Chapter 282. Side Story – Heimdall Pt. 2  

Heimdall was one of the few SSS-Rank Hunters in the world. He was someone called the pride of Korea and a treasure of the world.

“Ha, really, what should I do? I don’t think Athena is interested in me.”

To think that someone like that was saying something like this right in front of Jeong In-Chang’s eyes.

"Ha..."

Jeong In-Chang rubbed his temples, wondering if it would have been better for Heimdall to be just as on edge as before.

‘No.’

However, he soon shook his head. The man had lived a life of battle and a life of regressions upon regressions. Heimdall had to have been tired of it all, and if things continued, he most likely would have gone crazy. It was only thanks to Lee Jun-Kyeong breaking the link between him and the Demon King that Heimdall had been able to regain his life.

‘I guess that’s why he looks like that.’

They had normal lives now... Although it may not exactly be the same thing, they were still living a life close to that of normal ones.

“I think there is something promising,” Jeong In-Chang said.

“Really?"

Heimdall’s color improved as he heard Jeong In-Chang’s pep talk.

“It doesn’t seem like Athena isn’t interested, either.”

“And?”

“And above all...” Jeong In-Chang said with a grin.

‘Dating is still my specialty.’

He was the one who had the most relationships among the people around him, having nearly been in a relationship four times.

“Seong-Gu Hyung, you’ve courted Athena several times. Even if she doesn’t remember, don't you at least know what she likes and enjoys doing?”

“Oh! Oh!”

Heimdall was more than pleased with Jeong In-Chang's somewhat plausible explanation.

“Therefore...”

Just as Jeong In-Chang was about to continue speaking, there was a knock on the door.

"Just a minute."

Jeong In-Chang asked Heimdall for his understanding and then signaled for the person to come in.

Soon after, his secretary opened the door and said, “A guest has arrived.”

“A guest?”

There hadn’t been anyone scheduled to meet with him today. He was the Guild Leader of the Northern Army Guild, so there were many people who wanted to meet with him. However, Jeong In-Chang was very thorough about filtering through the masses. Considering his secretary knew this fact and still came in, that meant that the visitor had to be an important person.

“From Olympus...” the secretary said. “Lady Athena has arrived.”

It was the appearance of an unexpected person.

***

“Lady Athena? Didn’t you return already?”

At the meeting a few days ago, Zeus and the others from Olympus had left quickly, saying that they had work to do. Because everyone had been so busy, no one had been able to see them off properly, assuming that they would have gone home on their own. However, Athena had, for some reason, still come to the Northern Army Guild.

“My work was in Korea,” she said in a slightly stiff tone, not much different from the original Athena.

“What work did you have?” Heimdall asked, his face hardening at Athena’s ambiguous tone. He looked at her fingernails. “You always bite your nails when something happens.”

Looking at the nails that had become jagged, Athena blushed as she quickly covered her hands under Heimdall’s glare.

“Ha...”

For a moment, Jeong In-Chang sighed at the atmosphere between the two of them. He asked again, “What’s really going on?”

Seeing that there was no response, it was clear that something had really happened.

“Well...” Athena said, putting her hands behind her back. “Zeus has disappeared.”

"What?"

"What?"

Jeong In-Chang and Heimdall simultaneously asked in surprised voices.

Athena nodded. “I haven’t been able to contact him since two days ago after we said our goodbyes and went to handle our own work.”

“Hmm...” Heimdall fell silent at Athena’s words.

“Isn’t Zeus naturally like that? He often leaves without saying a word,” Jeong In-Chang said as if it was no big deal.

Zeus’ personality had many strange aspects. Moreover, even beyond his personality, Zeus had wanderlust even in the timeline that they had fought the Demon King. He would disappear for ages at a time, saying he was leaving to train without any sort of explanation. The same was true in the new timeline as well after awakening his memories. Jeong In-Chang wasn’t that worried, knowing that it happened often.

However, Athena answered firmly, “No. It’s not that Zeus hasn’t gone missing before without saying a word. It’s just that this time is different.”

“...”

“He took Thunderbolt with him this time.”

“Thunderbolt?”

“...!”

Heimdall repeated his question again as Jeong In-Chang realized the seriousness of the situation at this moment.

‘Whenever Zeus goes away, he always leaves Thunderbolt behind.’

“Could it be an enemy?”

“Is it an enemy?”

That seemed to only be able to mean that Zeus had someone or something he really needed to deal with.

Athena shook her head. "I don’t know."

She wasn’t able to give them an answer as the Hunter had disappeared without leaving a single hint behind.

“However, I think he is still in Korea. Can you help me look for him?”

Jeong In-Chang was the head of the Northern Army Guild, one of the three major guilds in Korea. Moreover, although Athena’s visit was unexpected, Heimdall was also here as well. The influence of the two of them in Korea was beyond imagination.

Olympus, which had its headquarters overseas, needed help within Korea. Furthermore, it needed to be discreet as they couldn’t afford to let the public know that Zeus had disappeared.

“Hmm.”

Jeong In-Chang looked at Heimdall in silence. After a while, he secretly winked at the Hunter.

“The Northern Army Guild cannot help,” he declared.

***

‘This is your chance.’

Heimdall recalled Jeong In-Chang’s words.

‘I think the biggest problem is that you and Athena don’t spend much time together, Seong-Gu Hyung.’

When Athena had left, Jeong In-Chang had grabbed Heimdall and said, “You haven’t been able to spend any time with Lady Athena in this timeline yet, either. You might have a lot of precious memories, Hyung, but Lady Athena doesn’t have them yet. That seems to be the big problem. So, take this opportunity to spend some time together.”

It was a pretty reasonable answer, but Heimdall still thought that it was shameful for Jeong In-Chang to have refused Athena’s request for help.

‘I can’t believe you said something like that when Zeus disappeared.’

Well, it wasn’t that Heimdall didn’t understand.

‘Zeus is strong.’

Even more than he himself was.

It was different in the past, but in the current timeline that Lee Jun-Kyeong regressed to, Zeus was more powerful than him. Furthermore, if one added the completed Thunderbolt to Zeus as well, he was so strong that he might actually be able to deal with Lee Jun-Kyeong to some extent.

‘Is he telling me there’s nothing to worry about?’

Athena didn’t actually seem to be worried. Rather, just irritated with a little embarrassment mixed in.

“It’s not like he’d go around losing to anyone. It’s just... There is going to be an event in the name of Olympus soon.”

“Hmm...”

“I only brought it up because it’s not like him to suddenly disappear like this before an event.”

To think they had an event. Heimdall thought for a moment.

“Can I ask what the event is about?”

However, in response, Athena stayed silent. Heimdall eventually shook his head. As she seemed to have no intention of answering him, all he had to do was what she asked of him.

“First of all, he hasn’t left the country yet, so he should still be in Korea. If he had left using Thunderbolt, there was no way that I would have missed the ensuing wave.”

"That's right."

"Then... It might get complicated. Let me ask around first.”

Athena nodded.

“But, how long will you continue to talk so rigidly?”

Yeo Seong-Gu, Heimdall, had naturally begun to speak informally to Athena one day. However, she, on the other hand, still seemed to not feel comfortable enough to speak informally with him even until now. Athena's face turned red again.

‘Oh no.’

Heimdall thought that she was getting angry and quickly waved his hands. “If you’re uncomfortable, you don’t have to. Still, at least to Jun-Kyeong...”

“No!!” Although Heimdall wanted to inform Lee Jun-Kyeong of Zeus' disappearance, Athena threw her hand forward in alarm.

“I... I don’t want to do anything to make him worried.”

Him...

Heimdall laughed bitterly at the way Athena referred to Jun-Kyeong.

‘It must be hard to accept.’

After all, Lee Jun-Kyeong was their son. But it wasn’t as if Athena remembered giving birth to him or anything like that. Nor would she have the same bond to the Hunter as Heimdall did. She wouldn’t have had any memories of him in this context.

Still, that didn’t mean she wasn’t trying.

‘But it’s a little...’

It seemed it was still a little too early, however. Heimdall was just glad that she seemed to care about Jun-Kyeong.

“Okay. Then, is there anything you’ve noticed?”

Athena nodded.

***

To be honest, she had been looking forward to trying to find Zeus somewhat.

‘Maybe he has a hidden girlfriend, or...’

She thought that it might be nice if Zeus was doing something out of the ordinary.

‘But I guess he wouldn’t have gone out with Thunderbolt just for something like that.’

Athena could have assumed that Zeus had just hidden his presence to go enjoy nature in secret, but Zeus had left with Thunderbolt in hand. It was one of the few divine items in the world, which was the highest level a weapon could reach.

There was no way that he would have gone to meet a hidden girlfriend with something like that in hand unless he was actively trying to show off Thunderbolt.

“There were several gates that Zeus was interested in.”

From what Athena knew, Zeus had most likely headed to a Gate. High-level gates had started to appear in Korea, and Zeus had been interested in coming to one for quite some time, even going so far as to order some reconnaissance.

It was said that he had taken the chance to speak with Odin about it, as he was already traveling to Korea for their periodic meeting.

‘I was the same.’

The same had gone for Heimdall. The day that he had gone to the Association with Jun-Kyeong hadn’t just been because he had wanted to meet Odin. Although he had a relationship with Odin and they spoke often, he wasn’t close enough with him to go to the Association just for a chat.

The reason he had gone to the Association that day had been one similar to Zeus’.

‘I heard that there are a few suspicious gates that have opened up in Korea.’

He had been asked to inspect and raid a gate that seemed dangerous.

“What was his reason?”

However, Heimdall knew that the Gates that had appeared weren’t something Zeus would normally have had any interest in.

Athena shook her head, her hair flowing down.

“I don’t know. I was curious about that, too. Although they definitely were high-level Gates... they weren’t at a level worthy of his attention.”

Olympus had found nothing of importance during their reconnaissance.

“What he’s interested in is probably in one of the Gates.”

Heimdall had a sneaking suspicion that was the case.

“Considering it’s that bastard, he most likely would have snuck into the Association without being detected, so looking at the access records would be of no use. Since even his presence is completely hidden...”

He wondered if they were left with no choice but to go and check each Gate in person. Then, all of a sudden, he thought of a question.

The high-level Gate.

Although Zeus had disappeared, it wasn’t as if they didn’t have any clues as to where he could be found.

Moreover, considering the actual level of the high-level Gate...

“Athena.”

“Yes?”

“Couldn’t you do this on your own? These are places that have already been identified. This doesn’t seem like something that you needed our help for.”

“...”

“Moreover, you still have Heracles and Odysseus with you, right? From what I understand, there haven’t been any Gates yet that those two brats wouldn’t have been able to clear, so...”

Heimdall suddenly shut his mouth.

“...”

Athena was glaring at him fiercely, her face beginning to glow red.

‘She’s angry.’

Heimdall realized that she was about to blow.

“Hu...hurry up! We have to go! If something were to happen to Zeus, it would be a big problem!”

All Heimdall could do at this moment was to divert the conversation as much as possible.