Not A Regressor-Chapter 283: Dogs And Wolves (8)

“What do you want to tell us?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

Everyone’s attention turned to Riru.

She avoided their gazes and briefly hesitated. “The village elders are currently—”

Suddenly, the door burst open.

Bang!

Leo rushed in, out of breath. “Riru! Is Riru here?!”

When he saw Riru with Kwon Oh-Jin’s group, he collapsed to the ground in relief. Not long afterward, he sprang up and stomped toward her.

“I told you not to go out without telling me, didn’t I?!” He raised his arm as if to strike her.

Riru flinched and tightly shut her eyes. “S-Sorry, oppa...”

Leo bit his lip hard and lowered his hand.

“Haaa.” He deeply sighed and hugged Riru. “I was worried, you know.”

“I-I just wanted to give them some fruit I picked by the stream earlier.”

“You could’ve told me beforehand.”

“Sorry. I thought it’d be okay since it was just next door.” Riru hung her head with a dispirited look.

Leo patted her back as if to say, “It's okay.”

Watching the heartwarming scene, Kwon Oh-Jin and the others chuckled softly.

“So, Riru, what was it you wanted to say earlier?”

“Huh? What?” Leo asked.

Riru panicked and shook her head. “Oh, um... I-I just meant that I told the village elders about you, Oh-Jin oppa, and the others.”

She forced an awkward smile and tried to play it off.

“Is that so...?”

Obviously, she had changed her answer, but Kwon Oh-Jin didn’t press her any further. Maybe she didn’t want to say it in front of Leo.

“Then, let’s head back. The chief might be worried.” Leo referred to their dad as the chief instead and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Riru nodded and turned to leave with him. Just then, Leo’s stomach loudly rumbled.

Growl.

“A-Ah! This isn’t because I’m starving or anything!” He waved frantically as his face flushed red.

Isabella stifled a laugh and pointed to the boiling pot. “Do you want to join us for dinner?”

“B-But we should get going—”

“We’ll explain everything to Leoru for you.”

Their house wasn’t far, so it wouldn’t be a big deal.

“Umm.” Leo hesitated.

However, Riru jumped excitedly with sparkling eyes. “I want to eat with you!”

The smell of pasta already filled the air, and the two growing kids were almost drooling.

“I-I guess I could stay for dinner.” Leo shyly sat at the table.

Isabella covered her mouth as her shoulders shook with laughter at the adorable sight. “Then, I’d better grill some meat too.”

Song Ha-Eun chuckled and pulled out a slab of pork belly from her backpack. “There’s nothing better than meat for kids who are still growing. I’ll grill the meat.”

“Are you sure you won’t burn it, unnie?”

“Hey! I may suck at cooking, but grilling meat? I’ve got that down.” She placed the meat in a pan and flicked her fingers lightly.

A small flame sparked and heated the pan. The satisfying sizzle of meat hitting the hot pan filled the room.

“W-Woah.” 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“I-It’s meat, oppa.”

Leo and Riru literally drooled as they watched the meat cook.

Once the pork belly was nearly done, Song Ha-Eun smirked and pulled out a red container from her bag. “Watch closely, kiddos. This right here is the ultimate combo you can only get in Korea.”

“Korea...?” Leo wondered.

“What’s in that container?” Riru asked.

Song Ha-Eun proudly puffed her chest and opened it. A sour, pungent smell from the fermented kimchi filled the room.

“Ugh! What’s that rotten smell?!”

“Y-You eat that?!”

As beastkin, their heightened sense of smell didn’t take well to the unfamiliar scent. Leo and Riru jumped up from the table with eyes full of suspicion as they stared at the container of kimchi.

“Ah, yeah, I guess the scent can be a bit much if it's your first time smelling it,” Kwon Oh-Jin said.

Even among foreigners, many were put off by kimchi. How much worse would it be for those from an entirely different world?

With a triumphant expression, Song Ha-Eun picked up a pair of tongs. “Still...”

Grabbing a handful of kimchi, she dropped it onto the pan with the pork fat.

Sizzle!

The kimchi began to fry in the hot grease as she drizzled a few drops of sesame oil on top.

“Huh?”

“I-It smells good all of a sudden!”

The revolting stench almost completely disappeared, replaced by a mouthwatering aroma.

“Okay, okay! Now wrap the meat in kimchi and try it!” Song Ha-Eun instructed.

Leo and Riru’s eyes sparkled as they went for the meat and kimchi.

Forks in hand instead of chopsticks, they eagerly stabbed the meat and kimchi and popped them into their mouths.

“It's delicious!” Riru said.

“W-What kind of meat is this?” Leo asked.

They instantly became hooked on the combination of pork belly and kimchi.

Isabella finished cooking the pasta with a touch of disappointment. “Looks like there’s no room for what I made.”

“I’ll eat it.” Kwon Oh-Jin took the pasta from her hands.

Isabella smiled and wrapped her arms around his. “Mr. Oh-Jin is the only one who cares about me.”

“Haha. Anyway, let’s eat before it gets cold.”

After the lively dinner, they packed up the leftovers and told Leo to bring them home to Leoru. For the first time in a while, Kwon Oh-Jin’s group slept soundly on a bed.

***

The next day, after packing up early in the morning, Kwon Oh-Jin's group stood at the village entrance.

Riru and Leo had come to see them off, their eyes glistening as if sad to see them go.

“You’re leaving already?” Riru asked.

“Yeah. It’s time we head for the Khan Kingdom.”

“That’s...”

“We'll come back to visit once we finish our business. Stay safe, alright?” Kwon Oh-Jin patted Riru’s head.

She smiled as bright as a sunflower. “Yes! I’ll be waiting!”

“And you, kid, make sure to keep your sister safe.” Song Ha-Eun gently patted Leo’s back as he turned away to hide his tears.

“I-I’m not a kid!”

“Yeah, right. Says the guy who was blushing all over a woman’s chest.”

“I-I’m a proud wolf of the Silver Mane Tribe!”

Song Ha-Eun burst into laughter at Leo’s flustered outburst.

“The Silver Mane Tribe will always welcome you all.” Leoru faintly smiled and extended his hand to Kwon Oh-Jin.

The moment they shook hands, a flicker of concern crossed Leoru’s eyes. He glanced down at their clasped hands with a trembling gaze. Then, he softly sighed and shook his head. “Well then, I’ve got something to attend to. Excuse me.”

Leoru turned and walked away.

Kwon Oh-Jin squinted at his retreating figure.

He’s been acting weird since yesterday.

It seemed like Leoru wanted to say something, but held back. Now that Kwon Oh-Jin thought about it, Riru also seemed like she wanted to say something last night.

If we stayed here a few more days, we might figure it out.

However, they didn’t have time.

“Riru.” Instead, Kwon Oh-Jin gestured to her.

She came trotting over. “Yes, oppa?”

“Here, take this.”

“What is this?” Riru cocked her head as she accepted the glowing blue orb.

“It’s a communication orb.”

He had carefully prepared several Astral Relics before entering the Demonic District. In a place this vast, they needed a way to contact each other in case they got separated.

“The range isn’t huge, but it should reach from here to the kingdom just fine.”

It couldn’t call someone dozens or hundreds of kilometers away like a phone on Earth, but functioned more like a walkie-talkie.

“If anything happens in the village, use it to call me.”

“Okay! I will!”

Ruffling Riru’s hair one last time, Kwon Oh-Jin and his group turned toward the Khan Kingdom.

***

Like Baek Mu-Kang had suggested, they easily entered the Khan Kingdom with fake ears and tails. Of course, the kingdom guards checked everyone’s identities at the gate. However, without a proper bureaucratic system like on Earth, the guards quickly fell for Kwon Oh-Jin’s smooth talk and allowed the group through without any issues.

They arrived at a nearby inn, paid with the money they had taken from the hunters, and began their investigation.

A week had passed since the team split up to gather information. They finally returned to the inn to share their findings.

“Alright, who wants to go first? Even little details are fine, so just share everything you learned.” Kwon Oh-Jin pulled out a notebook and pen as he glanced around at the group.

Isabella raised her hand like the honor student who always volunteered in class. “I’ll go first.”

She held a thick stack of papers packed with the information she had gathered over the past week.

“First of all, the ones holding real power in the Khan Kingdom right now are beastkin aligned with the pro-demonkin faction.”

“Well, yeah. That makes sense.”

“But what’s hard to understand is... Apparently, Horus himself isn’t part of that pro-demonkin faction.”

“Horus isn’t?”

The proxy of Khan, who sold out his nation to the demonkin and seized power, wasn’t part of the pro-demonkin faction.

“Yes. Even though the kingdom is under demonkin rule, it seems he hasn’t exactly been following their orders.”

“Perhaps that’s because he’s afraid of losing his own power?” Vega suggested.

“Hmm... I’m not sure about that.” Isabella frowned as she flipped through her prepared papers. “Do you remember how the hunters mentioned taking Leo to a fighting ring last time?”

“Oh, yeah.” Kwon Oh-Jin did recall hearing that.

“It’s like an underground fighting ring that secretly operates within the kingdom. Apparently, Horus is the one who outlawed it.”

The kidnapped Silver Mane Tribe members were forced to fight in that illegal arena. Like the Colosseum of the past, bloody combat always provided some of the most thrilling entertainment. It was likely even more popular among beastkin, who still harbored traces of animalistic instincts.

From a ruler’s perspective, something like the Colosseum was more than just an amusement.

It gives people a way to vent their frustrations and stress through entertainment.

South Korea also once ran something similar called the 3S Policy[1] to help pacify public unrest. Entertainment like that often played a critical role in governance.

“But Horus was the one who banned it?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

“Yes, and that’s not all.” Isabella narrowed her eyes. “It’s illegal to buy and sell members of the Silver Mane Tribe.”

“Yeah.” Kwon Oh-Jin had easily inferred that from how the hunters couldn’t openly reveal their buyer’s identity.

“Horus was the one who drafted that law too.”

Kwon Oh-Jin frowned.

Horus.

The beastkin who had betrayed the kingdom and handed it to the demonkin. What was his real motive in protecting the Silver Mane Tribe?

1. The South Korean government promoted a Sex, Screen, and Sports policy in the 1980s to divert attention from political issues. ☜