Chapter 937 - hhh

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Novel

The Second Coming of Gluttony

Chapter 69 - A Level 2 Leader (2)

THE SECOND COMING OF GLUTTONY

C69 - A Level 2 Leader (2)

Chapter 69. A Level 2 Leader (2)

"What do you lot want from here? What happened?"

Chohong sounded combative as she climbed up the stairs. The members of Sicilia simply glanced at her and stepped aside without saying a word.

Once she and Seol Jihu entered the third-floor office, they found quite a lot of people waiting for them – so much so that the already small space looked even more cramped than before. Three people were sitting on the couches; two sitting on one couch were Dylan and Hugo, while a lone woman sat on the opposite side. And there were 5, 6 people standing stiffly behind her.

"You finally came, Chung Chohong?"

The woman wearing a thick coat turned her head to greet the newly-entering duo. Her lengthy hair sported the color of a bloody waterfall. Her matching crimson eyes seemed to gleam dangerously like a ferocious wild beast. Seol Jihu saw the clear scar extending from her brow down to her cheek and finally recognized who she was.

"Oh? Is it you, rookie?"

The 'general manager' of this year March's Neutral Zone, and the boss of Sicilia, the most powerful organization in Haramark – it was none other than Cinzia.

"What brings you here, Noonim?"

Chohong strode forward fearlessly and inquired as she plopped down next to Cinzia. Thanks to that, Seol Jihu had nowhere to sit now, so he went behind Dylan and Hugo to stand there, instead.

"Obviously, there can only be one reason why I came to speak to you guys. It's work."

"Work? What kinda?"

"We've already discussed it. Sorry, you aren't invited this time."

"What were you guys even talking about?"

While Chohong and Cinzia continued to converse in a rather friendly manner, Seol Jihu began scanning the crowd behind them. He didn't know the reason for the Sicilians' sudden visit, but never mind that, he was hoping to find someone he knew in the group.

Such as Leorda Salvatore, or….

"Un?"

It was then; a certain woman standing tall and silent right behind Cinzia caught his attention. Her lemon-colored hair neatly pulled up into a ponytail, as well as a pair of glasses worn over her sharp, probing eyes were both especially eye-catching. Seol Jihu belatedly confirmed her unmistakable maid outfit next. His eyes opened wider, and he began displaying a bit of over-the-top happiness at seeing her like this again.

"Miss Ag….!!"

He was about to finish saying "…nes" but hurriedly shut his mouth up in time. He wasn't stupid enough to not notice the current atmosphere of the office.

"?"

Maybe she sensed his gaze? Agnes had been maintaining her cold and strict facial expression of the head maid being employed by the famous aristocrat household until then. But she began sneaking a glance at the youth on her opposite side. When their gazes met, he began smiling innocently and waved his hand.

Since there were way too many eyes watching here, Agnes pretended to have not noticed him. Her silent indifference seemingly resulted in Seol Jihu receiving a powerful punch to his guts. He dazedly stared at her with blurry eyes for a while, before his hand powerlessly faltered to his side. Way past looking sad now, he even looked as if he was wallowing in the pits of despair and dejection.

"…."

In the end, Agnes let a soundless sigh escape from her lips. She then nodded lightly once and sneakily waved her hand. It all happened in a short period of time, but that was more than enough to bring vigor back to Seol Jihu's demeanor, his eyes regaining their glint again.

"Keuk-"

Cinzia observed the exchange between the two with an expression of a crafty cat before her head dropped lower in her trademark cross-legged sitting position. Her shoulders trembled noticeably, too. She cackled while chewing on the cigarette still stuck to her lips as if she found something so intolerably funny. It took a while before she recovered enough to open her mouth.

"Well, now. Even the infamous Sicilian lioness would grow softer in front of her own cub, is that it?"

"Keuk."

The color of Agnes' neck suddenly changed from pale to beet red. Her widened eyes glared daggers at Seol Jihu.

'Why did you have to go and do something unnecessary?!'

Those reproachful eyes were clearly blaming him for everything that happened just now.

"In any case, I've said what I came here to say, so why don't we get going now?"

Cinzia leisurely stood up from the couch, prompting Dylan and Hugo to rise up as well. Chohong pouted after realizing that she was being left out and testily raised her voice.

"Dylan? What's going on here?"

"Mm, well…. I'll tell you the gist of it after we come back. We won't be gone for long."

Dylan spoke in the solemn voice and turned his attention over to Seol Jihu.

"And Seol?"

"Yes?"

"I'd like to have a word with you after I return. Will that be okay with you?"

"Of course."

He didn't know what that talk would be about, but Seol Jihu readily agreed to do it nonetheless. Cinzia was still smirking as she issued out a new order.

"Agnes, you don't have to come."

"Pardon me?"

"You already know everything, so is there a reason for you to participate in the meeting? It's been a while since you two met, so why don't you 'unburden' your hearts for a bit? I'm sure you can share a glass or two and catch up on old times, no?"

"B-but, boss?!"

"That's an order."

Agnes was forced to shut her mouth. Meanwhile, Cinzia cackled and turned around to leave.

"Let's go. Dylan, Hugo. I'm sure everyone is waiting for us already."

*

And so, Seol Jihu got to enjoy a little 'tea time' with Agnes, all thanks to Cinzia's consideration. He guided Agnes and her stiff face to 'Eat, Drink, and Enjoy'. However, while on their way, they encountered several rather bizarre occurrences.

"Ughk?!"

Men who were walking towards them from the opposite direction suddenly fell on their butts, clearly looking fearful of something. Or…

"Uaaaahhh-!!"

….Some others even turned tail and hastily ran away, their complexions paler than a sheet of white paper.

It was the same story even after entering the pub in question. As soon as Agnes entered the establishment, the boisterous interior suddenly fell into utter silence.

A short while later, someone gasped out, "Hiiick?!" That signaled the beginning of the mass stampede of patrons flooding out of the pub, all of them seemingly running for their dear lives. It didn't take long at all for the pub once packed to the brim with customers to become totally deserted.

Agnes didn't seem to care one way or the other. She gallantly strode along the lengthy bar and lightly flicked something at the frozen bartender leaning against the shelves of alcohol.

Ting!

The copper-colored coin accurately struck the forehead of the shivering bartender busy reciting the Lord's Prayer.

"Barkeeper? Bring me a bottle of rum, and…."

Agnes looked behind her. Seol Jihu was standing there dumbfounded by everything that happened so far, and he needed a bit of time to collect himself to say that he wanted honey mead. The bartender brought out two bottles at the speed of lightning.

"W-Why are, uh, other people reacting to you like that?"

"I wonder why myself."

"Ah, ahaha…. Well, in any case. It's nice to see you again, Miss Agnes."

"I'm sure it is."

Agnes replied disinterestedly and took a sip straight from the bottle. She nonchalantly wiped the corners of her mouth, but her eyes studying Seol Jihu remained complicated.

How should she put this? Obviously, she didn't hate the guy in front of her. Unfortunately for her, meeting someone for a non-official business like this was an incredibly awkward endeavor. She was told to 'unburden' herself, but she had no idea where to even begin, nor did she know how to get a conversation going. Which naturally meant her words came across stiff and unfriendly.

"I'm sorry for holding you up like this, even though you must be really busy. But, actually, I've been in a bind with something lately, and I may need your help."

"A bind, you say?"

"Yes. I'm having trouble with my training at the moment."

Training? If they were to discuss that, then things changed somewhat. Agnes consciously sensed her stiff-as-rock facial muscles slowly relax.

"Which part is giving you problems?"

Seol Jihu confessed to her his troubles with the mana training regime. Agnes was briefly taken aback by the revelation that he had reached Level 2 already but quickly collected herself to speak up her opinion.

"I see. Still, it's nothing to be that deeply worried about."

Seol Jihu quickly swallowed his saliva. He felt reassured from the way Agnes sounded.

"First of all, you must remember that this isn't the Neutral Zone anymore."

Agnes adjusted her glasses and continued on.

"Paradise wasn't created to accommodate your training regime the way the Neutral Zone was. If you want to learn something, then often times you are required to pull through with your own abilities. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"And secondly…. You said 'Mana Spear', yes?"

"Yes."

"How much do you know about the art of javelin throwing?"

Seol Jihu had been obediently repeating "yes, yes", but her abrupt and unexpected question rendered him utterly speechless.

"Do you know the origins of javelin throwing? How about, the techniques involved with it? For example, the correct postures to assume from beginning till the end when throwing a javelin while standing still or when throwing it after a run-up?"

Only then did Seol Jihu realize what Agnes was trying to say.

"I see. I was too hasty in my approach."

"Indeed. You know nothing about throwing javelins, yet you wish to manipulate your mana to imitate the actions of one. It's only obvious that you failed in your attempts so far. It's the same thing as you to run, even though you don't even know how to walk yet."

Although she was solemnly chiding him, he felt like his eyes were finally opening up now.

"I know where you get your confidence from. You did become proficient with applying mana very quickly. However, teaching yourself new skills is never an easy endeavor. No, it's only normal to be this difficult and obtuse."

"…."

"It's the same story for the Mana Circulation. It may take some time, but I still recommend that you should familiarize yourself first with the basic knowledge first."

Seol Jihu felt ashamed of himself and accepted her recommendation. He couldn't deny that, for sure, he took this whole thing way too lightly. He fidgeted around the mead bottle with a bitter look on his face, which forced Agnes to cough once to break the somber atmosphere.

"Even still, I'm impressed."

"Pardon?"

"I've heard of your exploits so far. You would have easily learned whatever skills you wanted with your current achievement points, but…. It is commendable that you have resisted the temptation and still tried to do your best every day."

She actually went ahead and praised him. Even back in the Neutral Zone, she hardly ever praised him, so this had to be something. Seol Jihu embarrassedly grinned.

"Well, by listening to your advice, I know I'll wake up with gold under my pillow."

"I don't know what that means, but regardless, continue to do your best. You'll definitely reap the rewards in the future when your level has risen up sufficiently as well as when your skills undergo a fundamental evolution."

Agnes formed an imperceptible smile. She then made a couple more suggestions before emptying the outstanding bottle of rum for good and stood up from her seat. Seol Jihu was saddened to see her go so soon, but she was undeniably an Earthling like him. He couldn't hold her here when she clearly had a ton of stuff to do.

Agnes promised to show up every now and then to check up on his progress before turning around to leave. They said their goodbyes outside the pub's entrance. But, while watching her back getting further and further away, Seol Jihu went "Oops!" after realizing that he forgot to say something important to her.

"Miss Agnes!"

Agnes stopped her steps in the distance and turned to look at him. He quickly waved his hand and shouted at her.

"Thank you for everything!"

Agnes nodded her head once and turned around again. It was then that Seol Jihu shouted out loudly enough to wake the dead.

"And also, say hello to Mister Teddy Be…..!"

"I'll kill you!!"

Swish!

Agnes closed the distance in the blink of an eye and madly pounced on him. Seol Jihu was taken by surprise from that explosive turn of speed, but he still managed to break out into a satisfied grin. He got beaten up by her so many times now, which meant that he was expecting such a response from her, anyway.

'Not this time!'

He quickly pulled his spear out and assumed a defensive posture. Unfortunately, in the following moment – her hand easily slapped the spear off from his grip as if he wasn't even holding it in the first place, and took a swing at his face like a mad snake.

"I told you to stop, didn't I?!?!"

SLAP!

"Kuk!!"

It was only after he was beaten up black and blue that Seol Jihu finally got to learn that Agnes was a frightening Level 6 assassin-type Archer who was only a half-step away from becoming a Unique Ranker.

*

Having parted ways with Agnes, Seol Jihu dragged his beaten body to a blacksmith. The owner of the blacksmith nearly freaked out from the status of the youth's face, but still, the business he had there was promptly taken care of. When he returned to Carpe Diem's office, both Dylan and Hugo were waiting for him.

"Where have you been? And what is that?"

"Throwing spears."

"Oh. You're trying to practice spear throws…. Wait a minute. What's the matter with your face?! Did someone hit you?"

Dylan hastily asked. Seol Jihu tried to gloss it over with a sheepish laughter, but Hugo got quite worked up.

"Seol! Which son of a bitch was it?! How dare someone touch a member of Carpe Diem?!"

"Nah, it's fine, so don't worry about it."

"I get it, so tell me who he was! Don't worry, I'll break both of his legs!"

"I-It was Miss Agnes."

Hugo was raring to go, his large hands gripping the halberd tightly, but then, he suddenly froze up on the spot.

"W-Who?"

"Miss Agnes."

"You mean, Agnes Claire?"

"Yes, her. Don't do anything, though. I was in the wrong to begin with, anyway."

"R-Really? If you say so, then there's no helping it, I guess!"

Hugo coughed out loudly and quietly put the halberd down before rapidly disappearing from the sight. Dylan smiled quietly while enjoying the scent of his tea.

"I'm greatly surprised. Not only do you know Agnes, you can even survive her attacks."

"Ahaha. Never mind that. Didn't you have something you wanted to talk to me about?"

Seol Jihu wanted to change the topic anyway, so he put the throwing spears on the floor and asked.

"Mm. Want a cup?"

"I'm okay."

Seol Jihu tactfully declined the offer and settled down on the couch. Dylan took another sip of his tea and opened his mouth.

"We received a commission."

"From Sicilia?"

"That's something for me and Hugo. You see, not too long ago, the royals issued a top-secret mission. They contacted Sicilia, but they were lacking in personnel, so they requested us to help them out."

"If it's a mission that even Sicilia don't have enough people for, then…."

"Just know that it's a mission only High Rankers and above can participate. Actually, it was hard trying to convince them to let Hugo in. They only allowed it after I told them that, since I'm nominally an Archer, I'd need a familiar Warrior to watch my back."

That meant Seol Jihu and Chohong couldn't participate even if they wanted to.

"I guess Chohong and I get to enjoy a sudden vacation, then."

"Well, the thing is, we have another job to take care of. It's a mission issued by the village of Ramman."

Seol Jihu's eyes shot up from the mere mention of 'mission'. If the job at hand had to do with delivering something, then there would be no need for a sit-down like this one.

"How much do you know about Ramman Village?"

"Located southeast from Haramark, the distance of half a day's travel. A village populated by a few hundred Paradisians. That's all I know."

Dylan nodded his head.

"Looks like you know the basic information. Let me not beat around the bush. It's a monster extermination request."

"Extermination, is it?"

"You see, Ramman suffers from a periodic outbreak of monster excursions. And they issue missions like this pretty often as a result."

Seol Jihu tilted his head.

"When you say it's a periodic thing, doesn't that imply there's a colony or a nest of the monsters nearby?"

"That's the thing."

Dylan lightly slapped his knee to signal that the youth had accurately pointed out the crux of the problem.

"The monsters have been beaten back dozens of times already. The kingdom even formed subjugation forces several times. We were able to defeat the hordes without much problem, but that's just about it. We searched everywhere but never found where they were coming from. Even if we consider the stability of the entire Haramark region not being all that great, this simply makes no sense at all."

"Doesn't that mean the monsters will come back in the future even though we exterminate them this time?"

"We still have to get rid of the monsters that do appear, regardless. Actually, Ramman village wants us to rescue the missing villagers and find the cause for the monster outbreak while we're at it. But, it's not strictly necessary to go that far. So, how about it?"

"What did Chohong say?"

"Seol, I'm asking you."

Dylan lowered his voice slightly.

"If you're up for it, I'm thinking of leaving you in charge of this mission."

"But I'm not even an Archer."

"An Archer acts as the 'header'. Of course, many do take the on the jobs of being both a header and a leader. But it's also normal for different people to assume those two roles."

A header's role was to lead his or her team in the right direction during expeditions. As for the leader, that title was given to someone tasked with overseeing every facet of an expedition, such as planning the expedition itself to making adequate preparations, etc., etc.

"I thought you could only form an expedition team once you reach Level 4? And don't you also need permission from the royal family?"

"This isn't an expedition, but an exploration. You are more than qualified enough to handle this."

When Seol Jihu displayed a surprising lack of confidence, Dylan formed a wide smile and continued on.

"I thought that you wanted to form your own team in the future? Was I wrong?"

"Ah?! Did I get found out?"

"Hehe. In that case, I think this mission will be a perfect chance for you to pop your cherry. It may sound like a simple job, but once you take it on, you're going to learn about lots of things. It was the same story for me, too."

Dylan placed the teacup on the table.

"So, how about it? You up for it?"

Seol Jihu replied immediately.

"Of course."

*

He got to lead his first mission.

The mission itself wasn't as difficult as the scouting of the Forest of Denial nor the defence of the Arden Fortress, but even then, Seol Jihu was plenty motivated by the fact that he'd be the leader for the first time ever.

As it was not an 'expedition' but an 'exploration', there shouldn't have been anything too complicated about it. For one, he didn't have to worry about procuring supplies as they could set up a base of operations at the Ramman village itself. Porters and carriages could simply be hired on the spot, as well.

The real problem actually lied with recruiting other team members. There were already two Warriors, so they only needed one more, and finding a willing Archer wasn't that difficult, either. Finding a Magician was an impossible feat to begin with, so that portion of the recruitment process wasn't even considered.

No, the actual problem was to do with hiring a Priest. It didn't matter whether you were forming an expedition or an improvised team of misfits, a Priest was a must-have existence.

"Dang it, what does he expect from us anyways?"

Chohong grumbled unhappily, a cigarette loosely hanging off on her lips. She ended up being paired with Seol Jihu, but that meant she also had to feel helpless about their current situation.

"Hey, do we really need a Priest? I mean, can't we just make sure that we look the part and show up there? I can take care of those monsters just by myself."

Chohong's irritated grumblings brought about a wry smile on Seol Jihu's face. If they were pressed for time, sure, they could do that. But that would result in the quality of the team getting worse.

Unless they were talking about desperate Earthlings who lived paycheck to paycheck, what skillful Warrior or Archer would want to join a team without a Priest in their midst? In a world where a moment's carelessness could result in you being killed off in the blink of an eye?

Most importantly, this was Seol Jihu's first leadership role. He wanted to make sure it all ended in a resounding success. He didn't want to take any liberties or be too adventurous if he could help it.

'Only a team with a Priest will attract quality team members.'

Seol Jihu's thoughts eventually arrived there, and he stood up from the couch.

"Where are you going?"

"To recruit a Priest."

"You will? How?"

"I'll give it a shot. We still have time, right? If all else fails, we'll just do it as you say."

Seol Jihu left behind Chohong and her wide-open eyes to enter the bedroom. He took out the communication crystal thinking that he might as well keep his promise and get advice from 'her' while he was at it.

A short while later….

—Ramman village, is it?

"Yeah. A mission came in."

—Ohhh. So you want to head south that badly.

"Don't worry so much. It's not by the border region. And besides, people can't just keep doing what they want all the time."

Seol Jihu gathered his hands and pleaded with Kim Hannah. She snorted unhappily but didn't say that he was forbidden from doing it.

—Hmm. So, you're looking for a Priest…. It'll be pretty hard to find one, that's for sure. If it were the entire Carpe Diem participating, then it would be a different story. But if it's just you and Chung Chohong, it will be hard to rely on your team's fame.

"That's why I'm asking you for advice. Isn't there a good way out of this?"

—Well, it's not like there is none.

"Really? There is a way?"

Seol Jihu's expression brightened up after hearing Kim Hannah's words. But, when she slowly explained what was what, he ended up forming a bit of a frown instead.

"She was in the city?"

—Didn't I tell you before? Her base is in Haramark.

"You did? In any case, I'm not sure if she'd be willing to help out. There's still the old debt to settle, too."

—I'm sure you know this already since you have prior dealings with her. But well, she is one hell of a calculative and materialistic woman.

Seol Jihu immediately agreed with that assessment.

"That's true, but having to spend silver coins for an exploration of this scale, that's a bit…."

—You shouldn't think of it as you wasting your money. The sole minus point of Carpe Diem is that you guys don't have a Priest among you. Do you have any idea how much pain and suffering other teams have to go through to find a suitable Priest when they plan for expeditions?

She quickly carried on.

—And let's not forget, it'll be hard to find a Priest as skilled as her. So take this opportunity to build a personal connection with her. I'm pretty sure that, as soon as she realizes working with you will be beneficial for her, she'll sign up with you on the spot.

Seol Jihu understood what she was saying here. A Priest was almost as hard to come by as a Sorcerer, and she was telling him to invest in one right now for the sake of his own future. He slowly nodded his head.

"Okay, got it. I should go and speak to her, then. Nothing to lose by doing it, anyway."

—Exactly. I'm pretty sure she'll say yes unless something else's up. After all, she's one of the few who knows your true worth. At the very least, she won't slam the door in your face."

"It's a way forward, which helps. Thanks, mom."

—Don't worry about it. If something else comes up…. Hey, what did you just call me?

Seol Jihu quickly ended the communication. The crystal's radiance dimmed but then, only a second later, it began glowing again. He simply giggled to himself and stepped outside Carpe Diem's office.

*

Luxuria's temple was Seol Jihu's next stop. He spoke to someone at the reception and waited for a while. A lady soon approached him and asked him to follow her. She guided him through the residential area within the temple building and eventually, they arrived in front of a door among many others lining up this silent corridor. Funnily enough, as soon as she knocked on the door, the guide lady… ran away.

The door was flung open abruptly a short while later, revealing a small-statured young woman staggering unsteadily on her feet. Her brilliant blonde hair was unkempt and very messy; she only wore an oversized white shirt; her sunken eyes were more noticeable because of her pale skin.

It was Maria.

She stared at him without saying a word before pointing back at her room.

"….Come in."

It was a pigsty inside her room. The lighting was excellent and the interior was brightly lit as a result, but well, that only served to highlight the dire conditions of the trash pit that was her room.

The whole place seemed a bit too… 'sad' to be called messy, now that he took another look at it. Seol Jihu was suddenly overcome with a sense of kinship when he spotted an ashtray stuffed full of burnt cigarette butts. It even resembled a hedgehog, somehow. But then, he spotted cigarette burns adorning the various walls and the bedsheets, and naturally, nearly freaked out right there and then. Hell, the bottles of liquor rolling around on the floor seemed cute by comparison.

"And what brings your lordship to my humble abode? I hear you're a real hot stuff nowadays."

Maria scratched her unkempt hair like a man, and then, smacked her lips and scanned her surroundings.

"Well…. take a seat anywhere. Want something to drink? How about alcohol? I don't have anything else to offer."

"No, I'm fine. Were you sleeping?"

"Yeah, I was. I drank a bit too much yesterday… Euh, euh…. fucking hell, this hangover is killing me."

Maria picked up one of the many bottles on the floor and shook it around. Slosh, slosh…. She didn't even hesitate for a second before dumping the contents down her throat. Her white neck skin bobbed up and down a couple of times, and when she was finally done, she shuddered slightly as a grimace formed on her face.

"Urgh. Now I feel like a living person again."

"A-Are you alright?"

"What, you mean my body? It's a lot better than when I performed the Ceremony."

She settled down on the corner of the bed and proceeded to stare at the youth with a pair of unfocused eyes.

"So, what brings you here? If you came to pay back the debt, I welcome you with two open arms."

"I came to ask you for a….."

"Ah, fuck."

He didn't even finish his sentence, yet she was already dropping her head lower, a long groan escaping from her mouth. She then spoke to him in that posture.

"You ain't gonna ask me for another Ceremony, are you?"

"No ways. I'd say it's more like… an offer this time."

She grabbed the bottle upside down by its neck, prompting Seol Jihu to quickly state his business.

"An offer?"

Maria slowly raised her head. There was a hint of interest in her expression, so he didn't waste any more time and carried on with his real intention for being here – to ask her to accompany him to the village of Ramman.

"Hmm….."

As expected, Maria's reaction was less than enthusiastic. Her head tilted to the side just a tad; then, as if she was already done thinking about it, she shook it from side to side.

"I get what you want from me, but I don't wanna. I can't see any merit in me following you."

"I see."

Seol Jihu readily agreed with her and that made her stare back at him with suspicious eyes. She smirked a little.

"Oh, my? Was the rumor I heard about you all lies? Or, did Paradise finally get to you, too?"

"I'm still thankful for your help the last time."

"You don't have to mention it. I'll be getting my due reward sooner or later anyway."

"Of course. I'll be waiting."

Perhaps his clear-cut attitude left a favorable impression on her because she crossed her arms and opened her mouth as if she was doing it all for his benefit.

"You came all the way here to see me, so I guess it's a bit rude to turn you away empty-handed like this. So, how about this? I know a few apprentice Priests, and I can ask one of them to follow you around if you want. Sure, they might not be all that much, but you know very well that having a Priest in your party makes a world of difference, don't you?"

That suggestion didn't sound so bad, either. She probably wouldn't recommend someone utterly hopeless since she sounded sincere. However, Kim Hannah strongly 'advised' him to get closer to Maria, even if that meant spending a fair amount of coin in the process. He figured that attempting to do that now wouldn't end in a loss for him.

"Thank you for your kind offer, but I'd still prefer if it was you, Miss Maria."

Maria snorted, her expression one of dumbfounded amazement.

"Hey, looky here. You said you know."

"I do."

"You say you do, so how come? Okay, let me make this crystal clear. Why would someone of my caliber follow you on such a pathetic little mission?"

"Well, you'll earn experience points and also rewards."

"Hell no. You think that pitiful amount of points will make a dent in my current level? And what was that? Rewards? The rewards you talk about won't even buy me a day's worth of liquor, you know? You honestly think I'll go with you just to earn a pittance like that?"

Maria's acerbic way of talking hadn't changed one bit. Seol Jihu smiled refreshingly and reached into his inner pocket. He expected her to react like this already, so now was the time to bring out his trump cards.

"You understand me now? There is no reason for me to…."

Clunk.

She stopped talking immediately as soon as a small coin pouch was placed atop the white table.

"What's this?"

"Five silver coins. How about it?"

"You…."

Maria frowned deeply.

"How did you even figure out that I like this kinda stuff? I'm asking you this purely out of concern for your welfare, okay? Do you have any idea how much a single silver coin is worth?"

"One copper coin is around 500 won. A silver coin is a thousand copper coins, so 500 thousand won. Five silver coins equal 2.5 million won."

"Oho? I guess you're rolling in dough now, huh?"

The ends of Maria's sentence arched up rather mysteriously. Her tongue snaked out and slowly licked her lips.

"Well, I see how sincere you are, but… I'm still not sure."

Before Maria was given a chance to continue, Seol Jihu pulled out five more silver coins. In her full view, he began slotting them inside the coin pouch on the table, one at the time. Maria blinked her eyes non-stop.

"….Can I ask you one question?"

"Please go ahead."

"I can't understand why you, in your current level, have that many silver coins…. No, never mind that. Okay, why are you trying so hard to hire me?"

"Because I think you're trustworthy."

"You aren't planning on making this the payment for the debt you owe me, are you?"

"No way. That's that, and this is this."

Hnnng~ Maria leaked out a snort as the ends of her lips curled up. Her attitude had definitely changed compared to a minute ago. If she was a High Ranker Priest, then Seol Jihu would have to fork out ten times the current amount, but she was only a Level 4. His current wealth was more than enough to endure this sort of financial impact.

"So you're going to pay me upfront. Is that right?"

"Only you, Miss Maria. No one else."

"Okay, what about splitting the loot? The rewards?"

"Is there a need to even ask that? We split evenly, of course."

Maria began pondering seriously now. Upfront payment of ten silver coins and no special conditions attached when splitting the loot…. Considering the type of the mission and the distance needed to travel, this was a more than generous amount. She began sneaking a couple of glances at him before suddenly prattling on while twirling her hair with her fingers.

"Weeeell, I guess it's not so bad…. Yeah, here's the thing. Doesn't matter what the work is, someone on my level usually needs somewhere around 6.5 million won before we are tempted into action~"

Her previously-stiff, manly manner of speech was now full of aegyo. Without saying another word, Seol Jihu slotted five more coins into the pouch. By this time, Maria was practically drooling out of her mouth.

"Oooh, wow! This oppa is a lot more cooler than he looks, isn't he?"

"Will this be enough for me to become your friend, Miss Maria?"

"W-What was that?"

Maria stuttered in surprise at those rather unexpected words. A slight smile formed on his lips after seeing her reaction.

"Friends?"

After exploding into a fit of laughter, Maria opened her eyes wide to stare directly at him. A bright smile remained on her face.

"I was wondering what's gotten into you. But, now I see. You were scheming to reel me in, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"Oh, my goodness! But, what do I do now? I'm not that easy to catch, you know~? Haven't you heard the rumors? You won't be able to count the number of the teams that gave up on trying to win me over, cuz there are too many to begin with!"

This was Seol Jihu's first time hearing it, but he simply shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant manner.

"Are you in or out?"

"How interesting."

Maria stood right up from the bed. She took several airy steps to get closer, before snatching the coin pouch up. She then loudly shouted out.

"I'm in!"

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Novel

The Second Coming of Gluttony

Chapter 70 - A Mystery

THE SECOND COMING OF GLUTTONY

C70 - A Mystery

Chapter 70. A Mystery

Bringing Maria into the group was an excellent development in various ways.

There were two gods that Priests served. The first was the Order of Luxuria, the goddess of lust, who was in charge of healing, dispelling, and support spells.

The second was the Order of Invidia, the god of envy, who preferred to repulse the enemy with holy powers and governing over the operations of divination magic.

Chohong was an Earthling who had straddled two separate paths of Invidia and Ira. Maria, on the other hand, walked the lone path that Luxuria had carved out ever since she was Level 1.

A Priest was already treated like an aristocrat in Paradise, but a Priest who specialized in healing was valued almost equal to a Magician.

As Earthlings had a tendency of prioritizing their lives the most, a Level 4 High Priest, who was capable of healing regular injuries with a proverbial flick of her hand, made every Earthling react positively to a team with such a Priest as a core member. They would even try their best to act as friendly as possible.

Seol Jihu was successful in recruiting a Priest, but he didn't rest after that. His next stop took him to the city's library, rather than back to Carpe Diem's office.

It didn't matter which city it was, the city library could be called the repository of all the amassed information. The Ramman Village extermination request happened frequently, so he figured that there must be past records of the mission itself, just like how Alex's report on the Mole's appearance showed up on the city's noticeboard soon afterwards.

Chohong, as usual, was full of swagger, loudly declaring that they only needed to look the part as she alone would be enough to sweep all of their enemies away. However, Seol Jihu couldn't readily accept that.

He developed a certain habit ever since he nearly got killed from the siege of the skeletons back in the Neutral Zone. And that would be to prepare as much as humanly possible in the matters where his life might be on the line.

And so, as he immersed himself in searching for the relevant information, he ran into someone quite unexpected in the library.

"Hoh? I didn't expect to see you here, my man."

An older man with a greying beard wearing a conical hat typical of wizards reached out for a handshake.

"Ah, hello there."

Seol Jihu politely shook the offered hand.

"I'm also surprised to see you here. What brings you to the city library, Master Ian?"

"Ehehe. I think you might be the only Earthling in history to ask a Magician what his business is in a library."

Ian giggled and asked back.

"So, how have you been?"

"Well, it was okay, nothing too special. I tried my hands at being a courier, and I am still training every day, too."

"It's good to hear that you're enjoying a peaceful life so far. Oh, right. Did you get the spear?"

"Ah, that. I've completely forgotten to thank you and Princess Teresa for it. How is she doing nowadays?"

"Don't worry about her. Princess Teresa is always pink-pink, if you know what I mean."

Ian threw him a knowing wink. He then grinned at the youth panicking somewhat at the seemingly innuendo-ridden word of 'pink' before leaning in closer to whisper something else.

"Fufufu. This is a secret only I know, but allow me to share it with you."

Before he had time to realize it, Seol Jihu was paying attention to the older man's words.

"The truth is, there are many, many variations of the pink color."

"….Eh?"

"For instance~. Princess Teresa's color is much closer to 'baby pink'. Yes, indeed. Mm, mm."

"….Master Ian."

"Oopsie. I was just messing with you. Just a joke of poor taste from an old man. I definitely didn't use an X-ray spell to confirm so you shouldn't look at this old man that way. If you form a grimace like that, you come across as a total stranger and that kind of scares me a little."

Ian waved his hands about and guffawed out loudly. Seol Jihu could only leak out a sigh. He let his guard down and got fooled again.

"I'm sure she won't mind normal types of pranks but isn't it a bit much making sexual innuendos to a princess?"

"You say that because you don't know what she's really like."

"?"

"Earlier today, I cracked a simple joke to her and she responded back with 'yours can't even stand up again, so why are you asking me that?' To be honest, my feeling's been kind of hurt."

"…."

By now, Seol Jihu had forgotten what he wanted to say.

"Okay, that's enough of small talk. What brings you here?"

"Well, I was given a mission, so I was hoping to find relevant information here."

Seol Jihu took a bit of guard against the older man and made his reply.

"A mission?"

"Yes, it's a request issued by Ramman Village."

A certain glint flashed by Ian's eyes.

"Dylan and Hugo shouldn't be able to participate in that. Does that mean it's you and Chohong forming the team?"

"Basically, yes. Master Ian, you heard about that as well?"

"I'm also participating in 'that' mission, so indeed, I know of it. Dylan has given you the leadership role, then?"

Hmm, hmm~ Ian carried a somewhat contemplate expression, but then, he suddenly formed a mysterious smile.

"Fufufu. Oh, Dylan, you one sly…."

He muttered to himself and shifted his gaze back to the youth.

"My man. Can you spare me a bit of time? I only need around five minutes."

"Of course."

"Alright. I'll be right back, so please wait for me."

With a serious expression now etched on his face, Ian hurriedly went over here and there in the library. And precisely five minutes later, he showed up back again, now carrying an armful of scrolls and various documents.

"Take these. These are all the historical records pertaining to the extermination mission you're about to take on. And this is…."

The older man pulled out a ridiculously thick book just as Seol Jihu barely managed to receive them all.

"This here is the recorded history of the region. You don't have to read everything, of course. I've made a bookmark somewhere in the middle, so you only have to browse that."

"You have?"

"Mm. It has been a long time ago, but you see, I also participated in the extermination mission before. The thing is, the Ramman Village's matter is one of the most endearing mysteries of Haramark, so once upon a time, I was rather interested in solving it, you see."

Ian sounded philosophical.

"Well, it all ended in failure, though. Back then, I thought I had caught onto a pretty solid lead, and I felt confident of my suspicions. But in the end, I still couldn't uncover the origin."

"People are telling me the same thing so far. I'd probably end up the same as you."

"I wonder about that. We'll have to wait and see first, no?"

Seol Jihu smiled embarrassedly, while Ian was stroking his beard in contemplation.

"Us walking out of the Forest of Denial alive, the famous forbidden zone, and then, us miraculously recovering the fortress that everyone thought was a lost cause – both of them were events easily exceeding one's wildest imaginations."

"Thank you for your kind words, but I think I just got lucky."

"No, not true at all. Your actions were responsible for both of those events, not lady luck."

Ian formed a warm expression.

"Apologies for burdening you even further like this. But, if you manage to solve this mystery, it'd be the same thing as you aiding with the overall stability of the entire Haramark region, so you should be able to earn a substantial amount of 'achievement points'. And the royal family might reward you something extra on the side, too."

"I'd feel so much more confident if you were to accompany us, Master Ian."

"I'd love to do that. Unfortunately, I have a prior engagement to fulfill. Even Sicilia is involved now, so it'll be difficult to extricate myself out of this one."

"There's no helping it, then. Thank you for these records. I'll study them right away."

Seol Jihu smiled refreshingly.

"I'll pray for your success."

Ian raised his tightly-clenched fist up high and cheered on.

*

Chohong returned to the office late at night, her current mood absolute worst.

For the whole day, she went around looking for a Priest, only to meet with rejection at every turn. So, when she spotted Dylan drinking tea in the office, she loudly complained and said, "Are you going to do nothing and spectate from the sidelines?!"

But then, she was rendered completely speechless after Dylan informed her of Seol finding a Priest already.

"For real?!"

"Mm. He himself went to talk to the Priest, apparently."

"Who is it?"

"It's Maria Yeriel."

"Whaaaat?! That bitch?!?!"

Chohong's voice became even louder. Dylan calmly covered his ears and nodded once.

"I agree that it's somewhat unbelievable, but how about lowering your volume a bit? Seol is in the middle of work, you see."

"….Work?"

"Right. I wondered if there was anything I could help him with, but there was no need, judging from how he was handling it. He doesn't even look like a newbie anymore from the way he's taking care of things."

There was a content smile on Dylan's face now.

"Look. Do you know for how long I wanted a team member like Seol to join us? That's why, if we can't help him, we should at least not bother him, right?"

Too bad, Chohong wasn't someone who'd heed such advice. Her thudding steps led her directly into the shared bedroom. She found Seol Jihu sitting by the desk, quietly jotting and studying all by himself.

"Hey."

"Oh, you're back?"

Seol Jihu replied without looking back.

"I heard you found us a Priest?"

"Yeah."

Seol Jihu nodded.

"By the way, why is Miss Maria a bitch?"

"Because, she is a bitch, that's why! How did you even manage to sweet talk that girl? I mean, that crazy bitch's infamous for having a re~ally high standard and all."

"Please stop swearing for a second. I know her from the Neutral Zone, actually."

"Hey, you! You are supposed to look at the person you're talking to!"

Only then Seol Jihu turned around halfway. He leaned against the chair's back at an angle and continued.

"Ah, right. What about Archers and Warriors? Did you ask around?"

Chohong faltered a bit where she stood.

"N-no, not really? I was busy searching for a Priest, so, like…."

"But, I told you I'd find a Priest?"

"I didn't know you'd find one this fast! I felt bad just dumping you with the responsibility, so I wanted to help out, too! So what!"

Chohong yelled at him. Seol Jihu formed a wry smile.

"Fine, fine."

He turned back towards the scrolls laid out on the desk.

"Don't worry about it. Miss Maria's supposed to meet me tomorrow at the 'Eat, Drink, and Enjoy', so let's search together."

Chohong didn't say anything else to that. Nevertheless, she wanted to show off for a bit since she was supposed to be more experienced in these sorts of things, but just as Dylan had alluded to earlier, Seol Jihu was doing admirably well all by himself. She did feel a tiny bit apologetic in her mind, too.

"….What are you doing?"

When she got closer to the desk, she spotted lots of unfurled scrolls and documents. There was even a thick book there, too.

"Oh, these? Historical records of Ramman Village's extermination missions."

"Annnd, this?"

"Recorded history of the Empire. Master Ian gave it to me, saying that I should check it out."

"Wait, you ran into that geezer?"

"Yeah. Happened by chance."

Chohong took a sneak at the book and immediately grimaced in shock.

"Euhk~. Imma get sick just from looking at this thing. You actually feel fine reading this?"

"Really? I thought it was pretty interesting though."

"Is there a need to go this far? I mean, all we have to do is go there and kick some ass, right?"

"Well, those monsters will most likely show up again in the future. If it's possible, I want to prevent that by finding out the root cause and eliminate it. Which means, we need solid leads."

"But how will reading those things get us anywhere?"

Chohong sourly remarked. Seol Jihu yawned and stretched his arms high up above his head.

"You might be right, but there are a couple of suspicious…. No, hang on. Let's just say that there are a few things here that don't feel right."

"Don't feel right? How?"

"I can't be sure of it, yet. It's just a working theory of mine."

Seol Jihu covered his mouth to yawn again. Chohong's sigh was so long that the ground might have caved in from that.

"Argh, I don't know. Do whatever you want. I'm going to bed. I've been walking around the whole day, and I'm pooped out, you know."

"You worked hard. Get some rest."

Chohong lay sprawled on the bed. For a while, she stared at the ceiling with a bit of a pout, before sneaking a glance at him.

"Aren't you going to sleep?"

"In a little while. I have an illuminating stone with me, so you can turn off the lights if you want."

"….No, I'm cool."

Chohong didn't fall asleep right away, though. Her coy eyes were fixed on the youth sitting by the desk studying the contents of the thick book. His sleeves were rolled up, his expression one of deep concentration and seriousness; silent and determined glint flickering within his eyes. She thought he looked refreshingly different.

'This is so weird, isn't it?'

Chohong whispered to herself "Been only a short while since you joined up, yet…." and lightly hugged her pillow. She then stared into his wide-open back that seemed more dependable today for some reason. Only until she fell asleep, of course.

*

Next morning.

As promised, Seol Jihu met up with Maria. If there was one thing he didn't entirely count on, that would be her attire: she seemingly only wore an oversized white shirt that was probably very, very easy to move around in. And secondly, that she also happened to be an old acquaintance with Chohong. Not in a good way, either.

"Hiya~, so it was true. Just what's gotten into Miss I Love Money that she decided to join in our little mission?"

Those words were the opening volley Chohong fired as soon as she saw Maria. The latter slightly cocked an eyebrow as those sarcasm-laden words pricked her ears, before forming a refreshing smile.

"Oh? I was expecting someone decent since I heard a member of Carpe Diem was joining. Turns out the member was the dumbass braindead bitch famed for her thick-headedness."

"Your runny mouth is as same as always. I'm curious, will you still be able to yap like a little birdie if I rip that mouth wide open?"

"Well, I'm sure it's not as runny as your famous brainless fart of a head. Don't you wanna crack open that empty head of yours and prove it to the world?"

Thick veins popped up on Chohong's forehead. A threatening grin of a beast, fangs bared and all, formed on her lips.

"See, I told you. She's a bitch. Her mouth is a trash dump."

"Well, sure, my lips are a bit dirty. But it's not as loose as your other lips."

"Stop, please stop! Chohong, you too."

Seol Jihu hurriedly jumped in between the two 'smiling' females and their verbal assault rifles. Chohong had already pulled her mace out while Maria was 'lovingly' caressing a crucifix in her hands. If he left them alone like this, no doubt a scuffle would have broken out.

"Heng."

"Hmph!"

As they spun their heads away in opposite directions, his shoulders drooped lower and lower. It felt like things were heading the wrong way from the get-go.

His sorrowful state only lasted for a short while, though. When he entered the pub along with two ladies by his sides, Seol Jihu realized that the attention of all the patrons was focused on him in an instant. It was similar to back when he went on dates with Yoo Seonhwa.

Actually, he had to position himself in between two ladies in order to prevent a fight from breaking out. But that also meant that, outwardly at least, he had two beauties in each of his hands. These ladies were blessed with great looks, after all.

'….Hm, hm.'

Seol Jihu couldn't help but stand up a little taller, his shoulders opening up a bit more. Even his expression relaxed greatly. He tried his hardest not to look smug. Of course, he had no idea what the others were really thinking about.

"Look at that guy. Now that is one hell of a weird combination."

"You're right. He's mixed up with two of the Six Crazies."

"Yo, hold up. That dude, didn't he show up here with Agnes not too long ago?"

"Yeah, that's right. Three out of Six Crazies? Whoa, man. That friend's sure got a particular taste."

He wouldn't even have dared to dream that others were sharing such conversations about him right at that moment.

Maria and Chohong settled down around an empty table, and as if they had made a prior arrangement or something, began shouting at the same time.

"Li-quor! Li-quor!!"

"Al-co-hol! Al-co-hol! Al-co-hol!"

They were like a pair of newborn chicks yapping noisily for food. Seol Jihu slowly facepalmed.

"…..Order whatever you want."

"Kyaha! Hey, over here! Bring me all the rum and vodka you got!"

Chohong possessed unparalleled skill when it came to mixing various alcohols. She expertly blended rum and vodka like a pro, before pouring several cups to distribute it all around the table. Obviously, Seol Jihu didn't even touch his, but well, Maria one-shot hers and shivered grandly from pleasure.

"Keo-heuh! Now that will wake you up real good!"

"It's fine if you want to enjoy your drinks, but please don't forget, we're here to scout the rest of our team."

"No sweat. Mister Leader, step aside and enjoy the show. I'll take care of everything."

Chohong confidently declared and poured another cup. Seol Jihu could only rest his chin on his hands and watch the two females acting like long-lost bosom buddies.

Quite some time had passed by like that. More and more empty bottles filled up the table, and as Chohong took another manly gulp of her cup, she suddenly stopped moving.

"Hey."

She sent a signal, and Maria glanced at the entrance. Two men and one woman were entering the pub. Maria leaked out an interested Hnng~ and nodded her head before shrugging her shoulders.

"They aren't complete trash. Do what you want."

"Okay, cool. Hey, Mikhail!"

Chohong waved her hand, and the man in front of the group waved back, his eyes resembling round dots. He was a lanky fellow with short, neatly trimmed hair.

"You were still alive??"

"You trying to jinx me or something?"

Mikhail smirked and asked the duo behind him to wait for a little while. He walked closer, and Chohong started talking to him.

"How have you been? I heard that you're about to reach Level 4."

"And that's been killing me lately. I only need a bit of experience, but the problem is money. I mean, the cost of equipment is just too damn ridiculous."

"Well, yeah, the price jumps up ten times higher and all."

Chohong grinned and agreed with him.

"That's why I wanted to ask you about something here. Wanna go for a mission with us?"

"A mission?"

Mikail asked back as his gaze scanned the table, only to form a surprised expression.

"Maria? What are you doing here?"

"Obviously, it's for work. It's nothing big, just enough for some pocket money."

Mikhail whistled, evidently impressed now.

"Sounds good. Okay, let me hear it out first."

He looked behind him and gestured at his comrades to join them as well. And so, three more people settled around the bottle-filled table.

"Okay, so. What work are we talking about?"

"Don't be hasty. Enjoy a drink on us."

"I respectfully decline. Hell, I ain't touching anything you mixed even if it's free."

"Che. It's nothing major, just the monster extermination request from Ramman Village."

"Ramman Village?"

Mikhail immediately looked disappointed.

"Hey, it really was nothing…."

He then looked at the two women as if he failed to understand something.

"Why are you two stepping up for something this small? Isn't this way too over the top?"

"Argh, why are you talking so much like this? It's simple. You in or out?"

Maria voiced out her annoyance. Mikhail seemed to be pondering something before casting his gaze to his side. The woman he came in with had her arms crossed and her brows furrowed in a tight knot, making her look a bit temperamental. When she shook her head, her black waterfall-like hair danced about a little. Mikhail spoke up next.

"Mm, sorry, but it looks like we'll have to pass."

"Give it a second thought, okay. The distance is short, right? Think of it as you earning a bit more experience in return for killing a couple of days."

"Eiii. I already participated in it once before, you know? Besides, killing a few mutants won't do much at our levels, no?"

Chohong licked her lower lip. She sneaked a glance at Seol Jihu, and he opened his mouth after getting her signal.

"That may not strictly be the case this time."

"Mm?"

Mikhail turned towards him. Chohong made the introduction.

"Sorry about the late intro. This is Seol, the newest Carpe Diem recruit. He's also the leader of this mission."

"Seol?"

Mikhail stared absentmindedly for a bit before clapping his hands.

"Ah!! You, from the Arden Valley!! Yeah, you, from the Arden Valley, right?"

"Oh, you heard about that?"

"What do you mean, I heard about it? We were actually there! Hyah, I really didn't expect to run into a celebrity today."

Mikhail reached out for a handshake, his face brimming with a smile.

"Hiya. It's really nice to meet you. Really. I'm Mikhailov, a Level 3 Sword Runner. And this here is…."

"Veronika. Level 3 Sharp Ranger."

Veronika finally spoke up. She also seemed a bit more interested now.

"And this guy over here is Gierszal. He's a Level 3 Guard."

The last guy raised his hand briefly, still refraining from saying anything.

"I still can't forget the sight of you luring away all those bugs, you know? I thought you were a madman at first, but whew, you really surprised me back then."

Mikhail lightly chuckled and pulled the chair closer.

"Okay, so, what did you mean just now? Something about not being the case?"

Seol Jihu thought about what to say next. Since both Maria and Chohong agreed, then that could only mean this trio had to be rather decently skilled in their professions. In a way, this talk was only possible with those two ladies and their intervention. Now that they got the party started, it was his turn to perform the leader's role.

"By any chance, do you know of the special characteristics of Ramman Village's request?"

"Special characteristics? What are those?"

"First of all, mutants appear."

"Yeah, we know that."

"Second, different species appear with each new mission issued."

"Really? But, they didn't seem all that strong?"

Mikhail tilted his head.

"And third, the scale of the extermination team gets larger and larger with the passing of time."

"….What do you mean by that?"

Sensing that something strange was afoot, Mikhail's voice became hushed.

"Mister Mikhail, you said you participated in this mission before, yes?"

"Yeah. It was maybe a year or so ago. I can't be 100% sure, but it was around then."

"Did you realize that the scale and the quality of the team taking on the mission keeps getting higher every year?"

Mikhail kept blinking his eyes.

"Take a look at this."

Seol Jihu produced a sheet of paper.

"Ignore the kingdom's own subjugation forces and take a closer look at the very first mission issued, all the way to the last mission. As you can see, this mission used to be taken up by Level 1s in the beginning, but then Level 2s started taking it, and before long, it was Level 3s. And this time, the request came to Carpe Diem of all teams."

Mikhail's eyes narrowed to a slit.

"Wait a second. That means?"

"The mutants that will appear this time will be quite a different breed from what you fought the last time."

"Hmm…. So, that's how it was. That's why Maria and Chohong is…."

Mikhail rubbed his chin.

"You used the records from the city library, so this can't be all fake. Yeah, I guess I get your point. Oh, I see, that's why the reward on offer kept creeping up by a little every year."

The other party agreed to his assessment. It was here that Seol Jihu sensed the right time to pull out the final bait had arrived.

"That's not all. If it's possible, I'm planning to expose this mystery once and for all."

At that precise moment, the light in Mikhail's eyes intensified. He too was an Earthling who had spent a fair amount of time in Haramark. So, he knew what Seol Jihu meant by that.

Solving this mystery was on another scale altogether from simply carrying out the extermination mission. Many, many countless folks failed to solve this mystery, so his fame would get a healthy boost simply from being a part of the team that exposed the truth. In other words, this could easily turn out to be a huge career move. If he said he wasn't tempted, you'd be looking at a liar.

"Oiii. I don't think you're cracking a joke with these two ladies by your side, but I still gotta ask you. Are you sure about this?"

"Actually, no. If I'm honest with you, I can't be 100% certain. However, someone very reputable gave me an important piece of the puzzle, you see."

"Someone reputable? Who?"

"Ian Denzel."

That landed the final nail.

"Master Ian did? Really??"

"You'd find out the truth if you ask him directly, so why would I lie to you?"

Mikhail let out a heavy gasp and began chewing on his lips. One could see how much of a dilemma he was in. Veronika lightly ribbed on the side, and Gierszal coughed while fidgeting with the cup.

"There's no need to worry about this. The village is only a half a day's travel away, anyway. At a minimum, you get a little bit of experience points, but if we get really lucky….."

Seol Jihu deliberately let his words drift away. He was implying that, if they wanted to hear the rest, they should be more straightforward with their opinions next.

"So, how about it?"

He locked his fingers and smiled refreshingly.

"….Well, I'll be. You sure know how to tantalize your audience, don't you."

Mikhail grumbled.

"If we were only talking about your way with words, then I'd definitely believe that you're a high ranker, dude."

In the end, he raised his hands up in surrender.

"Okay. Let's go somewhere more private and discuss the more… delicate details, shall we?"

***

Early next morning.

The expedition – no, the extermination team, met at Haramark's southern exit. Seol Jihu and Chohong holding hands arrived first and found the two carriage drivers and two porters on standby there.

They waited for a little while longer, and soon enough, Maria showed up wearing the same white Priest garb as she wore back in the Neutral Zone. Veronika and Gierszal, led by Mikhail, arrived soon after.

Four warriors, one Archer, and finally, one Priest. Their average Level was 3.2. Considering that the mission itself was nominally not a tough one, this was a rather good team composition.

A short while later….

Two carriages with three members each energetically left the city's southern exit.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.

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Novel

The Second Coming of Gluttony

Chapter 71 - Taboo

THE SECOND COMING OF GLUTTONY

C71 - Taboo

Chapter 71. Taboo

The village of Ramman was a fragrant little settlement kissed by warm rays of the sun.

Although it was smaller in size compared to the village of Zahrah, in return, the place was surrounded by a picturesque landscape straight out of an oil painting with fences running through the carpets of endless yellowish-green fields. And in the distance, precipitous mountains that looked as if they had wrapped themselves up in mother nature like a veil serving as the unforgettable backdrop.

Seol Jihu paid the balance to the two carriage drivers, and slowly closed his eyes as the gentle breeze tickled him by. The gentle winds stroking his cheeks brightened his mood up greatly.

'We got lucky.'

They didn't encounter any ambushes during their travel and arrived at their destination before nightfall. Although it might have been nothing to fret over, for some reason, he couldn't help but feel good about this.

It was as if the heavens were blessing his first outing as the….

"Bleeeurgh-!!"

His peace was shattered by the sudden noise of someone vomiting on the side. And then, that was followed by the disgusting noise of something falling on the ground.

He broke out of his reverie and opened his eyes, a deep frown forming on his face. Not too far from him, a girl with a slightly wavy blonde hair was bent over, busy emptying out the contents of her stomach.

The superbly green fields were instantly soiled by the thick mess of reddish-brown liquid.

"Khya-ahk, ghyaahk!"

Was she trying to scream or vomit? Which one was it?

After successfully vomiting out a rather terrifyingly large chunk of something, Maria maintained that deep grimace while she shoved her index finger back inside her throat. And then – began vomiting one more time.

"That's why I told you to drink in moderation."

Seol Jihu walked over to her and patted her back.

It was understandable, though. She drank that much yesterday and then had to ride a carriage non-stop for the past twelve hours, so it'd have been a miracle if her innards were still intact and functioning properly.

Maria barely managed to lift her head back up and began breathlessly grumbling out in her usual manner.

"Pant, pant… Argh, this god-fucking motion sickness…."

Seol Jihu took out a clean rag and began wiping Maria's cherry-red lips all dirtied from the puke. She looked unimpressed but had no energy left to resist him, so she remained docile for the time being.

"Our little Maria is going through a lot, isn't she~?"

Chohong giggled and approached the duo before handing over a bottle of vodka. Seol Jihu gasped in disbelief but Maria seized upon this chance to snatch the bottle away and took a mouthful of the hard liquor.

She used that as a mouthwash; her cheeks ballooned up as she sloshed the alcohol around in her mouth before spitting them back all out. And then, she tilted the bottle a little to take a small sip.

"Keu-heuh… Urgh! Now I feel alive."

"…."

Seol Jihu suddenly thought that alcohol must be circulating in her veins, rather than b lood. It became somewhat torturous to watch anymore, so he turned around to leave. Even Veronika looked away as if she was fed up.

She saw the depressed look on the youth's face. She sighed and lightly patted him on his shoulders. Somehow, that helped in consoling him a little.

"Looks like we'll have to rest for the day."

Mikhail shook his head in helplessness. Seol Jihu agreed with that assessment. It wasn't just for Maria's sake though. Riding carriages for half a day straight was never easy. Besides, they weren't pressed for time, like how it was with the Arden Fortress back then.

The six of them agreed to search for a suitable place to get some rest and entered the village's entrance. And that's when this happened.

"I saw it! I swear, I did!"

Out of the blue, a hoarse voice greeted them from the side. An old woman standing in front of the thatched-roof mud hut was staring at the group with unblinking eyes. She seemed to be a Paradisian.

"It was a white ship! A white ship lowered its anchor!!"

'A white ship? Anchor??'

Seol Jihu tilted his head.

The old woman grabbed the handrail, hard. She looked as if she'd rush out at any second now. It was at this moment that a man hurriedly ran in from a distance.

"Mother! Why are you doing this again?"

"I saw it! I'm telling you, I saw it!"

"I understand. I understand, mother, so please go back inside. These people are Earthlings."

"I'm telling you, a white ship lowered dozens of anchors!!"

The old woman continued to shout out even as she was pushed back inside the hut. The man sighed helplessly and urgently lowered his head to the group.

"I-I'm truly sorry! My mother has a small problem with her mind and…."

"No, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

Seol Jihu's calm voice caused the man to blink his eyes in a bit of daze. His previous nervous demeanor had softened just a tad.

"Are you here because of the subjugation request?"

"Yes. Are you the one who issued it?"

"Ah, no. I'm actually in charge of the security of this village. My name is Brice. The issuing of the request is always taken up by the village head, actually."

'The village head is in charge of it all the time, is it….'

Seol Jihu began chewing on those words, causing Brice to cautiously ask him again.

"Is there anything that I can help you with?"

"Ah, yes. We need a place to rest for a while."

"We'll definitely provide you with a place like that. Let me guide you to the inn."

Seol Jihu felt someone touching him on the arm, He turned to look, and found Maria shaking her head.

"I don't want to breathe indoor air right now. It's a bit of a bother, too. I'll be fine if I just get some air for an hour or so."

"Well, that's what she said. Looks like we'll be fine with an outdoor area."

"Please, follow me. I know of a place that fits your criteria."

Brice guided the team to an open area with a log table seemingly carved out from the trunk of a huge tree, surrounded by several aged wooden chairs. He continued to sneak glances behind him, perhaps worried about the team making other demands from him.

Just as Maria planted her forehead on the smooth surface of the log table, Mikhail opened his mouth.

"Hey, leader. If it's okay with you, can I ask him a couple of questions? I came here before so I just wanted to confirm a few things, you see."

"Really? It's fine."

Seol Jihu replied with an expression that asked back, "Why are you asking my permission for that?"

Mikhail grinned refreshingly at the youth's attitude.

Since he wasn't a header, he should refrain from stepping up too much, but most leaders wouldn't mind this little bit of insubordination unless they were of persnickety nature.

"Hey, you said your name was Brice, right?"

"Ah, yes."

"It's nothing much, actually. I was just curious if anything has changed since the last time. The contents of the request, that is."

"No, not at all. There aren't any changes, as far as I can tell."

"In that case, it means we can scoot over to the night fog zone to kill them before they come out, right? Like the last time?"

"Yes, that's correct."

Mikhail nodded his head. Brice asked if he was curious about anything else, and after hearing the reply of "No, not anymore", hurriedly departed from there.

"Looks like it won't be that difficult again. We can conclude our first goal by going to the night fog zone."

Veronika spoke up, yawned, and stretched her limbs grandly. Rather than asking his teammates what this night fog zone was, Seol Jihu recalled it from the records he read before coming here.

"The night fog zone is where the variants respawn every four months, yes?"

"Yeah. It's a bit of distance away, but if we walk fast, we can get there under two hours, max. The monsters that appear beside the variants aren't all that much to worry about, either. With our team's ability, we'll probably massacre them when they show themselves."

"We can't let our guards down, though. Our leader did say that the variants could have gotten stronger, after all. Don't forget that Moles appeared near Haramark recently, and Lioners showed up in the Forest of Denial, too."

Gierszal finally broke his weighty silence and voiced his opinion. Veronika shrugged her shoulders.

"Hey, let's eat something! I haven't had anything since this morning, and this hunger's driving me insane."

Chohong sounded really grouchy as she spat those words out. She took her bag from one of the porters and pulled out the dried meat, fruits, and pieces of bread.

The rest of the team were also feeling hungry at this point, so they reached to grab their share.

Seol Jihu fell deeper into his thoughts as he chewed on the dried meat. If he wanted to, they could finish this mission today and go home. Of course, he didn't want to return after doing only that.

'Why couldn't anyone find the colony?'

There was no result without a cause. There had to be a reason why variants kept appearing in this place.

'….Should I just start digging the ground or something??'

He set out to solve this mystery, but he simply didn't have enough information to do that. Even Ian ended up throwing his hands up in defeat, so this task was never going to be easy.

But, he did have his suspicions.

He got up from his wooden chair while taking a couple of things to eat along with him. Seeing him get up, the bread sticking out of Chohong's mouth bobbed up and down.

"Bare bah byu goong?"

"I'm going to take a look around the village for a bit."

Seol Jihu turned around to leave after activating 'Nine Eyes'. He originally planned to use it when he got to the night fog zone, but he figured that activating it within the village wouldn't be such a bad idea as well.

Well, having more information was better than not having any, after all. And if he got lucky and stumbled onto a jackpot, then even better.

And so, after he'd been walking a while….

'Green…. Another green….'

He walked around, looking to his left and right. He then suddenly sensed someone tugging at his hand. He looked down to find an unfamiliar little girl tugging at the bread held in his left hand with her small, cute fingers.

"B-r-e-a-d. Brreead."

Seol Jihu had to stop walking as the girl was barely keeping up with her hurried trot.

"Heeey!!"

The little girl suddenly went Hiick! from the sudden yell coming from somewhere and began hiccuping in fright.

"What do you think you're doing?! Come over here, quickly!"

A young boy rushed in a hurry and snatched the little girl's hand away. He must've been around ten years old or somewhere there. He was about a head taller than the girl and looked to be her biological older brother.

"He's an Earthling, an Earthling! I told you not to go near one, didn't I? You want to be spanked?!"

"But, hiiing… the bread…."

Did she want to eat it so badly? The eyes of the complaining, kicking little girl became moist in no time at all.

The boy managed to drag his little sister away, but his actions came to a sudden halt when Seol Jihu knelt down on one knee to match his eyes.

"Here."

Seol Jihu smiled and pushed forward the lengthy bread. The little girl's eyes sparkled from seeing the food being offered. She then shook off the flustered boy and came running back to the youth. She grabbed the bread, and after opening her mouth wide, she took a healthy bite.

Seol Jihu lightly patted the little girl's head as her small lips busy chewed on her meal.

"Is it good?"

"Yeah!"

She grinned brightly and continued to bite into the bread. He found her so adorable and couldn't help but smile. She quickly polished the bread off, then her eyes sparkled even more at the sight of the dried meat.

He handed it over to her, and the widest smile imaginable formed on her face as if she just got a present from Santa Claus.

"Thank you."

"There, there. Ah, right. Do you want to eat this, too?"

Seol Jihu pushed the fruit to the boy, but the kid hesitated briefly before shaking his head.

"….No, I'm fine…."

"You can take it. You bravely stepped forward to rescue your little sister, so you should be rewarded, right?"

Seol Jihu encouraged the boy to take it. The child hesitated for some more, but eventually, he took the fruit. He hurriedly bit into it, but then, realised Seol Jihu was still there and quickly bowed his head.

"Thank you very much."

"You're quite mature for your age. You two live in this village?"

"Y-yes."

The boy nodded before cautiously asking a question of his own.

"What about you, Mister Earthling, sir?"

"You don't have to call me sir or a Mister Earthling, you know. Just call me 'Hyung'. I'll get embarrassed if you keep calling me that."

"Hyung…. Did you come here because of the request?"

"That's right. Don't worry about it, though. We'll definitely beat them back."

Seol Jihu's gentle demeanor worked wonders, and the boy's wariness had lessened somewhat. His stiff expression had softened just a tad as well.

"I'm not worried. My sis and I aren't allowed to go near the night fog zone, anyway."

"But, that's obvious. It's dangerous over there."

"Well… I don't know."

Seol Jihu stopped smiling and tilted his head at this unexpected answer from the boy.

"You… don't know?"

"Yes. Grandma Hans did go there once before, but she came back all fine and the like, you see? Well, she speaks funny things now, though."

The boy must've been unhappy for a while because he was quick to unload what was on his mind. Seol Jihu remembered back to the old lady shouting something by the village's entrance.

"I mean, honestly, I'm not a six or seven-year-old kid anymore, so I can't understand why I'm not allowed to go there."

Seol Jihu formed a wry smile.

"It's probably because mutants keep appearing there periodically. The grown-ups are just worried about you, that's all."

"I know. But still, things become safe again once you beat them back, right? But they don't want to let us out, busy coming up with strange excuses and calling them three taboos and all…."

The boy grumbled softly to himself.

"Hng. A monster will kidnap you to another world if you break one of the three taboos? Does anyone think I'll fall for that childish story?"

Seol Jihu's eyes opened very wide.

"Three taboos? Another world?"

"That's right. Hyung, you also think it's just nonsense, right?"

Seol Jihu's eyes were withdrawn deeply now.

"Can you tell me more about those three taboos?"

"U-uhm, that is…."

Mmmm… The boy massaged his temples before carrying on.

"Okay. First, never go towards the voice coming out from the fog. Second, never go where the hand is beckoning you. Third, if you see people wearing grey clothes, don't go near and run away. Those are the three taboos."

"Who told you about those? Was it your parents?"

"My parents told me, but I think the village head asked them to tell us. I know everything, you see."

"Can you tell me where the village head lives?"

That question immediately caused the boy to stop answering diligently and signs of hesitation reappeared on his face again.

"Uhm… W-why?"

"I wish to stop by and talk to him about something. I can't?"

"Well, it's not like you can't, but…."

The boy's voice became progressively smaller.

"If you want to ask for more reward money, then…."

"Reward?"

Seol Jihu finally figured out why the other villagers were behaving so oddly towards him and his teammates.

"No, that's definitely not it. The amount of reward money is set in stone the moment I accepted the request, you know. So, you don't have to worry about that, okay?"

"….Really?"

The boy asked with a pair of bright, innocent eyes. Seol Jihu could only sigh inwardly.

"Of course. I promise it's the truth."

Soon the boy told him the directions, and Seol Jihu moved towards his next destination. The abode of the village head was a proper house with scale-like tiles added to the walls, quite different from the mud huts of other villagers.

More importantly, though – it didn't have any color in 'Nine Eyes'.

Seol Jihu's eyes narrowed to a slit.

'Man, this is so frustrating.'

If only he knew what this 'no color' thing could mean. That would make his life so much easier. But, what could he do? Gula told him to stop dreaming of unlocking that part so easily, after all.

Regardless, this was the first place that didn't shine in green within this village. He wasn't sure whether this would lead him to anywhere or not, but he'd lose nothing by finding out.

He climbed up the short stairs and knocked on the front door. He heard a soft cough and the door was slowly opened, revealing an old man with a thick head of white hair, his wrinkle-covered eyes growing wider.

"Who might you be, young man?"

"Ah, hello there. I'm the guy who accepted your subjugation request this time."

The village head let out a soft groan when he heard Seol Jihu's introduction.

"Ah, I see. I beg your pardon. I've been having health issues lately, and I couldn't come personally to receive you."

"Oh, no. It's fine. Besides that, I'd like to have a word with you about something. I only need a moment."

"M-mm. If it's about the rewards, we don't have much to discuss here, I believe…."

The village head continued on.

"Truthfully, the majority of the money for the request rewards come from the support funds provided by the kingdom. If you wish for additional rewards, I fear it'd be more productive to speak to the kingdom's officials, instead. Haramark's royals are known to favor the Earthlings, so it could be the best solution for both sides."

Maybe this wasn't his first time, because the village head recited his words as if he had them memorized to the very last letter.

"Actually, I'm not here for the talk of additional rewards. I'm here to ask you about a couple of things regarding this request, instead."

"Mm? If you mean the contents of the request, in the night fog zone, you will….."

"I'm sorry for stopping you there, but I know all about those. What I'd like to ask you about is something else."

"Y-you want to ask me something? An Earthling wants to ask me?"

"Yes."

The village head looked very, very surprised then.

"Huh… What an odd development this is."

The village head tilted his head as if he couldn't understand anything and muttered softly to himself after lightly coughing to clear his throat.

"You're the second one, since that man, Like 'em Titties."

"….Eh? You like what now?"

Seol Jihu couldn't help but doubt his own hearing.

"Ahh, that. There was another Earthling who came to see me, wanting to talk to me about the request as well. I thought he and I were about the same age, and because his name was so unique that I ended up remembering him."

"What… what did you say his name was?"

"Like 'em Titties. He said that his surname was Titties and his given name was Like 'em. Well, I let it be since he told me that it was a common name in the world he came from. He sure was a funny man, that guy."

"…."

Seol Jihu thought that the village head might start ripping Ian's beard off after learning the truth. He only regained his wits after seeing the village head turn around.

"In any case, please come in. We're a poor village, so we can't treat you well, but as a client, I can certainly talk to you about the request."

Finally being let inside, Seol Jihu settled down on a chair the village head pulled out for him. The décor itself was pretty bare-bones, but there were books aplenty in the bookshelf. He did his best not to look around too much, though.

Because, he was acutely aware of how uncomfortable the villagers felt about the Earthlings overall, that was why.

'I should leave right after asking the questions.'

"So, what would you like to ask me?"

Seol Jihu quickly organized his thoughts when the village head settled down in front of him. He had spotted more than a few suspicious points when he went through all the records. If some of his questions could be answered, then he just knew that he'd find that elusive clue, a thread to unravel this mystery once and for all.

"From what I know, there had been around twenty subjugation requests issued so far. And the whole thing started from quite a while ago, as well."

"That sounds about right."

"And the request is always been issued by you, the village head."

"That's correct."

At that moment….

"If that's the case,"

Seeing the village head keep agreeing without holding anything back, Seol Jihu's eyes began gleaming elegantly.

"Please take a look at this."

He pulled out a piece of a document from his inner pocket and presented it before the old man.

…Towards the elderly man with no color coming off of him.

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