The Returnee’s Guild Must Grow Properly

Undoubtedly, Woo Mahan had asked a simple question—how on earth did the younger sibling of Guild Master Do Hajun turn out to be a fan of his, even appearing as his manager? That was all he wanted to know.

“We’re from the same guild,” came the unexpected response.

“…What?”

“The same guild,” Woo Mahun repeated firmly.

“Wait, hold on. Hold on a second, Mahun! If you’re saying you’re in the same guild, does that mean a member of the Guild of Returnees? Who? Do Haun? The eldest sibling of Guild Master Do Hajun?”

“Exactly,” Mahun confirmed.

Woo Mahan’s jaw nearly dislocated from how wide his mouth hung open. He quickly covered it with his hand, trembling as he asked, “W-who is it? I’ve met the 9th Circle Archmage, the Spirit Master, the Northern Grand Duke, the Dragon Slayer, the Greatest Martial Artist, and even the Hero and the Godslayer. Among them, w-who is it?”

Swallowing hard, Woo Mahan’s nerves were on edge. Woo Mahun, looking at his brother’s horrified expression with mild disinterest, answered nonchalantly.

“The Godslayer.”

“The Go—Godslayer… Wait, the Godslayer?!”

Woo Mahun furrowed his brow at the sharp, incredulous tone of Woo Mahan’s voice.

Mahan clasped his hands together, covering his mouth in admiration of his sibling’s complete inability to keep secrets.

*****

“Ugh.”

A sudden chill ran down my spine, and I shivered violently. My skin prickled, and I rubbed my arms to shake off the strange sensation.

“What’s wrong, Guild Master?”

“Guild Leader, are you cold?”

With a sharp clap, warmth wrapped around me. The Northern Grand Duke had cast a spell and now looked at me curiously.

“You must be sensitive to the cold, Guild Leader. I think I heard Doby mention something like that…”

“It’s not that,” I interrupted, shaking off the memory of that dreadful moment when I had run into Doby at the Hero’s shop.

Still, as I spoke, I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders—the one the Hero had handed me. I wasn’t cold, exactly, but shedding my outerwear, which had been saturated with the stench of burning, had left me feeling a little chilly.

The Spirit Master had left in a frenzy earlier, ranting about how something like this could have happened before heading back to their company.

‘If my brother or Do Hain come looking for me along with the bothersome mage…’

‘I’ll just say I don’t know,’ they had declared with evident satisfaction.

“Ma-mma!”

Harim, who had been soaring near the ceiling, landed on my lap. Up close, the little one did look rather adorable.

I chuckled, stroking Harim’s round head, and turned to the Grand Duke.

“Look at this, Grand Duke. Harim likes me better than you.”

The Grand Duke narrowed his eyes before calmly responding, “Come here, my dear.”

“Mam—MA!!”

The moment Harim heard the Grand Duke’s “my dear,” they flew straight to him. Defeated by that single phrase, I could only pout at my now-empty lap.

The Grand Duke smugly stroked Harim’s head, his expression glowing with triumph. What an infuriating man.

“By the way, why were the two of you so hard to get in touch with?”

When I asked, the Hero frowned and replied, “It was because of Harim, that little rascal. Didn’t you hear anything from the Grand Duke?”

“From the Grand Duke? Not really…”

What had I even heard from him? Thinking back, nothing came to mind.

“Oh, wait. He did mention the shop had blown up. But it looks fine now?”

At my words, the Grand Duke grinned, clearly pleased with himself.

“That’s because I fixed it with magic! The boss said if I didn’t restore it to its original state, he’d break my legs and kick me out!”

“…”

At the cheerful explanation, I was left speechless.

Next to me, the Hero massaged her temples as if just remembering the incident was giving her a headache.

“Guild Master, like you said, the shop did blow up once. All thanks to that cursed lizard brat.”

“Boss, don’t insult our Harim! Harim is learning, you know!”

“Ma-mma?”

“Yoo Daegong, no matter how many days you spend rambling to Harim, the only thing Harim knows how to say is ‘ma-mma.’ What exactly is he learning?”

At the Hero’s comment, the Grand Duke looked sulky but had no rebuttal. Honestly, even I didn’t think Harim would learn anything beyond ‘ma-mma.’

Pointing at Harim, who was blinking innocently with wide eyes, I asked, “But wait, are you telling me that thing can breathe fire?”

“Want me to show you?”

“No, you really don’t—”

Before I could finish my sentence, Harim opened their mouth wide.

“Ma-aam—MA!!”

Fwoooosh!

Something invisible hurtled past me at lightning speed.

Boom!

The sound of an explosion followed as a massive hole appeared in the wall.

“Yoo Daegong! You little—!”

The Hero’s wrath erupted instantly.

“Ahhh! Wait, wait! I didn’t know Harim could actually breathe fire! I didn’t know!”

Caught by the ear, the Grand Duke yelped as the Hero dragged him around. Instead of stepping in to stop her, I raised my hands high and cheered her on.

“Grand Duke, you brat! Are you trying to kill me? Hero, twist his ear harder!”

“Instead of stopping her, why are you—ow!”

I even joined in, landing a well-placed slap for good measure.

Meanwhile, Harim had escaped from the Grand Duke’s arms and was happily fluttering near the ceiling, grinning as if pleased with themselves.

“My dear! Help me—!”

“Help? What help? Fix that hole right now!”

“Alright!”

Sniffling, the Grand Duke reached out toward the gaping hole in the wall.

“What are you doing, Grand Duke?”

“Mage!”

Before the golden magic circle could fully surround the hole, the Mage appeared.

The Grand Duke’s face lit up with relief. “Mage, please save me!”

“Yoo Daegong, anyone overhearing this would think I was actually trying to kill you.”

“You were pulling on my ear like you were about to rip it off!”

“Pulling your ear won’t kill you, Yoo Daegong.”

The Hero shrugged, adding nonchalantly, “Even if it did, modern medicine could probably fix it. And before modern medicine, the Guild Master would heal you.”

“…”

What exactly do you think of me, you damn Hero?

Seriously, I’ll never understand why our guild members get along so absurdly well.

“Hero, why are you being so mean to our tiny, precious Grand Duke?”

“All the tiny, precious things are dead.”

“That’s not true…”

The Mage, looking slightly sulky, gestured toward the Grand Duke.

“Uwaah!”

In an instant, the Grand Duke was yanked toward the Mage, who casually draped an arm around his shoulders and flashed a mischievous grin at the Hero.

The Hero let out a dry laugh. “You Mages really know how to stick together, huh?”

“Mages are inherently tiny and precious beings.”

“Looks like all the ‘tiny and precious’ beings are dead.”

Crackle!

It felt like sparks were flying between the mage and the Hero. At this rate, the two of them were going to cause trouble, so I decided to redirect their attention.

“mage, did you investigate what I asked you to?”

“Yes! I looked into it thoroughly!”

The mage released the Grand Duke’s shoulder and leaned against the sofa where I was sitting.

“I scoured the place like a rat hunter, finding a location where no one comes or goes, no matter what kind of commotion breaks out!”

“Good job.”

“What kind of task did you give the mage? You told him to find a place like that?”

The Hero’s question prompted a nod from me.

“Does this have something to do with Rim?”

“Yes.”

“Ma-mma?”

That ma-mma monster seemed eerily perceptive when it came to things related to itself.

The Grand Duke finished sealing the hole and then asked me, “Should we lure the Dragon Slayer there? But how? Even if Rim causes a commotion, how will the Dragon Slayer find out?”

“True. Oh, and by the way, Guild Master, the Dragon Slayer is currently untraceable. I’ve tried tracking him down several times, but I’ve failed every time.”

Hearing the mage’s words, my eyes widened. I hadn’t expected even this troublesome mage to have attempted tracking that lizard.

This mage has some unexpectedly commendable qualities. Raising my hand, I lightly patted the mage’s head.

Apparently, that startled him. The mage’s eyes wavered as he looked at me and asked hesitantly, “…What’s this? What are you doing?”

Did he think I was going to hit him? His voice was full of confusion, but I answered nonchalantly, “Don’t worry about it.”

“…?”

Dropping my hand, I added, “The Dragon Slayer’s enemy is the dragon, right?”

“And what of it?”

The Hero squinted slightly as she asked, and I responded with a smirk.

“Hero, what happened last time when the Demon King was possessed by a demon?”

“What happened? He wouldn’t stop going on about fulfilling his duty and causing a ruckus…”

The Hero trailed off mid-sentence, her eyes widening in realization.

“Guild Master, don’t tell me…?”

Seeing the astonished look on her face, I simply grinned back.

******

[The Dragon Slayer must fulfill his duty.]

“…?”

The sudden message appearing before him caused the man to tilt his head in confusion. Thinking he might have misread it, he rubbed his eyes, but the message only grew clearer.

“What’s wrong?”

A voice broke his thoughts, but the man simply shook his head, dismissing the concern. However, his furrowed brows betrayed his unease as the persistent message refused to disappear.

Based on his experience, there was only one way to erase it.

“Are you heading out? You might still find it a bit difficult to move.”

The voice was filled with concern, but the man paused briefly before responding in a slow, measured tone.

“…I’ll manage.”

“Of course, you will.”

The previously worried voice was now laced with amusement, as if the concern had been a facade all along.