M E M O R I Z E

“Phew…. Tsk..."

... Was the impact hit by the butt too big? The baby unicorn tried desperately not to fall out of my arms, and I quickly put it in a difficult position. Crying is because the second time you were surprised and shocked, you twisted your legs.

After a little time like that.

Eventually, I decided to go in with the baby unicorn. He was still young, so there was no great burden on him, and it was a clear example to keep him waiting for Han Soyoung.

“Never act your way. Okay?"

“Tsk.”

However, I quickly climbed the stairs after being firmly resolved once.

Soon after, I pushed the door down and went in. Hansoyoung, who was sitting on the couch, leaning over a cup of tea, and a man I had never seen, was waiting for me. Maybe he's the guest Ansol mentioned.

I took my eyes off the colorful lips of the teacup for a moment, then I woke up.

“You've waited a long time. Istantel Low Road. ”

Han So-young looked at me once and nodded lightly. The collar shifts slightly to make sure the tea is handed over.

“No. I just came to see you... Eh.”

And then, as if to say hello, he suddenly stops talking.

Hmm?

Let me take a closer look at why I want to do it, and I could see her gaze pierced around my chest.

It was that moment.

“Tsk?”

At that moment, the baby unicorn, who was burying his head indefinitely, suddenly reached out his head. He's full of curiosity, so he's interested in seeing new people.

I gently stroked the head of the crooked one, then opened my mouth quietly.

“Well, say hello. ”

“Tsk?”

“She's a good person. ”

“Tsk, tsk.”

Then the baby unicorn crouches and crouches. At the same time, her slow hand, which lowers the cup of tea, stops halfway.

Looking at the scene with joy, her gaze flutters violently enough to be seen. I tilted my head and faced the rest of the couch, and then Han Soyoung's gaze turned towards me.

Soon, her lips began to crack open.

“Unicorn…. Is it?”

“Yes, he's just a child... Oh, is this your first time? ”

“I've heard a lot. But I've never seen it before. ”

There was a simple refreshment with herbal tea on the table. The baby unicorn slows down, sniffing its nose to see if it's hungry after crying. But I pinched it slightly, meaning to stay still, and glanced at the man next to me.

Somehow, his behavior was quite unusual. It's because I've been showing a consistent insecurity since I came in. No. I just touched my eyes.... Ballpoint?

I looked at him for a moment, and I immediately opened my mouth.

“What brings you here today? ”

“Yes. It's not different... Uh, if you don't mind, can I ask you a question? ”

With the intention of permission, she nods and momentarily bites her face with a slight tension. She was always Pokerface like the true 'Queen of Iron', so her reaction was quite surprising a while ago and now.

“I saw a Hamill Clan flag hanging from the entrance.... ”

'Aha.'

At that moment, I immediately understood Han Soyoung's reaction.

That's why you have a flag. It's simple.

Since I confessed my secret to my brother, the Hamill Clan and the Mercenary have formed an alliance not long ago. Alliance level is "Workshop Alliance" (meaning that it joins attacks and defenses.), except for the merger.

In that sense, the symbolic symbol of the Hamill Clan was placed on the entrance, and perhaps there was a misunderstanding. The pattern of the money machine was not even set yet, so it would definitely be strange for anyone interested to see it.

“I recently formed a Workshop Alliance with the Hamill Clan. And we haven't put a flag on it because we don't have the symbolic symbol yet. That's it.”

“If that's all.... ”

“It's not a merger, it's not a dependency. So the Machinery will never leave Monica. ”

I opened my mouth firmly, and I felt Han Soyoung's face brightened a little.

“I see. Thank God. And I'm sorry I asked. ”

“No, there's been a mistake on our end. Well, I'm glad the misunderstanding was solved. ”

I guess Han So-young didn't want to miss us. And I also didn't want to leave Monica for a while, so I thanked her for telling me in advance.

Anyway, now that I think about it, I opened my mouth to the sack of rice.

“And who are you next to? ”

Then she nods her head, knowing that she knows, and quickly turns her head.

“Oh, by the way, I haven't introduced you. Song Seung-gyu?”

“ ……. ”

“Song Seung-gyu? ”

“… Ah! Yeah, yeah, yeah. ”

Strange reaction, too. So the moment I checked the user information with the third eye, I could feel the force entering my eyes. Reflexively, I groaned deeply about the fact that I left my sword behind.

'… No. We better wait and see.'

Soon after, the man called Song Seung-gyu carefully looked at me and opened his mouth with a stuttering voice.

“Oh, hello. I'm Seung-gyu Song. This is a user who recently led a small caravan. ”

Not long ago means no longer. I can feel the smell of the quest coming from you, so I decided to focus on the horse. Of course, I didn't forget to keep an eye on him.

“Greetings, I'm Kim Soo-hyun from the Mercenary Clan Road. ”

“Mercenary Road…. By any chance."

“? ”

“You have played in the previous war.... Are you him?”

It was him. It meant a lot.

Anyway, I nodded in the sense that I was right, and he looked back at Han Soyoung with a relieved face.

Han So-young opened her mouth immediately.

“Mercenary Road. I came to see you suddenly today because I have a favor to ask you. ”

“Please?”

“Yes. Ah. Should I say quest? Have you ever heard of a frozen forest? ”

Very. And of course, I nodded lightly because I knew better.

After that, Han So-young looked back at Song Seung-gyu, and he closed his eyes to see if he was trying to recall something.

Soon his lips opened slowly.

“So... It was probably two months ago. My colleagues and I, who fought in the Allied Forces, also participated in the aftermath of the siege, and were ordered to scout the frozen forest outskirts a few days before the decommissioning order was issued. ”

“Yes.”

“So…. ”

*

… After that official decommissioning order was issued, we immediately returned to the city. And after a few days of repairs, I left for the expedition. Before the siege was dismantled, I was full of hope that someone might find it, so I wanted to arrive early for at least one day.

Yes. Two weeks later, we arrived at the ice tower in the middle of the frozen forest that we had seen before. And of course, it's not entirely made of ice, and that's what the ancient cave looked like, covered in ice.

… you didn't look so good. And as I got closer, the walls in the ice were loose, and there was a lot of rust, and it was a terrible place. But it was enormous. It was enormously wide, but enormously high. Is it about 15 stories tall?

Anyway, it wasn't the shape I wanted to approach.... You know what the ruins mean to users. We were so excited about what we were going to explore and what we were going to get, that we went right inside.

There was nothing on the first floor. No, there was nothing unusual about it as it went up. No monsters came out of the treasure.

My colleagues and I were very disappointed. But I still had the floor, so I listened to my colleagues. Let's go up a little bit more. We still have some space left, so let's go to the end.

... I had no idea that it was going to be a disaster.

I don't remember the exact floor. But one of the things I felt when I opened the door and went upstairs was that it was completely different from the floor that I had been on.

Like... a maze? Yes, it was a maze, a maze of ice all around, and a maze of very complicated ice.

We went into the maze to find a staircase that went up somehow, and we could barely find the door after all the trouble. And that's when I knew.

that one of my colleagues is missing.

At first I thought I was lost, but then I turned back, and I didn't see any sign of my colleague. No, we got lost in the maze, not a trace.

What was really crazy and crazy was that when I realized I was so lost, I lost two more people.

Yes. The caravan, which started with 11, including the first mercenaries, had suddenly gone down to eight, and an extra hour or so of Heman had gone down to five. And then I realized something was wrong.

My colleague decided to withdraw immediately, but I didn't mind. They're already... because we were consumed by the maze. No matter how many exits we looked for, we couldn't see them, and over time, we panicked.

And then I ended up back at the door, and that was the door that I found upstairs. And as soon as we looked at the door, we were all frozen.

Why? Because the door said something that wasn't there before. Among the rest of my colleagues was an expert in Gore interpretation, and he explained it to me.

You're looking for a way out.

Then open this door.

I thought about it for a moment, and I decided to open the door. Some of my remaining colleagues withdrew, but I thought it would be better to just bump into them once rather than keep wandering around like this. So, as soon as I was ready, I opened the door.

… the room was dark. And most of all, the scenery was different. Just a big, dark room? It just felt that way.

How long have you been walking like that?

We stopped walking again in front of a blocked wall. And on the dark wall was another long text.

You really opened the door?

Thank you very much.

And as soon as I heard that, I felt wrong. And then one of my colleagues ran away screaming at the door, and my mind got complicated. In that instant, I was thinking about how to do it.

Then my colleague who interpreted it opened his mouth with a trembling voice.

Then don't ever look back.

I said something at first, but at that moment, as an archer, I felt it.

that something was coming in and out of the door. And don't turn your back on your colleagues, because they've read the writing on the wall.

It was then.

I heard the screams of my colleagues who had first escaped out the door, and at the same time, the door that had been firmly closed was wide open.

*

“… so what happened? ”

In my question, Song Seung-gyu shook his head and wrapped his hands around his face. Suddenly, a voice burst out of my hands.

“I don't know. The moment I saw the door open, my eyes turned white. I just wander around the room like crazy, avoiding the unknown, and I remember how I walked out the door. ”

“And?”

“And…. I don't know. I can remember when I was running so crazy... I don't know how he got away. When I was barely conscious, I was outside the tower. ”

“I see.”

I still looked at him without seeing his face, and I twisted my legs calmly.

Soon, he lowered his hand and showed his face, glowing with his eyes.

“Please. I hardly think I have any chance of being alive.... But they've been with us for years. At least I want to check on life and death. ”

“Ugh…. You're asking for a rescue. ”

I was going to say a confirmation quest, but I changed my mind and corrected it for the rescue.

At that moment, I thought it was really mean.

The 'Frozen Forest' was definitely a memorable ruin, but it was not part of the expedition. because it was a place to be found out later in Istanbul Row. I was going to let it be revealed by myself rather than just touching it.

Han So-young opened her mouth quietly to see if she could feel my gaze.

“It was supposed to be handled by our party.... Right now, Istanbul Low is putting a lot of effort into urban maintenance. It's true that we don't have enough time right now, so we want to get the Mercenary's help. ”

I liked the excuses, but I couldn't completely believe what Han So-young said. It's true she's busy, but there are a lot of clans under her. I can leave it to them, but they still came to me because...

'You've already acquired information a long time ago, not from the flag. So, in fact, after confirming it, if not, they would care about it.'

When I thought about it, I smiled bitterly. It still appeared favorable, but it seems we have not yet established a complete trust relationship. Well, maybe this is normal.

Wa-Sak Wa-Sak. Wa-Sak Wa-Sak.

Suddenly, I look down, and I see a baby unicorn eating delicious refreshments on the table. After a short sigh, I nod once.

“Very well. I'll handle this quest from the Mercenary Clan." ”

Song Seung-gyu lowered her head so hard that she couldn't see her face, then shouted in a loud voice.

“Thank you!”

The baby unicorn stares at him with a glance, looking for refreshments, even though the sound was loud.

“Tsk, tsk! ”

Then he rushed at me with a pile of powder in his mouth. My whole body trembles like an ash tree because I was surprised by something.

'…….'

Later, I smiled, looking at the hideous white teeth shining on the table.

“No problem. It's a request. ”

That's a lot to take in.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

“Mercenary Road. By the way, have you seen the postmortem? ”

“Yes? No. I didn't see it.”

“Hm. I see. ”

(Han So-young sprinkles the eye of a falcon.)

“Why, why are you looking at me like that? ”

“Hmm.”

“? ”

“Okay, can you give me a call if you see anything? ”

“I see. (Wasn't he with you?) ”

PS. Since the configuration has been completed between 4 and 5 times, many parts of the process will be omitted. The next round will be in the frozen forest, except for the introduction part.