‘It’s certainly impressive,’ Seo Jun-Ho thought as he admired the sights. He had visited the imperial capital several times before, but this was his first time coming so close to the imperial palace. Covered intricately in white and gold, the palace gave off a mysterious sense of grandeur.
“This is quite a fine palace. The knights are also considerably strong,” the Frost Queen said. Seo Jun-Ho silently nodded in agreement. The knights guarding the entrance were stronger than any other knight he had ever encountered in different territories. In fact, he wanted to see their skills in action if he ever got the chance.
‘But today’s not the day...’
Just like that, he started toward the business sector of the downtown area connected to the palace.
There was a giant 3-story building on a 3-way crossroad downtown. He was heading there today.
“Crest Bank.” It was the biggest bank in the Empire, serving the highest number of customers. The person he needed to meet there was the president of the bank.
Seo Jun-Ho stepped inside and took a ticket. When it was his turn, he sat down at the counter.
“How can I help you?” The employee asked.
“I wanted to deposit some money,” he replied.
“Do you have a safe registered under your name?”
“No.”
“In that case, I’ll help you set up a safe first.”
Seo Jun-Ho nodded and took out a money pouch from his Inventory. It made a heavy sound on the table, making the employee swallow.
“Um... Excuse me, but how much did you want to deposit...?”
“It’s a little more than 200 gold.”
“Goodness!”
It was made up of the 100 gold he had received from Baron Vashti, along with some of the gold he always carried around with him.
The employee stood up, flustered. “Um... I’m sorry, but I’ll need to bring my superior.”
“Go ahead.”
A moment later, a sharp-looking man approached him, wearing a tidy, luxurious-looking suit. “My name is Phillip, and I am the branch manager of Crest. Please, follow me.”
He led them straight to his office. As Seo Jun-Ho sat down, the employee placed a cup of expensive tea in front of him. He took a sip.
“Is the president not here?” he asked abruptly.
“...Pardon?” Phillip blinked, looking at him like he was crazy. The president wasn’t just some employee, and he had no reason to come to the bank every day. “The president is working from home.”
“I see. But you at least have a crystal ball I can use to communicate with him, correct? This is the Leiark branch, after all.”
“So, you’re not here to make a deposit.” Phillip’s eyes narrowed. He kept asking specific questions that a normal customer would never ask, and it made him wary.
“No, I’m not, to be honest. Are you his son?” Seo Jun-Ho asked, looking at the nameplate on his desk. ‘Phillip Crest’. Anyone could tell that he was connected to the business by blood.
“Leave.”
“Please listen to what I have to see.”
“If you don’t leave, I’ll call the guards,” he said coldly.
Seo Jun-Ho shrugged. “Will you listen if I tell you I’m from Paradise?”
“What?” At that, Phillip’s face crumpled like paper. “You bastards...How dare you come here...”
“You’re more temperamental than you look,” Seo Jun-Ho remarked, giving a relaxed smile. He tapped on his Vita, and a few photos popped up into the air. “Take a look at these first before we talk.”
Still on his guard, Phillip quickly skimmed through the photos. “...What is this?”
“This is what was formerly known as Paradise.”
“...!” Phillip’s eyes widened, and he stared at him.
“There’s not a single one of those rats left. I killed all the fiends there, you see,” Seo Jun-Ho explained.
“You are...”
“My name is Seo Jun-Ho. I am a Player.”
“Seo Jun-Ho?” Phillip’s eyes flashed. “One second.”
He stood up and walked over to his desk. He began to dig through the pile of documents. Shortly after, he found something and returned to his seat.
“By chance, are you the same Seo Jun-Ho who rescued Players and imperial citizens from Outland a few days ago?” he asked.
“What a relief. I’m glad the rumors that have already spread all the way here.” Seo Jun-Ho gave a soft smile.
Phillip thought for a second and reluctantly bowed his head. “I’m sorry I... No, I apologize for doubting you.”
“I’m the one at fault for mentioning Paradise so suddenly. I understand.” However, Seo Jun-Ho had no other choice but to do so because he thought it would take too long if they had a leisurely conversation. “I found an interesting file while cleaning up Paradise. It had a list of all the people who have been injected with demonic energy.” He made that up on the spot, as he couldn’t tell Phillip about Confession of the Dead.
After relaxing for a brief moment, Phillip’s expression hardened again. “...What do you want?”
“Geez, you’re so impatient...Do you usually switch between informal and formal speech just like that?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.
“Shut up and tell me what you want. Is it money after all?”
Well, it made sense that Phillip thought that he might have come here to threaten him if he had the list in his hand.
“I can cure your mother.”
Phillip froze. He looked like he was about to lose it, but now, he started to tremble. The president of Crest Bank’s wife, his mother, was currently bedridden.
“I know that she is in a lot of pain because of the demonic energy in her body. I can help you,” Seo Jun-Ho assured.
“...Why should I trust you?”
Seo Jun-Ho dug through his jacket and held out a letter to him. “This was written by Baron Vashti’s own hand. You see the seal stamped there, right?”
“...” Phillip accepted the letter and studied it all over. He swallowed. Having managed his family’s bank from a young age, he knew all the imperial nobles’ seals by heart.
‘This isn’t forged. It’s the real thing.’
Phillip looked up with hope, waiting for Seo Jun-Ho to explain the letter.
“Take a look.”
“...” He carefully opened the letter and skimmed through it. Every time his eyes skipped down a line, his hands gripping the paper would tremble.
“—ize.”
“What was that?”
“I deeply apologize!” Phillip jumped up and bowed at his hip at a 90-degree angle. “I didn’t recognize such a distinguished man and have made an unthinkable mistake... Please forgive me, I beg of you.”
“Sigh.” Geez. Phillip looked well put together, but his personality had no middle ground. Seo Jun-Ho waved him off. “It’s fine, so take a seat.”
“Yes, sir...” Phillip sat down, looking nervous. He politely put his knees together. If the Player ended up changing his mind because of Phillip’s harsh personality, he would put his forehead to the ground.
“First of all, do you have what I asked for before?”
“What you asked for... Oh! The crystal ball!” He nodded vigorously and brought over a magic crystal ball from his drawer. “Here it is.”
“Seeing how you reacted, I’m afraid your father may react in a similar manner, so please tell him yourself.”
“Oh, yes...” Phillip blushed, embarrassed. He activated the magic crystal ball. A moment later, a face appeared inside, and he quickly explained the whole story.
[Did you double-check Baron Vashti’s seal?]
“Of course. What do you take me for...”
[I worry for you because you are still lacking. You did not act rudely because of that frisky personality of yours again, did you?]
“W-well...”
As Phillip panicked, Seo Jun-Ho turned the crystal ball around. “Hello. I am the Player Seo Jun-Ho. Your son wasn’t rude to me, so you can put your heart at ease.”
[...Ahem. If that’s the case, I am glad. My name is Lenny Crest. Is what I heard true? Can you cure my wife?]
“Yes, I can.”
The middle-aged man swallowed from across the crystal ball when he heard his confident, unwavering voice.
“If it’s alright with you, I would like to treat her as fast as possible,” Seo Jun-Ho said.
[Is there a particular reason...?]
“Well, you don’t think that Simus and your wife are the only victims, do you?”
[Ah...!] Lenny grunted. He seemed to have realized something all at once. [But of course... So, we are the first—]
pαndα noνɐ1,сoМ “If the treatment goes well, would you be able to grant me an audience with the others?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.
[...] Lenny considered this for a moment and slowly nodded. [I have a principle to never divulge the information of my customers to outsiders, but I must make an exception in this case.]
“On the contrary, I think they’ll be thankful.”
[Even on the minuscule chance that they all decide to remove their money from my bank, I will not resent it.]
“You’re straightforward. I like it.” Seo Jun-Ho stood up. “So, where am I going?”
***
“Right this way.” Philip escorted him politely, like a diplomat escorting a president. The two of them stepped out of the Teleport Gate and boarded the finest coach that had been waiting for them and headed to the estate.
Count Lenny was waiting at the entrance, along with a few guards. “Welcome. You must be tired after such a long journey. Shall I escort you to a place to rest?”
“...No, it only took 20 minutes to get here.” Seo Jun-Ho looked between Phillip and Lenny’s faces before letting out a light laugh.
‘These people are really bad at maintaining their expressions.’
They looked like puppies drenched in rain, probably because they wanted him to treat Lenny’s wife as soon as possible. It had been a good move for them to have established a bank rather than to become involved in politics.
“No, I’ll check on your wife right away. If everything looks alright, I will start the treatment immediately.”
“W-will you?”
“Right this way!”
The hallways they led him down resembled a palace. The room they entered was filled with the soft scent of herbs.
“Let me check her pulse.” She was asleep, and her face was ashen. Seo Jun-Ho gently grabbed her wrist. Once he poured in a small amount of his own magic energy, he clearly saw see her condition inside.
[You sense low-grade demonic energy from the target.]
[Watchguard of Darkness can consume the demonic energy.]
[Upon absorption, your magic stat will increase.]
‘The grade of the demonic energy is the same as what Simus had, and she looks okay overall.’
It was because the demonic energy had been in Simus for a long time. On the other hand, it hadn’t been that long since Lenny’s wife was injected with demonic energy.
“I will begin the treatment immediately. I need to concentrate, so I need everyone to step out of the room.”
Seo Jun-Ho was confident that he could treat this level of demonic energy within an hour at most. After kicking out the others, he immediately released the Watchguards of Darkness into her body.
‘Devour it all. Don’t leave a single drop of demonic energy.’
The loyal Watchguards followed their master’s orders and began to hunt down the demonic energy.
Seo Jun-Ho blinked as they did.
‘Is it because of Demon’s Bane’s power? They’re consuming the demonic energy abnormally faster than before.’
Though he had initially estimated that it would take an hour to finish the treatment, surprisingly, it ended in just twenty minutes. Moreover, there were only a few droplets of sweat on his forehead, whereas with Simus, his entire body was drenched with sweat once he was done with the treatment.
“Phew...” When he got the message stating that his magic stat had slightly increased, the woman’s ashen face finally looked better.
Phillip and Lenny were pacing along the hallway. When he opened the door and stepped out, they came running at once.
“W-why did you step out already? Did something go wrong?”
“No. The patient held out better than I thought, so the treatment was easy. It was a success.”
“Is it true?”
Grinning brightly, they entered the room and checked on her condition. Just as they did, she opened her eyes with difficulty. Count Lenny exchanged a few words with her and returned to Seo Jun-Ho. The latter watched him with interest.
‘...How interesting.’
When he returned, there was no sign of the man who had been worried over his wife. Now, his face was full of the charisma befitting of the president of the biggest bank in the empire.
“Player Seo Jun-Ho. You have fulfilled your promise remarkably. Now, it is my turn to keep my promise,” the count spoke as he led him to his office. “Let us go. I will help you get an audience with anyone you wish.”
“...You’re not going to ask who?”
When Count Lenny turned around, he seemed amused by his words. “I expect those you want to meet are at least of noble status. Moreover, they are probably of such high status that Baron Vashti could not easily help you meet them.”
“You’re exactly right.”
“Then, there should be no problems,” he replied firmly. “As long as they are a noble of Ruben, even if it is the prime minister, I can grant you an audience.”
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