Villain wants to live as a commoner chapter 13

No matter how cute, it was still a monster.

But when I saw it with its little front paws peeking out from the shadows, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity.

When I dangled a string in front of it, it excitedly jumped out of the shadows and grabbed it.

It started biting and kicking the string, imitating the characteristics of the creature it had disguised as.

I had grown attached to the little creature that looked like a kitten.

I hoped it would disappear on its own, as I couldn’t bring myself to kill it.

“Aren’t you going to disappear?”

• Meow.

Even though I spoke harshly, it rolled onto its back and showed its belly, acting cute.

It seemed my Tamer attribute had worked well, as it showed me a lot of affection.

Even though I thought about asking someone else to kill it, I couldn’t bring myself to do so.

So, I ended up living with the monster in the shadows, even playing with it.

“Sigh…”

If Baek Gunho knew about this, he would nag me for years.

He might even install surveillance cameras and bugs in my room.

Despite these thoughts, I stroked the head of the tired and sprawled creature. It yawned and sank back into the shadows.

Once it was completely hidden, I got up. I had things to do today.

When I stepped outside, a car was waiting for me.

“Hello.”

“Hello.”

I exchanged greetings with the stoic driver and got into the car.

One good thing about being S-rank is that I no longer get carsick. I used to suffer from it a lot.

As I spent time on my phone, the scenery outside changed. The car stopped in front of a secluded mansion in the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province. I gathered my things and entered the house.

The interior of the mansion, remodeled from a traditional Korean house, was serene. A large plush doll standing in the center recognized me and approached.

• Welcome, Seo Heewon.

“Hello.”

I greeted the doll and followed it. Unexpectedly, I ran into someone who wasn’t the owner of the house.

It was Kwon Sahyeok.

“Oh, fancy seeing you here.”

“…What are you doing here?”

“I came to make a request. Nice to see you.”

Kwon Sahyeok looked me over with a strange expression and smiled. Ignoring him, I followed the plush doll inside.

The house owner was waiting in the reception room.

The owner was Shinhae, an S-rank craftsman.

“Hello, hyung.”

“Hello, Heewon.”

Even though S-rank Awakeners don’t feel fatigue easily, Shinhae had dark circles under his eyes. He was always overworked.

Shinhae was overworked due to the countless requests from all over the world, but he was also a workaholic who loved his job. He never turned down a challenging request.

He was the complete opposite of me, who would quit and rest forever if I won the lottery.

“I saw Kwon Sahyeok on my way in.”

“Oh, he made an appointment.”

“When did he book it?”

“Yesterday. Why?”

“He’s been annoying lately. I wondered if he planned to meet me on purpose.”

“The schedule was set by me, so that’s unlikely. Hmm, is he bothering you? Should I cancel his appointment?”

“No, it’s fine. As long as it’s a coincidence.”

“Alright, then.”

Nodding, Shinhae reached out his hand.

“Give me the gun. Let’s check it while you’re here.”

I took out my gun from the inventory and handed it to Shinhae. I usually don’t let others handle it, but he was an exception as he was its maker.

Shinhae was one of only two S-rank craftsmen in the world. The gun I had was his personal masterpiece.

He placed the gun on the table and started checking it with his tools. Humming a tune, he disassembled the gun and asked me,

“How is your teacher doing?”

“He’s the same as always.”

“He needs to rest more.”

Shinhae wasn’t one to talk, but he had a soft spot for me and my uncle.

My uncle had saved Shinhae and his sister from a monster attack, getting seriously injured in the process. Shinhae felt gratitude and a sense of debt towards my uncle.

After that incident, Shinhae awakened as an S-rank craftsman. He offered to make anything for my uncle, but all he asked for were a few items for me.

Thanks to Shinhae, my S-rank status remained hidden. He designed the grading devices and item detectors used in Korea, and it was easy for him to manipulate them to conceal my true rank.

That’s why my secret was safe, even from Baek Gunho.

“There’s nothing wrong with it. The maker must be a genius.”

After thoroughly checking the gun, Shinhae reassembled it and handed it back with a self-satisfied smile. Then he looked at me with concern.

“You seem to have used it a lot recently. Did something happen?”

“I can’t say nothing happened.”

“What’s going on?”

“A cult tried to knock me out and draw my blood.”

“You really go through all sorts of things…”

That’s exactly what I meant. Lee Shinhae looked at me with a pitiful gaze.

“We should just kill all the bastards bullying our Heewon.”

“Oh, I really wanted to kill them…”

“Just do it. I’ll take responsibility.”

“Take responsibility? How?”

“I’ll marry you and take care of you in prison.”

“You must be crazy.”

As I grimaced, Lee Shinhae laughed heartily, clearly amused. Despite being ten years older than me, he couldn’t be serious.

After laughing for a while, he finally calmed down, clearing his throat and looking at me with a slightly more serious expression.

“Is it Baekmyeon Sect that’s involved this time?”

“…How did you know?”

“They’ve been pretty aggressive lately. Do you know they’re connected to the Black Sea Guild?”

“I have a rough idea.”

“Yeah. Remember that experiment the Black Sea did a while ago? Some say they’re trying to retrieve the results.”

“Experiment results?”

“Yeah. Oh, and don’t tell anyone I told you this, okay?”

Once you tell someone to keep a secret after revealing it, it becomes incredibly hard not to think about it.

The experiment happened over ten years ago, and now? The persistence gave me chills.

Baekmyeon Sect, who had been involved with me twice recently, and the Black Sea Guild.

Something felt off. Anyone could see this was a bad omen. I tensed up briefly, but then I regained my composure.

After all, I’m an S-rank. Annoying things might happen, but nothing truly dangerous.

I put aside my worries and smiled at Lee Shinhae.

“It’s not like there’s anyone to tell anyway. Whoever I could talk to probably already knows.”

“Right. Poor Heewon, with no friends…”

Lee Shinhae looked at me sympathetically. He didn’t have any friends either, but he always acted like this. Reminding myself that he was older, I unclenched my fist.

Seeing this, Lee Shinhae chuckled.

“Looks like I need to spend some time with you.”

“No, thanks.”

“Come on, hang out with your lonely brother.”

“Okay, because you don’t have any friends either.”

“It’s not that I don’t have friends; I just don’t make them.”

“Same here.”

Our conversation was unproductive and left me feeling bruised. We exchanged a glance and silently agreed to change the subject.

“You said you had something for me.”

“Oh, right. It’s nothing much… just some leftover items I made.”

Even his leftover items were S-rank. Despite his insistence that I didn’t need them, I didn’t refuse.

If he had given me really expensive equipment, it would have been burdensome, but he knew this and handed over some B-rank consumables, slightly lower in quality than what he usually sold.

After receiving the items and chatting for a while, Lee Shinhae’s alarm went off.

“I have to get back to work now.”

“Good luck, brother.”

“Yeah… see you later.”

I waved at Lee Shinhae and left.

“You’re finally out.”

Outside, Kwon Sayeok was waiting. Judging by the cigarette butts on the ground, he’d been there a while.