Chapter 426 – Trimming the Beard, Picking up the Schoolgirl (4)

“Open up.”
“……”

The child’s eyes trembled fiercely.

– Swish, swish!

From the body of the girl, who was frantically swinging her arms in resistance, black magic sprang up like sparks.

I’m not that villainous towards children.
This time, it has to work.

“Ah? You’ll get hurt, swoosh-“

I firmly grasp the girl’s body. Then, with something thick, I thrust it deep into her mouth.
Holding her head to prevent the spoon from being pushed out, I manipulate her jaw.

With a smooth movement.
It’s all in.

“Gulp, gulp!”

The girl reluctantly swallows the extra-large abalone porridge in her mouth.

These are expensive abalones that I bought in Korea for tens of thousands of won each, a delicacy even I can’t afford.

“Ugh!”

Though she had gone without food for weeks, her digestive system and body organs had been fully healed, so there was no problem with eating.

“You’re having a feast.”
“Ugh!”

Ha ha!

This is the power of an adult.

“That’s right~ That’s right~ Take it all in.”

Feeding her, she can’t resist.
Her legs thrash back and forth, banging the bed!

“Ugh! Ugh!”

I keep going, never intending to stop.
During the two-hour struggle between life and death, the bed sheets are covered in porridge and several precious bottles of water are wasted.

When I attempt to feed her with vigour, the medicated girl resists with all her might.

As more time passes and the noise echoes down the corridor, someone comes and opens the door.

“…What on earth is going on?”

As soon as Gu-seul enters the room, I shove the spoon into the girl’s mouth.
She swallows just once.

“…Damn!”
“???”

The scene plays out like a Korean morning drama.
As I firmly hold the seated girl, Gu-seul asks me with the eyes of someone looking at a sex offender.

“What are you doing exactly?”
“Saving the child.”

It may not look good.
But if I don’t do this, the child will die.

In order to somehow rejuvenate this girl who has lost her will to live, she first needs to feel full.
That’s why people relieve their work stress with delicious food.
There’s a reason why Hong-Yeon laments to me, heavily drunk on expensive liquor.

The fundamental way to alleviate one’s stress is through basic needs.
Half of it is leisure.

-Clang.

Setting down the emptied bowl of porridge on the bedside table, I roughly pat the girl’s head.

“…Ha, ha.”

Disturbed, the girl trembles and gives me a worried glance.

“Let’s wash her, and remodel this room.”
“…How, exactly?”
“As childlike as possible. For my sake, too.”
“You’re living here too?”

One of the best ways to bond with a person is to live with them.

Living together is perhaps the simplest way to clash with someone. Nevertheless.

Even in high school, students residing in dormitories often quickly befriended their peers.

“We should engage in conversation as much as possible. There’s much to learn.”

As I stepped into the corridor uttering these words, Gu-seul, who had followed me, asked.

“…Such earnest sincerity.”

I responded to her question, which was loaded with the implication of why I was doing all this.

“One must groom the successor in advance.”
“What?”
“Well, I don’t know when I might die.”

But I wouldn’t die as early as that old woman. Initially, there were only a few individuals in this world who could kill me.

“Quite the confidence you have.”
“Because I am the king you serve. Trust me.”

Even if my powers are roughly equivalent to Mugung in his prime or Heaven’s father, there are differences between them and me. Significant differences.

“All right, understood. I just need to bathe, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then you should start preparing as well. I’ve arranged all the Infini masks and artifacts in the room.”

Tonight, we have a significant deal lined up. The prosperity of the land I command could be determined by the success or failure of this deal. If all goes well, my consistent financial struggles could be relieved, no matter how much I bring in.

Naturally, the Infini mask is meant to conceal my appearance. After traversing the dungeon and equipping various artifacts, I discovered a method to completely hide my identity.

Because Lee Si-heon is a dead man. I fashioned an image of the king myself.

“See you tonight.”

Gu-seul whispered to me as she retraced her steps.

“And I noticed a considerable amount of tissue in the trash can.”
“…”
“Can even a king not resist his sexual urges? You’ll burn out. Hehehe.”
“Do you want to try?”
“Escape~!”

I also had plans in place for that situation.

* * * * * * * * *

“Hehehe.”

-Swoosh!

The water from the shower flowed with a hum. The filled bathtub rippled, and the rising steam clung to the glass.

I splashed a bucket full of water onto the dark-skinned child.

‘What kind of name is ‘dark-skinned’ for a child…’

The name seemed so rustic, as if I was coercing the child to quickly reveal his own name.

-You don’t like being called ‘dark-skinned’, do you? Then tell me your name nicely.

It was like this. It would be surprising if that was the plan, but Gu-seul was aware of Lee Si-heon’s taste in naming. The fact that he named his daughter ‘Shiba’ said it all.

-Splash!

The dark-skinned child’s long black hair hung limp from the water. He looked like a sodden puppy. The moment I reached out to fix his hair, Gu-seul’s eyes narrowed.

‘Hmm.’

A faint trace of an injection mark on his nape, U45.

“The numerical designation of a Flower’s test subject.

‘Aside from that, her skin is impressively pale.’

Her appearance was quite striking, although hard to appreciate in her current disheveled state. If one were to cut away all her blood-matted hair, remove the encrusted rheum in her eyes, and cleanse her of the grime, she would certainly…

‘Could it be? Did Lee Si-heon, that rascal, surprisingly recognize her?’

Guseul feared the discerning gaze of Lee Si-heon.

‘…’

The dark-skinned boy was rigid, trembling as he stared intently at Guseul’s thigh.

‘What’s the matter?’

Following his gaze, Guseul noticed the steel rod embedded in the artery of her thigh. A small iron bar had penetrated her flesh.

‘Ah, this.’

Sensing his confusion, Guseul kindly explained.

‘It’s an artifact that suppresses magic. It has to be embedded directly into the flesh… but once you adapt, it doesn’t hurt much.’

There were four in total, one in each shoulder and each thigh. Iron rods, each about the length of three finger joints, were embedded in her body. This was due to her overabundant magical energy, which her body couldn’t fully control.

‘Anyway, don’t worry about it. Now, raise your hands!’

Perhaps it was due to his weariness of Lee Si-heon’s assertive approach. Gently persuaded by Guseul, the dark-skinned boy timidly raised his arms.

As she sprayed water onto the mirror with the showerhead, the boy’s and her own reflection became visible. Guseul, washing the boy, caught sight of her own breasts reflected on the mirror’s surface.

‘Ah.’

Within the elongated recess, a hidden protrusion. A sigh escaped her at the sight of the fingernail scratches and bite marks etched next to it.

‘He touched me quite roughly.’

‘…?’

‘It’s nothing.’

She had inadvertently shown the boy something she shouldn’t have.

Guseul, gently gliding her fingers over the boy’s dirt-encrusted skin, began to inspect each injection mark.

‘One, two, three… seven. U45… U45.’

What was the purpose of the Flower’s experiment using the ‘U’ series?

‘I feel like I’ve heard about it before? Hmm.’

As Guseul ruminated, a word flashed across her mind.

‘Ah!’

‘?!’

The boy trembled, startled by her sudden exclamation. Once again, Guseul’s eyes locked onto the boy’s neck. Magic flared in her eyes as she scanned his body.

‘U45!’

The culmination of decades of development, halted by the onset of war and subsequently ended by the World Tree, lay before her. The Cornus family had poured countless funds into searching for the key to immortality, and the Flower had striven to bear another fruit with that key.

One of the victims…

‘The dark-skinned boy?’

Considering he was alive, could he be a successful specimen? Taking him as a disciple would pose several difficulties, but luck is a constant.

No, it’s more accurate to say that Lee Si-heon’s eyes recognized it.”

The child was in pursuit of a certain village, I learned, that housed a research institute.

Could it be that the little one yearned for someone within that institute?

– A friend resided there, he said.

Another subject of the same experiment. As the backstory gradually unwrapped, Gu-seul nodded her acknowledgment. She decided to subtly share this later, during her nightly affairs.

“Hahaha…”

Suddenly, the child let out a forlorn whimper. Perhaps overly engrossed, some foam had found its way into his eyes. As Gu-seul tenderly cleaned his face with water, stifling a chuckle, the child seemed on the verge of a tantrum.

‘Nevertheless…’

A child is but a child. Each of his actions was endearing.

Though his face now bore an expression of imminent demise, just like Lee Si-heon did with Azalea during their academy days, or with Cornus when she was declared a heretic, Gu-seul was certain that with persistent conversation, the gloom would eventually lift.

‘Although he’s quite the underdog…’

Despite his many idiotic tendencies and the frustration that arose when he thought of Lee Si-heon during the period of Azalea’s confession, he was now gaining confidence in his actions. Surely, he might graduate from being the ultimate loser to just a regular one.

Being in someone’s company does inevitably alter one’s impression of them, Gu-seul mused.

‘Ah.’

Indeed, Lee Si-heon was a deviant.

A faintly darkened spot under the armpit. The size of his finger had left a deep mark.

* * * * * * * *

The Crow.

An embryonic organization, deeply rooted in a nefarious place known as the underworld. It held connections to the Association and the Flower, moving vast assets and controlling large corporations. Recently, even these two formidable powers had started taking notice.

In a capitalist society, money was the ultimate weapon. Rumor had it that the Hunters they employed as escorts had impressive careers.

Even I could not dismiss the Crow as a trifling force. It now extended its reach toward the eighth leaf of the Flower, another emerging power that could not be ignored.

“They’re well aware of our financial constraints.”
“Yes.”
“They will demand a significant amount. For instance… the resources of this land right now.”

War, and the post-war period, were no different from another market.

With the survival of the nation at stake, they were willing to enter even an unjust contract. A little good fortune could swiftly amass a gargantuan fortune.

A power that could only originate during this transitional phase. That was the essence of the Crow.

‘They are audacious…’

I wasn’t sure about their initial funding, but they were bold and swift. Even I would have likely raised funds in the manner of the Crow.

Well, not anymore.

“The coat?”
“I’ve put it on.”
“The tie.”
“I’ve tied it.”

Chattering incessantly, Gu-seul circled me, inspecting my attire. Finally, she even invoked magic in her eyes to peer into my depths.

“Alright. You’ve concealed your magic well. Not even the World Tree could detect it. However, your sleeves could use some tidying. Come here.”

She took a step closer, scrutinizing the last details of my attire, finalizing the preparations.

“Good?”
“Good.”

We completed our preparations with a final hand gesture and high-five. In the mirror, a middle-aged man with a patchy beard stared back at me.

A disguise crafted with an imagination of the youthful visage of the Heavenly Demon I once encountered in the past. I handed a sword forged from mistletoe to Gu-seul.

“That’s precious, don’t leave it anywhere.”
“…Oh. How much would it fetch if I sold it?”
“Look at this girl.”
“Hehehe.”

The jesting came to an end. I opened the door and stepped into the negotiation room.

Gu-seul, previously playful, abruptly adopted a serious expression, swiftly morphing into a familiar figure.

A stern face and firm stance. It was the demeanor of a secretary, exuding an icy aura that no one could penetrate.

-Shivers.

A cold gust flowed out as soon as I opened the door—an overwhelming atmosphere. Had it been three years earlier, I might have been on edge.

Relaxed, I stepped in and immediately surveyed the surroundings.

Breaking the heavy atmosphere in an instant, I dominated the space. The weight of each step resonating within the room.

Straightening my posture and expression, I found my mind and body at ease.

-Silence.

The guards around me stared.

-Silence.

Their defenses shattered at my step. They all lowered their eyes, their attempts to create fear failing.

All, except one.

The woman seated on the black leather was looking up at me with a fierce gaze. The moment my instincts told me she was no ordinary person, my eyes scanned her face.

“…?”

My body stiffened.

“No.”

Green hair. Golden eyes.

A woman of captivating beauty, now even more alluring, rose from her seat. A black coat wrapped around her shoulders, its towering feathers befitting the epithet ‘Crow’.

“Welcome.”

A glimpse of skin flashed through her familiar 30-denier stockings. I knew them well, having torn more than anyone else.

I had thought I wouldn’t see her until the job was done.

“By the gods.”

The boss who moved the power of the crows was none other than Lee Se-young.