TRPM 115

chapter 115

The mutants who met Alex gossiped about their boss—the guild master Ji Hyeong-man—and the Aura Master Yeon Mirae, but the gossip wasn’t too harsh.

At most, they complained that Ji Hyeong-man gave them too much work, or that Yeon Mirae’s training was too tough.

It was the kind of gossip even the people concerned would just laugh off if they overheard it.

“Ah, are we talking too much about stuff only we know? Sorry, Alex.”

“No, I don’t mind.”

Thanks to that, Alex was able to sit comfortably among the mutants and listen to stories about Ji Hyeong-man and Yeon Mirae.

Even though he had joined the Iron-Blood Guild, Alex knew almost nothing about Ji Hyeong-man, and although he had become Yeon Mirae’s deputy, his knowledge of her was limited to what was publicly known and from a few encounters.

So every word from the mutants, who had worked with them for a long time, was precious information.

Not that Alex planned on doing anything with it.

“To be honest, I don’t know much about the guild master or Yeon Mirae, so it’s good to hear a lot. Oh, and if possible, tell me about your mutant team too. Is what people say about you accurate?”

The mutants, happy that Alex was interested in them, eagerly shared their past stories and exploits.

Since Alex listened sincerely, they got even more excited and spoke at length.

“So he was bawling his eyes out, I’m telling you. And this is the guy who looks like he could beat an orc in an arm-wrestling match.”

“Don’t slander me…! I didn’t cry that much! And I wasn’t the only one—didn’t you guys cling to the cops who rescued us, crying about being free at last?!”

The stories had some exaggeration, but Alex confirmed that what the mutants went through before joining the Iron-Blood Guild wasn’t very different from what was already known publicly.

‘They were experimented on in an illegal lab, monster genes forcibly implanted. Then they were freed by the Artist and the Iron-Blood Guild, and joined the guild.’

It seemed not every mutant joined the Iron-Blood Guild, but most of them had.

Even the younger mutants, who hadn’t joined yet, apparently hoped to enter the guild when they became adults….

“… Feels like we’ve been talking about dark stuff too much. Let’s switch to something lighter.”

“Wasn’t the story of our rescue by the Iron-Blood Guild already a bright one? If we start explaining the criminals we caught afterward, though, that’d be…”

“Yeah… we ran into all sorts of lunatics. Not exactly stories you want to repeat.”

That was when Alex was listening to their chatter.

“Hey, what’s so fun that you’re laughing like that?”

“Gah?!”

“Ugh?!”

A woman suddenly slung her arms over the necks of the lizardman mutant and the orc mutant, joining in.

But the two mutants immediately shoved her off, groaning in pain.

“Hey, you crazy witch! You can’t just cling to people when your whole body is acidic!”

“Alex, check my neck, will you? Did she melt me?”

“Alex? Ohh… so you’re that Alex, Mirae’s new deputy?”

When the orc mutant said Alex’s name, the woman suddenly became interested in him.

Meanwhile, Alex looked at her and muttered in surprise.

“… Could it be… slime?”

“That’s right! I’m the slime mutant.”

Her whole body was made of translucent mucus.

Judging from the pained reactions of the others, that mucus must have been highly acidic.

“Oh, weird that my clothes don’t melt? They’re custom-made so they don’t burn or dissolve easily. Wait, were you having dirty thoughts?”

“I was not, actually….”

Ignoring his reply, the slime mutant leaned in close, asking with sparkling eyes.

“But more importantly—if you’re that Alex, you’re the one who tamed a dragon, right? The giant dragon seen during the Beast Frenzy incident?!”

Her eyes were shining.

Alex, unable to keep up with her energy, glanced at the other mutants for help, but….

“Give it up. That girl—nicest way to put it, she’s lively. Worst way, she’s brainless. That’s why she clings to people with her acidic body without a second thought.”

“She’s not a bad person. Not bad at all, but…”

“Once she latches onto something, she never lets go. Just humor her.”

Oh, and one more thing….

“Don’t be fooled. As scatterbrained as she seems, she’s the strongest in the guild after the master and Mirae. Good luck surviving.”

When the others said that and walked off, Alex went pale.

Especially that last warning—it sounded like he had no chance of escaping the slime mutant woman.

“Hey, mister~!”

“Y-yes?!”

“Can you show me that dragon I’ve heard about?”

At that, Alex trembled and nodded.

He was terrified she might touch him again if he refused.

And then—

…kkyu?

On the table appeared a small dragon—Fafnir.

Fafnir tilted his head at Alex, as if asking why he’d been summoned.

“Kyaaaa!”

Kiik?!

The slime mutant squealed and hugged little Fafnir.

Of course, being hugged by her acidic body made him cry out in pain.

Even though Fafnir was a dragon, in his small hatchling form he wasn’t any stronger than an ordinary pet—he had no resistance to acid.

Thankfully, since his body was formed of mana and aura rather than flesh, he wasn’t truly harmed, but still….

“So cute! How can something this adorable even exist?!”

Kiik…!

“Hey! Forget that old guy, why don’t you come live with me instead?”

Unable to bear it, Fafnir breathed fire at her.

Fwoosh!

“Kyaaa?!”

The flames weren’t powerful, but they were enough to ignite her mucus.

And her mucus must have been flammable, because the fire spread across her entire body in seconds.

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

“What the—?! Fire?!”

“Must be a malfunction….”

“No, look, there’s a real fire over there!”

The alarms went off, sprinklers activated, and chaos erupted.

Hissss…

“……”

“……”

Kkyuu…

The break room, where Alex and the slime mutant had been, became a flooded mess.

And soon after—

“Sigh… You two! To my office, right now!”

Guild master Ji Hyeong-man, having pieced the situation together, dragged the two into his office and scolded them for a long time.

“Alex, you can leave now.”

At Ji Hyeong-man’s words, Alex bowed and quietly left the guild master’s office.

“(Phew….)”

Finally freed, Alex let out a long sigh.

The whole situation had been frustrating for him….

Kkyuu?

The reason the slime mutant caught fire was because Fafnir had breathed flames at her.

And the actions of a familiar are the responsibility of its master.

So technically, Alex could have been blamed entirely.

But Ji Hyeong-man had judged that the real cause was the slime mutant hugging Fafnir without permission, so Alex got off with only a light warning.

In fact, it was barely even punishment.

‘Only summon Fafnir inside the training hall. If you must summon him elsewhere, put a muzzle on him.’

That was the instruction.

To Alex, it felt like common sense.

You never knew when Fafnir might breathe fire again.

“(So… you could breathe fire even in your small form, huh?)”

Kkyuu?

Alex realized he had learned something new about Fafnir, even if it was by accident.

He started heading toward the break room where the clean-up crew would still be working, intending to apologize.

“(Mr. Alex!)”

A familiar voice called out.

“(Hello!)”

Turning his head, Alex saw a bowing figure—Lee Ha-eun, one of his former students.

And she wasn’t alone.

“(Hello.)”

“(Hello, teacher!)”

“(Hello.)”

The rest of the group was there too—the five who were always together, famous and special in many ways.

“(Hello, Ha-eun. And you too, A-min, A-yeong, Du-min, and Geon-woo. Right?)”

“(Yes, that’s right.)”

“(You remembered all our names?)”

“(Of course. I was your teacher, wasn’t I?)”

Each of these five kids was famous—not just in school, but throughout Korea.

Anyone in the country had at least heard their names.

Except maybe Lee Du-min.

“(But, teacher, why are you here?)”

“(You’re a schoolteacher, aren’t you?)”

Alex answered honestly: he had left the school when he joined the Iron-Blood Guild.

The school already knew his circumstances, and though they were sad, they let him go.

‘… Hm?’

As Alex answered their questions, he noticed something odd.

Fafnir, who had been clinging to his leg just moments ago, was gone.

Had he been unsummoned?

That would’ve made sense, since Alex had been planning to unsummon him anyway after being scolded by the guild master.

Kkyuu…!

“… Don’t cling to me. Your master’s over there.”

“(… Huh?)”

But Alex’s guess was wrong.

Fafnir hadn’t been unsummoned.

He had crawled over and was now clinging to Han Geon-woo’s leg.

‘… Why?’

Fafnir had never met Han Geon-woo before.

Yet Geon-woo didn’t even look surprised, as if he’d expected this.

‘Wait… the one who engraved the summoning circle for Fafnir was….’

Alex had designed the overall structure, but the one who carved the circle and reduced the burden on him had been the Artist.

Because of that, Fafnir was formed from both Alex’s mana and the Artist’s aura.

‘And didn’t people say the Artist’s true identity was Han Geon-woo…?’

Those were the dying words of Kim Baek-rang, the late White Wolf Guild master.

He had said that the Artist was really Han Geon-woo.

If that were true….

“……”

Han Geon-woo noticed Alex’s racing thoughts and looked at him.

Then he pressed a finger to his lips.

“Shh.”

And Alex understood.

Kim Baek-rang had been right.

The Artist’s true identity was indeed Han Geon-woo.

“What’s that, Geon-woo?”

“You know, Alex teacher’s dragon.”

“Oh, that’s the one?”

He looked like nothing more than a precocious middle-schooler.

But Alex felt chills all over his body.

Why?

Why hadn’t Han Geon-woo bothered to hide his identity from him…?

‘Ah. The geas.’

Alex remembered.

There was a restriction placed on him—preventing him from revealing certain information.

The very geas he had accepted in exchange for the dragon summoning circle.