To You Who Will Destroy Me - Chapter 118

“Wait a minute. I feel like I’ve experienced this before.”

Even to her surprise, Irel calmly searched her memory. Yes, there had been someone she met before with a similar ability.

Poof—!

Before she could even finish the thought, the squirrel transformed into a tall man in a puff of smoke.

“Anything given by a lady like yourself would be welcome.”

The young man, dressed in a deep green robe, smiled warmly.

“You still carry a lovely fragrance. Thanks to that, I recognized you right away.”

The moment she saw his neatly braided dark brown hair and calm green eyes, his name instinctively slipped from her lips.

“…Ryu Cheong?”

Ryu Cheong, a descendant of a prestigious family from the Eastern Continent and leader of a massive trading company. The last time she saw him was at an inn near the docks.

At that time, Irel had been unconscious, having fallen under Regis’s curse. Ryu Cheong had rescued her and taken her to the inn, and Varkan had furiously come looking for her.

And then blew up the entire inn.

To be honest, Irel thought Ryu Cheong had perished in that explosion. Varkan hadn’t explicitly said he was dead, but his tone certainly implied it.

“Uh, um, it’s been a while.”

After a moment of hesitation, Irel decided to start with a neutral greeting. Ryu Cheong responded with a courteous bow, clasping his hands together.

“Have you been well, Miss Irel?”

“I’ve been fine. How about you, Mr. Ryu Cheong?”

In response to her polite but formal inquiry, Ryu Cheong smiled as though he had been waiting for the question.

“As you may know, transporting construction materials and builders from the Eastern Continent to the West is an immense investment of both time and money. I was concerned that the inn might not meet the highest standards, so I took five years to carefully complete it. You may think me arrogant, but it is one of my proudest achievements.”

“Oh, really?”

“But that inn was reduced to nothing but ashes, and cleaning up the aftermath was quite the ordeal.”

His soft-spoken words were laced with sharpness—almost like a Vlad.

Why did he take me without asking in the first place?

Irel felt wronged by the reproachful tone. She had clearly expressed her refusal to go with Ryu Cheong and even warned him what might happen.

But he had ignored her and tried to take her to the Eastern Continent anyway.

She considered pointing this out but decided it was wiser to let it go. Despite the awkward small talk, Irel was already evaluating the situation.

This is bad. I’m alone right now. Jin is nearby, but…

Ryu Cheong was strong enough to fend off Vlads on his own, being a powerful Masaka. Meanwhile, she hadn’t known Jin long enough to gauge his abilities as a bodyguard.

In the worst-case scenario, Jin could be injured or killed, and she might end up being taken away. It was an all-too-familiar situation since she became a Risever.

“And what brings you here, Mr. Ryu Cheong?”

Irel forced a smile, keeping her nerves in check as she asked. Surprisingly, Ryu Cheong answered without hesitation.

“Marble is always in short supply on the Eastern Continent. Even when it is quarried, it often has too many black streaks, lowering its value. But I heard there was a fine quarry here, so I came to take a look.”

It made sense. The marble from Al Ros Condes was indeed exceptional. However, the small, rural town lacked enough workers to quarry it, and the cost of transporting the heavy marble over long distances to the capital was prohibitively expensive.

In short, it wasn’t cost-effective to mine. But importing it at a high price to the Eastern Continent? That was certainly a viable trade deal. His explanation didn’t sound entirely fabricated. Still, Irel remained cautious as Ryu Cheong glanced at her.

“And what brings you here, Miss Irel?”

“That’s a good question. I’d like to know too, so could you maybe leave?”

Irel thought to herself as she glanced at the cave behind Ryu Cheong.

“Are you perhaps… looking for something?”

Ryu Cheong’s gentle eyes narrowed. While it seemed unlikely, his ambiguous expression suggested he might know something.

“Looking for something? What could I possibly be searching for in such a desolate place? I’m just exploring since I’m already here.”

Irel, feigning innocence, twirled her fluttery dress for effect. Whatever was inside the cave, she feared Ryu Cheong might take it from her, and a cold sweat formed on her back.

“Is that so? Quite curious, though.”

“What’s so curious about it?”

“I simply wondered if you were perhaps drawn here, almost as if led by something.”

I’m doomed. The way Ryu Cheong was subtly looking at her said it all—he wasn’t just bluffing, he genuinely knew something.

But how?

Instinctively, Irel touched her earlobe, specifically where the Right Heart of Avihushan hung. She had come here because of it, but there was no way Ryu Cheong could have…

“Huh?”

Her eyes finally caught sight of the ring on Ryu Cheong’s finger. It had a finely engraved golden dragon, with a red gemstone embedded in its open mouth, gleaming as if calling out for her to notice.

Could that be…?

[Ding! You have discovered the Mythic Item ‘Left Heart of Avihushan.’]

[Ding! Quest ‘Prevent the Catastrophe’ updated: Obtain the remaining item, ‘Left Heart of Avihushan,’ to complete the final set ‘Heart of Avihushan.’]

The system notification left no room for doubt. As Irel stared, slack-jawed, Ryu Cheong raised his hand with a knowing smile.

“Our family, in our homeland, is known as the ‘Ryu Clan of the Black Tortoise.’ For generations, we have worked hard on trade between the two continents and have acquired many rare treasures in the process.”

It seemed one of those treasures was indeed the Left Heart of Avihushan. Just as Irel was thinking things couldn’t get worse, Ryu Cheong continued.

“Because of this, we’ve had our fair share of trouble with thieves coveting the family’s riches. Do you know what caused the most trouble?”

“…”

“It was none other than the Blood Demons.”

Blood Demons—an Eastern Continent term for the Vlads. Irel had heard of them before as well.

So, there was a time when Blood Demons overran the Eastern Continent.

If what Varkan said was true, they were after the Breath. Originally, the Breath, located on the Eastern Continent, had been stolen by the Vlads and discovered by Phillip, eventually ending up in the royal treasury.

Wait. Hold on a second.

Suddenly, something clicked. Narrowing her eyes, Irel recalled a detail from Varkan’s past explanation.

“It was originally owned by a prestigious family on the Eastern Continent. When trade with the Western Continent first began, it was given as a valuable, ancient heirloom.”

This was strange. Why did she feel like she knew exactly which family that was?

“Due to this, our family heirloom, the Jade of the Black Tortoise, was stolen. It was truly a lamentable loss.”

Of course. As Ryu Cheong continued his explanation, Irel closed her eyes, resigned.

Yan Louis had described the Breath as a stone resembling an emerald. It bore a strong resemblance to the jade Ryu Cheong had mentioned earlier.

“To confess, my journey to the Western Continent wasn’t solely for trade. I also came to recover my family’s lost treasure.”

He would likely never find it. His family’s heirloom had originated from the Western Continent, and now that its whereabouts were known, too many people were after it.

The Vlads, the royal family, and even the Temple of the High God.

But that wasn’t all. Irel thought of the red-haired man who laughed like a dark lord from behind all the obstacles. Varkan wouldn’t yield to anyone, and in the end, he would take what he wanted.

Now wasn’t the time to discuss the Breath. With trembling fingers, Irel pointed to Ryu Cheong’s ring and asked,

“Is that ring also one of your family’s treasures?”

“Ah, this ring?”

Ryu Cheong fiddled with the ring on his finger, a strange expression crossing his face. Just as Irel wondered what it meant, he smiled playfully.

“Apologies, but that’s a secret.”

He raised a finger to his lips and let out a soft “shh” with a sly grin. For the first time, Irel felt a strange sense of defeat, being teased by someone as composed and proper as Ryu Cheong.

Life…

Being a powerless Risever was exhausting. As Irel pondered her situation with a weary smile, Jin emerged from the cave at just the right moment.

“It’s safe to enter, Sister-in-law. There’s nothing but some dusty murals and statues—”

He trailed off as soon as he spotted Ryu Cheong. The polite smile Jin had been wearing immediately vanished, replaced by a sharp expression.

It was clear why Varkan had recommended Jin as a bodyguard. Jin’s reaction was swift—so swift that Irel scarcely registered it. For a split second, her vision blurred, and suddenly, there were two Jins standing before her.

“Huh?”

Irel blinked, thinking the heat must be messing with her eyesight. But Ryu Cheong seemed to see it too.

“A practitioner of the art of illusions, I see.”

Ryu Cheong muttered through clenched teeth, glancing between the two Jins. But by then, it was too late.

“Run, Sister-in-law!”

Before Irel knew it, she was being pulled by Jin’s hand, running. Dazed, she glanced behind her and was shocked to see another version of herself in the distance.

“Is that… me?”

But that wasn’t all. As she turned her head back to face forward, there was another version of her to the left, and yet another to the right! At least six versions of Irel were running, each being led by one of Jin’s duplicates in different directions. It was like a maze of mirrors at an amusement park or a group of rabbits bolting out of an open pen.

Is this Jin’s ability?

It was incredible for confusing the enemy. Even as she ran, Irel couldn’t help but marvel, her mouth agape. Unable to suppress her curiosity, she glanced back at Ryu Cheong once more.

Unexpectedly, he was smiling as he watched the illusions scatter in all directions. It was as if he was certain this wasn’t the end.