Chapter 22: Unexpected Interruption

“Wait, darling!”

The man, clearly incensed, strode directly toward me. Though I knew nothing of romantic relationships or courtship, I had certainly endured my share of quarrels in the Demon Realm. As I turned to face him, the man erupted in a furious outburst.

“Hey. Can’t you keep your eyes to yourself? What’s with the damn staring?”

“……”

A wave of nostalgia washed over me, a yearning for my blissful days as a Demon Lord before I ever met Kratus. Prior to my lordship, I had encountered countless belligerent fools who picked fights without any provocation.

However, I couldn’t simply fuse their heads with an axe blade as I would have back then. It was, admittedly, a regrettable limitation.

“What, you bastard? What exactly are you going to do about it if I look at you like that?”

When I offered no reply, the man’s expression grew even more menacing.

“Darling, are you insane? Don’t you know Hunters aren’t allowed to lay a hand on civilians?”

“You stay out of this!”

The aura emanating from the man was incredibly faint, so weak, in fact, that he was barely distinguishable from Spenta, whom I’d encountered just yesterday.

‘They said he was B-rank, didn’t they?’

Given that Baekdam’s gate limit was C-rank, it made sense that such a weak individual would act so arrogantly.

‘This Middle Realm truly seems like a pleasant place to live.’

To think a mere nobody like this could swagger around with such impunity. Students seated further away began to whisper amongst themselves.

“They said he had a nasty temper. Turns out, it’s true.”

“Quiet down. We don’t want to get dragged into this mess.”

I could hear everything clearly. While ordinary people might not, a Hunter’s hearing is exceptionally acute. Sure enough, the man’s fierce gaze snapped towards them, having evidently heard their whispers. The startled students immediately fixed their eyes on their tables, pretending not to notice.

I wanted no further commotion. Rising from my seat, I stood directly before the man, observing him involuntarily flinch backward. Concealing my contempt, I spoke slowly.

“I apologize.”

“Sorry? So-o-orry?”

The way he dragged out his words, as if he’d finally caught me in a blunder, suggested this wouldn’t end easily. In the Demon Realm, I would have simply crushed his head, but here, such an action was impossible, which only fueled my frustration.

I knew I needed to abandon my demonic habits. However, they were habits, quite literally, and proved difficult to shed. Even now, I found myself imagining shattering the temple of the man whose swollen, distorted face was thrust aggressively toward me.

“Why do something to be sorry for, you bastard?”

The man repeatedly poked my shoulder with his hand.

“Ah, darling! I told you to stop! If you keep this up, I’ll truly get angry!”

“So what if you get angry? Go ahead and get angry, you b*tch.”

The B-rank Hunter now targeted the woman instead of me. Her already pale face drained of even more color, turning stark white with fear.

“I, I was wrong. Please, just calm down…”

“Calm down, my ass. You damn b*tch.”

Smack.

The man’s hand lashed out without warning. The cafe instantly fell silent, though with a chill that differed from the previous tension.

The woman’s body reeled sideways, then collapsed to the floor, her sunglasses flying off. A dark bruise marred her eye; though clearly not a fresh injury, it was easy to deduce who the culprit was.

“Gasp.”

A sharp inhale.

From the students’ table came a collective gasp of indrawn breaths. The man’s eyes, brimming with fury, snapped toward them.

“What are you looking at, you brats! Is this a damn show?”

‘It certainly was a spectacle, wasn’t it?’

Silently, I helped the woman to her feet.

“I-I’m fine, really, so please let go!”

Her eyes were filled with palpable fear. She was clearly terrified of attracting more trouble and being hit again. Sure enough, the man kicked my shins repeatedly with his shoe. Had my body not been so resilient, it would have been quite painful.

“Ha. Well, well, a regular knight in shining armor, aren’t we? Huh? You really don’t grasp the situation, do you? No common sense at all?”

“Yes.”

The utterly unexpected reply briefly stunned the man into silence.

“I have none. No common sense at all.”

Speaking still felt awkward to me, though compared to before, it was smoother than silk itself.

This improvement was all thanks to that man. Every day, he would bring something, using it as an excuse to linger in my hospital room and chatter incessantly. While I had no particular intention of humoring him, the very nature of conversation dictated that there were moments when I simply had no choice but to respond.

The man meticulously engineered those moments.

He was a born fisherman, patiently waiting for me to enter the trap he’d set, then skillfully reeling me in. I had no choice but to flounder and stammer out the words he desired.

Surprisingly.

I didn’t dislike it.

“……”

It was a delusion to think there were no problems. They were simply too vast to be seen.

That I didn’t dislike it was, in fact, the greatest problem of all.

The strangely distorted silence finally broke. The man, belatedly regaining his senses, threw a punch.

“Isn’t this bastard crazy!”

Thwack.

My face turned to the side. Given my inherently tough body, the blow didn’t sting much. Though he was fuming with anger, he was surprisingly a coward, adjusting his strength accordingly. This was precisely the force needed to knock out an ordinary man, and I was no ordinary man.

When I stood perfectly still and straightened my head, the man flinched. I regarded him with chilling eyes. He was the kind of wretch who wouldn’t even defeat a wolf demon in the Demon Realm, but would be torn to shreds. Was there truly any reason for me to endure being hit by such a creature?

‘Should I kill him?’

My will transformed into killing intent, seeping out around me. The man’s eyes slowly widened, and his face was overcome with horror. My fingertips, curled inward, twitched with suppressed power.

Killing him would be incredibly easy. I merely needed to extend my hand, grasp his neck, and snap it. Such a pathetic, weak individual would surely perish instantly.

‘No.’

My deliberation didn’t last long. I let my hand drop and looked down. The Middle Realm was unlike the Demon Realm; harming someone here was a grave offense. I had to avoid being arrested or drawing undue attention to myself, for I had a purpose, a task I needed to fulfill.

As I withdrew my killing intent and lowered my head, the man belatedly regained his composure. His stunned face contorted into a ferocious grimace, a true fury unlike his previous bluster.

“You little ba—”

“This is utterly absurd.”

A chilling voice cut off the man’s words mid-sentence. Having spent only about a week with him, his voice was already undeniably familiar. My eyes widened slightly; even hearing it clearly, I couldn’t quite believe it, so dramatic was his appearance.

Wearing a black mask, he leaned casually against the doorway, his gaze fixed on me. The man who, during our conversations, had been filled with leisure and languor, now seemed as sharp as frost. His gaze remained stubbornly fixed on my cheek, refusing to waver.

And strangely enough,

“You were hit?”

It made me feel strangely good.

Sagyeol had been wiretapping.

The wiretap was hidden in the clothes he had bought for Yeowon.

More precisely, he had ripped the inner lining of a pocket, installed the device, and then meticulously sewn it back up. He had also embedded a GPS tracker in the sneakers; after carving out a finger-length section of the sole, he inserted a capsule-shaped GPS and resealed it. Neither device was likely to be discovered.

Considering the man’s peculiar lack of common sense, discovery was even less probable. Thinking this, Sagyeol chuckled softly to himself and listened intently.

[Slurp]

The distinct sound of someone sipping a drink through a straw filled the hotel room, transmitted clearly through the wiretap. It was clear Yeowon was enjoying it.

He suppressed the smile threatening to escape. Could a man of such mountainous stature and menacing aura truly be so endearing? Sagyeol closed his eyes, resting his chin on his hand; anyone watching might have thought he was appreciating a classical symphony.

He had installed wiretaps in the hospital as well, but they hadn’t been much different from now. No matter how long he waited, all he heard was white noise. Even listening all day, only a few words were audible, and those were merely ‘yes’ or ‘no’ exchanged for work purposes.

The words exchanged when they were alone together were surely more numerous than that.

‘That’s not so bad.’

It was then that Sagyeol’s lips curved into a swift smile.

“Sir, are you alright?”

The part-timer’s question sounded as if it were right beside him, indicating the wiretap’s close proximity. Sagyeol’s eyes snapped open, his eyebrows twitching.

His first thought was, ‘Why is she so kind? Does she have ulterior motives?’

This was immediately followed by, ‘Asking if he’s alright. Is something wrong with him?’

His body, previously sinking into the sofa, tensed. He slowly straightened his upper body.

‘For someone with such an impassive demeanor to look visibly unwell means his condition must be quite serious.’

Yeowon’s subsequent assurance that he was fine didn’t even register in Sagyeol’s ears.

The Yeowon Sagyeol knew was someone who would calmly say, “I’m fine,” even while dying. An inexplicable anxiety began to gnaw at his nerves.

Before he knew it, he was rummaging through the emergency suitcase he had brought. From it, he retrieved a compressed, cube-shaped drone. He put on his goggles and attached the ear-cuff-like controller. The familiar silicone adhered snugly to his ear and temple.

Stepping out of the hotel, Sagyeol only realized his undignified haste once he stood at the entrance.

‘What am I even doing?’

His reflection was visible in the sleek, silver sculpture adorning the entrance. He had rushed out, haphazardly dressed, and even clutching a drone in his hand.

“Ha…?”

Sagyeol let out a hollow breath, standing stock-still.