The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 49

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Yeo Joo Saves the World – Episode 49

“Grandmother and Grandfather must have known all along.”
“Then they would’ve realized the medicine you drink every day is just licorice root water.”
“…Well, that’s true.”
Chung Soo’s expression was hollow yet contemplative.
Let me draw him out first.
“Why does a growing teenager have that look on his face? If you say you don’t want to go, we won’t take you.”
Though I’m planning to coax him into wanting to go anyway.
“That’s not it.”
Im Chung Soo kicked at the ground hesitantly before continuing.
“If I go, what happens to my Grandmother and Grandfather?”
As expected, this small boy’s weakness and treasure were the grandparents who had raised him all this time.
“Then should we arrange a place in Seoul where both of them can live comfortably?”
“You can really do that?”
“Well, a fancy mansion would be difficult. Our Guild’s finances are a bit tight. But we can still try to find the best place possible.”
“…No. There’s no need for that.”
Chung Soo, who had brightened for a moment, grew dejected again.
“Why? We can manage that much.”
How much money will you be able to earn going forward.
That much would be recouped in just a few months.
Im Chung Soo was more than worth that investment.
“That’s not it. They probably won’t leave this house.”
Chung Soo’s dark, squirrel-like eyes gazed at the cozy refuge nestled in the mountains as he spoke.
“And if you send me far away, they’ll worry themselves sick.”
“Worry. That’s understandable.”
Though he’s classified as non-combat, Im Chung Soo is still a Hunter.
I can’t promise he’ll always be in a safe place.
He’ll have to venture into Dungeons with the Justice Guild for raids from time to time.
“Sigh.”
A short breath escaped my lips.
I originally planned to just convince him outright.
“There are different kinds of worry, you see.”
I looked up at the starlit sky before speaking.
“Your Grandfather and Grandmother are getting on in years. They’ll probably pass on before you do, won’t they?”
“…Yeah. I’ve already come to terms with that much.”
“But what if your parents knew that you could survive on your own just fine?”
In that chaotic car, amid the flickering headlights, the last image I had of my mother’s face was filled entirely with worry for me.
Worry about me, who would be left alone after she was gone.
“Wouldn’t that make it easier for the person leaving?”
To tell her that I would live well on my own, that she didn’t need to worry.
I wish I could say that now.
“Anyway, entrusting you to us wasn’t an easy decision for them either.”
I couldn’t even imagine what it felt like to hand over their only grandson—precious as flesh and blood—to someone far away.
“But because they know where your abilities can truly flourish, they’re trusting the name of the Justice Guild.”
“…I’ve heard about it since I was young. People are still alive on this land because of the Justice Guild.”
“That’s right. I don’t know about others, but Guild Master Kang Han is truly trustworthy.”
I added one last thing.
“And you always have a place to come back to.”
“…That’s true. It’s not like Yeo Joo is on some other planet in space.”
“It costs a bit, but with the spatial transfer Awakener escort service, you can get here in twenty minutes.”
“…Okay.”
It hadn’t gone exactly as I’d planned, but somehow it seemed to be working.
If I just get the seal stamped tomorrow morning…
“There’s one condition.”
“What is it?”
Just when I was about to feel good!
What a difficult kid.
But Im Chung Soo’s eyes were quite serious.
“Don’t overprotect me just because I’m young.”
“What do you mean by overprotection?”
“Not taking me to Dungeons because it’s dangerous, just keeping me cooped up in the Guild.”
Im Chung Soo frowned as he spoke.
“If that’s the plan, I’d rather stay in this mountain village.”
“Hey, I never had any intention of doing that.”
Keeping him cooped up—what nonsense.
I was planning to take him to every Dungeon and harvest not just mana stones but everything else we could extract from them!
“Then that’s settled.”
He left those words behind and shuffled away in his rubber slippers, dragging his feet.
“So you’re coming with me or not!”
When I shouted, Im Chung Soo turned around with that same look he gave his cousin.
“If you can’t understand even after I’ve said this much, then not understanding is better.”
This damned brat.

* * *

Morning arrived the next day.
The other guild members remained in their rooms while only the two elders, myself, Kang Han, and Im Chung Soo gathered together.
And I dropped to my knees and cried out.
“Grandmother, Grandfather! Please give Chung Soo to me!”
“Ah, really. Even when I speak, it’s like that….”
Why, what.
I heard Im Chung Soo grumbling something, but I ignored it.
What mattered now were my two grandparents.
“…Does our Chung Soo really appeal to you that much?”
“Yes! I’ll bring him to the Justice Guild and raise him well, very well!”
Without realizing it, I nearly blurted out that I’d put him to work.
“But Guild Master Kang Han agrees with this too?”
“I didn’t mention it yesterday, but the authority over guild management doesn’t rest with me—it belongs to Yeo Joo.”
“What? How did it come to be that way?”
“That’s because our Justice Guild was….”
Before Kang Han, who couldn’t tell a lie or speak carelessly even if his life depended on it, could finish his awkward truth, I quickly interjected.
“We’re trying to restore the Justice Guild to what it should be, Grandfather.”
Grandfather gazed at me intently with his wrinkled eyes.
Even living in a rural mountain village, anyone who kept up with the news couldn’t possibly be unaware of the Justice Guild’s current situation.
Yet the fact that he was willing to entrust his grandson to us suggested he held tremendous faith in the Justice Guild of the past.
“So that’s what you’ve been thinking.”
“The Justice Guild that you and Grandmother remember—I intend to rebuild it. That’s why Guild Master Kang Han and I each took on the roles we’re best suited for.”
“I see. But during such a critical time, can you really take our Chung Soo away? I’m worried it might be a burden on you.”
Grandmother spoke with concern.
“A burden? As someone managing the Justice Guild, if I wasn’t confident that Chung Soo would become a truly important asset to our guild, I wouldn’t have made such a request.”
“Really… our Chung Soo has such ability?”
“We’ll need to conduct tests at the Awakener Center for the details, but I’m certain. Chung Soo will become an excellent Hunter.”
No parent dislikes hearing that their child possesses outstanding talent.
As expected, Grandmother and Grandfather, their tension visibly easing, gazed at Chung Soo with pride.
“I’ll bring the proper contract when I come to pick up Chung Soo in a few days. But if I may state the conditions beforehand….”
I recited the conditions I’d thought through all night.
I honestly poured in all the money I’d earned from mining and selling items.
Part of me wanted to lowball them.
But it was the same situation as when I’d answered Im Chung Soo’s question about whether the Justice Guild was the strongest guild—honestly.
If I brought Chung Soo in at a cheap price now, it might be profitable in the short term, but once he discovered his true worth, he’d feel betrayed by the Justice Guild.
‘That would be troublesome.’
Chung Soo was someone who had to stay with us for a long time, until we prevented the apocalypse.
I absolutely couldn’t let him be taken by anyone else.
“Well, it’s awkward for me to say this, but isn’t the Justice Guild’s situation a bit difficult?”
“That’s right. You don’t need to strain yourselves. We’re satisfied enough just sending him to Seoul with trustworthy people.”
“No.”
This time, Kang Han answered.
“Even if the contract ends and Im Chung Soo leaves the Justice Guild, they’ll use this agreement as the baseline for determining his market value. So receiving proper treatment now is what’s best for Im Chung Soo’s future.”
“…Indeed, the Justice Guild.”
Grandfather looked at me and Kang Han in turn, his expression deeply moved.
Uncharacteristically, my conscience pricked a little, so I lowered my head with a forced smile.
‘Conscience, shut up.’
The conditions we’d just offered were admittedly generous—almost excessively so—for a mountain village boy whose rank hadn’t even been confirmed yet.
For an S-rank Potion Master, it was laughably inadequate.
But my plan was to produce and sell potions under the Justice Guild name, then allocate a substantial share of the remaining profits to Im Chung Soo.
Of course, as the Justice Guild grew, I’d raise his salary accordingly.
I simply couldn’t pay it all at once—but installments were definitely possible.
“Then I’ll come pick up Im Chung Soo in four days.”
Grandfather and I shook hands, using that gesture as a substitute for a contract seal.

* * *

Three days later.
We returned to Rural Chungcheong.
The road was rough and uneven, but fortunately there was a path wide enough for the car to reach the front of the house.
This time, everyone moved except for the twins who were at school.
“A new guild member is joining—we should all be here to welcome them.”
That was Han Ji Sung’s answer to my question about whether all this fuss was really necessary.
“When I joined, there was nothing like this.”
“Yeo Joo, you literally walked in on your own two feet.”
Ah, that’s true.
Convinced, I silently stepped out of the car.
I wondered what kind of atmosphere that quiet house had now.
Was that little runt Im Chung Soo crying his eyes out?
He wouldn’t be refusing to go to Seoul, would he?
That would be troublesome.
Maybe I should have given him a few more days.
As these thoughts swirled, I opened the gate leading to the yard.
“Grandpa, this needs to dry in the sun!”
“You’ll spend the whole day moving the basket around following the sun! Just let it be!”
“If Grandma’s knees start hurting again, you’re responsible!”
“Who said they would!”
It was loud.
Im Chung Soo, who had placed a single modest duffel bag on the wooden platform in the yard, was rattling off complaints to Grandfather, while Grandfather hollered back with his neck veins bulging. Grandmother watched the two of them with an amused smile.
Grandmother was watching the two of them with a smile.
“We’re here.”
At Kang Han’s single utterance, the heated exchange between Im Chung Soo and Grandfather came to an abrupt halt.
“Ah, you’ve arrived.”
As if the commotion from moments before had been nothing but a fabrication, silence descended upon the courtyard.
Im Chung Soo was the first to move.
He swung a large bag that had been resting on the wooden platform across his shoulder and strode purposefully toward us.
“Let’s go.”
“Still, you should at least greet Grandmother and Grandfather.”
“I’ve already greeted them so much I’m sick of it.”
With that, he brushed past us, who were still near the gate, and exited the courtyard.
“…Cold-hearted bastard.”
Grandfather watched Im Chung Soo’s retreating figure and clicked his tongue once before speaking to us.
“The road ahead is long. Lingering here will waste the whole day.”
He then helped Grandmother up, and together they headed toward the gate.
“Uh, what do we do?”
A flustered Jang Su Ho stammered the question at me.
I glanced at the blue gate with only one side fully open and shrugged.
“What else? You heard Grandfather. We’ll waste away here if we stay. Let’s go.”
Im Chung Soo was already cleverly settled in the car.
Sitting in the innermost seat, his stubborn expression fixed forward.
“Grandmother, Grandfather, then we’ll be on our way. And here.”
I handed the contract I had prepared to both of them.
“Please review it carefully, and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me. This is a lawyer’s business card. They’ll examine the contract thoroughly to ensure there are no clauses unfavorable to Chung Soo, so please give them a call.”
“So the Justice Guild is trying to deceive us old folks from the countryside. I understand.”
It was a statement more terrifying than any other.
He had invoked the name of the ‘Justice Guild.’
At that, Kang Han bowed respectfully.
“I will personally take responsibility for Chung Soo’s care and protection.”
Kang Han’s words, which never carried empty promises, were heavy with weight.
Having made such a vow, he would protect Chung Soo safely no matter what circumstances arose.
Upon shoulders already bearing the fate of this world, Kang Han willingly shouldered yet another responsibility.
“Aren’t we going?! The sun’s going to set!”
Im Chung Soo’s voice crackled from inside the car.
Yet understanding his heart, no one said anything to him.
Even Grandfather simply gazed quietly at Chung Soo.
*Grasp.*
At that moment, Grandmother’s wrinkled, warm hand grasped mine.
“Please take good care of our child.”
“…Yes, Grandmother.”
I too had taken on a share of Kang Han’s burden.
With that conversation concluded, the car engine started up again.
“Let’s go quickly.”
It was I who urged us forward.
Farewells are always better when they’re brief.
As the car began to move slowly ahead, I gazed out the window.
“You didn’t have to go that far.”
Two elderly people standing before the blue gate continued bowing deeply toward our departing vehicle.
And Im Chung Soo, who had also turned to look at the sight just as I had, said:
“Grandma, don’t forget to boil your medicine every day! And make sure to open the windows every morning for ventilation!”
Nagging to the very end.
Thus, on the Highway heading back up to Seoul, Jang Su Ho quietly turned on the radio.
It was to mask the small sound of sniffling.

* * *

Fortunately, we managed to enter Seoul before sunset.
As we passed through the Toll Gate and the buildings grew progressively denser and taller, Im Chung Soo—who had been pressed against the window like a cat before an aquarium and couldn’t seem to pull away—fell completely silent once we entered Jongno.
The car, which had been moving along the jagged skyline and the leisurely flowing Cheonggyecheon between them, came to a stop before the Justice Guild Building.
Im Chung Soo, who got out first, gazed up at the Justice Guild in silence for a long moment.
He seemed disappointed, looking at the old, small building nestled among the towering modern skyscrapers.
I approached the boy’s side, thinking I should offer some reassurance.
“Despite appearances, this building has quite a storied history….”
But Im Chung Soo’s dark eyes sparkled with wonder.
Then, looking at me, he grinned and said:
“Yeo Joo, this is my home now.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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