Chapter 49

Chapter 49. Northbound Train (1)

This time...

They boarded the train without any problems.

"How is the real train more run-down than the fake one?"

"Probably because this one is used constantly."

"Hey, can I take the window seat?"

Lee Jukheon grimaced.

"I feel like I'm going to get motion sickness."

"We already decided with rock-paper-scissors."

Seok Taejun shook his head.

"Just endure it."

Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun sat in the front pair of seats.

Lee Jukheon and Joo Minha sat behind them.

Every other seat was occupied.

So they had no choice but to sit closely together.

"Kang Yujin, is it really okay to leave everything involving the church to Ma Taesu?"

"We handed over all the evidence."

"He'll take care of it."

"What else can we do?"

"Well... that's true."

"I finished things with Baek Yunho too."

Kang Yujin looked out the window.

"I don't really want to think about it anymore."

"In the end, we owe Ma Taesu quite a lot."

Seok Taejun sighed.

"From beginning to end."

He was right.

Throughout their journey through the central-western region...

They had relied heavily on Ma Taesu.

Without his help, reaching Cheonan would probably have been far more difficult.

"We helped Ma Taesu plenty too."

"Still."

Kang Yujin looked outside at the passing city.

"I realized something during all this."

"What?"

"Ma Taesu wasn't helping us purely out of kindness."

"He extended his hand because we were useful to him."

Then Kang Yujin remembered something.

"Come to think of it..."

"There's something I didn't tell you."

"What?"

"My Bond Rank increased."

Kang Yujin had not yet told the others that his Bond Rank had increased and that he could now use the Constellation Armament.

He had decided to mention it now.

"The Nameless One finally acknowledged me."

Kang Yujin's expression became emotional.

"Honestly, I was really moved..."

"Oh."

Seok Taejun nodded.

"Ours increased too."

"What?"

Kang Yujin immediately turned toward him.

Lee Jukheon leaned forward from the seat behind.

"All three of us noticed it had gone up."

"Seriously?"

"Why would we lie about that?"

Kang Yujin stiffened.

"So I wasn't the only one?"

Seok Taejun quickly tried to calm him.

"N-Normally, yours probably would've increased first!"

"But maybe the Constellation was busy and handled everyone together!"

Lee Jukheon snorted from behind.

"Oh, give me a break."

Then he grinned.

"Kang Yujin."

"You thought you were the only one whose Bond Rank increased, didn't you?"

"You were probably feeling proud."

"But what a shame."

He counted on his fingers.

"Seok Taejun increased."

"I increased."

"Even Joo Minha, who hasn't been contracted for ten days, increased."

Lee Jukheon smirked.

"Looks like your Constellation isn't treating you as especially as you thought."

"..."

"Lee Jukheon, why would you say it like that?!"

Seok Taejun snapped.

"He's not a little kid."

"It's ridiculous that he's taking something like this so seriously."

"Lee Jukheon."

Joo Minha spoke calmly.

"Please don't provoke Kang Yujin too much."

"You know he has strong faith."

"Having faith in a Constellation is strange in the first place."

"Lee Jukheon!"

Kang Yujin muttered quietly.

"Then all of you can use the Constellation Armament too."

The other three suddenly fell silent.

Seok Taejun blinked.

"Kang Yujin..."

"Didn't your Bond Rank increase to E-rank?"

"E-rank?"

"We were all F-rank before."

"The three of us increased to E-rank, so I assumed yours did too."

"What are you talking about?"

"You can use a Constellation Armament starting at D-rank."

"Only Pseudo Manifestation, which lets you use part of its power..."

"But still."

Kang Yujin froze.

"D-rank?"

"Open your status window."

Kang Yujin did as he was told.

Then he found the line that read:

[Bond Rank: D]

"It's D."

"Oh."

Seok Taejun smiled.

"Then you're the only one at D-rank."

"Your rank went up two levels at once."

"What?"

Lee Jukheon stared.

"That's ridiculous."

Joo Minha nodded calmly.

"Kang Yujin has been contracted the longest."

"I believe it is reasonable."

"Only me..."

Kang Yujin clenched his fist.

"Two ranks at once..."

His eyes shone.

"He acknowledged me."

"Come on, that's no fun."

Lee Jukheon complained.

"Why'd he raise you two whole ranks at once?"

"At this rate you'll become A-rank immediately."

"Lee Jukheon, weren't you A-rank with your previous Constellation?"

"I'd been contracted with that Constellation for a long time!"

"And if Kang Yujin reaches A-rank, that's a good thing."

Seok Taejun sighed.

"He'll become stronger for the team."

"That's separate from the fact that watching him act smug annoys me."

"Lee Jukheon, enough."

"You guys keep pampering him."

"That's why he constantly says weird things."

"Just think of it as part of Kang Yujin's personality."

Joo Minha nodded.

"Correct."

"A savior should possess at least a few unusual qualities."

"You're plenty unusual yourself."

While they continued talking...

A voice came from the seats across the aisle.

"Why are those guys so loud?"

"Did they board the train just to gossip?"

"Leave them."

"They look like Contractors from some rural area."

"They're probably excited because they're finally riding a train to the Capital Region."

A man and woman were sitting there.

They glanced toward Kang Yujin's group while talking loudly.

"Hmm..."

Seok Taejun scratched his head.

"Maybe we should talk a little more quietly."

"What?"

Lee Jukheon instantly stood.

"Those bastards are picking a fight with us?"

"Lee Jukheon!"

"Let go."

Lee Jukheon glared.

"Hey!"

"What did you just say about us?"

As Lee Jukheon approached...

The man sitting beside the aisle looked up.

"I said you country bumpkins were excited about going to Seoul and wouldn't stop talking."

He smirked.

"Got a problem?"

"Hah."

Lee Jukheon shook his head in disbelief.

"This is ridiculous."

Then he pointed.

"Do you even know who we are?"

"Wow."

The man exchanged a look with the woman and laughed.

"This just keeps getting better."

He leaned back.

"This is why people from the countryside are hopeless."

"They get a little famous in their neighborhood and start acting like nationally famous Contractors."

The woman smirked.

"But once they arrive in the Capital Region..."

"They're just unknown country bumpkins."

From the way they spoke...

They seemed to be Contractors based in the Capital Region.

Maybe they had temporarily come down to Cheonan for work.

"Fine, fine."

The man waved a hand.

"I'll ask."

"Who are you?"

"Let's see whether we've heard your name."

"You bastards...!"

Lee Jukheon's voice became harsher.

The situation was about to explode.

Seok Taejun hurriedly looked at Kang Yujin.

"What should we do?"

"Should we stop him?"

"Leave him."

Kang Yujin remained seated.

"Lee Jukheon chose to respond to them."

"He can deal with it himself."

"Seriously?"

Seok Taejun stared.

"Kang Yujin, you're only cold toward Lee Jukheon."

"What?"

"If Joo Minha or I were in the same situation, would you stay out too?"

"..."

Kang Yujin thought for a moment.

Then...

He stood.

"I can't treat only Lee Jukheon differently."

Seok Taejun looked baffled.

"You're really unusual."

Kang Yujin walked over and placed a hand on Lee Jukheon's shoulder.

"Enough."

"Hey, these guys just..."

"They're right."

Lee Jukheon frowned.

The seated man and woman burst into laughter.

"The Black Dragon Society and its enemies knew our names."

"Nobody in that region looked down on us."

"But it'll be different somewhere else."

Lee Jukheon hesitated.

"That's..."

"If you tell these people, 'Do you know who we are?'..."

Kang Yujin looked calm.

"Of course it won't mean anything."

"I didn't really expect them to know us."

"I just said it because I was angry..."

"Instead..."

Kang Yujin interrupted him.

"It would be better to tell them to shut up because they'll get hurt if a fight starts."

"..."

The expressions of the seated man and woman changed.

"What did you just say?"

"Didn't you hear me?"

Kang Yujin repeated each word clearly.

"I said shut up, because you'll get hurt if a fight starts."

"Hah."

The man sighed and stood.

He reached out to shove Kang Yujin's shoulder.

"We were going to let this go peacefully, but you're treating us like idiots..."

His voice stopped.

He had tried to shove Kang Yujin.

But Kang Yujin didn't move at all.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

"N-No..."

The man reached out again.

This time...

Kang Yujin caught his hand halfway.

"Agh!"

"Don't touch people without permission."

Kang Yujin twisted the man's arm.

"Stop! I was wrong!"

"Don't break it!"

"Hey, Kang Yujin! Be gentle!"

Kang Yujin frowned.

"This is strange."

"In the movies I watched when I was younger, twisting someone's joint like this made them unable to move."

Apparently...

He was doing something wrong because he was relying on a vague old memory.

Kang Yujin released him.

Then the woman by the window stood.

"You bastard..."

She was actually more heavily built than the man.

At a glance...

She was clearly a physical-combat type Contractor.

"You've got some strength."

She cracked her neck.

"But your technique is sloppy."

"I'm still learning technique."

"Want me to teach you myself?"

While they spoke...

Seok Taejun's voice came from behind.

"Joo Minha, please do something!"

"Leave them, Seok Taejun."

"Leave them?!"

"They were the ones who picked a fight on a train used by civilians."

Joo Minha's voice was cold.

"They've probably behaved like this many times before and caused trouble for others."

"Well..."

"This is a good opportunity to correct their habits."

"It may prevent future victims."

"..."

"Of course, the other passengers here will be inconvenienced."

"When everything is over, I'll properly apologize to them."

"Why are you so cold about this...?"

Apparently...

Neither of them intended to interfere.

Lee Jukheon had also stepped back after losing interest.

"Don't look away!"

At that moment...

The woman's right fist shot forward.

It looked like a jab.

A light punch thrown without putting much tension in the shoulder.

But...

The speed was far beyond what Kang Yujin expected.

Unexpected.

That single attack was faster and sharper than Sama Yun's punches.

Of course...

It lacked power.

So even though it landed squarely on Kang Yujin's face...

It barely hurt.

"W-What?"

The woman's eyes widened.

She had landed a clean punch.

But Kang Yujin stood there as if nothing had happened.

He observed her for a moment.

Then he understood.

"Ah."

"It's a skill."

"What?"

"You're controlling your punches with a Skill, right?"

Kang Yujin didn't know exactly how it worked.

But if a Skill existed that assisted punching technique...

He wanted to learn it.

Although learning new Skills was apparently extremely difficult.

"What's the Skill called?"

"Are you mocking me?!"

The woman punched again.

But this time...

It didn't work.

Kang Yujin had already seen the attack once.

He could predict its path.

"L-Let go!"

Kang Yujin caught her fist tightly.

Then he twisted her arm.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Strange."

"This isn't the right position either?"

The woman struggled wildly in pain.

Lee Jukheon stared.

"Kang Yujin..."

"Were you really that awkward at this?"

"Shut up..."

Kang Yujin eventually released her too.

"So..."

He looked at both of them.

"What now?"

"..."

"..."

The man and woman glared at Kang Yujin with red faces.

Then...

They quickly gathered their belongings and left the seats.

They looked around nervously, clearly humiliated.

"Where are they going?"

"I don't think there are any empty seats in the other cars."

"Probably the dining car."

Seok Taejun shrugged.

"Better than sitting here and facing us."

"Dining car?"

Kang Yujin looked interested.

"They have one of those?"

"I'd like to see it."

"Kang Yujin, did you even hear what I said?"

Joo Minha stood.

"Hmm."

"Then I should apologize to the passengers around us for causing trouble."

At that moment...

An elderly man seated a little ahead turned toward them.

"Thank you for providing such an entertaining sight."

Kang Yujin's group looked over.

"I apologize, but I've been listening to your conversation."

"Ah."

Seok Taejun bowed his head.

"Sorry for being noisy, sir."

"No, no."

The old man smiled.

"I listened because I heard a familiar name."

He had a long white beard.

With his calm appearance...

He almost looked like an immortal sage.

"I believe I heard the name Ma Taesu."

"Did you work with him?"

"We received a lot of help from him in the central-western region."

Seok Taejun looked curious.

"Do you know him?"

"I worked with Ma Taesu several times when he was active in other regions."

The old man shrugged.

"I heard he'd come to Cheonan and wanted to meet him."

"But he seemed extremely busy."

"Ah..."

"He definitely was."

"He had a lot to deal with."

"This is also fate."

The old man smiled gently.

"Why don't we introduce ourselves?"

Then he spoke.

"My name is Jegal Geum."

The moment he said his name...

Everyone except Kang Yujin stiffened.

"Why are all of you reacting like that?"

Lee Jukheon stared at him.

"Hey, Kang Yujin!"

"You don't know Jegal Geum?!"

"It's Jegal Geum from the Capital Region!"

"The people earlier just said you can't expect everyone to know people from other regions."

"How would I know someone from the Capital Region?"

"Seriously...!"

"Kang Yujin."

Joo Minha spoke seriously.

"This man is one of the Eight Guardians."

"Eight Guardians?"

"Yes."

"One of the eight Contractors who rule the Capital Region."

After hearing that...

Kang Yujin looked again at the old man sitting in front of them.

Jegal Geum smiled warmly.

"So..."

He tilted his head.

"What are your names?"