Chapter 215. A Dream Inside A Dream (3) (1/2)
Intense light exploded out of the pile of stones, and the pendant began glowing with the same color in response. The two objects madly began pulsing as if they were resonating with each other.
But that was it.
Seol Jihu waited a bit, expecting some sort of phenomenon, but the dolmen and the pendant just continued to blink.
A dead silence continued in the area.
Murmuring amongst each other, the expedition team approached the stones. Upon closer inspection, the rocks were normal stones, erected in the form of a dolmen. There were no symbols on their surfaces; they were just ordinary stones.
”Should we try digging?”
Chohong suddenly suggested.
”It looks just like a dolmen. Meaning, this might be a tomb of some sort. Won’t there be grave goods buried underneath them?”
It was a good idea, especially considering that it was Chohong who said it. Afterall, artifacts were commonly buried beneath the ground.
Seol Jihu decided that it was a reasonable suggestion and instructed the others to try digging around the stones. The expedition team started to dig without complaint.
A moment later.
”Whooaa!”
Hugo exclaimed.
Seol Jihu, who had been digging the ground with his spear, lifted his eyes.
Hugo was prancing around with a long spear in one hand.
”It’s a spear! A spear! Doesn’t it look crazy expensive?”
Then Teresa also shouted.
”Kyaa! A chest! It’s a treasure chest!”
Seol Jihu’s eyes widened.
Jackpot.
The results of digging the area could be summed up in that one word. It was the biggest jackpot in the history of Paradise.
Not to mention the Spear of Purity, there were numerous treasure chests overflowing with gold and silver. If they included the offerings and decorations they found, the total value was simply immeasurable.
After making a fuss over their harvest, the expedition team left the Pagoda of Dreams with smiles on their faces.
They hadn’t seen a pagoda of any sort nor had they seen anything that resembled a small tower, but it wasn’t important.
They had achieved a jaw-dropping result, so was a mere pagoda even worth mentioning anymore?
And so the expedition team safely returned from the forbidden region, received purification from the Sky Fairy, bid farewell to Yuirel, then embarked on their way back home.
Their bags were heavy, but their footsteps were light.
Wanting to return as quickly as possible, the expedition team marched for a long time before finally stopping late at night to set up camp.
That night, Chohong stroked a treasure chest while speaking with a dreamy face.
”What should I do first when I arrive… Ehhehehe!”
”I’m buying equipment! I’m going straight to the auction house at Scheherazade to plaster my whole body with the most expensive equipment I can find!”
Hugo passionately shouted like a boy lost in his dreams.
The expedition team ate and drank merrily until early in the morning, each of them chirping about what they would do with the expedition rewards.
When morning came, the expedition team’s atmosphere plummeted down to an all-time low. No, it was better described as a powderkeg on the brink of an explosion.
There was just one reason.
Only a single night had passed but all their spoils from the Pagoda of Dreams had disappeared like magic.
Everything was gone without a single gold coin remaining.
The culprit was Maria Yeriel.
It could only be her, since she couldn’t be found anywhere when they had woken up.
“Is this for real?”
Chohong exploded with anger.
”That Priest bitch ran off with all of that? Is that bitch fucking crazy?”
”It’s not impossible.”
Kazuki remarked with a solemn face.
”She could have had a high-quality magic bag with her. It wouldn’t be surprising if she did, since she always hoards money like a scrooge.”
”Fuck! That little good-for-nothing bitch! She’s still nothing but a flea even if she scampers away! She dares to run away with the expedition rewards? The moment I catch her, her head will— ugh!”
Chohong clenched her grip around the Thorn of Steel with red eyes.
”There’s no time for this. Kazuki! What are you doing? Hurry up and track her.”
”Of course!”
Kazuki replied in a cold voice before turning to look at Seol Jihu.
Seol Jihu agreed with them, but his heart was in chaos.
'I believed in her….'
He knew that she loved money with a maniacal obsession, but he still thought she was a loyal person.
'Miss Maria….'
The expedition team pursued Maria in full force.
They were gaining on her at first, but after a day, they could only give up.
Her tracks disappeared.
To be exact, Maria’s footsteps were gone, replaced by endless carriage tracks. She must have gotten lucky and hitched a ride on a passing carriage.
The despondency that the expedition team felt then could not be described in words.
They combed through the city like they were catching fleas once they arrived at Eva, just in case, but sure enough, they could not find even a single hair of Maria’s.
Whether she returned to Earth or left for a different city.
She had vanished.
In the end, the expedition team gave up the pursuit and got on their way back to Haramark under a dispirited mood.
It was an obvious fact, but the complexions of the company were not too good.
Seol Jihu tried to rouse himself by constantly reminding himself that it was only one part of the inheritance and that there were still four remaining.
But what was waiting at Haramark for the Carpe Diem guild was only tragic news like a bolt out of the blue.
It was the news of Seo Yuhui, Jang Maldong, and the Yi sibling’s deaths.
Seo Yuhui had been ambushed while she was praying at the temple and was brutally murdered.
Jang Maldong and the Yi siblings were found dead at the Huge Stone Rocky Mountain. The culprit remained unknown.
By the time the expedition team had arrived, the cases were already hushed up.
Seol Jihu cried.
He shed tears all day long, shut away in his dorm.
It wasn’t as if the thought that he had to do something didn’t appear in his mind, but his brain just stopped functioning from the impact of the sudden accidents.
Meanwhile, his comrades started to disappear one by one.
Chohong and Hugo left saying they were going out for revenge, and all news about them was cut from then on.
Marcel Ghionea and Phi Sora must have left without saying anything; they suddenly couldn’t be found at one point.
By the time Seol Jihu barely managed to come to his senses, he was alone.
He curled up in a corner of the office and looked around the room with dull eyes.
The office that had always smelled of people and used to be bustling was now bleak and desolate.
His weary face stained by tears scrunched up in distress.
'No way….'
How did things become like this?
Seol Jihu hung his head in front of the inconceivable reality.
”Pathetic.”
He suddenly heard a familiar voice above his head. It was Teresa’s voice.
”Why are you like this over the death of just a few Earthlings? It’s hard to believe you’re a war hero.”
'Just a few?'
His eyes widened.
Seol Jihu involuntarily opened his eyes in disbelief, unable to believe that it was Teresa who said such venomous remarks.
But instead of Teresa, he found Hao Win standing in front of him.
”You’re a complete wreck now.”
Hao Win turned his body around after spitting a short statement.