Chapter 22 The Saint of the Order, Reytana

The Saint of the Order, Reytana

First, all misunderstandings were cleared, and the conversation with Park Jin-ha, who had tried to kill me, ended well.
During that process, the hospital room became a sea of tears, and the humidity seemed to have increased significantly.

In any case, it was resolved well.

So now I wanted to be alone in this hospital room.

One way or another, I was a patient and in a position to take sufficient rest.

Being huddled together like this was not particularly welcome to me.

I looked at the clock on the hospital room wall.

Seeing it was 9:30, I realized Si-eun would be at school right now.

“Si-eun, you should go to school now. Thanks for rushing over.”

I told Si-eun to go back soon.

She must have rushed here after hearing news about me.

Since there were no issues, it would be better for her to return to school.

“… Oppa… Can’t I stay?”

Si-eun asked with a worried expression.

“Why? Want to skip school?”

“No… It’s not that… I’m just worried…”

I patted Si-eun’s head.

She seemed worried about me.

Still, I comforted her and said,

“Can’t I stay with you?”

“No. You need to go to school.”

“… But…”

“Oppa, I’m fine. Go quickly.”

“… Okay…”

A brief back-and-forth continued, and Si-eun looked dejected but eventually agreed to my words.

I believed she should go to school no matter how injured I was.

But seeing her gloomy steps as she was leaving, I called Si-eun one more time.

“Si-eun, I’ll buy chicken for dinner tonight.”

“Okay…!”

And I said it with a bright smile.

Fortunately, Si-eun immediately brightened up.

Indeed, ‘Chicken God’ seems to be a miraculous being that can make even crying children smile.

Si-eun left the hospital room.

“Shouldn’t Jin-soo go too?”

I then spoke to Park Jin-soo.

Park Jin-soo also shouldn’t be here originally.

Today was quite a busy day for him.

“You had an important meeting with the Hunter Association today, right?”

“Ugh…”

I knew from the company’s work files that Park Jin-soo should have been in a meeting right now.

It was a meeting with the Hunter Association, and regardless of the meeting’s content, rejecting the association’s call without prior notice would result in significant penalties.

So when he heard this, Park Jin-soo’s expression turned slightly uncomfortable.

“But how can I leave hyung Si-woo…”

“It’s okay. I don’t want you to have work issues because of me.”

Park Jin-soo slightly rejected my suggestion after thinking for a moment, but he probably knew it wasn’t right.

I told Park Jin-soo it was okay, and he agreed.

“… Yes.”

“Oh, Jin-soo. Please put in a protection request with the Hunter Association.”

“Understood. Take care of yourself, hyung Si-woo.”

With a promise to return later, Park Jin-soo also left the hospital room.

Now that I’d sent two people away, only Park Jin-ha and I remained in the room.

“Hmm… Jin-ha, don’t you have anything urgent?”

I asked Park Jin-ha.

I hoped she would leave soon.

I was subtly trying to give her a hint.

I hoped she would notice my signal and leave the hospital room.

Unfortunately, Park Jin-ha seemed oblivious.

“Yes…! Nothing!”

A very energetic and bold response followed.

A very bright answer.

“You’re S-class. Aren’t you busy?”

“Yes. I just returned from a business trip, so the association told me to rest for a while.”

“Haha. I see.”

I knew that if there were no special tasks at the point of becoming S-class, they would be given a brief rest period.

I knew this from when I accompanied Yoo Eun-ha’s manager—the S-class promotion test was that harsh.

I wasn’t asking because I didn’t know…

I tried to give her a hint somehow, but Park Jin-ha didn’t seem to notice.

Ah, well.

“Si-woo-nim…! Si-woo-nim. If you have anything you want me to do, please tell me. I’m confident in nursing you!”

Park Jin-ha was looking at me with sparkling eyes.

She didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving.

I looked at Park Jin-ha for a moment, sighed slightly, and just accepted it.

Park Jin-ha was in a position of having done a significant wrong to me, and she probably wanted to compensate me somehow.

In a way, it was a somewhat admirable personality.

I had forgiven her, and I’m not that twisted a person, so letting her nurse me for a bit wouldn’t be bad.

“Hmm… Can you bring me that water over there?”

“Yes…!”

I first pointed to the kettle on the shelf, and Park Jin-ha immediately ran there.

Scurry.

“Here you are, Si-woo-nim.”

She filled the water and handed it to me politely with both hands.

She looked exactly like a maid if you just put her in a maid outfit.

“Haha. Thanks, Jin-ha.”

I received the water and gulped it down.

“Si-woo-nim. Can’t you… speak more casually to me?”

“Speak?”

“Yes. Please speak comfortably if possible.”

I thought about Park Jin-ha’s request for a moment.

‘Well, why not.’

There was no reason I couldn’t do this.

Although Park Jin-ha was an S-class hunter, she was essentially a 17-year-old girl.

She was the same age as my sister Si-eun, and I didn’t particularly think I needed to continue using formal speech.

In fact, using formal language with a girl my sister’s age felt uncomfortable.

“Hmm… Okay. Jin-ha…?”

“Yes…! Si-woo-nim!”

When I called her by name as she requested, Park Jin-ha immediately responded.

And she was sending very sparkling eyes to me.

‘Reminds me of a puppy.’

Looking at her somehow made me remember the dog I raised in the countryside when I was young.

Badugi, who always followed me and poured infinite affection on me.

Park Jin-ha’s current appearance was exactly like Badugi.

Of course, Park Jin-ha was absolutely not a dog…

Anyway, her appearance was quite cute and charming.

Pat pat.

I stroked Park Jin-ha’s head.

Honestly, I had been very displeased with Park Jin-ha at first.

But now, I found her somewhat likable.

Because even though she had wronged me, her attitude of acknowledging her mistake and begging for forgiveness was admirable.

She just seemed very endearing.

“…”

Perhaps because I was stroking her head, Park Jin-ha’s face, which had been bold earlier, now looked shy.

I wondered if she might dislike it, but fortunately, she didn’t seem to.

I smiled and stroked her head for a few minutes.

“Si-woo-nim… You’re so cool…”

“Thanks. I know it’s flattery, but it feels good.”

“Oh… It’s not flattery…”

After stroking her for a few minutes, Park Jin-ha stared at my face and quietly complimented me.

I chuckled at those words.

Park Jin-ha was probably trying to cheer me up by complimenting my appearance.

Of course, my looks are relatively good, so it wasn’t entirely empty praise, but it was definitely more on the side of flattery.

“P-please stop stroking now. I’m embarrassed.”

“Okay.”

Park Jin-ha quickly removed her head from my hand.

And turned slightly away so her expression wouldn’t be visible, and began fixing her messy hair.

“By the way, Si-woo-nim. Can I ask you one thing I’m curious about?”

She finally asked me a question.

“What is it?”

“What is your ability?”

“Hmm…?”

I wanted to answer her question,

But I couldn’t help but hesitate.

The question was too stimulating for me.

“Oh! If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. These things aren’t usually shared anyway…”

Fortunately, seeing my hesitant expression, Park Jin-ha waved her hand as if it was a misunderstanding.

“I was just asking because it seemed strange.”

“What was strange?”

She explained the reason for her question.

“One of my abilities is to perceive the opponent’s power. The feeling I got before and after fighting you is very different.”

“Huh? How is it different?”

“Hmm… How should I say… I felt a strange power…”

In short, Park Jin-ha seemed to have discovered something about me.

I didn’t understand what she was talking about at first, but soon realized.

‘Could it be…? Something about the crystal I received?’

I was very interested in what Park Jin-ha was saying.

I thought her story was probably related to what I saw in the burning world while I was unconscious.

I wanted to ask her about it in detail, but…

Knock knock.

That would have to wait due to an unexpected visitor.

After a brief knock, the hospital room door opened.

A blonde woman in a nun’s habit entered.

She had a sensual body and an exotic, beautiful appearance.

“Oh my. You’ve had quite an incident, Park Jin-ha.”

The blonde woman greeted us with a bright smile.

There didn’t seem to be any hostility.

“You were attacked by suspicious individuals with Sword Saint Society swords, right? I was worried, so I rushed here.”

Her expression seemed to be solely focused on worrying about us, but of course, this was just a mask.

S-class Rank 5, the Saint Reytana. Master of [The Order].

I knew what kind of person she was.

“Reytana… You’re really brazen. All of this… It was you, wasn’t it?”

Park Jin-ha seemed to know who she was too.

Park Jin-ha’s eyes gradually turned cold.

“Hoho. I came because I was worried about Jin-ha. I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Regardless, Reytana showed the most affectionate face possible to Park Jin-ha.

“Long time no see, Si-woo.”

She said this to me as well.