Chapter 86:
‘I should have gotten rid of this thing a long time ago.’
Perhaps because it was a phone provided by the Center for the stateless Baek Joo-won, he received far too many useless calls. He would have to dispose of it soon and ask Seo Jae-yi for a new one.
“Hello.”
After a moment of contemplation, Baek Joo-won answered the call. He planned to record the conversation and play it back to Seo Jae-yi if they said anything absurd about her.
—It’s Jang Woo-seok. How are you doing?
“I’m having a wonderful time.”
It was a clear message to the Prime Minister, telling him not to bother him with useless talk, as he was content with being Seo Jae-yi’s Pair.
However, the old fox who had been in politics for a long time didn’t seem to care.
—How about dinner tonight? At the same place we met before. You seemed to enjoy the food there.
Ah, right. That place. He had thought about going there with Seo Jae-yi, but he had forgotten about it.
But he wasn’t particularly interested anymore. He would only feel more irritated if he ran into Jang Woo-seok there.
“Do you still have something to say to me? Isn’t everything settled?”
—Haha, it seems like there’s been a misunderstanding. I’m not inviting you to try and persuade you again. I’m just grateful that you’re staying in Korea and wanted to ask for your continued cooperation.
Was he sincere? No way. The Jang Woo-seok Baek Joo-won knew wasn’t that kind of person.
“What’s going on?”
Seo Jae-yi, who had been tending to a customer, popped her head in.
“It’s nothing important. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’d like to, but isn’t that old man Jang Woo-seok’s voice?”
She had heard it despite the low volume.
“Why? What did he say?”
—It’s nothing. Just a dinner invitation for Baek Joo-won.
Jang Woo-seok answered casually, having heard Seo Jae-yi’s voice.
“I decline. So let’s end this call.”
“Hold on.”
Seo Jae-yi stopped Baek Joo-won from hanging up. She thought for a moment and then spoke.
“Well, if you’re having dinner with that old man, you’ll probably get to eat expensive, delicious food. Just go.”
“What?”
Baek Joo-won was surprised; he hadn’t expected her to say that.
“Hey, old man. Send a car here at six. A nice, sturdy one that won’t hurt Baek Joo-won’s precious butt.”
Seo Jae-yi approached Baek Joo-won and spoke to Jang Woo-seok.
—Seo Jae-yi, how long are you going to be so rude? You’re old enough to know manners.
“I have bad manners because I wasn’t taught properly. Whose fault is that? Can I say it here?”
—…I’ll send a car by six.
“I’m not going, so don’t worry. I lose my appetite when I see your face. But if you feed Baek Joo-won anything bad, I’ll turn your head into Bean Mountain. You know that’s my specialty, right?”
—Seo Jae-yi!
“Bye.”
Seo Jae-yi hung up, cutting off Jang Woo-seok’s hysterical voice.
“Honestly, what a grumpy old man.”
“Seo Jae-yi, I’m not going.”
Baek Joo-won sighed. He couldn’t understand why she was doing this.
“You know that jerk is unhappy about us being paired. Why are you telling me to meet him?”
“So you did meet him before. I thought so. But thank you for choosing me without wavering.”
Seo Jae-yi patted his shoulder reassuringly.
“The government will continue to try and separate us. Today is just the beginning. But we can turn the beginning into the end, right?”
She was saying they should end it all, so something like this wouldn’t happen again.
Baek Joo-won’s expression softened slightly.
“But why am I going alone? We should go together.”
“You can handle it on your own, Baek Joo-won! I have faith in your eloquence.”
Honestly. Baek Joo-won chuckled, dumbfounded.
“And I don’t trust their character. If I, an S-rank Esper, even slightly raise my voice, they could imprison me for threatening a civilian.”
So it was better for Baek Joo-won, who was stateless and not subject to Korean law, to go.
“They probably won’t threaten you directly, but I’m still worried, so take Logi with you.”
Seo Jae-yi grabbed Airok and placed him carefully on Baek Joo-won’s hand. Airok, caught off guard, squawked in protest.
“Logi, please. You have to protect Baek Joo-won.”
Airok was about to protest, demanding to know why he had to go, but he eventually nodded tearfully, unable to resist Seo Jae-yi’s pleading eyes.
Sigh. If only he hadn’t received that high-grade magic stone…
“Good! I feel much better now. Make sure you stir things up. I’ll be waiting patiently at home.”
Baek Joo-won and Airok, who had been glaring at each other, sighed.
They weren’t happy about it, but he had to admit that it would be good to shake things up a bit.
To verbally stir things up. He could definitely do that. He had been wanting to do it lately.
He would put them in their place.
At 6 p.m. sharp, Seo Jae-yi watched Baek Joo-won get into the car that had arrived.
The driver, Jang Woo-seok’s secretary, was appalled to see him in a dust-covered T-shirt and jeans, instead of his usual sharp suit, but Baek Joo-won simply nodded towards the door, telling him to open it.
Seo Jae-yi smiled, pleased to see Baek Joo-won starting off strong.
As the car carrying Baek Joo-won and Airok in his bag drove away, Seo Jae-yi was left alone in front of her shop.
The smile vanished from her face, replaced by an uncharacteristically cold expression.
“What are those fools plotting?”
She hadn’t told Baek Joo-won, but she suspected Jang Woo-seok’s purpose wasn’t just a simple persuasion.
Their biggest obstacle wasn’t Baek Joo-won, but her, who disobeyed the government and even took away a valuable resource.
They might be trying to get rid of her.
“Esper Seo Jae-yi.”
See? Her prediction was right.
Three or four men in suits stood beside her. They were wearing gold badges on their left lapels, indicating they were government officials.
“Did Jang Woo-seok send you to deal with me?”
They flinched, feeling the sharp aura of an S-rank Esper emanating from her. Their faces were tense.
“Don’t misunderstand. We’re just here to deliver your assigned mission.”
“Why are you telling me directly? I’m not affiliated with the Center anymore; you should contact my Guild.”
“There’s a wildfire on Mount Taebaek. You’re the only one who can extinguish it.”
Seo Jae-yi’s face hardened.
An Esper’s duty wasn’t just dealing with dungeons and monsters. They were also dispatched to handle disasters that ordinary people couldn’t, like the current wildfire.
Wildfires, capable of claiming countless lives, were one of the disasters Espers were responsible for.
The government was trying to assign her to extinguish a difficult wildfire.
She would have accepted it without question if it were any other day. She was the most qualified person to handle wildfires in Korea, which lacked an S-rank Water Manipulation Esper.
The problem was that her condition wasn’t ideal for extinguishing a large-scale wildfire.
“They took my only Guide and are telling me to extinguish a wildfire. Why don’t they just tell me to die there?”
“Prime Minister Jang Woo-seok’s personal matters are unrelated to the government.”
“Do you enjoy telling such obvious lies?”
No one answered her question. Were they loyal dogs of the government, or were they angry at how they were treating a terminally ill Esper who had dedicated her life to serving the country?
She didn’t know. And she didn’t care.
“You waited until Baek Joo-won left to inform me, even though the wildfire must have started a while ago. It means no other Espers have been dispatched to the scene, right?”
“…”
“If I don’t go, the entire mountain will burn down, and then you’ll spread rumors about me running away. You’ll say that others tried their best, but they couldn’t prevent the mountain from burning down. Right?”
Seo Jae-yi scoffed.
They hadn’t changed one bit since the days they had thrown her, a young Esper without proper guardians, into a lab as an experimental subject.
‘It would be pointless to contact Baek Joo-won.’
They would have installed a signal jammer in the car he was in.
“Fine, let’s go.”
But she couldn’t refuse.
What about the animals and plants living on the mountain? Seo Jae-yi, who had started living with a dragon in a greenhouse filled with plants, couldn’t ignore their plight, even though she knew their intentions.
“But let me warn you.”
She spoke as she got into the car they had prepared. They all stared at her nervously.
“I received Guiding, but it’s not complete yet. The wildfire might spread even further if I try to extinguish it. Well, bring Baek Joo-won back quickly if you don’t want that. He’s the only one who can stop me.”
Their faces paled at her warning.