Chapter 123 - The Cursed Puppeteer 4 (1/2)

Woohyuk ordered Alphone to retrieve it, and as a result, Leifina recovered some of her lost memories.

However, there were still three soul fragments left, so Woohyuk couldn't rest easy yet.

“Is there any way to gather them all in one location, Alphone?”

“I haven't really made any promises like that with myselves. Because if we were to gather together and a single one of us got captured, it would be game over for us.”

Alphone said, sweeping her purple hair over her shoulder.

She was now part of Woohyuk's family and was in absolute obedience to all orders.

She didn’t even show a rebellious attitude, maybe because she had been beaten so hard.

“Then, we have no choice but to visit the entire place while making a round trip.”

“I’m sorry I can’t be of more help...”

”It does not matter. I brought you to recover the soul fragments in the first place.”

Although they were currently in a master-slave relationship, Alphone was still a prisoner of war.

She looked slightly dejected as if she were also aware of that fact.

“I will accept any punishment. But could you give me a chance to make up for my mistakes?”

“What can you do for me?”

“I know where a hidden treasure is. It's an item Angrboda cares a lot about.”

“If that’s the case, it should be in the chapel.”

“Angrboda is a witch who has once lost all of her treasures. So before she left, she prepared a few measures.”

Angrboda, the Witch of Greed.

She was obsessed with gold for an unknown reason.

According to the story in the fairy tale, it was said that she was greedy by nature, but that information wasn’t trustworthy as it was invented by wandering bards.

“Do you think that treasure has the same value as the life of my vassals?”

“Of, of course not. It may not make up for all my mistakes, but I hope it can lighten my punishment ever so slightly.”

Alphone immediately lowered her head.

Woohyuk glanced at her as he walked down the road.

“Tell me about Angrboda’s treasure.”

“It is the Hand of Midas. Once you wear it, anything it touches turns into gold.”

Alphone told the story of the Phrygian King Midas.

He had an heirloom that had been passed down from generation to generation, but he had neglected it for a long time because its ability was unknown.

But one day, when a great financial crisis hit the country, Midas went to the Witch's Forest to meet Angrboda and commissioned her to identify the heirloom.

“Angrboda recognized its powers with a single glance. But she didn't tell him the truth right away.”

Like the Witch of Greed she was, she wanted to monopolize the gold.

“So did Angrboda seduce Midas?”

“Yes, she won his heart by getting a love potion from Kriemhild.”

Midas, now blinded by love, fulfilled all of Angrboda's requests.

He came once or twice a week to produce gold for her and protected the witch's forest from outsiders.

“As far as I know, Midas even turned his daughter into gold.”

“That was the beginning of the tragedy.”

Midas wasn't originally a bad king, but under Angrboda’s influence, he gradually became greedy.

So he violated Angrboda's warning and began to change the flowers in the garden into gold, but at that time the kingdom’s sole princess arrived and hugged him.

“The fact that he accidentally touched his daughter is consistent with the legend.”

“But the story after this event is completely different.”

When King Midas saw the princess turned to gold, he grieved.

So, in the end, he regretted indulging in the sin of greed, and wore plate armor and drowned himself in the river Pactolus.

When Angrboda learned of this later on, she secretly went to the river Pactolus and recovered the Hand of Midas. However, the Phrygian royal family line had been severed, and no one could use its ability anymore.

In addition, the God of Light listened to King Midas' last prayer, and all the existing gold turned to ashes and disappeared.

Angrboda was greatly shocked by this. She hid herself in the chapel and did nothing for a while. In the meantime all the flowers in her treasured secret garden withered away.

An ending befitting the Witch of Greed.

It was not known whether Angrboda loved King Midas, but one thing was certain.

‘She will definitely return to recover the Hand of Midas someday.’

He had to defeat all of the Witches of the seven sins.

If he absorbed all of their powers with Verserios, he could be given a new achievement reward or quest.

So the Hand of Midas was worth taking the time to secure.

“How stupid. Gold is a lot less valuable compared to love.”

“Haha, it depends on the point of view. Love is beautiful when it blooms like a flower, but becomes ugly when it withers and fades away.”

Aris and Petos shared their opinions.

Agnes was a dark spirit, so she just listened to the story without much thought.

“In any case, where is the Hand of Midas?”

“There is an old tree that is thousands of years old in the sanctuary. There is a big hole in it, and if you put your hand in and take out the scroll, you can enter the ruins.”

Apparently, she had created her own treasure house.

Woohyuk nodded and spoke again.

“I'll go find it when we’re done with this affair. But isn't it about time we arrived?”

“I can see it over there.”

Alphone's index finger pointed to a distant location.

A hut that looked warm and cozy.

However, it looked a little eerie because it was located in the forest, a bit far from the private house.

“Petos, do your job again.”

“Understood, Lord Asura.”

Petos approached it with a wide smile on his face.

Soon he reached his destination and knocked on the door,

“Who is it!”

A deep female voice came from inside.

‘She truly does sound like a mercenary.’

Each of the humans in whom Alphone had planted her soul fragments had useful points to them.

In the case of Angela, whom they had met earlier, she was an innocent girl, so she can easily approach her enemies without alarming them.

That was how Leifina had fallen into her trap.

She had sprayed a poison on the monelia flower and had given it to Leifina. It was a poison that reduced her resistance to debuffs and status conditions.

The female mercenary Rasha they were visiting this time also had the advantage of being able to mobilize friendly forces in the case of emergencies.