Chapter 45 : Throwing Money, You Have Some Too (3)

“Unbelievable.”

Kang Seohan clicked his tongue as he looked at Yubin, who was apologizing.

To be honest, Kang Seohan was hostile toward the Gumiho.

Of course, he was an extremely cold and rational person, so he maintained a smile in front of her.

Since he couldn’t do anything to the Gumiho right now, he decided to make use of this time by pretending.

If it wasn’t acting, he could just pretend he had never been hostile from the start.

Sure, her made-up face was beautiful—but with his deep-rooted antagonism toward Yubin, he wasn’t particularly swayed by her looks.

He’d tried using slightly harsh words at the start of the meeting, but she responded with a faint smile like she was used to it.

‘…Was even that crying an act?’

He had tried testing the waters, thinking maybe she was a bit naive, but her unexpected reaction made Seohan pull out his notebook and cross out the “naive” label he had jotted down earlier.

“Section Chief Kang.”

“Hunter Choi.”

Just then, Choi Hanseong approached from afar.

Upon spotting him, Seohan calmly put on his sunglasses again and offered a faint smile.

“I came by because I was curious what you thought of the Gumiho.”

“…I’m still on guard… for now.”

“I see.”

Hanseong nodded.

“I think you could try viewing her in a more positive light.”

“…Well, I’ll try. Once the investigation’s finished.”

“Alright then.”

With a slight bow, Hanseong turned and left.

Seohan let out a silent sigh as he watched him go.

‘…The number one hunter, charmed by a monster.’

‘If you didn’t have such a clean record, you’d be the first one we’d detain, you fool.’

Seohan frowned as he watched Hanseong’s back for a while, then got into the car.

And of course, he didn’t forget to scold his subordinates.

“You idiots. Are you seriously part of the monitoring division and smiling like idiots at a monster?”

“S-sorry!!”

“We’re sorry…!!”

Seohan’s tone wasn’t much different from usual, but the blue aura flickering around him clearly showed how angry he was.

Thanks to that, the two agents sitting in the front seats had no choice but to tremble as they headed for the Committee’s HQ.

‘…Gumiho, what’s your goal?’

Seohan clicked his tongue again and reviewed the report from earlier.

It detailed the contents of the meeting thoroughly.

‘She says she wants to leave? Unbelievable.’

‘Didn’t she proudly say from the beginning that coexisting was only possible inside the tower?’

Thinking that, Seohan popped a piece of candy in his mouth.

“…Sigh… Can’t even smoke because of my wife.”

He let out a small chuckle.

***

“…Are they gone?”

“Yes, my lord.”

Inside the now-empty tower, I collapsed with a thud.

‘…Drained.’

I felt completely drained.

Even in my past life, I wasn’t exactly an outgoing person, so facing too many people in real life just wore me out.

Especially meetings.

My stomach churned so much I felt dizzy.

Part of it was nerves, but also just my naturally timid nature.

“Ugh… I’m so nervous I feel sick.”

“Are you unable to move?”

Death Knight asked with a concerned expression.

Well, I couldn’t actually see his face, but we’d been together long enough that I could sense it.

“…Death Knight, I think I can read your expressions now?”

“Pardon?”

I answered with a smirk at Death Knight’s slightly flustered question.

“It’s hard to read your expression.”

“…That’s true.”

“You don’t always have fire in your eyes.”

When Death Knight becomes emotionally agitated, flames appear in his eyes.

When he’s fighting, angry, anxious, or happy.

It seems like he can ignite the flames himself, but he doesn’t often do so, probably because he’s embarrassed, which makes it hard to read his expression.

“Still, I can read you now.”

“I see.”

“So? Do you think I’ve grown as a master?”

Hearing my words, Death Knight stroked his chin and nodded.

“You were excellent before, but now you are even more excellent. You are growing.”

“Right?”

I felt a little pleased, and my tail started wagging gently.

Although having nine tails might seem chaotic, they matched their movements and swayed slowly, so it wasn’t too overwhelming.

“…I should go upstairs in a little while.”

“The spirit is probably waiting for you.”

“…You’re right.”

I collapsed on the gazebo table, then quickly got up at Death Knight’s words.

Our cute spirit must be waiting for me.

“…I shouldn’t be wasting time like this.”

I quickly ran toward the upper floor.

“Thanks for the guard duty today, Death Knight!”

Of course, I didn’t forget to express my gratitude while running.

Death Knight waved his hand from behind after hearing my thanks.

“Wait a bit, Stella!”

I hope the Sword Demon is playing nicely.

***

“…Please save me…”

“Oh! You! Don’t bother the residents and just do your work!!”

Stella was surrounded by the Hwaryangdo.

The Sword Demon rushed over and chased the Hwaryangdo away.

“…Huh.”

“…Are you okay?”

“Sword Demon… sister…”

Stella, the spirit, was crying as if the world had wronged her.

But in Stella’s arms,‘…Candy, jeonbyeong, songpyeon…’

‘…Who brought the red ginseng candy? The Hwaryangdo sure have unique tastes.’

There were various gifts.

Recently, Stella had become extremely popular among the workers.

So much so that the workers were volunteering for construction just to catch a glimpse of her.

“Stella, you know that other monsters won’t harm you anymore, right?”

“You don’t have to be scared.”

The Sword Demon smiled softly and said so, but Stella just timidly cried.

“…But I’m still scared…”

Stella was also feeling wronged in her own way.

She had been abused in the demon realm all her life, so how could she suddenly get along with those monsters?

Without Yubin and the Sword Demon, she would have probably ended her own life by now, Stella thought as she hugged herself.

“When, when will the boss come?”

“I’m not sure.”

The Sword Demon, who had quietly sat beside Stella and was stroking her blue hair, said she didn’t know.

Then Stella subtly leaned into the Sword Demon.

“…I hope they come soon.”

“Try acting cute like this with the master.”

“…They’re a scary person.”

In fact, Stella didn’t have much resistance to skinship with the Sword Demon.

She actually liked it.

However, Yubin was a bit harder to approach.

From Stella’s perspective, Yubin was always cold, aloof, and beautiful.

To act cute in her arms was something she found difficult.

“…The boss is so beautiful that it’s intimidating.”

“That’s true.”

The Sword Demon nodded, understanding completely, and closed her eyes.

“Still, you know? The Master is kind, and very sensitive.”

“…She’s aloof, so it’s scary.”

“Aloof…?”

The Sword Demon paused for a moment in thought before tilting her head.

From the Sword Demon’s perspective, Yubin was far from aloof.

Of course, she does seem a bit aloof when she’s feeling down.

That is, if you take away the overwhelming sadness.

“…I don’t think she’s aloof…”

“Is that so…?”

“Yeah. She’s cute.”

The Sword Demon chuckled at her own words.

“…I don’t like how that swordsman keeps trying to hit on her, though.”

Crack!

The construction command staff’s baton that the Sword Demon had been holding snapped with a loud sound.

“…Wasn’t that made from lightning-struck wood, aged for a thousand years?”

“Yeah? It is.”

“…How did you break something that sturdy with just your bare hands?”

That was definitely not the power of an ordinary S-rank.

Let alone a lower S-rank like the Sword Demon, who was even weaker than the next higher rank, it was not something she should be able to do.

‘How many coins did the boss give to the Sword Demon to achieve that kind of power?’

Monsters are strengthened with coins.

Stella didn’t know how many top-tier coins it would take to generate that kind of strength.

As she quietly marveled,“Sworrrrrd Deeeemon, Stellaaa!!”

“Master!!”

“…Boss…”

Finally, Yubin, whom Stella had been desperately searching for, returned to the top floor.

‘…She looks especially beautiful today.’

The spirit, watching the makeup that the Sword Demon had praised, clapped her hands in her mind.

She hadn’t expected such high-quality work.

While absentmindedly watching the two,“Stella, did you wait long?”

“…N-No…”

Yubin approached Stella.

Stella instinctively shrunk back and started shaking in fear.

‘This, this isn’t good.’

Stella knew that Yubin wasn’t a bad person.

She was fully aware that if it weren’t for Yubin, she would still be suffering from harsh labor and discrimination.

She wanted to get along with her as much as possible, but her body just wouldn’t listen.

It trembled uncontrollably, as if it was telling her to run away right now.

“…Are you okay?”

Yubin, seeing her hesitate as she approached, asked with concern.

‘The boss must think I hate her.’

‘…But that’s not it!’

Stella swallowed her frustration.

To be honest, when they first met, she was annoyed by all the constant teasing, but that was in the past now.

“…Stella, don’t you want to go outside for a bit?”

“…Eh?”

Stella, trying hard to gather courage to approach Yubin, heard Yubin’s voice asking if she wanted to go outside.

It sounded almost like an offer to let her out, and Stella tilted her head in confusion.

“Y-You’re going to throw me away? I-I don’t want to! I like it here!”

“I-I want to stay with the boss and the Sword Demon! The monsters here treat me well!”

Feeling like she was on the verge of being abandoned, Stella began speaking rapidly.

Upon hearing her words, Yubin was taken aback.

“N-No, that’s not what I meant, uh…”

“…Don’t throw me away!”

Tears began to well up in Stella’s eyes.

Seeing Stella like this, Yubin burst into laughter and then gently hugged the sobbing Stella.

“I won’t throw you away, I won’t. Will you listen to me for a moment?”

“…Waaaaah…”

Stella, overwhelmed by the relief that came with those words and actions, began crying even harder.