The Otherworldly Magic Swordsman Who Disciplines the Hunter World Chapter 56

The once-praised paladin no longer existed. Ignis had sold his soul and become a monster. He had killed people with his own hands and fought for the monsters.

That was why people hated everything about Ignis. The sense of betrayal was just that terrible.

Julian laughed bitterly as he recalled those times.

“But how did we end up talking about this?”

It wasn’t a topic he particularly wanted to bring up. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had talked about Ignis.

He scratched his head. Gong Siyoung, who had been silent for a long while, gestured toward the sword with his chin.

“You said the sword can think and judge. You said you were going to explain that.”

“Ah, right. Well, Ignis’s sword was made back when he was a paladin. It holds a very ancient mana stone infused with blessings, so they say it had an ego from the very beginning. Isn’t it amazing?”

Igni let out mana—puff, puff—once again. It was clearly satisfied at recognizing the praise.

Julian flashed a heartwarming smile toward the clever and precious sword.

The two—no, the one person and the one sword—sank into a world of their own. Seeing them look at each other so affectionately while leaving him out made Gong Siyoung’s eyebrows shoot up crossly again.

From Gong Siyoung’s perspective, it was completely incomprehensible. Does he have no intention of explaining what a mana stone is or what exactly a paladin does?

He didn’t really want to hear it anyway. It was certain that hearing it would only ruin his mood.

Julian had once said something like that. When asked if the sword was precious, he had replied that it was a keepsake left behind by a friend.

At the time, Siyoung had just vaguely thought it must be important, but thinking about it now, there was something more to it than that.

‘So it was left by someone named Ignis or Zugnis or whatever. And they weren’t just friends; they were special enough for him to specifically describe him as a friend he “really liked.”‘

He “really liked” him; just how much was that? Exactly how much is “really”? A non-stop flood of thoughts, half of them bordering on nitpicking, poured out.

Gong Siyoung wasn’t unaware of how much Julian cherished that sword. He vividly remembered the expression Julian made when Siyoung returned the sword he had left behind in the dungeon.

That beautiful smile wasn’t just because he had recovered a weapon, was it?

The more he thought about it, the more his mood sank. He massaged his mouth with his hand to try and fix his crooked expression.

Julian, who hadn’t noticed a thing, was still busy chatting away while hugging the sword.

“I lived hiding it because it was obvious it would be taken away if it became known as Ignis’s possession. Now, this is the only thing left related to him.”

Gong Siyoung approached the area near the door. When he flipped the switch under his fingertips, the hospital room became pitch black in an instant.

Julian stopped talking at the darkness that fell so suddenly. Only after the Ignis talk vanished did Siyoung feel a bit refreshed.

“I get it, so please go to sleep now. We have a long way to go tomorrow. You should rest well when you can.”

This time, Gong Siyoung stepped forward to urge him to sleep. He grabbed Julian by the back of the neck and headed straight for the bed.

“Whoa, whoa,” Julian flailed his hands as Siyoung forced him down onto the bed.

“If you aren’t going to sleep while hugging that, why don’t you let go?”

Julian loosened his grip at the threatening tone. Gong Siyoung took Igni and leaned it haphazardly near the window. Red mana popped out—pop, pop—as if protesting the rough handling.

Even so, Gong Siyoung couldn’t see anything, so he wasn’t bothered. Having cleared away the precious sword as if tidying a broom, he brushed his hands off—slap, slap.

“Sleep.”

“I’m not sleepy though…”

Julian rolled his eyes. Couldn’t they talk a bit more before sleeping? Far from being sleepy, his mind was as clear as if he had been awakened.

Since he had already brought it up, he wanted to talk more about Ignis, and also about the talking status window he had seen in the dungeon…

However, Gong Siyoung remained firm despite the piteous look.

“I said sleep. If you aren’t sleepy, squeeze some out and sleep anyway.”

Gong Siyoung even brought a blanket and tucked him in right up to his chin.

Why was he suddenly reacting so sensitively? Julian pondered over what he had said, but he couldn’t remember any particularly problematic statements.

Was the Ignis story too boring? It was better than him hating it or being shocked, but it was a bit hurtful for him to be so openly disgusted…

‘But when he gets angry… the area around his eyes gets red too.’

Once it caught his eye, he kept seeing only that.

Julian pulled the blanket up and covered himself right up to the tip of his nose. It seemed that when he got angry, his lips and the area around his eyes turned red, and when he was embarrassed, his cheeks and ears turned red.

Then where would turn red when he was happy? Julian blinked his eyes and spent a long time letting his imagination fly.

“…I’m going to sleep now.”

He pulled the blanket all the way over his forehead. He quickly closed his eyes tight before any more strange scenes could come to mind.

I have to sleep. Let’s just sleep. He rubbed his reddened cheeks vigorously under the covers.

Only after tossing and turning for a long while like that was he finally able to fall into a slumber.

“What about this? Can I buy this?”

An unidentified pouch drink was placed atop palms folded politely together.

When Gong Siyoung said nothing, a stream of excuses—that weren’t quite excuses—flowed from Julian’s mouth.

“They say it’s a drinkable IV. They say if you drink this, your vitality will be recharged. Moisture replenishment, vitality recharge.”

He pointed to the flashy advertising slogans. Gong Siyoung, who turned his head following Julian’s finger, narrowed his eyes. He saw the pouch drinks neatly displayed on the stand that was most visible even from inside the pharmacy.

It was mango-flavored, and he carefully read the guidance text saying to supplement vitality by drinking it conveniently. He crooked a finger at Julian.

“Give me that.”

Julian brightened up and quickly held out the drink. Gong Siyoung, who tucked the drinkable IV neatly back into its empty spot on the stand, turned away without a lingering thought.

“Don’t bring useless things.”

“Useless? When you need to recharge your vitality, are you confident you won’t look back at this moment and regret it? Are you truly confident you won’t beat the ground in regret, thinking, ‘Ah, I should have bought it then’?”

“Yes.”

The merciless answer hurt his feelings. Julian pouted his lips.

“That’s so petty, seriously.”

Can a person without money even live in this unfair world? Julian grumbled incessantly. Gong Siyoung let out a sigh at the sight.

“Even an elementary schooler would act less annoying than you.”

He didn’t know what an elementary schooler was, but judging by the reaction, it sounded like something bad. Julian, who sat in a chair with his arms crossed and even his legs crossed, glared at him.

“Are you going to curse at me right to my face? Did I ask you to buy something strange? Isn’t it all good for the body? Is a pharmacy going to sell poison or something?”

So why does he say no to everything? Even before offering the drinkable IV, several items had already been rejected. Jelly, health supplements, and even dressing bandages you cut to use—all of them were “no.”

If he had asked to buy some toy, he wouldn’t feel so wronged. All of them looked like they would be beneficial and useful, so he didn’t know why on earth they were being refused.

“We didn’t come here to buy gummy jellies. And it’s not like you’re dehydrated, so why on earth do you need a drinkable IV? You were receiving actual IV fluids until this morning.”

Even when picking them apart one by one, everything he said was correct. Because he had rested well throughout the hospitalization period, his vitality and physical strength were overflowing. He didn’t particularly need a drinkable IV.

Still, just in case, he tried poking him one more time.

“You might need it later. I’m telling you, it’s too late to regret it when you’re sick! What will you do if you beat the ground in regret? Huh?”

“I’ll think about that when I’m sick.”

Just then, Julian’s name was called. Gong Siyoung approached the counter and received the bag of medicine.

While he was listening to various explanations from the pharmacist, Julian subtly rose from his seat. Keeping an eye on Gong Siyoung, he picked up one pouch of the drinkable IV.

He stared only at the floor for fear their eyes might meet. He slowly placed the IV pouch on the counter.

The pharmacist and Gong Siyoung, who had been talking for a long while, stopped speaking simultaneously. After a brief silence, the pharmacist naturally took the pouch. At the sight of the barcode being scanned like flowing water, Gong Siyoung let out a small sigh.

“With the medicine included, it is 40,000 won.”

“…Just calculate this together as well.”

He pointed to a bottle of gummy jellies that was sitting on the counter display. The pharmacist quickly grabbed the bottle. The sound of the barcode scanning sounded particularly cheerful—beep.

“The total is 80,000 won.”

The jellies he thought would cost 10,000 won at most were damn expensive. Gong Siyoung held out his card with an expression of total reluctance. This time too, the pharmacist quickly snatched the card.

When they left the pharmacy, the medicine bag exchanged for 80,000 won was in Julian’s hand. Having chewed and eaten one gummy jelly, his eyes went wide.

“It’s delicious! How can medicine be this sweet?”

“Because it’s not medicine, it’s jelly.”

To burn 40,000 won on a single bottle of jellies disguised as vitamins.

He quickly stopped Julian, who was trying to grab another one already. Before he could prattle on any further, Siyoung confiscated both the medicine bag and the jellies. Fatigue washed over him even though they hadn’t even started yet.

Gong Siyoung rubbed his hollow eyes and approached the parked car. He set the medicine bag down in the back seat and opened the driver’s door. He caught Julian by the back of the neck as he naturally headed for the back seat.

If he left him alone, Julian might eat the entire bottle of jellies. No, he definitely would. Trust in Julian had long since plummeted to the floor.

Gong Siyoung pointed to the passenger seat with a firm hand.

“Not there. Sit next to me. Where I can see you clearly.”

“But where are we going now? Where is the destination?”

“Goodness… you certainly asked that quickly.”

He swallowed the sigh that was about to break out. He waited a moment until Julian fastened his belt and then started the engine.

Around the time the car began to drive slowly, Gong Siyoung answered half-heartedly.

“We are going to an uninhabited island.”