Chapter 320

An unmarried woman shouldn’t be visiting a man’s room this late in the night. However, Sungyoon let her in without any hesitation.

“Would you like some black tea?”

“Yes.”

He knew what she liked. Well, it was more of a general idea, because the British typically liked tea.

Sungyoon poured water into the coffee pot.

“I've run out of all the high-quality black tea I had in my Storage Gem. You’ll have to tolerate the hotel’s teabag.”

“That’s too bad. I was looking forward to it.”

Two cups of black tea lay on the table as their aroma spread throughout the room.

“Mmm. It isn’t too bad.”

“By the expression on your face, there is no way it's any good.”

It was subtle, but Grace grimaced each time she took a sip.

“Should I prepare you another cup?”

“I don’t want to impose on you. All cheap tea taste the same. Also, this is drinkable.”

She took another sip, and this time, her eyebrows slightly shook.

In some ways, it was a funny sight.

She busily stuffed cookies in her mouth as she drank the tea. She looked like a person eating a side dish to get rid of the taste of strong alcohol.

The sipping sound rang in the room for a while as the two of them talked about their private lives.

However, Grace wasn’t here for the tea.

Sungyoon decided to be direct.

“Are you here about what happened today?”

“…”

Grace’s silence was an answer in itself. She being awake at this time wasn't because of fear. She had been a Connector long before Sungyoon became one. After teaming up with Sungyoon, she had accumulated all kinds of experience, more so compared to the other Connectors.

What they had witnessed today was horrifying, but it couldn't make her heart sink like this.

Sungyoon knew that she was colder and more level-headed than his other party members. Her behavior was out of the ordinary.

However, he had a guess.

“Were there any Brits amongst the dead we found today?”

Clatter!

Grace's hand, which had been about to raise the teacup, came to a stop. She put down the teacup, which lay several centimeters above the saucer.

The sound of porcelain hitting porcelain rang out.

Thankfully, they hadn’t fallen a great distance; the teacup and saucer were fine.

Sungyoon continued to speak.

“We successfully reclaimed Armstrong city. Everyone was happy about our success, but Earth suffered heavy damage in the process. Since most of the strongest Connectors were busy in Armstrong city, Earth's defenses had weakened. It couldn’t be helped.”

They knew it, and they had been prepared for it. However, it hadn’t been a priority.

It was further complicated by the fact that they had to defend too large an area. Of course, there would be a massive amount of casualties.

However, it was done in the name of averting the destruction of earth. It might sound cruel, but the deaths were minor when compared to the eventual demise of earth.

It was a loss that had to be stomached. This was how everyone rationalized it.

“…after our plan to recover Armstrong city came to an end, I went over the entire list of people, who either died or went missing in my country. I felt that it was my duty to see their pictures at least once. That is what I thought.”

One of the people, who had disliked the plan the most, had been Grace.

She understood the plan had to be carried out. It was needed, yet she was more sensitive to the deaths on earth compared to others.

Most Connectors went to the moon and labyrinths for selfish reasons. The only thing they believed was their own abilities. Unlike them, she had grown up in a special environment. She was nurtured to think differently.

“Of course, I don’t remember all of them, but I do...remember some of the children.”

Life was precious for all, but she couldn’t help focusing her attention on the children. The children were defenseless, and their lives were cut down way too soon.

This was why she remembered some of the children’s pictures, and in a coincidence, she had seen one of them today.

She had seen the child as a corpse. His body had been dismantled in a horrifying fashion.

“I compared the corpses, which were still recognizable, to the list of the missing. A lot of them were on the list.”

Grace’s voice was full of emotions. There were anger, grief, and hatred mixed. Her voice expressed what she felt.

‘It seems Ms. Grace is holding onto a lot of emotional baggage.’

Sungyoon’s family was fine. This means he could react to other events in a rational manner.

However, Grace was different. Her country was as important as his family to her.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

That was all he could say.

He couldn’t offer platitudes. He didn’t tell her that he understood what she was going through. He didn’t tell her that everything would be ok.

He couldn’t do it. He thought about the anguish he would feel if he had lost his family. He wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if someone tried to give him cheap platitudes.

“I can never forgive the being called Kevil, Mr. Sungyoon.”

“I feel the same way, and I don’t plan on forgiving it.”

All his party members felt the same way.

Afterward, Sungyoon and Grace continued their quiet conversation.

Grace would lament, and Sungyoon would silently listen to her.

“Hoo-hooht! I was right to come here. The emotions weighing on my heart has significantly lessened”

“I’m glad to hear that. However, you should seek out a female friend next time. It isn’t good to be around a man, so late into the night. Others might misunderstand what went on here. You can lean on Ms. Emily too.”

“It isn’t as if I hadn’t thought about it, but Ms. Emily was in rough shape too.”

“…I see.”

Emily had a delicate personality. Her many experiences in battle allowed her to somewhat overcome her delicate personality, but it seemed today’s events had affected her in a profound manner.

He remembered her face had been pale when they were returning to the hotel.

“Also, I don’t care if others misunderstand what happened here.”

It was hard to tell if she was playing or not. A peculiar smile appeared on her lips as she picked up her teacup once again.

Sungyoon remained silent.

“Hmm. I guess it isn’t time yet.”

Grace let out a sigh. She looked around the room as if she wanted to find something that would allow her to change the topic.

It was an expensive room, but it was a normal hotel room. It wasn’t much different from her own room.

Her eyes landed on the large map that had been rolled up.

“Were you looking at the map?”

“Yes. I was wondering if there were any patterns to how it determined the ritual sites. That is why I was marking them all.”

“Do you mind if I look at it?”

It wasn't the information that he had to hide.

Sungyoon put away the teacups, so they would have an easier time looking at the map.

Grace unfurled the map.

“It is quite detailed.”

Grace spoke out in admiration.

“It is nothing. I just marked the locations that were reported on. I’m sure other intelligence agencies are doing a more thorough analysis. This is something I’m doing to satisfy myself.”

“I didn’t think about doing this. There are two different marks. What’s the difference?”

“The circle signifies the recent rituals where no 1st Gens were involved. It is the large rituals. The triangle signifies the previous rituals where the 1st Gens were sacrificed.”

Grace carefully looked over the map.

It was as if she was looking for something. She glared at the map as her brows furrowed in concentration. Sungyoon remained silent since he didn’t want to bother her.

It would be great if Grace found something he missed.

“I wish there was a pattern, but I don’t see it.”

It seemed it was an impossible task for Grace too.

He wasn’t disappointed.

It was something that numerous intelligence agencies couldn’t figure out either.

“However, I feel a sense of deja vu for some reason.”

Sungyoon stared at her.

Grace shrank away. However, Sungyoon didn’t plan on berating her for saying something useless.

‘Ms. Grace feels that way?’

In truth, Sungyoon had felt some unknown sense of deja vu when he looked at the map.

It was the reason why he continued to look at the map despite him calling it a self-serving act.

‘Let’s say the sense of deja vu that we felt isn't a coincidence. If so, where could we have seen it the same thing?’

Sungyoon and Grace lived completely different lives.

It was to be expected since Sungyoon lived in Korea and Grace lived in England.

That naturally meant they probably saw it on the moon. Moreover, there was a high probability that they had seen it in a labyrinth.

‘However, I doubt we saw something so distinct within the labyrinth.’

His thoughts naturally flowed toward the next candidate.

‘It’s the cities!’

He thought about the pictures engraved in various places in the capital city, the holy city, Mage city, and the fortress city.

The engravings looked artistic, but it also seemed to be made to express history.

“What’s wrong?”

Grace looked worried as she looked at Sungyoon, who was deep in his thoughts.

Sungyoon suddenly grabbed Grace’s hand.

“Ah!”

Grace was taken aback, but she didn’t pull her hand back.

“Ms. Grace!”

“Yes, yes!”

It wasn’t like her to be this flustered. Her unbeaten heart circulated her blood faster.

Her face turned red.

“I remembered something! I’ll have to go verify it! Please wait a moment!”

Sungyoon ran out of the room.

The only one left in the room was a dumbfounded woman. It felt as if cold water had been dumped on her rising passion.

Grace’s cheeks turned red once again. However, she was feeling a different emotion compared to the one before.

It was the complete opposite emotion. It was an embarrassment.

She took steady breathes to calm her heart.

“…I expected it, but it really is a brick wall.”

How did Hahn Jimin break through that powerful wall?

‘Still, I’m in a better place than before. I’ve made some progress.’

In the past, Sungyoon wouldn’t have let Grace into his room no matter what time it was.

‘Also, I didn’t come here with that intention in mind.’

She had told the truth when she told Sungyoon that she had to unload her restless emotions. She had accomplished her goal of coming here.

She also knew it was rude to stay in a room too long without the owner being present.

Grace’s heart felt light as she returned to her room.

***

-When we received Mr. Sungyoon’s message, he searched the special cities.

The mayor was on the screen. He looked excited as he held his tablet.

-We found four likely candidates when we went through all the paintings on the wall and ceiling. We were able to piece this together.

The mayor looked proud as he unfurled a paper.

It was a large piece of paper, and there was a large drawing printed on the paper.

It looked like the map of the world.

-Look at this!

The mayor started pointing at various locations on the paper.

There were small dots drawn atop this world map.

It wasn’t just one or two. There were several red dots drawn on there.

Sungyoon’s gaze became fixed on one particular red dot.

There was no way he could forget that location.

The topography looked a bit different from his map, but it was the location where Kevil had conducted his damned ritual. It was the location that he had been staring at all night.

“What’s the significance of these locations?”

-This is our conjecture, but we believe the ritual to banish the Grenoid from earth was conducted in these locations. There is a picture of the Grenoid drawn nearby that supports this conjecture.

“What does my mother-in-law think about this?”

“Mr. Plu-El and Mr. Aruwen are in agreement with us.”

“It isn’t a coincidence?”

-Probably not.

Got’em.

The two men had that thought at the same time.