04. Uncomfortable Cohabitation (14)

“Ask me to come home?”

Yuna’s proposal felt very sudden.

She says she’s a like-minded friend, but she’s only been getting to know her for a few hours, and she’s already inviting her over? Is this a cultural difference?

Yuna smiled and said to me who was in a culture shock.

“Yes. There is something I want to show Jin Lee.”

“… What do you want to show me?”

“Actually, as our group entered the Korean market, we decided to launch a new product. A new model that is completely different from the existing equipment.”

“What? Really?”

A new product from Claprot Industries. Is that a completely new model?

What is it? Western longswords, two-handed greatswords, Japanese swords, one-handed axes, all models… Was the most recent Hungarian Saber? It sold quite a bit in Eastern European countries.

I was very concerned about what kind of weapon it would be.

I don’t know why, but as a craftsman, I have no reason to refuse.

… There’s no reason to refuse, but it’s okay to refuse anyway.

I’m in a situation where I have to find a way to solve my inner demons somehow. I don’t have time to leisurely look at new products from other companies.

Yuna opened her mouth again just when she was about to refuse, feeling both sorry and regretful.

“Of course, I’m not just trying to show you for no reason. I want to ask Jin Lee for a test.”

“Test?”

“Yes. Your discernment and crafting skills to create that amazing sword… I admired it. The product has already been completed, but to be honest, it feels like 2% is not enough to release it as it is. That’s why I want to borrow Lee Jin’s help.”

She had a bright eye smile as if drawn in a painting, but even that looked like a calculated smile.

“Of course, I have no intention of asking for free. Well, no matter how much I can’t show you our company warehouse… I’d like to give you one of my personal collections. How about it?”

Because it is the collection of the eldest daughter of Klaproth Industries, which supplies more than half of the workshop equipment supplied worldwide.

Of the many crafting materials on the planet, it would be quicker to count those that Klaproth has not dealt with.

Of course, Yuna is just her chairman’s family, so we don’t yet know what position she holds in her group or what she has in her collection.

“What do you have?”

“Volcanic stones and clasts from today’s class are natural, and things like volcanic stones are common… There is nothing that is not available as long as it is a fairly modest crafting material.”

“Ummm….”

If Yuna’s words are true, she might be able to find something to help suppress Kertatus.

You can only take one crafting material by helping to test a new product.

The gains were great, and the risks were virtually non-existent. She had no reason to decline this offer.

I nodded and said.

“Okay. I don’t know how helpful I can be, but I’ll try my best. Can I go right away today?”

Yuna’s face turned red.

“There is no reason to delay! Then I’ll call the house saying that there will be a guest today.”

“Huh? Uhh… Yes.”

Couldn’t Yuna’s family be at home? If she were her family, she would be the president of Claprot….

No, no matter what, that’s probably not the case. If a high-ranking person in Germany had come to Korea, there would have been an uproar in all kinds of media.

I’m still nervous. If you think about it, even though I have invited someone to my house, this is the first time I have been invited to someone else’s house.

Should I bring something? What should I bring when I go to the chaebol’s house?

“… ….”

But whatever you bring, it must be cheaper than anything in the house….

My worries continued to deepen until the end of the class.

–

The time when all afternoon classes and funeral rites are over.

Today’s funeral ceremony was particularly long. It’s because teacher Songha has been nagging me about an academy student late at night on the street in front of the station.

‘It’s too late.’

Yuna and I decided to meet at her school gate after class. Even if she is the daughter of the president of a large company, a limousine cannot enter the school.

Sorry for making you wait, I was about to leave the classroom in a hurry when someone called me from behind.

It was Yoon Seo-hee’s voice.

“Lee Jin-ah!”

I looked behind her and saw that she was looking at her surroundings.

“Huh? Why?”

Seo-hee came closer to me and whispered in my ear in a small voice as she stood up. It was such a small voice that I almost missed it even with my hearing as an awakened person.

“Can I go over to your house today?”

“Huh?”

“Lee Jin has something for you. And there are things I want to say….”

I wondered what to say, looking around like that, did you mean just that? Going over to a friend’s house isn’t something I’m particularly ashamed of or can’t say.

Thinking that way, I suddenly looked around and saw that the children in my class were staring at me, pretending not to know. The funeral has already ended and all that remains is to go home, but for no particular reason, they don’t go home and look at me and Seohee.

Come to think of it, I heard there were strange rumors going around.

Well, strange rumors may spread that a man and a woman are going home together, so there’s nothing wrong with being careful in advance.

“How could they be so close together….”

“Did you see the whisper? After all, the atmosphere of the two….”

But the whispers of the classmates reached my ears. It already seemed to them that whatever we did seemed to be something romantic.

I said, brushing the nape of my neck shyly.

“Sorry. I have an appointment today, what should I do?”

“That, is it? I can’t help it if I have an appointment….”

Yoon Seo-hee looked visibly disappointed. Then she suddenly raised her head and said,

“Who do you have an appointment with? Byeongjun? No way… A blank number?”

She looked a little nervous.

Well, apart from Yoon Seo-hee, there are only two people I can say I am close to at school.

But this time it was neither, so I shook my head slowly.

“No. I’m Yuna, who transferred from class 1 today, and I decided to go to their house today.”

“… What?”

In an instant, Yoon Seo-hee’s breathing changed.

It’s strange. Why does my breath feel like it’s getting darker?

And the air seems to have cooled down a bit….

“Yuna… who? Why are you suddenly going home? ?”

“It’s nothing. They said they wanted to ask me to test their product-“

“Binary?”

I heard a voice calling me from the back door of the classroom.

The identity of the voice was Yuna. Why is the kid who should be waiting at the front door here?

“It was too late, so I came here just in case, but you are still here.”

“Oh, sorry. The rite took a long time. Did you wait a long time?”

“It’s okay. Actually, I was late too. You don’t have to worry too much about it.”

Um. No matter how ignorant I am, I know that this is a word of consideration for me. Actually, I must have been waiting at the front door for a long time. I’m sorry.

“However, the person in the back might be that famous… ?”

The blue eyes of Yuna who discovered Yoon Seo-hee took on a sparkling appearance.

I twisted my shoulder slightly and introduced the two of them to each other.

“Right. Are you dating each other? Yuna, this is Yoon Seo-hee. Seo-hee, this is the Yuna Klaproth I mentioned earlier.”

“It is not a complete first meeting. We talked for a while during the terrorism at the fair. You probably won’t remember me, but….”

Yuna gracefully greeted Seohee, who was standing there blankly, with a smile.

“Nice to meet you. At that time, I was not in a good mood, so I couldn’t say hello properly, right? This is Yuna Klaproth. Now that we are the same students, please take good care of each other.”

Until then, Yoon Seo-hee was looking at Yuna with a blank expression.

To be precise, he was carefully examining Yuna’s facial features with a Western appearance.

“Yes, it is pretty. I’m sorry but….”

It was a voice that seemed to sense a sense of danger.

“… I want to go too.”

“What?”

“I heard you are going home to play? Me, I want to go too!”

No, I’m not going to play, are you? It’s a weapon test, but you’re not a blacksmith, so what are you going to do?

However, Yuna opened her mouth rather brightly.

“Oops. Really? Of course I am welcome!”

“Really?”

“Sure. Miss Seo Hee… Oh, can I call you Seo-hee?”

“Eh, yes. It’s okay.”

“I know Seohee’s skills from seeing myself. I’d like to ask you to test the new product, is that okay?”

“It doesn’t matter if I go with Lee Jin.”

Yuna clapped her hands and raised her voice.

“So much better! You can leave product performance tests to Jin Lee and actual tests to Seo Hee. Then, shall we go to my house together?”

Is that okay?

I was a bit taken aback by the sudden progress of the story, but as long as the two of them were okay, I didn’t really care.

Yuna had a smile on her lips and she was muttering something to herself.

“hehehe, good luck. Didn’t you catch two rabbits at the same time?”

“Huh? What did you just say?”

“No? I didn’t say anything. Shall we go then?”

Yoon Seo-hee and I packed each other’s bags and left the classroom with Yuna.

Seeing that, the classmates started whispering again. I think I just said something about a love triangle, but I just decided to do something I hadn’t heard.

The hallway became quiet after most of the students had already left school.

Drreuk-Tak.

As soon as we got out of the classroom, the door to the next classroom opened and we saw the students leaving school.

A pure white girl like the first snow in a gray city.

It was a blank number of 2 class.

I called her, feeling her welcome.

“Jisoo. Are you going now?”

“… ? It’s Jin. Next to….”

Baek Ji-soo and Yuna’s eyes crossed each other. Yuna showed some kind of calculated pleasure and took on a bright color again, and Baek Ji-soo, for some unknown reason, her expression stiffened slightly.

Anyway, it was a change that only I could see because the original body was expressionless.

“Hello. Isn’t that the wizard we met at the fair? She is very good at it, but I’ll meet you here again.”

“Yes.”

“You haven’t introduced yourself yet, have you? I’m Yuna Klaproth. You can call her Yuna.”

“Blank number.”

“Actually, I’m inviting these two to my house. If it’s okay, would Ji-soo come too?”

“… ?”

Baek Ji-soo turns her gaze and looks at me and Yoon Seo-hee. Is that true? A look that seemed to ask. I just nodded quietly from behind.

I felt like the number of people increased without any countermeasures, but I wasn’t a stranger, and if Baek Ji-soo came with me, I felt reassured. For when Kertatus suddenly goes on a rampage, her presence will be an insurance against her.

However, Baek Ji-soo shook his head slowly.

“I have a schedule today. Sorry.”

“Oh, is that so? That’s too bad. Then, next time I have a chance, I will invite you.”

Baek Ji-su nodded slightly without answering.

That was the end of the conversation, and as we were about to pass her goodbye to Baek Ji-soo, she grabbed my sleeve.

“Binary. Wait a minute.”

“Huh?”

I stopped her and looked back at her, but Baek Ji-soo said nothing.

To be precise, I sent her telepathy with her mouth shut.

‘Just listen quietly. I couldn’t tell you, but I recently remembered some knowledge about the future.’

Knowledge of the future.

I didn’t say anything, I held my breath and looked at the regressor who returned from the future ten years later.

‘In the future before regression….’

She calmly told me the shocking truth.

‘Claprot was a traitor to humanity.’