Chapter 652
Chapter 652
An urgent voice called out, "Miss Ji-Ah... Yu-Na!"
In response, Kain instinctively attempted to move, but the men in black suits beside the lady, who just yelled the names of the two unconscious women, swiftly surrounded and blocked Kain, akin to forming a barricade.
"Miss, please step back."
"This is team B. We have found her acquaintances."
"Kim! Please secure Yu-Na and Miss Ji-Ah first!"
"Understood! Hey, back off right now."
The men, maintaining a cautious distance while surrounding Kain, made a move that displayed their skill. Even Davey did not know if the presidential bodyguards were this practical. And that said a lot, since it was natural for bodyguards protecting the national authority to be practical.
The atmosphere drastically changed, making it seem like they were ready to use force if Kain attempted to resist. So Kain, being in such a situation, slowly opened his mouth and said, "Did you come looking for them?"
The bodyguards remained silent. Instead, the woman, who had been quietly observing the situation, stepped forward.
"Who are you? Are you the one who did this to them?"
"I'm the one who made them faint."
Confusion clouded her face upon hearing Kain’s confident answer. She then asked, "Why?"
Kain looked at Davey. But the latter said nothing as he continued to only stare at her.
"Sir?" Kain’s expression changed as he saw Davey standing dazedly with an odd expression.
"Why?"
“Why are you like that?”
Davey frowned and glared at Kain. "What are you talking about?"
Davey was filled with confusion as both Kain and Perserque looked at him oddly. Perserque then slowly embraced him from behind.
"It's okay, Davey. It's okay,” she said in a soothing voice while gently caressing his cheek.
But Davey only felt a subtly cold touch.
"First,” Kain began to say. “Let's resolve the misunderstanding. I only made them faint to rescue them."
"What do you mean?"
"There were people who kidnapped them, so I saved them."
"I don’t believe that. Please release them."
"On the contrary, why should we hand these two over to you?"
Kain's sharp remark made her flinch.
"Yu-Na and Ji-Ah are my friends."
"Even a criminal could say that."
With Kain's excessive remark, Perserque pulled on Davey’s arm. But as she saw the puzzled look on Davey’s face, her lips tugged downward into a frown. “Davey, you...”
A frown also appeared on his face over her unusual behavior.
"Davey, my life is precious too."
However, Davey made no reply to this remark. So eventually, Kain stepped back from Davey with a bitter smile. Meanwhile, Hyun-Ah had a complex look full of unspoken words.
The standoff continued in silence. It was natural for her to be cautious around Kain. But the fact that she did not provoke him with rash actions proved that she was quite accustomed to handling such situations.
And that was when it began. Rain began to fall one by one, as if it had been waiting for the right moment. And before long, it was pouring down, swiftly soaking everyone’s clothes.
"Kim, please bring these people with you."
"Miss."
"It's okay,” she assured. “You will protect us in case something happens, right? Besides, we don't have time to be standing around here like this."
What was important at that moment was to check on the condition of Yu-Na and Ji-Ah.
"Is Dr. Han available? Please ask him to examine them."
"I'll contact him right away."
All of the men nodded their heads and moved without any hesitations.
"How long will you stand in the rain? If you really saved Yu-Na and Ji-Ah, then I should at least thank you first. I have a place nearby. Can we hear the whole story there?"
Kain sent a glance toward Davey, who then said, “Let’s do that.”
The matter with the two women was over, after all.
And so it was with a heart that somehow felt heavy that Davey followed Hyun-Ah.
* * *
Kain, having manifested physically, walked leisurely despite being watched and guarded by the men in suit.
They then entered a beautiful, traditional Korean house that appeared to be extremely large.
After taking the fainted Yu-na and Ji-Ah to a room, Hyun-Ah appeared before Kain, having changed into elegant and neat clothing.
"Sorry for the delay. It took me some time to find outfits in the right sizes,” she said, referring to the three sets of clothing she was holding—two were for men and the other was for a woman. She then handed them to Kain. "If it's not too much to ask, could you change into these? We'll listen to the details afterwards."
After saying this, she turned to leave.
"Why three sets? And one even looks like women's clothing."
Kain's question made her stop on her tracks, turn around again, and tilt her head in confusion.
"What do you mean? There are three of you."
Perserque, who had been playfully pinching Davey’s cheek, was startled by this. Davey was as surprised as she was, making him turn his head quietly.
Hyun-Ah was facing Davey directly, staring at him as if she could not understand.
"Can you see me?"
"Of course I can. Can't you?"
"That's impossible."
"Are you joking with me now? I trust you guys because of the lady with you, so please change quickly."
After saying that, she made her exit, leaving Davey wondering.
"Something... feels strange."
Although it was known that there were beings that could perceive spiritual entities, it was not theoretically possible that someone who had not studied devil magic could see a spirit with such clarity. While the human body had the potential to evolve, that did not mean it was capable of everything.
"Could we even touch those clothes?" Perserque asked.
A wave of silence descended on them. Kain didn’t seem to understand the situation either.
"It seems something is wrong. Normally, you are only to observe. You are different from the usual spirit."
"..."
"We still don't know why. Even God has not provided an answer."
"Let's just tackle it later. We're not going to stay here long anyway."
Perserque then grabbed Davey’s arm.
"Davey, are you really okay?"
"What do you mean, 'are you okay'?"
"That's just..." Her voice trailed off as she hesitated, but her gaze remained on his face.
Perserque had to ask him if he truly was okay, considering the woman who had handed them the clothes and left earlier was Shin Hyun-Ah—the precious sister who remained unforgettable to Davey despite the thousand years that had passed.
"I am Davey O’Rowane."
"Davey."
"I'm no longer Shin Hyun-Su."
If Davey, Hyun-Ahh’s deceased brother, claimed to be living as another human being, would anything change then?
"Davey, you can say to her that her brother is living another life like this. That he’s living so well. At the very least, you can say that.”
"It's been years since Hyun-Su died. Enough time to forget a brother she always fought with. There's no reason to dredge that up, Perserque."
"What if she still misses you?"
"She probably does. But time changes people, Perserque. If she knew about Hyun-Su's and my existence, things would not end well."
Since Hyun-Ah's brother, Hyun-Su, was dead, it would be best to avoid bringing up such painful memories. Davey felt sorry for her and held onto a lingering affection, but he still continuously attempted to disregard the memories of her in his head. It was as if a brother was finding solace in knowing that his sister was alive.
Of course, there was regret. But she was just Shin Hyun-Ah, Hyun-Su's sister, who was living on Earth. Meanwhile, he was Davey O’Rowane, a servant of Goddess Freyja and the first prince of the Rowane Kingdom, who had returned from training in the Hall of Heroes.
So he was okay. Hey may have feelings of regret and painful sadness toward her, but he had no lingering attachments.
As for her, there was no reason to be upset by dredging up the existence of Shin Hyun-Su now that so much time had passed. Time was medicine, after all. He would eventually be forgotten, and there was no reason for him to cause her any more grief by reopening the wounds of a family's death that had long ago healed.
"If she misses you?"
"Do you think I've only seen Hyun-Ah once or twice? Even if there's affection, it's not in her na?ve nature to suffer for years because of lingering attachments."
Perserque made no response to his remark.
Shh...
Naturally, since he was in a spiritual form, he could not touch his clothes. But it wasn’t just the clothes. Every physical object was isolated from him. Even the air was impossible for him to breathe in. Everything was blocked off by a giant wall between him and this world. So the only thing he could do was watch and listen.
Shh...
Without a word, he used a bit of spirit power. At the same time, as he was imbued with light, the clothes he was wearing changed into an exact replica of the clothes Hyun-Ah had given him.
"Well, it doesn't matter."
Perserque remained silent.
* * *
Hyun-Ah silently poured coffee.
"Have something warm. The doctor said it's fortunate that both of them did not suffer any major trauma,” Hyun-Ah said.
Kain was about to say something, but he was stopped by Davey, who then asked, "Do you live here alone?"
"I don't see why I should answer that question to you."
"There's no need, then."
"Then it's unnecessary to ask,” Hyun-Ah said a little tersely before diverting the topic. “While I was briefly away from them, we saw that someone was kidnapping them through the surveillance camera."
Davey remained quiet as he closed his eyes.
Go Jin-Seok seemed very familiar with kidnapping, and yet he failed to deal with just one surveillance camera. The thought itself was funny.
"Surveillance camera, huh?"
"This place happens to be my private property."
Hyun-Ah did not care to elaborate, and Davey did not inquire further. Meanwhile, Perserque, who seemed to be suffocated by the situation, maintained her silence.
"So, who are you? What is your relation to the people that got kidnapped? And how did you rescue them?"
"Do I have to tell you?" Davey said, returning a question instead of giving an answer.
However, she did not say much and settled for a simple explanation. "Maybe we need to communicate to clear any misunderstandings?"
"I'm not particularly concerned with clearing up misunderstandings."
"If you insist on evading the issue, I might have to report you for kidnapping."
"There's also a way I could shut you up here."
Hyun-Ah stayed silent for a moment, seemingly contemplating. After a heartbeat or two, she then asked, "What do you not like about this situation?"
"If you're living better than most, at least make your face show it."
"I don't even know what you're talking about," she coldly retorted before turning her gaze toward Kain. "Can you explain?"
When Davey merely shrugged his shoulders, Kain let out a short sigh. But just as he was about to speak...
"Miss."
A woman in a black suit approached her and whispered something.
"What are you talking about? There's a lady here as well."
"What? That's..."
The bewildered bodyguard's reaction made Hyun-Ah frown.
"There's no harm in being cautious, but drop the unnecessary suspicion."
At her words, the bodyguard looked even more puzzled. "What do you mean, miss? Currently, there's no one here besides you and this gentleman."
A chill ran through the air.
Hyun-Ah’s expression turned puzzled too, and she darted her confused gaze at Davey and Perserque. "Don't you see this gentleman here and that beautiful woman over there?"
The bodyguard hesitated for a moment before saying, "I apologize, miss. I'll contact the doctor."
The female bodyguard paled and hastily left, leaving Hyun-Ah frowning.
"What on earth..."
Eventually, Kain said, "It's natural not to see."
"What do you mean?"
"Because in everyone else's eyes, nobody is visible besides me. They were cautious because I was alone with two women."
"What are you talking about?"
"To put this simply, miss... You're the only one who can see these two. Do you understand?"
It was as if he was saying that she was seeing ghosts, and how he was revealing the truth so nonchalantly made her expression sour.
"Enough with the jokes..."
"The bodyguard did not seem like the type to joke around during work."
After saying so, Kain stood up, and as if he had prepared it ahead of time, he handed her a business card.
Guide of Spirits, Kain.
Her expression turned subtly at the weirdly named business card.
"Let me introduce myself again. I am Kain, a Grim Reaper under the command of King Yama, and these two are the supervisors overseeing me. The only reason I saved these two women is that it was not yet time for their lifespans to end."
Davey chuckled at Kain's blatant lie.
"Isn’t that right, Mr. Grim Reaper?"
Taking his seat again, Kain grinned at Davey, who then matched his smile.
"The fuck are you talking about with the Grim Reaper nonsense?"
"..."
Of course, Davey never promised Kain to respond in his favor.
He had the chance of a strange reunion with the sister of a previous life. But Davey thought it was okay, convincing himself that if he just stayed quiet, she did not need to see the shadow of a brother who was long dead and forgotten.