Chapter 105
Chapter 105: Alpha Male (3)
"You've all worked hard."
On the walls of District 4. Erik offered words of commendation to the 24-hour full-time laborers. They trembled with emotion and lowered their heads. However, Kang Seo-hyun, who oversaw Earthtown, raised her head with a bright face.
'Certainly, she works well, being a noble who managed a fiefdom.'
Erik did not consider this presumptuous. It was a commendable achievement.
'Both the pace of progress and the final product are quite good.'
The landscape visible below the walls of District 4 resembled New York more than South Korea. Buildings arranged neatly in a grid pattern.
'Korean villa complexes are just too ugly.'
Given Erik's personality, when undertaking something, if there was an expert in that field, he would delegate that task to them. In some ways, he was similar to the empire's nobility.
'Looking at the fiefdom report, she showed considerable skill.'
Kang Seo-hyun had possessed a southern noble. She redeveloped some residential areas and created a new city resembling the Imperial Capital.
Her achievement was so significant that the "New City Construction Plan Near the Imperial Capital" had appeared. Based on such accomplishments, Erik appointed the possessed Kang Seo-hyun as Earthtown's chief architect.
'Perhaps because she comes from a consulting company background, she understands client requirements well.'
It wasn't just about building well. The important point was that she had done it properly while meeting the requirements. Erik had demanded only three things.
First, there would be no difference in quality between the housing of imperial citizens and the possessed. Second, the arrangement of buildings would be neat like Manhattan. Third, vast empty land in the center of the city would be prepared.
Erik's purpose was simple. Though they called them the poor of District 5. It was to mix locals and possessed together, and to later guarantee a view when transitioning to high-rise buildings, ensuring sightlines centered around roads.
'Seoul is ugly.'
Apart from a few wealthy areas, old orange-brick buildings were everywhere, and villas all had the same dull grayish-brown walls.
'No individuality, yet no systematic order either.'
Apartments were built haphazardly, blocking the view, and walking on the sidewalk gave the feeling of seeing cramped walls. However, Earthtown was different.
"Kang Seo-hyun, do you understand why I had you leave that central area vacant?"
Erik pointed to the empty land in the middle of the city and asked.
"Since it is just vacant land, I cannot say for certain, but... were you planning to build government buildings or a park?"
Based on Kang Seo-hyun's guess, the intent behind leaving such an area vacant in the exact center of the city seemed obvious.
'Perhaps she wants to build something like Central Park?'
While lost in such thoughts, she heard an unexpected answer.
"We're building a concert hall."
"...I, I'm sorry?"
A concert hall, you say.
'Is it used with a different meaning here?'
The possessed's [Continental Common Language] patch was nearly flawless. Yet the term "concert hall" was something she couldn't understand at all.
'Is the skill broken...?'
Given her sharp mind, it seemed unlikely that she would suddenly decide to build a concert hall in the center of the city. However, Erik's following words completely shattered Kang Seo-hyun's expectations and common sense.
"On Earth, they enjoy concerts more actively than prayers, don't they?"
"That... is correct?"
"The possessed in Earthtown will henceforth conduct religious activities in the form of concerts."
"I understand."
Kang Seo-hyun pondered for a moment and then nodded.
'Does he plan to instill faith through the format of performances?'
Earth was a place where true believers were hard to find. Especially among people possessed while playing games, it was common to have virtually no faith. But...
'If we conduct religious events like idol fanfare?'
Kang Seo-hyun glanced sideways at Erik. Someone with beauty that would far outshine any idol, let alone famous actors in the world.
'Thinking of the madness of idol fans... it seems like genuine faith might actually develop.'
The azure eyes filled with anticipation gazed at Erik.
"A, a concert? Erik, is it the one I know?"
"Yes, it is."
"Aaah-!!!"
A thrilled exclamation rang out. The two continued their conversation with joyful expressions.
"I'm thinking of seating about 200,000 people."
"T, two hundred thousand!"
Ruelle was startled.
'The church's maximum capacity was only 3,000 people...'
Presiding over a worship service before hundreds of thousands of believers.
'Aah.'
Just imagining it made dopamine go wild. Ruelle suddenly embraced Erik.
"Erik!"
Erik's eyes widened in shock. He calmed his startled heart and gently wrapped his arms around Ruelle's back. With one hand, he brushed back her hair. Her eyes, hidden by her sudden approach, were now revealed.
"Are you that pleased?"
"Mm-hmm. I am."
Ruelle trembled for a moment, then gently took a step back. The two switched topics with practiced ease.
"Erik, it seems the concert hall will take quite a while. Why did you come here?"
"It's a preliminary inspection. We're going to hold a grand consecration prayer meeting, after all, aren't we?"
"Mm-hmm."
"I'm planning to have the possessed from the detention camp attend as well."
Several words followed after that. A grandly publicized consecration prayer meeting. Gold would accumulate, and it was said that GP would accumulate in enormous figures as well.
"And with the GP you earn that way, you'll build a fountain?"
"Building a fountain with dimension gates would cost only 40,000 GP."
Did it make sense to complain about a mere 40,000 GP from a prayer meeting publicized throughout the entire system? Erik spoke bluntly.
"With the money after deducting the temple equipment costs, I plan to hold a believer appointment ceremony for the possessed."
GP, believers, fountains—whatever. There were some words that Kang Seo-hyun found difficult to follow, but she understood the context.
'Priestess Ruelle will hold a prayer meeting and earn a lot of money, and then she'll use that to do something for the possessed...'
Kang Seo-hyun realized something odd. The one organizing all of this was 'Ruelle.' Yet there was no mention of what she would receive.
'Isn't this what an unscrupulous idol company does?'
No matter how she thought about it, it felt like the schedule of an idol running full schedules barely alive.
***
Ruelle's orphanage, first generation. Mark and Ceri recalled old memories.
'It was brutal back then.'
The two had been underlings of a human trafficking organization. Back then, they were 10 years old. Ceri and Mark had kidnapped orphans of similar age and sold them to the organization.
"Your product value has declined. So choose: will you be sold as an experimental subject? Or would you like to learn to work as a low-level member?"
There was no choice. They were young and the world was harsh.
"You've failed to meet your quota. You're marked for disposal. Try harder."
Living as an underling in the organization, never knowing when they'd be sold as experimental subjects.
"This kid has a pretty face that'll sell for a good price, doesn't it? Ceri, go talk to him."
"Mark, be careful not to damage the face this time. Don't mess up like last time and lower the price."
The two discovered Erik. An incredibly cute little kid dragging around a massive iron sword. Ceri approached in front of him, crouched down, and spoke.
"Hey kid, where's your mom? Want to come with us?"
"If you don't get lost right now, I'll kill you."
The kid had a rough mouth. But in this brief moment of Ceri speaking, Mark had already moved behind the kid. At that moment, Mark was planning to wrap his arms around the kid's neck and lift him up. But then.
Scrape! Squelch!
"Haa, are even the kids in this shitty slum acting crazy?"
The cute little kid wielded his blade with ghostly skill. In an instant, both of Mark's arms were severed and Ceri's legs were cut off.
"Die and repent."
The little kid was about to behead them to end Ceri and Mark's lives. But...
"Hey there!"
A girl with white hair appeared, blocking him. She struck him with a chestnut-colored strike, spewing complaints.
Crack
"Erik, should we be killing children like this?"
"Weren't they human traffickers trying to sell young me to some pervert noble?"
Back then, little Erik got hit with chestnuts like a madman. He was beaten so hard that his body was half-buried in the ground.
"Don't play with your age as you please. Sometimes you're Park Ji-hun at 30, and other times you're pretending to be a little kid like this."
"Then don't treat me like a little kid either... I apologize."
"Phew. Since we're giving the kids a chance, I'll give you a task too, Erik."
Mark and Ceri were rescued by Riferoze, and Erik was given the task of dismantling a human trafficking organization on his own.
"You must not kill the children trapped there unjustly."
As a result, Erik captured and killed not just the organization's executives, but all their collaborators and buyers as well. There were six survivors. Low-level members of the organization, averaging 10 years old. Those children grew up and became Erik's assistants.
"Whether it's you, Mark, or you, Ceri..."
They were also the very people being questioned by Riferoze now. Mark, who was suddenly kidnapped by Imperial Daily News, was imprisoned in Ceri's luxury shop. After being beaten half to death, Riferoze's interrogation began.
"The education is over. Now I'll ask questions."
Riferoze asked.
"Is it true that nothing happened between the two of you?"
"I don't know anything about that!"
"P, please spare me..."
Mark told the truth, while Ceri begged for her life. At that, Riferoze looked into Ceri's eyes.
"So, Ceri. The company name is Erwell?"
Pure white pupils carefully scanned the interior of the luxury shop. Apart from the suspicious name. There were no particular traces of the two people.
"These guys sure executed their plan very thoroughly."
There were clearly suspicious circumstances found in several places. She still hadn't obtained physical evidence. However, she felt that it would come soon.
'I was planning to stop by the Imperial Palace anyway. The Information Bureau will know something.'
Riferoze roughly expended her divine power and healed Mark and Ceri.
"Next time I come, you'd better have a satisfactory answer."
After Riferoze left. Ceri and Mark stared blankly at each other.
"How did it come to this...?"
It was good to escape the war zone. It was good to live like humans, and being cared for by someone like Ruelle was a happy experience.
"Those two are never going to let us go."
"B, but... what else can we do but live?"
But once a connection was formed, it was this relentless.
***
Riferoze returned to Ruelle's church. There, she witnessed Ruelle looking extremely happy.
"Ruelle, why are you in such high spirits?"
"Hehe. I'm going to hold a very grand prayer meeting at the Imperial Capital!"
Ruelle was delighted. That was because Erik had seduced her with sweet words.
"After the consecration prayer meeting ends, there will be a believer appointment ceremony too!"
Erik's way with words was certainly impressive. Didn't he heighten her expectations with all sorts of words? Ruelle was in high spirits.
'How pure.'
That bright appearance moved Riferoze's heart.
"Ruelle, is there anything I can help you with?"
Even after five years, seeing Ruelle unchanged, Riferoze's complicated heart was put in order. She temporarily put everything aside and purely wished to help her.
"C, could you demolish all the church walls-."
Crash!
The walls surrounding the church collapsed.
"S, stop! Janson will take care of the rest!"
Ruelle was startled. The walls collapsed entirely in one blow.
'If I had asked him to knock down a first-floor wall, the church might have fallen...'
According to Erik's words, it would be a prayer meeting of overwhelming scale, so she was thinking of preparing as much space as possible for believers. The church collapsing would be unthinkable.
"Ruelle, I need to stop by my Imperial Palace. Where is Erik?"
Fortunately, Riferoze brought up a different topic instead of offering more help. At that, Ruelle cried out
"Oh! The Imperial Palace!"
"You too?"
"Yes, I had made an appointment with Erik a while back!"
"I see... so that's the case?"
There was definitely a promise from Erik to go on an Imperial Palace date once more. Ruelle recalled this.
'This time Riferoze is coming too?'
Old memories came flooding back. At first, the three of them had wandered through the barren wilderness of the war zone together.
'Back then it was a brutal experience, but now it's all become memories.'
As Ruelle thought such things, Erik approached.
"Master, you've finally arrived."
He began to list out to Riferoze things not to break at the Imperial Palace.
"Since His Majesty the Emperor is away, you must be especially careful."
The nagging continued for a while. However, Ruelle, listening to this, felt slightly strange.
'It feels like I'm being left out.'
As her prediction suggested.
"Ruelle, Kang Pung-ho and Cha Ye-rin will prepare for the concert-style worship together."
Erik conveyed to her, in a roundabout way, that he was going without her.
'Who knows what might happen.'
Of course, Erik was leaving Ruelle out of consideration for his master and the imperial family's involvement, but...
"Erik?"
Ruelle looked at him somewhat shocked. Then she huffed 'Hmph!' and disappeared into the church.
"Ah, proper order and hierarchy—there must be proper ranks."
At that sight, Riferoze smiled contentedly, and Erik quickly followed Ruelle into the church.
"You promised to go with me first..."
Upon entering the church, Erik could see Ruelle standing on the altar platform. Erik pulled a jewelry box from his pocket and approached her.
"This isn't a trip to the Imperial Palace."
The grand three-story chapel's massive stainless steel glass windows scattered multicolored light. The back figure of Ruelle standing beneath it emanated holiness. Yet somehow, she also looked bitter.
Whoosh!
Erik quietly stood behind her. And then he placed a necklace around Ruelle's neck.
"When did you...?"
"Your clothes look so beautiful, but your neck seems to lack something."
Erik smiled deeply.