Moon's Labyrinths

Chapter 263

Chapter 263


Chapter 263


“Would you like to drink something? I’m buying . ”


Sungyoon pointed to a nearby cafe .


“No . We can’t impose ourselves on you like that . It"s too expensive . ”


‘It seems she isn’t a high rank Connector . ’


When Sungyoon saw Plu-El shake her head from side to side, the thought came to his mind . If she were a high rank Connector, she wouldn’t have refused the drink with such words . In fact, she would have offered to buy the drink instead .


“It"s fine . An expense of this magnitude won’t be too burdensome for me . ”


When Sungyoon insisted on it, Plu-El smiled after a moment of hesitation .


“Then I will accept your generosity . ”


She looked at the menu above the counter, while Sungyoon turned toward Aruwen .


“You should pick a drink too . ”


Sungyoon didn’t like the man, but he couldn’t just ignore him .


“No . I—”


“He likes anything sweet . ”


Plu-El b.u.t.ted in from the side, and Aruwen glared at her .


“Is that so? Will a caramel macchiato be ok?”


“… Yes, please . ”


Aruwen looked away from Plu-El and lowered his head a little toward Sungyoon .


‘Did something happen?’


Sungyoon realized that this man"s demeanor was entirely different than that in their first meeting . However, they had encountered each other only once, and that too for a moment . It could be that Sungyoon hadn’t gotten an accurate read on him . Therefore, Sungyoon decided to keep that matter to the side .


With their hats and sungla.s.ses, Plu-El and Aruwen had disguised themselves . It could be seen that they were trying very hard not to be noticed . Sungyoon led Plu-El and Aruwen toward a park to have a quiet conversation .


“What business do you have with me?”


Sungyoon asked as he sat down on a bench .


Plu-El took a moment to gather her thoughts .


‘It’ll be important from now on . ’


This was the first and critical step in creating an alliance between the moon people and the earthlings . Moreover, she was facing the person who could use the Royal Gem . If she wanted to convince her people, she needed the outsider who had awakened the Royal Gem . It would give their efforts legitimacy .


‘I can’t believe he came up with this idea . ’


She glanced at Aruwen . Tiotudo’s death had brought on a significant change in Aruwen . Of course, Plu-El had no intention of forgiving him yet .


‘I have to acknowledge it . He has started to change . ’


Plu-El desperately wished this good change continued .


“Mr . Woo Sungyoon, I’m not sure if you will believe the words that will come out of our mouths from now on, but these words are the absolute truth . I hope you understand that it"s very difficult for us to speak about this . ”


Sungyoon took the straw out of his lips when the mood turned heavy .


“I’m all ears . ”


When Sungyoon gave his full attention, Plu-El opened her mouth . No, she was going to open her mouth .


“In truth, we are—”


“Hey! Look who it is!”


A chill ran up Plu-El"s and Aruwen"s spines . Without even thinking, they bounced up from their seats and immediately created some distance .


Toohk! Chwahk!


The coffee cups in their hands fell to the floor .


“Jeez! What’s with the overreaction? They wasted the coffee . ”


The man wiped the coffee on his shoes as he spoke, while the look in Plu-El"s and Aruwen’s eyes turned ugly . Sungyoon was a bit dumbfounded at what had just happened . He turned to look at the newcomer .


“What brings you here, Mr . Hyunwoo?”


Hweek!


Plu-El and Aruwen turned away . Their eyes became round as if they didn’t want to believe what they were seeing .


“I saw you with these guys and became curious, so I followed . ”


“Do you know them?”


“I do . Very well . ”


Hyunwoo looked at the two of them and continued .


“In some ways, we"re very close . ”


“Bulls.h.i.+t!”


Aruwen cussed . His body kept twitching as if he wanted to attack Hyunwoo . However, the single thread of rationality inside him allowed him to hold back .


“… Mr . Woo Sungyoon . ”


Plu-El"s change in tone surprised Sungyoon .


“What’s wrong?”


“Are you close to this human? Are you friends with Sung Hyunwoo?”


“You could say our relations.h.i.+p is like that of a teacher and his student . ”


Hyunwoo put on airs as he spoke . It was a bit of an exaggeration, but it was true enough that Sungyoon couldn’t deny it .


“Is that true?”


“It"s something like that . ”


Plu-El firmly shut her mouth . The words she had been about to say to Sungyoon disappeared down her throat, and she immediately turned around .


“Let’s go . ”


Plu-El said as she pulled at Aruwen . Her demeanor was as cold as her eyes, but she didn’t forget to keep her guard up against Hyunwoo .


However, Hyunwoo didn"t show any intentions of chasing them . He just waved them off . Plu-El gritted her teeth at his brazen att.i.tude, but she couldn’t recklessly make a scene here . She was in the enemy’s home ground . If Hyunwoo decided to pursue them, they would have to run away with all their might .


Plu-El clutched at her burning heart as she quickly disappeared into an alleyway with Aruwen .


“Do you know them?”


“I should be asking you that . The fact that you know them is more surprising . ”


“When I was on Earth, my daughter hung out with that woman’s daughter . ”


“Daughter?”


Hyunwoo’s expression turned odd as if he were desperately trying to hold back a laugh .


“What a curious coincidence!”


“What"s your relations.h.i.+p with the two of them, Mr . Hyunwoo?”


“We"re on bad terms now, but we used to be close friends . ”


Remembering how they had reacted to Hyunwoo, Sungyoon guessed that the fallout must have been big .


“So what were the two of them saying to you?”


Hyunwoo looked at Sungyoon, and an odd pressure leaked out from him . Sungyoon had already started feeling leery toward Hyunwoo, and because of Hyunwoo’s att.i.tude, another unpleasant feeling welled up inside him .


“You came before they could say anything . Moreover, they are gone now . ”


“I hope you aren’t lying to me . ”


Sungyoon frowned .


“Why would I lie to you?”


Hyunwoo studied Sungyoon’s face for a brief moment, and in the end, chuckled .


“I"m sorry . As you probably saw, we aren’t on good terms . I was wondering if they were talking behind my back . As I get older, the only thing I hear is flattery or insults . This is why it sucks to get old . ”


Hyunwoo tapped Sungyoon’s shoulder .


“I’ll buy you a drink later as an apology . ”


“It’s fine . ”


“No . It isn’t fine for me . I have to make it up to you . ”


When Hyunwoo insisted on it, Sungyoon agreed . Hyunwoo had helped him before, and Sungyoon couldn’t sever their relations.h.i.+p because of one unpleasant moment .


***


The defense duty of Armstrong a.s.signed to Sungyoon"s party had neared the end of its term . However, no one had come up with any solutions to the problem of the ambushers . The party was deep in thought about their next move . If they were to gather moonstones, they could be ambushed once again .


As they contemplated what to do, the Mayor called them .


“How have you been, Mr . Sungyoon . ”


“I’ve been well, thanks to you . ”


Sungyoon shook the Mayor’s hand . He had become used to coming to the city hall now .


“Did you hear any news about the ambushers?”


Unlike his usual self, Sungyoon took the initiative to ask the Mayor . Since the Mayor had called him in now, Sungyoon wondered if he had found some clues about the ambushers . Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed .


“I’m sorry, but I didn’t ask you to come here for that . ”


“I see . ”


“We"re doing our best to investigate the ambushers, so I believe we’ll find something sooner or later . We do consider them to be one of the more urgent threats to Armstrong city . ”


The Mayor consoled the disappointed Sungyoon .


“So, why did you call us here then?”


“Are you close to Fabion?”


The Mayor carefully looked at Sungyoon"s face as he waited for a response . Sungyoon was puzzled by the question, but he nodded .


“Yes . My company"s president is close to some people working for Fabion, and as you saw last time, I do have a personal connection to Mr . Sung Hyunwoo . ”


“Do you know if there"s anything special going on within Fabion?”


“No . I may have some personal connections, but I do not correspond with them . ”


The Mayor relaxed when he heard Sungyoon’s words .


“I’m guessing you don’t discuss matters about Fabion through these personal connections . ”


“… Did something happen to Fabion?”


“I do not know for now . ”


The tone of the Mayor’s voice was unsettling, and Sungyoon frowned .


“You"re saying that something might be going on with Fabion . ”


“I do . ”


The mayor’s words sounded heavy .


“Recently, Fabion has been acting a bit strange . ”


“For example?”


“Fabion and similarly large companies rotate their Connectors to give them rest . Usually, some of their Connectors gather moonstones in the labyrinths, while the others rest on Earth . The companies do this so that they have a steady stream of profit . ”


Sungyoon’s company was small, so they didn’t have enough Connectors to rotate like this .


“So you mean Fabion isn’t doing that . ”


“That’s right . ”


The mayor tapped his fingers on the table .


“An overwhelming number of Fabion’s fighting force has come up to the moon . Of course, not all their Connectors have come up, but this is highly unusual . I had asked Fabion if something was up, and they kept repeating the same line: nothing is wrong . They said they are doing this because there was a mixup amongst the schedule of their Connectors . ”


“That"s a likely explanation, right?”


“Yes, it is . So we let them be, but we also monitored them . If there was a mixup, they were supposed to sort it out . Some of the Connectors should"ve been sent back to Earth, and others should"ve started to gather moonstones . However, all of Fabion"s Connectors in Armstrong remained on standby as if they were waiting for something big to happen . Then yesterday, a large number of them left the city . They left in ones and twos so that no one would find out . ”


The situation sounded odd to Sungyoon too . He was already suspicious of Hyunwoo, and now, Hyunwoo"s company was also acting strange . Something stank . At the same time, it cast doubt on the mayor .


“You"re well-informed . ”


“In the current state of affairs, we are tightly monitoring what goes on in the city . I know many won’t approve of such surveillance, but these are extraordinary times and we have to use extraordinary measures . ”


In the end, the Mayor had surveilled the Connectors in his city, so his voice became defensive as he made excuses .


Sungyoon frowned, while Grace glared at the Mayor .


“You can chew me out at a later date, and I"m willing to take your criticisms . But right now, I would like you to carry out my request . ”


“What"s the request?”


“I would like you to find out what Fabion is up to . ”