Chapter 249. Eva’s Night (4) (1/2)

Seol Jihu pulled out his spear, muttering quietly.

“…So weak.”

Setting the twins aside, he didn’t understand how the man managed to become a High Ranker. But he put the meaningless question aside for now and went to search the rooms on the floor.

Although he checked every room thoroughly, he couldn’t see the manager. He only found two Beastmen, lying still as though they were dead.

Then again, considering the ruckus he caused, the manager not showing up until now could only mean one of the two things — either he was hiding or he had already escaped.

At that moment, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

Chohong, Hugo, and Maria appeared one after the other.

None of them looked hurt. But Maria’s cheeks were red as if she was extremely angry.

Chohong raised her Thorn of Steel and shook it left and right.

“Oh, did you get the boss?”

“I can’t find him.”

“He must be hiding. The clean up is more or less finished. The crazy singer is guarding the entrance.”

“Where’s Mister Marcel Ghionea?”

“Searching the building. He said he’s gonna go check if anyone is hiding.”

Seol Jihu fell into thought before moving his steps. He had to go to that place anyway.

He went back down to the first floor, found the path to the basement and walked down. Just as he expected…

“Yes, yes, a group of lunatics… The goods are fine. Of course, the important goods are also…”

The manager he had seen earlier in the day was holding a communication crystal, talking. An adolescent Foxman was being squeezed in his arm.

Did he feel Seol Jihu’s gaze? The manager looked back before jumping in shock.

“N-No way! Where’s Jirayu Matthew…!?”

When Seol Jihu stomped forward, he dropped the communication crystal in a fluster.

“You’re…!”

Finally recognizing Seol Jihu, Hugh Rodrigo staggered backward. His eyes then glinted, and he quickly choked the young Foxman with his arm.

“S-Stay back!”

Seeing the young Foxman stifled for breath, Seol Jihu’s eyes flickered with light.

“You must be here for the goods, right?”

Pang, pang, pang! Without a moment of hesitation, he activated the Festina Earring three times.

“You think I’ll hand them over so easily!? I’d rather kill them all and …!”

Whish! A fierce wind blew past, and Rodrigo squinted his eyes.

An unknown pressure brushed past his chest for a moment, but he shook his head and continued.

“Make their values…?”

With a dazed expression, he stopped in the middle of his sentence.

“….”

He lowered his gaze and couldn’t see the Foxman he had in his hand.

Rodrigo stealthily rolled his eyes up. There, he saw Seol Jihu’s back. Having passed Rodrigo before he even noticed, Seol Jihu was standing tall, gently hugging the young Foxman in his arms.

Rodrigo was shocked. He hadn’t even seen him move!

Even the Foxman child was astonished, looking up at him with widened eyes.

Rodrigo’s mouth opened wide.

“Chohong, Hugo.”

Seol Jihu spoke while carefully putting the Foxman down.

“Make sure he can’t escape. You can break his teeth if he keeps spouting nonsense.”

“Roger!”

Hugo shouted as he spun his arm in a circle.

Seol Jihu looked back at the steel cages and raised the Spear of Purity. The sudden uproar had caught the enslaved foreign race’s attention.

Seol Jihu swung his spear at the nearest cage. Swish. As expected of a divine spear, it cut through steel like tofu.

As the steel bars of the cage fell down, a huge hole was created above it. There, he could see a Foxman, her limbs chained to the now-severed bars.

She must not have expected this sequence of events as she was clearly taken aback. Her faded ears were standing up stiffly, and her tail was wagging gently.

Seol Jihu promptly cut the chains off, freeing her completely.

The Foxman twisted her body, swaying greatly as if she couldn’t get used to the long-found freedom.

She held herself up by holding onto the wall and asked with a doubtful face.

“…What are your motives, male human?”

Seol Jihu spoke calmly.

“We came to save you.”

“?”

“We’ll send you back to the Federation. It may be hard, but please cooperate with us.”

Was a rescue outside of her expectation? A clear hint of suspicion spread on the Foxman’s face.

There was no time to waste on convincing her. Seol Jihu rummaged through his belt, took out a healing potion, and poured it into the Foxman’s open mouth.

“Uup!”

The Foxman’s eyes widened. After barely being able to stand from suffering all kinds of torment, her body regained a little bit of vitality.

Seol Jihu turned around. There were dozens of cages in the basement. He had to get to work.

“H-Hey! Just take one, you bastard!”

Rodrigo shouted in frustration.

“Shut it!”

Chwak! But Maria slapped his cheek, yelling.

“You’re the manager here? You fucking piece of shit, you call this security? What the fuck is wrong with you!?”

“W-What!?”

“How can even a single guard fail to get to my barrier? How the hell did you only get these shit-for-brains as guards? I have to give up a gold egg because of you!”

Maria slapped his cheek again and again, spitting out curses one after the other, while Rodrigo shed tears begrudgingly.

Seol Jihu paid no attention to them and focused on liberating the foreign races. Finding a Sky Fairy shivering in the corner of her cage, he quickly cut the steel cage and removed the chains binding her.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah!”

The moment he approached her, the Sky Fairy dropped her head and raised her hands. Her mouth opened, but like a goldfish, no sound came out. She seemed to be suffering from mental trauma due to the terrifying experience she had.

Looking at her carefully, one could see that she was in terrible shape. She must have been beaten severely as she seemed to be in the worst condition among the prisoners held captive in this basement.

While Seol Jihu was at a loss for words, another Sky Fairy approached her and gently embraced the Sky Fairy who was groaning strangely.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Everything’s over, Lacia. We’re saved. We can go back home.”

With a member of her own race comforting her, the Sky Fairy’s trembling subsided slightly. The Sky Fairy who just walked up asked with a hoarse voice.

“Can I ask you to heal her?”

Seol Jihu snapped out of his daze and called for Maria. The Priest who was busy slapping Rodrigo’s face endlessly, drew a deep breath and responded to the summon.

Once she saw the Sky Fairy’s condition, she clicked her tongue.

“Holy fuck… I don’t think an ordinary spell is going to cut it. Damn fucking pervert, he surely did a number on her.”

“Please do what you can.”

“Sure, sure.”

She chanted a spell in a murmur.

Seol Jihu went back to rescuing the prisoners. The liberated foreign races staggered out of their cages, surrounding the manager.

Feeling an instinctive danger, Rodrigo struggled to escape but became silent after taking a dozen of Hugo’s fists.

By the time Seol Jihu finished liberating everyone, most of the foreign races were sending heated gazes at Seol Jihu.

They weren’t fools. Not only did he subdue the bastard who locked them up, but he also healed them as well. They knew that Seol Jihu was here to help.

But there was one thing they dearly wanted.