You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿ - Chapter 31

âUgh!â
Jung Da-jeong was startled as if she saw a ghost, but I responded indifferently.
âIâll sue for trespassing.â

âYouâre being unreasonable.â
âWeâre not friends. Youâre a business owner, and Iâm a freelancer you hired for a period.â
âAnd weâre also tenant and landlord. We havenât signed the lease agreement yet, so strictly speaking, itâs not really trespassing.â

I really hated how he was showing off, but what should I do?
âGrrrâ¦â
Maybe my feelings were conveyed, as Leo, who had been lying by my feet, lowered his body and growled. Han Jae-young looked at my familiar with interest.

âWhen did you make this? You really keep me guessing, Da-on.â
...I expected this, but it seems Han Jae-young figured out that this wasnât an ordinary summon but a familiar I created from scratch.
âWhat do you mean, 'this'?â

It was, of course, Jung Da-jeong who answered, not me.
She picked Leo up from my feet and glared at Han Jae-young.
Of course, Leo didnât look happy about it, but because I had ingrained in him that Jung Da-jeong was the âsecond master,â he didnât raise his claws and merely hissed.

âDa-on, whoâs this?â
Although Jung Da-jeong must have known from the news who Han Jae-young was, she deliberately asked, probably as a way to assert dominance.
I shrugged my shoulders.

âHan Jae-young, Hunter. Wizard class. Leader of the HP Guild, and he hired me for three years. This house was part of the deal. If my brother doesnât like it, we can look into other guildsâ¦â
As I casually glanced at Han Jae-young, putting subtle pressure on him not to annoy my brother, Han Jae-young smiled brightly.
Of course, he didnât look completely comfortable.
âOh, come on. Youâre being harsh. Are you an animal lover?â

âItâs a matter of general concern.â
But Jung Da-jeong didnât back down.
âEven if itâs a contractual relationship, you just barged in without warning, and now youâre acting like youâre asserting dominance over a child by calling my cat âthis thing.â Iâm really not at ease with that. It looks very authoritarian.â

Han Jae-young raised an eyebrow.
It was clear he didnât expect to hear such a critique.
But honestly, Jung Da-jeong had a point.

If I were just a 19-year-old normal girl, Han Jae-youngâs actions would definitely feel intimidating.
However, from Han Jae-youngâs perspective, I wasnât an ordinary 19-year-old, and thatâs why he was acting this way.
In fact, when he dealt with other prospective hunters at Gwanghwamunâs Central Management Agency, his attitude was quite different.

Han Jae-young paused, looking at Jung Da-jeong, and shrugged.
âIf you feel that way, I apologize. I can understand how a guardian might be worried.â
His apology, though, was indifferent, said with a completely expressionless face.

âYes, Iâd appreciate it if you were more careful in the future.â
Even though he had apologized, Jung Da-jeong remained firm.
Han Jae-youngâs eyebrows twitched, but he soon extended his hand toward her.

âWell then, to apologize properly, let me introduce myself. Iâm Han Jae-young, Hunter, Guild Leader of the HP Guild.â
âIâve seen you a lot on the news.â
âIâm a bit famous, I guess. Though, these days, not as much as Da-onâ¦â

âAh!â
Smack!
I slapped Han Jae-youngâs hand, which had been holding Jung Da-jeongâs for too long, as if in a handshake.

Jung Da-jeong, startled by my sudden action, yelled.
âDa-on!â
âStop fidgeting, Han Jae-young. Jung Da-jeong is an ordinary person.â

âThe way you choose your words is a bit off.â
At my warning, Han Jae-young rubbed the hand I slapped and narrowed his eyes.
âNo, itâs just fascinating. Normally, ordinary people would feel intimidated by an awakened hunter.â

ââ¦â¦â¦â¦â
âDonât just glare at me. Usually, when bringing a new person into a hideout, we have to get to know each other a bit, donât we?â
This was really starting to annoy me.

I glared at Han Jae-young.
If youâre a wizard with peak-level mana control, you could use a detection spell when you make physical contact to gauge the mana flow within someoneâs body.
And typically, when an ordinary person faces an S-rank hunter, itâs hard to even strike up a conversation.

It seemed Han Jae-young, noticing Jung Da-jeongâs overly confident demeanor, might have suspected she wasnât just an ordinary person.
âSheâs an ordinary person. And remember the terms of the contract.â
âWell, of course, the contract should be respected. Anyway, back to the point.â

Han Jae-young pointed at the paper on the table.
âShall we start with the lease agreement? Thatâs why Iâm here.â
The contract was swiftly signed.

In fact, since I was receiving the house as part of my contract with the HP Guild, the only thing I needed to fill out was a standard lease agreement for reporting purposes.
However, since I was still a minor and would soon be going into mandatory service, the lease had to be in Jung Da-jeongâs name, not mine.
âIâll go submit the documents at the local office.â

âGo ahead.â
Jung Da-jeong stood up with the documents to do the change of address and registration.
But Han Jae-young stayed seated, not getting up.

âOh, Da-on, I have something to discuss with you regarding the Guild.â
ââ¦Then Iâll stay here with you.â
âYou should go before the local office closes. Hurry up and come back.â

When I tried to sit down again, Jung Da-jeong gave me a worried look.
It seemed like she didnât like Han Jae-young much.
âAre you sure itâs okay?â

âStop being so cautious. Itâs fine.â
I had already taken care of the HP Guild contract by myself.
Although Jung Da-jeong was clearly hesitant, she eventually grabbed the documents and stood up.

âIâll be right back.â
âTake care, brother.â
Han Jae-young waved his hand as she left.

As soon as Jung Da-jeong was out the door.
âDonât worry, there will be guards assigned to protect your brother now.â
I had a feeling something was off.

I had already been sensing the presence of someone nearby.
As I felt that presence fade with Jung Da-jeong, I asked.
âAre there guards stationed next door?â

âYes, thatâs right. Ah, we didnât buy the house just because of the contract with Da-on. Itâs just a 20-minute drive, and the security is tight. Itâs actually a property I had already bought under the companyâs name. Itâs essentially for staff accommodation.â
âIsnât there a lot of traffic during rush hours?â
âHunters have different work hours than regular office workers, so itâs fine. Oh, and once you turn 20, youâll need to get your license. You canât rely on others forever. Having mobility is important. If you donât like the car we sent, we can exchange it.â

âMust be nice to have money.â
âWell, thatâs why I made a contract with Da-on. I donât think itâs entirely a loss for me either.â
Han Jae-young smiled as he looked at Leo, who was sitting by my feet.

âNot just any summon, but a familiar you created yourself? Youâre not pretending to be a rookie hunter anymore, huh? Other wizards would probably faint seeing this.â
âIf you werenât a high-level wizard, youâd probably just think it was a regular summon.â
âThen how did you do it? If itâs just creating a body, thatâs one thing, but what about the soul? Where did you get that from? You didnât assemble the fragments of souls you got from killing, like tens of thousands of people, did you?â

There were so many questions. Some of them even pretty disturbing.
âI have some things to take care of before I can teach you magic. You should help me with this.â
âWell, shouldnât you answer at least some of these questions?â

Han Jae-youngâs expression darkened.
âI should make one thing clear⦠Iâm not entirely the subordinate in this contract. Letâs get along while Iâm being nice.â
ââ¦â¦â¦â¦â

âThere needs to be some give-and-take.â
Honestly, I had known since earlier that Han Jae-young was uncomfortable.
âAn S-rank hunter is basically a prideful and ruthless character.â

Yoo Han-ul, whoâs particularly kind to the weak, might be an exception.
But Han Jae-young, despite his smooth demeanor, was an S-rank hunter. His ego had definitely been bruised after his little power struggle with Jung Da-jeong. The fact that he didnât even say a word of thanks after lending me such an expensive house spoke volumes.
Of course, he probably wouldnât say it now.

So, instead of responding to his provocations, I changed the subject.
âI need your help with this. Iâll show you.â
âThis?â

âI spent about half of the advance I received from you to prepare this magic.â
Han Jae-young looked surprised.

âWait, you spent half of your advance... 1.5 billion on this? You couldnât have even gone to the Hunter Market yet.â

âI had other sources.â
Though I spent a little more than I expected, I couldnât avoid the cost.
âProtective magic is the most urgent matter, so we need to address this first.â

Even though Jung Da-jeong would now be protected by HP Guild members, I couldnât rest easy. Even with 24/7 protection, there were still limits.
Also, I had to go into mandatory service soon, and I had to quickly increase my stats through dungeon raiding. What if something happened while Iâm not around?
I took out the large duffel bag Jung Da-jeong had left behind earlier, which she didnât want to give me.

Zzip!
When I unzipped it, the dazzling light of jewels spilled out.
The house had excellent lighting, so the jewels sparkled as they caught the natural light.

Starting from the natural stones I found at the Jongno jewelry market to 15 kilograms of gold bars.
By the way, the gold cost the most.
âWow.â

Han Jae-young was impressed.
âThese are magic materials, but why did you bring regular jewels? Normally, ores from dungeons are better for magic circles because they naturally contain mana.â
âNo, for protective magic, things from this world work better than those from other worlds.â

âThatâs an interesting take. Why is that?â
Things that have undergone transformations under heat or pressure, such as jewels, are naturally more compatible with the beings of this world.
Theyâve existed since the worldâs formation, and their basic properties are more attuned to the lifeforms here. People have used gemstones as protective stones for ages.

So, jewels from this world are more suitable for protective magic than anything from other worlds.
The only downside is theyâre a bit expensive, but since I needed natural stones instead of artificially made ones, it wasnât as costly as I thought.
The biggest expense was actually the gold. Gold is the softest of metals, so I needed a lot of it to draw the magic circle.

âAnd I need to satisfy Han Jae-youngâs curiosity too.â
Even though I was planning to use him, I had to throw out a few enticing bait to keep him interested.
While Han Jae-young looked at me with curiosity, I carefully placed the jewels around the house and began carving the magic circle with the gold.

âIf youâre going to keep carving like that, couldnât you just use edible gold powder?â
â...Using mana to carve it like this will make it more conductive.â
Thanks to this, I ended up using about 1.2 billion worth of gold, but the house was large enough, and to make the magic circle semi-permanent, it was necessary.

âThatâs impressive.â
âMagic circles using jewels should exist, but still, itâs rare.â
âIâm not talking about the magic circle, Iâm talking about Da-onâs family love.â

From behind me, Han Jae-young continued.
âYou included your familyâs protection in the contract. I thought, for an S-rank hunter, it made sense since youâre usually a target for threats, but... seeing you like this, it seems even more obvious. Anyone would think youâre the older sister. Though, even if you are the sister, it feels a bit excessive. I mean, if itâs family, it makes sense, but...â
âThatâs not obvious.â

I replied as I rubbed the gold powder into the floor.
âThatâs why.â
Nothing I sacrificed for Da-on was ever obvious.

Even though we were siblings, we were just born to the same parents. In the end, weâre strangers. My familiar is mine because I split my soul, but itâs not family. A stranger who can never be more important than me. One who, for their own gain, could eventually turn their back on me or even kill me.
I know that from my past life.
And maybe even in this life.

Fwaam!
As I infused mana into the completed magic circle, the house was suddenly illuminated.
Mana began circulating between the jewels I placed at the precise points of the magic circle.

This isnât bad.
The jewels began amplifying the small amount of mana I had infused, expanding the magic circleâs effects and range.
Now, I donât even need to add any more mana; for at least six months, this building will be safe, even if a nuclear bomb goes off.

Comfortable! Safe!
 
Perhaps feeling the abundant mana surrounding the house, Leo, sitting by my feet, purred happily.
âOh, right, weâre casting it right now... Wait, hold on.â

Han Jae-youngâs face stiffened as he detected the flow of mana.
âThis...!â
Boom!

Han Jae-young collapsed from his chair, as if hit by some invisible force, and rolled all the way out through the open front door.
âWhatâs going on here?!â
âOops, my mistake.â

I said flatly, in the same unbothered tone Han Jae-young had used earlier.
âIf that upset you, I apologize.â
â¦â¦

Shocked, Han Jae-young looked up at me from the cold floor with a stunned expression.
Well, he shouldnât have started a fight with me.