# 36
“Ah…”
My thoughts were right after all.
Since he was a man who said he’d even go so far as to get hurt just to be caressed, it seemed like the right approach would be to give him what he wanted. In the forest, and beyond that strange door, there were times when Jin-ha touched him and the man’s reactions were strange. His tense, stiff muscles would loosen and go limp, or his eyes would become unfocused, or his cheeks would flush with heat.
Honestly, it was hard to believe. But if all of Riyekan’s actions weren’t lies or teasing, then what he desired was physical contact.
The action Jin-ha took based on this assumption proved correct.
When Jin-ha stopped stroking his head and grabbed his cheek, running his thumb over his moist eyes, Riyekan asked in a growl-like voice.
“Are you doing this on purpose now…”
“I didn’t intend to at first.”
“You didn’t?”
“It’s somewhat enjoyable.”
How could it not be? The Master of the tower, a mage called a genius, and one who was this handsome, melting at his touch. Unless someone was completely emotionless, they couldn’t help but feel their heart race.
“Riyekan.”
“Mmm…”
“How is it? This should be beneficial for you too, right?”
At the low, coaxing voice, Riyekan exhaled hot breath as if in pain and leaned his head against Jin-ha. Jin-ha moved his hand from the man’s eyes to gently caress his ear. The man flinched and rubbed his other ear against Jin-ha, looking at him with wet eyes.
The moment their eyes met, Jin-ha thought that perhaps he was making a mistake. He had thought it would be just simple contact, with no kissing or removing clothes, but given the state of the other person, it already felt like they were exchanging caresses.
Jin-ha flinched and tried to pull his hand away, but Riyekan pressed Jin-ha’s hand firmly against his ear first. He ignored Jin-ha’s attempt to withdraw his hand and slid it down to his neck. His neck was wet with sweat.
“Ri-Riyekan!”
“I like it.”
With his eyes rimmed red, Riyekan kissed Jin-ha’s palm with a smack and rubbed his cheek against it.
“If that’s Hunter Lee Jin-ha’s opinion, then we’ll start that way for now.”
“For now…?”
“However, you must fulfill your promise faithfully. That’s my condition.”
When Jin-ha frowned, not understanding what that meant, the man urged, “Hmm?” demanding an answer. Jin-ha nodded, looking away as he pulled his hand away like a startled chicken and held it with his other hand.
The contract was established.
It was a contract where both parties could get what they wanted. Jin-ha thought he had set up sufficient boundaries, but Riyekan seemed confident about crossing those boundaries and taking more. Jin-ha belatedly became anxious with the premonition that the boundaries he had set might not be very effective.
“Ah, I’m truly satisfied.”
Riyekan smiled like the only carnivore in a vast prairie. It was a complacent and arrogant attitude, like one who had prey left over from feeding but was already eyeing new prey.
[ Riyekan Ertolic ]
Noon Moon Tower Master.
Soul (73/100) +1
Jin-ha, like a rabbit hiding in a shallow burrow before him, was so preoccupied with figuring out how to avoid him in the future that he failed to notice the change in the man’s information.
* * *
The young mages laid out the gifts they had brought on Jin-ha’s bed. Flowers, cookies, and books were piled high.
“We were so shocked when we heard you collapsed.”
“We were waiting in the living room together and didn’t hear any news…”
“You have no idea how angry the guild master was.”
“He was completely furious like a goblin, shouting to bring out the officer!”
Seo Ji-seop seemed uncomfortable, unable to stop the children from chattering about what had happened.
“No, kids…”
“That’s what you said. ‘How badly injured is our Jin-ha, how will we treat him—this is something we need to know! How would we know if you’re killing him or what by just hiding it?'”
As the young mage reenacted what had happened before, Seo Ji-seop closed his eyes tightly, and the kids burst into laughter.
“Well, since I’m responsible for safety…”
“Why is your face so red?”
“Doesn’t it look red? Phew… I can’t handle these kids. Hey, now that you’ve seen Jin-ha is fine, go back and study.”
At those words, the young mages all pouted with narrowed eyes as if by agreement. However, when Seo Ji-seop started to herd them out with his large frame, they couldn’t resist and were dragged out.
“Officer, get well soon!”
“We’re writing reports every day!”
“If you need anything, just let us know. We’ll bring it to you!”
“Out, out. Goodness, so noisy with all your chattering.”
Jin-ha smiled as he watched Seo Ji-seop facing the young mages’ protests until the end. It was reassuring to hear they were diligently writing their reports. That had been his biggest worry anyway.
With just the two of them left in quiet, Seo Ji-seop pulled up a chair and sat beside the bed.
“Now, it’s time to talk business.”
“Has it really been a week during that time?”
Jin-ha asked suspiciously. Riyekan had mentioned in passing that a week had passed as he was leaving the room, but his tone was so casual that it was hard to believe.
“Yes, I was really scared, thinking something terrible had happened. How are you feeling?”
“So it’s true… There’s no problem with my body at all, and my magical power has actually become more stable.”
Jin-ha answered while checking his status window again to confirm the details.
Total magical power: 613. Compared to before connecting with the portal, it had increased about five times. With this much, his magical power was comparable to that of an S-class Hunter.
“Well, I guess it stabilized naturally as time passed. Riyekan also said it would take some time.”
For a moment, Jin-ha recalled the machine that seemed to be measuring his vitals and the room that resembled a hospital room. No, that couldn’t be right. Whatever happened there, if something had been done to him, it couldn’t have helped stabilize his magical power.
Anyway, it was really good that the magical power oversaturation had stabilized. He had been quite inconvenienced until now, unable to use his Information Eye.
“Riyekan?”
“Ah, that’s the Master’s name.”
“Ah, his name… When did you get on a first-name basis…”
Jin-ha coldly cut off Seo Ji-seop, who was starting to act like an old man with his inadequate imagination.
“Is there something I need to know?”
“Yes. First, we reported to Earth that you were injured.”
“With no news for a week, you couldn’t not report it, I suppose.”
When Jin-ha’s face darkened, Seo Ji-seop nodded.
“Section Chief Nam was extremely angry. He said he’d kill me for not doing my job properly.”
“There’s no way Section Chief Nam would say something like that.”
As far as Jin-ha knew, Section Chief Nam was someone who didn’t know how to get angry. It was obvious from the fact that despite having the ability, he didn’t know how to claim his share and remained in the position of section chief.
Seeing that Jin-ha didn’t believe him at all, Seo Ji-seop shook his head. While he hadn’t actually said he would kill him, it was true that he had been a bit scared when the section chief got angry, demanding to know how he was doing his job.
“Anyway, things seemed to be getting serious, so I made a fuss to Lord Legas, asking to see you because I thought there might be problems. Um, we fought a bit too.”
“You really fought? With the tower’s vice master?”
“Well, I was worried about you, and I thought there would be an uproar on Earth if I didn’t check on your condition… It wasn’t a situation where I could back down.”
Seo Ji-seop scratched his head and avoided eye contact. Jin-ha gestured for him to continue while enduring his throbbing headache.
“While we were fighting, the Master summoned me and showed you to me. After getting permission, I checked with an artifact and it showed you were in sleep recovery, so that’s what I reported to Earth, and we decided to wait. I didn’t know you’d sleep for a whole week though.”
“…Then there shouldn’t have been any major problems.”
“That may be true, but…”
Seo Ji-seop, who seemed to be choosing his words carefully for a moment, leaned toward Jin-ha and said secretively in a low voice.
“The office’s movements seem a bit passive. I sense a determination to obtain magic no matter what happens to one or two people.”
Countries that discover interdimensional portals become greedy. Although statistics and results related to this weren’t published, it was no secret that dozens of people died in the process of opening trade with countries beyond interdimensional portals.
Of course, Jin-ha had no intention of standing by and watching his fellow civil servants suffer such fates.
“I’ll do whatever I can to prevent what you’re concerned about.”
“The most vulnerable person here is you. So before something serious happens, ask for help somehow. Two is better than one. If I let you suffer alone, I’ll be beaten to death later.”
“Keep your jokes moderate.”
Jin-ha glared at Seo Ji-seop, who kept saying nonsensical things. Who on earth would beat an S-class Hunter to death? As he got older, his jokes were becoming increasingly terrible.
But there was something else that was bothering him.
“More importantly, I think I need to make a trip back to Earth.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
