Chapter 936

The two descendants proudly spoke to Eunho.

“Eunha, you didn’t know we were here, did you?”

If Eunho had known in advance, this situation would never have happened.

He would have mapped out his route to avoid meeting Cha Seokwon and would have had the noble guards move the two descendants into the dormitory.

Eunho's thoughts were complicated, but his expression remained unchanged.

Pretending to be casual, Eunho replied.

“Yeah, I didn’t know.”

“...Really didn’t know? Hmm, I guess you really didn’t!”

“We did it!”

Eunseoho and Euniho smiled brightly, as if they had achieved something big.

Eunho, in order to figure out their tactics, subtly encouraged them to explain what methods they had used.

Eunho didn’t even need to do much. With just a few compliments, Eunseoho and Euniho readily spilled the details.

“You know we're good at playing dead, right?”

“You’re close with the vice-class president in the other class, right? We were playing dead near him, and you came over, Eunha!”

Though they didn’t specifically come here to meet Cha Seokwon, Eunho didn’t point that out.

Instead of correcting them, Eunho smiled and listened, impressed.

Meanwhile, Eunho's mind was racing with thoughts.

‘In the end, it was just a coincidence that caused trouble. But still, to show their hand so easily... Is this alright? I wonder if it’s influenced by the honest nature of Lord To-Yeon...’

Eunho would never show his cards so easily.

He would only do so if it were someone he truly trusted, but these were classmates he’d known for less than a year.

Though he almost pointed that out and tried to give advice, Eunho swallowed the words that almost escaped his lips.

He concluded that he wasn’t even close to being their grandfather, so he had no right to give advice.

‘More importantly, right now I need to follow the night walk. Since it’s hard to shake off the situation, I have no choice but to stick with them.’

Eunho knew that when pretending to be human, his senses would be a little duller than usual, but the descendants' level of stealth was quite high.

The problem, however, was mobility.

Cha Seokwon's camouflage tarp was a stationary one, and the descendants' specialty—playing dead—couldn’t be done while moving.

So sneaking along and following Gongcheonghwon would be difficult.

At this point, it seemed best to come up with a completely new strategy.

“Well then, let’s all go for a night walk.”

“Let’s do it!”

“Teacher Gongcheonghwon must be out for a walk too. Should we go with him?”

“Of course, let’s go together!”

Eunho had abandoned the first plan of quietly following and preventing any dangerous actions. It seemed better to go together and stop Gongcheonghwon from doing anything risky.

Even though they hadn’t decided exactly what to do yet, Cha Seokwon, along with Eunseoho and Euniho, looked excited, as if they were really looking forward to the night walk.

“Are you close with Eunha? Did you make plans to meet?”

“Hmm? I think we’re close. We see each other a lot since our dorm rooms are next to each other. We didn’t make plans to meet today.”

“You didn’t make plans but are still going for a night walk together? You two are really close.”

The conversation was about Eunho, but it continued without him having a chance to join in.

There were a few things Eunho wanted to correct immediately, but he chose silence. If he nitpicked and gave a reason, it would only make the situation more complicated.

Instead, he focused on reviewing the estimated route for Gongcheonghwon’s night walk, considering the noble guard’s patrol routes.

Eunho’s careful consideration paid off, and soon he encountered Gongcheonghwon.

“Welcome, it’s a nice night. The stars are out tonight, so it’s great for walking.”

Under the dim security lights, standing straight was Gongcheonghwon.

He seemed to have been waiting in this spot, sensing Eunho and the others' presence.

After a brief greeting, Eunho asked.

“We didn’t set a meeting place beforehand, but I guess you knew I would come?”

“I figured Eunha would find me.”

“And if I hadn’t?”

“Then I suppose we wouldn’t have met.”

Although this conversation seemed inconsequential, Gongcheonghwon’s intention was clear.

It meant that if Eunho didn’t have the ability to find him, he shouldn’t bother following the walk.

This attitude was typical of the new recruit, who always carefully selected the strong and weak when choosing someone to fight alongside.

Given the number of people after the new recruit, it was a wise and prudent approach.

After surveying the group with a calm gaze, Gongcheonghwon spoke again.

“You’ve all come together. I thought Eunha would be here alone.”

“We ran into each other on the way. I thought it wouldn’t be bad to take a night walk together, so I suggested it.”

“Well then, how about you all watch my walk together?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.”

Eunseoho and Euniho nodded in agreement several times from behind Eunho.

They weren’t exactly sure what they were doing, but they just wanted to be a part of it.

Cha Seokwon, too, was watching the conversation with an excited expression, waiting to see how things unfolded.

“I’ve also asked the patrolling city guards to help just in case you didn’t come. There will be extra hands available.”

“Extra hands? I thought you were planning to go for a walk?”

“It’s just a little task to pass the time.”

As expected, Eunho had predicted that Gongcheonghwon had asked the noble guards patrolling the mountain to assist him.

It seemed that in areas where the patrols were less stringent, Gongcheonghwon would handle the tasks himself.

Eunho’s sense of what Gongcheonghwon was planning began to take shape.

“Summer nights are short. Let’s finish our walk quickly. What exactly will you be doing?”

When Eunho firmly asked, Gongcheonghwon no longer dodged the question.

“I’ll be catching bugs.”

“...Teacher? Did you just say bugs?”

“Yes.”

It was an unexpected answer, and Eunseoho asked again, unsure.

Gongcheonghwon added an explanation in a gentle tone.

“This mountain has generally unstable energy. Because of that, the bugs—well, the pests—are in poor condition. I’m planning to handle the pests affected by the energy.”

Eunho nodded in understanding.

Just as Gongcheonghwon had said, the mountain's energy was unstable, and there were indeed pests affected by the energy.

Though the distinction between beneficial and harmful insects was subjective, it was better to take care of them here since there was a nearby village and a youth retreat in progress.

As Eunho listened to the explanation, Cha Seokwon suddenly brightened upon hearing the word “pests.”

“Ah, this is perfect. Just in case, I brought a few things I was experimenting with. We can use them.”

“Seokwon, I’ve heard you’re doing several experiments. What kind of experiment are you talking about?”

“The pest control experiment!”

Cha Seokwon opened the backpack he had been carrying and placed it on the ground.

Inside the bag were mostly item cards, but there were also some non-card items.

These included experimental tools that could be used without involving abilities, as well as emergency food and water that Eunho had bought for him, and insect repellent spray.

The spray didn’t have a label; only handwritten notes were visible, indicating that Cha Seokwon had made it himself.

“The Eunghwang High dorms, being near Cheonyeok Mountain, have a huge bug problem. The student council has received a lot of complaints. So, I’ve been doing pest control experiments to address it.”

Though the bugs didn’t pose a significant threat to the students, the disgust they caused led to many dormitory residents waging battles against them.

Up until last year, Andain had taken the lead in spraying insect repellents, but now Andain was no longer in the dormitory.

As a result, the complaints about bugs had been handed over to the student council, and Cha Seokwon had been diligently working on insect control.

Cha Seokwon pulled up a hologram and spoke.

“Last year, when Andain-senpai was in the dorm, she made a record of which bug repellents were effective, including the spray types and spray amounts. Based on that, I created a few new products. We can use them to effectively deal with the pests.”

“Wow, that’s just like Andain-senpai! She really took care of everything!”

“I think it’s even better than most pest control manuals from professional companies.”

After Cha Seokwon transmitted the hologram, he handed out various kinds of the insect repellent spray.

Though the quantities were small, there was enough for everyone to take a share.

“If we mix in some ability power and spray it, it’ll be even more effective. I held back on using it in the dorm because it’s dangerous, but here it’s fine since we’re outside and we have the teacher with us. Oh, please note down the type of spray, the spray amount, and the amount of ability power. I want to record it for future research.”

Tonight’s night walk had taken an unexpected turn, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad one.

Eunseoho and Euniho, who grew up in rural areas, weren’t afraid of bugs, and Cha Seokwon was actively working on pest control experiments.

Since it wasn’t likely to be dangerous, it seemed easier to rely on them.

Gongcheonghwon gently thanked Cha Seokwon.

“Pest control spells don’t work well on bugs, so this is a big help. Thanks to you, it’ll be much easier to catch them.”

“No problem! I’m just happy to be able to document my experiments. I hope we can use them in the dorm too.”

The night walk, which had started unexpectedly, had turned into a pest control and research session.

Cha Seokwon actively sprayed the insect repellent, recording, asking questions, and observing.

Eunseoho and Euniho didn’t seem to enjoy catching bugs, but they were happy to be part of the process with Eunho, constantly wearing bright expressions.

Gongcheonghwon carefully examined the positions where the pests appeared and the amount of ability power they carried as he continued his pest control work.

Eunho participated in the pest control while checking the movement routes, making sure not to cross paths with the noble guards’ patrols as they moved forward.

“Wow, this spray doesn’t smell too harsh, but the bugs are still getting caught.”

“Right? I made sure not to make it too strong because it could cause complaints about headaches. The issue is that without ability power, the spray doesn’t work well, so it’s hard to mass-produce it...”

Cha Seokwon was excited to explain his research as he finally got the chance to showcase his experiments.

As Eunho listened to his detailed explanation, Euniho suddenly paused with the spray in hand, having spotted a spider’s web and the spider within it.

‘Most people would immediately spray the spider, but I guess he knows what he’s doing.’

Spiders were different from typical pests.

Although some types of spiders were pests, there were times when they were left alone during pest control.

After a moment of hesitation, Euniho turned to Gongcheonghwon.

“Teacher Gongcheonghwon! Should we catch the spider too?”

Gongcheonghwon, who had been spraying with his ability power, stopped and turned around.

After confirming the spider and web, he shook his head.

“Leave it be. Most spiders are beneficial insects, and this one is too.”

“Oh, are there spiders that aren’t beneficial insects?”

Euniho asked, and Gongcheonghwon answered.

“Of course. There are some spiders with deadly venom.”