After a while, the members of Mido"s Icarus Guild arrived. I was told that in reality, they were actually Mido"s seniors at her university. Well, this wasn"t the important thing. They were all just troublemakers.
“Oppas, say h.e.l.lo. Didn"t I say it? My grandfather is the most handsome man in the world.” Mido introduced them to me. I heard my granddaughter call me "most handsome" and my mouth couldn"t help but start twitching. Cough. It felt like I was going to fly away but I shouldn"t do this. The ones in front of me were wolves.
“It is nice to meet you. I am Mido"s grandfather.” I reached out to shake their hands and the first one to grab it was Kim Hyeonu, the guild leader. I looked closely and he looked like that pretty boy I had seen on TV. I needed to strike first.
“Ugh.”
I deliberately held his hand tightly. It was sudden and I could see Kim Hyeonu frowning slightly. I wanted to use a bit more force and grip his hand strong enough to break the bones, but I couldn"t do that without Mido noticing. Thus, I could only do this for now.
“I-It is nice to meet you.”
“Yes.”
The next person who reached out his hand was a familiar person. We were tangled up in a bad relations.h.i.+p. The other day, there was a b.l.o.o.d.y fight in the hot springs. I couldn"t help increasing my strength when I thought of that time. He was definitely in charge of the attempt to sneak a peek at Mido. He was the most hateful one by my standards.
“......!”
Park Taehyeon raised his eyebrows like he was quite surprised. Soon enough, he gripped my hand tightly like he wouldn"t lose. Huhu, look at this guy. I inserted more strength into my hand. We looked at each other and smiled like nothing had happened. On the contrary, our hands were gripping each other so tightly it seemed like they would burst.
“Um, this young friend has a good grasp.”
“Haha, I exercised a lot when I was young. Now I have a fighter cla.s.s. Grandfather, you are also very powerful...”
“I"m a chef. It is a production cla.s.s.”
“I-I see...”
There was a subtle war of nerves going on between me and Park Taehyeon. He looked a bit surprised. I had unusually high strength for a production cla.s.s. I wasn"t pushed in a battle of strength against someone with a combat related cla.s.s. Well, if I used Rising Sun then his wrist would"ve been broken. This hateful guy.
“...In any case, it is nice to meet you.”
“...Yes, I"m also pleased to meet you.”
Finally, we let go at the same time. I was smiling, but he had already died 100 times in my head.
Then Eun Jeonghyeok reached out to me. The white bow hanging from his back was impressive. Well, he saved Mido the other day and died in her stead. Once I remembered that time, I couldn"t help becoming fond of him. I shook Eun Jeonghyeok"s hand and patted him on the shoulder. It was a soft tone that was different from before. This time, I didn"t use any strength and told him, “Thank you.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Nothing. Thank you for coming. Huhu.”
I finished greeting all of them and led them to the campfire. The three of them greeted the group and picked up the jewel meat one by one. I didn"t want to give it to them but Mido handed it to them. I really wanted to poison them but I didn"t have any poison right now. I also thought it was better to avoid killing them with food after the Cha Jincheol poisoning incident. There was a high risk that I would be discovered by Mido if I wasn"t careful.
Kim Hyeonu took a bite and admired it. “Wow, it"s really delicious.”
“Right? This is my grandfather. Isn"t he always amazing? Have you heard of Wolunjeong? He used to be the best chef there.”
“Hum hum. Why would you bring that up?” I was embarra.s.sed. My ears couldn"t help turning red when my past was brought up.
“Oh, I"ve eaten there before. Really?”
“Ah, it is a famous place.”
“Baroque... I want to go.”
The first ones to react were the Mukjeba Brothers. Next were those stubborn troublemakers.
“Sure enough, I thought the taste was unusual.”
“Delicious, delicious. Um, the spices are great. Yum yum yum.”
“Mido has a great grandfather.”
I was continuing to cook the meat when Mido suddenly clapped. “Ah, that"s right! Grandfather, did you ask Dark Wolf for a favor?”
I wondered what she was thinking about. Then I remembered the other day. I nodded casually. “Yes, I asked him for a favor.”
“Aha, the Oppas told me. I just don"t know why you asked him.”
Mido glanced at those troublemakers and I also looked at them. The moment my eyes met Kim Hyeonu and Park Taehyeon, they quickly lowered their shoulders and focused on tearing at the meat. Maybe they felt something stabbing them. Eun Jeonghyeok was calmly repairing his bow like nothing had happened.
Then Mido opened her mouth, “Right, Oppas, I think I"ll be busy for a while. I have decided to learn swordsmans.h.i.+p.”
“Swordsmans.h.i.+p?”
“Why all of a sudden? How can we hunt without you?”
“Who are you learning from?”
Mido"s gaze s.h.i.+fted toward Park Muyeol. The three men followed her gaze. They probably knew him. Mido would"ve explained it to them. In any case, the important thing was that Mido had become his disciple.
“Are you dissatisfied that I will teach her?” Park Muyeol made eye contact with them with a sullen expression. It was the first time I saw my friend"s nasty expression in ages. My friend looked really scary. It was like facing a giant bear who had grown up with the energy of Mt Baekdu. His sharp eyes gave off a sinister air.
“No, that can"t be. Haha.”
“Cough. N-Not at all.”
“M-Me too.”
The three men stammered like they were terrified. Just then, a good idea flashed through my head. I instantly sent a whisper to Park Muyeol.
-Jackson: My friend.
-Park Muyeol: What is it? You"re right next to me.
-Jackson: It"s important.
-Park Muyeol: What are you talking about?
-Jackson: Give them some trouble.
-Park Muyeol: What? What is this bulls.h.i.+t you"re saying again?
I briefly gave Park Muyeol a short explanation on why he should pick a fight with them. Many words weren"t necessary. It was enough to say that they tried to sneak a peek at Mido while she was bathing.
-Park Muyeol: Foolish guys. I understand.
“You seem to be dissatisfied with me. Stand up. In particular, the two of you over there.”
At this age, other children often felt like your own sons or daughters. Park Muyeol was probably feeling the same feeling I was feeling right now—anger.
Park Muyeol was talking to Kim Hyeonu and Park Taehyeon. Eun Jeonghyeok died saving Mido so I intentionally didn"t mention him. In fact, he wasn"t even at the hot springs during that incident.
“Huh? We had no complaints...”
“That"s right, we really have nothing...”
Park Muyeol glared at them and they hesitantly stood up. Mido asked with a worried expression, “I-Is it really okay? It will hurt.”
“Well, I"m also worried.”
“Hyeonu oppa and Taehyeon oppa might look like this, but they are actually Korean rankers.”
Mido and I were probably worried about different people. I didn"t care about Muyeol. He had the protection of a Hera level constellation. That person"s Stick"s Protection had so much power. It was these two guys that I had to worry about. No, I wasn"t worried.
Park Muyeol opened his mouth, “No, the two of you come at me together.”
“Huh? Even though...”
“Come at me.”
Park Muyeol interrupted Kim Hyeonu"s words and raised his wooden sword. A tremendous wave of power spread out as he used Stick"s Protection. The pressure was so great that the burning bonfire shook like it was going out. The others ate the jewel meat and watched like it was an interesting spectacle.
“I will vote for the old man.”
"Me too.”
“Baroque... likewise.”
These were the Mukjeba Brothers.
“I"ll bet the hairs on my legs on the old man"s victory.”
“I"ll bet the small amount of sideburns left.”
These were the bald brothers.
“My grandfather can"t lose.” Park Seongchan also voted for Park Muyeol.
Mido was bewildered.
I watched them without saying anything. Park Taehyeon felt something unusual and was the first to attack Park Muyeol.
“Ah, I don"t know. Don"t blame me if you get hurt!” He twisted magic power around his right hand. I didn"t know this skill but it exuded a strong air. Soon, his fists smashed toward Park Muyeol and there was a huge magic storm.
“...Pretty good.” Park Muyeol inserted power into his wooden sword and struck at the storm. Dirt flew in all directions, creating dust that obscured the view. The dust soon cleared away and it was Park Muyeol"s appearance who was revealed. As expected, my expectations were correct.
“Amaaaaaaaazing.” Mido"s mouth dropped open. The power of a Hera level constellation dwelled in Park Muyeol and there were few people who could beat him. My head came to this conclusion as I imagined a power equivalent to Hera meeting his swordsmans.h.i.+p. He would be invincible.
“This is unbelievable.”
“I"ve used half my magic power...?”
“It"s my turn.” Park Muyeol stated before penetrating into Park Taehyeon"s reach. There was a ma.s.sive series of attacks that caused the wind to roar. Park Taehyeon managed to dodge several times but eventually, he couldn"t keep up with the speed of the wooden sword"s attacks.
In the end, Park Taehyeon quickly fell to his knees. “...C-Crazy. Does this make sense?”
It was enough. They weren"t dead because I told Muyeol to hit them until they were about to die. I walked toward Park Taehyeon. “Now, eat the cooked jewel meat. It is to restore your health.”
“Huh? Ah, no... Oof!”
“You don"t expect me to discard the jewel meat, do you? I will support you. Fight hard.” I forcibly pushed the jewel meat into his mouth.
Park Taehyeon cried and spat out the jewel mammoth meat. He would probably be beaten again once his health was restored. This was what I was aiming for. This guy needed to be hit for a bit.
I looked devilish as I backed off using the moonwalk. “Fighting.”
That evening, they were almost killed more than 50 times and repeatedly survived.