Chapter 1556. A New Normal (11)
‘Why the hell does hiding your identity make you bump into people so often?’
I was pretty sure I had gone through similar situations before.
“...”
“...”
“W-watch where you’re going.”
It was an obvious thing to say, but when I walked around in the guise of the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival, there was no way situations like this would happen. People would part like the Red Sea, most of them would either be praying from a distance or dropping to their knees as they looked at me, so how could I ever bump into anyone?
Most were so careful that even brushing against my clothes was something they would avoid, and even when I visited places like shelters for the abandoned to comfort them, many would feel uneasy about my hand touching them. They would call themselves filthy and would feel burdened at receiving a blessing. They would sometimes look at me as if they were afraid that they were committing some kind of disrespect.
Whenever I touched their faces or kissed their foreheads as part of the performance, most would flinch in shock and burst into tears. Ordinary adventurers or members of the upper class were the same. They would shrink as if making physical contact with me was some kind of sin.
Many even hesitated when I offered a handshake. Given my social position, I understood getting caught up in this kind of absurd situation, but the problem was that this happened way too often.
“What...”
“I-I said... w-watching where you’re going...” Jung Ha-Yan stammered.
‘This really is the wild, huh.’
It was enough to make one worry about how ordinary adventurers even lived. The streets were full of people who looked ready to start a fight the moment their gaze met anyone else's. Honestly, one didn’t even have to be an honorary cardinal of the Democratic Country to know that.
However, the emblem of the Blue Guild alone would drastically reduce the chances of anyone getting into pointless trouble. People who picked fights on the street usually lowered their heads the moment they realized someone outranked them.
This situation wasn’t any different. Sure, Jung Ha-Yan and I were walking hand in hand right down the middle of the street, but he had definitely noticed us. I could say with certainty he saw us coming from a distance, but he didn’t bother avoiding us.
It was obvious. He had to have believed that thought he ranked higher than us and expected us to be the ones to move aside.
‘That damn pride. It’s always pride.’
Perhaps my weak-looking physique made me an easy target, but this felt exactly like one of those typical street fights about to break out. Normally, I would just think that I got unlucky, brush it off, and keep walking away, but...
“Haa... you’ve got to be kidding me... What did you just say?” the man questioned.
“I-I said... w-watch where you're going,” she said.
Jung Ha-Yan looked like her pride was starting to take over. It had been a while since I’d seen her this angry, but she didn’t look like she was about to lose control or snap like before. She was clearly still thinking straight, but of course, she was angry.
This was supposed to be our long-awaited date, and we had just started enjoying it when some intruder suddenly showed up and ruined the moment, not to mention knocking me over in the process.
It was enough to make anyone see red. However, Jung Ha-Yan now didn’t lose herself over this. She was furious enough to feel like burning him to ashes on the spot, but she was holding back.
She could have crumpled him into a ball like a piece of paper, but she endured it. Yeah, she was civilized now. She knew she couldn’t just act on impulse anymore.
Still, she couldn’t completely suppress her anger. She wanted me to notice that she was upset. She wanted me to understand just how angry she was over someone knocking me aside. There was probably also a part of her that wanted to show me that she had changed and that she could control herself now. As a result...
‘She’s letting her pride take over.’
She became someone who could pick a fight in the middle of the street.
“A-are you d-deaf? I-I told you three times to w-watch where you’re going. C-can’t you see my o-oppa f-fell because of you?” she said.
“Haa... you’ve got to be kidding me. Seriously...”
If the guy she was facing had been an ordinary person, he would have just apologized and gone on his way, but unfortunately, it looked like he was out with someone, too. I had no idea whether she was his girlfriend, someone he was interested in, or just a companion.
His personality didn’t seem all that great to begin with, and now, he was in a position where he couldn’t back down either.
'Why the hell do guys like him think that acting like that impresses women? Why can't he understand that a polite apology is going to be far more appealing? I seriously don’t get it.’
“I bumped into you? Didn’t you bump into me? If anything, you’re the one who should watch where you’re going... The more I think about it, the more ridiculous this is. Hey, Miyeon, let go for a second. Hey, you... can you fight? Are you that confident?” the man provoked.
“W-what did you say?” Jung Ha-Yan asked.
“I asked if you were confident...” he said.
“...”
“You look like a mage... Are you really that confident?” he asked again.
‘You’re the one who doesn’t look confident.’
There was a saying in martial arts novels that one ought to be wary of the elderly, children, and women. The continent wasn’t any different, especially when a small, cute, and seemingly harmless girl like Jung Ha-Yan stood her ground without backing down, baring her teeth at him.
It was only natural to assume that she had something up her sleeve.
More than anything, he was clearly feeling a killing intent strong enough to make his whole body tingle, but instead of listening to the warning signals screaming for survival, he seemed more concerned about protecting his pride.
‘Listen to this guy running his mouth.’
“Are you really trying to fight me? Huh? You’re just a mage. You think you can take me?! Do you?! I asked if you’re confident, you crazy bitch! Hey! Let go of me, Miyeon! Let’s go right now!” he shouted.
“Y-you... you h-hit my oppa on purpose!” Jung Ha-Yan shouted back.
“Let go!”
“P-please stop, Kang-Yeon! We’re sorry. We’re really sorry,” Miyeon apologized.
“Why are you apologizing, Miyeon? Were we the only ones who bumped into him? That guy looks like he can’t even be called a man, he just brushed against me and dropped like a paper doll, and we’re the ones apologizing?!” Kang-Yeon complained.
“M-my oppa is manly enough!” Jung Ha-Yan yelled at him.
‘What is this conversation?’
“I was trying to live a quiet life, but it looks like that’s not happening. H-hey! Do you even know who I am?! I’m—damn it!” he shouted.
A scared dog barked the loudest. I’d bet anything that this big guy was terrified. He was probably feeling the kind of fear one would get when one had run into something one couldn't possibly handle. His pride had taken over him, pushing him into a state where he couldn’t even think straight. Actually, despite his size, he seemed pretty sly.
He was deliberately making a scene. He kept shouting at the top of his lungs, trying to look as threatening as possible. Meanwhile, the girl called Miyeon was desperately trying to stop him, but instead of looking at Jung Ha-Yan, she kept glancing at me. She had that look like she was sympathizing, like she wanted to say, "I’ve got it rough, too."
‘It’s not like that for us.’
Of course, I grabbed Jung Ha-Yan’s arm, but there was no way I could stop her once she’d flipped that switch. Even as I tried to hold her back, her flailing only ended up shaking me instead.
“Damn it! What the hell am I supposed to do here... Seriously... I want to kill her! Want to go? Huh?!” Kang-Yeon provoked.
And the worst part of all...
‘Damn it, he’s from the Democratic Country.’
The bastard was from the Democratic Country. I didn’t know what kind of visa he had to be staying in the Republic, but judging by the weapon at his waist, he was probably here on an Adventurer Visa. Considering those weren’t handed out to just anyone, he probably had enough skill to justify his arrogance, but his personality clearly didn’t match it.
The looks from the surrounding crowd weren’t good. The shameless bastard switched tactics, shouting loudly to humiliate Jung Ha-Yan instead.
‘What is this? Some kind of mind game now?’
Even though Jung Ha-Yan hesitated for a moment, she didn’t back down. The shouting kept getting louder, and the atmosphere was turning into something that could explode into violence at any second.
Where the hell was the Republic’s public security that everyone always bragged about?
Of course, even if they showed up, it didn’t feel like this situation would be resolved so easily. The clicking of tongues and murmurs spreading through the crowd were only getting louder.
“He looks like an adventurer from the Democratic Country.”
“Tsk, tsk... what a piece of trash... How does someone like that get to walk around armed?”
“This is noisy. Are all Democratic Country adventurers like him?”
‘That’s a hasty generalization. There are plenty of decent adventurers in the Democratic Country.’
“Should we step in?”
“No, you’ll just get dragged into it. It’s not worth getting involved.”
“This kind of situation isn’t exactly rare...”
“They’re making such a scene.”
“...”
“...”
They looked like they were just about ready to say that Commander Jin was right. Of course, this could seem like nothing more than a trivial incident. Street arguments turning into fights happened all the time, not just in the Democratic Country but in the Republic as well.
People were the same wherever one went, and it was just bad luck that someone from the Democratic Country ended up clashing with us here, but the timing couldn’t have been worse.
It hadn’t been long since Commander Jin made his official statement, so if something were to happen right now, it would definitely turn into a huge variety of headlines.
‘Damn it, did that bastard set this up or something?’
Of course, there was no way he’d pull something this petty. If I were to accuse him, he’d probably just scoff and say something like, “Pathetic.” That was how insignificant the guy in front of me really was. Other than that overblown bravado of his, anyway.
Regardless of whether he had realized it or not, he was sticking his head straight into the tiger’s mouth, yet he only grew more aggressive. Unlike him, who felt no shame, it seemed he noticed that Jung Ha-Yan was starting to feel uncomfortable under the crowd’s gaze.
“How about we settle this right here? Huh?!” Kang-Yeon shouted.
“Eeeek!”
“You look like a country bumpkin. I guess you picked up some gigolo off the street and brought him along, huh?” he said, insulting us.
“...”
“...”
“My oppa isn’t a gigolo!” Jung Ha-Yan shouted, and it echoed across the entire city. Her cry of “My oppa isn’t a gigolo!” reverberated and came back as an echo. I felt like she had poured mana into her voice without realizing, as it felt like my eardrums were about to burst. However, there was no time to even register the pain.
Jung Ha-Yan’s face had turned bright red, and her breathing had turned into sharp, ragged bursts. Mana billowed out of her, and the air itself trembled. The ground shook, and the tiles beneath her feet slowly floated upward. Anyone could tell that something was wrong. The people who had been watching just moments ago now looked terrified, like they had caught a glimpse of something overwhelming—something beyond human.
Jung Ha-Yan’s face was flushed. I couldn’t tell exactly what she was thinking, but things clearly weren’t going the way she had imagined, and like always, it seemed to be pushing her toward the edge. It felt like she was about to give herself over to her anger completely.
It was like she could explode at any second, but the mana she had been releasing was abruptly pulled back in. The reason was simple.
Smack. I slapped the guy across the face.
“O-oppa...” Jung Ha-Yan mumbled.
The big guy looked stunned, as if he hadn’t expected to be hit like that. It wasn’t that he had failed to react. It was more like he was stiff, frozen from the killing intent Jung Ha-Yan had unleashed. Honestly, I would love to punch him in a cool, cinematic way, but if I had clenched my fist and punched him, it felt like I would have shattered my own fingers, so I had no choice but to use my palm.
I turned my back on him and took Jung Ha-Yan’s hand as she stood frozen.
“Let’s go, Ha-Yan,” I said.
“O-oppa...” she muttered.
“...”
“...”
“You know you’re not a country bumpkin, right, Ha-Yan?” I asked.
“...”
“...”
“Y-you’re not a gigolo either, Oppa,” she said.
“...”
“...”
‘I’ll remember your name. Kang-Yeon.’
I glanced back, and the guy was still standing there, stiff as a board.
‘I won’t forget.’
