episode_0171

“Sca…Sca…!”

As his body shook violently, light returned to Jeong Yu-shin’s eyes.

Karin was grabbing and shaking his shoulder with a tearful look.

“S, sorry! I tried to protect you…!”

Nonsense.

The collapse of the inn was something Karin couldn’t have prevented.

And.

He was grateful that Karin was alive in this chaos.

If the inn had collapsed and Karin had been crushed to death, he would have gone crazy.

Jeong Yu-shin managed a smile.

“Karin, don’t say that. I’m relieved just knowing you’re safe.”

Looking back, it felt like what was coming had finally arrived.

When the Eldritch Wave phenomenon occurred, an earthquake struck the city.

At that time, Jeong Yu-shin, who was in the inn’s hall, clearly heard the sound of the wooden pillars collapsing.

But after the earthquake was over, he was busy cleaning the inn hall, kitchen, and warehouse, and completely forgot about it.

Darremont, who was diligently putting out the fire in the kitchen, had no way of knowing.

“Sca…!”

Karin, with tearful eyes, hugged Jeong Yu-shin again.

Jeong Yu-shin smiled, patting Karin’s back.

‘Right. I have money anyway. What worries do I have with 1000 gold coins?’

He was grateful that, although the money was precious, he had the resources to somehow handle this crisis.

* * *

“500 gold coins.”

“Huh?!!!”

Jeong Yu-shin’s mouth dropped open.

A dwarf with a shaggy beard crossed his arms and glanced at Jeong Yu-shin.

“500 gold coins, I said.”

“Are you crazy…? What are you talking about?!!! Is 500 gold coins like a dog’s name?!!!”

Jeong Yu-shin’s eyes turned bloodshot as he glared at the dwarf as if he were about to kill him.

A little while ago, after soothing Karin, he went to Boron and asked him to introduce him to a construction union member.

Boron readily agreed.

The moment the dwarf union member, introduced by Boron, finished estimating and quoted the inn restoration cost, had arrived.

Jeong Yu-shin plopped down on the ground.

“Sir, please save me just once. Where am I supposed to get 500 gold coins?”

“Who’s calling me sir?”

“Ah, please. Seriously…! Someone’s going to die!!!”

Jeong Yu-shin pleaded desperately before suddenly getting angry.

The dwarf looked at Jeong Yu-shin with a disgusted expression and was horrified.

Because the black-haired guy was slowly crawling over and grabbing his pants leg.

“Barbaroi, wh, what are you doing?! Let go of this! My pants are coming off!”

“Please!!!”

The dwarf opened his mouth with a reddened face.

“You punk!!! A huge two-story building that accommodates 20 people and holds over 300 people has been half-destroyed. All the right-side pillars supporting the second floor are broken. The central pillar is barely holding on, but it’s precarious. It’s only a matter of time, in my opinion. It all needs to be replaced. Both the first and second floors need to be completely rebuilt. And the large warehouse in the yard also needs to be rebuilt, and the well that turned into a cesspool because the sewage leaking from the damaged sewer system mixed with the groundwater needs to be restored to its original state. And you’re saying 500 gold coins is too much?”

“…”

Jeong Yu-shin became speechless.

The dwarf sighed deeply and looked at Jeong Yu-shin.

“Even as material costs and labor costs are soaring. Seriously, don’t do this. There are already hundreds of people lining up in front of our union in this labyrinth city.”

“…I’ll somehow get the payment ready. Please build it as sturdily as possible.”

“Good. That’s a capable Barbaroi. If things don’t work out, I was going to introduce you to a loan shark in the eastern district.”

“…”

“Just kidding.”

It didn’t sound like a joke at all.

Jeong Yu-shin got up from his spot and approached the inn building, placing his hand on it and sighing.

He didn’t know how to explain it to Darremont.

Still, was the fortunate thing that he still had half of the gold coins left?

At that moment.

Creak, creak, creak!!!

The inn suddenly began to shake.

Jeong Yu-shin urgently took his hand off and stepped back.

“Wh, what is it?!!!”

Rumble!!! Crash!!!

The creaking sound grew louder and louder, and the central part of the inn collapsed.

Dust spread out thickly before settling down for a moment.

And the sight that was revealed.

Two-thirds of the inn had collapsed.

The dwarf coughed and brushed the dust off his head.

“Barbaroi! Isn’t it collapsing because you carelessly touched the building?! The central pillar is completely gone. 300 gold coins extra.”

The dwarf said, brushing off the dust.

“Are you… kidding me.”

Jeong Yu-shin stared blankly at his palm, dumbfounded.

“If you don’t want to see it completely collapse, don’t go inside recklessly. It’s dangerous.”

“Shouldn’t you have told me that sooner?”

“Isn’t that common sense?”

“…”

From afar, Delia approached, looked at the almost completely collapsed inn, and then plopped down on the floor.

“No. I erased the imprint and the family heirloom…is in the inn. Ancestor. Ah.”

Delia only uttered words intermittently, as if she was going crazy.

Jeong Yu-shin entrusted the half-mad Delia to Karin to send her to the temple, and quickly ran to the monster dismantling center.

“Sir Sca!!!”

“Have you arrived?!!!”

“Come on out, everyone!!! Sir Sca has come!”

When he went to the monster dismantling center, people rushed out.

Their faces were familiar. There were Saul’s subordinates and dismantling center employees.

People surrounded Jeong Yu-shin and expressed their gratitude.

“Sir Sca! Thank you!”

Gratitude?

Jeong Yu-shin stopped walking.

“What are you thanking me for?”

“For erasing the slave seal, giving us jobs, and paying us our housing expenses and salaries in a lump sum, right?”

Jeong Yu-shin’s eyes widened as if they would pop out.

‘Did I do that?’

Suddenly, a sense of unease began to rise.

Suddenly, the story of the snub-nosed guy flashed through his mind.

‘I cut off the chains that bound you.’

Was this that story?

Jeong Yu-shin looked around at the people and managed a smile.

“I… I’m busy right now, so I have to go. I’m happy to see you working hard. Where is CEO Aldaine?”

“He’s in his office!”

“Let’s talk again sometime. Then.”

Jeong Yu-shin pushed through the crowd and entered Aldaine’s office.

“Aldaine.”

Aldaine was leisurely leaning back in his chair, stroking his red single-edged sword.

“Oh! You’ve come?”

“The new workers who came in this time were telling strange stories?”

“What story? Ah! That?”

Aldaine smiled and continued.

“I bestowed some favors on those friends with the money Saul had accumulated.”

Jeong Yu-shin’s lips twitched slightly.

“H… How much did it cost?”

“Since there are about 120 of those friends, it cost quite a bit, right? Erasing the slave seals that were magically engraved, cleaning up the place where the fight took place, and giving my subordinates their salaries. All in all, it probably cost about 300 gold coins.”

Jeong Yu-shin staggered and slumped into a chair.

Is 1000 gold coins just flying away like this?

And the debt has increased by 100 coins?

Jeong Yu-shin stared blankly at Aldaine before getting up from his seat.

“The inn collapsed and it costs 800 gold coins to rebuild it.”

Aldaine’s eyes narrowed.

“That seems too expensive?”

“It also includes the cost of rebuilding the warehouse in the yard, repairing the sewers, and restoring the well to its original state. The material costs and labor costs have risen sharply, they say.”

“…Cheer up. I know Darremont retired from being an explorer and spent a lot of money on the inn, so take it calmly.”

Aldaine didn’t seem to have any intention of coughing up money no matter what.

“…I’ll tell the construction union member to come here and get the money. Please tell him that I’ll figure out the remaining 100 gold coins somehow.”

“That’s fine. I understand.”

Jeong Yu-shin got up from his seat and left the room.

He was walking blankly and came to his senses to find himself sitting in the garden of the Great Earth Mother Temple.

He blankly stared at the fully bloomed flowers and butterflies before pinching his cheek.

‘Is this a dream?’

For misfortune to overlap and money to fly away in an instant.

As he held his dizzy head,

Karin and Mion cautiously approached and sat next to Jeong Yu-shin.

“Sir Sca, I heard everything from Karin. You can stay at the Great Earth Mother Temple until the inn is rebuilt.”

“Sca, if it doesn’t work out, I’ll talk to my mom and…”

Jeong Yu-shin shook his head.

“Priestess Mion, thank you. And Karin, wouldn’t that disqualify me as an explorer?”

“But.”

“I don’t want to go that far.”

No matter what anyone said, Darremont’s inn was his responsibility.

‘There must be a way.’

* * *

Three days had passed since the earthquake.

A rumor spread in the labyrinth city.

“Have you heard? A huge monster, never seen or heard of before, has appeared on the 10th floor of the labyrinth.”

“How big is the monster? It’s just the 10th floor, isn’t it?”

“No one knows how strong it will be. Didn’t a lot of people die during that Eldritch thing last time? So I heard that the union is forming a separate labyrinth investigation team to check this time.”

Jeong Yu-shin, who was sitting in the park eavesdropping on the conversations of the refugees, perked up.

‘This is it!’

He immediately got up from his seat and ran to the Explorer Headquarters.

There were many explorers in the headquarters, but there was no line of people waiting in front of the reception desk.

They were all just talking to each other instead of trying to enter the labyrinth because of the rumors that had spread this time.

Jeong Yu-shin approached the receptionist and handed over his silver badge.

“Can I meet with Deputy Guild Master Nelia?”

“You’re Sir Sca. Do you have a separate reservation?”

“No. But, if you tell her my name, the Deputy Guild Master will allow it.”

The receptionist pondered for a moment before getting up from her seat.

“Okay. Please wait a moment.”

Jeong Yu-shin waited with his arms crossed.

After a while.

The receptionist approached.

“Please follow me.”

Jeong Yu-shin followed the receptionist and stood in front of a door on the 4th floor.

“You can go in.”

He opened the door and went inside, where Nelia was doing paperwork at her desk.

“Sca, welcome. Please sit comfortably.”

Nelia raised her hand and pointed to the opposite side.

Jeong Yu-shin opened his mouth as soon as he sat down.

“I would like to participate in the labyrinth investigation team.”

Nelia tilted her head and put down the pen in her hand.

“Is that so? But why did you come alone?”

“I will participate in the investigation team alone.”

Jeong Yu-shin straightened his posture and spoke.

Currently, the entire party was in a complicated situation to support the investigation team.

Karin and Delia’s equipment was half-buried in the inn.

Because they couldn’t recklessly enter the inn right now, they were stuck in a situation where they couldn’t do anything.

Barion was currently too busy helping the refugees gathered in the south park to attend the party.

Nelia sighed deeply.

“You suddenly came to me and said that you would participate in the investigation team alone, what are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“My house collapsed. My colleagues’ equipment is all half-buried underneath. I don’t think I’ll be able to take it out for a while.”

“…Oh dear. I understand for now. Please wait a moment.”

Nelia rummaged through the documents, took out one of them, read it carefully, and then nodded.

“It just so happens that there is one party with an empty vanguard position in the labyrinth investigation team. Would you like to meet them?”

“Yes.”

“If you go down to the first floor and wait, the receptionist will guide you. Once you decide to join the party, please come back. I will explain the reward and the goal of this labyrinth investigation team.”

“All right.”

Jeong Yu-shin left the room and went down to the first floor, taking a seat at a table.

After waiting for a while, a woman in her 20s, wearing a baggy robe, approached.

She was an intellectual beauty with blue hair and cold eyes, wearing a long-brimmed hat and carrying a long staff.

“Barbaroi, is your name perhaps Sca Yu-shin?”

“Yes.”

The mage bowed her head.

“I’m Lena. I heard a lot about you from Bryn.”

“Bryn?”

She was the friend who helped him fight the spider monster in the forest area last time.

She was probably the daughter of Minister Lionel.

“We were classmates. I’m also affiliated with the Labyrinth Academy.”

“Aren’t you an intermediate explorer? Bryn is still a student. I don’t think the timing matches.”

“Please speak comfortably. Bryn has failed so many times that I graduated first.”

“Ah…is that so.”

“I heard that you are coming in as the vanguard. Let me introduce you to the party members first.”

Lena turned her back and said.

‘Are these new friends again?’

I hope they’re normal.

Jeong Yu-shin shook his head to shake off the nonsense.

This was not the time to be picky.

Even if it was a useless party, he was in a position to grab them by the collar and drag them along.

The eyes of the indomitable carry machine, Jeong Yu-shin, burned with determination.

‘I will definitely succeed.’