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Chapter 206

Chapter 206 . Seol Jihu Faithfully Plants Flags Today As Always





Seol Jihu dragged his lucky charm, or rather Flone, to the library as soon as he heard her story . Like the adage, ‘there is a way out even if the sky falls’, Seol Jihu was quick to move once he had a plan .

The Pagoda of Infection .

This was the place that Flone pointed out as where the Rothschear family’s sacred artifact was hidden .

Burning with fervor, Seol Jihu searched every corner of the library for a few days and gathered a good amount of information .

And the result was truly unnerving .

—REDACTED .

“…What’s this?”

It wasn’t difficult to find information regarding the Pagoda of Infection . The problem was that every single record cut off after a few pages with the word ‘REDACTED’ .

Even an idiot would realize that the latter content was deleted . Seol Jihu had checked dozens of history records, including records of unofficial history, yet information regarding this place had been removed without exception .

It was as if all of Paradise had come together and promised to keep silent .

But from all the records he read, he was able to gather two pieces of information .

—The Emperor feared the (REDACTED) attacking the Empire and devised a special measure . That is to erase the (REDACTED)’s existence altogether .

And .

—After that day, the Empire and all of its subsidiary countries moved quickly . They arrested anyone who talked about (REDACTED) on the streets and went beyond keeping the secret under wraps to redacting all information regarding it… .

“…Man . ”

Seol Jihu smacked his lips after reading just a few lines . He didn’t have a good feeling about this .

He investigated the Rothschear family’s secrets just in case, and it was just as he thought . He couldn’t find a single record related to the Pagoda of Infection .

—Rothschear, one of the four duke families who founded the Empire . They serve the Goddess of Chastity .

—Castitas, the Goddess of Chastity, bestowed the family with the sacred artifact, the Spear of Purity, which housed the elemental spirit, Arcus . The family thus came to be called the Spear of the Empire, and as the name suggests, they always stood at the frontlines of war to combat outside enemies .

—They are said to be protected by a mythical guardian Phoenix that symbolizes joy .

Getting confirmation about the Rothschear family’s background and the existence of the Spear of Purity were the only gains .

Seol Jihu asked Flone about the Pagoda of Infection, but she only said, ‘Huh? What’s that? I have never heard of it before . ’

The fact that Flone had never heard about it could only mean that the Emperor’s measures had been successful .

‘The Pagoda of Infection . ’

Just its name exuded all sorts of trouble .

‘I doubt it’s talking about a simple contagious disease…’

There were more than a few suspicious points, but Seol Jihu had no thoughts of reconsidering his plans .

He had to go .

This was the opportunity he had been waiting for . If he gave up now, elevating Carpe Diem to an organization would truly become a hopeless dream .

Though even the Emperor of the ancient Empire had been wary of this place…

‘Let’s face it head on . ’

Seol Jihu walked forward, shaking off his fears .

**

After returning to Carpe Diem’s office, Seol Jihu fell into deep thought . Setting aside the matter of conquering the Pagoda of Infection, just getting there was a problem .

The area in question was similar to the Forest of Denial in that it bordered the Parasites’, the Federation’s, and humanity’s territory .

Strictly speaking, though, it was closer to the Federation and humanity’s side .

‘I’ll need a Pathfinder for sure… . ’

A Pathfinder was indispensable as he could run into the Parasites at any time . It wasn’t as if he didn’t know any Archers, but Marcel Ghionea was poor at scouting and Yi Seol-Ah lacked experienced .

‘Warriors…’

Carpe Diem had a rather strong lineup of Warriors, including himself, Chohong, Phi Sora, and Hugo .

But that was only in terms of firepower .

In terms of scale and the size of their party, this trip to the Pagoda of Infection would be an expedition, not an exploration . And Seol Jihu had a strong feeling that simply being good at fighting would not be enough for this expedition .

This worry stemmed from his lack of information . To be more precise, he still had misgivings in his ability as a leader purely due to his inexperience .

He wanted an experienced, quick-witted veteran who could control Carpe Diem’s temperamental Warriors in case of an emergency .

It would be perfect if there was someone as skilled as Dylan . It wasn’t as if he couldn’t think of anyone . But he was hesitating because accepting an outsider’s help would mean he would need to return the favor .

Seol Jihu knew how incredible the result of this expedition would be, given that it hadn’t fallen into anyone’s hands . So he would be lying if he said he didn’t have any regrets about sharing the loot with outsiders .





‘What should I do?’

“BOO!”

While he was deep in thought, a shrill voice struck his ears . When Seol Jihu opened his eyes, he saw Chohong standing in front of him with her mouth open .

Seol Jihu laughed blandly .

“Having fun?”

“Bastard, you’re making me feel embarrassed . ”

Chohong took a step back and grumbled with a flushed face .

“What are you doing here all alone? You had your eyes closed and your arms crossed too . ”

“I think . ”

“Think?”

“Therefore I exist . ”

“Argh, cut the bullshit . ”

Chohong furrowed her brows .

“Why do you have to be like this? You’re such a turn-off sometimes, you know that?”

She fiddled with her fingers as she criticized him .

“But hey, please tell me you were thinking about our next mission . I don’t care if it’s a scouting mission or an exploration . ”

“You must be bored . ”

“Bored doesn’t even cut it . I’m about to flip from itching all over . Let’s go out, let some fresh air into our nostrils, beat up some monsters and have a change of pace . How about it?”

Chohong made a passionate speech while waving her hands .

Seol Jihu nodded his head calmly .

“I was just thinking about one . ”

“Oh? And this came from a trustworthy source?”

“More than trustworthy . ”

“I see…”

Chohong rubbed her hands together and giggled .

“Right, you’re not the type of person to just sit still . I thought you’d make your move soon . ”

Then, she suddenly spoke as if she just remembered something .

“Oh yeah, have you been to the palace?”

Seol Jihu furrowed his brows at her sudden mention of the palace .

“No? Why would I go there?”

“To get money . ”

“Money? From what? Participating in the war was mandatory . ”

“Not that . You hired those kids from Blood Line . ”

Only then did Seol Jihu go “Ah . ”

He remembered Teresa mentioning this . That he should look for mercenaries and that she would pay him back later .

Seol Jihu hesitated .

“I don’t know if it’s right to accept that money… I didn’t hire them out of my own pocket . ”

“That’s even better! You’d have extra money to spend . It’s true that Blood Line came to help, so there shouldn’t be any problem . ”

Chohong kept persuading him to take the money, but Seol Jihu seemed rather reluctant .

“I don’t think Haramark has spare money right now . ”

This wasn’t a baseless assumption . A war required an exorbitant amount of money to be spent . Now that the war was over, not only did Haramark have to rebuild the valley fortress, but they also had to pay out their war dues .

Even the military expansion Jan Sanctus asked for was in far reach .

“Oh right, there were talks about that recently . About how people haven’t received any money even though months have gone by since the war . Well, you’re the one who called Blood Line, so you do what you want . ”

Chohong shrugged .

Seol Jihu slowly rubbed his chin .

‘Again . ’





For some reason, when he thought about Teresa, his conflicted mind suddenly tilted to one side .

Right, it’s not like the inheritance is only in one place . Other than the one in the heart of the Empire where I obviously can’t go, there are still three other places .

Seol Jihu murmured before coming to a decision . Doing her a favor before leaving Haramark didn’t sound so bad .

Having made up his mind, Seol Jihu got up .

*

Seol Jihu went to find Kazuki straight away . It was to ask him to become the Pathfinder for the expedition .

When he gave a rough explanation of the situation, Kazuki unexpectedly agreed right away .

“Alright, I’ll go with you . ”

When Seol Jihu stared at him in a daze, Kazuki, who was reviewing the piece of paper with the terms and conditions of the temporary contract, raised his head .

“Ah, I haven’t had a lot to do recently . My team disbanded too . ”

It seemed Umi Tsubame broke up into pieces in the end . Well, since Kazuki joined hands with the Triads, it was unlikely that Japan Business Federation would have sat still .

“Also, isn’t this the first expedition you planned yourself?”

Was it?

Now that he thought about it, he had always followed others, accepted missions, or was dragged along forcefully . He had never decided alone .

In that sense, this was indeed Seol Jihu’s first expedition .

“I’m curious . I doubt an expedition planned by an Earthling of your caliber will be ordinary . Anyways, I don’t think following you will be a bad thing . ”

Kazuki’s clear praise made Seol Jihu smile bashfully .

“Thank for trusting me . ”

Kazuki stared at the smiling Seol Jihu with a somewhat bitter look . Soon, he suddenly chuckled .

“I don’t sense any feelings of entitlement from you . That’s why I can trust you . ”

With that, Kazuki flicked the paper .

“Anyways, about these terms . ”

“Yes . ”

“Artifacts will be distributed according to the class of the participants . This is all good, but…”

Kazuki’s eyes narrowed slightly .

“Artifacts that do not conform to any class and artifacts that carry holy power will belong to Seol Jihu . ”

Distribution of loot generally followed a 1/Nth rule . With the exception of artifacts, this basic rule of Paradise applied to even porters .

Of course, Seol Jihu rightfully deserved more of the cut, seeing as how he was the one who planned the entire expedition, but he wasn’t even saying he would pay a small price for the right to those items, which would be the norm . Rather, he was asking for an absolute ownership over them .

“Can you give me a more detailed explanation?”

“Mm… sure, it’s an open secret anyways . ”

It wasn’t that Kazuki was being greedy, and since Seol Jihu knew this was Paradise’s rule, he revealed his inner thoughts openly .

After hearing his explanation, Kazuki went “Ah” and dropped his jaw .

“So it’s because of Lady Seo Yuhui . ”

“Yes, from now on, I plan to give her every offering I get my hands on . So I plan to use these same terms for a while . ”

“In that case, I have no complaints . We’ll go with this . ”

Kazuki signed the contract without hesitation, and Seol Jihu nodded his head .

Seol Jihu knew Kazuki would understand . After all, Kazuki was also indebted to Seo Yuhui .

“Whew . ”

Kazuki breathed a sigh of relief after handing the contract back to Seol Jihu .

“If this expedition goes well, I’ll finally have some room to breathe . ”

“What do you mean?”

“Ah, I need to form a new team before moving to Eva, but I’m severely lacking money . Hao Win gave me some funding, but that’s all debt . ”

Seol Jihu’s eyes widened .

“You’re going to Eva too, Mister Kazuki?”

“Of course . The hill I’m hiding under is moving to Eva, so how can I not? Didn’t Hao Win tell you?”

Kazuki replied immediately before smiling .





“Anyways, thanks! You saved me . ”

Seol Jihu waved his hand .

“Isn’t it too early to say thanks? We don’t even know if anything is going to be there . ”

“That’s true . Returning empty-handed from expeditions or explorations is an everyday occurrence . ”

Having said that, Kazuki glanced at Seol Jihu and smiled silently .

“But seeing as how you’ve never failed before, I figured I can get my hopes up . ”

I’ve never failed before? Seol Jihu tilted his head once again .

*

The next place Seol Jihu visited was the royal palace .

“An expedition?”

Seeing the youth who visited him out of the blue, Teresa opened her eyes like a rabbit .

“Yes . ”

Seol Jihu nodded his head with a bright smile .

“I heard that things have been a little loud recently . I was thinking it would be a great idea to go out, get some fresh air, and loosen up . ”

“… . ”

Teresa was clearly at a loss for words .

Seol Jihu wasn’t wrong . Because their finances were in the red, she had been thinking about swallowing her tears and selling the royal family’s land .

Seeing Seol Jihu who was full of smiles, Teresa reviewed the contract again .

The terms were strangely stingy .

No, in the first place, it was uncommon for the princess to be asked to go on an expedition . It didn’t seem like he didn’t know about the Royal Family’s situation, so it was also strange that he was asking her to ‘get some fresh air and loosen up . ’

Moreover, it wasn’t as if she was a Magician or a Priest . Carpe Diem was overflowing with skilled Warriors, so she didn’t understand why he wanted to bring another Warrior with him .

There were more than a few suspicious points .

However, Teresa’s ability to take a hint was easily a 100 . There was no way that Seol Jihu was saying this without a reason .

Teresa secretly glanced at Seol Jihu and examined him thoroughly . He seemed strangely full of confidence .

‘Hold on . ’

Teresa suddenly thought of the expedition offer she had received in the past from White Rose . She had put careful thought into the matter before asking Seol Jihu to join the expedition, but Seol Jihu was extremely against it at that time .

Teresa believed in her hubby’s ‘intuition’ and didn’t follow White Rose’s expedition . And lo and behold, not only did the expedition end in failure, but it also became the source of a spectacular political mess . Teresa remembered how relieved she was at the time .

The important thing was Seol Jihu had a totally different attitude now compared to then . Not only was he not uncertain, but he was clearly hoping that she would go with him .

In that instant, a bolt of lightning struck Teresa’s head .

‘A jackpot . A super jackpot, at that!’

She didn’t know the details, but he must have received an incredible piece of info . That was why he was asking her to come .

Teresa finally understood Seol Jihu’s intentions .

‘He’s looking after me . ’

Simply giving her the loot for free would be unfair to his teammates and possibly raise protests, so he was making her join the expedition to rightfully receive a cut .

‘Again… just when I’m in trouble… . ’

Teresa found it incredible how he appeared to save her whenever she was having a hard time . How could she not develop feelings for him?

“Haa—”

Sighing from the bottom of her heart, Teresa spoke with a slightly flushed voice .

“I can really go with you?”

“Of course . I mean, I’m the one who’s requesting you to come . ”

“Eii, I know Carpe Diem has lots of Warriors . ”

“Strength isn’t the only thing that matters . I’m personally expecting other things from you, princess . ”

The way he was putting it made Teresa feel even more apologetic .

Seol Jihu grinned .

“You’re coming, right?”

He was going this far . How could she refuse or even play hard to get?

Teresa nodded silently . Then, she stared at Seol Jihu fixedly .

“Excellent decision . Then…”

The moment he finished saying, “I’ll let you know when the date has been decided,” he flinched .

A subtle glance .

He might be mistaken, but he felt like he saw two hearts blooming inside Teresa’s pupils .

‘N-No . ’

It wasn’t that he disliked the princess, but Seol Jihu considered himself a man of principle . As he vividly remembered what happened when he gave her the longsword and shield, he couldn’t just ignore this problem .

“I-I’ll take my leave now . And here . ”

Seol Jihu hastily got up and passed the shopping bag he had brought with him in a hurry .

Teresa, who got up as if to prevent him from escaping, licked her lips slightly with her tongue . She then blinked her eyes, seeing the shopping bag .

“It’s a gift . It’s nothing big though . ”

“Oh, my . ”

It was effective .

Teresa’s eyes, which were turning more and more seductive by the second, regained their sparkle .

“I bought it when I was on Earth . I forgot to bring it with me last time I came here…”

However, Seol Jihu had committed a fatal mistake . The moment Teresa heard the word ‘gift’, the light in her eyes grew more intense, and her heart-shaped pupils became clearer .

Of course, Seol Jihu noticed this change as well .

“I bought something you need in your daily life . It’s nothing big, so please accept it . ”

Pang!

“I’ll be off, then . Thank you for having me!”

Seol Jihu activated the Festina Earring and ran away at full speed .

“… . ”

And once Seol Jihu left, Teresa stood still and looked down at the shopping bag on the desk .

This was the first time she received a gift from an Earthling .

She thought this every time she saw him, but…

‘If only Earthlings were all like him… . ’

How great would that be?

In any case, she was given an unexpected way out of her predicament and an unexpected gift .

After fiddling with the shopping bag for a long time, she shoved the stack of documents on her desk out of the way .

“Eit!”

Who cared about work?

At least for today, she wanted to indulge herself in this feeling of weightlessness .

And soon, just like Seo Yuhui, Phi Sora, and Chohong…

Teresa had the same reaction as the other women who opened Seol Jihu’s gift .

However, her confusion at the gift only lasted a moment . Soon, the corner of the mouth curled up, and her eyes also curled to crescent shapes .

“Wow… . ”

With a bra in one hand and panties in the other, she chuckled .

Light pink hearts on a shade of a lovely pink color .

Moreover…

“That person…”

Looking back and forth at the underwear in each of her hands, Teresa couldn’t hide her admiration .

Putting the underwear down, she placed her hand over her mouth and giggled .

“What a taste!”

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