Preparing For The Leap (1)

I felt a heavy weight pressing on my chest and stomach, waking me up.

Just in case, I circulated my divine power without getting up from the bed to check my body, but there was nothing unusual.

As I tried to get up, I felt that heavy aura again.

Looking up, I saw Lee Hyo-ju on my chest and Arun on my stomach, both sound asleep. Seeing them like that was anything but pleasant to me!

‘Why are they here instead of their own rooms…? Oh! Where are those two trashes then?!’

As I roughly sat up, the two stirred, startled, and quickly lifted their heads, belatedly flustered.

“D-did you wake up?!”

“Are you okay?”

When I asked about the presence of the trash, Arun pointed to a corner behind him.

In the corner, obscured by Arun’s face, the two trash were sleeping with their mouths open.

“But why are you here instead of your rooms… Never mind. Both of you, wash your faces. It’s unsightly.”

Since they slept face down, drool marks were clearly visible on their flushed cheeks.

Lee Hyo-ju screamed and used Time Stop to move instantly, while Arun scratched his head, wiped his face with his sleeve, and trudged into the bathroom attached to my room.

“Was he always that cheeky?”

I had no choice but to wait for Arun to come out since my pride wouldn’t allow me to share the bathroom sink with another man.

Sitting up on the bed, I suddenly remembered yesterday’s events and hurriedly checked the inventory. Just in case it was a dream.

Then, two items that declared yesterday’s events as reality with their majesty were revealed.

I reached for the core in the inventory, which seemed to absorb the surrounding light.

However, the closer I got to the core, the more I felt an inexplicable pull at the nape of my neck and a sense of foreboding.

After repeatedly stretching out and retracting my hand in midair for a while, I left it in the inventory due to the uneasy feeling and activated the ‘Verify’ command.

“What?!”

These crazy women. Does this demon woman have no sense? How can mana increase in absolute terms?!

As the amount of divine power increases, it’s usually extremely difficult for a representative to raise divine power each time they break through the magic barrier, and for me, it’s incredibly hard every time I surpass my limits.

But this unheard-of ancient-grade core allows you to easily break through the first magic barrier of 100 when used at 99 mana, and it increases by 19 points according to the rules of the 100 to 149 range, becoming 119.

It’s an artifact that easily breaks through the fixed barriers that exist for representatives.

This is really absurd.

On top of that, a petrification breath?!

‘Limitless Chant’?!

An unheard-of ancient, or ‘Ancient’ grade item?

This isn’t an item that can be dismissed as a trick! These women have really gone too far.

“Wait… then how much mana does Violentia have if she consumed this? The last confirmed mana was 125… Crazy, 145!”

Some representatives train hard for five years and are thrilled to surpass 100 divine power, but this woman starts close to 150, so ahead of others.

So, by the fourth year, she would have had stats surpassing 150.

This is too much of a gap, even thinking about it again, it feels like a scam.

Such a treasure in a simplified dungeon guarded by just an Earth Dragon.

“I’ll have to discuss this with Ludicer later.”

I decided to consult with Ludicer on this issue during the next visit to the Garden of Gods.

The Earth Dragon’s corpse, too large to be taken out at the inn, remained in the inventory while I accessed the information using ‘Verify’.

“Wow…”

The ‘Ancient Black Dragon Heart’ is an amazing item, but the ‘Earth Dragon Corpse’ is just as valuable to me.

In fact, considering I have crafting skills, it might be even better depending on how I use it.

The sheer quantity of by-products is enough to make armor for at least ten people.

Of course, I don’t know if Violentia managed to take the Earth Dragon Corpse in the past, but just taking these two items from Violentia’s hands this time is of tremendous value for me.

After all, it’s a blow to the woman I must kill in the future, and a gain for me.

That Demon woman is probably throwing a fit by now.

If one were to try and deliver such a treasure through the Garden of Gods, it would require a tremendous price.

It seems Serpens put considerable effort into preparing this item, but the supposed recipient is probably still suffering from diarrhea after eating a random stone.

As I gazed at the black core in the inventory that darkened the surroundings, wearing a satisfied dad smile, Arun emerged from the bathroom with a refreshed expression and asked if something was up.

I shook my head and looked at the inventory once more before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

I came in around noon and woke up to find it was the next morning.

After messing with Violentia and the Demon God Serpens, time slipped by, and I realized today was the third day of my appointment with Kyuri, the head/representative of the Construction Guild.

We ate breakfast in our rooms and spent time resting, and in the afternoon, Kyuri knocked on my door, looking exhausted.

“Come in.”

“Yes, Kim Han, sir.”

“Is the construction finished?”

At my question, Kyuri, recalling the hardships, glanced at the ceiling for a moment before nodding confidently.

Kyuri offered to guide us, and I informed the group to leave the inn immediately with the luggage.

Since there wasn’t much luggage to begin with, we each dragged the two biggest burdens, the two trashes, and left the inn.

Before Arun’s chatter could begin in the carriage, we found ourselves facing a wide gate.

The house was still vast. It was larger than the Legion hideout I used in my previous life, so even I found it hard to get used to.

At first, I thought I was mistaken, but there were five people loitering in front of the house.

“Who are those people?”

“Huh? Ah… they probably came because of the Mithril Ingot.”

“Mithril Ingot? I haven’t received any contact from them.”

“They seem to be elders from the Four Elemental Towers and the White Tower, a bit arrogant and peculiar…”

“Enough. Just give me an explanation.”

The carriage stopped in front of the gate, and as soon as we, including Kyuri, got off, five old men rushed towards us.

“Hey, I… I am…!”

“I am…”

“Show me the Mithril Ingot…”

“Ahem, I am…”

In an instant, the front of the mansion turned into a marketplace.

There was no order, no coherence. And even less courtesy. The old men started speaking as if I were their subordinate.

Even though it was only a matter of seconds, the chaos and rudeness were infuriating.

“Enough!”

As I released Force and Mana filled with killing intent, they finally quieted down. The five elders revealed their surprised expressions.

At least, considering they were elders of the Magic Tower, handling matters in place of the tower master for such an important affair, they must have realized I used Force and Mana simultaneously, which would explain their reaction.

“Are you my mentors? Or do you have any relation with me? Or even! Do you have any acquaintance with me at all?”

“I-I am from the Fire Tower…”

“Enough! I don’t care which tower you’re from. Even when visiting a friend’s house, it’s courteous to inform them in advance! How rude…”

“Ahem.”

“Hm-hm.”

The five old men looked embarrassed at my words. Pathetic, yet perfect for being exploited. Yes, they seemed like easy marks.

I opened my mouth, still not retracting the heavy killing intent I was emitting.

“Today is the first day I’m entering the house I prepared upon arriving at Exorsus as a representative of god. Set up a time with Arun here to meet tomorrow. It would be wise to bring something that seems worthy of a Mithril Ingot. I will trade with a single magic tower for a month. If the compensation offered by the five magic towers is not satisfactory, there will be no trade for a month.”

“Um, um… then how much quantity…?”

“Based on a month, ten 1kg Mithril Ingots with a purity of 99.99%!”

“T-ten ingots!”

“Ten ingots!”

“Does that mean you can continue to produce ten ingots a month?”

“Ahem…”

“Whoa! Don’t do that… H-hey!!”

Leaving the noisy ones behind to Arun, I headed towards the large gate.

As I approached the gate, which was so tall that I had to look up to see the top, Kyuri respectfully handed me a metal plate slightly larger than a palm.

“With this, you can control most of the settings in the mansion. First, you need to register as the owner on the pad.”

“Alright.”

“Place your hand here and drop a single drop of blood.”

Following Kyuri’s instructions, I focused Force and Mana on my right index finger to create a Sword Finger.

Using the Sword Finger, I lightly cut my left thumb and dropped blood onto the pad, which changed from ordinary iron to a golden color.

“Yes.”

Following the magic circle’s requirement, I injected Force, Divinity, Spirit, Mana, and finally a bit of Chaos, and a completion sound was heard.

“Now, with this pad, you can control all the functions of the mansion. Since your companions should also have free access, please pass the pad around and infuse it with divine power.”

Following Kyuri’s instructions, I infused the pad with divine power, causing a magic circle to briefly appear and disappear, followed by various items emerging like a hologram.

“Well done. Among them, there’s a retainer option. There are a total of 5 levels, and the lower the number, the more authority it grants. In other words, a 1st-grade retainer is the highest grade. Guests can enter if accompanied by a 3rd-grade or higher retainer. Would you like to register your companions?”

“Yes, let’s do that. Lee Hyo-ju.”

After listening to the explanation, I touched the menu hovering like a hologram above the metal plate to enter the retainer registration menu.

Then, I set it to a middle-grade level among the 5 grades under the owner and gestured to Lee Hyo-ju.

As soon as I called, Lee Hyo-ju, who had been glancing around nervously, threw aside Katarina and dashed over.

“Register here.”

“Yes!”

“Le-Lee Hyo-ju.”

“Ah? No…”

I sighed and touched the metal pad again to restart the setup.

“Lee Hyo-ju!”

“Yes!!”

Then, cautiously placing her hand on the metal plate, Lee Hyo-ju infused it with divine power, causing some of the energy floating around to gather towards her.

I handed the pad to Kyuri as soon as Arun, whose eyes were sparkling eagerly from the back, completed his Level 2 registration.

“Yes? What about me…?”

“I want to see if I can release someone registered as a retainer at my discretion. Go ahead and register yourself.”

“Oh, okay…”

With a bewildered expression, Kyuri completed the registration at the lowest level, Level 5 retainer.

After everyone finished registering and approached the main gate, the heavy door opened smoothly, just like an automatic door.