The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 199

Chapter 199

Chapter 199 . Paradise and Earth (5)

When they arrived at the palace, Teresa who was eagerly waiting for their arrival skipped down the stairs with feathery steps .

“W . e . l . c . o . m . e!”

Teresa was just as bubbly and lively as ever, alleviating the mood of those around her . Seol Jihu was able to smile, thanks to her .

“It’s been a while, Princess . ”

“Yes, it has!”

Letting out a short ‘hmph’, Teresa lightly nudged Seol Jihu’s side with her elbow .

“I heard you came back from Earth . I thought you’d come see me at least once, but never mind your face, I haven’t seen even a single strand of your hair! How could you do this to me?”

When Teresa gave a sidelong glance like a maiden who had been wronged, Seol Jihu smiled awkwardly .

“I was too focused on recovering . I would have fallen into despair if the temporary drop in my stats had turned permanent . ”

Then, he let out a quiet sigh .

“Plus…”

When he couldn’t continue his words, Teresa looked dejected as well . As she was the one who was behind King Prihi’s visit, she knew about the situation very well .

“… . ”

With Seol Jihu’s complexion being so dark, she wasn’t sure what to say .

Her worry preceded everything else . Given that he lived through a huge war, he had every right to enjoy some time in peace and happiness . But he was being tormented by all sorts of schemes the moment he recovered .

Never mind being praised, this was his reward for risking his life to fight on the frontlines . Teresa didn’t know how to apologize .

“Thank you for your help . ”

Teresa smiled bitterly . She had no way of knowing what Seol Jihu was feeling on the inside as he thanked her for her help .

“Don’t be . I only did what I should . ”

To Haramark, Seol Jihu was a benefactor who saved them from destruction . Since he committed his life to protect them, it was only right that the Royal Family protected him as well . Even if it meant they had to make enemies with a certain place .

“Don’t worry about it too much . The Royal Family, and even Sicilia, the Triads, and other influential organizations, are working on this problem with haste . We plan to hire outsiders to enact tough countermeasures, so the matter should blow by without a problem . ”

‘The Triads?’

Seol Jihu’s eyes widened, not knowing that even the Triads had stepped up . Teresa continued with confidence .

“Even though the Temple of Luxuria is the most influential organization after the Magician’s Guild, they aren’t able to touch the Royal Families easily . Now that things have turned out like this, take the opportunity and take a long break . You know, cool your head a bit . ”

“Thank you! I’ll accept your hospitality, then . ”

Seol Jihu readily accepted the Royal Family’s goodwill . Teresa leaned forward and asked .

“Have you eaten?”

Seol Jihu shook his head . He was signaling that he didn’t want to eat .

“How about a bath? Or…”

“No . ”

Seol Jihu spoke calmly .

“If it’s okay, can you prepare a quiet room for me?”

Teresa’s smile shriveled . Seol Jihu felt a bit sorry, but he didn’t change his words . It wasn’t that he didn’t know Teresa’s intentions, but the shock from reading the records had yet to disappear .

He needed some time to organize his thoughts .

“Of course . Follow me, I’ll guide you . ”

Teresa maintained her cheerful smile and tugged on Seol Jihu’s hand . She then cut through the palace corridor while linking her arms with Seol Jihu’s and chit-chatting away .

As the duo slowly went away, Prihi muttered a ‘hmm’ while crossing his arms .

“I thought she’d at least tell me that I did a good job . ”

He glanced at Jan Sanctus, who was standing behind him, then smacked his lips .

“I thought the same thing with Olivia, but raising a daughter really is meaningless . You take note of this too . ”

“But they’re a wonderful pair, are they not?”

The general’s monotonous reply made the king a bit flustered .

“This is the first time I’ve heard you say something like that . Did Teresa bribe you with something?”

“No, not at all . ”

“This is a royal command . Speak the truth . ”

“…She promised to support and push for military expansion of armored foot soldiers . ”

Jan Sanctus stealthily averted his gaze . Seeing this, Prihi gave a bitter smile .

*

Seol Jihu barely regained peace after escaping to the palace . But just because the situation had mellowed, it didn’t mean that he was comfortable internally .

Teresa had told him not to worry about it, but he had suffered too much to accept that the assault would end . While things may have quieten down for the moment, but there was no guarantee that a similar thing wouldn’t happen again .

Moreover, his Golden Rule didn’t let him gloss over this matter .

He was angry, and he should be .

The question was how he could express this anger .

Due to the sheer scale of the incident, he knew it would be impossible to alleviate the situation by beating a couple of people up like he did in the Banquet .

As such, Seol Jihu spent his days quietly in the room Teresa assigned him . He left only when he would smoke a cigarette . And when Teresa eventually brought him an ashtray, he stayed cooped up in his room smoking constantly .

Teresa went in and out of his room, making sure that he wasn’t bothered by her, and Seol Jihu only expressed his gratitude each time and didn’t say much else .

“…He never tells me to stay for a while . ”

Having just brought him a drink, Teresa pouted . Pretending to go back, she stood in front of the door and peeked inside .

Doesn’t his throat hurt? Seol Jihu had a cigarette in his mouth every time she came over . The way he slowly closed his eyes from time to time, he seemed to be thinking deeply about something .

Soon, when Seol Jihu opened his eyes, a blue glint glimmered in his pupils . He stared at the records as if he planned to devour it .

Teresa, who was sneaking a peek at Seol Jihu, gulped . She really wanted to talk to him…

‘Scary… . ’

But he was exuding a do-not-approach aura that made her turn back .

*

It wasn’t until dinner time that Teresa found a good reason to visit him again .

“A guest?”

“Yes, he says he really wants to meet you . ”

Teresa spoke with a big grin .

“He’s waiting in the dining hall . It’s dinner time, so why don’t you go eat?”

“I—”

“He’s someone you know very well . ”

Seol Jihu found Teresa difficult to say no to, especially after she put it this way . Although he never agreed to meet with this guest, he technically didn’t have a reason to refuse . Moreover, he knew Teresa wouldn’t have told him about this guest if it was better to not meet him .

Seol Jihu had mostly finished organizing his thoughts and came to a resolution . As such, he left his room without unnecessary remarks .

When he went to the dining hall, he saw a man standing in front of a painting hanging on the wall, with his hands clasped behind his lower back .

When Seol Jihu saw the grey scarf around his neck and his thick black coat, he immediately recognized the familiar figure .

“Mister Hao Win?”

The man turned around . Although his eyes couldn’t be seen because of the black sunglasses he was wearing, the cheerful smile on his face was without a doubt, that of Hao Win’s .

“It’s been a while, eh?”

Hao Win spoke somewhat playfully and approached Seol Jihu . Meeting halfway, the two men grabbed each other’s hand .

“You look like a million dollars . You’re giving off a completely different vibe than what you did in the Neutral Zone . ”

“Mister Hao Win… I didn’t expect to see you here at all . ”

“You must think this is the first time since the Banquet…”

Hao Win nimbly lowered his sunglasses and continued .

“But I’ve seen you a few times after that . I came to see you about four times while you were in the intensive care unit . You didn’t know, right?”

No, actually he did . Seol Jihu clearly remembered Hao Win coming to visit him when his consciousness was awake .

“I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard you woke up . I planned to find a good time to go see you, but when I did, you had already gone back to Earth . ”

“I did go back in a bit of a hurry…”

Seol Jihu and Hao Win sat around the table and chatted about all sorts of things . Meanwhile, all kinds of delicacies were placed on the table .

“Please ring the bell if you need anything . ”

Teresa, who had changed into a noblewoman’s dress, carefully placed a small bell on the table . Then, she walked back elegantly after a graceful bow .

Hao Win let out a muffled giggle .

“That princess… haha, she’s too much into role-playing . ”

“Role-playing?”

Seeing Seol Jihu tilt his head, Hao Win clicked his tongue .

“I thought you were a sunflower, but it seems you have a taste for the arts . Well, that’s not such a bad thing . ”

“?”

“No need to play dumb . You’re being treated like the royal son-in-law . My intuition is flawless when it comes to relationships . You should know about this, no?”

While Seol Jihu maintained a confused look, Hao Win whistled as he looked at the table .

“Anyways, this is a treatment that I didn’t expect in the slightest . It’s almost making me uncomfortable!”

“You already had dinner?”

“No, but the things I’m about to tell you might upset your stomach . ”

Only after hearing this did Seol Jihu have some inkling of an idea of what Hao Win was here for . He replied with a dull smile .

“It’s fine . My stomach is pretty strong . ”

“That’s great to hear . Then let’s eat first . I’ve been running around like a headless chicken since yesterday . I’m starving!”

With a playful comment, Hao Win picked up his knife and fork .

The dinner continued in a jovial atmosphere . With great food and a great companion, swallowing food was easy even without an appetite .

The duo’s conversation started from the Neutral Zone and continued to the war . Only when their meal was coming to an end did they finally get to the main point .

“You did well in holding yourself back at the pub . ”

Hao Win took out a piece of paper after rinsing his mouth with wine .

It was an information news report .

—The True Nature of Seol Jihu, Haramark’s War Hero and Carpe Diem’s Leader .

Seol Jihu looked up after reading the title . Hao Win, who was patting his mouth with a napkin, curled the corner of his mouth up .

“That night, one of my family members was at the pub too . ”

“… . ”

“He’s a clever one . He relayed the situation to me in real-time, and I instantly had a bad feeling . I contacted Sicilia to ask for cooperation, then scoured the streets thinking that an information broker should be nearby . ”

Hao Win then pointed at the paper .

“That’s the result of our investigation . There was a whole box full of it . Give it a read . ”

Seol Jihu’s eyes headed to the news report once again .

—The Royal Family and several influential organizations of Haramark are defending Seol Jihu, but it is true that criticisms are very one-sided .

Traditionally, truths of a case require both sides of the story . Perhaps, Earthlings and Paradisians alike, are looking at Seol Jihu through rose-colored glasses due to his title as Haramark’s War Hero .

This reporter found the Earthling who claims to have been threatened and beaten that day by Carpe Diem .

The bedridden man trembled in terror whenever he recalls the incident, but I barely managed to convince him under the condition that his identity would be kept secret .

To deliver a truthful account of the incident, below is the transcript of the interview:

Q) I heard you picked a fight with them first .

A) Yes, I admit this . But, there’s something I want to say . It isn’t as if I’m crazy or as if I didn’t know how many High Rankers Carpe Diem had . Would I have picked a fight for no reason?

Q) That sounds like there was a reason you provoked them .

A) That’s right . It’s true that I provoked them first, but there was a reason . When I first saw them, I sat at my table and just watched them . I didn’t have any ill feelings .

Q) I’m curious about this reason .

A) I participated in the war too, and I’m thankful that they fought in the frontlines to push the enemy back . But weren’t we comrades who both risked our lives to fight a common enemy? I acknowledge their achievements, but it was hard to bear listening to them belittle the people who fought alongside them .

Q) Belittle? Did you just say ‘belittle’?

A) They treated their fellow Earthlings like fools and said we should kowtow to them since they saved our lives . Is that not belittling? I participated in that war following my principles, but hearing them talk like they were the only ones who fought in this war made me feel aggrieved .

Q) People at the pub have testified that you went too far in insulting them .

A) I know that . I’m not saying that what I did or said was right . I know I made a mistake . But when I remembered my friends who died in this war, with whom I shared years of joys and sorrows… I suddenly snapped . That’s why I said it . I was drunk too . I’m self-reflecting for the foul language I used, but…

The man couldn’t continue any longer, and this writer paused the interview . While I was listening to the man’s story, my head automatically recalled Sung Shihyun .

In a way, Sung Shihyun and Seol Jihu are very similar . Not only in that they’re from the same Area, but also in the way they act . Everyone is sure of Sung Shihyun’s abilities, but his cruel personality and imperious arrogance are… .

“…Public matters are public and private matters are private . Of course, the truth of the matter hasn’t been revealed yet… . ”

Seol Jihu crumpled the paper without reading any further .

“You can rip it up if you’d like . ”

Chwak! Seol Jihu tore the paper in half immediately . After tearing and tearing again until the paper was reduced to tiny pieces, Seol Jihu gave a bland smile .

“So this is how they planned to sell the story . ”

“It’s the power of words, my friend . ”

Hao Win shrugged .

“As you know, your name value, which was already on the rise, has skyrocketed after this war . It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that even the heavens and the universe would have heard of your name . Do you know how people evaluate you now?”

Seol Jihu shook his head . Although he had seen his new alias and had some idea, he had never paid much attention to it .

“A mysterious, almost magical Earthling who has been making incredible achievements from a low level . An Irregular from Area 1, whose achievements in the Neutral Zone and the Banquet are highly praised . These are the general evaluations . ”

Hao Win then chuckled loudly .

“I don’t know who’s behind this, but they’re quite amusing! They tried to unveil your mysteriousness through a fight at a pub that would happen anytime in everyday life, and then they even tried to overlay Sung Shihyun’s infamy onto yours… . Haha, I’d really like to look at the person behind this piece of work!”

“… . ”

“Well, don’t worry about it too much . We managed to secure the news report before they went out and passed the information to the Assassins’ Guild before coming here . Sicilia also confirmed that those four haven’t participated in the war, so a news report talking about this should come out soon . When that happens, they won’t be able to touch you for a while . ”

Hao Win, who was nodding his head, suddenly let out a deep sigh .

“Well, only for a while . ”

“…Thank you . ”

Seol Jihu expressed his gratitude, but he didn’t look so grateful . Now, even having to say thanks annoyed him .

Everyone else was doing their best for him, but he was stuck in the palace unable to do a thing .

He felt a different kind of helplessness than when he faced Undying Diligence .

‘Is this the power of an organization that goes beyond a team…?’

“No need to thank me . I had fun in the Neutral Zone thanks to you, and I’m not the type to turn a blind eye when my close friend is in trouble . Did you think I couldn’t do this little thing for you?”

With that, Hao Win sighed deeply and put on his coat .

“There’s also the help I received in the Banquet, so I wanted to repay my debts before I left . Think of this as a parting gift . ”

Seol Jihu’s eyes widened .

“Parting gift…? You’re leaving?”

“Yep, it’s been decided not too long ago . The Triads will be leaving Haramark . ”

Hao Win spoke as if it wasn’t a big deal, but Seol Jihu knew that it wasn’t an easy thing for an organization with influence over an area to move their base of operation .

This was an important scoop!

Seol Jihu blinked his eyes, not knowing what to say . At that moment, Hao Win opened his mouth .

“Anyways, I’m glad . ”

“About what?”

“What I just told you about . I was worried you’d say, ‘Ei~ Do we need to go that far?’”

Was he talking about publishing the counter news report? Understanding as such, Seol Jihu asked to clear his confusion .

“…Is there a reason I would refuse?”

“Of course . Enduring an injustice makes you a person, but enduring a loss makes you a pushover . ”

Hao Win put on his scarf and got up .

“Why don’t we go on a walk? To digest what we just ate and for a little smoke break . ”

When Seol Jihu looked up vacantly—

“…Plus, there’s something I have to ask you before I leave . ”

Hao Win’s voice suddenly got deeper .

Not something he has to say, but something he has to ask .

Though similar, there was a slight difference in nuance .

Seol Jihu got up as though he was entranced .

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