Hunters Keep Coming To My House - Chapter 140

Chapter 140

“Jung Tae-il?”

Why is he here..?

Because someone unexpected popped up, I blinked my eyes rapidly. I stared at him for a while with a dumbfounded expression, then quickly began to be cautious.

Since I had just dealt with a black dragon disguised as Ellie, it was possible that the person in front of me might be in a similar situation.

Narrowing my eyes, I carefully scrutinized Jung Tae-il.

“Hmm…”

The muscles visible through his tightly fitted clothes… that sullen expression… and the way he looked at me and let out a deep sigh…

It was unmistakably Jung Tae-il.

Not some monster or other being imitating his appearance.

Even the strange aura I felt was undoubtedly Jung Tae-il’s. It was the same kind of aura he had recently acquired, similar to Arvani’s.

Nevertheless, just to be sure, I decided to go through the final confirmation process.

“…Mr. Tae-il? Is it Mr. Tae-il?”

“Yeah, it’s Tae-il.”

“…What is it?”

“It’s just something.”

After facing his typical expression of ‘I can’t understand your nonsense,’ I became convinced.

“It’s nice to see Tae-il here. Oh, come to think of it, didn’t Tae-il and Seung-hoo work together here not long ago to stop Cha Jae-joon’s rampage? Oh, wait a minute.”

As I rambled on in joy, I suddenly remembered something.

This was the Gate where I couldn’t enter without being called.

And I hadn’t called for Jung Tae-il.

“…How did you get here?”

“…Ask your dragon.”

“Arvani? Oh, by the way, Tae-il’s eyes are blue now…?”

“So ask Arvani. I was suddenly summoned here and don’t understand anything.”

What on earth had happened between Jung Tae-il and Arvani?

Something was going on between them, but it seemed they had no intention of telling me.

Whenever there was an opportunity after Cha Jae-joon’s rampage, I tried to hold them both back and ask, but Arvani just cutely ‘Gwah!’ and avoided listening to human speech. Even when Jung Tae-il, who could speak, turned his head to look at me, he evaded answering by telling me to ask Arvani.

Feeling frustrated internally, I stopped asking for a while… but I realized I needed to sit them both down and get some answers.

As I made a determined decision internally, Jung Tae-il roughly brushed his hair back and narrowed his eyes. With a hint of irritation in his gaze, he approached me confidently.

“Is this all you need to take?”

“…This? Are you referring to Ellie?”

He looked at me with an expression that asked if something was wrong. I could sense his annoyance in that look.

‘…I’m too tired to say anything.’

If I had a bit more energy, I would have nagged Jung Tae-il a bit, but I had no energy left.

I sighed slowly, holding my waist, then nodded slightly.

“…Don’t treat her like a pack mule. Ellie is my precious friend.”

“What do you think of me?”

“Someone who treats people like objects.”

“Should I carry her?”

“No.”

I cut in sharply, afraid he might end up treating Ellie like an object.

At that, Jung Tae-il chuckled as if finding me amusing. Then he turned around and lowered himself.

Suddenly, my view was filled with his angry back muscles. Feeling embarrassed for no reason, I turned my head away, pretending not to see, when Jung Tae-il threw a word my way.

“Get on my back.”

“Oh, okay.”

I lifted Ellie by placing one of her arms over my shoulder. Thanks to my strength stats, she didn’t feel heavy at all.

…Should I take her like this? Wouldn’t it be better than leaving her with Jung Tae-il in that ridiculous outfit?

Jung Tae-il urged me as I stood still with Ellie. I quickly took out a blanket from my inventory, which I had brought along for flying purposes, and wrapped it around Ellie.

It was quite a thick blanket, so Ellie looked comfortable.

“…Okay.”

“…What?”

“Oh, nothing. Well, here… Please take Ellie. Mr. Tae-il.”

“…What’s this about?”

Jung Tae-il held Ellie firmly on his back and looked puzzled. Probably because of the feel of the blanket in his hand.

“…It looks thin on you.”

I ended up making a lame excuse out of feeling stung.

‘I didn’t care, but it was a bit hard to just let it go.’

Well, what can I do?

Fortunately, Jung Tae-il didn’t suspect anything and I took the lead in guiding us.

When we arrived home, Anna, who had arrived earlier, greeted us.

“Ellie!”

“Oh, Anna, are you feeling better? We found the house just fine.”

“It’s all thanks to Yeon-oh. I’m grateful.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Anna, could you possibly move Ellie to my room? My room is the only place where she can lie down properly.”

The guest room was occupied by Cha Jae-joon… and the basement guest room might be used by Jung Tae-il for the night, so the only available place was my room.

…Well, nothing I can do about it. The patient is more urgent.

I suddenly realized that Anna and Jung Tae-il must be meeting for the first time when Anna took Ellie from Jung Tae-il.

While I was staring blankly at Anna, she gave a light greeting and walked into my room.

Okay, Ellie will be taken care of by Anna. Then maybe I should go check on Cha Jae-joon.

I walked familiarly to the guest room where Cha Jae-joon was supposed to be. When I pushed the slightly open door and stepped inside, I shook my head in confusion.

“…Hm?”

There was no sign of the man who was supposed to be unconscious and lying peacefully in bed.

I blinked my eyes, wondering if I had seen wrong, but the fact remained the same.

I just realized that Cha Jae-joon was gone.

“Ah.”

No, where did this person go again?

I hadn’t seen Cha Jae-joon on the way, so he probably didn’t go to find the Black Ego Sword… So is he inside the house?

Or on a walk…? With that body?

No matter how much I thought about it, there was nowhere Cha Jae-joon could have gone. While I was pondering with a mind full of confusion, I heard a voice from behind.

“Oh my, Yeon-oh. Haven’t you seen Cha Jae-joon? He wasn’t here when I arrived, so I thought he might have gone wherever you were.”

It was Anna’s voice, who had come out after laying Ellie in my room.

I immediately turned to look at Anna standing at the entrance of the guest room. Upon seeing her, Anna gave a graceful smile.

Well, then…

“When Anna came here, Cha Jae-joon was already gone, right?”

“…Yes.”

“…Hah.”

I sighed while touching my forehead. Then I examined the bed once again.

Upon closer inspection, the blanket seemed a bit strange. The shape of the person covered by it had disappeared, leaving the blanket sagging, and the surrounding area was somewhat floating.

There were no signs that the person inside had woken up and moved the blanket.

In other words, Cha Jae-joon disappeared while still lying down.

It seemed like something else had happened inside the house.

After barely resolving the ‘Ellie possession incident’ so far.

…Geez, do I have to figure out and solve even this? Am I some kind of Detective X?

I reached out to the blanket for no reason, just to see if there was any warmth left.

But the bed was cold and chilled.

After doing a meaningless action, I turned around and Anna opened her eyes wide in confusion and then spoke up.

“Did you find out where Cha Jae-joon went?”

“…Not really, but I know who the culprit is.”

“…Who?”

“Well, where else would someone capable of this be?”

“…No way.”

“Yes, it’s the black dragon.”

Since there was no one else who could have moved Cha Jae-joon so easily, it was easy to guess.

But how urgent must the situation have been for the black dragon to move Cha Jae-joon to another place like this? Even if she had a hand in it, it wouldn’t be easy for Cha Jae-joon to move immediately…

Also.

‘…No alarm about someone breaking into the tent.’

The black dragon’s goal seemed to be the Ego Sword… There was no way she would have moved Cha Jae-joon to another place while leaving it here.

Yet, despite this situation, no alarm had been raised.

…Just in case, maybe I should go and check again.

I pressed my eyelids with my hand and stepped out of the guest room. Anna followed behind me, but my mind was too preoccupied with thoughts to respond.

For a moment.

“I should go check it out.”

I felt like this uneasiness would only be resolved if I confirmed whether the Black Ego Sword had disappeared or was still there.

As I was thinking this, a certain scene caught my eye.

Jung Tae-il enters the living room with Arvani in his arms.

After bringing Arvani inside, Jung Tae-il laid him down on the sofa and pressed his finger firmly against his head.

Then, surprisingly…

“Grrrr!”

Arvani opened his eyes. He grabbed Jung Tae-il’s finger pressing his head and bit it fiercely.