novel
| ← Ch.254 | Ch.256 → |
Ellen dripped in tears. She looked at the elder, Tude, and gave him a warm smile.
"I understand how you felt, " said Ellen.
Tude wiped his tears away and looked back at Ellen.
As soon as he saw Ellen's eyes, he had to actively hold back his tears.
"No, Your Highness. No way. There's no way I can let you take the blame for something that I've done."
"Elder Tude..."
"What do you think you're doing?! I've betrayed Ellen. Go on and punish me according to the dark elves' law..."
"Elder Tude! The law is surely ours, but regarding this incident, the outsider has full control. Please calm down..."
The elder, Tude, was not in his right mind.
The possibility of Ellen being killed for his mistake, or for all of them to go to war because of him and have Ellen get killed broke the elder's heart.
The elder, Tude, crawled on all fours. He grabbed onto Min Sung's pants and looked up at him.
"This is all my fault! Outsider, don't you already know this? You dragged me here yourself, so you know the situation best! Not Ellen. Please. I'll do whatever you ask. If you want me to die, I will. If you want to torture me, I'll endure it."
Ellen, as well as the other elders and dark elves, stared at Tude with troubled eyes.
He had always been wiser than anyone, but all they could see at the moment was not the honorable elder but just an old dark elf.
Min Sung looked down at him and knitted his brows.
"You're not going to follow your own rules?" Min Sung asked Ellen.
At this point, Ellen couldn't be stubborn either.
The outsider had decided how the incident would be handled.
The death of the elder, Tude.
Since the elder, Tude, confessed to his crime himself, the conclusion was obvious.
Ellen called another elder nearby and commanded him to call the troops for punishment.
One of the dark elf soldiers tied Tude's body up with rope, and two other soldiers stood on either side of him with crows in their hands.
"Do you have any last words?" Ellen asked.
The elder, Tude, was unable to lift his head.
"I have no words, Ellen."
Ellen swallowed her tears and said, "Please forgive me... as I have no power here."
Ellen looked at Tude with dark eyes and slowly raised her hand.
It was a signal.
As soon as she lowered her hand, The man who took care of her like a parent ever since she was little would be killed.
Ellen closed her eyes and tears dripped from it.
As soon as she lowered her hand...
Grab!
She felt someone grab her wrist which caused her to flinch and open her eyes.
Ellen looked at the person who was holding her wrist.
It was none other than Min Sung Kang's party, Ho Sung Lee, who was being treated after a major injury.
Ellen looked at Ho Sung Lee in shock, and Ho Sung Lee was glancing over at Min Sung.
Ho Sung Lee opened his mouth.
"Sir, I know they tried to set us up with the item that we were promised... But it's not hard to understand them either."
"So?" Min Sung asked.
"Please forgive him."
In response to the unexpected request, Ellen, the elders, and the dark elves stared at Ho Sung Lee with widened eyes.
"If you think about it, it makes sense that they tried to do such a thing. It's not hard to understand. If we were in their shoes, would we have been able to hand it over so easily?"
"..."
"And if you kill him, that could taint your reputation as well."
"..."
Min Sung stared at the elder, Tude, who was ready to die.
"Now that we have the ancient document, I don't think it's necessary to go this far, but this is just my opinion. Please don't get me wrong. You will make the final decision, and I won't go against whatever you decide to do."
Ho Sung Lee watched for Min Sung's response with Ellen's wrist still in his hand.
Min Sung took turns looking at Ellen, the elder, Tude, the other elders, and the dark elves and took a moment to think.
He took a while, and the dark elves grew anxious at what Min Sung would say next.
And then finally...
Min Sung opened his mouth.
"... Okay, fine. But that's it. If you irritate me one more time, it won't end with just one life lost."
In response, Ho Sung Lee closed his eyes. He let out a sigh of relief and let go of Ellen's wrist.
At the same time, the dark elves also sighed.
***
Ellen looked at Ho Sung Lee as if she couldn't understand him.
The air around them felt awkward.
But the elders and dark elves looked different from Ellen, and it wasn't something that was hard to understand.
Just like he had said, they were nothing but plunderers who trespassed into the dark elves' fortress and took their ancient document.
So they weren't so fond of them.
But Beatrice followed the law of the jungle.
For that reason, the generosity of those with power meant a lot.
Min Sung Kang showed them mercy, and the dark elves realized that.
But behind it was shame and humiliation.
It couldn't be helped.
He had no intention of saying nonsense that wouldn't even comfort them and simply come off as abuse of power.
If no one got hurt, that was all that mattered.
And it was possible that Min Sung also wanted it to end this way.
After all, he didn't like things that were troublesome.
"Thank you. You saved us."
Ho Sung Lee looked at Ellen.
She was expressing her gratitude with genuine sincerity.
Her gratitude made him feel ashamed.
Although they took the ancient document because they won the battle, they were still nothing but trespassers and plunderers.
But just like how carnivores preyed on herbivores, they were under similar circumstances in Beatrice.
They had to succumb to the way things were.
He had many things he wanted to say, but he kept it inside.
***
Once they got back to their dwelling, Min Sung sat under the shade and took a rest.
Since he was a powerful hunter with good-looks, it was quite the sight.
If his personality was a little nicer, he would've been popular with the ladies.
'Too bad. '
Ho Sung Lee approached Min Sung while leading two horses his way.
"Sir, I brought the horses. I just asked for them and they immediately offered."
"As they should."
Min Sung got up. He scanned one of the horses and got on top of it.
"Huh? Are we leaving now?"
"Why? Is there a problem?"
"Oh, it's not that, but it's almost dinner time."
"Let's get out of here first. I don't like it here, " Min Sung replied while scanning his surroundings with a grimace.
Ho Sung Lee dripped in a cold sweat and smiled bitterly.
"Yes, Sir."
The dark elves opened the doors to the fortress so that Min Sung's party could comfortably exit.
While Ellen, the elders, and the dark elf soldiers watched by, Ho Sung Lee was overcome with an uncomfortable feeling.
But unlike him, Min Sung looked to be just fine.
He did always have a poker face, but he looked especially goal-oriented today.
'That's not a bad thing though. '
Ho Sung Lee lit a cigarette and sighed with the smoke.
As someone who went around such a dangerous place with that pain, the fact that he didn't have his own colors hinted that he was incapable.
'... I failed again. '
He failed to prove his abilities as Min Sung's supporter.
He was praised, but that was pretty much a warning telling him to take better care of his own life in a dangerous place like Beatrice.
He knew that fact all so well.
But when considering Min Sung's original personality, he had changed a lot.
"Stop, " Min Sung said while pulling on the reigns.
Min Sung stopped his horse not far from the fortress.
Ho Sung Lee assumed Min Sung wanted to stop for a meal since they were out of the fortress, but he was wrong.
Min Sung called Ssol.
"Bring the ancient document."
In response, Ssol immediately took out the ancient document from his golden pouch and handed it over to Min Sung.
Min Sung used his levitation ability to pull the ancient document through the air right into his hands.
***
[Quest Cleared. ]
[You've acquired the ancient document. ]
[You'll be rewarded greatly. ]
[Your honor has gone up. ]
[The Dionysus Gods are very interested in you. ]
[Your reward has been deposited. ]
[You have a total of 237, 000 points. ]
[You've acquired a divination sign. ]
[Congratulations. You've acquired the power certification. ]
'Power Certification?'
While Min Sung wondered what that was, the system windows rang like crazy.
[The Dionysus Gods are shocked that you acquired the power certification. ]
[Some of the gods are beginning to grow scared of you. ]
[Your number of views have skyrocketed. ]
[Your reputation has gone up. ]
Min Sung knitted his brows at the noisy system messages.
Since they were nothing but the gods overreacting, he ignored them and opened his item window.
Just like the messages described, he saw a divination sign in his item window.
There was a total of 8 divination signs, and it was an item that could stop the growth of the Iris Tree on earth, which connected them to Beatrice.
Since there was no point in saving it, Min Sung immediately touched a divination sign.
As soon as he did, the divination sign disappeared like sand, and he saw a system message confirming that the Iris tree was under restraint.
| ← Ch. 254 | Ch. 256 → |