Chapter 324: Dragon (4)

Joonbum looked at the old man. He looked ordinary but seemed to have undergone many experiences.

“So, old man. Did you really go deep into that place?”

The old man, who had introduced himself as Graham, nodded at Jinpok’s question.

“Yeah.”

“No way. You’re lying, aren’t you?”

Jinpok mumbled and Graham retorted, “Hey, have YOU been there?”

“How can I go there?”

“Then don’t say rubbish. You’ve never even been there.”

“What? That’s a stupid reason to…”

“You’ve never been there, so what do you know?”

“You have no proof!”

“I am proof! That’s enough!”

Graham and Jinpok kept on quarreling. Doral shook his head.

“They’re repeating the same thing, over and over again.”

Their personalities seemed to be very similar.

“But a dragon hunt… I heard the Alliance is trying hard to gather tamers.”

Doral seemed grim. Tamers were kids who were born with the talent to communicate with animals. But their powers varied with each individual and required careful training. Doral was concerned that the Alliance would not treat these kids properly.

“Others taming dragons will be problematic. That will give them full control of the sky.”

Joonbum frowned. He didn’t imagine that others would go for dragons either.

“We were too busy with the King Kongs and goblins. We should’ve had some eyes on them.”

Joonbum looked at Doral and turned back to face the large forest.

“You will have to deal with this soon. If the Gate opens…”

Joonbum nodded at Doral’s words.

“Let’s do it.”

Doral got up and disappeared amongst the people.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

“He went to buy some jerky.”

Joonbum answered instead as Jinpok smiled.

“Alcohol?”

“Both.”

“Oh, good!”

Graham replied excitedly and Jinpok frowned.

“Hey, old man, buy it with your own money!”

“Hahaha! Sharing is caring, right?”

Jinpok laughed. That’s when someone spoke.

“Huh? Look at that. The old man’s here again.”

Jinpok and Joonbum turned and saw a few mercenaries glaring at the old man. The two of them then exchanged looks.

‘Is it that?’

‘Yeah, it seems so.’

The two of them then looked back at the mercenaries.

“Hey, old man. Go back to your home and play with your grandkids. Stop freeloading off other people.”

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“I know right? He lies too much!”

“Hey! You two guys don’t know who this old man is?”

Jinpok grinned as Joonbum felt somewhat uneasy. The man spat on the ground as he continued.

“This old man always feeds off on everyone and lies that he is the best guide there is, trying to fool new hunters. As if he was a great man when he was young and all… Am I wrong, old man?”

One of them walked over to Graham and put his arm around him as he spoke. Graham, who seemed to be really happy until now, was now filled with frustration and embarrassment.

“Hey, you guys should get yourselves straight and don’t talk with this old man… Huh? What’s with that look?”

The man noticed Jinpok’s expressionless face and frowned. The man then scoffed and narrowed his eyes.

“Haha. Look at that big guy. You mad? Come on, old man, tell them. Am I wrong?”

The man then turned back to Graham.

“Get your dirty hands off of him.”

However, it was Jinpok who had spoken. It was a low but heavy voice that attracted everyone’s attention. The man who had his arm around Graham frowned.

“Huh? Oh-this? You talking about this?”

The man looked at his arm around Graham and asked, “Haha, I guess I made a mistake…”

They all now turned toward Jinpok and Joonbum.

“Hey, I was just giving you good advice. And you returning our kind intentions with that kind of attitude?”

“Big guy, you know how to fight?”

They started to speak menacingly. And one of the men flashed a handgun on his waist. Jinpok continued.

“Take your hands off him.”

The five mercenaries grimaced.

“So, you want to do this huh?!”

“You chose the wrong people to mess with.”

“You dare to… huh?”

“H-hey…”

The mercenaries all stopped talking as Jinpok slowly stood up. Jinpok’s seven-foot-tall body towered over them.

“Go.”

It was just one word, but all of them began to step back.

“…L-let’s go.”

“Fools. You’re lucky.”

“Old man! Don’t let us catch you doing that again!”

They ran away as they shouted.

Graham sighed in relief, but his expression was full of humiliation and sadness. He slowly picked up his backpack, the old and ragged backpack was full of traces of his experiences. Jinpok asked, “Old man, where are you going?”

Graham stopped. He sighed and his shoulders dropped.

“I’m sorry…”

“You asked us to go dragon hunting. Where do you think you’re going?”

Graham turned back in surprise, his eyes full of questions. Jinpok smiled.

“I guess they are right that you do lie a lot, but I think you can still be a guide. Am I wrong?”

Graham sighed after looking back at Jinpok for a long while.

“Whew. They wanted me to be their guide but at an absurd cost. I refused, and they began doing that everywhere I go. I tried to reason with them, but no one believed me. Oh, some believed me but they were too afraid to go against them. So, my job always…”

Joonbum laughed. It was as they thought. Graham’s clothes proved that he had a long time of adventuring, and also his tools that had many traces were worn out from usage. There was no way Graham was a fraud.

“Can I really stick with you guys?”

The two men nodded.

End of Chapter