Chapter 719: Hidden piece (11)

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At the top floor of the Red Lion team building, in the office of team master Red King Yeom Bangyeol.

Starting with the door and window, a blue flame rose to cover the wall and disappeared.

As Cheongryong’s power spread everywhere, the office became a perfectly closed room.

After confirming that no energy waves or sound would leak out, Cheongryong asked to confirm.

“What about Junyeol?”

“He’s out because he had an appointment with a junior from Eungwang High.”

“Which junior?”

“Jo Euishin.”

Cheongryong smiled happily as if he liked Yeom Bangyeol’s answer.

“He went to see the benefactor? They must be on good terms.”

The mention of Yeom Junyeol and Jo Euishin created a warm atmosphere, but not for long.

It was time for them to talk about the traitor who they considered family.

“Have you checked all the gifts given by the shamans?”

The shamans shopped for Christmas gifts for the dragons and the Red Lion team members on Christmas Eve.

The shamans disappeared from the intelligence team who were supposed to guard them.

Afterward, they gave an excuse that they wanted to give surprise gifts so they hid from the players.

“Yes, there was nothing wrong with the gifts.”

“But it would be better to dispose of them with proper excuse.”

“We bought the same products to replace them.”

Yeom Bangyeol’s suspicion reached its peak and he decided to replace all the items that the shamans touched even once.

Remodeling and equipment replacement have been completed everywhere except for the floor where the shamans stayed.

In the meantime, it was ridiculous to receive a gift that the shamans chose and bought.

Cheonrgyong nodded, satisfied with Yeom Bangyeol’s choice.

“Where are the shamans now?”

“Four of them are recuperating in their own rooms with the excuse that they collapsed last time. We put surveillance with the excuse of taking care of them.”

Yoohwang (Sulphur) collapsed in the prayer room, while Nok (Green), Byeok (Jade), and Ja (Purple) collapsed in the shopping mall.

They were all found covered in Jo Euishin’s black snow.

However, the Dragon Clan didn’t question the shamans over this.

Before they woke up, the black snowflake disappeared without a trace, so they decided to leave it as if they didn’t know and wait to see how they would act.

The problem was that Hong was with Yoohwang in the prayer room when the group of dragons stormed in.

“And Hong?”

“She didn’t seem to know what the black snow was. I don’t think she’s told Yoohwang yet either. She might think it isn’t a problem because there’s a clear energy in that snow.”

“Is that so…? No. If we pretend not to know, it might be the same on their side. It’s a headache.”

They don’t know if the shamans know that they’ve noticed their betrayal.

There’s a possibility that the shamans are also pretending not to know that they were discovered to catch them off guard.

Cheongyrong felt like his stomach was rotting every hour this situation continued to happen before him.

It was very painful to dig into their inner thoughts and gauge whether or not they were betrayed.

However, Cheongryong firmly hid his pain to protect his true family.

“So where is Hong right now?”

“She’s taking care of Yoohwang.”

“Her body must’ve gotten better already, but she’s holding her on purpose and receiving care. Have you figured out why Yoohwang is acting like that?”

“She’s keeping the innocent Hong hostage. We don’t know if she’s persuading her to betray.”

Through the testimony of the Dragon Clan’s benefactor, Jo Euishin, it was confirmed that Yoohwang was a traitor.

They worked hard to dig around against Yoohwang, but they found little information.

As the oldest of the shamans, Yoohwang never showed a gap even with Cheongryong and Yeom Bangyeol in front of her.

Even if a large number of Red Lion team members were deployed, they couldn’t find anything either.

If they didn’t trust Jo Euishin entirely, or if they didn’t see Yoohwang with black snow, Cheongryong would still trust her like family.

After exchanging reports on the shamans…

“I think this topic is over for now. Shall we talk about something else? Junyeol happens to be out so we better talk about this now.”

Yong Jegun, who has been listening all along, spoke up.

He couldn’t see with his eyes because he was blindfolded, but everyone felt his smile.

‘That guy’s smiling right now?’

Other than the shamans, something else was on Cheongryong’s mind recently.

It was Yong Jegun’s ascension.

Until now, Cheongryong has respected the choices of the dragons who chose to ascend.

He wanted to keep that up, but he didn’t feel good about it.

No matter how much he thought about it, it didn’t seem like Yong Jegun would choose to ascend to be with the Dragon King.

The thought of the Dragon King made Cheongryong dizzy again.

‘Even Yong Jegun couldn’t hear the voice of the Dragon King, and he’s the one who’s closest to him… What the hell is going on?’

The exchange between the mortal world and superior beings is initiated by the latter.

In other words, if the superior being refuses or stops communication, then it is cut off.

Yong Jegun brought up something important.

“Junyeol’s birthday is only a little over a month away, but we haven’t picked a gift yet, right? Have you prepared a party?”

“An important question indeed.”

“Of course, I remembered!”

Cheongryong expressed agreement with a stern voice while Yeom Bangyeol answered fiercely.

It’s December 31st, and Yeom Junyeol’s birthday is February 4th.

The biggest event of the Dragon Clan and the Red Lion was just around the corner.

The first day of the New Year when a new shaman will be selected is February 12th, making it the last event before the day of the showdown.

Soon, Cheongryong and Yeom Bangyeol devoted themselves to planning the party.

***

At the private room of the restaurant that Yeom Junyeol reserved.

After eating the amuse-bouche, Yeom Junyeol brought up the topic of gifts.

“I received your Christmas gift. Thank you.”

“Me too.:

Yeom Junyeol prepared a gift as a student and as a senior.

I also prepared two gifts in expectation of that.

Yeom Junyeol will receive lots of gifts since his birthday is coming, so I chose something consumable to not be burdensome.

Yeom Junyeol tanked me for the pave chocolate and tea light candles that I chose.

‘I can’t believe he liked it so much. Should I have picked a bigger one? No, that would be too burdensome.’

I should think more about his next birthday present.

I think it will take a long time to choose a birthday gift as good as the Hongryong goods that Yeom Junyeol gave me.

“Actually, I was going to give you gloves as a gift, but when I saw that the students in Class Zero gave you one, I chose something else.”

Yeom Junyeol must’ve run into my classmates when shopping.

Does everyone think that I’m sensitive to cold?

I think the old man used to try to buy me gloves too.

When the next course, a pot of mussel rice, came out, the topic changed again.

“I was surprised by your message, teacher. You said I wouldn’t be able to contact you for a while.”

Yeom Junyeol mentioned the message I sent before going to the underworld.

Seeing that he’s using honorifics, he must be talking as my student.

He wasn’t questioning, rather, he was expressing pure concern.

“You said that additional messages would arrive if things didn’t work out as scheduled, right? I was worried that those messages would come.”

It was the same for me.

I still had a lot of work to do, but I had to leave messages for everyone.

Even if I couldn’t help it, I didn’t want to.

Since I came back from the underworld safely, there will be no such messages going away for a while.

“…Did you know what was going to happen that day, teacher?”

“Yeah.”

The bright Yeom Junyeol seemed to have noticed that I intervened largely during that day.

I admired Yeom Junyeol’s insight.

‘Would it have been better if I told him in advance?’

However, neither the Dragon Clan nor the Red Lion Team told him anything.

The reason was to be fair with other students.

And if I told Yeom Junyeol, I was afraid that he’d take excessive steps for other students.

In any case, it didn’t change that I pushed Yeom Junyeol unexpectedly even though I knew about the death traps.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you in advance.”

“No, please! I’m glad you called Grandma Chokryong for me, teacher. And I’m proud of you for preventing such a big incident.”

“I didn’t do it on my own.”

“But you played a big role. The black snow was your doing, right teacher? And I’m sure you did many things other than that.”

It was difficult to look at Yeom Junyeol’s eyes which were full of trust and respect.

He must’ve been impressed with the black snow.

He explained for a long time how he felt when he got hit by the black snow and how Eungwang High looked during that time.

The continuous praise made it difficult for me to eat properly.

Despite me becoming increasingly reticent, Yeom Junyeol continued to talk about the black snow.

“Teacher, did you predict that that would happen in the otherworld dominated by the demon?”

“…That?”

The subject finally changed and I came to my senses.

I recalled Yeom Junyeol’s movement on the day of Christmas Eve.

The demon priest of Iranus pulled Yeom Junyeol into a garden using an otherworld simulator.

He had the legendary dragon killer weapon, the Gram, and tried to kill Yeom Junyeol with it.

‘I knew he’d be prepared, but to think that he had a weapon like that…’

Chokryong and Jegal were put on standby, but I heard they were a little late.

Yeom Junyeol would’ve been in danger if it weren’t for Class 2-0 and Ma Jinseung.

My fingertips went cold at the thought.

“Did you hear that we dominated an otherworld?”

Dominated an otherworld?

The students and Jegal’s reports said that they succeeded in clearing the otherworld.

Of course, I thought that meant they completed the attack by defeating the boss enemy.

What is Yeom Junyeol saying?

‘Geum Chansol and Wang Chansol have…’

When I thought about it, Yeom Junyeol looked rather playful.

But rather than mischief, it was happiness.

“I guess this is something that even you didn’t expect, teacher.”

Yeom Junyeol explained it to me.

The energy wave link was mentioned.

I doubted my ears when I heard that Class 2-0, Ma Jinseung, Chokryong, and Yeom Junyeol succeeded in linking their energy waves.

According to Hwang Jiho, linking energy waves of royal lineage was impossible.

“The moment I joined the energy wave link, the energy waves began to gather around Hongryong. Stronger forces gathered than just the energy waves put together! At that time, Hongryong would’ve been stronger than Grandma Chokryong.”

I established a hypothesis as I listened to Yeom Junyeols’ explanation.

An energy wave link between royal lineage to royal lineage, and royal lineage to human, was impossible.

However, it’s possible when descendants join.

There was something that caught my attention.

‘He’s saying that the strength gathered around Hongryong, not Yeom Junyeol himself. If someone has a light skill that can summon something, the energy wave not only succeeds but it also becomes stronger.’

When my thoughts reached that far, I heard a system notification sound in my head.

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