‘Who’s this guy?’

He was the guild master of the Small Stone Guild. The same guild Jo Hye-Jin came from. When I activated Mind’s Eye, I immediately saw his stats and attributes. Although they weren’t bad, they weren’t great either, so I thought that they weren’t worth remembering. I wasn’t really in the position to say something like that, but as someone who had met many amazing people, he wasn’t anything special.

His nature was…

‘Passionate and ambitious.’

His unique habit was…

‘Two-faced...’

His habit sounded dishonorable and it was a type of skill that didn’t have any bonus effects. I started imagining what kind of person he was.

‘Ah ha…’

After recalling the incident with Jo Hye-Jin and seeing him trying to talk to us gave me an idea. Basically, he just wanted to be part of the group. I didn’t know exactly what he wanted, but he was either notifying us of his existence or was wary of us. I guess he didn’t realize that calling Lady Marilyn during a parade like this was rude or he had already planned on doing this because he looked as if he was trying to mark his territory. I wasn’t that condescending to say something about it, but it did put me in a bad mood.

“Oh, Mr. Song Jung-Wook,” Lady Marilyn greeted.

Marilyn spoke but I didn’t really care. As such, all I did was quietly wrap my arm around Jung Ha-Yan’s shoulders and passed him. Naturally, Marilyn ignored him and started running toward us because to her, talking to me was more important.

“Who was that?” I asked.

“Oh, that was Mr. Song Jung-Wook and he’s the guild master of the Small Stone Guild…” she answered.

When I glanced back at him, I saw his frown and it was natural for him to react that way since he had been completely ignored. Of course, it didn’t matter to me because he didn’t talk to me first and it was Lady Marilyn that ran here on her own. All I did was walk with Jung Ha-Yan, so the embarrassing incident just now wasn’t my fault.

“Ah, the Small Stone Guild.”

“Yes…”

“I heard about them being a pretty big guild in Castle Rock and their expedition performance’s good too. They captured three rare-ranked dungeons and one epic-ranked dungeon, right?” I asked.

“Well… I-I don’t really know the details…”

“It’s fine, Lady Marilyn. I almost missed an important person, so if you don’t mind, would you mind calling for him?” I asked.

“Yes, of course. Sir Rodrick. Could you please call for Mr. Song Jung-Wook?” she asked a knight.

“Yes, M’lady.”

The competent knight started running and I guess Marillyn’s action had really hurt his pride because Song Jung-Wook’s face had become more serious. Of course, no one liked being told where to go, but he wouldn’t have a choice but to come here because it was Lady Marilyn that called him here. In the end, I saw him approaching us while biting his lips.

“I’m sorry about earlier, Mr. Song Jung-Wook. There were too many things going on.” Marilyn apologized.

“No, it’s fine, M’lady,” Song Jung-Wook said, shaking his head.

“Anyway, this is Mr. Lee Ki-Young from Lindel and he’s the sub guild master of the Blue Guild. He said he wanted to speak with you…” she explained.

“I see…”

I saw him glancing at me and he looked as if he was expecting me to talk to him. He must’ve thought that there was a special meaning behind me calling for him and I saw him extending his hand while talking.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Song Jung-Wook, the guild master of the Small Stone Guild.”

‘Sigh…’

“So, where’s the guild master of the Blue Guild?” he asked.

‘This bastard…’

“I wanted to officially meet him, so this is a good opportunity,” he added.

‘Why is he talking casually to me?’

“And… it’s been awhile Hye-Jin. I never imagined you would join the Blue Guild,” he said to Jo Hye-Jin.

“Yes, it has been a while, Mr. Song Jung-Wook,” she said.

‘Is he ignoring me?’

The situation was absurd, but I understood his intention. I was just a sub guild master and Song Jung-Wook was the guild master of the guild that represented Castle Rock. If I had to categorize our ranks, his rank was higher than mine. This also applied to age and the duration we had been in this world. He was acting like his usual self and was treating me with disrespect.

‘Is there really a person who still doesn’t know that I’m an honorary bishop?’

I guess the free city citizens of Castle Rock hadn’t heard the news just yet and I thought maybe I should put up an ad in the newspaper. I did come here to do business, but I wasn’t planning on lowering myself to do it because there wasn’t a rule that said a salesperson should lower themselves to close a deal. Of course, I was going to play along with him, but he wasn’t as strong as Cha Hee-Ra and his potential wasn’t good as Jo Hye-Jin’s so I wasn’t planning on begging for his attention. If anything, he should be the one begging for my attention. Raising my voice and fighting here wouldn’t be wise, but I didn’t bother to say anything. Instead, I looked at Lady Marilyn quietly as if asking her what was going on. She looked surprised and spoke up.

“P-Please respect him.”

“M’lady?” Song Jung-Woo asked, dumbfounded.

“Mr. Lee Ki-Young is a guest here and you’ve been rude,” she added.

“L-Lady… Marilyn…” he stuttered.

“I’m quite disappointed in your actions, Mr. Song Jung-Wook,” she remarked.

“That’s…”

“I’ll apologize on his behalf, Mr. Lee Ki-Young,” she said to me.

“Ahem, it’s fine. You shouldn’t be the one to apologize anyway… Please forget what I said earlier,” I told Marilyn.

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“Regarding the potion. I was originally going to enjoy my time here, but I don’t think there’s a need to do that anymore. I think it’ll be best if I return as soon as we finish our work here,” I explained.

“Oh!”

Lady Marilyn looked disappointed and Jung Ha-Yan looked really happy and when I pulled Jung Ha-Yan closer to me, she came even closer as if to show us off.

‘That expression doesn’t fit her...’

Jung Ha-Yan’s very happy face made her look arrogant and it was as if she wanted to tell the world that she was the person I loved the most. She seemed like she was trying to give off a deadly look, but she just looked cute to me and naturally, Marilyn’s face turned pale. It wasn’t because of Jung Ha-Yan. She probably understood the meaning behind my answer earlier.

‘I don’t care about sales or making a potion contract. I just want to return as soon as I’m done with my work here. I was really looking forward to traveling to Castle Rock, but it’s below my expectations. My mood has been ruined because of rude people. If I knew Castle Rock was like this, I wouldn’t have come here…’

I was certain that Lady Marilyn’s head was filled with negative thoughts right now.

“Mr. Lee Ki-Young, you see…”

“Let’s head back, M’lady,” I said, cutting her off.

It was obvious what her choice was going to be and not long after, I saw her talking to that bastard Song Jung-Wook.

“Please make an official apology.”

“Excuse me?” he asked, astonished.

“I want you to make an official apology for being rude to Mr. Lee Ki-Young just now, Mr. Song Jung-Wook,” she repeated.

“Rude?” he repeated.

‘It’s not something he should be overreacting about…’

“I believe you know better than I do what I’m talking about, Mr. Song Jung-Wook. Please apologize to Mr. Lee Ki-Young for treating him rudely earlier. If you don’t, I won’t ever see you again.” She threatened.

Marilyn looked as if she had been wronged and it was a good thing that Father Judas wasn’t around. If he wasn’t walking far ahead while talking to Kim Hyun-Sung, that bastard would’ve been surrounded by the shrine’s priest by now.

“It’s fine, Lady Marilyn. You don’t have to do this,” I told her.

“No, you’re a guest here, Mr. Lee Ki-Young,” she insisted.

‘I didn’t come here as a guest though…’

“Being rude to Mr. Lee Ki-Young is the same as being rude to my family. I don’t know what my father will think, but I must hear you apologize to him,” she said with determination.

“M’lady…”

Naturally, I looked at her as if I was touched because it was an undeniable fact that Lady Marilyn was overdoing it for me. I was certain Castle Rock wouldn’t like it if the Small Stone Guild and Castle Rock came to hate each other and the reason why Song Jung-Wook felt so pressured was because Lady Marilyn was immature and stubborn. If I had to explain their relationship, Lady Marilyn had more power, but…

‘I’m sure it’ll hurt his pride.’

To Song Jung-Wook, it was a bolt out of the blue.

“Mr. Song Jung-Wook!” Lady Marilyn yelled.

“Lady Marilyn, it’s fine,” I calmly said.

A wolf in sheep’s clothing.[1] I myself thought that I looked spiteful because the situation itself was bad and both the free city and imperial people were watching us. As the person that represented the free city citizens, Song Jung-Wook was in a position where he had to bow to me.

‘Good…’

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to use the opportunity to show who had more power, but the problem was whether this bastard was going to bow to me or not.

‘It seems like he really cares about his pride.’

I had a feeling that he wasn’t going to give in easily because I would have done the same if I was him. Jo Hye-Jin was watching and a few of his guild members were watching as well. Not only that but the imperial citizens as well as the free city citizens who had no affiliations were focused on us. When I thought that I should stop teasing, I saw Song Jung-Wook slowly bowing.

‘Wow…’

It seemed like I wouldn’t get anything from his apology, but despite that, I knew why he bowed to me.

‘It’s because of Lady Marilyn…’

There was no other answer other than the fact that he wanted to impress her.

“Please forgive me for being rude, sub guild master Lee Ki-Young,” Song Jung-Wook said.

“It’s fine, Mr. Song Jung-Wook,” I told him.

“It’s our first meeting and I was being rude,” he added.

“Hahaha, I was being rude as well. It seems like there was a misunderstanding.” I chuckled.

“...”

“Lady Marilyn, it’s fine now. The mistake was made due to a misunderstanding, so I think it’s best to forgive him.” I suggested.

“...”

As the sub guild master of the Blue Guild, the image of me forgiving the guild master of Castle Rock’s Small Stone Guild on the streets was beautiful. It wasn’t just his guild. I was sure the majority of the other guilds, clans, and the people who were watching felt something.

‘We shouldn’t mess with that bastard.’

I was certain they had this thought; naturally, that wasn’t the only thing I obtained.

“I was actually planning on visiting the Small Stone Guild, Mr. Song Jung-Wook. I’d like it if you could stop by the castle and ask for me, actually, I’ll visit the guild myself,” I told him.

“...”

“Hahahaha. I’m glad I made another connection today. If there’s nothing else, I’ll get going. Was there something else you wanted to say, Lady Marilyn?” I asked.

“No, Mr. Lee Ki-Young. It’s nothing important… I’ll see you next time, Mr. Song Jung-Wook…” she shook her head to me before bidding her farewell to Song Jung-Wook.

“Ha-Yan. Let’s go Miss Hye-Jin,” I said.

“Okay, oppa.”

“Yes, sub guild master.”

“And… Miss Hye-Jin?” I called out.

“Yes?”

“I don’t know what happened while you were in Castle Rock, but you don’t have to keep your head down,” I told her.

“...”

“And there’s no need to be polite to other guild’s guild masters because you’re part of the Blue Guild now. You have to remember that when you bow to other guilds and clans, it’s the same as the Blue Guild bowing to them.” I warned her.

“Oh…”

“I won’t expect much, but just keep that in mind,” I said.

“Understood,” she replied.

I thought about how I should bring Jo Hye-Jin to my side, so I was going to call for Lady Marilyn, but when I saw how Mr. Song missed his chance to speak up, I started to think of great ideas.

1. The original Korean proverb here was 시어머니보다 말리는 시누이가 더 미운 법 which is literally translated as ‘A sister-in-law trying to calm the mother-in-law is more hateful than the scolding mother-in-law.’ It basically means that someone is saying all the nice and caring things on the outside, but is actually trying to cause trouble on the inside. ☜