Chapter 286

The main building of Eungwang High, in front of the Silver Hall.

Maeng Hyodon rode an air shuttle from the freshmen building and was dropped off in front of Silver Hall.

With a short exclamation, he slightly marveled at the sight of the hall.

Maeng Hyodon doesn’t have particular knowledge of the arts, so he could not know just how impressive and great the Silver Hall in front of him was.

He could only recognize the wide curved white roof from the Myth of Gaecheon and White Tiger’s ritual since he saw the reenactment recently in the opening ceremony of the sports exchange match.

Maeng Hyodon stared blankly at the roof of the hall and the golden pillar attached to it.

Soon, someone whom he could only assume to be Chairman Lee’s secretary spoke to him.

“Student Maeng Hyodon. I’ll be guiding you inside.”

Maeng Hyodon returned the polite greeting and gave a nervous smile as they entered.

The nervousness grew even more as they walked through the corridor covered with natural marble and stood in front of a door embossed with tigers.

The door finally opened when the secretary knocked and was given permission to come in.

“Student Hyodon. Welcome.”

The Yellow Tiger, in his appearance as Chairman Lee, stood and greeted Maeng Hyodon.

Maeng Hyodon froze for a moment, surprised to see Chairman Lee, who doesn’t seem to be well over 60 years old.

Although Tak Geosan was strong and quick despite his age, Maeng Hyodon thought that Hwangmyeong Foundation’s Chairman Lee was a few years older than Tak Geosan.

Maeng Hyodon looked up at the Yellow Tiger with nervous eyes, their small height difference being only a tad noticeable.

‘This is that crazyhead’s uncle?’

Although his classmate and the chairman who stood in front of him were the same person, Maeng Hyodon found it difficult to believe that the two were related by blood.

It’s understandable since the Yellow Tiger’s appearance as Hwang Jiho is usually a crazy-head to other people’s eyes, while his appearance as Chairman Lee was far too respectable.

Maeng Hyodon felt like he was inside a tiger’s den as he looked at Chairman Lee standing in the middle of the Silver Hall.

Maeng Hyodon, who turned absent-minded for a while, finally greeted.

“…Hello.”

“Sit.”

When Yellow Tiger commanded him to sit down, Maeng Hyodon squeaked like a machine and immediately nodded.

Maeng Hyodon sat down very carefully because all the furniture inside Chairman Lee’s office seemed to be works of art that belong in a museum.

The Yellow Tiger sat down first and poured some tea into a teacup that looked very expensive but are actually very delicate under Maeng Hyodon’s grip.

Maeng Hyodon sat timidly on one end of the sofa and politely received the tea.

The immense pressure that he felt made him want to break the window of the chairman’s office and run outside right then and there.

Maeng Hyodon forced himself to drink the tea.

As soon as the warm drink reached his tongue, Maeng Hyodon oddly felt relaxed.

‘Oh, it’s good.’

The contents of the teacup were pomegranate tea made from seasonal pomegranate grains, and the pulp of the fruit made its scent very prominent.

After realizing that the tea was incredibly delicious, Maeng Hyodon finally accepted that the Chairman of the Hwangmyeong Foundation and the crazy-head from his class really were relatives.

With that, Maeng Hyodon was finally able to act more naturally.

“Hmm.”

The Yellow Tiger had a glint in his eyes when he saw Maeng Hyodon noticeably relaxed.

After that, the Yellow Tiger and the student shared some small talk.

During a brief question-and-answer session about school life, someone knocked on the door again.

“They’re here.”

“Send them in.”

As soon as the Yellow Tiger gave permission, the giant doors opened.

When Maeng Hyodon looked at the door, he saw a familiar face and someone he’s never seen before.

One was Heukma, head of the Horse Clan.

The other was the single-eyelid man, Red Tiger.

Maeng Hyodon and the Red Tiger actually have a connection.

Red Tiger infiltrated the fight club in which Maeng Hyodon participated before, but Maeng Hyodon wasn’t aware of his presence since he hid himself during that time.

When the Red Tiger took a step backward, Heukma headed to the Yellow Tiger.

“Long time no see. What should I call you?”

“Hwangmyeong Tiger.”

“Okay. I’ll contact you through your device next time.”

The Yellow Tiger and Heukma seem to have met each other before but haven’t kept each other’s names or contact information.

Maeng Hyodon thought it was odd, but he passed it off as something normal between people of royal lineage.

After the Yellow Tiger and Heukma exchanged business cards, the two stood side by side and looked at Maeng Hyodon.

The long black hair softly rests over Heukma’s tan skin.

At first glance, her hairstyle could look somewhat distracting, but her presence was actually very powerful.

The neat three-piece suit made her look very sophisticated.

Even though she didn’t come with the White Horse unlike their first meeting, Heukma calmly spoke to Maeng Hyodon just as before.

“Hi, I’m here to return the favor.”

The Yellow Tiger and Red Tiger stood silently as they watched the scene.

* * *

Maeng Hyodon, Chairman Lee, Red Tiger, and Heukma are currently in the chairman’s office.

If Hwang Jiho hadn’t so persistently stopped me from coming to the Silver Hall, I would’ve used Jeon Muyeong’s light skill to make myself invisible and watch them silently.

Hwang Jiho said that Maeng Hyodon received a horseshoe made from otherworld ore from Heukma.

Hwang Jiho, who was relaying what was happening, suddenly shut his mouth.

“What’s wrong?”

“Do you wish to hear more?”

“Yeah.”

“Then eat.”

My playable character is talking to a potential traitor as I sit here, but Hwang Jiho’s making me finish all of the Yakbap he’s prepared.

“Eat as you listen. If you don’t want to, I won’t tell you what’s happening until later.”

Well, he’s going to tell me what happens anyway.

I don’t want to waste my time arguing with this damned old man, so I picked up my chopsticks and continued eating.

I half-heartedly forced myself to finish the Yakbap, but it was so delicious that I didn’t mind.

When I began to eat, Hwang Jiho poured himself some pomegranate tea and began to speak again.

“Every time Maeng Hyodon refuses, Heukma takes out more and more items to give as a gift. They’re not my cup of tea, but the items are actually not bad. Although, I still do not want a close relationship with Heukma since I don’t like what she stands for.”

It seems like Maeng Hyodon is showing no sign of wanting to accept anything from Heukma, but the latter is taking out more expensive items as they go on.

Maeng Hyodon would’ve accepted it without a word if Heukma had just offered him something to eat.

It seems that Heukma doesn’t know a single thing about Maeng Hyodon.

“…Hahahaha!”

Hwang Jiho suddenly began to laugh.

Perhaps something interesting happened in the chairman’s office, but if I didn’t know that, he definitely looks like someone who’s lost his mind.

“Heukma is imitating the mountain spirit in fairy tales. Perhaps she likes the story ‘The Honest Woodcutter’ and is giving unnecessary gifts to the un-greedy Maeng Hyodon. No wonder she keeps saying weird things to Maeng Hyodon since earlier. Hahaha!”

I was reminded of Maeng Hyodon’s spaced-out face.

After the black horseshoe, Heukma offered Hyodon a dream catcher made of feathers from the unicorns taken care of by the Horse Clan, and a golden coin engraved with past horseback-riding heroes.

“Heukma has changed a lot since the Demon Race started attacking others. Or maybe I’ve just gotten older. Somehow that’s so much worse.”

I was surprised by Hwang Jiho dissing himself.

“Stop her.”

“I don’t know about that. I don’t have a good enough reason to stop her. A head of a royal lineage clan says she wants to repay her benefactor, so why should I stop her? Hahaha!”

Hwang Jiho smiled stubbornly, expressing that he has no intention of stopping her.

In the end, Maeng Hyodon left the chairman’s office with a gift.

Unlike me, Hyodon doesn’t have an item window, so I guess he doesn’t have any clue about how to store those gifts.

Although he’s not as bad as Mok Wooram, he’s as much of a pushover as Saeum of April is.

I need to keep an eye on him to make sure no strange people try to rip him off of those treasures.

“…!”

“What’s wrong?”

Hwang Jiho suddenly looked serious.

The change in his expression is radical and jagged, making him look even crazier.

“Heukma stayed behind even after Maeng Hyodon left.”

“So what?”

Hwang Jiho spoke with a sunken face.

“I think she has something she wants to discuss with the Ma-jok.”

“Is it because they’re being attacked more than usual?”

“No. Not that Ma-jok.”

Hwang Jiho spoke as he gazed outside the school, looking in the direction of the Eungwang Stadium where the recent opening ceremony was held.

“Heukma looked around the Eungwang Stadium before coming here. It looks like it has something to do with Avaritia’s Priest.”

* * *

“One of the seven demon kings of the Demon Race. The priest of Avaritia of Greed. That priest has been here, hasn’t he? Is he dead? Or did you spare him?”

“The 12-point alliance has no other commitment to each other than ‘mutual inviolability’.”

Heukma nodded at Yellow Tiger’s words, clearly expressing that he doesn’t want to answer her question.

She sat deep on the mahogany sofa, putting her long hair behind her shoulder.

After a long silence, Heukma spoke again.

“I don’t have much connection to the Tiger Clan. I misspoke. Sorry, I spoke too hastily.”

“…”

“Maeng Hyodon saved some of my people, but that’s not really our connection. It’s Shinsoo. If Shinsoo had died then, the situation right now would be a lot worse.”

The Yellow Tiger narrowed his eyes in an attempt of gauging whether the other was lying or telling the truth.

“It was troublesome to fight against the Demon Race with just our strength, but it hasn’t been that difficult. But things have gotten worse already.”

“Do you remember the alliance’s meeting?”

The last meeting of the 12-point alliance was chaotic, but the main points are as follows;

‘There is a traitor within the 12-point alliance, and they are targeting the Tiger Clan and the Rabbit Clan. The Tiger Clan will deal with the traitor.’

Considering that fact, it seems that Yellow Tiger’s words mean that he doesn’t intend on helping the Horse Clan in dealing with the Demon Race.

Heukma understood it and nodded her head.

“Alright. I would be thankful to receive help from the Tiger Clan, but I understand that that is quite difficult for you to do. Instead, let me help you defeat a common enemy.”

“A common enemy?”

“The Avaritia’s Priest planted seeds in the territory of the Tiger Clan, correct? That priest also did that in my territory. I got caught up in that, and as a result, Shinsoo lost his strength.”

The Yellow Tiger stared silently at Heukma.

Heukma seems to have looked around Eungwang District before coming to Eungwang High.

If she had dealt with the seeds planted by the Avaritia’s priest before, she would’ve sensed traces of it around the Military Academy and the Eungwang Stadium if she looked around those areas.

Heukma seems to be telling the truth.

“Seeing that all the seeds are destroyed, it seems that the confrontation is already over. And seeing that there’s no Avaritia’s Priest among the Demon Race’s Eye, it seems that the priest is already dealt with. Am I right? Am I wrong?”

Heukma was completely right, but the Yellow Tiger chose his next words carefully.

He decided to ask the most intrusive thing during the flow of the conversation so far.

“Why are you asking if the demon is alive or not?”

“Well, because he’s a priest of a devil.”

Unlike the Tiger Clan, the Horse Clan seems to have a lot of information about the Demon Race.

“Even if the body and energy wave of a demon’s priest is sealed, the priest is still connected to its devil by faith, so contact between them cannot be prevented. As long as the priest is alive.”

“I know that.”

“Really?”

Heukma spoke again.

“Then do you know that the priests of the Demon Race can carry the Eye?