I must have acted overly excited to get a proper hold of my bearings back at the Garden of Terror.
For some reason, I hadn't read the atmosphere as easily as I used to. I came as a shock when I was asked, along with my guild, to exit the expedition! While that cunning trickster Lee Kiyoung riled up the group to take his side against mine, he watched from the sidelines and let them do the dirty work for him.
I could still remember that husky, untrustworthy tone of voice, along with the countless times he'd tried to hide his smile as I was in hot water. He was fortunate that I didn't have my dagger in hand at the time, or he would have been dead.
I clenched my fists tightly upon reminiscing, shaking from where I lay.
'Abominable offspring...'
Assessing the amount of magical power and profession that Lee Kiyoung possessed, I knew he was the kind of man Lindel needed to get rid of, a pest to be eradicated. He was probably the type of guy who would have been in the slums if he hadn't found a party to cling to.
It felt ridiculous seeing other people get tricked by him so easily. I knew he was thick-faced from the start, but I wasn't expecting him to be as shameless as he had acted.
He even dared to apologize to me as if I had threatened him! Though he sounded sincere, that look in his eyes suggested otherwise. He had successfully fooled everyone around us!
When I recalled his expression once more, anger began to rise from within me.
"Shit..."
As I tried to lie still, a voice came from outside my room.
"Yura, are you there?"
"I am. How's the situation looking so far?"
"Same, it's all just the same. We haven't heard anything new yet."
"Ha..."
"It's still too early to make a formal protest."
"Just long will it take for them to assess the situation?"
"Well..."
"Why the hell had we not noticed this? There seems to be some sort of agreement between the Blue Guild and the Red Mercenary Guild. What the hell are these Red Mercenaries even doing, anyway? I have a feeling they're the ones pulling the strings."
"We've only been told to stay quiet and stay wary. We thought it best not to draw too much attention to ourselves yet... Cha Hee-ra might be watching."
"What's the matter with Cha Hee-ra?"
"It seemed that the guild executives have been meeting with the Red Mercenaries."
"What do you mean? Are they saying that there is no need to understand the situation anymore? Did they not read what we have written in the report?"
"Of course they did, but..."
"And we all know we are not the perpetrators! All witnesses seem to think that we, the Black Swans, are the bad people! Do you want the people of Lindel to treat us like idiots? In fact, why are you all so scared of that whore?! She and that... That Lee Kiyoung! That son of a bitch!"
"There's nothing we can do for the moment... There are rumors that that man has become Cha Hee-ra's gigolo. There are also stories that say that they might have been lovers in the past life. Perhaps that's why the two guilds seem to have such a close-knit relationship... It's not that I don't understand where you're coming from..."
"What?"
"Anyway, it would be better to watch the situation a little more. There will definitely be a chance for payback."
