episode_0047

The next day at dawn, Anne came to visit.

A girl with flowing red hair.

A girl who gritted her teeth and struggled to protect her friends.

“What should I start with?”

“Cooking. Whatever you’re most confident in.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Anne’s cooking skills were decent. Not comparable to Darmong, but not bad enough to get slapped for.

Jeong Yushin watched the guests at the inn become increasingly happy and sighed in relief.

He called Anne aside and handed her a pouch full of money.

It was money Karin had given him. He took it, leaving only what he needed for himself.

“What is this?”

Anne asked.

“Operating expenses for the inn. Save it well. Tell me if you run out.”

“Do you trust me that much?”

“Think what you want.”

“Thank you. I will definitely repay you.”

“Just work hard.”

Anne and Tarman began to work hard as if to repay the kindness Jeong Yushin had shown them.

Jeong Yushin sat on the counter chair with his arms crossed.

The morning summer breeze entered the inn, circled once, and then left.

Outside the inn, groups of three or five explorers who had formed parties were heading to the labyrinth.

There was still no news from Karin and Darmong.

He was thinking of stepping back once the inn became more stable. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t care.

People should each do what they do best.

Jeong Yushin was going to protect Darmong’s inn as a swordsman.

Therefore, training and learning were essential.

When would he be able to go to the Swordsmanship Association?

Jeong Yushin picked up the longsword placed under the counter and got up from his seat. Various thoughts were messing with his head, so he was going to go to the yard and move his body.

* * *

Creak.

Around lunchtime after morning, someone opened the inn door and came in.

Tarman bowed his head and greeted them energetically.

“Welcome!”

Tarman raised his head and froze.

“Um…is Mr. Scar here?”

“Huh…hic! P…please wait a moment!”

Tarman hurriedly ran through the kitchen and into the yard.

Jeong Yushin, shirtless, was sweating as he swung his sword. It was because the summer sun was so strong that he couldn’t handle the amount of sweat.

“S…Scar-nim!!”

“What’s all the commotion?”

“A…a priestess has come. Like an angel.”

Mion, then.

Jeong Yushin grabbed a towel hanging on the clothesline in the yard and wiped his face and neck.

“Tell her I’ll be there soon.”

“There’s no need.”

Mion appeared in the yard, passing through the kitchen.

Mion glanced at Jeong Yushin’s smooth upper body and quickly lowered her head.

“What brings you here?”

“Y…you haven’t been coming to learn to read lately. I was worried, so I came to see you.”

Mion didn’t ask how she had found the inn he was staying at.

It seemed that he had become a well-known figure during the last chef interview. He guessed that anyone could easily figure out his location by talking to people passing by.

“I see. I was thinking it was about time I went. But…”

Jeong Yushin raised his hand and scratched his head.

It was a bit of a long story to explain the reason in this outfit.

Whether she knew Jeong Yushin’s feelings or not, Mion’s gaze was fixed on Jeong Yushin’s thick forearms.

Veins throbbing, a muscular forearm radiating heat.

Gulp.

Mion’s Adam’s apple moved greatly.

Mion quickly pointed to her chest and interrupted Jeong Yushin.

“Don’t worry. I’ve found a way to overcome the Virgin Female Corruption Engraving. I’ll show you how later. Then, I’ll go first.”

Mion quickly turned around and left the yard after saying what she had to say.

‘I’m wearing a ring.’

He was going to talk about the engraving suppression ring, but Mion ran off like the wind. Besides, it seemed she hadn’t seen the ring because it was covered by the towel.

Tarman approached.

“H…how can you know such a priestess?”

“Just live kindly.”

“Huhu.”

Jeong Yushin patted Tarman on the shoulder, who let out a strange exclamation, and then finished wiping his body.

After Mion left, the next guest arrived.

Ashur Startree.

The head of the Swordsmanship Association.

“Has anything happened?”

“No.”

“You completely trashed the Crimson Hunters branch, and you say nothing happened?”

“Well, that’s how it turned out.”

“Come closer.”

Ashur examined Jeong Yushin’s eyes.

“Why are you doing this?”

“How did you come back? You should have been half-crazy.”

“I held on tight to my sanity, so I came back to my senses.”

Ashur lowered his head and looked at Jeong Yushin’s fingers.

“I think I told you to take that ring off?”

Jeong Yushin swept his hair back.

“I have to endure it. If an innocent virgin falls for me, wouldn’t that be a painful thing? To be honest, sometimes I’m afraid of my charm.”

Ashur looked at Jeong Yushin and then looked at Tarman, who was standing next to him.

“This guy is very strange, isn’t he? Is he sane?”

“If you look closely, this is also charming.”

Ashur listened to Tarman’s answer and ran his hands over his face.

“···Where were we? Right. Come to the Swordsmanship Association. This isn’t the time to be leisurely watching over an inn.”

Ashur barely held on to his sanity and brought up the main point.

“What do you mean?”

Jeong Yushin asked with his arms crossed.

“Suppressing the madness of the labyrinth is through harsh training. Don’t just mess around in the yard, come to the training grounds.”

“Not right now. I’ll go later.”

“Later when? When you go crazy?”

“I’ll go when I have time.”

“Ugh. Anyway, come quickly. Your mind will be a bit erratic.”

“I’m fine.”

“Tsk.”

Ashur clicked his tongue and left the inn.

Tarman, who was standing next to him, said.

“You certainly know a lot of people.”

Jeong Yushin shrugged.

“I’m a bit sociable.”

“You’re also generous.”

“You’re saying the obvious. Should I raise your salary?”

“Thank you.”

Tarman rubbed his hands with a flattering smile.

Anne came out of the kitchen and quietly watched the scene before saying a word.

“Aren’t you working?”

Tarman’s body stiffened.

Jeong Yushin agreed.

“Work. Be reformed. You pathetic guy.”

Tarman made a tearful face and started moving busily, greeting the guests coming into the inn.

Jeong Yushin returned to the counter and sat down.

After spending a busy day, night had fallen and no more guests were coming.

When Jeong Yushin was cleaning up the inn, Tarman approached.

“Why?”

Jeong Yushin asked.

“It’s a message from Aldein.”

“Tell me.”

“The Crimson Hunters are temporarily withdrawing from the labyrinth city. It seems something has happened on the eastern allied border.”

“Didn’t he say anything more specific?”

“No. He said he couldn’t tell me more than that. Ah! And he told me to be careful because other groups are also paying attention.”

“Other groups?”

The hyena beastman and the losers who came to the chef interview flashed through his mind.

“Yes. He said he would tell me about that later too.”

“I understand.”

Has the crisis passed? He shouldn’t let his guard down, but now he could do what he needed to do.

Go to the temple and learn to read.

Train his body at the Swordsmanship Association.

He was also thinking of slowly preparing to enter the labyrinth again.

The goal was clear, and the road ahead was long.

He couldn’t enter the labyrinth right away because of Ashur’s warning, but there was no harm in preparing.

* * *

The next day, early summer dawn.

Jeong Yushin woke up from his bed.

When he went down to the kitchen on the first floor, Anne was cooking.

Jeong Yushin watched Anne cook for a while before going out to the yard.

He took a breath and filled his lungs with the clear morning air.

“Hoo.”

He moved slowly to warm up his body.

He did 200 push-ups and squats each and then slowly walked around the yard.

[Sacred Weapon]

As he wished in his mind, it was immediately created in his hand.

He grabbed the golden longsword and swung it.

[Sacred Weapon]

This time, a dagger.

He swung it, imagining Karin’s movements in his head.

[Sacred Weapon]

He summoned a harpoon sword with jagged blades. He remembered its shape because it was a unique sword he had seen in the last fight.

He could summon it a total of 8 times.

It was thanks to leveling up on his 3rd trip to the labyrinth.

He stopped summoning Sacred Weapons and swung his sword.

It was hard to see it as a morning warm-up exercise.

It was closer to a training session where he pushed his body to its limits by drawing out as much mana and stamina as possible.

But Jeong Yushin didn’t frown and relentlessly pushed himself.

Whoosh!!!

Whoosh!!!

The swung sword cut through the morning air.

Strong muscles writhed on his shirtless body, and sweat and heat rose in the air.

Quite some time had passed.

He stopped swinging his sword and looked up at the sky. The sun was slowly rising.

When he passed through the kitchen and came out into the inn’s hall, he saw Tarman.

“Are you awake?”

“Why are you so late?”

“That’s…because I was too tired.”

Tarman looked emaciated.

On the other hand, Anne’s face was glowing.

“Tsk.”

Jeong Yushin clicked his tongue and sat at the table.

“Give me food.”

“Yes.”

Breakfast was raisin bread and butternut squash soup filled with cheese. Jeong Yushin was about to eat when he looked at Tarman.

“Let’s eat together.”

“Yes. Shall I call Anne too?”

“Okay.”

Anne brought food from the kitchen. Tarman, Anne, and Jeong Yushin sat together at one table.

The three started eating quietly.

“How is it? Is working at the inn manageable?”

Jeong Yushin said while eating.

“Yes. It’s difficult at first, but I’m doing it with a learning mindset,”

Anne answered instead.

Jeong Yushin looked at Tarman and Anne before turning his head.

“I’ll leave the inn to you. I have something to do.”

“Is it going into the labyrinth?”

“Similar.”

“I see.”

“Please take care of the place. If you need anything, come to the orphanage or the Swordsmanship Association.”

“Don’t worry.”

After finishing his meal, he left the inn and walked.

He went to the Mother Earth Temple, carrying the teddy bear bag that Darmong had given him as a gift. After meeting the temple receptionist and confirming his attendance, he entered the orphanage.

“Eek?”

“Mister, you came again?”

“Hoo-eeng. Scary.”

The children at the orphanage enthusiastically welcomed Jeong Yushin.

“Long time no see, friends.”

“Who’s your friend? Mister, you have no conscience?”

“…”

Jeong Yushin fiddled with his ring, sighed, and sat down.

The classroom door opened, and Mion came in.

“Hello, everyone.”

“Yes! Teacher.”

“Wow! Teacher, it’s been a while.”

Mion smiled and stood at the teacher’s desk.

“I know. I’ve been busy lately, so I missed class.”

“I like Ms. Mion so much.”

A child sitting a little away from Jeong Yushin murmured, with sparkling eyes.

“Well, shall we start class?”

“Yes!”

The children answered in unison with smiles.

Mion’s elegant voice echoed in the classroom, and the children focused on the lesson with sparkling eyes.

Jeong Yushin also stared intently and concentrated on the lesson.

He had spent a lot of time on various things.

The more he knew, the more he didn’t know about the labyrinth city.

He refused to be swept away without knowing anything.

He once again realized how painful the fact that knowledge is power was in this other world.

He wrote down all the words Mion wrote on the chalkboard that he didn’t know in his notebook. He also memoed the meanings and example sentences next to the words and memorized them.

Even during breaks, he didn’t move from his seat and continued to write and read.

Mion’s gaze, who was using the break to prepare for the next class at the teacher’s desk, reached Jeong Yushin’s ring.

Mion’s body stiffened.

Mion mouthed something and looked at Jeong Yushin’s ring before letting out a sigh of relief.

It was because the ring was worn on Jeong Yushin’s middle finger, not his ring finger.

She felt a slight sense of relief that it wasn’t that red-haired bitch’s trick, but at the same time, impatience thumped in her chest.

The break ended, and class started again.

Jeong Yushin sometimes felt Mion’s gaze during class, but he only focused on the chalkboard and his book.

Class ended only at lunchtime.

“Everyone worked hard. Only Scar student stay, everyone else go.”

“Yes! You worked hard too, Teacher.”

The children rushed out of the classroom.

Scar organized his writing utensils and put them in his teddy bear bag.

Mion approached.

“Scar student, you’ve come.”

“Yes. Learning is important.”

“Um…”

“What’s wrong?”

Whoosh.

Mion suddenly lifted her baggy priestess robe.

Jeong Yushin’s eyes widened.

Underneath the baggy priestess robe was a black priestess robe.

The cute belly button shape was prominently revealed over the tight black priestess robe.

He could even see the shape of the clitoris hidden in her plump buttocks, as if she was wearing tight-fitting underwear that wrapped around her groin line. It was clear that the priestess robe was a one-piece dress, but the degree to which it clung to her body made it seem like leggings.

“Oh.”

Jeong Yushin’s eyes widened.

“Hehe. Did you notice?”

A golden pattern was shining right below Mion’s belly button.

It was a sacred and bizarre-shaped pattern, but upon closer observation, it resembled a woman’s uterus.

A sacred uterus tattoo, different from a vulva.

“It’s a Sacred Tattoo. With this, I’ll never fall.”

“I see. That’s good. But…”

He was about to mention the engraving suppression ring, but Mion interrupted.

“Um…so, about that.”

Mion hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“I need to make sure the Sacred Tattoo is safely established.”

Mion’s face was slightly red.

“I’d like the Scar student to help me.”

“H…how can I help you?”

He had received a lot from Mion. He should help where he could.

“Li…lick my belly…no. Touch it.”

“Yes?”

“There’s no ulterior motive. It’s just a procedure to check if it can defend the Scar student’s engraving well.”

‘I won’t lose!’

Mion said a reason different from her true feelings.

She was going to ask where he got the ring a little later.

What was important was to have Scar’s handsome hands stroke her belly.

Jeong Yushin stared blankly at Mion’s Sacred Uterus Tattoo.

‘Could this be a reward?’

Could it be a sweet reward that fate had given him for overcoming the unfairness and sadness?

Darmong’s absence.

Running an inn for the first time in his life.

People who relied on him.

Or people who despised him.

The stress that had built up from crossing the line between life and death.

Five months of abstinence.

The uterus tattoo shyly shown by the person he liked.

‘Ah.’

All of those things combined poked at the limits of 23-year-old Jeong Yushin.

‘I can’t stand it.’

A beastly growl burst from Jeong Yushin’s eyes.

“Grrr…Ms. Mion!!!”