Chapter 102 (1/2)
Chapter 102. The Threads of Bonds Coming Together (4)
Koong. Another tiny earthquake swept past Chohong's feet. Judging by its mild intensity, it wasn't anything worth worrying about. However, Chohong's sharp senses noticed that the faint rumblings weren't from the office being struck directly but rather it being impacted indirectly. This meant that the aftershock of a separate impact force was causing this huge building to shake.
'What's going on?'
Chohong looked around hurriedly before peeking her head out of the window. Immediately….
KOONG! The sound became clearer, and she could even hear other sounds mixed in.
“Aaack-!”
Chohong frowned as she covered her ears with her hands.
'f.u.c.k, is someone blowing up grenades around here?'
She looked down while grumbling and her annoyed eyes instantly widened in surprise.
“Are you okay!?”
She saw a familiar youth cusping his hands together and apologizing.
'Seol?'
In front of him….
“Who are you worried about!? I'm fine, so go back to throwing!”
…Was an old man carrying a huge s.h.i.+eld, shouting with a husky voice. When Chohong saw his familiar navy blue coat, her jaw dropped. He must have heard her approaching as he turned his head slightly to the side. Immediately, his gaze softened.
“Is that you, Chohong?”
“Should I get you some warm tea?”
“No, I'm fine.”
“Then I'll go buy something cool for you to drink.”
“Mn, thanks.”
“No problem. Do you want anything, Chohong?”
An admirable grandson asking with a bright smile and a grandfather replying with a serious face — seeing her comrade who had turned into the old man's errand boy, Chohong belatedly replied, “Whatever's fine.”
As soon as Seol Jihu left saying he would be back in a moment, the old man let out a small groan and rubbed his hand.
“d.a.m.n it, that hurt.”
Chohong let out an empty chuckle.
“You're the one who yelled at him to throw it fast.”
“Give me a break. I heard he was a Level 2! Why is he so strong?”
“Just tell him to go easier then. Think about your age. I know more than a few people who left this world trying to act like they were still in their prime.”
“What did you say?”
Thwack! His cane cleanly struck Chohong's head, and she immediately wrapped her hands around it and screamed.
“Ah, why'd you hit me!? I was just worried about you!”
“Worried? That's the tone of someone who's worried? You were ready to make offerings to send me off!”
“Oh please, making offerings? I already tried that and it was useless!”
Hearing Chohong's confession, the old man scowled.
“Right, now that I think about it, that did happen.”
It was a story from a long time ago. Tired of suffering from the old man's Spartan training method, Chohong and Hugo gritted their teeth and scrounged up some money. Not knowing what they were really up to, the old man proudly went, “Hoho, you two stopped going to bar? You must have finally sobered up.”
He even tried to buy them better equipment and went with them to an armor shop, but to his surprise, neither Chohong nor Hugo had a penny to their name. He tried to find out what happened, and it turned out that they went to the Temple of Luxuria and offered everything to a Priest to have a Ceremony done.
It wasn't long until he found out that they begged for something to happen to the old man. Right, they had actually made offerings to wish him death.
“You treacherous fools. I was wondering why flower pots kept falling on my head and why I kept tripping. It was all you idiots' fault.”
When the old man growled, Chohong snickered.
“No, no, we were tricked too! That dumba.s.s Maria lied with a straight face and said she was a Chief Priest.”
“Is that something to be proud of!? Are you bragging!? Huh!?”
“I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Isn't that obvious? Geez, your high and mighty att.i.tude hasn't gone anywhere, huh.”
Thwack! Thwack! Quick tapping sounds rang out. Chohong moaned “Auuuu!” before falling forward and rubbing her head against the couch.
“Come on, think of how desperate we were! Wouldn't you do the same if you were being beaten day and night!?”
“You idiot! If you were half as smart and earnest as Dylan, I wouldn't have needed to work you so hard! Since your birdbrain couldn't understand a thing even after I explained it to you a hundred times, I had to make your body learn it on its own!”
“But Dylan-!”
Chohong shut her mouth abruptly. The old man pointing his wooden cane at her also collected his breath and sat back down. While Chohong was panting, he gently opened his mouth.
“I heard what happened. Looks like you've been through a lot.”
“…You should have visited earlier. Do you have any idea how much Dylan wanted to see you?”
Chohong retorted in a softer voice.
“Hmph, you and your mannerless way of talking.”
The old man replied curtly, then let out a sigh. The aged wrinkles on his face made him look like he lost weight.
“But well done. It sounds like the Parasites came up with a frightening plan, but not only did you save Dylan, you even managed to stop them. You performed outstandingly.”
“I didn't do much. If anything, it's that guy who should be praised. He's the one who did everything.”
“That guy?”
“Seol. You know, Seol, the guy you were training before. Speaking of which, what was up with that? I thought you retired.”
The old man didn't hear what happened in detail, so hearing that the youth 'did everything' came as a surprise.
“Well… he pleaded desperately and I found it hard to say no. But I couldn't bear to just watch him, so I figured I'd do it as a pastime until you guys were back.”
“Oh? Is this really the old man who's twisted to his bone marrow? The past you would have turned back without even considering…. Ah! What, I can't even say what's on my mind!?”
When the old man raised his wooden cane, Chohong backed off with a terrified face. The old man clicked his tongue and looked up at the ceiling.
“What a ha.s.sle. I left in peace knowing I could entrust Carpe Diem to Dylan, but now that he's gone, it'll only be a matter of time until Carpe Diem disbands.”
His worries were justified since the leader and nucleus of the team had died. Chohong pouted.
“Don't ignore us. I'm a High Ranker now, too.”
The old man looked as if he just received a culture shock.
“W-What? Someone like you, a… High Ranker!?”
“That's right. I'm a Templar now.”
When Chohong strutted her chest proudly, the old man asked again.
“Really? How?”
“Well… I'm a Warrior. I ama.s.sed more than enough experience points while I was stuck at Level 4, and as for the enlightenment….”
When Chohong hesitated to talk about this 'enlightenment', the old man said tactfully.
“Enlightenment isn't necessary. Plus, weren't you trying to pa.s.s expediently using your technical starting cla.s.s as a Priest? Rather than that, what about the mission from the royal family?”
“How is Manifestation an expedient method? It's my Cla.s.s Ability.”
Chohong protested and continued as if she had just suffered a wrong.
“As for the mission from the royal family, they wrote it off since I partic.i.p.ated in the rescue mission. I risked my life for that mission, so they wouldn't send me off on another one unless they're the worst sons of b.i.t.c.hes.”
To become a High Ranker, an Earthling had to pa.s.s the formality of completing a mission issued by any of the royal families. One thing of note was that this mission was always related to the Parasites. Since it boasted a terrifying level of difficulty, there were countless Earthlings who were unhappy with it.
But that couldn't be helped. After all, just by becoming a Level 5, one would gain both the status and the authority needed to spread their voice in Paradise.
In the first place, the reason the royal families intervened in the Earthlings' High Rank promotions was to 'prevent giving authority and power to those who did not contribute for the betterment of Paradise'. The seven G.o.ds agreed with the seven kingdoms as well.
Ever since this change happened, the number of new High Rankers decreased dramatically. This was because more and more Earthlings chose to stay at Level 4, realizing the risk needed to overcome the wall blocking their path.
In a way, it was quite a depressing reality. It was well-known how powerful High Rankers truly were. For the royal families who detested the Parasites to put such a restriction on their own allies, it could be seen just how deplorable the Earthlings were.
“I see, that makes sense.”
The old man agreed readily.
“I'm glad. Since you're now a High Ranker, you have the qualifications to take on the mantle of the leader.”
“Eh? Me? Leader? No thanks, I can't do something like that. I don't want to either.”
Chohong waved her hand with a scowl. Being a leader of a team wasn't something anyone could do. Not only did you need power, but you also needed the brain to make sound judgments in critical moments.
Dylan was an ideal leader from this perspective, but Chohong was an idiot who only knew how to fight. This was something the old man knew as well.
“Right…. If you wanted to become a leader, you would have chosen to become a Crusader, not a Templar.”
The old man said regrettably.
“Anyways, I'm never going to become the leader. I know my personality. If I become the leader, this team is done for.”
The old man nodded his head in complete agreement but still spoke with sincerity.
“There's no other choice. A High Ranker needs to be the leader for a team to have any face. Besides, you're at least better than Hugo.”
“f.u.c.k. You're right about that, but why does that make me angry?”
Seeing Chohong's annoyed expression, the old man shook his head side to side.
“What else can we do? It's not like we can entrust the position of the leader to that Level 2 newbie.”
Chohong's complexion sank. Just like the old man said, this problem couldn't be avoided much longer. Setting aside the emptiness left behind by Dylan's death, Carpe Diem needed to elect a new leader to elevate the team's dispirited atmosphere.
Right, she knew this… but there was just one problem.
'There's no one suitable for the job.'
Chohong knew her place. Hugo was also out of the question. She saw some potential in Seol, but he was still too inexperienced.
“…Tsk.”
Chohong stole a glance at the old man and smacked her lips. She got up while scratching her neck harshly.
“I'll consider it. It's not something I should decide alone anyways.”
“Mm….”
“The three of us will take care of it, so don't mind it. You're already retired, so it shouldn't concern you. Don't be a nagging mother-in-law, okay?”
The old man chuckled. Chohong was curt, but he wasn't so dull as to not notice her true feelings.
“Color me surprised.”
“What do you mean?”
“Who would have thought that an immature brat like you could learn to be so considerate? Looks like you've tasted Paradise's waters a bit.”
“I'm a High Ranker, you know.”
“Hmph, but you're still a Halfie. Don't be too full of yourself.”
Seeing the old man instantly switch from praising to rebuking, Chohong dropped her head and sighed.
“Anyways, don't concern yourself with this problem any further, old man. Just meet everyone you came to meet and go back. Don't go sticking your nose where it doesn't belong.”
“Of course. So, when's Hugo getting here?”
“It should be soon. Aren't there other people you have to see?”
“Just Hugo's enough.”
Hearing this, Chohong smacked her chest uncomfortably.
“Geez, clean up after yourself before you leave. Do you know what we had to go through after you left? Everyone we met asked, 'When is the old man coming back?' or 'Did he really retire?'”
“Alright, alright.”
The old man smiled bitterly as he waved his cane around.
Hugo came back to Paradise five days later, and during this time, many people visited Carpe Diem's office. Without even the slightest bit of exaggeration, almost everyone Seol Jihu met since he came to Haramark came to visit.
“Maldong! My old friend!”
Starting with someone he never met before….
“It's been a while, Old Boy.”
Cinzia and Agnes came.
“I hope you've been well, Sir Jang Maldong.”
Kazuki dropped by.
“I've wanted to see you, Master Jang.”
Even Haramark's king, Prihi Hussey, came to visit. As he witnessed the old man's terrifying connections for the past five days, he learned a thing or two about this man named 'Jang Maldong'.
The first was that he was also from Area 1. The second was that he was incredibly famous even though he wasn't a Magician. Finally, he seemed to be the founder of Carpe Diem.
Of course, that wasn't all.