Return， Control， and Eat 53

Chapter 53 – Stagecoach Journey

The manager of Noel Sanghoe seems to have kept his word.
Eunseo and I went to the starting point on the southern outskirts of Daejeon and handed the business card to the man who looked like a bodyguard at first glance, and the conversation went right away.

By the way, I handed over my business card and read the manager’s name for the first time, and his name was Dave.
It is as much like a management position as it was born.

“Ah, I heard from the manager.
It’s a pity, so he told me to take special care of him.”

“It’s a short time, but I look forward to seeing you in the future.”

It seems that he told me that he caught a tiger.
The man who introduced himself as Captain Kryle of the bodyguard twitched his lips.

At first glance, he looks kind-hearted, but behind that smile, there must be a sneer at me.
A sneer at the stupid prey that stepped into its open mouth.

“You can use the wagon at the very back over there.
Since you have a younger sister, it would be more convenient in many ways to use a whole wagon.”

“Yes, I will.”

He points to one of the wagons with a hand tattooed in the shape of several animals.

It was a bit smaller than the wagons in the front, but that’s because they’re too big.
It was clearly a stagecoach pulled by three horses.

You want us to use this whole thing?
You said as if you were going to load a lot of luggage, but there is still so much space?
We did it because it was comfortable for us.

“It’s empty.
It looks very wide.”

“I see.
It would be a loss to roll an empty wagon.”

The inside of the stagecoach was very tidy.
The wagon itself may have been used for a long time, and worn parts were noticeable here and there, but it seemed that the maintenance was not neglected.
There were straight chairs on either side of the wall where you could sit or lie down, and a small table was nailed in the middle.
Even if it’s not flashy, this is a very good quality among stagecoaches.

I took the tent out of my backpack and tossed it around the corner to set it up and look out the window.
Dozens of stagecoaches are lined up at the starting point.
Each carriage had at most five and at least three horses attached to it.

The sound of the horses purring and the sound of their hooves scraping the soil tickles your ears.
Seeing how excited they were, the horses seemed to have realized that it was time to start.
Horses are very clever animals.

Outside, fifteen or so bodyguards were wandering around checking the wagons.
After checking everything, Kryle pulled out his walkie-talkie and said something.
Seeing that the coachmen, who had been smoking in groups of threes and threes, scattered all at once and climbed into the coachman’s seat, it must have been a starting signal.

“How are those people?
They don’t look like great people.”

“That’s right. They’re not great guys.
But since it has its own system, there must be at least one expert.
It’s probably that Kryle guy. I guess it’s about the extent of being in the Imperial Army for a few years.”

Eun-seo looks at the men wandering around through the window with cold eyes and evaluates them.

She also heard that Tunity was behind me as she was right next to me when he was talking about Noel Sanghoe.

She didn’t show it in front of Kryle, but her wary eyes were a little colder than usual.

She eventually gave in to my persuasion, but Eunseo originally did not like going with Noel Sanghoe.

Bad criminals and traveling companions.
She is something everyone is reluctant to do, and Eun-seo even had one more reason to dislike her.

The fact that Viscount Barrier’s breath reached Noel Corporation.
In addition, the back stomach that covers Noel’s corruption is Viscount Barrier.

For Eun-seo, her old family is an unpleasant memory, but how does it feel to know that her father is doing something bad?
What if you might even get caught up in the nastiness?
I don’t know, but it must be a very dirty feeling.

Be patient though.
I want us to get caught up in their meanness.
Wouldn’t your father be very angry if his mining business prospered?
Then there will be any chance to get close to him, so let’s take care of my business and get your revenge.

As I was smirking, Eunseo glanced at me like a crazy person.
She hadn’t confided in her yet.
Because she wouldn’t even want to get revenge on her father.

Eun-seo, like a child who lacks affection, has love and hatred for her father.
Of course, it is love-hate that is infinitely close to resentment, but love-hate is love-hate.
The hypnotized Eun-seo recalled painful memories, and her emotions were not anger, but sadness and loneliness.
Even though she shuns and rejects the existence of her family, she is unable to harbor a vengeance.
It’s really hard to shake off the bond of blood. Yes?

So it’s no fun

It doesn’t matter whether Eunseo wants it or not.
I was going to do whatever it took to create an opportunity for her to come face to face with her family.
How she will react then depends on how I manipulate her silver book.

A father’s affection that he never received. Common sense of the public.
What’s the point of being swayed by such trivial things?
You are the victim
I’ll set you free
So that you can reveal your inner feelings that even you did not know.
Because it’s worse than watching you endure all your life.

I lay flat on the chair, promising the day to come.

…

Eunseo did not neglect her vigilance until that evening.
He almost puts his nose in her spear and carefully observes the formation and movements of the bodyguards.

You don’t have to be so vigilant now.
They also show their true colors when they are away from Daejeon.

Looking out of her window, she sees a desolate landscape passing by.
However, looking at the shrubs with leaves, it was clear that the place was not far from Daejeon yet.
It’s not like people can’t stand it and leave.

If there are no problems, it will take four days to reach the destination.
Starting in earnest in a remote and deserted place, starting tomorrow, the guys from Noel Company will have to start working sooner than tomorrow.

I’m bored anyway.

The coachman seemed to have a rough idea of ​​what fate awaited us.
Even if you talk to them to ask something, they often just bluntly reject them.
Are you saying that he’s not iron-clad enough to be friends with people who will be badly punished by his party?
They’re all the same anyway, so why are they so picky?

Ah, I’m bored.
Eunseo doesn’t play around because she’s monitoring the outside.
Let’s call Giana.

I knocked on the tent door and the response came back immediately.
It’s so weak that you can’t hear it if you don’t listen.
A knock on the door from inside.

It means to ask for a signal.

Tok tok tok tok.

After knocking five times at the pre-determined beat, the locked door opened.
Large puppy ears pop out of the slightly open door.
Jia, who showed her upper body, looked at me and pricked up her ears.

“What are you doing?”

“No. I called because I was bored. Do you want to play a card game with me?”

“Great!”

Even if someone approaches our carriage, Jia, who has excellent senses, will be able to detect it in advance and hide.
Luckily we have a whole wagon, so we don’t have to be locked up in a tent all day.
Even if you can’t take him for a walk, let him go inside the wagon from time to time to relieve stress.

I rummage through my backpack and pull out a few decks of cards.
Even if it’s not just this stagecoach trip, it will be a long journey in the future, so I brought enough play equipment.

Unfamiliar and dangerous travel is bound to put a lot of stress on people.
Especially as Eunseo is doing now, if you set up a thorn and be vigilant, you will be tired several times more than usual.
Stretching out unintentionally is one of the common mistakes beginners on long-distance travel make.
Sometimes playing around like this to let off gas is the trick to enjoying a hard trip.

“Eunseo. Do you want to join me?”

“Nonsense. What kind of card game are you playing at a time like this…
Please stop my sister too.”

“It’s more fun to play with three people rather than two.
Come here too.”

“Yes!”

When Jia called, Eunseo, who had been rejecting my offer until just now, answered meekly.
The relationship between superior and subordinate is clearly defined.
If it’s her sister’s words, she looks like she’ll believe it even if she cooks fermented soybean paste with red beans.

“There are people I know who can’t leave their families even when they become adults. What do you think?
She said she couldn’t live without her sister, and she even cried.”

“You’re a pitiful person. Is your family a precious person unconditionally?
I’ve hated that since I was little. Life is all about living alone.
When it’s really hard, nobody helps.”

Let’s speak softly, Eun-seo asserts.
It seems he didn’t realize that he was talking about himself.

Aside from the inner heart that longs for family love due to lack of affection, that must be Eun-seo’s true heart.
An outer shell that tightly covers the wounds of childhood.
Calling it a defense mechanism is simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s false.
Because the values ​​formed by her rebellion against her trauma are also an important axis of her personality.

“But why are you so mad at Jia?”

“What? It’s obvious.
“Because it’s natural for Jia to value her older sister as much as her real sister.”
Did you forget that her brother said it himself?”

“No, no. Of course I didn’t forget. Now, let’s play a game.”

Eunseo flipped her own words like flipping her palm.
She doesn’t find it strange that she considers and cherishes Jia as her older sister after denying her family love just before that.
She was completely unaware that she had contradicted herself.

The way she opened her eyes wide and asked back with a look that said, “Why are you asking for something obvious?”
I started laying out the cards on the table, trying to resist bursting out in laughter.

…

“I quack. I just need to flip Eunseo over with my master.”

“King Triple. What’s your brother?”

Eunseo turns over her own card.
Then King Seokjang slammed her shoulders like a close friend.

Ah, making a genealogy with hidden cards is against the rules.
Shaking her head, she turns over her last card.

“Jack Two-Fair.”

“Oops! I won! It’s my brother Oring!”

Leak!

Eun-seo runs around excitedly and sweeps away all of her stake.
At times like this, she nags me about what kind of card game it is, and she’s the most excited.

Now there is only one chip in front of me.
With this, all you have to do is pay the participation fee, and you can’t raise the stake, so you can’t change the card.

As she said, it was practically the same as an O-ring.

“I can’t do it! Did you ask me to play a card game with that skill?”

“Never mind, Master. It’s just that the last few rounds have been strangely out of sync.”

“Ha…”

Eunseo laughs and makes fun of me, and Jia speaks inconsolable words.
She sees that, puts her chin on her chin and sighs.

It’s less fun than you think.

It’s so boring that even if Eunseo makes fun of her every time she wins, there’s not much emotion in it.
Is it because there is nothing stuck?
All the money I have now is my money anyway, and I didn’t have anything else to do, so I was just playing with chips.

Should I bet the money now?
No, the excitement has already cooled. Anyway, I don’t think there will be any difference.

In fact, since the last place has been decided, Jia and Eunseo prepare for a match to determine the winner.
While watching the girls pass the cards, the carriage rattles as if it has stepped on a stone.
Before the game started, the cards that had been excluded from the corner of the table fell to the floor.

It’s the joker

“…”

Joker. Clown. Some call them wizards.
As I picked it up and stared at it, a lightning-like inspiration passed through my head.

Looking at the Joker without checking what card she received, Eunseo smirks when she snaps his finger.

“No matter how final it is, we need to check what the card is~
Well, anyway…”

“”Eunseo is a kind sister”.”

“Not…?”

As soon as I said the keyword as if to cut her off, Eunseo immediately fell into a state of hypnosis.
Her hands lose strength and she slumps on the table.
At the thought of making fun of me, the energy in his eyes that were shining single by one faded away.
Soon, Eunseo stopped her movement completely with unfocused eyes.

There are three people in this seat.
Since we’re not alone, nothing would have happened if we said the keyword originally.
She made her one exception by giving her post-hypnotic suggestions.
It is implied that she falls under hypnosis only when the two of them are alone, with the exception of Jia Kang.

Jiah Kang She is the only person in this world who knows about my magic.
There will be many things she will use as her assistant when manipulating someone in the future, so I’m thinking of excluding our doggie from her usual restrictions.

“Master?”

Suddenly, Eun-seo is hypnotized, and Jia seems to be surprised.
Taking advantage of her startled gap, she quickly moves her hand.

I covered her eyes with my palms, and her body stiffened momentarily.

“Ah, master…”

“「Jia Kang is a puppy even upside down」.”

“You’re…”

When I put a little force on her palm, her Jia’s head slightly tilted upward.
As I whispered her keyword without missing the chance, I felt the strength drain from her body.

As she has already been hypnotized several times, her speed of falling into a hypnotic state is much faster than that of Eun-seo.
When I lifted her palm, I saw her eyelids closed as if asleep.

I was safely hypnotized.
For Jia, the suggestion that she is hypnotized only when the two of them are together is valid, but in fact there is an expedient.

Let’s think about the battle with Suga.
Even though there were three people in the headquarters barracks at the time, including me, Jia, and Suga, she was hypnotized.

It was because Suga hid his appearance and presence with his magic.
In reality, if even one of the three is out of sight, it’s no different from being alone in the barracks.

Suggestion is something that acts on the mind.
Even if it is not in reality, it becomes a reality if the person affected by the suggestion firmly believes it.

What I just did was a similar trick.
It’s a way to make you focus on me by covering your eyes and letting your voice be heard when you’re not paying attention.

Forget the person next to you even for a moment and feel only me.

“Good.”

Anyway, he succeeded in hypnotizing both Eunseo and Jia.
They are sitting in a chair as if their souls have escaped.
Every time the carriage rattled, their heads shook slightly, and saliva flowed from their gaping mouths.

The saliva that flowed from the lips came down the jawline and moistened the collarbone.
It’s so attractive that I want to eat it, but right now I decided to do something else first.

Now let’s do something more fun than normal poker.
Seeing the Joker fall to the floor, he had an epiphany.
After all, if you are a wizard, you should use magic.
I’m going to start playing real poker now.

I began to speak carefully of the suggestions that came to my mind.