# 24
“Pfft.”
Jin-ha, who was reading a newspaper from Earth, frowned at the sound of laughter. He tried to focus back on the newspaper. Last night, there was news that an alert had been issued in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, due to a gate overflow.
“Pffft…!”
Jin-ha clicked his tongue irritably at the circling sound of laughter. Seo Ji-seop, who had just returned from escorting the young magicians to their classroom, pulled up a chair across from Jin-ha and sat down with a snicker.
“Didn’t you tell me? ‘I don’t engage in such frivolous behavior as casual encounters,’ isn’t that what you said?”
“……”
“The rumors are all over the place! They’re saying that the rigid man from beyond the portal and the Master of this tower have become… you know, involved. How did that happen?”
“Do you believe that?”
When Jin-ha put down his newspaper and asked fiercely, Seo Ji-seop flinched and leaned his upper body backward.
“Well, I didn’t believe it myself, but everyone is insisting it’s true.”
“Everyone?”
“The servants here. The magicians are too stuck-up to associate with people like me.”
Although he might have felt wounded pride at such treatment back on Earth, Seo Ji-seop seemed completely unbothered. Well, if he didn’t have such a personality, he wouldn’t have promoted himself during a video conference, and the Agency wouldn’t have assigned him to this mission.
“Anyway, how did such a rumor start? Why is everyone so certain about it?”
Jin-ha gulped down his hot coffee with an irritated expression.
It was all because of the pheromones. Was that phrase “cover you with my pheromones” an idiom used for physical seduction? Apparently, the idiom itself originated from the fact that after sleeping with an alpha, their pheromones would be thoroughly imprinted on their partner’s body.
So it was natural that Jin-ha, thoroughly covered in the man’s pheromones and dining with him in the restaurant yesterday, appeared to have engaged in such activities—at least according to this world’s common knowledge.
What particularly angered him was the explanation that nobody had misunderstood Legas’s pheromones. Legas, although an alpha, was considered an oddball obsessed with magic and the Master, so his pheromones were merely interpreted as him examining Jin-ha.
This was extremely unfair to Jin-ha, who had thought there wouldn’t be much difference if the man’s pheromones replaced Legas’s since Legas’s were already on him.
Jin-ha clicked his tongue as he recalled the man who had insisted on going to the restaurant yesterday.
“That guy set it up to create misunderstandings.”
“Misunderstandings…?”
“Anyway, I’m glad you’re here. I had something to tell you.”
At Jin-ha’s words, Seo Ji-seop pushed his chair back to create distance.
“Jin-ha, you’re not trying to set me up with that Master magician, are you? I plan to live happily ever after with my beloved wife…”
“Would you be interested in learning magic?”
“…What?”
“I hear you have talent.”
Seo Ji-seop rolled his eyes in confusion, then pulled his chair back toward Jin-ha.
“Me? Talent for magic? Who said that?”
“It’s the opinion of this tower’s Master. Among our group, you have the most talent for magic, and you might reach the 2nd circle within a year.”
“But I’m a warrior. I have talent for magic?”
“Whether you learn it or not is for the Guild Leader to decide. However, the Magic Tower said they could teach one more person if desired.”
“Hmm… What do they want in return? They wouldn’t teach for free, would they?”
Seo Ji-seop asked cautiously, rolling his eyes with concern. Although tempting for a Hunter, he seemed hesitant to commit, unsure if he could handle it.
“I actually think the tower is being quite generous just by providing this large mansion. From what I’ve heard about other countries, the initial treatment is usually much worse.”
In modern times, information was often considered as valuable as gold. Since successful trade through portals could bring enormous wealth, information about other worlds was thoroughly concealed.
At least, the successful cases were.
Of course, initially, failure cases were also kept secret, but after more than ten countries failed at trade, they couldn’t remain strictly confidential.
According to that information, most worlds beyond portals were monarchies with severe class discrimination. Earthlings who suddenly appeared were considered commoners, at worst slaves, and depending on the situation, even heretics who needed to be eliminated.
In such circumstances, countries had to prove their pacifism, build relationships with important figures through gifts, and demonstrate their value through various contributions just to take the first step toward trade. Until that first step, lords or kings would make outsiders stay in shabby huts outside the castle walls. Places that looked no different from stables, reportedly even smelling of animal excrement.
Despite this, they couldn’t even set up the high-quality tents they brought from Earth. Because it could appear threatening to the locals and create a sense of alienation.
“……”
Compared to such examples, the current situation was certainly among the better ones. Although the number of people allowed to stay here was limited to Jin-ha, the five learning magic, and Seo Ji-seop, they were provided with this excellent mansion adjacent to the Magic Tower.
The two-story mansion had eight rooms on just the first floor. Excluding the reception room, dining room, and kitchen, it was enough to tell how nice the mansion was.
They weren’t even cut off from communicating with Earth. Movement through the portal and supply logistics were permitted daily from 9 AM to 12 PM. Although a monitor was attached to check the people and items being moved, that was nothing.
So the Noon Moon Tower was being very generous right now. Of course, it didn’t come without a price.
“…I will pay the price.”
“How will you pay it?”
“…Like I am now.”
Even if Seo Ji-seop didn’t learn magic, Jin-ha would still have to do his best as the man’s toy for the time being.
“Is it related to today’s rumor?”
“I told you that’s a false rumor. I’m just humoring a capricious and annoying man. That rumor is just another one of his pranks.”
“Hmm.”
Seo Ji-seop raised his eyebrow with a meaningful expression. It looked obviously lecherous and made Jin-ha feel uncomfortable. Eventually, he nodded with a wide grin.
“Okay. Then I’ll gratefully accept. In return, come to me if you have strange thoughts about relationships. I’m the best in that field, aren’t I?”
“If only you’d control your desire to unnecessarily entangle unrelated people in romance stories.”
“Unrelated people? Are you talking about So-jung and Han-su from Response Team 2?”
“Who else? The Guild Leader said she doesn’t like you trying to match them up, so take it easy.”
“No, Jin-ha, you just don’t know! They really are dating! It’s a story even the Anomaly Management Agency’s photocopier knows about, but only you don’t.”
“Sure.”
“It’s true!”
Jin-ha half-listened to Seo Ji-seop’s insistence as he glanced at the clock. The agreed lunch time was approaching.
* * *
When he arrived at the pre-arranged location, Jin-ha couldn’t believe his eyes. The outdoor location was decorated as if it were indoors.
“Ah, welcome.”
The man sitting on an elaborate fabric sofa that didn’t match the dense forest was reading documents, flipping through papers, and waved at Jin-ha when he saw him. In front of the sofa was a coffee table with a marble top and a heavy wooden base carved with snakes and grapevines.
That wasn’t all. On a side table that Jin-ha couldn’t understand why it had been brought all the way out here, there were more than ten sets of teapots and teacups that definitely didn’t look like picnic ware. He had even laid down a plush carpet on the ground. It would surely get grass stains if someone stepped on it.
The delicate lace cloth tied to the trees to block the strong sunlight was at least somewhat suitable for outdoors, even if it seemed extravagant.
Jin-ha just rolled his eyes at the scene and asked:
“…What is all this?”
“Didn’t you say we should have lunch outside in the sunshine?”
“I just meant a simple picnic… Never mind.”
Jin-ha swallowed a sigh as he looked at the scene that seemed like a part of the Magic Tower had been simply uprooted and moved outside.
From his perspective, this seemed excessive, but from the perspective of a magician, especially a high-ranking one like the man, it might have been just the effort of flicking a finger.
“Legas is brewing stew, so sit here and wait a bit.”
In the direction the man indicated with his chin, Legas was indeed cooking. He was even wearing a tall chef’s hat and playing the role of a cook in front of what looked like a proper oven that could bake bread.
Jin-ha reluctantly went and sat down at a spot somewhat distant from the man. The man patted the seat beside him.
“Here.”
“If I sit there, our shoulders will touch.”
“And you don’t like that?”
“Yesterday, you said you didn’t like me being polite.”
Jin-ha, who didn’t want to sit shoulder to shoulder with the man who had allowed strange rumors to spread throughout the tower, responded defensively. His impertinent behavior wasn’t without basis. He thought that the man who had gotten upset just yesterday about him being too respectful wouldn’t change his mind in a single day. And even if he did change his mind, Jin-ha could simply apologize and adjust his attitude. In truth, Jin-ha found it easier to deal with the man with excessive politeness rather than honesty.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
