Chapter 51
Ch.51 I Must Receive Divine Punishment
Although the festival hadn’t officially begun yet, Icevine already bustled with energy.
Watching people haul massive wine barrels through the lively city, I felt a surge of happiness.
Wine! Wine!
Icevine wine was incredibly rare.
Its sweet yet deeply flavorful taste had captivated the palates of Old Continent dwellers.
Consequently, when trade with the New Continent abruptly ceased due to the war against the Demon King, Icevine wine’s value skyrocketed even further.
And now, I could drink this wine to my heart’s content—until I grew utterly tired of it.
‘I’m happy.’
First, I opened an account at a nearby bank to secure funds, then sold my promissory note and Andrea’s private bonds.
Thanks to the credit of Zabas Trading House’s branch manager, liquidation was easier than expected—though the promissory note from Zabas was so enormous that completing the transaction today seemed unlikely.
‘Well, even so, this amount is more than enough.’
It wasn’t merely sufficient for the festival and immediate expenses—it was overflowing.
For now, I’d stay here, buy wine freely, and gather some local rumors.
Still, I couldn’t be satisfied with just this much income.
Now that the New Continent had opened, far more content would be added.
This was merely a quiet, idle period with little to do.
Strolling down the road, I scanned for decent wine while pondering:
But who would become the boss mob this time?
Normally, one of the four heroes would assume the role—but Scarlet’s trigger to become the King of the Dead had halted.
Thus, excluding the broken-down Hero Scarlet, the possible candidates were:
First, Ascal, the Empire’s youngest prince.
Desperate to usurp the flawless Crown Prince and seize the throne, Ascal never received even a sliver of opportunity—fueling his inferiority complex until he finally succumbed to temptation, broke the seal, and crowned himself King of the Dead.
If he became the boss, things would get extremely troublesome.
Next, Cardinal Davinus.
Leading a secret cult, Davinus had long sought the world’s hidden truths.
Through relentless obsession, he succeeded in unsealing the world and summoned the King of the Dead into his own body.
If Davinus became the boss, the difficulty would be manageable.
The third candidate was Colt, an adventurer.
By sheer accident, he entered an ancient ruin, fell for the King of the Dead’s deception, and unwittingly broke the seal.
If Colt became the King of the Dead, it would be the easiest difficulty.
The King of the Dead’s stats varied depending on who assumed the role—
and among them, Colt’s version was undoubtedly the most convenient.
Yet, it remained uncertain who would take the role this time.
Who would it be?
“Big brother! Try a sip of our wine!”
A cute girl selling wine from a roadside stall offered me a taste.
After taking a small sip…
“Wow? This is absolutely amazing!”
I was stunned by its sweetness, rich body, and deep aroma.
Its perfectly aged texture coated my tongue so heavily it made me feel as if I stood alone amidst vineyards.
Kuh! Coming here was absolutely worth it.
Pleased, I sampled some cheese from her stall as well.
“Right? Our winery’s wine is incredibly delicious, isn’t it?”
“How many bottles… no, give me a whole cask.”
With several hundred gold in hand, a single cask of wine meant nothing.
“A whole cask? Just a moment.”
A man behind her fetched a wine cask.
After paying, I stored the cask in my spatial bag—prompting the man to stare in amazement.
“Oh? So you’re a mage?”
“Haha, yes. I’m quite the formidable mage.”
Elated by discovering such excellent wine, I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the festival.
***
“What? ‘Tomcat’?”
Instead of a warm reunion greeting, Leah received the crude insult ‘tomcat’ from her long-absent comrade—and rather than anger, she felt sheer disbelief.
‘What’s wrong with her now?’
Cecilia had always been eccentric.
She must’ve cooked up some bizarre notion again—just like always.
Shaking her head, Leah opened her mouth to ask what she meant—but Cecilia’s furious shout cut her off.
“Father Hans! Where is Father Hans?!”
Leah’s blood pressure began rising at Cecilia’s incomprehensible outburst, but she forced herself to stay calm.
“What are you talking about? Why are you asking me about Father Hans?”
‘Why are you asking me about your boyfriend? Clearly, your condition’s worsened since we last met.’
Just as Leah clicked her tongue in quiet exasperation—
“Cecilia? What’s going on?”
Mia appeared.
Relieved to see a familiar face, Leah sighed in comfort.
‘Mia will handle this lunatic.’
“Huh? Isn’t that the thief?”
“What?! Are you done talking?!”
Leah could overlook Cecilia’s usual nonsense—but Mia joining in ignited her fury.
“You bet I’m done! Isn’t it true you stole the Sage and fled to the New Continent? Calling you a thief is perfectly justified!”
Provoked, Leah no longer restrained her rage.
“When did I ever steal the Sage, you pointy-eared wench?!”
Thick magic surged from her body, corroding the surrounding space.
Mia, as if waiting for this moment, nocked an arrow onto her bow.
—Whoosh!
The arrow split the magic flooding the air—
“What?! You’re really doing this?!”
—Thwack!
“What’s this?! Whose magic is this? An enemy attack?!”
Suddenly, Scarlet materialized midair, twin daggers in hand, frantically scanning her surroundings.
“Huh? Leah?”
Seeing Scarlet—the comrade she’d always been closest to—Leah was overwhelmed by bitter sorrow.
‘Why must I endure this after coming all this way to help them?’
It was utterly unfair.
Her beloved had died, she’d sought out her cherished comrades—and all she received in return was insults.
As Scarlet spotted her and called out, “Huh? Leah?”, Leah’s pent-up emotions finally burst.
“Scarleeeet!”
“Huh?”
Overwhelmed, Leah threw herself into Scarlet’s arms.
“Cecilia and Mia called me a tomcat and a thief!”
“Well…”
Scarlet awkwardly held Leah, bewildered.
‘But… that’s accurate, isn’t it?’
Yet Scarlet’s heart wasn’t cruel enough to push away her weeping friend—if anything, she was too gentle.
“They see me after so long, and I… I came all this way to help despite grieving my master’s death—how can they say such things?!”
Leah’s wails froze all three of them.
“What?! The Patron died?!”
“Is… is that true, Miss Leah?!”
But Leah, more distressed by her friends’ strange titles for her master, wailed even louder.
“No! My master died! Why are you calling him Patron, Priest, and Sage?!”
Her shrieking reached such hysterical heights that—
—Peep?!
Pipi emerged from Leah’s arms and perched on her shoulder.
The blue-feathered bird gently wiped her tears with its wings, leaving Mia astonished.
“A blue bird? I’ve never seen such a creature!”
While Mia marveled at this apparent new species—
“What do you mean, ‘died’?”
“No way! You’re lying! You’re just trying to monopolize Father Hans!”
Mia sighed, glancing at the two spiraling into hysteria.
“Haa…”
Though annoyed, Mia knew she had to get to the bottom of this.
“Let’s go to City Hall and finish this discussion.”
She calmed the three fuming girls and took charge of the situation.
***
“Ugh… did I drink too much?”
It was a festival, after all—I’d overindulged yesterday.
Between Icevine wine and Central Region vintages, I’d lost all restraint and drank excessively.
“The snacks were delicious too.”
I even tried cognac—distilled wine—but its harshness didn’t suit my taste.
“Uuuugh!”
Stretching my stiff limbs, I shivered from the cold.
“Is it still this chilly because we’re in the North?”
I’d already stayed here for two weeks.
I hadn’t planned a long stay, but selling Zabas Trading House’s bonds took longer than expected.
After two weeks of dragging negotiations with various guilds and trading houses, I’d finally managed to sell them.
Time to move on soon.
Though I’d love to linger in this resort for a year, I had too much to do—
I needed to find the Concept Artifacts and deal with the King of the Dead.
Finding the Concept Artifacts posed no major issue—aside from the tedious travel.
But handling the King of the Dead involved considerable hassle:
I’d have to patrol sealed areas and watch for signs of the seal breaking…
“Wait—if I prevent the seal from breaking, what happens?”
In ‘Destiny’, saving Hatchling was optional.
But the King of the Dead’s resurrection… wasn’t optional—it was mandatory.
As the final DLC, the developers had completely locked the story path.
But what if this world was another reality?
I roughly knew where two of the three candidates were:
Prince Ascal and Colt—both NPCs I could encounter in-game.
But Cardinal Davinus? Unless chosen by the King of the Dead, he remained unfindable.
For some reason, no player had ever met him before story progression.
“There’s something here… but what?”
Despite deep contemplation, no clear answer emerged.
“Sigh… I’ll just handle what I can for now.”
I began slowly preparing to depart.
***
“And then… my master was caught in the avalanche… ‘sniffle’.”
Tears welled in Leah’s eyes as the memory resurfaced.
“Oh… no, don’t cry.”
“No, it can’t be true!”
Scarlet and Cecilia were too shocked to speak.
Mia watched their near-tearful faces with exasperation.
‘Are they falling for it again?’
To Mia, the ‘Sage’ lacked creativity.
Using the same name and identical death story on all three of them—who’d believe that?
All Mia sensed was another victim added to the list.
“He’s faking death again. Why else wouldn’t he pull the same trick on us?”
Scarlet, Leah, and Cecilia flinched at her words.
“Again?”
“Well…”
Scarlet nodded knowingly—they’d been duped before.
Cecilia’s expression turned skeptical.
“He’s certainly capable of such cruelty after what he did to us.”
Leah frowned, confused.
“What on earth are you all talking about?”
It was natural for her to be offended—these friends, who’d never even met her master, spoke as if they knew him intimately.
Worse, their claim that he’d ‘faked death again’ deeply offended her.
How heartless to tell a grieving friend their beloved’s death was a sham!
Though Father Hans was deceased, Leah couldn’t tolerate such disrespect.
Meeting Leah’s blazing eyes, Scarlet felt a pang of pity.
Carefully, she spoke—knowing the truth would shock Leah.
“Leah… don’t be shocked when you hear this.”
“What is it? Am I the only one left out? And why call me ‘tomcat’ and ‘thief’?”
Seeing Leah’s mix of hurt and fury, the other three exchanged glances.
‘Should we tell her?’
‘Why not? Just say it.’
‘Right. Better to tell her quickly—it’s for her own good.’
After a silent exchange, Scarlet reluctantly spoke.
“The… Patron, Father Hans, and the Sage… are all the same person.”
Thus began their story—how they’d each met him in the Imperial Capital, what they’d endured, and what had happened.
Each had lost their beloved—only to find an empty coffin at the gravesite, with a tombstone bearing the name ‘Hans’.
Could such identical experiences truly happen to all three?
Hearing their tale, Leah stared in disbelief, convinced they were playing a cruel joke.
“That’s… impossible! It can’t be! And our master being your lover?! I absolutely refuse to believe it! Look!”
She unleashed powerful magic.
“Eternal Hunt!”
She activated the tracking spell she’d placed on Hans’s body—and instantly turned ashen.
Her body trembled like an aspen leaf.
“He’s… alive?! Master?!”
Mia nodded coldly.
“Predictable—he’s using the same trick again.”
Leah’s mind reeled in utter confusion.
Relief warred with disbelief—her master lived, yet her friends’ claims remained unbelievable.
“How…?”
Whether to feel relieved or not, she knew one thing:
“I’m going to see Master right now!”
As she lunged forward, tall Mia grabbed her by the scruff, smiling coldly.
“Where do you think you’re going? We’re coming too.”
“Let go! I have to see Master!”
“Heh heh, Miss Leah… don’t you understand yet? Traveling with my Father Hans without my permission… you’ll face divine punishment.”
As Mia and Cecilia approached with predatory smiles, Scarlet clutched her throbbing head.
“Kyaaaah!”
Overpowered by the two, Leah…
…reportedly endured prolonged tickle torture at their hands.
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