Chapter 48: Sunflower (3) (1/2)
Terms used in this chapter:
Dolswe (돌쇠) – one of the popular male servant names of the Joseon dynasty in Korea. It is often used in Korean traditional or historical dramas.
Princess Maker – a series of life simulation games developed by Japanese company Gainax. In this fantasy game, the player raises a young girl (daughter) to adulthood, having her learn skills and gain personality attributes through attending classes and working part-time jobs. How she is raised will depend on the player’s actions and will decide what ending she gets. The best ending of course, is becoming a princess or queen.
I feel like the author played this game so much because they have two series (Dungeon Maker, Ending Maker) with the ‘maker’ word in the title, hahaha.
Ghostblade – This was previously translated as ‘Sword Noble,’ which I thought was just part of Kamael’s nickname. However, I found out today that it is based on a unique class from the game Dungeon Fighter Online. Because of that, all the previous translations with the words ‘Sword Noble’ have now been changed to ‘Ghostblade.’ – Source: Dungeon Fighter Online wiki
Pair annihilation – this is something physics-related and is a reaction that occurs when two opposing forces collide with each other, causing both to disappear and release energy. Yin and Yang are opposite forces/energies, so if these two are combined, it will cause total annihilation/extinction.
“Giddyap, giddyap! Run, run!”
When Cordelia shouted cheerfully as she rode on Jude’s back, Jude’s eyes narrowed.
“Ma’am.”
“What is it, Dolswe?”
“Please be conscientious and give me some carrots before telling me to run.”
“Carrot is bullsh*t. Rather than that, how about a whip? Don’t you think I’ll be good at it?”
At Cordelia’s words, Jude momentarily imagined Cordelia using a whip.
Though the outfit was a little tight-fitting, he felt that it was quite fitting for an incomparably beautiful girl.
“Hey, you’re imagining something strange, aren’t you?”
“That’s not true. Rather than that, my princess, this dad never raised his child to be like that.”
“Then how did you raise her?”
“Something like the Princess Maker?”
“Congratulations. It’s the Queen ending. She is very good at whipping. The time has come for you to be punished for luxuriously enjoying the money your daughter got from the part-time job you made her do.”
“We have returned.”
“We’re back.”
While they were exchanging their usual nonsensical conversation, they had arrived at the power room.
Jude corrected his carrying posture again before asking Cordelia.
“Can you stand up?”
“I can, but since we’ve come all the way here, please carry me to our lodgings.”
“Okay.”
Though Cordelia was talking cheerfully, her complexion was pale.
It was caused by her overworking herself.
When Jude had a worried expression, Cordelia smiled and patted him on the back again.
“Let’s go quickly, giddyap.”
“Neeeiiigh.”
Jude danced to her tune and quickened his steps.
And about a minute or so again.
While lying down on the camp bed, Cordelia abruptly let out a small laugh.
“Why?”
“No, it’s just that I’ve stayed here for a few days, but I felt relieved as if I had come home.”
“So you’re a homebody. You were born with it, huh.”
“I am.”
Cordelia giggled as she stretched her body once more before forcibly closing her eyes.
She couldn’t easily fall asleep because the immediate future was too serious.
“Sisioth.”
“The demon of the blade. Wind attribute. A monster that specializes in melee combat and is famous for being outrageously wicked when the seal is released.”
Originally, it was a demon that they met in the middle of the game when they directly confronted the Devil’s Hand.
But at the present moment, they were still early in the game.
If they calmly looked at it, Sisioth wasn’t an enemy that Jude and Cordelia could fight with. In terms of ability, they were still lagging behind Farragut.
“Out of the frying pan into the fire.”
They were able to defeat the White Snake easily, but they now had to face Sisioth after Farragut.
Jude said with a bitter smile as he consoled Cordelia.
“Even so, I know its real name and the sealing ceremony…or to be exact, the restriction control technique, so there exists a chance of winning. Moreover, if my guess is correct, there will be allies outside the door.”
“Count Hræsvelgr.”
“That’s right, because if you considered the situation, Farragut must have destroyed the seal on the Great Gate.”
Count Hræsvelgr had installed a large seal on the Great Gate.
In the original story, most of the monsters couldn’t enter inside Frost Anvil because of the seal on the Great Gate.
It was to the extent that some of them found a side road or a hidden road in order to come in.
But this time, the situation was different from the original.
The Devil’s Hand, which originally should not have come and appear in Frost Anvil, had completely destroyed the seal on the Great Gate.
“If that seal is broken, the wizard would instantly know. Because the seal is that important. I’m sure they’ll send troops to investigate on what had happened here.”
Furthermore this time, there was the incident of Jude and Cordelia’s ‘elopement.’
From Count Hræsvelgr’s perspective, the possibility that Jude and Cordelia had destroyed the Great Gate’s seal would also be considered, so he had no choice but to send troops one way or another.
Cordelia’s expression became serious at Jude’s words.
It was not because she was worried about being involved with Count Hræsvelgr again.
“The damage will increase if he sent a few rangers to investigate.”
Their opponent was the demon Sisioth after all.
When Cordelia was worried about the possible casualties, Jude shook his head and said.
“It’s all right. I’m sure that Count Hræsvelgr would have realized the monsters’ abnormal movements. He would have dispatched more than a certain size of troops.”
“Is…that so? That’s a relief then.”
Cordelia smiled as she felt relieved, and Jude smiled with her too, but he had other thoughts inside him.
‘The damage must already be significant.’
He must have dispatched ten or so rangers together if it was over a certain size of troops.
And on that scale, they wouldn’t stand a chance against Sisioth.
He could reasonably guess the high likelihood that more than 10 victims have already been reported.
If they met Count Hræsvelgr’s forces outside the Great Gate, they would be the second dispatched unit, and not the first one.
However, Jude held back this thought to himself.
He’d rather not disturb Cordelia’s mind at the moment.
“Anyway, there is one thing that we need to do right now.”
As Jude deliberately spoke cheerfully, Cordelia was influenced by his cheerful words and smiled too.
“Is it about the preparation for that restriction technique?”
“Yes, I have to do that too. But before that, we have to finish the power-up.”
He hadn’t been able to completely absorb the Sunflower’s energy yet.
At Jude’s words, Cordelia spoke and beat on her chest though she was lying down.
“I’ll protect you this time as well. Trust in this noona.”
“Yes, but this time, you have to do it too.”
“Huh? Me too? Do I also have to eat the Sunflower?”
Cordelia blinked her eyes, wondering what he was talking about, and Jude said after impulsively pinching her cheek.
“No, you’re doing something else.”
‘What are you talking about?’
Cordelia thought as she then pinched Jude’s hand that was pinching her cheek.
***
“It’s the spirit stone of the White Snake. If I had to give it a name, perhaps it’s Snake Heart?”
“It somehow looks weak for a Snake Heart, so let’s just use spirit stone.”
“Okay.”
Jude and Cordelia were looking at the red stone in front of the heart, located in the torso near its head, which was about one-fifth of the giant White Snake’s body.
It was the spirit stone of the White Snake that they had taken out of its heart.
“There’s not much left as it had used up most of the stored mana for the past 1000 years…but it’s still the spirit stone that the demonic monster of Leviathan possessed. It would be very much helpful at Cordelia’s current level.”
“But in the original, wasn’t it revealed that it can’t be used?”
“That’s right, because it’s the demon’s spirit stone.”
Using the White Snake’s spirit stone was impossible for Lucas or anyone else.
“The demon’s mana is poisonous to ordinary humans. Absorbing it can cause a major abnormality in the body…and in the worst-case scenario, they may become a demonic human and a demon’s puppet.”
“It’s amazing every time you speak like that. Like, how can you recite all that?”
“In any case, like what the lines of companion A said, the spirit stone is generally not absorbable. That is why it didn’t drop as an item in the game after all. But Cordelia, if I’m correct, you would be able to absorb it. Because…”
“Because of the Witch Transformation.”
Cordelia nodded after completing Jude’s words.
She had often passed all the thinking to Jude lately, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t thinking herself.