The Second Coming of Gluttony Chapter 223:
Chapter 223 . Teresa’s Tears (1)
“…What are you doing?”
“Keeping a night watch . ”
Maria replied with a lethargic voice .
“I had a nightmare about the expedition’s rewards vanishing… I was worried they would disappear again…”
She muttered while yawning . Seol Jihu blinked in a daze before bursting into laughter .
As expected, reality was different from a dream .
He had a sudden urge to jokingly ask, ‘Wanna take the bags and run?’ But he held himself back .
He knew that would be rude, even to Maria .
“Thanks . I’ll stand watch now, so get some sleep . ”
“Uun, it’s okay~”
Maria shook her head .
“Just looking at these bags gets me brimming with energy… . ”
She chuckled like an addict, who just took a hearty dose of drugs .
This looked dangerous on its own .
Maria, who was staring blankly for a while, suddenly tapped on Seol Jihu’s shoulder and nodded .
“Right, I gotta thank you . You did really well this time . I believed in you, you know? I believed you would strike it big one day, Oppa! That’s right! This is the power of long-term investment!”
“…I feel like you’re treating me like I’m some stock . ”
Maria shut her mouth . She quickly waved her hands and chuckled .
“Eii, don’t say that! I’m just grateful!”
“Really?”
“Of course! You see, I actually agreed with Kazuki and Princess Teresa fully . I mean, you really did everything, Oppa! Shouldn’t we give you an even greater share?”
“Oho . ”
A light flickered on in Seol Jihu’s eyes .
“These people . They’re too busy trying to take care of themselves… tsk, tsk . I felt so bad that I was about to give you a cut of my share . ”
Maria blabbered on about things she didn’t mean, just to resolve any misunderstanding . The corners of Seol Jihu’s mouth curled up .
“Great! Then let’s do that . ”
“?”
“I didn’t know you cared about me so much, Miss Maria… I’m touched . Really, I’m touched . ”
“N-No . ”
“Thank you! I’ll request to re-distribute the loot after breakfast . Just your share, of course . ”
The drowsiness vanished from Maria’s face . She became sullen, and her beady eyes quickly welled up with tears .
Seol Jihu laughed inwardly and asked .
“That’s fine with you, right? You didn’t lie just to please me, right?”
Maria clenched her fists . Trembling, she moved her tiny lips .
“Ofv, ofv cwoursh… I mwean… whad I swaid… . ”
Finding the way she eked out those words too adorable, Seol Jihu grabbed onto his belly and burst out laughing .
When he waved his hand and revealed that he was just joking, Maria’s eyes widened .
“Iiiiing~!”
Maria laughed and cried, charging at Seol Jihu .
“Sorry, sorry . ”
“Hmph! I hate you, Oppa!”
Maria thumped Seol Jihu’s chest with her small baby hands . No, her fists had quite a bit of strength behind them to say she was ‘thumping’ .
“…What are you two doing?”
The commotion must have woken Chohong up as she asked with a swamped voice .
“Argh, my head . I drank too much last night… . ”
Groaning, she staggered up from her sleeping bag . Then, she trudged over with a frown .
“Hey, Seol . ”
“…You’re doing that on purpose, right?”
“What?”
“Don’t say, ‘Hey, Seol’ . It sounds weird . ”[1]
“What are you on about all of a sudden?”
Chohong grumbled, then sighed . Her breath, which reeked with alcohol, brushed past Seol Jihu’s nose .
“Anyway, I was wondering…”
Her face suddenly turned serious, and she asked gravely .
“About the dream’s curse . Didn’t we first get it from those Foxmen children? You know, the curse is contagious . ”
“Yes . What about that?”
“And we managed to get the curse lifted thanks to being quick on our feet . ”
“Yep . ”
“Then what about those guys?”
Seol Jihu’s eyebrows perked up at her sudden question .
“What guys?”
“You know, the guys who chased after Haeryeo . ”
The moment he heard this—
“Weren’t those guys holding onto Haeya?”
Seol Jihu’s breath paused stiff .
“Then what’s gonna happen to them?”
His excitement instantly sank .
“And what if they enter the city…?”
“Chohong . ”
Seol Jihu muttered with a stiff expression .
“Wake everyone up . ”
The campsite bustled for a moment before getting quiet . Seol Jihu and several others tried to communicate back home .
Teresa was the first to connect . She explained the situation and asked whether anything happened in Eva, but the reply that came back was an unexpected ‘Nothing’ .
There was no news of a curse anywhere . Not in Eva or any other city .
It was something to be glad about for sure, but Seol Jihu tilted his head .
For better or for worse, the expedition team found out why less than a day later . It was because they came across a large number of corpses on their way back home .
Over twenty corpses were sprawled around a campsite . The team checked the site from a distance and confirmed the men to be the poachers they met a few days ago .
“There were over forty people last time… so about half of them died . ”
Kazuki muttered after examining the scene with his thousand-mile eyes . Seol Jihu asked .
“How is it?”
“I don’t see any signs of foul play . The nightmares must have devoured them . ”
“So it’s as we thought…”
“Frankly, I don’t think we need to worry about it . ”
Kazuki explained why .
“What the poachers want is obvious . I doubt whatever they fear will impact Paradise greatly . ”
Seol Jihu nodded his head as this logically made sense .
“Then what happened to the other twenty poachers?”
“I don’t see the leader’s corpse . ”
Kazuki continued with a monotonous voice .
“This is just what I think, but the leader must have noticed . ”
Right, with his subordinates suddenly collapsing to death, it would be weird if he didn’t notice that a mysterious phenomenon was afflicting them .
“He might not know about the true identity of the curse… but he should have at least realized that falling asleep would mean death . I suspect he went back to Eva without falling asleep and got himself treated by a Priest of Invidia . ”
Seol Jihu made a dumbfounded expression .
“…Isn’t that a terribly convenient hypothesis?”
“It is . But if it’s that guy, it’s definitely possible . ”
Kazuki sounded strangely confident .
“If you meet him again in the future, don’t underestimate him . He made the top ranking in the Tutorial solely with his ability to read the air, and in the Neutral Zone, he even turned selling points into a profitable business . ”
Seol Jihu doubted his ears . He did business in the Neutral Zone?
‘How is that possible?’
“No matter how good he is at reading the air, how could he…”
“Well, we’ll know once we go back . But let’s thoroughly search this area just to be sure . ”
The expedition team re-commenced their march, taking a roundabout path from where the corpses laid .
After a few days, Seol Jihu found out that Kazuki perfectly hit the mark . It was because they ran into a group of Priests from Invidia’s temple .
They explained that a group of merchants had come to see them with a heavy curse on them and that they were now tracing the path they took to make sure the road was clear .
The merchants apparently paid a large sum as compensation .
“It’s a good thing we met them outside the city . If they had entered with that curse…”
Seeing the Priest shaking his head, Seol Jihu also breathed a sigh of relief .
The expedition team resumed the march with lightened steps, then arrived at Eva shortly after . Nothing was wrong with the city, as reported .
It would make sense for them to want to rest after finally arriving at a major city, but the team immediately got on a carriage ride back to Haramark .
They didn’t feel like they could sleep in peace until they entrusted their loot to Haramark’s temple storage .
*
The long expedition was finally coming to an end . Under the pressure from the expedition team, the coachman drove his carriage through the wilderness day and night .
As a result, it looked like they would arrive at Haramark the next morning .
Seol Jihu took out the red egg while keeping the night watch . He had finished reading the two books on his way over .
Righteous Heart seemed to be a mana cultivation method, while Crescent Blade Spear Technique was exactly what it sounded like . He guessed it had something to do with wielding the Spear of Purity .
Although he couldn’t measure their value just yet, they definitely looked vital to his future success . He planned to show them to Jang Maldong as soon as he got back .
‘The problem is this . ’
The spear and the egg .
According to Flone, the Phoenix that was said to be the Rothschear House’s guardian spirit was the same as the Rainbow Spirit named ‘Arcus’ . Furthermore, he would need the guardian spirit’s acknowledgment to be able to bring out the Spear of Purity’s true power .
To explain in more detail, the guardian spirit lived out its life with the person it acknowledged as its master . And when the master died, it would return to its egg form and wait for a new master .
In other words, the spirit served as both a partner and an overseer .
Seol Jihu wasn’t the only one to be treated differently . Hundreds of past heads of the Rothschear House had to take the same test, and there were apparently many cases where they were not acknowledged by the guardian spirit .
In those cases, they were only able to use a part of the Spear of Purity’s power or were forced to step down as the head .
Furthermore, the founding head seemed to be the only one who managed to bring out the Spear of Purity’s full power .
God-slaying .
Because the spear’s Authority was too powerful and dangerous, the Goddess of Chastity supposedly put this restriction on the spear purposely .
‘Anyway, that means I have to hatch this egg somehow . ’
Flone said the egg would only awaken through the power of a **** . As this likely meant it needed divine power, Seol Jihu planned to drop by the temple once he returned .
“Heh . ”
Seol Jihu suddenly chuckled in the middle of his deep thought . He had remembered Flone smacking his back when he tried to feed the egg offerings .
“What’s so funny?”
At that moment, the sound of footsteps rang out along with the rustling of leaves . It was Teresa, who was also keeping the night watch with him .
She said she needed to use the lady’s room, but she took longer than he expected .
“Welcome back . ”
“Thank you! Whew, I feel refreshed . ”
Teresa plopped down next to Seol Jihu and leaned against his shoulder .
“Just the two of us under the night sky . How romantic~”
Seol Jihu tensed up . He couldn’t underestimate Teresa at moments like this .
“Oh yeah, come to think of it— you’re the only one I haven’t asked yet . ”
Teresa turned her head and asked .
“What are you going to do first once you get back?”
“I’m going to eat until I’m full and sleep . ”
“Eii~ I meant where you’re going to use your money . ”
Seol Jihu smiled .
Teresa had been full of smiles the past couple of days . He didn’t know much about it, but the Haramark Royal Family seemed to have been suffering from severe financial difficulties since the war .
He could tell just by how happy Teresa was, saying how she could now finally pay off her debts .
‘From a young age, huh…’
Seol Jihu admired Teresa inwardly while also pitying her slightly . Even though the expedition was a major success, the budget of a kingdom had to be on a different scale than what individual people spent .
Though unlikely, he hoped Teresa would be able to use even a little bit of it for herself .
“I…”
Seol Jihu calmly opened his mouth .
“I already know where the money will go, though not all of it will be for this . ”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
“It will be funding for forming a new organization . ”
“Organization?”
Teresa’s voice went up . She was only the fourth person after Hao Win, Jang Maldong, and Kazuki to find out about this, so it was no wonder that she would be surprised .
“Oh wow! Really? You’re going to form an organization?”
“Yep, I’ve been thinking about it for a long time . ”
“For a long time… right, Carpe Diem has four High Rankers . Now that you have money, it’s no surprise . ”
Teresa was overjoyed like it was her own business .
“Hooray! Carpe Diem is finally going to become an organization! I’ve been wanting that to happen since Dylan was the leader!”
She clapped her hands together and smiled beamingly .
“Then you’ll need a bigger building, right~? And a bigger plot of land . ”
“Yes, I looked into it already, and land is really expensive nowadays . That’s why I planned this expedition . ”
“Ei, then you should have come to me!”
Teresa tapped Seol Jihu’s shoulder and smiled timidly .
“You’re surprisingly a maverick, huh, Mister Seol? Shouldn’t you discuss important things like that with the lady of the house?”
“Excuse me?”
“Never mind . Anyway, don’t worry about it too much . We have a good plot of land in our possession—”
“…Ah . ”
Seol Jihu realized the misunderstanding, seeing Teresa chatting excitedly like a girl singing about her dreams .
“Oh! I have a good idea! Why not take my share of the loot and come to the palace? You can use that money for buying a plot of land and for the construction . ”
‘Mm…’
Seol Jihu was at a loss for what to do and shut his mouth in hesitation .
“I do feel a little sorry for father… but well, it all depends on how you look at it . I’m sure he’d be more than happy once I explain the situation . Mm, fraudster husband-and-wife . I like the sound of that . ”
But this was something he eventually had to tell her, whether that be now or later . He couldn’t just leave Haramark without a single word given the relationship they’d built up . Thinking that this was the perfect opportunity, Seol Jihu quietly began to talk .
“I plan to leave Haramark . ”
It was just five words . Despite that, Teresa’s chatter stopped completely .
Seol Jihu spoke with a little more force behind his words .
“I plan to go to Eva . ”
And when he turned around and saw Teresa—
“And in Eva, I…?”
He couldn’t finish his sentence .
Whooooosh—
A cool night breeze swept through the campsite .
“…Princess?”
Suddenly…
“… . ”
The atmosphere froze .
1 . The words ‘Hey, Seol’ in Korean means ‘erotica’ .
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