novelReturn (3)
| ← Ch.095 | Ch.097 → |
"My dearest customer, how can I help you today?"
As soon as Yong-Ho entered the virtual space of the Dungeon Market, he heard a voice. As he opened his eyes, Sitri greeted him with a bright smile as usual.
It was something he experienced every time he saw her, but it truly was stunningly beautiful
Catalina and Ophelia were also beautiful, but they seemed different. While the two of them still felt like people, Citri had the feeling of some sort of mystical being, like a angel or a goddess, rather than a person.
Like a masterpiece or a sculpture created by a master in the pursuit of perfect beauty.
But there was natural emotions and expressions added to it.
Yong-Ho stared at Sitri for a moment, and Sitri tilted her head in response to Yong-Ho's slightly different gaze.
"My dearest customer?"
"It's been a long time."
He responded with a smile. Sitri tilted her head again, but only for a moment. She then immediately smiled again and waved her finger. A chair for Yong-Ho rose from the floor.
There was quite a distance between Yong-Ho and Sitri. It was close enough to easily allow a conversation, but it wasn't enough to enable them to reach each other. So Yong-Ho was able to see Sitri's full body in front of him. Not just her, but the pure white world that she had created.
It was because of Gusion.
His conversation with Gusion had given him quite a different perspective.
Yong-Ho consciously buried himself a little more into the back of the chair. Gusion's voice and expression, when talking about Sitri, rang in his head.
'If she had... or if she'd done it a little better... he might not have died. '
The number of feelings contained within Gusion's words were uncountable.
Anger, sorrow, pain and hatred were all mixed within a single terrifying emotion.
Why was Mammon, the King of Greed, dead?
Why did he suddenly disappear?
'It's too early. It would be better if you never had to know. '
Gusion then became silent. He added a few words about Sitri, but he didn't mention again about Mammon's death.
Gusion said that Sitri was one of Mammon's women.
But it was never that simple.
She was one of the two people who could say that they received Mammon's true love.
The other, of course, was Elune, the one who cut the night
'I'm not going to hurt you. It sounds strange... but you are the successor. The true successor who has emerged after more than a thousand years. '
That was what Gusion had said.
Yong-Ho woke up from his thoughts and blinked. He almost screamed when he saw how close Sitri's face was. He could almost feel her breath.
"My dearest customer? Are you sick? I don't think that you have a fever."
Sitri raised her hand naturally and touched Yong-Ho's forehead.
It was an indescribable touch.
Yong-Ho controlled his breathing. He attempted to keep a straight face as he spoke.
"I'm a little tired. Here's a list of items that I would like to buy."
Sitri squinted her eyes as if she was slightly suspicious, but she accepted the document of light that Yong-Ho had formed in the air. Sitri sat down further away to a more suitable distance and reviewed the document of light.
"Interesting."
The purchase list contained the names of various spirits and materials. Among them, Sitri was particularly interested in the materials required to construct the 'Space Gate'.
"Are you planning to construct a space gate?"
"Yes, Kaiwan first started to build it. I'm going to finish it."
"Hmm."
Sitri turned her attention back to the document. Yong-Ho looked at Sitri and began to think.
Why did Kaiwan try to build a space gate?
It took an enormous amount of mana and a considerable amount of material to create it. Yong-Ho himself wanted the space gate because he needed to return to Ingye, but what was Kaiwan's reason?
"By the way."
Sitri opened her lips again. She asked with a subtle knowing smile.
"Do you clearly know how the space gate works?"
"What?"
Yong-Ho asked unknowingly. Instead of immediately answering, Sitri just expressed that she knew something.
The space gate that Yong-Ho knew was a two-way connection between two places.
It was a passageway to return to Ingye, Yong-Ho's hometown. A device that can freely create doors in space, which Catalina and Eligor previously opened incompletely.
"Don't look like that. If you complete the space gate, you'll be able to open a door back to Ingye. But, it's a little tougher than you might think."
Sitri waved her hand. One of the items in the document of light expanded and spread out within the air.
"This material is currently not in stock in the Southern branch. Although, I think there's some extra in my private warehouse, but... it's my own private collection."
Yong-Ho's mind felt complicated.
Was it because of what Sitri had said, about the supply of materials? It wasn't. It was about something else she had said.
And also what he had said.
Yong-Ho stretched his shoulders.
"Is there anything that you want from me?"
Sitri smiled brightly. Then, once again, narrowed the distance between them and spoke.
"Tell me. What happened in the free city. I heard that you defeated Agares."
Sitri was interested in Yong-Ho himself.
There was always a deep goodwill in her eyes.
Was it because, as Gusion had said, that Yong-Ho was Mammon's true successor?
'I don't know anything else, but it's clear that she was in love with Master. At least I believe so. That's what Elune had said. '
Yong-Ho recalled Gusion's voice again and then closed and opened his eyes. He began to talk about his experiences in the free city as lightly as possible.
Sitri was a good listener. She always gave a good response when it was required. Yong-Ho seemed to be skilled at bringing the story to life.
"That's how it happened."
After finishing the story, Yong-Ho exhaled a long breath. Although all he had done was talk, he now felt very tired.
Sitri showed a gentle smile. Instead of expressing her thoughts, she buried herself deeply into her chair and for a moment her lips parted and smiled like a young girl.
"I think we should keep our last promise. Do you remember what I said last time? Where I said that you should experience more of the world."
He couldn't forget it. Yong-Ho nodded.
"You mean the auction house."
"Yes, the auction house. A gathering place for many powerful people. There's an auction two days later, so the timing is great. What do you think? Would you like to participate?"
Sitri's beauty always caused him to be nervously tense, so he didn't immediately accept.
He felt a bit out of shape, but he asked what it would take.
"Is there anything like an entry fee? An amount that should be paid to the auction house in advance."
He asked since he had once read about an high-end auction house from a novel when he was younger. Sitri laughed loudly.
"There is, but I'll exempt you. That's what I promised. From what you're saying, I presume you've accepted."
Sitri stood up from her seat. She lowered herself in front of Yong-Ho's knees. She looked up at him and asked.
"To the Master of the great House of Mammon, would you give me the honor of placing my lips to the back of your hand?"
Although the typical position of man and woman had changed, Yong-Ho quickly reached out the back of his hand. Sitri gently held Yong-Ho's fingertips and placed her lips on the back of his hand. The softness of her lips felt like melting snow, quickly followed by a dizzying heat.
"Think of it as an admission ticket. It's your first time, so I'll escort you."
A pae red crest appeared on the back of Yong-Ho's hand. It was the familiar symbol of the Dungeon Market.
"One person can accompany you. I'll you up at night in two days time, so I'll see you then. I'll also ship your order."
Sitri went back to her seat.
And as if it were a sign, the whole white world around him collapsed.
The connection to the virtual space had been lost.
***
Just as he promised to Lucia, Yong-Ho took a rest.
However, it was only one day - in fact, just half a day.
As soon as the next morning dawned, Yong-Ho began to start the work that he had postponed.
Perhaps because of the trouble with the Orcs, who were led by Rikum all day, or simply due to his current low blood pressure, he began to meet with all the ministers along with Catalina, who had started to doze off.
The purpose of these meetings were listen to the grievances and hardships of each spirit and improve their working conditions, but the main purpose was different.
It was the evolution of the spirits.
Yong-Ho didn't just value Skull and the other main combat spirits. The spirits guarding the dungeon such as Rikum, the Orcs and the Treant were also very precious to him. Without the Golbin Rangers and Burgrim, Mammon's dungeon wouldn't be able to operate as efficiently.
While Yong-Ho advanced his evolution rate through warfare, the spirits who remained in the dungeon also increased their evolution rate in their own way. For the spirits of the House of Mammon, training at the spirits' training ground was now routine.
Among the spirits, the Goblin Rangers, who were now considered the seniors, had evolved to take advantage of their strengths.
Jon had strength, Ron had stamina, Yon had agility and Jun had her intellect.
It had been proven time and time again that the power of evolution had a certain amount of power to change aspects of ones appearance. The Goblin Rangers differed from the usual Hobgoblins. Not just their face, but their actual body shape now resembled more like a human.
Rikum and the other Orcs also benefited from the power of evolution.
Unlike the other Orcs, Rikum specialized in endurance. If Rikum were continue to grow, he might evolve into an Orc Emperor, the top Orc Warrior.
It took Yong-Ho a long time to meet each spirit. HIs mana also wasn't an infinite resource, so he was eager to rest.
However, he couldn't just that he was done for the day, especially with faced with earnest look of his spirits.
It was now Burgrim's turn.
After the Orcs evolved, he had been waiting for his turn with longing eyes, and he now finally stood in front of Yong-Ho.
He was nervous, but his face was hardened. Lucia whispered to Yong-Ho.
[Since his first evolution, he has been devoted to his work. Currenty, there is not a single thing within Mammon's dungeon that hasn't been touched by his hands. ]
[He almost lived within the training grounds. ]
Yong-Ho understood why Burgrim was so nervous.
Only Yong-Ho himself could see the evolution rate.
From Burgrim's position, it wasn't possible to know how much his evolution rate had progressed and how long it would take to fill up. It was best for him to just continue to train and work in silence.
How frustrating and irritable it must have been.
Still, it was a relief. Burgrim's evolution rate was now completely full.
Yong-Ho spoke to Burgrim.
"Well done. Close your eyes and stand still."
Burgrim had been watching the meetings from behind all this time. Burgrim tightly closed his eyes and gulped. Yong-Ho placed his hand on Burgrim's forehead and invoked the power of evolution.
Once again, he evolved the mana attribute.
Suddenly, there was a reaction. Yong-Ho felt Burgrim's mana. It was very small but it was clearly pulsating. Burgrim's mana pool had been reborn.
Burgrim also felt it.
He began to shed tears unknowingly.
It was a feeling that he had thought he would never feel again. But now he felt it. It felt like a light in the darkness, although it was small, it was like a dazzling star.
Burgrim knelt on the floor. He kowtowed to Yong-Ho several times in a row.
Yong-Ho raised him up. He ordered him to go back and rest since he was currently overwhelmed with emotion.
[Now we can create magical equipment. ]
[Congratulations, Master. ]
It was as Lucia had said. However, Yong-Ho didn't feel much joy in that fact. It was because now that Burgrim had recovered his mana, he had now regained his purpose in life, which caused Yong-Ho to feel far more profound.
Yong-Ho happily sat down on his throne. He then began to talk with Yuria and Spot, who approached him after being surprised by the weeping Burgrim.
The evolution of Spot was simple, but Yuria's evolution was not so easy. This was because he wanted to give her the characteristics absorbed by Agares.
In the end, Yong-Ho couldn't help but have a break.
And by the evening. With the last spirit in front of him, Yong-Ho finally had a smile on his face.
"Uh... Master?"
Eligor faced Yong-Ho's smile with shaking eyes. Unlike the other spirits, Yong-Ho didn't have to wonder how to evolve Eligor.
After evolving into the Red Demon Beast, Eligor had also worked hard. Even in the absense of Ophelia, he had continually cultivated his martial arts.
Yong-Ho spoke with a natural expression.
"Eligor's evolution route was set out by Ophelia. You want to evolve your stamina? You're still weak in your lower back and lower body. Oh, and Ophelia says hello."
There wasn't any choice. Eligor fondly remembered Ophelia, who had first twisted his arm and then kindly called him brother He gently closed his eyes and accepted the power of evolution.
Another day had passed.
For the first time since absorbing Agares's spirit, Yong-Ho, who had exhausted all his mana, slept in. While Catalina, who had also overslept, rejoiced in her bliss.
There was no exaggeration to say that the person to accompany Yong-Ho to the auction house had been decided from the beginning.
Yong-Ho, who was dressed in a sharp demon suit, one of the few heirlooms of the Mammon family, looked around. Just like when he had first met her, Catalina wore a beautiful dress and tried to look cool, as if she was attempting to go back to that time.
[People from the Dungeon Market have arrived in front of the dungeon's entrance. ]
It was the news they were waiting for.
Yong-Ho, who was already waiting in the entrance room, took a deep breath. He looked around at Catalina again.
"Shall we go?"
"Yes, Master."
As Yong-Ho waved his hand, Lucia opened the entrance to the dungeon.
They were greeted with the spilling moonlight.
Just as it was a long time ago, in the age of the King of Greed.
| ← Ch. 095 | Ch. 097 → |