After Resignation, I Refuse the Obsession from the Male Leads
Chapter 22
The child’s small lips twitched.
‘What’s this? With this ear cuff, I can only hear the voices of the male lead and Seamus.’ Before I could look more closely. The view turned completely black…! Seamus whispered with a short sigh. – … Ha, I caught him. It was a suppressed sound, as if he were answering while lying on the ground. – I caught the child… He’s just unconscious, and I’ve confirmed the core. Without realizing it, I covered my mouth with both hands and gasped. Okay. Henry is safe. As if to say it was too early to relax, the mastermind turned back to me and started to lead the way. “Follow me, Miss Lowell. While Lupesque catches the kidnapper, we should do our part.” “Ah, yes!” “Tell the guys in the back to follow us too.” The security personnel dispatched to District 20 hurriedly followed the Minister’s orders. Although there were mistakes, I felt dazed thinking that I had succeeded in surpassing the original work. ‘But do you know where it is?’ I couldn’t help but feel curious as the mastermind walked without hesitation. “Minister, how did you know the location of the hideout?” “Magic leaves traces.” “Ah.” “If we follow the traces similar to the information Lupesque shares… we should be able to find the hideout.” Only then did I understand what he was saying and shut my mouth. ‘You mean you’re using your magic detection?’ Someone who can use magic can detect the flowing magic around them with a bit of concentration. ‘Did the female lead do it very precisely?’ However, it’s a skill that a strong person could manage reasonably well. Is it similar to a C-rank game item? Eventually, when we reached deeper into the forest. Tak! When the mastermind snapped his fingers, a small cabin suddenly appeared from the dark shadows. “So that’s where you were hiding it.” “So, what about the people inside…” “Hmm, maybe fifteen.” “….?”I looked at the mastermind with a puzzled expression for a moment. ‘What? How can you figure that out? To be able to determine the number of people inside without even looking is impressive… ‘Wait, there were twelve kidnapped kids. So that means there are three people keeping watch, right?’ Isn’t it enough to catch them if it’s the mastermind and the personnel who followed us? Click, the cold metallic sound startled me, and I turned to see the mastermind loading a revolver with magic. “Miss Lowell, wait here.” “…! Are you personally suppressing this, Minister?” “Since I’m here, I might as well take part in the fieldwork for a change. I’ll also link my vision, so watch carefully.” “Yes.” A minister who even gets involved in fieldwork is quite scary. At the same time, I couldn’t help but feel a small sense of relief that I wasn’t going in there. And while waiting anxiously with the waiting staff outside. ‘…! I can see inside.’ Inside the cabin, it was very dark except for the candles lit in various places. The investigators, including the mastermind, were going down the stairs to the basement… As soon as they reached the underground, they saw three kidnappers who looked thoroughly flustered. They were all wearing white masks with thin holes only for their eyes, but I could tell they were young men. – H, how did you get here…? – Ugh! And then, chaos unfolded. I might not know where the kids are, but at least I can beat these bad guys up and drag them away. ‘Still, it’s okay!’ I was secretly relieved that the situation was over even while cursing. At that moment, the guy who was desperately running away suddenly shouted. – This…! We, we! Do you think we’ll just be dragged away! At that moment, I thought it sounded just like something a third-rate villain would say. – Everyone get down! As soon as the mastermind shouted that, the guy who was struggling threw the black glass bottle he was holding onto the floor and broke it. In an instant, the black smoke rising from the shattered bottle filled the room. And it spread through the basement to the upper floor. ‘It’s coming our way!’ I shouted urgently to those waiting around me. “Everyone, step back!” “Yes? But…” “Hurry up! Run back quickly!” Whatever that black smoke is, it’s obviously dangerous! However, the black mist moved faster than we could escape from the cabin, engulfing us completely. ‘Ah, damn it!’ I hurriedly covered my nose and mouth with my sleeve. ‘Could it be poison gas? It can’t be, right!’ Thankfully, despite almost holding my breath, there was no issue with breathing at all. ‘…What? Nothing’s happening?’ That’s fortunate, but… As soon as I carefully lowered my hand, I froze. ‘What am I seeing in front of me?’ I was definitely sitting down in the dark forest of the park, but entirely different scenes flashed before my eyes. ‘No… this…!’ These are memories from my ‘past life’. Of all things, it had to be the worst memories—the ones I hadn’t recalled even once since regaining memories of my past life. Just a few days before I quit the company and received my severance pay. The things I happened to overhear… <Are you going to that person’s parents’ funeral? I heard they died in a car accident.> A conversation in a messenger window that was uploaded to a huge presentation screen by mistake. Messages exchanged between two juniors on the same team flashed before my eyes. <I’m not going ㅋㅋㅋㅋ . I’ll just send condolence money. What can you even do if it hurts too much?> <Why? Weren’t you close with her? You were on the same team for a long time.> <Close? Are you out of your mind, you b*stard.> The reason I decided to quit. <How much of a control freak does she have to be? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ . She act like the world is ending if one letter in the documents is wrong, crazy person.> <ㅋㅋㅋㅋ, she is a bit picky, isn’t she? Especially with that face of her.> <ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ, she acts like she’s the hardest worker in the world. I can’t stand her at all.> After working myself to the bone to earn that assistant manager title, this was the breaking point that made me let go of it all. The reason I decided to quit and take a break. And… The words that made me realize, ‘I’ve been living my life completely wrong.’ came back to me vividly. * * * Edgar indifferently brushed away the black fog blocking his vision. Because he reflexively used barrier magic, his party was not hit at all. ‘Hmm. It’s a black magic artifact.’ The mist was a tool that vividly recreated a person’s most painful memories. ‘If I’m not careful, I could end up a crippled person…’ Stupidly, the kidnappers fell to the tools they had used. He decided to leave the scene to his subordinates. “Find the children. They seem to be further below this place.” “Y, yes!” As everyone hurried, Edgar glanced at the situation outside the cabin and frowned. ‘Oh my. The aftereffects reached all the way out here.’ He saw people lying on the ground in pain. They must be suffering from a terrible nightmare right now. And among them, he saw a woman sitting down and bowing her head. ‘Oh.’ Edgar clicked his tongue. Even Layla Lowell had been affected. He was sure to hear some scolding from Carlyle Lupesque. “Miss Lowell, are you okay?” He gently placed his hand on Layla’s shoulder. And in that moment, the memories of the woman trapped in her nightmare began to flow in. …This time, the thoughts that emerged were not as lively as usual. Instead, the hurtful comments about her flowed in like remnants of waste. The ensuing emotion was a devastating chill that froze her heart. The last thing he saw was a curse thrown at her by someone mocking her. 『I won’t go to that bastard’s funeral even if she dies, damn it. 』 I would greatly appreciate your continued support by leaving a positive rating on NU so I can continue translating this novel. Thank you.
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