Ch.172Interlude, On the Continent (4)

Dieta doesn’t particularly like romance novels.

The protagonist’s mind is a flower garden, they gain the affection of surrounding characters without much effort, and the process of falling in love itself is far too contrived. A prince who mysteriously appears and rescues someone in danger? How would he even know?

‘Where in the world does that happen?’

Is the world really that easy?

She had a rather troublesome personality that prevented her from enjoying creative works as fiction, instead constantly comparing them to reality. From the beginning, it wasn’t just romance novels—she didn’t particularly enjoy reading novels in general.

So, the fact that she had thoroughly read through all the popular romance novels in the Empire over the past 4 months was… certainly not based on her taste or hobby, but rather a “thorough business plan” and a purely business-oriented activity.

“Dieta, Guild Master, do you know the novel ‘How to Seduce That Guild Master’? Looking at you reminds me of this novel! The male protagonist is the master of a major guild. I’m curious what another guild master would think of it!”

Master of Platinum Tower, Safria Gachefsga.

Reading romance novels was her hobby. To better converse with her, Dieta had read through all the romance novels. Though she did stay up all night reading some of them, it certainly wasn’t by her own will.

It was merely to facilitate conversations with the Master of Platinum Tower, not because she was curious about the next volume for such a trivial reason. Absolutely not—she would swear on gold coins that it was not.

‘Hah, the master of a major guild gives away his liver and gall without considering profit and loss? Third-rate. There’s no way such a merchant could exist in the real world.’

Despite finding the content absurd, Dieta was opening the next volume as if entranced. Sometimes when deeply immersed in a novel, a single line can strike you powerfully… and for Dieta, the following sentence was exactly that:

‘Appropriate distance between a man and a woman makes their relationship more mature and nurtures affection.’

Reading that line, she absolutely did not think about herself and Najin. Dieta considered herself not the type of reader who thinks “This is totally my story…” while reading novels. She simply found the sentence impressive, so she wrote it down and stuck it on her office desk.

And now.

Dieta slowly took a deep breath while mulling over that sentence. A full 4 months! Enough time for affection to sprout. But what she had overlooked was that the affection had sprouted within herself first.

4 months. A whole 4 months.

Not hearing his voice or seeing his face for 4 months had left Dieta not just yearning but nearly desperate. Sometimes she would look up at the sky with a gloomy heart, wondering: Was I not good enough? Didn’t he say he would visit occasionally?

And now, after 4 months, they were reunited.

Truly, seeing Najin smiling freshly and expressing his delight at seeing her again, Dieta felt both relieved and fatally wounded. Perhaps because it had been so long, the impact was extraordinary.

“Hiccup.”

To suppress the untimely hiccup, Dieta gulped down her coffee. Having barely regained her composure, she patted the sofa across from her.

Originally, there was some distance between the two sofas, but a few minutes before Najin arrived, Dieta had grunted “Isn’t this too far apart…?” and pulled it forward.

As Najin sat down, Dieta silently looked him over. His aura had changed significantly since she last saw him. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly how, but he seemed more mature? The atmosphere around him had changed.

“Well then, let me hear it.”

Dieta said, pretending to sip from her empty coffee cup.

“What on earth have you been up to that you’ve gained two stars in just 4 months?”

2.

“So.”

Dieta blinked.

“If I didn’t hear wrong? You clashed with a 4-star Constellation and a 6-star Constellation, and if that wasn’t enough, you dueled an 8-star Constellation and won… and even landed a hit on the Empress of Bliss, a 10-star Constellation? In the battlefield of stars?”

That was the essence of it.

There were details to consider, so Najin added a few words to Dieta’s summary.

“The first person was half-dead, the second had lost their sanity and was weakened due to The Fallen, and the third didn’t use sword energy at all.”

“Still, these are figures straight out of fairy tales. I thought anyone with more than 5 stars is a transcendent being—so you fought consecutive battles with transcendents?”

“To be precise, they were people who were transcendents in the past.”

Dieta’s eyes wavered. What on earth was this man saying? She had prepared herself for outlandish stories, but this was far beyond Dieta’s imagination.

“And on top of that, you were involved in that massive movement of stars about two weeks ago? No, ‘involved’ isn’t the right word. From what I’m hearing, you seem to have been the cause…”

“I did play a significant role in summoning the Empress of Bliss to that place.”

Not only had he faced 4-star, 6-star, and 8-star Constellations in succession, but he was also involved in a battlefield where a 10-star Constellation and dozens of other Constellations had descended.

“Hmm…”

Dieta’s head tilted involuntarily. Her hair flowed down with the tilt. She stared at Najin with a dumbfounded expression.

‘He doesn’t seem like someone who would lie.’

This was a story of mythical proportions. No matter how much Dieta trusted Najin, this was hard to believe.

However, the two stars Najin had acquired in the short span of 4 months supported his story.

“Um, Najin?”

“Yes.”

“Do you perhaps have spare lives? Or maybe a Constellation who would rush to your side when you’re in danger? Really, what makes you do such reckless things, sigh…”

How did she know?

While Najin was inwardly alarmed, Dieta pressed her forehead as if she had a headache.

“Really, you’re lucky to have survived.”

Najin was known for rushing in without regard for his own safety on the continent, but in the Outer Continent, he seemed to be acting as if he had multiple lives.

Mmph, Dieta chewed her lip.

After a short sigh, she stood up from the sofa. As Najin blinked and looked at her, Dieta leaned forward and brought her face close to his.

Stretch.

Then she extended her arms and grabbed Najin’s face with both hands. After turning his face this way and that, Dieta spotted a scar hidden by his side hair and made a sad face.

Jingle.

She rang a bell. Dieta murmured something to the secretary who rushed in. Shortly after, the secretary returned with an expensive potion and a first aid kit, then disappeared.

“Move over a bit.”

Dieta patted Najin’s thigh with her palm. As Najin moved aside, Dieta sat right next to him and took out gauze from the first aid kit, soaking it in the potion.

“Turn your head. Like this.”

“I’m fine…”

“I’m not fine, I’m not.”

Although Najin possessed superhuman regenerative abilities, wounds from battles with transcendents had left scars. Seeing those scars, Dieta bit her lip firmly.

She had prepared for such a situation, but never thought she’d actually need to use it. Removing scars was the domain of expensive potions and alchemy, and Dieta had chosen the former. Without hesitation, she used every last drop of the potion that cost hundreds of millions.

“You’re driving me crazy, really.”

“Isn’t that expensive?”

“Is price the issue right now?”

Unconsciously, Dieta had recited a line straight from the male protagonist of “How to Seduce That Guild Master,” but she felt no embarrassment now. Her thoughts hadn’t reached that far.

“Done.”

Having somehow succeeded in removing the scar, Dieta let out a long sigh and glared at Najin.

“I can’t bring myself to tell you not to push yourself, but you should at least get proper treatment, shouldn’t you? I know you have good recovery, but scars remain. Scars.”

After grumbling like that, Dieta shook her head.

“Well, I guess proper treatment isn’t readily available in the Outer Continent. Just come to the continent every few months for treatment. When you come to the capital, I’ll call skilled alchemists for you.”

Najin was about to say that most injuries healed without leaving scars, and that these scars only remained from battles with transcendents, but he closed his mouth. If he said that, it was obvious he’d receive a thunderous “What on earth have you been doing?” from her.

“I’ll try my best.”

And Najin smiled bitterly.

“Thank you, as always.”

Their eyes met at close range while she was tending to his wound. Dieta blinked and caught her breath. She abruptly stood up from Najin’s side and returned to her seat. Her ears were slightly red.

“I missed you during these 4 months.”

With reddened ears, Dieta twirled her side hair and said in a small voice.

“How about you? Did you think of me at all?”

Silently, Najin pulled out the ring hanging around his neck. As Najin gripped the ring tightly, Dieta looked at her finger. The finger where she always wore the ring. Even in the middle of work, she would sometimes be startled by the sudden warmth, but Dieta never took the ring off her body.

Pointing at that ring, Najin smiled slightly.

“Does that answer your question?”

“…Really, are you sure you’ve never dated before?”

It was a sufficient answer.

The warmth she had felt through the ring over the past 4 months had essentially answered for him. Dieta fanned her heated face and changed the subject.

“How long are you planning to stay on the continent?”

“I need to recover and have some things to do, so I’m thinking about two weeks.”

“Can you extend that by a week?”

“Pardon?”

Dieta said.

“There’s a banquet I’ve agreed to attend in about 20 days, and I don’t have a partner yet. You do it. That.”

She could have found a partner if she wanted to, but Dieta had kept her spot vacant. Originally, she had planned to attend alone, but… now that Najin was here, there was no need to go alone.

Dieta smiled mischievously.

“I think only a new star that’s currently making the Empire buzz would be worthy of filling the spot beside me.”

I’m an expensive woman, you know.

Watching Dieta joke like that, Najin smiled.

“Yes, gladly.”

At that unhesitating answer, Dieta inwardly cheered, but fortunately, she didn’t embarrass herself by letting that cheer escape her lips.

“Well then.”

“Yes, see you again.”

After chatting with Najin for a while, as soon as he left the office, Dieta buried her face in a cushion on the sofa and repeatedly tapped the edge of the sofa with her palm. She couldn’t contain her joy.

‘Oh my, oh my…! Giving him that ring was really the right choice…!’

Reminiscing about Najin smiling as he showed the ring, Dieta finally couldn’t hold back and let out a cheer.

“……”

Guard knight Passion, standing outside the office, firmly closed the door to prevent the disaster of that sound leaking outside.

3.

The day after arriving in the capital.

Najin was standing in front of a tower.

Five towers stretched high as if guarding the imperial palace. As the residence of the five pillars supporting the Empire, these places normally boasted security as strict as the imperial palace itself.

But just one.

This tower alone had no security whatsoever.

A tower with seven stars hung at its top.

No security was needed for this tower, which housed perhaps the most powerful being in the Empire. The tower’s owner was its own guardian.

The Empire’s First Horn, Gerd.

To discuss him and the First Horn, Najin had come to the tower of the Empire’s First Horn. He had stories to tell and hear from the old man who supported the Empire.