Chapter 957 – Side Story – Demonic Swordsman Jeong No-Eul (1)

President… Well, about a week has passed since the day I was called to the guild of Seo Ok-hee, who is no longer the boss, but is the most accustomed to being called the boss.

About two months had passed since the guild was officially established. I was able to hear some good news from Hye-eun.

“Taekyung, I have a new one.”

“… When you say it appears, is it what I think it is?”

“Yes, that’s right. “My child.”

With those words, Hye-eun smiles as she shows her pregnancy test with two lines open.

She seemed genuinely happy that her love with me had come to fruition, and I naturally smiled accordingly.

“What should we call it? Eunrang? Silver coin?”

“… Is it that name again? And she hasn’t even decided that she’s a girl yet.”

“That’s true, but there’s no harm in thinking about it in advance.”

“Let’s think about the name later. And since it’s still early in the pregnancy, we don’t know what will happen.”

“Yes, you have to be careful. Don’t go on expeditions for a while. No, don’t even go to work at all. Always keep your stomach warm and eat plenty of meat and fruits…”

“I’m still in the early stages of pregnancy. “It’s only been about two months at most.”

However, Hye-eun smiled with satisfaction in front of me, as if she did not dislike my worries.

“Ah, I hope I give birth soon. Only then will we, the people of Azure Shield, be able to show Taekyung and I our child.”

“… “I think it would be better not to say it too openly in front of Cha Yu-ri or Cheon Ji-hee.”

“Well, how about it? Then you can have children with Yuri and Jihee.”

“Well. “I wonder if that will be the solution.”

First of all, Cha Yu-ri, seeing that Hye-eun and I had a child, I think she would ask me to have a child out of jealousy, but in the case of Cheon Ji-hee, the relationship was a bit twisted from the beginning.

Even if she was now somewhat attracted to me, whether she wanted to have my child or not was a separate question.

“Anyway, the doctor said I need to be stable for up to 4 months. So I wanted to say that I don’t think we will be able to go on a group expedition until then.”

“Of course. “Now is the time to protect yourself.”

“I’ll post it on the Azure Shield chat room later. “I wanted to tell Taekyung quickly, so I went to work without the others knowing.”

“Okay, take care of yourself. If you need anything, let me know anytime.”

“Yes~. “Huh.”

Hye-eun leaves work with a cute smile, looking very happy to have her first child.

It’s a shame that one of our company’s aces has to temporarily suspend activities, but that doesn’t mean my current guild can’t function.

Only Hye-eun stopped her activities for a while, but the members of Azure Shield, including me, are still active, and Jin-na, Sun-a, and the recently joined Kwon Hway-yeon were also building activities and achievements in their own positions, so there were no major problems.

‘Still, it’s a bit disappointing to see an empty spot due to the sudden absence of a high-ranking hunter.’

Of course, due to the nature of the job, hunters retire quickly, so the number of top hunters is not that large, and it is not easy to meet retired hunters and bring them into our guild.

Just when my mind was becoming a little more complicated as I faced the various tasks I had to face while running a guild, the name and phone number of someone familiar appeared on the smartphone screen.

-Ding diding, ding. Ding ding, ding ding~.

「Call – President Seo Ok-hee」

“…”

For some reason, I’m a little scared to receive it.

I was a little hesitant, perhaps because I was called in by the owner Seo Ok-hee, who was very angry as soon as I answered the phone last time, but that doesn’t mean I can’t avoid answering the phone.

I was wondering if I had done something wrong recently, so I carefully pressed the call button and as soon as I answered, I heard CEO Seo Ok-hee’s voice on the other end of the phone.

“Yes, boss.”

“Yes, Taekyung. How are you these days?”

“You saw it just a week ago. Of course, we get along well.”

“Yes, I’m glad you’re doing well. Have you had any difficulties running the guild recently?”

“… Yes?”

What is it? If CEO Seo Ok-hee’s personality is anything to go by, she’s not the kind of person who would ask such a question out of the blue.

It was clearly the boss’s voice, but for some reason it felt awkward, so I was able to easily figure out her inner thoughts.

“Is there anything you would like to ask me?”

「… How did you know?”

“You speak so awkwardly. Moreover, you talk as if you are trying to pile up debt by asking me to do something for you.”

「… Did it sound like that? If so, I’m sorry.”

“No, it doesn’t matter. I’ve been indebted to my boss a lot so far, so I have to do whatever he asks. “What do you ask?”

“No, well… It’s a slightly different matter rather than a request…”

“Another problem?”

“Your guild… Are you doing something like recruiting S-class hunters?”

“… ?”

Recruiting S-class hunters?

It was a moment when I began to wonder whether it was even possible to recruit S-class or higher level hunters in the first place, and the most plausible hypothesis could not help but come to mind.

“President Seo Ok-hee.”

「… Yes, yes.」

“Are you planning on moving to our guild?”

“Did I eat something wrong?”

… Of course this isn’t it. Even after I said that, something felt strange.

The words that came out of the boss’s mouth were so unrealistic that it was an inevitable reaction.

In any case, the conditions for joining our guild were not simply strength, so I responded accordingly.

“Of course we recruit hunters regardless of their grade, but we don’t recruit them without any conditions just because they are S-class hunters.”

“What? “If a new guild has an S-class hunter coming in, you have to bow to them and bring them in, but will you choose the hunter based on their abilities?”

“No, we don’t specifically select people based on their abilities. We’re just looking at the minimum conditions to join our guild. “I want to run a guild with a family-like atmosphere if possible, so if there is a problem in terms of personality, criminal history, etc., It’s a bit of a problem.”

“Ah, then say so. Of course, you have to see that, huh.”

… Of course, those factors are important, but in fact, there are other factors that are more important.

If I said it out loud, I was sure to get the contempt of CEO Seo Ok-hee, so I decided to keep the hiring conditions quiet and listen to her story about the ‘S-class hunter’ first.

“As you know since you have been in our company for several years, there are quite a few S-class hunters in our guild.”

“Yes, I know. First, Eunyoung is also S-rank, and I think I’ve encountered other people a few times while working in the healing room.”

“Okay. It’s not that high in terms of percentage because we can’t just focus on raising hunters like the Foundation, but if you look at the absolute numbers, it’s not that small. Me and Eunyoung… There are always about 10 people, including Kang Eun-young.”

“Yes.”

“But since these are S-class hunters, there are a lot of them who are a bit self-indulgent. Even those who once worked for the company without much thought and satisfaction suddenly stop coming to work when something hurts them, or suddenly go to work at a different guild without even writing a preliminary report.

Of course, since it’s S-class, I can’t stop it or stop it, so in the end, I have no choice but to gently appease it, but it seems I failed to appease it this time.”

“Yes?”

President Seo Ok-hee suddenly talks about the difficulties of managing an S-class hunter.

As I was silently wondering what his intention was for saying this, I heard a name on the other end of the phone that seemed like I had heard it before.

“Taekyung, do you know that one of the S-class hunters is the magic swordsman Jeong No-eul?”

“Mr. Jeong No-eul? It’s a name that seems like something I’ve heard before…”

I thought about the name being a memorable name and reminisced about working at the company in the past.

If I had met someone at the company, it would probably have been when I worked in the healing room, so it was a moment when memories from my past company naturally came to mind.

‘I think I got a little hurt on my chest earlier, can you take a look?’

‘Yes?! Where is it?! The solar plexus side? Or the collarbone? Or is it inside your underwear?”

‘Gah, the inside of my chest hurts…’ .’

‘… Yes?’

‘Chi, every time I see the healer, the inside of my chest hurts as if I’m being stabbed by something. Well, what does that mean… Sis, it’s not that it actually hurts…’

Ah, I remembered.

A woman who visited the healing room almost like a regular every time I worked there and tried to lure me in an awkward way.

She had a pretty face, but her actions were so foolish that she left a deep impression on my mind. Even though she had nothing to do with me other than working in the healing room.

“Yes, I remember. “We didn’t talk to him very often, but I remember him coming to the healing room often.”

“Yeah, I’m glad you remember.”

“But why Noeul Jeong? Have you ever had a problem with him?”

“It’s not like that in particular. He has now gone to your guild.”

“Yes?”

“It seems like she’s really in love with you. Solve it yourself, Taekyung.”

“… Yes?”

-Click.

President Seo Ok-hee calmly hangs up the phone while saying something incomprehensible.

-Snap!

“There you are, healer! Oh, how hard I searched… !”

And not long after, as soon as the door to my office opened, and I faced the purple-haired woman who came in, I realized the meaning of her last words, ‘Fix it on your own.’