The Second Coming of Gluttony Chapter 91:
Seol Jihu and Teresa Hussey stayed at the lake for dozens of minutes, but they knew they couldn’t stay there until the end of time . Now that they had quenched their thirst and filled their canteen with water, they reluctantly left the lake .
Pain still pierced their bodies with each step they took, but things were much better now that they relieved their thirst . Their steps were much lighter as they exited the Forest of Denial and climbed up the Napal Hill . Of course, they didn’t push themselves and took periodic rests, walking both day and night .
On the third night since their departure from the Forest of Denial .
“What are you going to do first when you get back?”
Teresa asked in the middle of their night march .
‘When I go back to Haramark?’
There were many things he wanted to do – meeting his comrades, eating delicious food and drinking beverages until he couldn’t stomach them anymore, treating his wounds, going to the temple, training once he recovered, and… .
‘Eh?’
Suddenly, he felt like he was forgetting something important… .
[In the future, when you need to go somewhere, anywhere, you give me a call first . Do you hear me?]
‘Ah!’
He barely stopped himself from shouting out loud . In truth, Seol Jihu had hesitated in calling Kim Hannah before he departed for the rescue mission . Ultimately, he decided against it, knowing she would never approve of him going .
He wanted to complete the mission secretly and pretend he didn’t know a thing about it, but… well, now that things had come to this, there was little to no chance that she wouldn’t have found out .
‘My back… . ’
Remembering the power of Kim Hannah’s slap, Seol Jihu sighed inwardly . Teresa continued talking, not knowing what the youth was thinking .
“Do you want to follow me to the royal palace?”
“Royal palace…?”
“Yes!”
Seol Jihu hesitated . He figured he might live if he requested protection from the Haramark Royal Family . However, he soon shook his head .
Setting aside whether that was possible, he couldn’t stay cooped up in the royal palace forever . Like the saying, ‘the sooner the better’, he didn’t want to risk five slaps turning into twenty just because he was afraid .
“Thank you, but… I think I’ll report back to Carpe Diem first . I have to let them know I’m alive . ”
“Don’t worry about that . We’ll just invite them to the palace too . ”
“That’s fine, but actually, I want to surprise them . ”
Teresa was rather shocked .
“You have a quite a strange personality . Okay, then, I’ll summon you later . ”
It seemed she was adamant on wanting to invite him to the palace . Seol Jihu had no reason to refuse, so he nodded his head .
The grassy path they were walking on soon connected to a wide artificial road . They could then see a grey wall standing tall under the night sky . Although they were still quite a distance away from it, it was undoubtedly a castle wall .
The duo stopped simultaneously . For the next few minutes, they stood still and simply stared at each other .
A castle wall . Without a doubt, it was Haramark .
*
They finally returned to Haramark . Once they entered the city safely, Seol Jihu couldn’t hide his surging emotions . The roads pooling with filthy water, the old and dilapidated buildings shrouded by darkness, everything moved him .
Perhaps because it was late, there were only a few people out about in the streets . Teresa and Seol Jihu crossed the streets side-by-side, only separating once they arrived at the plaza .
They stared at each other fixedly . Were words even necessary? Teresa suddenly held out her hand .
“Congratulations . ”
It wasn’t ‘Well done’ or ‘You did well’, but ‘Congratulations’ . Seol Jihu took her hand firmly . The Princess’s palm carried warmth that wasn’t present before .
“Congratulations to you, too . ”
“Rest well . I’ll summon you soon to the palace, so don’t refuse . ”
“Why would I?”
“Hehe, you can look forward to it . ”
Teresa winked . It seemed she was referring to the reward .
‘I wonder how much she’s planning to give… . ’
Seol Jihu chuckled indifferently . He was just about to jokingly ask, ‘Shall I be expecting you in bed?’, but quickly swallowed it back . He had to go back and rest as soon as possible, so he didn’t want to get himself in trouble by making stupid, teasing remarks .
After saying their farewells, the duo turned around . Teresa headed towards the palace, while Seol Jihu headed to Carpe Diem’s office .
‘Why does my body feel so heavy?’
Was it because his body was no longer tense? The built-up fatigue inside him seemed to have exploded when he entered the city as his body lost strength . He used his spear as a walking cane to forcefully drag his feet forward .
When a familiar building entered his sight, he began to sob . One step after the other, he trudged up the stairs before pushing the door on the brink of fainting .
Tung!
“…Huh?”
The door was locked . He tried to turn the doorknob again, but the door didn’t budge in the slightest .
‘Is no one here?’
Kwang, Kwang . He knocked on the door, but there was no response .
‘Could it be?’
A sudden thought popped up in his head . Could Chohong have left for the laboratory to save him?
‘…She couldn’t have, right?’
In any case, he had no choice but to turn back .
‘Damn it… . ’
If I knew no one was home, I would have followed the Princess to the palace .
A belated regret set in . Seol Jihu grumbled inwardly, and after walking down the stairs, he let out a sigh and looked up at the sky . His eyes caught sight of the building on the other side of Carpe Diem’s office .
‘I guess it finished… . ’
He became curious who moved in, but that only lasted for a moment . He smacked his lips and turned around . Now that things had come to this, he only had one other place to go . Soon, Seol Jihu arrived at Luxuria’s temple after an arduous walk and dragged his feet inside with great difficulty .
“Um… . ”
The woman dozing off at the reception desk opened her eyes . When her sleepy eyes caught sight of the youth leaning against a blue spear, her eyes widened in surprise .
He barely managed to eke out his next words .
“I’m looking for a treatment… . ”
*
Seol Jihu was almost chased out because he threw off his gown completely when the female Priest asked him to show her his wounds, causing her to scream . Thankfully, she stopped screaming in five seconds, and after noticing the gravity of the wounds on his body, she hurriedly called for better Priests .
After being escorted to the emergency treatment room, Seol Jihu maintained his sanity as he was hit with a barrage of questions . He got to lay down on a comfortable bed for the first time in a long while, but his brain refused to let him fall asleep so easily .
The several-day-long pursuit had made his body used to sleeping outside . Of course, the unnecessarily loud treatment room also had something to do with it .
“Spray more healing water!”
“Back, side… . His wounds are at least seven days old . We’ll try Massive . ”
“Wait! His left shoulder and thigh are…! W-What the hell!? What happened to him!?”
“This… . It looks like he received emergency treatment . ”
Seol Jihu let out a hollow chuckle . The way everyone was running about shouting made him feel like he was at a real ER room .
‘Are my wounds that bad?’
At that moment, the talking in the room suddenly ceased . Seol Jihu was looking at the ceiling with narrowed eyes, but when the room suddenly fell silent, he tilted his head to the side .
‘Is the treatment over?’
Now that he thought about it, he had been feeling like someone was staring at him since a while ago .
“I can’t believe this, really… . ”
‘W-What…? Who is that…?’
He could barely catch a glimpse of a figure .
‘Why…?’
I might be half-dead, but I came back alive, didn’t I?
While he was feeling somewhat sad, he spotted a strapless Priest robe that looked just like a white dress along with long, ebony-colored hair .
‘Chung Chohong?’
No, Chung Chohong didn’t dress like that . For some reason, Seol Jihu felt as if he’d seen that robe before .
“…Meanie… . I was so worried… . ”
Her voice grew faint . Seol Jihu strained his ears to listen to her mumbles . It was then that a hand gently touched his forehead . He might have been mistaken, but the hand seemed to be trembling intensely . Soon… .
“Cure Critical Wounds . ”
A familiar voice rang out…
Paaat!
And his vision flashed white . The erupting light shot out of the room and even dyed the hallway white . Watching this scene, Seol Jihu couldn’t hide his shock . He had never seen such a beautiful, brilliant light before .
Soon, he closed his eyes, feeling the light seep into every corner of his body . His flickering consciousness finally cut off . After days of staying alert, his brain finally fell asleep . Seol Jihu left his body to the drowsiness flooding in . His sleeping face displayed a smile happier than anyone else in the world .
*
That morning, the Haramark Royal Family made an unprecedented official announcement . The content of the announcement was the return of ‘Seol’ and ‘Teresa Hussey’ that morning . With this, every member who participated in the rescue mission had returned alive .
The Haramark Royal Family added a few more details . The first was that the duo cooperated with the Federation during their escape . The second was that they destroyed the Delphinion Duchy’s laboratory, the headquarters of the Parasites’ mass production facility . The last was that they had successfully returned after breaking through the Parasites’ increased encirclement . It was an added bonus that the Parasites’ plans had been foiled and their forces severely cut down in size .
The news…
“Hey! Chohong! Chohoooooong!”
—O-Old Man? What’s the fuss about? Did you drink this early in the morning?
“Where— No, just come back! Hurry!”
—What is it? I already told you, I have to…
“Seol is back! Seol is back!”
—W-What?
…Not only spread in Haramark…
“What about the Temple of Luxuria? Didn’t that **** Ice Queen say she’ll find him no matter what? She even said she would become active again if he was found . ”
“Yes, Lady, we’re looking into the matter . It seems to be true that he survived with his own strength . After all, the Order of Luxuria was still in their preparation stage and never left Haramark . ”
“Hmm… What an interesting turn of events . What was the man’s name again?”
“It’s Seol . Ah, speaking of which, I heard rather interesting pieces of news today . ”
“Interesting news?”
“That youth named Seol . It appears that the Daughter of Luxuria is personally taking care of him . ”
…But also in Scheherazade and other kingdoms . In less than a day, the news of his feats traveled far and wide, reaching even the lands of the Federation and the Parasites .
However, the talk of the world was…
“Zzz… . ”
…Currently wandering about in his dreamland . Even after sleeping for a whole day, he didn’t show signs of waking up . Once his sleep-deprived body tasted genuine sleep, it desired it endlessly .
Seol Jihu was currently feeling very happy with himself . He didn’t know why, but there was a soft warmth constantly embracing his body . No, that wasn’t enough to describe this sensation . It was cozy, relaxing, purifying… . If there was an essence of warmth in the world, he firmly believed this had to be it .
Plus, although it sometimes made him stifled for breath, there was also something tender and squishy . This unbelievably soft and elastic thing also packed quite a size . Every time Seol Jihu buried his face in this softness, an unknown comfort and kindness entered his brain .
‘This is happiness . ’
He became languid, so much so that he thought it would be okay to die like this . Even when he woke up, he immediately fell back asleep from the coziness .
That wasn’t all .
“Here . Aaaah—”
The light was only scary at first . It grew gentler as time went by, and more importantly, there were times that it talked to him in his dreams like a real human being . He just did as he was told, and delicious food would enter his mouth .
‘Mm… it smells amazing . Is it porridge?’
Seol Jihu sniffed repeatedly and opened his mouth like a baby waiting to be fed . As expected, a warm porridge gently entered his mouth . Seol Jihu still believed he was dreaming as he gulped down .
‘Delicious, delicious… . ’
However, he never let his guard down . There were times when a bitter smell would be mixed in with the food .
‘!’
As soon as he sensed it, he would shut his mouth instantly . It didn’t matter whether he was eating delicious food before . Just like now .
“H-Hey… . ”
The light was taken aback .
“How did you know it was medicine… . ”
With this, Seol Jihu became sure . He was thankful to the person taking care of him, but he hated medicine .
“Come on, you have to eat this after your meal . ”
“… . ”
“Don’t be like that . Do you know how precious this herb is? Be good, okay?”
“… . ”
“Come on . Say, aaaah—”
“… . ”
Seol Jihu kept his mouth shut in protest, but the voice constantly persuaded him . Eventually, he gave in to the gentle pressure and opened his mouth .
“Euuuuh… . ”
The man-child grimaced . After barely managing to feed him the medicine, the mysterious person let out a deep sigh .
“Really… when are you going to grow up?”
He could hear the voice say something, but he was sleepy now that he ate something . After taking a big yawn, Seol Jihu dug into the warmth . He never imagined that someone stroking his hair and patting his back could feel so good .
‘This is happiness!’
Like the saying, ‘after the storm comes a calm’, Seol Jihu thoroughly enjoyed the blissful life he now had . Of course, he had no way of knowing what was going on in the outside world .
*
Seoul, Sinyoung Pharmaceutical’s headquarters .
“Yes, yes… . Today at 6:25 p . m . Yes, I understand . ”
Click . The sound of a phone hanging up could be heard .
“Hm… . ”
Kim Hannah had an odd expression as she looked down at the office phone on her desk .
‘Seol Jihu . ’
She had found out long ago that he joined the rescue mission without telling her . Of course, it was already too late to stop him then . She just received the report that he had returned alive . Because she had an urgent matter to take care of on Earth, the news of Seol Jihu’s return had reached her late .
In any case, she was relieved to hear that he came back alive . Right, she was relieved… .
“Ehew . ”
Kim Hannah covered her face with her hands .
‘You **** son of a bitch… . ’
He was already garnering unnecessary attention due to his Golden Mark, but the problem he caused this time was too great for anyone to ignore . This matter was on an entirely different scale compared to the defense of the Arden Fortress . As it would affect the whole of Paradise, there was no way his name wouldn’t spread .
It was already well beyond Kim Hannah’s capabilities to deal with alone . Although Seol Jihu was still oblivious, Paradise wasn’t a simple world . As Earthlings could use achievement points to bring Paradise’s items back to Earth, countless interest groups were battling it out in chaos .
There was a reason Paradise housed large, violent organizations from Earth . If one got unlucky, he would have to be careful not only in Paradise but also on Earth .
Kim Hannah had just received a call from her secretary, telling her that the First Lady wanted to see her . Kim Hannah could only come up with one reason that pervert would suddenly want to see her .
“Huu… . . ”
Kim Hannah slapped her cheeks in despair . It was a stroke of fortune, no, a stroke of miracle from the heavens that the Daughter of Luxuria was taking care of Seol Jihu .
Seo Yuhui was undoubtedly one of the most influential Earthlings in Paradise . Although she retired from her position a long time ago, her abilities, fame, influence, and organization did not go anywhere . She would be able to become a stronger shield than any other Earthling .
Kim Hannah breathed a sigh of relief when she found out Seo Yuhui volunteered to help herself . At the same time, she couldn’t help but wonder .
‘Why is she protecting Seol Jihu?’
Kim Hannah was positive the two had no prior connections . There was no one named Seo Yuhui among Seol Jihu’s network of friends, family, and acquaintances . In fact, Seo Yuhui was a woman wrapped in a veil of mystery . Practically no one knew her identity on Earth .
‘Is she trying to raise him?’
That was certainly possible . Of the acclaimed Earthlings playing an active part in Paradise’s conflicts, more than a few had crossed her hands . After all, even that Sung Shihyun was her work .
Thinking about it this way, Kim Hannah could begin to understand . Of course, she had too many things on her plate at the moment to think too deeply into it . For now, she decided to focus on the problems at hand .
‘I’ll need to pull the plan forward . ’
But before that, there was something she needed to do .
‘Bastard, just wait until I see you again . ’
Her eyes flickered with a cold, grim light .
‘I’ll show you . ’
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