The Second Coming of Gluttony Chapter 206:
Chapter 206 . Seol Jihu Faithfully Plants Flags Today As Always
Seol Jihu dragged his lucky charm, or rather Flone, to the library as soon as he heard her story . Like the adage, ‘there is a way out even if the sky falls’, Seol Jihu was quick to move once he had a plan .
The Pagoda of Infection .
This was the place that Flone pointed out as where the Rothschear family’s sacred artifact was hidden .
Burning with fervor, Seol Jihu searched every corner of the library for a few days and gathered a good amount of information .
And the result was truly unnerving .
—REDACTED .
“…What’s this?”
It wasn’t difficult to find information regarding the Pagoda of Infection . The problem was that every single record cut off after a few pages with the word ‘REDACTED’ .
Even an idiot would realize that the latter content was deleted . Seol Jihu had checked dozens of history records, including records of unofficial history, yet information regarding this place had been removed without exception .
It was as if all of Paradise had come together and promised to keep silent .
But from all the records he read, he was able to gather two pieces of information .
—The Emperor feared the (REDACTED) attacking the Empire and devised a special measure . That is to erase the (REDACTED)’s existence altogether .
And .
—After that day, the Empire and all of its subsidiary countries moved quickly . They arrested anyone who talked about (REDACTED) on the streets and went beyond keeping the secret under wraps to redacting all information regarding it… .
“…Man . ”
Seol Jihu smacked his lips after reading just a few lines . He didn’t have a good feeling about this .
He investigated the Rothschear family’s secrets just in case, and it was just as he thought . He couldn’t find a single record related to the Pagoda of Infection .
—Rothschear, one of the four duke families who founded the Empire . They serve the Goddess of Chastity .
—Castitas, the Goddess of Chastity, bestowed the family with the sacred artifact, the Spear of Purity, which housed the elemental spirit, Arcus . The family thus came to be called the Spear of the Empire, and as the name suggests, they always stood at the frontlines of war to combat outside enemies .
—They are said to be protected by a mythical guardian Phoenix that symbolizes joy .
Getting confirmation about the Rothschear family’s background and the existence of the Spear of Purity were the only gains .
Seol Jihu asked Flone about the Pagoda of Infection, but she only said, ‘Huh? What’s that? I have never heard of it before . ’
The fact that Flone had never heard about it could only mean that the Emperor’s measures had been successful .
‘The Pagoda of Infection . ’
Just its name exuded all sorts of trouble .
‘I doubt it’s talking about a simple contagious disease…’
There were more than a few suspicious points, but Seol Jihu had no thoughts of reconsidering his plans .
He had to go .
This was the opportunity he had been waiting for . If he gave up now, elevating Carpe Diem to an organization would truly become a hopeless dream .
Though even the Emperor of the ancient Empire had been wary of this place…
‘Let’s face it head on . ’
Seol Jihu walked forward, shaking off his fears .
**
After returning to Carpe Diem’s office, Seol Jihu fell into deep thought . Setting aside the matter of conquering the Pagoda of Infection, just getting there was a problem .
The area in question was similar to the Forest of Denial in that it bordered the Parasites’, the Federation’s, and humanity’s territory .
Strictly speaking, though, it was closer to the Federation and humanity’s side .
‘I’ll need a Pathfinder for sure… . ’
A Pathfinder was indispensable as he could run into the Parasites at any time . It wasn’t as if he didn’t know any Archers, but Marcel Ghionea was poor at scouting and Yi Seol-Ah lacked experienced .
‘Warriors…’
Carpe Diem had a rather strong lineup of Warriors, including himself, Chohong, Phi Sora, and Hugo .
But that was only in terms of firepower .
In terms of scale and the size of their party, this trip to the Pagoda of Infection would be an expedition, not an exploration . And Seol Jihu had a strong feeling that simply being good at fighting would not be enough for this expedition .
This worry stemmed from his lack of information . To be more precise, he still had misgivings in his ability as a leader purely due to his inexperience .
He wanted an experienced, quick-witted veteran who could control Carpe Diem’s temperamental Warriors in case of an emergency .
It would be perfect if there was someone as skilled as Dylan . It wasn’t as if he couldn’t think of anyone . But he was hesitating because accepting an outsider’s help would mean he would need to return the favor .
Seol Jihu knew how incredible the result of this expedition would be, given that it hadn’t fallen into anyone’s hands . So he would be lying if he said he didn’t have any regrets about sharing the loot with outsiders .
‘What should I do?’
“BOO!”
While he was deep in thought, a shrill voice struck his ears . When Seol Jihu opened his eyes, he saw Chohong standing in front of him with her mouth open .
Seol Jihu laughed blandly .
“Having fun?”
“Bastard, you’re making me feel embarrassed . ”
Chohong took a step back and grumbled with a flushed face .
“What are you doing here all alone? You had your eyes closed and your arms crossed too . ”
“I think . ”
“Think?”
“Therefore I exist . ”
“Argh, cut the **** . ”
Chohong furrowed her brows .
“Why do you have to be like this? You’re such a turn-off sometimes, you know that?”
She fiddled with her fingers as she criticized him .
“But hey, please tell me you were thinking about our next mission . I don’t care if it’s a scouting mission or an exploration . ”
“You must be bored . ”
“Bored doesn’t even cut it . I’m about to flip from itching all over . Let’s go out, let some fresh air into our nostrils, beat up some monsters and have a change of pace . How about it?”
Chohong made a passionate speech while waving her hands .
Seol Jihu nodded his head calmly .
“I was just thinking about one . ”
“Oh? And this came from a trustworthy source?”
“More than trustworthy . ”
“I see…”
Chohong rubbed her hands together and giggled .
“Right, you’re not the type of person to just sit still . I thought you’d make your move soon . ”
Then, she suddenly spoke as if she just remembered something .
“Oh yeah, have you been to the palace?”
Seol Jihu furrowed his brows at her sudden mention of the palace .
“No? Why would I go there?”
“To get money . ”
“Money? From what? Participating in the war was mandatory . ”
“Not that . You hired those kids from Blood Line . ”
Only then did Seol Jihu go “Ah . ”
He remembered Teresa mentioning this . That he should look for mercenaries and that she would pay him back later .
Seol Jihu hesitated .
“I don’t know if it’s right to accept that money… I didn’t hire them out of my own pocket . ”
“That’s even better! You’d have extra money to spend . It’s true that Blood Line came to help, so there shouldn’t be any problem . ”
Chohong kept persuading him to take the money, but Seol Jihu seemed rather reluctant .
“I don’t think Haramark has spare money right now . ”
This wasn’t a baseless assumption . A war required an exorbitant amount of money to be spent . Now that the war was over, not only did Haramark have to rebuild the valley fortress, but they also had to pay out their war dues .
Even the military expansion Jan Sanctus asked for was in far reach .
“Oh right, there were talks about that recently . About how people haven’t received any money even though months have gone by since the war . Well, you’re the one who called Blood Line, so you do what you want . ”
Chohong shrugged .
Seol Jihu slowly rubbed his chin .
‘Again . ’
For some reason, when he thought about Teresa, his conflicted mind suddenly tilted to one side .
Right, it’s not like the inheritance is only in one place . Other than the one in the heart of the Empire where I obviously can’t go, there are still three other places .
Seol Jihu murmured before coming to a decision . Doing her a favor before leaving Haramark didn’t sound so bad .
Having made up his mind, Seol Jihu got up .
*
Seol Jihu went to find Kazuki straight away . It was to ask him to become the Pathfinder for the expedition .
When he gave a rough explanation of the situation, Kazuki unexpectedly agreed right away .
“Alright, I’ll go with you . ”
When Seol Jihu stared at him in a daze, Kazuki, who was reviewing the piece of paper with the terms and conditions of the temporary contract, raised his head .
“Ah, I haven’t had a lot to do recently . My team disbanded too . ”
It seemed Umi Tsubame broke up into pieces in the end . Well, since Kazuki joined hands with the Triads, it was unlikely that Japan Business Federation would have sat still .
“Also, isn’t this the first expedition you planned yourself?”
Was it?
Now that he thought about it, he had always followed others, accepted missions, or was dragged along forcefully . He had never decided alone .
In that sense, this was indeed Seol Jihu’s first expedition .
“I’m curious . I doubt an expedition planned by an Earthling of your caliber will be ordinary . Anyways, I don’t think following you will be a bad thing . ”
Kazuki’s clear praise made Seol Jihu smile bashfully .
“Thank for trusting me . ”
Kazuki stared at the smiling Seol Jihu with a somewhat bitter look . Soon, he suddenly chuckled .
“I don’t sense any feelings of entitlement from you . That’s why I can trust you . ”
With that, Kazuki flicked the paper .
“Anyways, about these terms . ”
“Yes . ”
“Artifacts will be distributed according to the class of the participants . This is all good, but…”
Kazuki’s eyes narrowed slightly .
“Artifacts that do not conform to any class and artifacts that carry holy power will belong to Seol Jihu . ”
Distribution of loot generally followed a 1/Nth rule . With the exception of artifacts, this basic rule of Paradise applied to even porters .
Of course, Seol Jihu rightfully deserved more of the cut, seeing as how he was the one who planned the entire expedition, but he wasn’t even saying he would pay a small price for the right to those items, which would be the norm . Rather, he was asking for an absolute ownership over them .
“Can you give me a more detailed explanation?”
“Mm… sure, it’s an open secret anyways . ”
It wasn’t that Kazuki was being greedy, and since Seol Jihu knew this was Paradise’s rule, he revealed his inner thoughts openly .
After hearing his explanation, Kazuki went “Ah” and dropped his jaw .
“So it’s because of Lady Seo Yuhui . ”
“Yes, from now on, I plan to give her every offering I get my hands on . So I plan to use these same terms for a while . ”
“In that case, I have no complaints . We’ll go with this . ”
Kazuki signed the contract without hesitation, and Seol Jihu nodded his head .
Seol Jihu knew Kazuki would understand . After all, Kazuki was also indebted to Seo Yuhui .
“Whew . ”
Kazuki breathed a sigh of relief after handing the contract back to Seol Jihu .
“If this expedition goes well, I’ll finally have some room to breathe . ”
“What do you mean?”
“Ah, I need to form a new team before moving to Eva, but I’m severely lacking money . Hao Win gave me some funding, but that’s all debt . ”
Seol Jihu’s eyes widened .
“You’re going to Eva too, Mister Kazuki?”
“Of course . The hill I’m hiding under is moving to Eva, so how can I not? Didn’t Hao Win tell you?”
Kazuki replied immediately before smiling .
“Anyways, thanks! You saved me . ”
Seol Jihu waved his hand .
“Isn’t it too early to say thanks? We don’t even know if anything is going to be there . ”
“That’s true . Returning empty-handed from expeditions or explorations is an everyday occurrence . ”
Having said that, Kazuki glanced at Seol Jihu and smiled silently .
“But seeing as how you’ve never failed before, I figured I can get my hopes up . ”
I’ve never failed before? Seol Jihu tilted his head once again .
*
The next place Seol Jihu visited was the royal palace .
“An expedition?”
Seeing the youth who visited him out of the blue, Teresa opened her eyes like a rabbit .
“Yes . ”
Seol Jihu nodded his head with a bright smile .
“I heard that things have been a little loud recently . I was thinking it would be a great idea to go out, get some fresh air, and loosen up . ”
“… . ”
Teresa was clearly at a loss for words .
Seol Jihu wasn’t wrong . Because their finances were in the red, she had been thinking about swallowing her tears and selling the royal family’s land .
Seeing Seol Jihu who was full of smiles, Teresa reviewed the contract again .
The terms were strangely stingy .
No, in the first place, it was uncommon for the princess to be asked to go on an expedition . It didn’t seem like he didn’t know about the Royal Family’s situation, so it was also strange that he was asking her to ‘get some fresh air and loosen up . ’
Moreover, it wasn’t as if she was a Magician or a Priest . Carpe Diem was overflowing with skilled Warriors, so she didn’t understand why he wanted to bring another Warrior with him .
There were more than a few suspicious points .
However, Teresa’s ability to take a hint was easily a 100 . There was no way that Seol Jihu was saying this without a reason .
Teresa secretly glanced at Seol Jihu and examined him thoroughly . He seemed strangely full of confidence .
‘Hold on . ’
Teresa suddenly thought of the expedition offer she had received in the past from White Rose . She had put careful thought into the matter before asking Seol Jihu to join the expedition, but Seol Jihu was extremely against it at that time .
Teresa believed in her hubby’s ‘intuition’ and didn’t follow White Rose’s expedition . And lo and behold, not only did the expedition end in failure, but it also became the source of a spectacular political mess . Teresa remembered how relieved she was at the time .
The important thing was Seol Jihu had a totally different attitude now compared to then . Not only was he not uncertain, but he was clearly hoping that she would go with him .
In that instant, a bolt of lightning struck Teresa’s head .
‘A jackpot . A super jackpot, at that!’
She didn’t know the details, but he must have received an incredible piece of info . That was why he was asking her to come .
Teresa finally understood Seol Jihu’s intentions .
‘He’s looking after me . ’
Simply giving her the loot for free would be unfair to his teammates and possibly raise protests, so he was making her join the expedition to rightfully receive a cut .
‘Again… just when I’m in trouble… . ’
Teresa found it incredible how he appeared to save her whenever she was having a hard time . How could she not develop feelings for him?
“Haa—”
Sighing from the bottom of her heart, Teresa spoke with a slightly flushed voice .
“I can really go with you?”
“Of course . I mean, I’m the one who’s requesting you to come . ”
“Eii, I know Carpe Diem has lots of Warriors . ”
“Strength isn’t the only thing that matters . I’m personally expecting other things from you, princess . ”
The way he was putting it made Teresa feel even more apologetic .
Seol Jihu grinned .
“You’re coming, right?”
He was going this far . How could she refuse or even play hard to get?
Teresa nodded silently . Then, she stared at Seol Jihu fixedly .
“Excellent decision . Then…”
The moment he finished saying, “I’ll let you know when the date has been decided,” he flinched .
A subtle glance .
He might be mistaken, but he felt like he saw two hearts blooming inside Teresa’s pupils .
‘N-No . ’
It wasn’t that he disliked the princess, but Seol Jihu considered himself a man of principle . As he vividly remembered what happened when he gave her the longsword and shield, he couldn’t just ignore this problem .
“I-I’ll take my leave now . And here . ”
Seol Jihu hastily got up and passed the shopping bag he had brought with him in a hurry .
Teresa, who got up as if to prevent him from escaping, licked her lips slightly with her tongue . She then blinked her eyes, seeing the shopping bag .
“It’s a gift . It’s nothing big though . ”
“Oh, my . ”
It was effective .
Teresa’s eyes, which were turning more and more seductive by the second, regained their sparkle .
“I bought it when I was on Earth . I forgot to bring it with me last time I came here…”
However, Seol Jihu had committed a fatal mistake . The moment Teresa heard the word ‘gift’, the light in her eyes grew more intense, and her heart-shaped pupils became clearer .
Of course, Seol Jihu noticed this change as well .
“I bought something you need in your daily life . It’s nothing big, so please accept it . ”
Pang!
“I’ll be off, then . Thank you for having me!”
Seol Jihu activated the Festina Earring and ran away at full speed .
“… . ”
And once Seol Jihu left, Teresa stood still and looked down at the shopping bag on the desk .
This was the first time she received a gift from an Earthling .
She thought this every time she saw him, but…
‘If only Earthlings were all like him… . ’
How great would that be?
In any case, she was given an unexpected way out of her predicament and an unexpected gift .
After fiddling with the shopping bag for a long time, she shoved the stack of documents on her desk out of the way .
“Eit!”
Who cared about work?
At least for today, she wanted to indulge herself in this feeling of weightlessness .
And soon, just like Seo Yuhui, Phi Sora, and Chohong…
Teresa had the same reaction as the other women who opened Seol Jihu’s gift .
However, her confusion at the gift only lasted a moment . Soon, the corner of the mouth curled up, and her eyes also curled to crescent shapes .
“Wow… . ”
With a bra in one hand and **** in the other, she chuckled .
Light pink hearts on a shade of a lovely pink color .
Moreover…
“That person…”
Looking back and forth at the underwear in each of her hands, Teresa couldn’t hide her admiration .
Putting the underwear down, she placed her hand over her mouth and giggled .
“What a taste!”
If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc . . ), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible .
Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters .