The Mist Vol 2 Chapter 39

Vol 2 Chapter 39

Since the day Kapros had shut himself in his room to practice magic, Kran, who was busily running around the entire city, was frequently visible, but Yu-wan was nowhere to be seen.

The reason Kran was running around the entire city was because of the quest "Solve Ten Requests from the Temple" that he had been ordered to complete to qualify for finding the place that would be a clue after obtaining the quest gem. However, these requests were actually all about solving the problems of NPCs who came to the temple.

For instance, because of concerns like "My father opposes my marriage to Ryan!" from the NPC Marie, the butcher's daughter, Kran was currently following the butcher NPC Martin's every move daily. The stubborn Martin was now so disgusted that he would run away at the sight of Kran, which showed a level of persistence that anyone would have to acknowledge. It seemed like a bunch of annoying tasks that might have made Kapros seriously consider giving up the quest, but Kran's personality - sociable if put nicely, or meddlesome if put harshly - seemed to find such tasks rewarding.

"..."

As Kapros thought of Kran, who was probably still running around outside, he suddenly felt a strong desire to get some fresh air himself.

'Since I can't figure out how to train with just this swordsmanship skill I've obtained, should I go out to see Kran?'

"Martin! Think about it! Isn't it happiest to marry someone you love and who loves you back? Ryan said his dream is to take care of Marie so well that she wouldn't have to lift a finger. When will such love come again!"

"Ah, shut up! Stop following me! Taking care of her so she doesn't have to lift a finger, does he think my daughter is some kind of plant!"

"That's not what I meant...!"

As Kapros watched Kran running around from a distance with his hood on, smiling, Kion-hyung approached from the side.

"Kar."

"Ah, hyung."

"...Did you just smile?"

As Kapros turned around with a hint of a smile, Kion-hyung blinked a few times and then looked fiercely towards Kran before speaking.

"That Shine bastard. To think he could make you laugh when even I couldn't..."

"What?"

"Nothing. By the way, do you know how many of those quests he's done now?"

"I heard it was the eighth one."

"Hmm."

Kion-hyung scratched his head while looking at Kran, who was grinning and greeting people here and there.

"That guy, he's good in many ways, but he really stands out."

"It can't be helped. That's just how Kran is."

"Yeah. Well, he doesn't seem like a bad guy."

Although his words were harsh, Kion-hyung had also softened considerably due to Kran's recent charm, and he muttered with a chuckle.

"If that guy becomes famous, it wouldn't be bad in its own way. The eighth Knight of the Demon God's guild seems to be suspicious, but since Pal-deung and I are stirring things up everywhere as a smoke screen, they can't make a move carelessly. Hehehe."

"Really?"

Kapros had thought it strange that nothing had happened despite Kran's conspicuous behavior, considering how much fuss they had made at first. As Kapros nodded indifferently, Kion-hyung pulled down the cloth covering his face below his eyes and spoke with a suddenly serious expression.

"But, what about that guy?"

When Kapros looked back with an expression that said 'That guy?', Kion-hyung averted his gaze slightly and muttered.

"The Dark guy. Yu-wan."

Kapros silently looked into Kion-hyung's eyes. As always, Kion-hyung's eyes were resolute about what he wanted to do. Feeling as if his confused mind, which he himself couldn't fully define, was being reflected, Kapros slightly turned his head away.

"Well... He hasn't been seen lately."

Kapros's nerves, already on edge due to worrying about Yu-wan, were reaching their limit as the time Yu-wan remained unseen grew longer. It had been over a week since Yu-wan had disappeared. Actually, it wasn't that he hadn't been seen at all - they had briefly met - but every time Kapros tried to talk to him, Yu-wan would quickly disappear somewhere, leading to the current situation.

Something was different from before. Rather than having a fight, Yu-wan had never blatantly avoided him like this before.

'If he wants to play the game alone, it would be better to say so and act separately from me.'

As it increasingly seemed like Yu-wan was avoiding him, Kapros was starting to have doubts that weren't there before. Was Yu-wan really hiding something from him? What could his purpose be? As he was thinking this, Kion-hyung spoke again.

"Kar. No matter how much we two draw attention and stir things up to block the Knight of the Demon God's gaze from turning to you guys, if one of you strays from where we can protect you, even that method won't work. We don't know when they might notice. So when you meet him, beat him up well and keep him locked up if you have to. Got it? Well, I just stopped by to see you while passing, so I'll be going now."

After Kion-hyung gently patted Kapros's back and left, Kapros stood there blankly. A long while later, Kran, who had spotted him, ran over and hugged him tightly. Kapros turned around.

"Did you come to see me?"

As Kapros glanced at Kran's eyes, he saw a bright face full of joy. Normally, he would have cut him off saying no, joked around, and then laughed at Kran's dejected face, but making someone who was so happy look crestfallen seemed a bit pitiful. When Kapros nodded slightly, Kran smiled shyly.

"Really?"

His brightly smiling face was almost dazzling. When Kapros first saw that smile, he thought it looked a bit unpleasant for a handsome guy to smile with such a halo, but now that smiling face deeply conveyed a feeling that he was a good guy, which actually made Kapros feel at ease. Of course, he had no intention of saying this to Kran directly.

"Kap, I finally succeeded in getting Martin the butcher's permission for Marie's marriage!"

Unaware of what Kapros was thinking, Kran clenched both fists and shouted, his face showing that all his hardships were flashing before his eyes like a panorama.

'So he finally succeeded.'

About 7 days in MIST time. It had been a long journey that took over two real days. Even for the sociable and meddlesome Kran, this task seemed to have been really troublesome.