By Zephyria 208
“Hoho, you certainly have discerning taste.”
“Born with it.”
Sparks flew between Mr. Park and Lee Sa-young. Eui-jae’s smile had also vanished. Although, Eui-jae had never really smiled to begin with. He gave Min-gi Seo a look. What’s wrong with him? Min-gi Seo miraculously understood and answered with his lips.
‘He’s always like that.’
At the same time, Sa-young shrugged.
“This is troubling… Mr. Park.”
“Oh my… what do you mean?”
“You can’t do business like this.”
Sa-young sighed deeply and casually put down the leather he had been touching. The way he dusted off his hands as if he had touched something he shouldn’t have was quite a sight. Eui-jae’s eyes widened. What’s with this gangster-like tone? To Cha Eui-jae, the ultimate old-fashioned person, it was an extremely provocative scene. Even so, Mr. Park looked older than Lee Sa-young. Is he acting like that because he trusts his ranking?
The quick-witted Min-gi Seo hurriedly grabbed Eui-jae’s twitching shoulder. He swiftly grabbed and folded the finger that was about to point. Lee Sa-young’s mouth didn’t stop. He crossed his arms and sighed as if he was truly disappointed.
“The quality of the materials is a bit… too ordinary, isn’t it? We probably have this much in our Guild warehouse.”
“……”
A soft voice flowed out from behind the Gas mask.
“If that’s the case, there’s no reason for me to come to Mr. Park… I came because I wanted something special.”
Wasn’t it just because this was the only place he had time for? Eui-jae glanced at Min-gi Seo. Min-gi Seo nodded with a blank face. It was impossible to know what he meant. Sa-young tapped the filter part of the Gas mask with his finger and muttered.
“In that case, I’ll have to reconsider the deal.”
“…No!”
Mr. Park, who had been hanging her head, suddenly lifted it. Her eyes were shining fiercely. It seemed her competitive spirit had been ignited.
“Why are you making that judgment already? I haven’t even shown you a tenth of what I have.”
“Is that so?”
Sa-young smiled faintly.
“Then bring it all… I’ll pay enough.”
“Can you handle that?”
Sa-young slightly raised his chin and sneered.
“Why would I say something I can’t handle?”
“…Ha, alright. Wait and see while you look around!”
Mr. Park adjusted her shawl and quickly disappeared through the narrow hallway. Only the three of them were left in the spacious workshop. Min-gi Seo quickly removed his hands from Eui-jae’s shoulder and hand. Sa-young picked up a fang the size of his face and clicked his tongue.
“Tsk…. What am I supposed to do with something like this?”
“Why? It’s cool.”
“…This? You think it’s cool? Are you serious?”
Sa-young looked at Eui-jae with a face as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have. Eui-jae blinked. No, aren’t fangs cool? Wild and…. Min-gi Seo muttered with a serious face and voice.
“This is a problem. Your taste… is completely old Hunter.”
Sa-young leaned on the desk and hung his head. A voice full of distress flowed out.
“Ha…. This is the worst. How can he have the same taste as Jung-bin?”
“Are you insulting me right now? It sounds like you’re lumping me in with Jung-bin?”
“Huh? No? I was praising J’s and the public servant’s classic taste, wasn’t I?”
“What nonsense is this!”
Sa-young turned his head away, pretending not to notice. These guys, really. Even if he tried to hold back, he couldn’t. Eui-jae started pointing, something he couldn’t do earlier.
“Hey! Back in my day, we had to wear whatever came out of the Dungeon! We had to wear even tattered balloon-like clothes if they had good performance! There was no room to care about taste! It was a matter of survival. These guys are too comfortable!”
“Yes, yes, I understand, elder.”
“Elder? Eeldeeer? You’re only four years younger than me, you punk!”
“I’m sure….”
Min-gi Seo stepped between the two and mediated.
“Alright, alright, let’s stop here. J. How about you choose the materials yourself with your excellent taste?”
Min-gi Seo gently pushed Eui-jae’s back. Eui-jae retorted.
“Choose what!”
“No, as you said, isn’t it enough if the performance is good even if the shell is not good? You have a better eye for materials than we do.”
“……”
“Why don’t you take a look? Mr. Park’s warehouse has a lot of interesting things?”
Damn it. Well, he couldn’t cause a scene at someone else’s business, so he had to wrap it up here. Eui-jae glared at Lee Sa-young’s back as he rummaged through the materials on the table, then headed for the shelves.
The shelves that reached the ceiling were filled with boxes, fabrics, leather, various bones, teeth, claws, Mana Stones, etc., without any regularity. At first glance, it looked like all sorts of junk were scattered haphazardly. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Where had he seen such messy shelves before?
‘Huh?’
Wasn’t Hong Ye-seong’s workshop in the first world in this state?
Eui-jae quickly looked around. Was Mr. Park the type of person who handled things so carelessly? Eui-jae asked Min-gi Seo, who was following him closely.
“About Mr. Park. Is she usually this bad at organizing?”
“Hmm? No. The other warehouses are well organized. It seems like only this workshop is like this.”
“……”
“I think it’s because she needs to take out the materials right away. Well, she might have her own rules.”
Was it really a coincidence?
Eui-jae took out a half-open box and examined the contents. Small trinkets were rolling around, covered in dust. Just as he was about to lose interest and put it back in its place, something sparkled in the corner of the box.
“……”
Eui-jae quickly pushed the trinkets aside. What was sparkling in the corner of the box was….
‘A fragment?’
He picked something up. It looked like a broken fragment of something. Probably something like a bead. There were several small cracks on the smooth surface, and the broken fragment was sharp. Enough to cut his hand if he touched it wrong. Eui-jae held the fragment up to the ceiling. The white fragment shone brilliantly in the light. Even though it was the first time he had seen it, it didn’t feel unfamiliar. A strange sense of déjà vu.
As Eui-jae stared intently at the fragment, Min-gi Seo approached and asked.
“What is that?”
“Hmm, I don’t know.”
At that moment, the sound of something being dragged and the presence of someone approaching grew closer. Mr. Park was pulling a cart with a mountain of materials piled on it. She pushed the cart next to the desk and sighed, pretending to wipe away sweat. Then, she looked at what Eui-jae was holding and looked surprised.
“Oh my? That’s….”
“Do you know what it is?”
“It must have been there for a long time~ It’s a store I took over entirely from someone else…. It’s a material that was there since the previous owner.”
“The previous owner?”
“Hmm…. Oh my? I don’t remember who it was…. Someone a bit eccentric.”
Mr. Park, who had been trying to remember, shook her head.
“That’s strange…. Anyway, it was among the things the owner left behind. I was going to throw it away because it looked like a broken fragment, but it disappeared at some point. It was all the way in that corner~”
Eui-jae caressed the fragment. On the subtly glossy white fragment, a wave-like light flickered and disappeared. Every time he saw that light, his heart fluttered. Anxiety? Impatience? Tension? He couldn’t tell.
Mr. Park, who was diligently moving materials from the cart to the desk, smiled faintly.
“It seems like you like it?”
“……”
Sa-young glanced at Eui-jae and shrugged. Then, he began to examine the new materials with sharp eyes. Mr. Park said to Eui-jae.
“Hehe, you can have it~ I was going to throw it away anyway. Think of it as a gift to a new customer, even though it’s insignificant.”
“Is that alright?”
“Of course.”
She winked. Eui-jae gripped the fragment tightly once and put it in his Inventory. The sound of the object and the fragment colliding was clear.
‘…And it was crazy after that.’
Thinking about it again made him a little depressed. It seemed like there were quite a few materials among the ones Mr. Park brought the second time that Sa-young liked. Sa-young put all sorts of materials on Mr. Park and the mannequin and had a long discussion. What was with all the fuss about making a single piece of clothing? Shouldn’t they just take measurements? Eui-jae had to stick next to Min-gi Seo until their discussion was over. To be exact, there was no room for Eui-jae to intervene. That place was another world that only people interested in fashion could enter.
“You’ve arrived, J.”
While Eui-jae was lost in depressing memories, Jung-bin greeted him first. Eui-jae came to his senses and bowed his head in greeting.
“Hello.”
“Was it difficult to get here?”
“No. I just had to tear the scroll. But the conference room….”
“Haha, Hong Ye-seong’s taste is a bit….”
Jung-bin smiled awkwardly. He pointed to the empty seats on either side of Ham Seok-jeong.
“Your seats are over there.”
“He’s really trying to show off.”
Sa-young muttered in an unpleasant tone. Eui-jae shrugged and nodded to Sa-young.