Chapter 176

—Sssss!

Samgyeopsal (Korean grilled pork belly) sizzled on the stone plate.

Just like the kimchi, the orphanage children were enjoying a party with pigs that Yeon Parang had shoplifted from a nearby farm.

The farmer who lost twenty pigs overnight would likely be bedridden for a week from the shock, but to those living here, it was strictly someone else’s misfortune.

Even I—who could be considered the sole light and a single remaining shred of conscience in this orphanage—could do nothing for the farmer.

Because it felt like I would be the next thing placed on the stone plate right after the pork currently sizzling away.

“It’s done!”

“Not yet.”

“It is not yet.”

“Hing, is it really not yet?”

Unlike Velada, who was eyeing only the meat at every opportunity, Flauros was glaring strictly at me.

That look in her eyes was, how should I put it, as if she were seriously agonizing over whether to throw a punch at this guy right now.

Not only had I defeated her twice, but I had also worn a mask and mocked her by feigning to be a minion, so I could fully understand her feelings.

However, was all of that truly my fault?

Shouldn’t Flauros bear a little bit of the responsibility as well?

If she hadn’t gone around bragging about how she would take revenge on the Apostle of the Outer God or make Patel her Familiar every single day their paths crossed, I would have taken off the mask on my own, like the traveler before the sun.

Since she kept driving me into a corner like that, this situation was somewhat—no, entirely—her fault.

“It’s done!”

“…”

“It is not yet.”

“It, it looks like it’s burning, though?”

I guess not.

Right, this must all be my fault too.

I should have listened to Mala-nim.

If I hadn’t given them my affection from the start, nothing like this would have happened.

Even if that affection amounted to nothing more than trading blows with each other, it was a fact that it had been fun.

But now that all the facts had been exposed, the only thing burning inside her heart would be a poorly timed hatred.

Just like that samgyeopsal, which had been grilled for far too long and turned into bacon.

“C-Can I eat now?”

“…”

“Sigh… Eat.”

“Yay!”

The moment permission dropped, Velada stuffed her cheeks full as if it were celestial food, devouring it at lightning speed.

As Velada cleaned it up in the blink of an eye, a change finally arrived.

Flauros let out a soft sigh.

Then, after parting her lips a few times, she opened her mouth as if she had made a profound resolution.

“You must have had your reasons.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Would throwing a tantrum change anything? Mocking me in the Demon Realm and crossing over to Earth to monitor my every move—all of it was merely entertainment you could pull off because you were stronger than me.”

As expected of an Archduke who stood at the absolute pinnacle of the survival of the fittest, she coolly acknowledged it.

That it was her complete defeat.

I hadn’t exactly revealed my identity wishing for a declaration of defeat, but seeing her looking so downcast right before my eyes made me feel a bit bad.

“But playing with my emotions, making my heart flutter back and forth as if you were going to become my Familiar, is still an unbearably humiliating insult even now. Watching me fret must have been quite a sight. Was your little masquerade really that amusing?”

“Ahem, it wasn’t really like that. First, take this…”

Before her anger could ignite again, I held out the gifts.

“What is this?”

“Just various things. Velada, you take one too.”

“This great self is receiving one as well!?”

The items inside were different, but they were things needed by the two whose belongings had entirely burned away.

Clothes, shoes, combat rations, and thirty Light Mage (in training) figurines each.

Unlike Velada, who ripped everything apart thinking the figurines were just cumbersome wrapping paper, Flauros did not throw hers away immediately.

Adjusting her posture in a strangely elegant manner from across the stone plate, she asked in a serious tone.

“Right. So, what do you plan to do now?”

“What do you mean, what do I plan to do?”

“You used the Dimensional Core I possessed to come here, so you must have had a purpose.”

She was talking about gathering Star Scars.

As a result of running around diligently for a year, I had recovered a fairly large amount compared to before.

And what was more important than the quantity was that I had roughly grasped where the remaining Star Scars were.

Currently, there were a total of five targets on Earth holding Mala-nim’s Star Scars: Flauros, Velada, Yoo Se-byeol, Moon Ah-rin, and the Outer God of Justice still floating in the sky.

I also had to include Gamigin—Velada’s former master and the Archduke of Necromancy—but when they tried to summon him at the Council, he did not exist in the Demon Realm.

By virtue of that fact, I had already finished roughly grasping where he was hiding.

Since I only needed to research a method to drag him out, I didn’t include him in the immediate targets.

Looking at it this way, an unusual person was wedged inside this illustrious lineup, but it would be fine to ignore her.

Hearing my explanation, Flauros placed a hand on her chest and murmured quietly.

“I see. That means you still need me.”

“Huh?”

“Did you plan to gather all those Star Scars alone? I am talking about efficiency.”

It would certainly be a help if she assisted me, but would she even have an opponent?

My realm was still insufficient to attack the Outer God floating in the sky, and Yoo Se-byeol and Moon Ah-rin were out of the question since I wasn’t going to strip them of their power through combat.

In the end, the only one left was Velada, who was currently polishing her horns diligently next to us, but it felt like she would willingly hand over her Star Scar on her own if I coaxed her well enough.

What if we compromised with a 200-year supply of Choco Pies?

As if reading my thoughts, Flauros gave me a light reprimand.

“Your enemies are not just those holding Star Scars. Have you forgotten that Furcas was summoned at the Council?”

“Ah…”

“The Council will no longer be favorable either. Relying solely on the succubi and witches to face the entirety of the demons has its limits.”

In that sense, if she became a shield, I could focus on the matters on this side.

Hearing Flauros speak so confidently, I felt a sense of gratitude toward her for the first time in my life.

Since the side holding a Star Scar was stepping forward so cooperatively, I too was willing to grant her some conveniences.

Was this the power of a gift?

Just as I was about to nod, Flauros cut me off.

“Ahem, then if I may be so bold…”

“However, there is a condition.”

“What is it? Surely you aren’t telling me not to take what you possess?”

That would be a bit troublesome.

Because the amount of Star Scars she came to harbor after defeating the Outer God of Salvation was quite substantial.

Sooner or later, when the time came, it was a destiny where we would have to fight at least once.

As if aware of that fact, she too wore a belligerent smile.

“Of course I won’t give it to you for free. However, while you are busy playing around, this side has to deal with annoying flies, so shouldn’t there be a fitting reward?”

“A reward… What exactly do you want?”

As long as it wasn’t asking me to co-sign a loan, I would grant most requests.

We had built up that degree of trust between us, after all.

If she said she wanted to be the very first to lie down on the brand-new mattress I replaced today after making up my mind, I would shed tears of blood, but in the end, I would succumb and nod.

Even if she asked to try grilling and eating Mala-nim, who had transformed into a tentacle, I would shut my eyes tight and permit it.

『Fear not!?』

『Oh, don’t worry. I was merely using it as an example.』

Just what was it that she was trying to demand from me in exchange for cooperating in gathering the Star Scars?

Facing me as I ran simulations in my head while coming up with all sorts of scenarios, Flauros finally brought out her demand.

“Do you know the reason why I forgave you?”

Surprisingly, what she wanted wasn’t money, a new mattress, or grilled white tentacle with butter.

No, in the first place, it wasn’t a material object.

“It is partly because you praiseworthily revealed your bare face on your own even though I didn’t press you first, but also because there is one fact I realized after coming here.”

“A fact?”

“Precisely that physical strength is not everything.”

It was to live for a single day with our relationship reversed.

“Authority is also a type of power. It must have been exhausting dancing above my head all this time, so I shall stand on the stage now.”

After the samgyeopsal party ended.

I boarded the Gyeongbu Line alongside Flauros.

Wearing proper everyday clothes instead of a gloomy robe coated in all sorts of filth, burnt odors, and meat smells made the movement of my limbs feel entirely awkward.

Perhaps it was also due to the Archduke of Flames, who had been wrapping her arm around my upper body right next to me instead of sitting across from me ever since the train departed.

“Aren’t you sticking too close? It’s hot.”

“Endure it. Rather, since I dressed up according to your taste, why don’t you take a closer look?”

“The clerk picked that out.”

“For something like that, the size matches without a hair’s breadth of error.”

That was because my powers of observation were second to none.

I wasn’t teasing her, and there was no reason to give her clothes that didn’t fit.

While riding the train heading toward Busan via Daegu, a smile never left Flauros’s lips, as if she thoroughly enjoyed the fact that she held the initiative.

Even though she was suppressing her mana, sparks flickered at the tips of her crimson hair, causing the people who saw it to be unable to take their eyes off her.

“They are looking at me exactly the way I want.”

“That’s just because everyone doesn’t know who you are.”

“Would it change if they knew? You should hurry up and do so as well.”

“Yes, yes.”

I answered in a reluctant tone, but since a promise was a promise, I complied with Flauros’s words.

Facing each other at such a close distance was an experience usually reserved for right before fists started flying, so it was a novel sensation.

It was also my first time sitting in a passenger seat purely for tourism rather than official business.

It was also my first time hearing a middle-aged man in overalls who came in and sat across from us right before departure murmur softly, ‘Our pigs… Daddy will follow you soon…’, but this might perhaps be the last time.

“Why did you ask to come here?”

“To go to Daegu, of course.”

“Why there?”

“You’ll know when we get there. You certainly have a lot of questions.”

I couldn’t immediately understand her intentions in wanting to head toward a place that had turned into a fiery pit.

We wouldn’t even be able to get off even if we went to Daegu anyway?

There wasn’t even a station there, so it was nothing more than a tourist course viewed from afar.

I checked the remaining time on my smartwatch.

Immediately, a grumbling voice drifted over.

“Is being alone with me truly that uncomfortable?”

“I was just checking the departure time. It’s already long past.”

“Is that so?”

How unusual.

It wasn’t very common for a train to be delayed.

Except for equipment failure or a Gate manifesting near the tracks, it was a very special case.

For instance, an internationally important figure boarding.

As a few more minutes flowed by like that, the conductor’s announcement echoed inside the carriage.

—Ah, everyone. One of the Seven Immortals is currently on board our train. Please welcome the hero of our nation with a big round of applause.

Who is it? Could it be Baek-seon?

I already knew Seona’s schedule, and if the Sword Immortal had boarded, swordsmen from The Old Gods’ Wound would have already swarmed in en masse, so filtering it out through common sense left only him.

However, the person who boarded alone right before the train departed wasn’t Seona, but a tall man of a dignified age.

Despite being one of the Seven Immortals, he hadn’t even booked a separate first-class cabin. The man, who entered through the door right next to us, stepped into our section—which happened to have one remaining seat—and sat next to the farm owner.

What followed was the trembling voice of the flight attendant.

“T-Then we shall depart… Lord Dragon Immortal.”

“…”

Only after hearing those words did I realize who he truly was.