“…….”

His uncle was not someone who would lie about such things. Besides, he wasn’t the type to lie at all. His uncle even provided contextual evidence, mentioning, “While crying.” Hearing this, Jeong Taeui thought that perhaps he really had called his uncle.

Taeui sighed.

“I didn’t call. I wasn’t sleepwalking either……”

Jeong Taeui stopped abruptly. Something stuck in his mind.

“Please take him away.”

The phrase that had flashed in his mind on the way to the dining room earlier reappeared. The expression on Jeong Taeui’s face gradually froze.

Damn. He had thought it was a dream. But it wasn’t a dream.

Jeong Taeui glanced at Ilay. Ilay raised an eyebrow, looking at him puzzled. Taeui quickly looked away.

“…. That memory…. It feels like that too…”

Jeong Taeui mumbled shakily. His uncle chuckled.

[“You’re quite amusing today. As soon as I answered the phone, I heard someone suddenly start crying. So I was wondering what kind of tune this was.”]

“…… Did I… really do that?”

[“Yes, you did.”]

Jeong Taeui fell silent.

Although he couldn’t blame anyone else, in this case, he wished he could hypnotize himself into thinking: ‘No, it wasn’t like that.’

[“Although it sounds a bit insane, thinking back, you’ve done something like this before when you were a kid. When Jaeui did something wrong but you got scolded instead, you suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and said: ‘I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it’ and cried. My sister-in-law told me about it.”]

Jeong Taeui was worried that he had been sleepwalking, but it seemed that wasn’t the case, and he wasn’t pleased at all when his uncle said: “I don’t know why, but I’m happy to see that your strange childhood habits are still there.”

Instead, hearing such childhood stories made his face feel hot. Jeong Taeui apparently called his uncle last night to cry about something, but he couldn’t remember exactly what he had said, making him suddenly anxious.

“If I called you… did I say anything strange?”

Jeong Changin laughed for a moment and then mumbled.

[“You didn’t say much, just cried and kept saying: ‘Please take him away, please take him away’, with sobs in between. It was heartbreaking to hear.”]

Jeong Taeui was speechless.

Clearly, he had been exhausted yesterday. He had encountered a monster he swore never to meet again, almost died when that bastard fired an anti-tank gun at the house he was locked in, and nearly died again when he set the forest on fire. And in the evening, that guy, who talked nonsense he couldn’t understand, blindly did things to him, almost killing him over and over in a short time.

At that level, Jeong Taeui thought that being sleep-deprived was understandable. He suddenly felt pity for himself. He had never felt so sorry for himself in his life, yet here he was.

“It’s just that…… things have been tough…. please understand, Uncle.”

Jeong Taeui’s voice was somber. His uncle chuckled kindly. Jeong Taeui could almost see his uncle nodding on the other end of the line. Jeong Taeui spoke awkwardly, and then a thought crossed his mind, so he hesitantly asked: “As I said…”

[“So, when will that person be taken away….”]

He glanced at the person sitting opposite him, unable to directly ask: ‘When will Ilay leave here?’, so he just focused on the key point of what his uncle had recounted. But it seemed his uncle had already guessed the meaning behind Jeong Taeui’s words. His uncle chuckled as he spoke.

[“He went out without permission and without proper leave. It won’t be long. Even when he returns, he’ll have to write a series of reports. Let’s see…… it should be about 3 or 4 days?”]

Three or four days. It wasn’t long. Although he didn’t know what the man intended to do with him in those few days, he wouldn’t let this ambiguous situation drag on.

Jeong Taeui thought it wasn’t because his uncle was quick to understand but rather because he was lucky, he said: “Thank you, Uncle.” and smiled. Then, as he was about to recount something about Ilay, a thought struck him. His expression immediately changed.

“Uncle, did that guy return?”

[“Maurer? Yes. He seemed ecstatic, saying he had been to Germany during his vacation and saw a very beautiful piece.”]

“…… He saw something? I’ll take it.”

By selling me out, no doubt. Just thinking about it made his head hot.

When his ankle healed, he would try to escape and find his brother, but his brother’s whereabouts were still unknown. Besides, if he returned to the UNHRDO Asia branch—but Ilay was there. He would undoubtedly be captured again, and nothing could be more terrifying.

His uncle laughed heartily. His uncle probably knew that Maurer wouldn’t be satisfied with just looking at those ‘beautiful pieces’ without owning it.

“Please check his room and find his weapons.”

[“Haha, it’s probably too late.”]

Jeong Taeui was angry at his uncle’s words. But he had no other choice because he knew it well. Before Jeong Taeui returned to this house, the first thing Maurer did was to suddenly flee back to Hong Kong, surely to dispose of his beloved treasures.

Jeong Taeui thought of a suitable method of revenge and silently engraved it in his mind.

Jeong Taeui groaned; the next time he saw him, he wouldn’t let him get away. He would take a rare and valuable gun and disassemble it in front of him, then throw all the pieces into the toilet and flush them. Yes, right in front of him.

Next to him, Ilay was staring blankly at him. Jeong Taeui silently glanced at him and spoke softly to his uncle.

“I mean….”

He mumbled that he would hold a grudge against him from now on.

[“But it’s quite surprising….”]

His uncle seemed to be about to say something but then stopped. Jeong Taeui tilted his head, perhaps his uncle was considering whether to continue or not. Jeong Taeui sighed as he remembered the context of the conversation.

“It seems surprisingly okay, right, Uncle…?”

[“Haha, you’re a quick-witted young man.”]

Jeong Taeui remained silent, neither affirming nor denying, just nodding. Although his uncle couldn’t see it, he nodded to himself and wondered deeply. Although he was in a very unexpected situation.

Jeong Taeui had once been sure that if he met Ilay RieGrow again, he would be killed immediately or fall into a situation similar to death. That thought persisted even when their eyes met in the forest, amidst the burning fire.

“……”

He couldn’t understand what this man was thinking.

Jeong Taeui took a deep breath. He had no choice but to observe the situation as it unfolded. Otherwise, he would worry because there was no way to predict what would come and how to prepare for it.

Jeong Taeui stole another glance at Ilay.

Rita had brought tea. He leisurely sipped his tea, his gaze fixed on Jeong Taeui. Since Taeui had arrived, Ilay hadn’t taken his eyes off him for a single second.

Ever since UNHRDO, Jeong Taeui had been unable to understand him. Sometimes, he thought he understood him a little, but the crucial parts always seemed beyond his grasp.

[“By the way… Jaeui.”]

Jeong Taeui, lost in his own thoughts, was suddenly brought back to reality by his uncle mentioning another topic.

Jeong Taeui mumbled – “Ah” – remembering that he had left UNHRDO to find his brother. Although he had said he wasn’t sure if he would find him, he still felt a bit guilty for not having any leads so far.

“Well, I’m still not sure. I don’t have any specific clues about his whereabouts… So, I’ve just been searching aimlessly wherever I want…”

He had been simply wandering around without any specific information or clues. The world was vast, and searching like that was like finding a needle in a haystack. It would be easier to find Kim’s son-in-law in Seoul than to find his brother by chance.

(*서울 가서 김 서방 찾는다: ‘Finding Kim’s son-in-law in Seoul’ implies finding a specific person in a place where many people share the same last name, akin to finding a needle in a haystack.)

Rather than actively searching, he was more like traveling aimlessly. Nonetheless, he tried to find his brother. Wherever he went, he silently observed people, hoping to spot someone familiar in a town or by the roadside.

Strangely, as time passed, his desire to meet his brother grew stronger.

Before, he hadn’t realized how much he missed him, even though they had been apart for longer than this. But now, he misses him, perhaps because he often heard his name or because he couldn’t contact him or didn’t know where he was. All of it.

“It would be great to know where he is.”

Jeong Taeui smiled sadly, and his uncle was silent for a moment. Perhaps he felt a bit disheartened for not finding his brother. But then, his uncle slowly opened his mouth and brought unexpected news.

[“I have a bit of a lead…”]

“…… Really? Where?”

Jeong Taeui’s eyes widened.

It was about his brother, whom he hadn’t been able to find. Though it was understandable not to find him by aimlessly wandering, even his uncle, who probably knew all kinds of ways to search for information, had said it was difficult to find even a small clue. But now, finally, his uncle had a lead. Jeong Taeui instinctively pressed the phone to his ear. Even though he knew it wouldn’t help him hear better, he suddenly felt anxious. Even a small clue was enough to focus his mind on where his brother might be.

His uncle was silent for a moment again. However, this silence didn’t last long. With a slight smile, his uncle spoke.

[“You should ask Kyle rather than me. Because he’s the one who found it.”]

“Kyle….”

Jeong Taeui turned his head toward the person sitting diagonally from him. Kyle seemed puzzled by the sudden mention of his name and looked at Jeong Taeui.

“Yes, I don’t know either. Although he’s your brother, I didn’t ask because it’s not the kind of information that can be shared carelessly.”

His uncle chuckled.

Jeong Taeui stared at Kyle. He knew, he knew where his brother was.

“So…”

[“As for that, you can decide where to go. Now that we have a lead. UNHRDO might try to track it down using our methods… But if you plan to follow it, stay in touch with me frequently.”]

His uncle ended the call with a half-joking, half-serious tone.

Jeong Taeui exchanged a brief farewell with his uncle, handed the phone back to Kyle, and stared at him blankly. Kyle calmly took the phone and looked at Taeui with a puzzled expression. After waiting for a while, since Jeong Taeui didn’t speak first, Kyle smiled and spoke.

“Do you have something you want to say to me?”

“…… my brother Jaeui.”

Jeong Taeui spoke urgently. And when that name came up, Kyle pondered for a moment, then asked Taeui as if he had just remembered something.

“Come to think of it, you’re looking for someone, aren’t you? Is it Jeong Jay?”

Jeong Taeui nodded. He was the one who had to run and search for his brother.

“I see.” – Kyle slowly nodded. He seemed to be thinking about something.

At that moment, Ilay, who had been listening to their conversation, spoke up.

“What will you do if you find Jeong Jay?”

Jeong Taeui frowned at Ilay’s sudden question.

“I need to find where he is. He’s my brother, and I haven’t seen him for a long time, so I’ll go find him.”

“Hmm…… So, you want to find Jeong Jay?”

Jeong Taeui remained silent and stared at Ilay.

“If that’s the case, are you planning to interfere?”

Taeui’s voice lowered slightly. Ilay stared intently at Jeong Taeui.

If he intended to interfere with this, Jeong Taeui would fight him to the end. Although he knew he couldn’t win against him physically, Jeong Taeui wouldn’t let him interfere no matter what.

Perhaps Ilay understood what Jeong Taeui was thinking.

He slightly opened his eyes and looked at him. At first glance, he seemed genuinely displeased. Maybe it annoyed him that Jeong Taeui intended to continue with his plans, even if it meant going against him. Or perhaps there was something else that he didn’t like.

Ilay opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but then hesitated as if he couldn’t find the words.

Then, he seemed to drift back into his thoughts.

“Jeong Jay…”

Yes, Jeong Jaeui.

An old memory resurfaced in Jeong Taeui’s mind. Back when he was still at UNHRDO, Ilay had mentioned that he was interested in a genius researcher named Jeong Jaeui. If that was the case, then perhaps he wouldn’t have opposed the idea of Taeui searching for his brother back then. Even if Ilay showed disapproval now, Taeui would still leave.

Ilay didn’t say anything. He shrugged with a vague expression. It seemed he would take a step back from this matter.

While listening to their conversation, Kyle, lost in his thoughts, gently looked at Jeong Taeui and sighed.

“I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where he was. I only found a place where he might be. He might be there, but it’s also possible that…”

Jeong Taeui cautiously asked as Kyle trailed off.

“Is it a difficult place to reach?”

“No. It’s not difficult. Anyone can enter that island.”

Kyle shook his head and said. Jeong Taeui waited for his next words. Kyle looked puzzled and tapped on the table before continuing.

“The island is where Arabian royalty and tycoons build mansions and occasionally use them. But there are some places where outsiders can’t set foot. Moreover, it’s quite secluded, so it’s impossible to know what’s inside from the outside.”

“…Is Jaeui there?”

“Well… I’m not sure about that. But I’ve heard that it’s possible. Anyway, for now, that’s the only lead.”

Jeong Taeui tilted his head, looking slightly puzzled. He thought about it for a moment but couldn’t figure it out, so he raised his head and asked doubtfully.

“Why would my brother be in a mansion of Arabian royalty or a tycoon?”

Kyle remained silent and didn’t answer. He had said he didn’t know, but it seemed like he had a guess. Kyle seemed reluctant to say more. However, he appeared to be choosing his words carefully to convey the story in the best way possible.

“It might be related to the power struggle among factions in Arabia… I’ve heard that Jeong Jaeil might have been kidnapped and detained to force your brother to develop weapons.”

When Kyle finished speaking, Jeong Taeui fell silent. He couldn’t think of anything else to say. If he wanted to ask, there were countless questions in his mind, but if he didn’t want to, what he had heard was enough. The reality was that nothing else mattered as long as Jeong Jaeil was there.

“Where is that place?”

Jeong Taeui asked softly. The place where his brother might be. His brother, whom he hadn’t heard from or been able to contact for months – might be there.

Kyle looked at Jeong Taeui for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“Seringe. It’s off the east coast of Africa. It’s a small island accessible by light aircraft from Dar es Salaam.”

[End Vol 4.]