we need to do here, then move to a safer place to have our fun.”

“!! What are you doing, Dad!? Hurry up and finish!! Is my importance more important than your work?!”

“Of course, Shar is the most important!! I’ll finish up right away, I promise.”

But life is always such that when there is enthusiasm, there are no solutions. To deal with the church members stationed in the East Sea, a ship was needed, but there were hardly any vessels docked at the wharf.

‘The type of ship is also crucial.’

We are up against pirate ships filled with ghosts. As depicted in the footage, it’s a massive galleon. Charging in with a tiny fishing boat would only lead to being trampled and sinking to the depths of the sea.

However, finding ships and sailors in this scenario is no easy feat, especially considering the situation. Hunters are naturally rewarded without even venturing out to sea, while sailors are indifferent, given that a dragon has emerged.

Many people were inquired, but during such circumstances, the consensus was that nobody would be willing to go out on a ship.

“What a predicament.”

“…Should I freeze the sea?”

“What crazy talk is that? No matter how powerful you are, you know that’s impossible, so don’t try anything reckless. Or bring Lady Gong instead.”

“…Would she come if I said I have a boyfriend?”

“Then I might just die.”

“Tsk.”

Though she answered nonchalantly, Yeon-woo’s heart raced. What kind of terrifying thing was she talking about? Was she planning to create a summer ice sculpture that would never melt in Gangneung?

“Did you give me your contact with this in mind…?”

“Who?”

“Before coming over, I asked Jung Yu-jin if there was anything she could pass to me, and she gave me her number. If we can’t find a ship, we might have to rely on her.”

Just like the Crescent Moon Order has the New Moon Knights, gods often have their own factions. The Raven Order led by the Omniscient God possesses a network called Clairvoyance. Given Gillingnir’s tendencies, it was a natural outcome.

Learning that Jung Yu-jin was part of Clairvoyance was indeed a surprise. I’d suspicions before due to her knack for collecting information, but I wouldn’t have known that part if not for Lunaria.

Her information network is probably at the level where it can compete with the open nature of martial arts and the Hawoong Union, which means we might capture a clue.

With that thought, Yeon-woo entered the phone number he had jotted down. A dry dial tone rang a few times before the click signaled the connection.

“Hello?”

(Continued in the next episode.)

 

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