Chapter 458: Another candidate (10)

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Can I really accept two presents?

I hesitated, but unable to reject the good sunbae and kind student that Yeom Junyeol was, I accepted them in the end.

“Thanks.”

“I’m the one who’s always thankful, teacher!”

Yeom Junyeol replied with a big smile.

If anyone had seen the expression on his face, they would think that it was Yeom Junyeol who received a present instead.

‘I wonder what gift my student prepared.’

Could there be anything better than a Hongryong light stick from the Dragon Clan?

I checked the item card with a nervous heart.

That feeling of nervousness and excitement soon turned into embarrassment.

‘…It’s a crow mask!’

What was drawn on the card was clearly a crow mask.

Inside the crow mask was a Hongryong-shaped flame mark, making it obvious that the mask was made by Yeom Junyeol himself.

To think that Yeom Junyeol used his precious talents to make this kind of thing!

Adding to the list where Jang Namwook is number one, it seems that the number of teenagers who wasted their time and talent in making useless things has increased.

“It reminds me of when you called me last time, teacher. I had a lot of crow masks, but I didn’t even think of making one for my teacher.”

…I couldn’t say anything because he spoke in such a guilty voice.

No, there’s no way I can say anything in refutation of my playable character and one and only student.

When I shook the card in my hand, Yeom Junyeol said something again.

“The mask has a special function. If you flow energy waves into it, the surface becomes covered in flames.”

So the Hongryong special edition mask has a special function.

To be honest, I didn’t really need another crow mask, but thinking that it was the only one made by Red Dragon Yeom Junyeol, it’s extremely valuable.

Activating the function that Yeom Junyeol said I think would make it some sort of a firebird mask, but since my student said that it’s a crow mask, then a crow mask it is.

I was extremely touched by my student’s gift as I listened to his explanation.

In the end, I praised the completeness and design of the mask that he made.

Yeom Junyeol seemed shy.

“Honestly, it took me a lot of trial and error to make a mask good enough to give to you, teacher. Thanks to you, the number of my spare masks increased.”

…The number of crow masks he had back at the TC Research Institute was already plenty, but to think that the number increased again!

The sudden flux of crow masks made me dizzy.

I have no problem with the crow masks themselves, but the problem is its connection to ‘That Word’.

‘…That Word isn’t widely known for wearing crow masks anyway. It’s gonna be alright.’

It was only after telling myself that I would be fine did I regain my composure.

Since I was silent for a while, I saw Yeom Junyeol carefully looking my way.

“…Teacher, did you hear the news from Saeron?”

Is he talking about Moon Saeron?

I don’t know what news he’s referring to, but I decided to answer as his hoobae Jo Euishin since I belong to the newspaper department as a freshman student.

“I haven’t heard much from her except that she’s covering some news abroad.”

Moon Saeron has been absent from school since the weekend.

There were many members that worried that she might’ve been caught in an accident abroad, but we were quickly assured that she was fine from the messages that she sent.

Yeom Junyeol replied in his sunbae tone as well.

“Saeron happened to meet a teacher of mine abroad. He’s been away for a long time, but I heard he’s coming back soon.”

The “unexpected person” that Moon Saeron met abroad was Yeom Junyeol’s teacher?

I could see now why Moon Saeron was so excited.

‘Yeom Junyeol’s teachers were all big names. Except for me.’

There were two teachers of Yeom Junyeol who were known to the outside world.

One is the Red King Yeom Bangyeol, father of Yeom Junyeol.

The other was the Wandering Dragon.

Yeom Bangyeol has been staying in Korea, so Moon Saeron must’ve met the latter.

‘He’s a wanderer, but he’s strong enough to be Yeom Junyeol’s teacher.’

That dragon hardly appeared in PMH except when Yeom Junyeol sometimes mentions him.

That dragon first appeared after Yeom Junyeol’s death and after negotiations between the Red Lion-Dragon Clan and the Korean government broke down.

Although the dragon is known for being difficult to contact, he immediately knew of his student’s death.

When the dragon came back to Korea, he joined the front line with Cheongryong.

‘…That’s when Cadmus appeared in the game.’

Cadmus immediately used the Dragon Fang on Cheonryong and Yeom Junyeol’s teacher.

The Dragon Fang wielded by Cadmus could not be stopped by a dragon’s powers.

Cheongryong survived, but Yeom Junyeol’s teacher was killed by the Dragon Fang.

It was a death in vain, but thanks to his sacrifice, the Dragon Clan was able to recognize the existence of Cadmus and how to deal with him.

‘That teacher didn’t appear much, and they’re killed off quickly so I don’t know what kind of dragon they are.’

While thinking about it, Yeom Junyeol began to explain about his teacher.

“That person and my father have many students other than me. Everyone recommends experienced people…”

Listening to him made me feel something strange.

Why does Yeom Junyeol sound like he’s making excuses?

‘Ah, don’t tell me… he’s bothered by that?’

I have Yeom Junyeol as my only student, and Yeom Junyeol has three teachers, including me.

My good student must’ve been guilty of not telling me about this earlier.

I was thinking about what I should say and I decided to just change the subject.

I don’t think we’ll be able to talk about good things if we drag this out for long, and I thought it would be a very uncomfortable situation if I said something wrong.

I glossed over the topic, saying that I was looking forward to what kind of interview article Moon Saeron would write.

As if he read my intentions or he simply decided to let it go, Yeom Junyeol also changed the subject.

“This restaurant must be visited by a lot of royal lineages and descendants. They organized our route so that we wouldn’t run into anyone.”

Come to think of it, since we arrived, we haven’t encountered anyone except for the staff who guided us to our seats and served our meal.

Looking out to the other tables, it’s not that there weren’t a lot of people, but the restaurant managed them well.

It’s a restaurant fit for people who don’t wish to be noticed, so it would be used by a lot of royal lineages and descendants.

“Do you come here often with the other dragons?”

“Just once. We don’t eat outside often so…”

It was very characteristic of the closed-off dragons.

The Dragon Clan was inevitably given media exposure because of Yeom Junyeol’s outside activities, but they retained their closed-off nature.

“I’ve seen other royal lineages here other than us twice. One was a royal lineage in a red dress in the lounge…”

A red dress.

I was suddenly reminded of a conversation that I shared with Yeom Junyeol in the past.

— On the eve of the Kimopolea shipboard party, I met a royal lineage who seemed to know you, teacher. I wanted to let you know right away, but I didn’t know how to contact you so…

— It was a royal lineage in a red dress. She told me to follow her because she had something to say to me. But I followed your words, teacher. I didn’t go with her because I didn’t know who she was.

So this is where Yeom Junyeol met Ungnyeo (Sad Bear Goddess)?

The day before the Kimopolea incident, wasn’t that the day that the chess competition ended?

On that day, Yeom Junyeol was with members of the Red Lion Team and the Dragon Clan who dealt with the Jamsil Baseball Stadium incident.

In other words, either Cheongryong or Yeom Bangyeol would’ve been with him that day.

I don’t know how Ungyeo managed to come into contact with Yeom Junyeol.

“And the other one I met was the Snake Clan’s head.”

What? Who?

It was already strange that he met Ungnyeo, but he mentioned an even odder name.

Especially since the Snake Clan is one of the suspects of being the Long Tail, the traitor to the 12-point alliance.

‘This restaurant’s structure makes it hard to run into other people though. Unless that person approached Yeom Junyeol intentionally like Ungnyeo…’

Yeom Junyeol began to talk about the head of the Snake Clan.

He said that the clan head was on their way back from meeting someone from the TC group at the time.

Based on Hwang Jiho’s investigation, the Snake Clan was trying to get in contact with the TC and Namgung Groups.

It seems like after their appointment with the TC Group, the head of the Snake Clan decided to approach Yeom Junyeol.

“They knew that I was in the restaurant and asked my family if he could attend. The Dragon Clan and the Snake Clan are in the same 12-point alliance, that’s why.”

“…What kind of conversation did you have?”

Yeom Junyeol replied in a bright voice.

“We talked about my school life. The head of the Snake Clan seemed very interested in Eungwang High.”

***

The priest of Demon God Invidius has been surveilling Eungwang District every day lately.

The priest disregarded his need for food and water as he was absorbed in observing Eungwang District.

The other demons thought that Invidius’ priest was searching for Avaritia’s priest since the two were quite close, but the reality was different.

Invidius’ priest had no intention of finding or rescuing Avaritia’s priest.

Everything that Avaritia’s priest sees was already in his hands, so he had no reason to go through such trouble of finding him.

Invidius’ priest took care of the purple eyeball left by Avaritia’s priest, activating his Eye to examine all of Eungwang District.

‘I need to find a way to dig.’

Invidius’ priest had one target.

Eungwang District’s Tiger Clan, and the crow-masked Spritual Word skill user.

‘It will be hard to move as long as that skill user is there. There are already two teachers in Eungwang High who use the same skill, and now I have to catch this crow-masked man!’

It’s not just that the man uses the skill that the Demon Race is weak against, but that man has clearly joined hands with the Tiger Clan.

It wouldn’t be easy hunting him.

But he wants to catch him with his own hands.

‘I need to find a medium that can imbibe his authority. That person from Eungwang High has bad mentality and no strong background, and it would be perfect if I met with him. If our connection collapses, it would be more difficult.

Invidius, the symbol of jealousy.

A man of low mental strength, intense jealousy, and a sense of inferiority was the prey of the Demon God Invidius.

‘There are many students who are jealous, but only a few of them have weak minds…’

Invidius’ priest has observed a handful of candidates but repeatedly gave up on them.

And now, Invidius’ priest has finally managed to find prey.

‘…This one would do.’

At the end of the demon’s gaze was a male student holding an unlighted cigarette in his mouth.

The nametag of the dark-faced student read ‘Bang Yoonseob’

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