Chapter 243. Farewell, Haramark (1/2)

In the end, Seol Jihu swallowed his pride and decided to apologize. Teresa now had her head down on the table, no longer replying. Seol Jihu sat down next to Teresa, inched closer to her, then began consoling her.

“Eii, Princess, don’t be like that. Look at my face, come on.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry. Really.”

“I said I’m fine.”

A depressed voice escaped from the gap between her face and arms.

“Go. You don’t have to be considerate of someone like me anymore. Stop caring about me and go do what you need to do.”

“Princess…”

With a troubled expression, Seol Jihu placed his hand on Teresa’s left arm.

“Don’t touch me.”

But disregarding what Teresa said, Seol Jihu slowly moved his hand to her silky, rose-gold hair, slowly stroking it.

“Go away.”

Teresa’s words also didn’t match her actions as she snuck closer to Seol Jihu’s chest, having waited for this moment.

“I’m sorry. From now on, I won’t forget to contact you ever again.”

“…From now on?”

“Yes.”

“Never again?”

There was a saying that one shouldn’t make promises they couldn’t keep. But Seol Jihu was too focused on making Teresa feel better that he was blurting out words without regard for repercussions.

“Yes, never again.”

His words must have had some effect as the air around Teresa softened.

“Then you won’t go?”

A sneaky question flowed out. It almost felt like the series of events that unfolded beforehand were all in preparation to lead up to this moment. Seol Jihu smiled bitterly.

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not…”

A helpless voice flowed out. Teresa had asked this exact same question before.

Seol Jihu cleared his throat. He was about to take his hand off and interlock his fingers, but Teresa quickly snatched it up and placed it back on her head.

Seol Jihu laughed, going back to stroking her hair.

“Several months ago, Master Jang gave me a record book that Master Ian left behind.”

Seol Jihu could feel Teresa flinch once he mentioned Ian’s name.

“The record book had names of Earthlings who died mysterious deaths or retired. There were even names of Earthlings who defected to the Parasites.”

Seol Jihu’s voice turned bitter, still in shock from when he read the record.

It wasn’t that all Earthlings were trash.

That was true in the past, and that was still true now. In the Seven Cities, there undoubtedly were Earthlings who were doing their best for the benefit of Paradise.

It was just that they were outnumbered by trash.

But what was important to Seol Jihu was that in the past, present, and future, there were Earthlings who were willing to sacrifice themselves for Paradise.

“I want to raise, support, and protect Earthlings who are sincerely striving to make Paradise a better place. I’m making an organization because I can’t do that alone.”

Of course, if it was just this, there was no need to move out of Haramark. But, Seol Jihu’s grand ambition went a few steps farther.

“Another reason is to improve humanity’s relationship with the Federation.”

He had said this before, so he added in more details.

“I realized something during the Pagoda of Dreams expedition. That it’s possible for the Federation and humanity to reconcile. And this is something we must do, since only then will we be able to fight the Parasites.”

“….”

“I’m leaving, Princess. I’ll go to Eva and become the city’s representative organization.”

He spoke with conviction.

“I will clean up Eva’s deeply-rooted evils and extend a hand of apology to the Federation. Then, I will formally become their ally.”

Teresa raised her head slightly, but Seol Jihu continued without pausing.

“It won’t be an alliance that is in name only. As long as the Federation is willing, I am willing to accept them into Eva and carry out a cultural exchange.”

Teresa finally sat back up. As she slowly looked back at Seol Jihu, a dazed expression filled her face.

“You’ll accept them… and do what?”

“I’ll turn Eva into a fortress city. Just like you did.”

Seol Jihu talked nonstop, almost like flowing water.

“Of course, Eva’s terrain isn’t like that of Arden Valley’s fortress, able to benefit from nature. But with the Federation’s technology, which helped to build Tigol Fortress, it shouldn’t be impossible.”

“Since when have you been planning this?”

“Since the war ended. At the time, the Parasites raised a huge army, large enough to besiege all of humanity’s major cities.”

As a result of this encirclement, the humans had trembled in terror, fearing that the Parasites finally unsheathed their swords. But at the end of the day, the Parasite Queen’s objective was different.

She had deceived everyone when her real objective was to prevent the transfer of reinforcements.

“As to why that happened… I thought a lot about it before I arrived at the answer. It was all because Tigol Fortress fell.”

Teresa had a complicated expression, even though it looked like she understood what he meant.

“Will the Federation agree to your offer so easily?”

“Without lips, teeth will feel cold. Eva shares a border with the Federation and is the closest human city to Tigol Fortress. It is in the ideal location to help them in case something happens. I do not believe the Federation will ignore this fact.”

Teresa closed her eyes. She had no choice as she finally saw the big picture Seol Jihu was attempting to draw.

“That sounds like a dream…”

Blurring the end of her speech, she smiled helplessly.

“You remind me of an Earthling I once knew.”

“?”

“Joshua Claflin. He was the old Star of Sloth.”

Teresa heaved out a long sigh.

“He was an Earthling who insisted that humans should work together with the Beastmen Alliance. He was a hero who conquered the Kapyshan Kingdom, where the Parasites’ corruption was taking place, and foiled the Parasite Queen’s plans.”

Seol Jihu remembered his name from Ian’s record book. When the Beastmen Alliance was at risk of being wiped out, he had led a small force of elites to reinforce them but was killed by Unsightly Humility’s ambush.

“After that event, I swore again and again that I would never sit back and watch… I almost committed the same mistake I did back then. Because of my greed.”

Seol Jihu’s eyes widened as he could tell Teresa had mostly given up on making him stay.

“So you’ll understand?”

“I don’t have a choice now that I heard where you’re coming from.”

I shouldn’t have run away last time and listened. Teresa was ashamed of herself while being surprised at the same time.

Regardless, she was sure of one thing. Seol Jihu had an ambitious plan that no one would even dream of.

Hearing it, she finally understood what he meant by, ‘for the sake of Paradise’. She might not be able to help him, but she couldn’t bring herself to hinder him.

“This is the first time.”

Seol Jihu spoke softly.

“That I’m telling someone about my plans in detail.”

Laughing awkwardly, he scratched his head.

“I know it’s a wild dream. It’s unrealistic, and I might be counting my chickens before they hatch. Still…”

“No.”

Teresa firmly denied it, gently gazing at the youth sitting next to her.

“I believe you can do it.”

He had achieved impossible things again and again.

She had to believe in him. And she wanted to as well.

If he could really achieve his goals…

A smile spread across Seol Jihu’s face. Perhaps because Teresa just cheered him on, he felt a surge of strength.

“Thank you.”

He didn’t need to make long comments. After giving a short thanks, Seol Jihu quietly stood up before going “Ah” and asking.

“By the way, nothing happened to the palace, right?”

“Huh? Ah, yes.”

“Ah, thank goodness.”

“…Why?”

Teresa tilted her head. Once Seol Jihu smoothed down his chest and explained why he rushed to the palace, Teresa smiled bitterly.

But that only lasted a moment. Her pink pupils flickered with a crafty light.

“I was really surprised. General Sanctus made it sound like there was an urgent matter to take care of. I thought something huge happened…”

“Well, you see, there actually is a problem.”

“Pardon?”

“Well, it’s not a big problem for now, but it’s something the kingdom has to worry about for its future.”

Teresa spoke innocently without the slightest change in her expression. Seol Jihu turned serious.

“What is it? Can you tell me about it?”

“I don’t mind, but…”

“Even if I leave, it’ll be after I hear about this problem.”

Teresa sent Seol Jihu a coy look, and he quickly sat back down.

What Teresa said afterward could definitely be considered a problem. Haramark had apparently lost a huge number of hoplites as well as footsoldiers during the war, causing their military strength to fall significantly.

They had to supplement the lost personnel to reinforce the kingdom’s army, but due to the plummeting population, they were in a precarious spot.

“That’s not all. Soldiers aside, the lack of officers is also a huge concern. Raising an experienced officer is extremely difficult…”