The Second Coming of Gluttony Chapter 309:
Chapter 309 . Preparations (2)
"The Star of Avarice came to visit us?”
Seol Jihu asked again in surprise .
"Y-Yes . He came without any prior notice… I led him to the reception room for now . ”
The usually calm Kim Hannah slightly stuttered, seemingly equally surprised .
The Executor of Avaritia, who stood at the pinnacle of the Magician’s Guild, had publicly paid a visit to Valhalla .
"Why would an Executor look for me… . ”
"I don’t know either . But it looks like he had been waiting for quite a while in Eva . ”
"How long?"
"About ten days . "
Seol Jihu stuck out his tongue in astonishment .
"We should have asked him to visit sooner . ”
"You made a trip to Odor a few days ago . You probably missed each other on the way . ”
"Oh, that . ”
"Anyway, I was really surprised . I would have told him in advance if he had sent someone over…”
"I should go and meet him right now . ”
"I’ll go with you . ”
Seol Jihu moved with haste .
*
A man and a woman were sitting on the couch in the reception room .
A handsomely tall young man could be seen reading a book while sipping tea . Judging by the thick magician’s robe he was wearing, he was definitely the Star of Avarice . Conversely, a cute girl wearing a light gown was in the middle of curiously looking around the reception room .
While she was looking around the room, her eyes met Seol Jihu’s as he just opened the door to enter .
She was a young girl with slightly wavy, light-brown hair and whose face looked vibrant and full of life .
Seol Jihu gaped his mouth when he identified the girl .
"Ah!"
The girl also gasped at the same time .
"You are…!"
The beautiful smile she had on was gone when she stood up to point her finger at him .
"…The person who abandoned our team to challenge the Impossible mission alone and monopolized the VIP store coupon!”
Hearing the ‘cute’ greeting, Seol Jihu unintentionally let out a small laugh . It was truly an Odelette Delphine-like greeting .
"Ow!"
However, she soon sat back down while caressing her head when a fist connected to her crown .
"Owwwww! Why did you hit me!?”
"Where are your manners, pointing your fingers like that?”
"No! I was just happy to see him again . ”
"Didn’t you follow me under the condition of not being reckless?”
"Hnng . "
Odelette Delphine whined to herself while pouting her lips .
The young man brushed off his fist before nodding at Seol Jihu .
"I’m sorry . While I didn’t teach this child her etiquettes, I still apologize as her representative . ”
"It’s fine . It’s nice to see her be herself . ”
Replying with a smile, Seol Jihu walked forward to stand in front of him .
"I’m Seol Jihu, the representative of Valhalla . I heard I’ve kept you waiting for a long time . ”
"I am Philip Muller, the representative of the Magician’s Guild . I did wait for quite a while actually . ”
The two men whose reputation preceded them in all of Paradise shook hands .
“Whoa!” At the sight of them shaking hands, Odelette Delphine gave a small exclamation .
"Well, it’s my fault for suddenly visiting without any notice . Still, I didn’t think we would miss each other to this extent . Especially since you went to Odor, which is where I live . ”
"I was surprised too . We would have been able to meet sooner if you had left a message . ”
"Actually, I came to Eva once before this . To meet you . ”
Seol Jihu blinked his eyes at the sudden confession .
"I found out after I arrived that you had already departed for the Neutral Zone . There was no way to meet you at that time, so I could only go back . ”
"Then at that time…”
"So I aimed for another meeting when the Neutral Zone concluded, but we missed each other again . ”
Philip Muller gave a thin smile .
"All sorts of thoughts crossed my mind at that point . That perhaps some transcendental being that could read the path of the stars was intentionally preventing our meeting . ”
A transcendental being trying to interfere with their meeting… Perhaps it was because he was a Magician, but Philip Muller’s words sounded like that of a romanticist .
One part of Seol Jihu began to wonder why a figure of such caliber had been trying to meet him .
"You’re making me more curious about why you visited me . ”
"It’s nothing much . ”
Philip Muller lightly replied back .
"I've wanted to meet you personally ever since the war at the valley . I became sure after I heard the news about the Eva's Night incident . And…”
Philip Muller paused as he fixed his glasses .
"I have more things I want to know after seeing your recent course of actions . ”
Seol Jihu tilted his head .
He couldn’t think of anything special about his recent actions .
"I heard that a high-ranking individual from the Federation visited Eva not too long ago . ”
"Yes . "
"And after their visit, you started to move very busily . ”
Seol Jihu carefully stared at the fair young man in glasses, who was exuding a scholarly aura .
It would’ve been understandable if he was a member of Valhalla . After all, it was extremely rare for outsiders, especially Earthlings at that, to show interest in the matters of the Federation .
"I assume that it’s because of the Parasites, but I want to hear it from you directly . Can you perhaps tell me?”
"It’s nothing I can’t do, but… it’s long and complicated . ”
"All the better . "
Philip Muller’s eyes twinkled as he supported his chin with the back of his hand .
"I prefer difficult problems over easy ones . ”
"That’s good then . ”
Seol Jihu cleared his throat before beginning to explain .
He started from the Federation’s visit and ended with why he had recently gotten Hoshino Urara released and brought back .
Philip Muller, who had been silently listening, spoke up when Seol Jihu was explaining the strange phenomena that Hoshino Urara had felt at the spot .
"The Astral World . "
"Excuse me?"
"Your senses become blurred and the sight in front of you remains fixed despite looking from different angles . Those descriptions perfectly match that of the Astral World . ”
Seol Jihu blankly stared .
Not mentioning Kazuki, even Philip Muller had immediately guessed it the moment he heard it .
"To put this simply— Let’s assume that Odelette Delphine here made a mistake while teleporting . What do you think would happen if she accidentally overlapped with a boulder on top of a mountain?”
"…They’d merge together?"
"No . They'll explode . Both of them . ”
Odelette Delphine frowned hearing the terrible comment all of a sudden .
"It’s because it defies the laws of the world governing the volume, mass, and others . Meaning, the world doesn’t tolerate such phenomena existing . ”
Odelette Delphine protested as to why he had to use her as an example, but Philip Muller casually continued .
"Of course, space and objects can’t be compared with the same reasoning . However, it doesn't change the fact that things break when two different things forcibly overlap . We call the space where the boundaries of different worlds overlap and become ambiguous, the Astral World . ”
Taking into account that the listeners were not knowledgeable in the field, Philip Muller intentionally explained in simple and concise sentences . Thanks to that, Seol Jihu was able to understand a bit of what he was saying .
"So that Galaev thought of such a method, huh . To cross over to another world by finding the gap in the center of the ambiguous boundaries . It sounds plausible, but…”
Philip Muller muttered to himself as he stroked his chin .
"The idea is good but finding such a gap seems like it’d be near impossible . Unless you can see both overlapping worlds at the same time, it’ll be extremely hard to find the way . ”
"I’ve already taken care of that . ”
"Huh?"
"I’ve already told you . About the Halep siblings . ”
"Ah! Wait . ”
The pair of eyes behind his glasses narrowed .
"Does that girl perhaps…”
"According to her, she possesses the Spirit Eyes . ”
Philip Muller exclaimed lightly .
It was a small exclamation, but seeing how Odelette Delphine looked surprised, it must have been a rare response .
"…As expected . "
Philip Muller’s lips slightly curled up . He had a satisfied look on his face as he nodded his head .
"Starting with the Neutral Zone, you’ve done well in taking care of all the annoying problems . It’s no wonder Gula has her eyes on you . ”
"?"
"No, no . It’s nothing . ”
Philip Muller waved his hand .
"To sum it up, you’re trying to cross over to the Spirit Realm to revive the World Tree in preparation for the Parasite’s invasion of the Federation . ”
"That’s right . "
"Good . Very good . Marvelous! The ‘Problem Solver’ nickname isn’t wasted on you . ”
Seol Jihu felt his heart lighten after hearing the string of praises from the Star of Avarice .
His own organization members didn’t acknowledge his efforts, instead suspecting his tendencies to pick up women for bringing Eun Yuri . However, the Magician in front of him was fully acknowledging him .
"Since you’ve done all this by yourself— Wait, no, I want to first ask you to listen to three requests . ”
"Requests?"
"The first is that I want you to take me when you go to that place . I know you’re the one who prepared everything, but if you don’t mind, I wish to tag along . ”
Seol Jihu could only doubt his ears .
An Executor wanted to participate in the expedition he was leading?
"I have a personal interest in the Astral World . And the Spirit Realm too . Well, it’s not just for my curiosity, but either way, I’m confident that I’ll be of help . ”
That went without saying . Of course, he would be helpful . He was an Earthling who stood at the pinnacle of magic . Only, it was such an abrupt request that it was difficult to believe .
"Really? Will you really come with us?”
"I’m not the type to joke around . In any case, can I take your response as a yes?”
Seol Jihu hurriedly nodded his head .
"The second is… . "
Philip Muller suddenly placed his hand on the silently sitting Odelette Delphine’s head .
"Hey!"
"…Will you provide a place for this child?”
Odelette Delphine suddenly made a V-sign with her fingers as if she had already known .
"I want to place Odelette Delphine as a branch chief in Eva . Anywhere is fine . I’d like you to share any piece of your remaining land . ”
"What?"
At that moment, Kim Hannah, who had been silent until now, gave her hearty approval .
"Of course! Of course, we will!”
"That’s good . Though, the representative has to make the final decision . ”
Philip Muller replied, but his eyes were still fixed onto Valhalla’s representative .
Seol Jihu suddenly felt Kim Hannah mercilessly poke his back . He didn’t know why she was suddenly acting like that, but he figured that having a Magician’s Guild branch in the city was a good thing for Eva .
'But why is she stabbing so hard?’
Odelette Delphine bit her lips while looking at the jolting Seol Jihu . She then spoke while trying to hold back her laughter .
"It’s to make a pretext for us . ”
Seol Jihu suddenly realized something . He finally knew why Philip Muller suddenly brought up establishing a branch in Eva .
If the Magician’s Guild established a branch organization in Eva, the branch would go under the umbrella of the city’s representative organization while still being affiliated with the guild . Consequently, Valhalla would now have a direct connection with the Magician’s Guild that was based in Odor .
Then, in the case of unexpected incidents in Eva, the Magician’s Guild would have more than enough justifications to intervene . For example, if a war broke out, the Magician’s Guild could send a squad in the name of protecting their branch .
'It’s to minimize internal discord, huh . ’
Seol Jihu was left speechless for a while .
How should he put this? It was an unfamiliar feeling . It was like he had received a present that he had desperately wished for in his heart, but didn’t expect to be answered .
'I’ve only been harassed up until now…’
But they said they came of their own accord to lend a helping hand . Because it was his first time experiencing this, he had no choice but to be skeptical .
Seeing Seol Jihu remain silent for a while, Philip Muller smacked his lips .
"The reason we want an area for ourselves is to increase our guild’s range of operations in consideration of your future plans . Of course, I won’t deny that we will profit from this, but I don’t think you’re stupid enough to not know my underlying intentions . ”
"…That’s not it . "
Seol Jihu spoke in a slightly hoarse voice .
"It was just a little, no, very unexpected . ”
"…Unexpected? Were you thinking of doing all of this by yourself?”
"…"
Seol Jihu didn’t answer .
"Hmm . Were you the same type as Evangeline Rose? You didn’t look like it . ”
Philip Muller shook his head and continued .
"There’s no need to thank me . As I said before, everything is possible because of the plans you made . Plus, there’s a request remaining that might be harder for you to agree to . ”
"You did mention that you had three requests . ”
"Mmm . There’s something I need to tell you before this . It might sound pessimistic, but I believe we need to assume the worst-case scenario for every situation . Especially considering the current disparity between humanity and the Parasites . ”
"By the worst possible scenario, you mean…”
"I’m not trying to exaggerate things so don’t get me wrong . Your plan is definitely the best method with which humanity can help the Federation, but I’m not sure how much effect it will have against the Parasites . ”
"…"
"To be honest, I don’t think the Parasite Queen will sit still and do nothing while we are trying to save the Spirit Realm . She must already have something planned . And even if we do somehow succeed in reviving the World Tree, we need to think whether Tigol Fortress would still be standing by then . ”
Seol Jihu’s excitement suddenly sank .
"Even if everything goes according to your plan, it’s unknown whether it will 100% end in our victory . There’s nothing we can be sure of right now . ”
He wasn’t wrong . There currently existed an enormous disparity between the Parasites and their opposing forces . It was unfortunate, but it was a reality that had to be acknowledged .
"In any case, we have to struggle with all our might to at least earn some time but…”
Philip Muller asked while knocking on his armrest .
"Will Eva take part in this war?”
"Of course . "
"Good . Odor won’t be a problem since I am in charge of it . I’ll need to talk to the Stars of Wrath and Pride . ”
"Two more Stars… Do you think they will help?”
"I can’t guarantee anything . The battlefield won’t be in human territory but, instead, be in the Federation’s . Still, since your plan is fully prepared, I think it’s worth a try . ”
At any rate, those two were also god’s apostles . Philip Muller explained that as long as they shared the values of the gods they served, they would act given that the situation wasn’t entirely hopeless .
He also added that they could expect the additional participation of two royal families .
Seol Jihu couldn’t hope to expect any more help, but Philip Muller wasn’t done talking .
"The problem is Haramark . ”
"I can probably persuade them . ”
"That might be the case for the royal family . But I’m talking about Sicilia . ”
Philip Muller’s expression turned serious .