Hunters Keep Coming To My House - Chapter 156

Chapter 156

What kind of feeling is this exactly? 

It’s that awkward, spine-tingling, narrow-eyed sensation. 

I was fine until I took the apple out of the fridge. I was secretly bolstering my resolve, thinking, I’ll beat Allen. 

But suddenly, I felt strangely tense, as if my heart was constricting, and there was something present where I stood.

Swallowing hard, I looked around. Unlike the chaos elsewhere, the kitchen was relatively tidy. It was thanks to Allen not bringing his mana stones here. But it was still a bit messy… because while Jung Tae-il was exploring elsewhere, I had rummaged through this place.

Well, anyway.

Nothing particularly stood out. Moreover, if the mana stones were hidden here, Jung Tae-il would have surely noticed, as he had stayed here for quite some time. So, this strange and awkward feeling I was experiencing wasn’t because of the mana stones.

Then what on earth could it be?

‘Could there be something I’m missing?’

Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I ransacked my mind, but nothing came to mind except one thing.

“…Come to think of it, Allen brought up the refreshment topic out of the blue before leaving, didn’t he?”

Now that I think about it, it was indeed a strange question. At the time, I was just thinking of quickly getting Allen out of the house, so I didn’t find it odd. But now, it barely occurred to me, as I washed the apple under running water.

Placing the apple, which had been washed under running water for a while, gently on the plate beside me, I tilted my head.

“Why did he suddenly bring up that topic?”

Surely, there must be a reason.

So far, what I’ve learned from my experiences with dragons is that you shouldn’t gloss over what they say. They enjoy speaking in riddles, hiding their true intentions.

Of course… if they had the power to change the world with a single word, it might be right to speak vaguely. Because if what they said came true as they spoke, it would be a disaster.

“Hmm.”

Ugh, I don’t know! I give up for now!

It was difficult to easily discern the meaning contained within the mere act of offering refreshments to a guest. It was like an extremely difficult quiz without any hints.

I shook my head and decided to continue what I was doing.

There’s a saying. When what you’re doing is stuck and won’t resolve easily, do something else first. What wasn’t working out then might get resolved later when you think back on it.

So, I opened the drawer under the sink to peel the apple and pear. I pulled out the peeler from the knife slot on the drawer door, closed the drawer, and then opened it again to stare fixedly at the knife slot.

More precisely, at the knives stuck in the slot.

“…”

Hmm? Why does my spine feel so chilled? It felt like a cold wind passing through my spine, and the sensation of someone holding onto my lungs and not letting go.

Surely this sensation…

“…It feels like there’s some kind of dragon right in front of me.”

Even one like the Red Dragon or the Blue Dragon, who previously showed their true power without reservation.

“Why do I feel that here?”

This is my home, after all…

Dragons… I wonder if I can’t recognize Arvani’s aura.

Could it be that Allen didn’t leave?

But his aura wasn’t felt at all. Even though Allen might be concealing his power in front of me, there were slight leaks.

So, it’s really strange.

As I stared intently at the knives in the slot, I tapped them with my fingers. The sensation of choking intensified.

“…It feels like it’s not just one, but several coming out at once.”

If this much energy came out of one knife, I’d surely feel uncomfortable. But if it came from all the knives in the slot, I’d doubt the knives, not myself.

Because… I’ve never felt this way while using the knives before. And Jung Tae-il didn’t say anything.

For someone more sensitive than me not saying anything meant that this strange feeling was only felt by me.

Taking a deep breath, I took all the knives out of the drawer onto the countertop. The pressure that had been greater than when they were in the slot hit me.

For a moment, I felt weak in my legs and reflexively grabbed the plate on the countertop.

Crash!

The plate shattered with a loud noise. Simultaneously, Jung Tae-il, who was in the living room, rushed over to me.

“Seo Yeon-oh! Are you okay?”

“…Oh, I’m fine. I just felt weak in my legs for a moment…”

“Did something happen?”

“…No, nothing.”

Jung Tae-il looked at me suspiciously and started to clear away the broken pieces of the plate with his bare hands.

I couldn’t help but watch silently, even though I should’ve told him that it would automatically repair itself.

Because of the strange sensation that disappeared as soon as Jung Tae-il appeared.

Thanks to that, I could breathe properly again, but my mind wasn’t clear.

‘Does this mean that the person who placed this device was more wary of him than me?’

Because he could notice this device?

‘No, that’s not it. Probably, the one who installed this device was Allen.’

Only Allen would go to such lengths to hide something in this house.

That means…

‘…Those knives are the last remaining mana stones.’

But they were completely different from the mana stones I had found so far.

I couldn’t feel Allen’s mana at all, and I didn’t have any idea how to get rid of them.

I sat quietly until Jung Tae-il finished picking up all the broken pieces of the plate.

“…Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Um… probably. I’ll be fine.”

“Why are you in this state?”

“I’d like to know the reason too.”

Jung Tae-il tilted his head and handed me the broken pieces of the plate.

“Fix them before you get hurt by the tiny shards.”

“You picked it up knowing that?”

“I would be in trouble if you got hurt in a hurry.”

“What trouble would there be for Mr. Tae-il? It’s me who would get hurt.”

“…Arvani has been noisy all day.”

With a swift turn of his head, he added a word, as if urging me to hurry up. Only then did I let out a short laugh and used the skill, <Automatic Recovery>, on the plate.

As I looked at the neatly repaired plate, I suddenly stood up and looked at the knives lying on the countertop.

It was a sudden thought, but… it was a thought with enough possibility.

‘…What if Allen’s mana stones weren’t originally 10 separate ones?’

What if he had broken a large one into several pieces and hidden them in this house?

If he hid the small pieces but couldn’t find a suitable place to hide the largest piece, he could’ve embedded it in an object.

From one assumption, a huge hypothesis was formed.

If this wasn’t the case, well… it would leave a bitter taste, but I’d think again. There was no time limit on the quest.

It would take a long time, but eventually, I would find the answer.

With a determined expression, I took out all the mana stones I had collected from Allen and placed them on the knives. Then, I shouted the skill loudly.

“<Automatic Recovery>!”

It was a skill I had shouted thousands of times for upgrades. Yet today, my heart pounded as if it were the first time.

At that time, I kept silently praying, ‘Please, please work.’

Zap!

A brilliant golden light burst out fiercely.

It was so dazzling that I instinctively closed my eyes. I could still feel the bright light even through my eyelids.

And after a while.

“…Huh.”

The bright golden light faded, and in its place, there was a piece of jade with a radiant light.

“…Crazy bastard.”

…Crazy dragon. Allen, you crazy bastard!

Seeing the recovered sword, I couldn’t hold back my curses.

Of course, because… it was the Gold Ego Sword.

Allen had hidden… fragments of the Ego Sword in my house.

What a crazy bastard.

What on earth did he hide it here for? I wanted to grab him by the collar and demand an explanation right now.

‘Could it be to create his dominance using the Ego Sword?’

Using the Ego Sword for that?

It was truly an incomprehensible existence.

I looked up and held the Gold Ego Sword on the countertop in my hand. Then, I glanced at the stiff Jung Tae-il next to me.

“Let’s go to the living room for now. I’ll explain there.”

As soon as I said that, Tae-il nodded.

Darkness engulfed us.

And then, things happened in an instant.

The Gold Ego Sword disappeared from my hand, and…

“…Mr. Jae-joon?”

Standing there holding it like a living mannequin was Cha Jae-joon, who appeared in front of me.