Chapter 1555. A New Normal (10)
‘Damn... this bastard is seriously irritating.’
It was far too long to be called a simple interview. It seemed he hadn’t even sat down with an ordinary reporter. Instead, he gathered the Republic’s leading intellectuals and conducted the interview in the form of a discussion. He went on at length about the state of the Republic and the continent.
He acknowledged that both the citizens of the Democratic Country and the Republic desired peace, but he argued that the two nations had already established a relationship different from the past. In other words, there was no need to reaffirm their friendliness through something like a peace treaty.
‘A pointless contract written on paper has no meaning, and any special organization or institution created through such an agreement would be unnecessary?’
It even looked like he had a rough grasp of what I was planning. He had already figured out the idea of creating a peace zone at the border, declaring a jointly-operated free city between the Republic and the Democratic Country, and encouraging harmony through active exchange between adventurers and merchants from both sides.
Naturally, he moved first and expressed a negative stance toward any potential free city.
First, he brought up economic concerns, secondly, issues of practicality, and thirdly, the possible side effects of foreign armed groups entering the Republic. He was specifically referring to the adventurers as foreign armed groups.
It was pretty harsh, given the situation. Of course, it could divide opinions, but it wasn’t entirely wrong either. Adventurers were indispensable, but they were also a source of problems. Just thinking about the incidents related to them every year would make that clear to anyone out there.
“O-oppa... look at this!” Jung Ha-Yan pointed at something.
“...”
“Let’s go into that shop over there, too!” she exclaimed.
“...”
After all, most adventurers were superhuman. No, to exaggerate a little, some of them were no different from walking tactical weapons. While some had willingly accepted the Continental Protection Management Committee’s control, others weren't so willing. By nature, they lived by the sword, so many of them were rough by temperament, and plenty of them acted normal but would turn into complete animals once drunk.
On top of that, the continent’s power inflation had risen quite a bit, hadn’t it? There was no need to even bring up transcendent beings like Kim Hyun-Sung, Cha Hee-Ra, Jung Ha-Yan, the Democratic Country’s Ten Seats, and even top-tier figures like the Five Great Tiger Generals.
Even Tier 1, no, Tier 1.5 adventurers could probably wipe an ordinary small city off the map on their own.
Of course, that would only happen if the city lacked an army to deal with them, but even those so-called countermeasures became meaningless in the face of stronger adventurers. One could see that just by looking at Kim Ye-Ri alone.
She was called the Daughter of Blue, and because she often got into silly antics with the Park-Ki siblings, people on the outside tended to see her as cute, but the power she possessed was anything but cute, especially when it came to her role as an assassin.
If one were to seal off a small city like Heren as if it were a cage and send Kim Ye-Ri in, I could guarantee that hell would unfold there overnight. The stationed soldiers and the named individuals there would have their throats slit, and they wouldn’t even know who had done it to them.
What would happen to the remaining adventurers and civilians after all the armed troops were wiped out? The answer to that question need not be stated.
“...”
Of course, most of these superhumans were under the management of the Continental Protection Management Committee, but it wasn't a guarantee that walking tactical weapons were safe to handle. Even with a leash on them, a beast was still a beast, and there were also adventurers who weren’t registered with the Committee.
Even the nameless adventurer passing right by us at this very moment...
‘...they aren’t that bad.’
Someone at that level alone would already be a source of fear for the powerless.
“...”
“...”
Commander Jin pointed out issues that would feel the most real to the public. The Republic could enforce stricter control and censorship than the Democratic Country...
‘They can also keep a tighter grip on the adventurers.’
Even without that, wasn’t there already a prejudice in the Republic that adventurers from the Democratic Country were rough and unruly?
‘It’s easy to just preach peace with words...’
He had essentially dragged all the loosened regulations and the real problems that would surface right out into the open.
‘How am I supposed to counter this?’
I was forced to consider whether I ought to respond with an interview of my own or announce an official stance in some way. Just then, I heard a quiet voice right beside me. “O-oppa... wh-what are you thinking about?”
“H-huh? It’s nothing...” I answered.
“That’s a lie,” Jung Ha-Yan said.
“...”
“...”
“Y-you’ve been... t-thinking about something else this whole time... No matter how much I talk to you, y-you’re haven't said anything...” she complained.
“I-it’s not like that...” I told her.
‘Damn...’
I briefly forgot to breathe. I had forgotten that I was with the most dangerous adventurer on the continent. If Kim Ye-Ri could wipe out a small city on her own, then Jung Ha-Yan could alter the entire map itself.
“W-we finally... came out together... for a d-date...” she mumbled.
At least, it was better than before. Back then, Jung Ha-Yan used to bottle everything up inside. If she were the past Jung Ha-Yan, she'd say nothing and suddenly drop a nuke out of nowhere one day, but now, she had changed into someone who could express her feelings.
In a way, she had grown more than Kim Hyun-Sung, who created trouble everywhere and acted like a drama king. She looked a little apologetic, but it was clear that she had thought long and hard before speaking. She even lowered her head.
“P-please... f-focus on me...” she stuttered.
“...”
‘I do feel a bit guilty...’
It wasn’t me who planned this trip, and Jung Ha-Yan seemed to be aware of that to some extent, but even so, in a situation where the two of us were out together, it looked like she felt a bit hurt that I couldn’t focus on her.
If it were before, she would definitely stay quiet and just observe my mood. She would then let her imagination run wild on her own before eventually causing a big incident.
Of course, even now, she was still being cautious. I could see her worrying about whether she had said the right thing or if she could be disliked for saying something unnecessary. She was also worried about whether she was bothering me while I was busy.
The fact that she couldn’t even look me in the eye because she was afraid of checking my face said it all. Naturally, I reached out and gently took her hand.
‘Might as well lace our fingers together.’
The moment I held her hand tightly, she quickly lifted her head to check my face, and her face immediately brightened. It looked like she had realized that her words just now weren't a mistake, and they were actually effective. The gloom faded from her face, replaced by a bright smile, and once she noticed that our fingers were interlocked, she "melted."
“O-oppa...” Jung Ha-Yan stuttered.
“Sorry, Ha-Yan. I’ve just had too much on my mind...” I told her.
“I-it’s okay! I-I also just... insisted on coming along...” she muttered.
“No, it’s fine to insist. I’ve been a bit too inattentive, haven’t I?” I asked.
“A-a little... yeah...” she answered.
‘That’s a bit too honest.’
“B-but still... hee... heh... hehe... hehe... hehe...”
‘Why does her laugh sound so sly?’
Her fingers were fidgeting so rapidly that I could almost feel friction heating up my hand. Before long, her hand grew damp.
‘Didn’t know she had sweaty palms.’
It wasn’t unpleasant or anything, but it didn’t seem like she had the capacity to worry about that right now. Her hands were still fidgeting as if she were trying to send some kind of signal. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but it felt like she was trying to maintain some strange kind of tension through this. She kept sneaking glances at me with an odd expression, too.
‘She’s way too cute.’
Even that side of her felt incredibly cute. From time to time—no, I often thought that Jung Ha-Yan was, but right now, she felt especially adorable. Her flushed face and suppressed chortles made her seem like a small, harmless, whimpering animal. Of course, Jung Ha-Yan was anything but harmless.
“Hee...heh... hehe...”
‘Why does her grip strength keep increasing?’
At this point, I could actually feel pain from how tightly she was holding my hand, but I forced a smile and gently swung our joined hands.
“Shall we go?” I suggested.
“Huh? W-where? Are we taking a break?” she asked.
“You said you wanted to go to that magic shop over there,” I said, pointing somewhere.
“Ah... ah! Yes... yes, I did!” she shouted.
Since we had a concealment spell cast on us, there was nothing to worry about. As we walked through the city streets of the border town, waving our hands, a pleasant breeze brushed past us. It felt like my mind was suddenly clearing up. Of course, I was still thinking about my tense standoff with Jin Cheong, but...
‘...It feels nice.’
It was like the fatigue from my previous regression was washed away. Of course, it hadn’t actually disappeared, but I couldn’t deny how refreshing it felt. There were enough people to make it feel lively without being overwhelming, the weather was perfect, and the foreign-looking signs—so different from the Democratic Country—caught my eye.
Conversations between merchants and adventurers drifted through the air, and even a pleasant scent lingered right by my nose. Jung Ha-Yan, hopping around like a rabbit, chuckled in a way that was almost contagious.
“Hee... hehe... it looks like there are street stalls from here on,” Jung Ha-Yan said.
“Yeah, it does.”
Before I knew it, the scenery of the Republic’s border city, something I hadn’t really taken in before, appeared before me.
‘It’s actually really well put together.’
“It’s clean,” I commented.
“Yeah. There’s no trash on the streets. It feels kind of like Lindel,” she said.
“And this isn’t even a free city, it’s just near the border, yet it’s this well-maintained. Even the street food looks pretty hygienic...” I said.
“Th-the magic items are all r-really good too. The ones from the D-Democratic Country look prettier, but... of course, the quality isn’t that different...” she said.
‘For you, it’s all the same anyway.’
For ordinary mages, the results varied greatly depending on the catalysts and materials.
“What if you had to compare quality?” I asked.
“I-I think this place is b-better. There are th-things you don’t see in the D-Democratic Country. T-the elders at the Magic Tower always told me to visit the Republic. They said it’s an amazing place for s-scholars,” she answered.
“That makes sense. Same goes for alchemy...” I said.
Of course, if one asked where the future of magic and alchemy lay, people would point to the Democratic Country without hesitation, but their past belonged to the Republic. I then realized that the infrastructure built over generations wouldn't just disappear.
‘Once we sign the agreement, all of that becomes ours too, Ha-Yan.’
“Let’s go check that place out too...” she suggested.
Just then, I suddenly bumped into someone.
“Huh?”
He was a fairly large guy, so I actually staggered, but before I could fall, Jung Ha-Yan caught me.
“Ah!”
“...”
I wasn’t sure if his group didn’t intend to apologize, or if they didn’t even realize that they bumped into us, but they just walked away.
Jung Ha-Yan reached out and grabbed the strap of his bag.
“W-watch where you’re going,” she stammered.
