Chapter 71: The Lepta Hunt

Three days passed.

“So,”

Sagyeol bared his teeth openly.

“When exactly will your work be finished?”

The gravitas and imposing aura he’d exuded during their first meeting were nowhere to be found. Yeowon gazed at him, a myriad of unspoken words in his expression.

“You…”

He had been about to ask if Sagyeol wasn’t working, but the words caught in his throat the moment he saw Sagyeol’s smooth, unblemished face.

Sagyeol lay sprawled with his head on Yeowon’s thigh, looking up at him from below. His foot, dangling off the edge of the sofa, twitched idly. He resembled a cat that had eaten well and rested comfortably, yet still found something to complain about.

“What about me?”

Yeowon chose his words carefully. Lee Hyun-su was currently scrambling to seal off the area where Lepta had appeared. While preventing information leaks entirely might be impossible, Sagyeol had strictly ordered him to do everything in his power.

Yeowon checked his terminal. The number “32” blinked above the message icon, all of them texts from Dongjun. He had sent a message saying, ‘I’m fine,’ knowing Dongjun would worry, and this was the aftermath. It had been three days since he’d switched his terminal to silent mode, unable to bear its incessant buzzing.

Messages like ‘Are you really okay?’, ‘Are you being threatened?’, and ‘If so, send a carrot emoji’ poured in. Dongjun’s frantic worry was palpable, even through mere text.

Yeowon chuckled softly, then began to tap the screen very slowly. Typing out each character required an unusual degree of care.

Sagyeol’s eyes narrowed.

“Are you seriously texting right now?”

Yeowon replied with his expression. ‘Yes, I am.’

“You’re texting? You are?”

“What’s so strange about that?”

Sagyeol snarled at his nonchalant reply.

“You only sent me four messages.”

Despite his ice affinity, Sagyeol pulsed with a fiery indignation as he frantically tapped his terminal. Finding what he wanted, he thrust the screen in front of Yeowon. The man, however, showed little reaction, merely conveying a sense of ‘What’s this?’ or ‘You still have this?’.

Sagyeol was furious. ‘How dare he flirt like this! Entice someone and then—?!’

“Why are you getting angry?”

Yeowon was genuinely perplexed. He truly seemed unaware of what he had done wrong. ‘Yes, that part is rather cute.’

‘This is infuriating.’

The anger boiling up to his scalp was unavoidable. Sagyeol forced a smile, feigning innocence. He really needed to reassess his patience.

“So, which bastard— I mean, which esteemed person are you texting?”

Even Yeowon possessed a modicum of intuition. He pressed his lips together and shook his head. Sagyeol’s mouth twitched, his carefully constructed smile on the verge of shattering.

“Boss!”

Lee Hyun-su burst in. His usually bright face, seeing Sagyeol who looked ready to freeze someone to death, stiffened and instantly became subdued.

“What is it?”

“The problem has been resolved.”

“What?”

For the past few days, Lee Hyun-su had been like a spider, scurrying around as if he had eight legs.

It had been a task highly likely to fail due to multiple complications. This news was certainly worth bursting in for. Sagyeol clicked his tongue and asked again.

“What about the perimeter control?”

“It’s perfect.”

“Good.”

Sagyeol, who had been stretched out on the sofa, abruptly sat up. He rolled his neck from side to side to loosen it, then turned to Yeowon.

“First, we’ll talk about those texts later…”

*Must we really?* Sagyeol pretended not to notice Yeowon’s slight slump of dejection, then grinned.

“Let’s go. To catch a horse.”

Lbepta.

A higher species of Spenta, with the attribute of darkness.

It was a magnificent horse, its entirely black body adorned with shimmering darkness instead of a mane. Yeowon, suspended from a drone, quietly stared at Lepta, which appeared as a mere black speck. Even with his keen eyesight, it was too far to distinguish clearly, and Sagyeol wouldn’t permit him to get any closer.

Finally, he sighed and descended.

“How is it?”

“I can’t see it.”

“Really?”

Shouldn’t the response to ‘I can’t see it’ be to move a little closer? It’s not something to just end with ‘Really?’ Sagyeol, reading his unspoken thoughts, chuckled softly.

“There’s no need to see it now. You’ll be seeing it soon enough anyway.”

Having heard the rough outline of the strategy from Lee Hyun-su, Yeowon hesitated before speaking.

“…It would be better if I just went myself—”

“No.”

“Absolutely not.”

Sagyeol and Lee Hyun-su answered in unison. Lee Hyun-su’s fervor, in particular, was terrifying.

“Yeowon-nim, you might not fully grasp your own immense value. However, in my humble judgment, for the sake of conquering the corrupted area and for everything that follows, please refrain from any dangerous actions.”

Ever since Yeowon began drawing maps of the corrupted area, Lee Hyun-su had become just as overprotective as Sagyeol.

“Hyun-su does say sensible things sometimes.”

Sagyeol nodded. Lee Hyun-su, veins throbbing on his forehead, gritted his teeth and retorted, “Even if my mouth is twisted, my words are straight!”

“I have always spoken nothing but the truth. And yet you never listen to a word of it—”

“Let’s hurry. We need to deal with them before they move.”

Yeowon nodded in agreement.

Lepta, unable to abandon its migratory habits, continued to move even after crossing the gate. It seemed to be circling the gate in a wide arc. This meant that if they missed it now, there was no telling when they would find it again.

The group first established themselves at the base camp. It was a place originally shared with other guilds attacking from this direction, but today, only Credit guild members were present.

There were three S-ranks and four A-ranks. Even with capture as the primary objective, Lepta was estimated to be an A-rank, upper-tier. This was an excessive force to deal with creatures that weren’t even S-rank.

‘If the Guild Master says to do it, you do it.’

Lee Hyun-su, having given up all hope, stared into the distant corrupted area.

The S-ranks, on the other hand, immediately spotted Yeowon, their eyes gleaming, and sprinted towards him.

“Wow, hello!”

“Nice to meet you!”

They greeted him enthusiastically. Yeowon merely blinked, then offered a slight bow.

“I am Seo Yeowon.”

They didn’t leave after the introduction. Instead, they lingered around him, their eyes shining with curiosity. A flustered Yeowon faltered, stepping back. Sagyeol naturally moved to block their path. The ferocious killing intent, usually reserved for tearing apart monsters, now enveloped the S-ranks.

“Oh, dear, there’s a snack bar over there…”

“Now, where did I put my weapon?”

The two S-ranks scattered, muttering excuses. Yet, their gazes remained fixed on Yeowon. And it wasn’t just them. The A-ranks, and even the B-rank and lower staff handling odd jobs at the base camp, pretended not to stare, but were eager to glimpse the center of attention.

“Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

“I’m fine.”

He said he was fine, but his lips were pale. His expression suggested he would rather face monsters. After that, Yeowon subtly followed Sagyeol everywhere.

It was a role akin to an insect repellent, but Sagyeol didn’t care. What mattered was that Yeowon was willingly sticking close to him. Unable to conceal his inner glee, Sagyeol’s face lit up.

He then proceeded to wander widely around the base camp. The ‘muscle hamster’ following him clung even tighter to the tail of the ‘swaggering snake.’ A jaded Lee Hyun-su asked,

“…What exactly are you doing right now?”

“Are the preparations complete?”

“They were finished ages ago.”

“Good.”

Two S-ranks would remain at the base camp. One S-rank team leader and an A-rank team would go with Sagyeol to herd Lepta. Then, the waiting S-ranks would subdue it with minimal injury, and Yeowon would tame it. This was the broad outline of the operation.

Yeowon raised a hand.

“Again, it would be better if I just went myself—”

“No.”

“Absolutely not.”

As Yeowon lowered his hand weakly, two S-ranks subtly positioned themselves beside him.

“We will protect him well.”

“We’ll make sure not a single hair is harmed.”

Sagyeol warned them.

“If any ill words about you two escape Yeowon’s lips, you’re dead.”

He wasn’t just speaking idly. The chilling resolve in his eyes promised that either their hearts or their heads would be frozen solid and shattered.

“Yes, sir.”

“We won’t lay a finger on him.”

“Do well.”

Sagyeol delivered his grim warning, then turned to face the A-rank team. A woman stepped forward, blocking the path of the A-rank hunters who had been nervously watching. The massive weapon slung across her back was striking.

“I am Team Leader Yoon Hye-ri. It is an honor to accompany the Guild Master on this A-rank new species subjugation.”

In response, one of the trembling team members stepped forward and greeted him in a meek voice.

“W-we’ll do our best!”

“Just please don’t freeze us!”

It was less a greeting and more a desperate plea for mercy. Sagyeol’s eyebrow twitched. *What exactly do they think of their Guild Master?*

Lee Hyun-su replied calmly.

“No matter how wild our Guild Master might seem, he doesn’t freeze people without reason.”

*Doesn’t that imply he would freeze someone if there was a reason?*

The faces of the A-ranks, who usually wouldn’t back down anywhere, turned even paler. Realizing his blunder belatedly, Lee Hyun-su hastily added,

“If possible, don’t loiter around the Guild Master, don’t provoke him, and don’t feed him.”

‘Is this bastard insane?’ Sagyeol was so dumbfounded he couldn’t even curse, and was about to freeze Lee Hyun-su’s mouth shut.

It was at that exact moment Yeowon hesitated and asked,

“Is that all we need to be careful of?”

“……”

Sagyeol gave a sweet smile.

CRASH!

A massive pillar of ice erupted from the center of the base camp, sending people flying. Only Yeowon, whom Sagyeol had swiftly pulled into his arms, remained unharmed.

“Yeowon.”

Yeowon flinched.

“We’ll see about this when we get home.”

The hand that had been slowly caressing his waist slid lower, firmly grasping his taut buttocks. Yeowon, quite literally, froze like a hamster before a snake.

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