Chapter 70. A Mystery (1/2)

Bringing Maria into the group was an excellent choice 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~. I;m gonna 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.

*