[Guest Room]
Memento Mori. That organization was willing to accept any request as long as the pay was worth the work. The number of Memento Mori's members was unknown to the world, but I knew that they had five people, including their leader.
However, their numbers appeared to be larger than what the guilds and Association knew because some used Artifacts to change their faces, like what I did.
It was the organization that chased after Zaiden to stop him due to someone's request in the last part of the story in my novel.
They were by no means evil; that was why I was willing to talk to them.
Chun Dong was especially holding that book and used his real face to visit this house. That was enough to show that he had no ill intentions toward Chloe or me.
Although Memento Mori took requests for money, they still had some rules. One of them was a rule that stated that one should visit a client or member candidate while using their real faces and carrying a book of Naturom Demonto.
That showed courtesy as whenever they took a job, it always involved the death of someone. He carried the book to show that he had already brought death and wanted some peace, so one shouldn't be afraid of him.
However, it was still scary.
"First of all, let me introduce myself. I am Chun Dong from Memento Mori." Chun Dong spoke while sitting on the couch in front of me. He introduced himself casually as if he was not a part of an organization that was listed on the Association's blacklist.
Chloe sat beside me and stared at Chun Dong suspiciously. Of course, I was sitting beside Chloe while wearing my mask to hide my identity as Vincent.
She was against it when I told her I would talk with him. But, it was a good chance. Memento Mori always hid in their base, so finding or even talking to one of their members was difficult.
I didn't want to throw away such an opportunity. I assured her that nothing would happen until she eventually agreed to open the door.
"I am Rai. And she is…"
"Chloe."
Chun Dong nodded his head. "It's nice to meet you. I wanted to talk a lot with you guys, but… Because it will create some trouble if I stay here for too long, I will cut into the case." Chun Dong stared at Chloe with his slanted eyes.
"I am here to invite The He-" A voice interrupted Chun Dong when he was speaking.
"Chloe." She said with a firm tone, making Chun Dong nod his head again.
As expected, he was here to invite Chloe. The news of Chloe severing her bond with the Association has spread all over the world.
But…
'He's too fast.'
Did he come here as fast as he could after hearing the news yesterday? We just moved to this house this morning; how did he find us?
All of that didn't matter. They must've asked Darkest Secret for information about us. That guy knew almost everything, after all.
Chun Dong then repeated it after realizing his mistake.
"Excuse me. I am here to invite Chloe to join our organization, Memento Mori. Can you give me your answer now? My leader is very much interested in having you join our organization."
At Chun Dong's question, Chloe shook her head.
"No. I will join Rai's Mercenary Group."
"Hmm?" Chun Dong's eyes widened a little. He never expected that answer.
The others would've thought that the Hero would join a better guild or would act by herself. No one would expect the Hero to join something like a Mercenary Group.
"Mercenary Group, is it?" Chun Dong turned to me with an interested gaze. His mouth was hidden behind his high collar, but I saw it curled up a little bit.
"What an amusing answer. I see; if that's so, then I have nothing to worry about."
It was then that I noticed something. The real reason Memento Mori invited Chloe to their group.
"I see… So that's how it is." I smiled under my mask. My eyes were staring at Chun Dong.
"Rai?" Chloe said worriedly. I nodded my head a little at her to reassure her that nothing was wrong.
"Memento Mori's goal of inviting Chloe is to find out where she stands right now, huh? It would be troublesome for you guys if she decided to join a guild that actively hunts or hates Memento Mori, right?"
Chun Dong's shoulders dropped as his eyes turned back to normal. "That's correct. But who would have thought that she would join a Mercenary Group? Also, it seems you know about us despite being just a newly Awakened."
"It's nothing. I just have some connection with some artifact maniac."
"Oh! Then it's nothing unusual. But then, the Hero will join a Mercenary Group, huh? Maybe that's the best for all the guilds and dark guilds out there. You are truly interesting. Now I am interested in how you managed to make her join your Mercenary Group."
"It's nothing, truly. More importantly, I will say this before you misunderstand something. I have no intention of making Memento Mori into an enemy. You can convey this to Livyatan if you want to."
When I uttered that name, Chun Dong opened his eyes once again.
Memento Mori worked on a code name. They only have five members now, but they used to have seven.
Two of them died, and they had yet to find their replacements. I guess that's why they wanted to invite Chloe, to fill the empty seats.
'I think the empty seats are Lucifer and Mammon.'
Mana began to leak out of Chun Dong's body and made the atmosphere heavy. I felt like I was being pushed down, but I did my best to keep staring at him calmly.
Chloe's hand made its way to her Magic Bag, ready to take Gae Bolg out of it. I stopped her by raising my hand. She was confused, but I shook my head once again.
We wouldn't be able to win against Chun Dong if we fought. He was strong enough to defeat a member of the Six Devas from the Association with some leeway.
"How did you know that name?" He said ominously. He was clearly wary of me right now.
Livyatan was the codename of Memento Mori's leader. Although that name was often related to a female devil, the leader of Memento Mori is a man. I used the seven princes of hell as their code names because I thought it would be cool.
Right, there were no other reasons. I gave them those codenames because I thought it would be cool. It was as simple as that.
But, in this world, there was supposed to be no one who knew the leader's code names except for the members of Memento Mori themselves.
So I understand why Chun Dong became wary and tried to intimidate me right now.
"As I said, I have some connections. You can trust me not to spread that name because… I am hoping for Memento Mori's cooperation in the future."
Chun Dong was still staring at me. I guess that was not enough to convince him.
"Let's put it like this: If you need Chloe or my help, you can always ask us. She will not join Memento Mori, but she can help with the request that you take… That's if Chloe agrees with it. In other words, I want my Mercenary Group to have a friendly relationship with Memento Mori, helping each other if we need to."
"How does that relate to you knowing our leader's codename?" Asked Chun Dong suspiciously.
"I mentioned that to tell you something. I have a lot of information that no one knows. But, that information is only limited to a few things. I am not Darkest Secret, whose Talent allowed him to know almost everything in the world after all."
He stared at me for a while before finally pulling his Mana back.
The atmosphere turned back to normal, and I breathed in relief.
'Thankfully, he's still reasonable. If that guy was the one who came here, then I would have been screwed.'
"I will trust you for now. But… I warn you. If that name is spread by chance, then I will hunt you first."
"You can trust me that I will not spread that name without the permission of the person himself."
Chun Dong nodded his head and stood up.
"I will take my leave first then. You don't need to see me off, as there is an ant who has followed me since this morning."
"I see… Then have a nice day."
He then walked out of the house.
As soon as he was gone, I took off my mask and let out a long breath.
"Haa– That was exhausting…"
Chloe didn't seem to be sure of what to say as her mouth opened and closed a few times, but she finally said, "Good work?"
"Yeah, thank god we can survive that. The pressure was no joke." I grumbled as I pinched the bridge of my nose. My head was hurting from the pressure that Chun Dong had leaked out.
Although he was holding back, that was still too much for an E-Rank Awakener like me.
"Umm, can I ask something?" Asked Chloe curiously.
"Yeah?" I then lowered my hand and turned to her.
"Why did you say that?"
"Said what?"
"The one that made him angry."
"Oh, that name?"
Chloe nodded her head in response.
"That's to show my capability. Right now, he's only interested in you, not our Mercenary Group. That's why I deliberately showed him that I have something in my sleeves that's as valuable as your power as a Hero."
She didn't seem to understand as she asked again.
"Then why did you choose to say that name? Isn't there something that you can show? Like… Enhancement?"
"Nah, Chloe. That's the best move that I had. You know… that guy, Chun Dong, is someone who likes brave people. So I showed him that I have the guts to back up my confidence."
"I see?" Confused, Chloe tilted her head cutely.
I chuckled when I saw her. She didn't understand but answered as if she understood it.
"Well, you will know someday."
I stood up from the couch and stretched my body, which had turned stiff from enduring the pressure earlier.
"Ugh– Then, I will go to the underground again to enhance my items. Feel free to do anything that you want to in the meantime. Just don't forget that we will have reporters coming over in the evening."
Chloe smiled. "Then I will go to school."
"Huh? School?"
"Yes, cooking school. I like cooking."
I smiled at her answer. So she liked cooking. I was glad that she found a hobby.
"I see. Call me if you need anything."
"Sure. See you later."
"Yeah, later."
***
Chun Dong, who had just left Vincent's house, walked through an empty alleyway and suddenly stopped on his track. He put his book inside his magic bag and turned around, looking at the intersections behind him.
"Come out. You suck at hiding."
A man then appeared from an intersection in the alleyway. He was Jaro, one of the Six Devas from the Association.
"Hah! I purposely let you know of my presence."
"Or so you say. What do you need from me, Dog from the Association?"
"Hah?!" Jaro, obviously mad at being called a dog, shouted, "You want to fight, punk?"
"It will not be a fight; it will be a massacre." Mana began to leak from Chun Dong's body, which surrounded his body like an aura.
Its color was cyan, a proof of the Ice attribute Mana, the result of the composite attributes between Wind and Water. Chun Dong's specialty was Ice Magic, and he was one of the best in the field.
The objective of leaking Mana was to pressure the opponent. However, it wouldn't work if the opponent was at the same level. That was why it was usually only used to Taunt the others and show that one was ready to fight.
"You!!" Mana began to leak out of Jaro's body to counter Chun Dong's. The color of his Mana was red, which was proof of the Fire attribute Mana. "I will fucking burn you to ash!"
Chun Dong was not afraid of Jaro, even if he was one of the Six Devas. He knew that he was stronger than him.
"Try it."
Both of them were ready to fight. The atmosphere in the alleyway turned heavy. Some of the strong Awakeners who were sensitive to Mana had noticed them. But then a new presence made them stop.
Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak!
There were footsteps walking toward them. If it were a normal person's footsteps, then both of them wouldn't have stopped their fights.
They felt the Mana signature of the person that was closing in. They knew whose signature it belonged to. It belonged to someone that they didn't want to fight.
If he joined the fight, then the scale of destruction caused by the fight would be too great and the guilds would be forced to move to check what happened.
The source of those footsteps then appeared from the intersections behind Jaro. He was Smith, the Sword Saint. His presence was enough to make both of them disperse their Mana.
He calmly looked over at Jaro and Chun Dong and spoke.
"Don't make a fuss, young ones. Especially in this area, my house is just around the corner, you see?"
"Tsk!" Jaro clicked his tongue and left without saying anything more after he saw Smith. He jumped up between the buildings and landed on the roof. He looked down with a displeased frown for a while before jumping away from one building to the others.
"Young ones these days have no manners at all, don't you think so too?" Smith said to Chun Dong.
"I don't think so. Maybe you only met some crazy ones because of your reputation."
"Hahaha. That may be true. However, you have manners, no? Then, why don't you accompany me for a while?"
Chun Dong's eyes narrowed cautiously as he asked. "Why should I?"
"Hmm, because why not? Come on, accompany this old man for a while. Or, you don't want to visit this old man's house? You even visited this old man's disciple house before him."
His words managed to rouse Chun Dong's curiosity.
Smith clearly said his disciple's house. So that meant one of the two people that he visited today was Sword Saint's successor.
After thinking for a while, Chun Dong finally nodded his head.
"Alright... I will accompany you for a while, Sword Saint."
"Bahahaha, just call me Smith! I am already retired. You don't have to call me by my former title."
"Well then… Smith."
"Good. Then, let's go."