Three weeks after Seo Jun-Ho cured Countess Crest, strange rumors began to circulate around the empire. They said a Player was going around meeting high-ranking nobles one by one.
Of course, the rumor reached the royal palace as well.
“...”
The king’s palace was as big as a stadium. The sunlight permeating and reflecting from either side was blinding.
However, unlike how it appeared, the air was heavy. The one who evoked this was none other than the robust, middle-aged man sitting on the throne. His bright, golden eyes shone like real gold.
He spoke with a bored voice, “It has been some time since you requested an audience first.”
Prime Minister Rashlynn bowed his head. “There has been a strange rumor circulating recently, so I made haste to request an audience.”
“A rumor?”
“Yes. They say that a Player has been having secretive meetings with each high-ranking noble.”
“If it were a mere rumor, you would not have reported this to me.” Gauss’s gaze slowly lowered from the air to the bowed back of the prime minister. It meant that he was interested. “Tell me more.”
“...First, the informants in our cabinet dug deeper and found the rumor to be true.”
“How interesting. Tell me, what nobles did the Player meet with?”
“Well...” Not certain of his own information, the prime minister looked nervous. “He started with Baron Vashti of Gilleon, then Baron Favo after his probation was lifted and he was reinstated to West Sun...”
“This is meaningless. Only tell me the names of the ones who are at least of count status.”
“Understood. The ones who are counts or higher would be...Count Crest, Count Ravon, Count Smitri, Marquis Richter, Marquis Venosha, and...even his audience with Duke Schubert has been verified.”
“...Hm.” Gauss’s eyes shined. The people the prime minister had just named weren’t just any nobles. “They are those with power in the business, financial, and military sectors, are they not?”
“...That is correct.”
“How fun. Who is this Player?”
“His name is Seo Jun-Ho.”
“Seo Jun-Ho... Seo Jun-Ho... Is he perchance the Player that the Leviathan had mentioned?”
“Yes. I recall that the South Sea Blue Snake himself gave word to the throne of the Player’s contributions.”
“Hm...” Gauss tapped on the throne with his finger. He thought he finally understood why the prime minister came here to report this. “So, we do not know what intentions he has in going around and meeting nobles.”
“Indeed.”
“If so, there is a very easy way to find out.”
“What would that be?”
“Bring him to me. Once I meet him in person, we will know everything.”
“I will heed your command.”
The prime minister bowed.
***
“The man you will be meeting today is Count Evian. He is the head of the department that oversees the empire’s waterways...”
These days, Seo Jun-Ho’s everyday life was monotonous. He would eat breakfast with Count Lenny, who would tell him about the noble they were meeting that day while they dined. Then, they would head out to the respective territory, cure the patient, and come home.
“According to what you said, this should be the last patient,” Count Lenny said.
“Yes.” Today, he was meeting the final noble who had been injected with demonic energy according to Guladin’s memories.
Count Lenny let out a bittersweet sigh. “I suppose this will also be our last breakfast together.”
“These past three weeks felt like just a day.”
“You were just that busy. If it weren’t for you, the empire would have been played for fools by those dirty fiends.”
“It’s a miracle that we were able to prevent them from doing so ahead of time,” Seo Jun-Ho said.
He was astounded when he went around treating those nobles. It was all because the nobles involved had power in many different fields.
‘It disgusts me just to think about it.’
It wasn’t like the fiends had done those because they had nothing better to do. ‘
If the Heavenly Demon were alive... He would have gone after the Ruben Empire after Earth.’
And once he took action, those who had been injected with demonic energy would have to choose between their family and the empire. It would have been the hardest decision ever.
‘The entire empire would have fallen into total chaos.’
This wouldn’t be a good thing for Players either. If the Empire were engulfed in war, they wouldn’t be able to comfortably hunt.
“Oh, now that I think about it, I heard that Count Evian could not bear to wait and hired a priest separately.”
“A priest?”
“Yes. Apparently, she is also a Player.”
Seo Jun-Ho nodded. This was a sensitive topic, so he wouldn’t have been able to hire a priest from the Church of the Sun. Seo Jun-Ho was sure that he had hired a Player priest with tight lips.
“She is a well-known Player, one that even I have heard of,” Count Lenny remarked.
“She’s that famous?”
“You should know her too. She is a woman by the name of the Schumern Saintess.”
‘Huh?’
Seo Jun-Ho blinked.
***
Count Evian let out a small sigh. He treasured his daughter above anything else and watching her suffer made him feel like his heart was being ripped apart.
“I think this is as far as we can go today. Your daughter’s stamina...”
“Sigh... Good work. Still, she does look much better,” Count Evian said weakly. “I will see you tomorrow.”
“Yes. Then, I’ll be on my way.” The priest bowed politely. She let out a small sigh as soon as she stepped out of the room.
‘I didn’t think that it would be this hard to treat even with my skill.’
She pitied the patient. She should be running around and playing at that age rather than being bedridden.
The priest studied her slender hands.
‘A full recovery is impossible.’
Her skill was called Breath of Restoration (A). It was why people called her a saintess, though the title was an exaggeration. However, her skill wasn’t very effective in this case.
‘What should I do?’
She started to feel gloomy again. Then, she sighed and returned to her quarters.
Two Players dressed in priest robes were waiting there, standing at the entrance.
“Welcome back, Saintess.”
“I’m tired. Please get out of the way.” Though her voice was cold, the Players smiled gently and opened the door for her.
“Rest well.”
She shed her stuffy saintess robes and changed into a sloppy-looking tracksuit. Then, she flung herself onto the bed and happily rolled around in the sheets while hugging a plushie and savoring the moment.
A short while after, she slowly opened her eyes.
‘They’ve been starting to make me feel uncomfortable these days, but is it just in my head?’
The Players in front of her door were associated with Silver Constellation, which was one of the Big 6. She happened to meet them after the battle at Blackfield, but these days, the kindness they were showing her felt uncomfortable.
“I definitely told them that I refuse...” she muttered. Silver Constellation was the very first Guild that sought her out after she returned to the field. Obviously, this was because they wanted to scout her, but she had politely refused their offer. However, when they asked for her help in the Blackfield campaign, she couldn’t refuse.
‘The conditions weren’t bad, but there’s one big issue.’
During the expedition, she discovered that her former boss would be participating as well. And she knew that she had made the correct choice. After all, if she had refused their proposal, Seo Jun-Ho would have been dead right now.
“...He’s so high maintenance.”
The Schumern Saintess, Cha Si-Eun, sighed and took out a book from her Inventory.
It was called <The Youngest Son of the Gates>, and Seo Jun-Ho had given it to her in person as soon as he returned from Las Vegas. She had already binged-read it twelve times. The story itself was entertaining, but whenever she read this novel, she would remember the advice he had given her.
- I only pay attention to the people around me when I know that I can safely clear a Gate.
- I don’t climb the floors for other people.
She had been living her whole life while clinging to the thoughts and opinions of people whose identities she didn’t even know. On that day; however, she felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She had seen the nightscape of the city from the 77th floor many times before, but it looked completely unfamiliar to her after that. It felt as if she was seeing it for the first time.
‘My savior.’
She was planning to reveal her identity the next time she saw him.
“Ugh, this is so embarrassing.” She blushed all the way down to the back of her neck.
She quickly opened her book. “...I’m just gonna read this again.”
She started her thirteenth binge-read and read without paying attention to the time.
“Mm.”
After about two hours passed, she started to feel stuffy and stepped out again, wearing her saintess robes.
“Where are you going?” one of the Players asked.
“I feel stuffy, so I was going to take a walk through the flower garden.”
“We will go with you.”
“No. I need time to think alone, so please don’t follow me,” she said firmly.
She walked around the flower garden and sat on a bench. After coming to the estate, she would come here whenever her heart felt too stifled for her to read.
‘Of course, it’s not as good as a manhwa bang... But these places are nice every once in a while.’
As soon as she opened her book, she heard the sound of two people walking over.
“...Geez. I told you not to follow me!” she exclaimed, glaring at the corner of the garden. She decided to give them a stern lecture this time around.
Two people emerged. “She often comes here to read. Though it’s written in the Earthen language, I believe it is a scripture or otherwise contains profound teachings. She should be somewhere around here.”
One of them was the familiar Count Evian, but she was completely astounded when she saw the man who was with him.
“Oh! There she is.” As Count Evian looked at her brightly, she pulled her hood down the fastest she had ever done in her life.
“Hoho. Have a good conversation.”
Count Evian’s face had been gaunt even up to this morning, but now, he was beaming.
However, what was even more surprising was the man walking with him.
“So, we meet again.”
It was Seo Jun-Ho.
Her former boss approached her with a smile. “May I sit next to you?”
“Oh... Sure...”
“Thank you.” Seo Jun-Ho took his seat and studied the strange Saintess, who was hiding like a pillbug.
‘She... covers her face a lot.’
Well, she had been wearing sunglasses and a mask the last time he saw her. She thoroughly showed him that she wouldn’t show her face.
‘...But what’s she up to?’
The Frost Queen was standing in front of him, wearing an amused expression. She asked for popcorn, but Seo Jun-Ho casually ignored her, yet she only laughed in response.
‘Now that I think about it...’
The Frost Queen had definitely said that the Schumern Saintess was someone that he knew. Last time, when he asked her if the Schumern Saintess was Skaya, the Frost Queen had scolded him harshly.
“I... I’m sorry I ran away last time,” Seo Jun-Ho apologized. At that, the Saintess looked at him in the corner of her eyes and sat up straight. However, it seemed that she still didn’t want to look at him, as she was facing the complete opposite direction.
“Ahem... How could you run away when we’re acquainted?”
“I couldn’t help it at the time. I wouldn’t have been able to spend a few months quietly receiving treatment.”
“Again, you say you couldn’t help it...”
“Huh?”
pαпᵈα-noνɐ1·сoМ “It’s nothing. Anyway, did you come all the way here just to apologize to me?” She asked.
“No. I came here to treat Count Evian’s daughter.”
“Excuse me?” She turned to him in surprise but she turned away three times as quickly. “H-how can you—you don’t have a healing skill, though.”
“...How are you so sure of that?” Seo Jun-Ho asked with brows raised.
“W-well... Just by looking at you, I can clearly tell that you’re combat-oriented, not the healing-oriented type.”
“...Well, things happened.” With that, the conversation between them ended.
‘I wanted to ask her a lot of questions when we met... But I don’t think I should.’
It wasn’t like he could just blurt out, “do you know me?”
Just then, something on the bench caught Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes.
“Huh? That book...” He picked it up. She had to have read it countless times by now, as the pages had already turned yellow. “The Youngest Son of the Gates. Do you like this book as well?”
“...” The Saintess was silent for a moment, but she let out a heavy sigh in resignation and sat up. “Yes, I like it. Very much so.”
“Wow, what a coincidence. I actually bought this for an acquaintance of mine as a gift,” he said.
“...What kind of person were they?” She almost sounded concerned.
Seo Jun-Ho didn’t hesitate to answer.
“My former secretary. Oh, now that I think about it, I heard that she quit—”
His face turned serious as he seemed to be pondering over something before he grinned. “She must have earned a lot of money. She’s actually a little clumsy, so I worry about her.”
“...You must worry about her often.”
“I don’t really, these days. She’s probably doing well on her own. She’s actually pretty sharp, so...” Suddenly, Seo Jun-Ho felt a heavy set of eyes on him and whipped around.
“My book. Hand it over.” She snatched the book from him, leered, and then left, just like that.
“What’s with her... how rude,” he remarked.
“Hmph, you of all people are speaking on rudeness? How ridiculous,” the Frost Queen said, crossing her arms. She had watched all of that unfold in real-time. “You were much ruder than she was. Believe my words.”
“...What did I even do?” Seo Jun-Ho muttered, aggrieved.
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