I Don’t Want This Reincarnation
chapter-174

After completing all preparations, the clear team entered the inside through the gate entrance, led by Lee Joo-ha. A wide meadow spread out with a cold wind blowing and a huge fortress wall was visible in front.

Beyond the wall, buildings built along the mountain were visible. The inside, which seemed to have brought a whole city from the Middle Ages, was quite spacious even from a distance, and it was difficult to break through because many buildings were densely packed.

“The gate exit is most likely over there.”

Looking at it, Lee Joo-ha muttered.

No one knew what monsters would come out and how much, or where the exit, the only way out of the gate would be. So, the newly created gate exploration couldn’t relax even for a moment.

Cheon Sa-yeon, holding an S-class sword taken out of his inventory, looked around with an expressionless face.

Fortunately, it was an open place right now, so he could see it right away no matter what approached them.

‘It’s not good…’

Monsters didn’t matter. It was natural for monsters to appear at the gate. There were Lee Joo-ha and Ha Tae-heon anyway, so there shouldn’t be any big problems with monsters.

It wasn’t about the monsters that he was worried about…

“Let’s move for now.”

After confirming that all the team members had entered inside, Lee Joo-ha took the lead and walked towards the city. Following her, Cheon Sa-yeon looked at Ha Tae-heon’s back.

When he didn’t take his eyes off as he crossed the meadow to reach the gate, Ha Tae-heon, who was walking quietly, eventually couldn’t stand it and turned his head to ask first.

“…what is it?”

Although it was clear what Ha Tae-heon was doing, Cheon Sa-yeon shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t know.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t look at me if you don’t have a business.”

“Me? When? That’s too much self-consciousness, Ha Tae-heon.”

“……”

Blood vessels protrude from Ha Tae-heon’s smooth forehead. Cheon Sa-yeon, who was happily staring at Ha Tae-heon, who was staring at him with a distorted forehead, lowered his voice and opened his mouth.

“If I told you anyway, wouldn’t you not believe me?”

“Ridiculous.”

Noticing that no one was listening, Ha Tae-heon also threw away his respectful words.

“I don’t understand the need for my trust.”

“There’s nothing wrong with having people’s trust, isn’t it?”

“Ha…”

Ha Tae-heon, who took a deep breath, spoke as if arguing without hiding his tired look.

“What the hell are you up to?”

“Well.”

“If you keep acting like this even after entering the gate, there’s no next time.”

The reason he accepted this proposal in the first place was because of Han Yi-gyeol. While staying with him, he learned that pushing the opponent out of nowhere wasn’t the right answer, so he decided to watch Cheon Sa-yeon as well.

…but less than a day later, he began to regret that choice. Even though Han Yi-gyeol and Cheon Sa-yeon were different in the first place, it wasn’t too different. He felt sorry for Lee Joo-ha, who believed and followed his hasty decision.

In spite of Ha Tae-heon’s atmosphere, which became more ugly as time passed, Cheon Sa-yeon still smiled leisurely.

“Then never mind. I have to answer honestly in order to keep the credibility of our great Roheon Deputy Master.”

Ha Tae-heon raised one eyebrow as if he had to try something.

“I’m not the one who’s working on things.”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who knocked the ground twice with the tip of his white sword, continued with a cold, subdued voice.

“Ha Tae-heon, I sincerely advise you. Don’t move away from me.”

“What?”

“Because I don’t even know what will happen here in the future.”

It wasn’t meant as a joke. Just as Ha Tae-heon was about to urge him to explain properly, an urgent call came from behind.

“It’s monsters!”

“Monsters appeared at 7 o’clock!”

They were guild members who went to check out. Feeling the flow of conversation cut off, Ha Tae-heon clicked his tongue and ran without hesitation.

“Close team come forward and long distance team escort non-combat team from behind. Prepare for battle!”

“Ready for battle!”

The guild members moved in unison as ordered by Lee Joo-ha, who suddenly pulled out a gun. Dozens of grey-skinned creatures appeared with quick movements between the stone walls and buildings that had collapsed and looked like ruins.

Kyaaaak!

Kiaak, kaak!

The monster had a skinny face and its large eyes had sharp pupils like a snake. They crawled along the outer walls of buildings like spiders with their overly long arms and legs and they looked very similar to the goblin race.

Kkeureuk!

Lee Joo-ha accurately shot the centre of the forehead of a distant monster with a gun. The monster’s head, which was rushing, exploded and fell to the floor at the sound of a gunshot.

“Master.”

But the numbers were too many. Originally, the goblin race flocked in huge numbers as it was weak. Even if Lee Joo-ha checked it with a gun, the streets started to narrow in an instant as more they flocked.

“I’ll take care of it.”

Blocking in front of Lee Joo-ha, who had long distance ability, Ha Tae-heon held the black sword he made with his ability. Lee Joo-ha, who lightly dodged the arrow shot by the monster, nodded her head.

“Take care.”

After throwing the last word, Lee Joo-ha moved to the place where the long-distance team was. Cheon Sa-yeon, who strode out with a light step, filled Ha Tae-heon’s side instead.

“We will talk again after this fight is over.”

Ha Tae-heon, conscious of the close team standing nearby, used respectful words again. Cheon Sa-yeon curved the corners of his eyes and held the sword in his palm.

Ha Tae-heon’s behaviour of speaking informally kept reminding him of someone. Maybe that’s why, without realizing it, Cheon Sa-yeon accidentally cut his palm deeper.

No matter how much he looked at it, too much blood was spilled against the dwarfs who could have been A-grade. Ha Tae-heon noticed that too, so he looked uneasy.

“Haha…”

Cheon Sa-yeon looked down at the blood-soaked blade for a moment while shedding a dejected laugh, then swung it loudly.

* * *

“A-grade, 34.5%. There is nothing else about it.”

At the report of the measuring ability, Lee Joo-ha exhaled a breath of relief and nodded her head.

The newly appeared monster was A-grade, as expected by Cheon Sa-yeon. There were quite a few crowds, but other than that, they were weak enough to be trivial. They melt away by the long-distance team’s wide-area attack and the process was quickly over.

After one fight was over, the 20 healers who stood back started their activities. Since there were so many people, they were able to look after each person in detail.

“Excuse me. Are you hurt anywhere?”

Someone approached Ha Tae-heon, who was sitting with a sword across his chest. Ha Tae-heon, who was going to ask someone to look after others since he was fine, stopped when he saw the healer’s face.

“There is a service that fills you with energy.”

It was Min Ah-rin who was talking playfully with a soft smile. Ha Tae-heon, who hadn’t expected that she would come first, quietly stretched out one of his arms. His arm was intact with no injuries.

The quick-witted Min Ah-rin sat across from him and held his arm, pretending to treat him, she asked quietly.

“Is Yi-gyeol-ssi okay?”

“……”

It was a voice that was unwavering to pretend not to know. Ha Tae-heon, who looked at Min Ah-rin for a while, asked a question instead of an answer.

“How did you know?”

“Umm, actually, I was still unsure until today.”

Min Ah-rin, who looked down at his arm without making eye contact with Ha Tae-heon, swept her flowing hair behind her ear.

“It’s because Yi-gyeol-ssi, whom I have seen, is never the type of person to forcefully leave alone. He’s quick to judge situations and has the ability to use his surroundings appropriately, so I expected him get a help from someone.”

“Is that someone you mean me?”

“I wasn’t sure. But as you know Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon, there aren’t many people Yi-gyeol-ssi knows. They’re not from our guild, so they must be from other guilds…”

Min Ah-rin, who was explaining in detail, didn’t show any emotion.

‘I thought she was very close with Han Yi-gyeol.’

So, he once thought for a moment that the relationship between Han Yi-gyeol and this healer was more than just a friend.

But looking at it now, wasn’t it too desolate to be a friend? It seemed that she was interested enough to guess about Han Yi-gyeol this and that, but this was a level of prediction if she followed him curiously and wits.

While Ha Tae-heon raised his vigilance toward Min Ah-rin a little more, Min Ah-rin didn’t stop talking to him and continued.

“I’ve hinted that to Cha Soo-yeon-ssi and Master Hong Si-ah, but I haven’t been able to get any useful answers. Then all that is left is Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon.”

“……”

“I heard that you went on vacation a while ago. No one knows where you’ve been.”

“I don’t know. I’m sorry, but I have nothing to say.”

“Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon.”

Ha Tae-heon involuntarily frowned at the force that grabbed his arm. Of course, it didn’t hurt or anything, but Ha Tae-heon’s black eyes fell coldly in a completely different atmosphere from the previous one.

“There’s only one thing I want to know.”

Min Ah-rin’s face suddenly lost her smile.

“Is Yi-gyeol-ssi safe and sound?”

“Healer Min Ah-rin.”

“Could you please tell me about that?”

The cold voice was as determined as her eyes. Ha Tae-heon sighed after looking at Min Ah-rin’s hand, which was holding his arm so tightly that the blood had gone and looked white.

“…he was doing well.”

“Are you sure?”

At the answer that came after hesitation, there was a little relief in Min Ah-rin’s firm expression.

“It wasn’t bad, at least when he was with me. It’s been two weeks since I haven’t seen him either, so I don’t know how he is now.”

“Any chance of coming back?”

“I can’t answer any more than this.”

Min Ah-rin hesitated at his cold refusal, then bit her lip and let go of his arm she was holding.

“I see. Thanks.”

“Nothing.”

Ha Tae-heon, who was watching Min Ah-rin, who got up from her seat first, spoke with doubt.

“Why are you asking me, not Master Cheon Sa-yeon?”

“Of course, it’s because you seem to know more than our master.”

Min Ah-rin, who simply replied as if she was asked everything, smiled brightly.

“Besides, Master doesn’t respond at such weak threats.”

“……”

Then what am I?

Leaving behind Ha Tae-heon, who was dumbfounded, Min Ah-rin left leisurely. Suddenly, he rubbed his brow at the rush of fatigue from her and Do Ha-seok sneaked up to him as if he was waiting.

“What is it? It looked very serious.”

“It’s nothing.”

“I was going to say hi, but the atmosphere was so bad that I just looked around.”

“Greet her alone.”

“Yes?”

Since they had already had all the necessary conversations, there was no reason to intervene next to Do Ha-seok. Ha Tae-heon stood up with uninterested look

“Well, it doesn’t matter… what’s really going on?”

“Nothing.”

Ha Tae-heon, who answered quietly, walked away, leaving Do Ha-seok behind.