Ch.187Chapter 187 – Are You Ready to Receive the Heavenly Demon’s Favor?

While sitting quietly in the guest room, I heard a loud “THUD!” from outside.

“Wow. Sounds like someone used an incredibly powerful technique.”

Shortly after, the door opened, and Cheonma and Manoe entered together.

“Thank you, visitor from the Western Continent.”

Cheonma bowed her head to me in gratitude as she entered.

Seeing her bow, Manoe was startled.

It was strange that while Cheonma who offered thanks and I who received it remained calm, Manoe was the one panicking.

“M-Master! While gratitude is appropriate, to go so far as to bow your head…!”

It seems she found it odd that Cheonma would bow to me.

To be honest, I thought the same.

I mean, isn’t Cheonma supposed to be someone who considers herself the greatest and strongest in the world?

She even refers to herself as “This Lord” when speaking to others.

I was equally surprised that Cheonma would bow her head to me.

“Manoe. Do you think This Lord would bow to just anyone?”

Cheonma glared at Manoe, apparently thinking she was questioning her actions.

“N-No, that’s not what I meant…”

Though Manoe is considered among the powerful, Cheonma is still the strongest in the Cheonma Divine Sect.

When Cheonma glared at her, Manoe stammered and quietly backed down.

“This man saved This Lord’s life, which is more precious than anything in the world. Is it not right and proper that he receive treatment befitting such a deed?”

“…”

Manoe couldn’t respond to Cheonma’s rebuke.

“This man is This Lord’s life-saving benefactor. If the world were to learn of this and This Lord failed to express gratitude, many would condemn This Lord as an ungrateful wretch. Or do you, Manoe, believe This Lord’s life is not so precious?”

“…No, that’s not it.”

“Then follow This Lord’s decision.”

“Yes, Master.”

After silencing Manoe with a few words, Cheonma cleared her throat a couple of times to change the atmosphere.

“This Lord apologizes for displaying such an unseemly scene before the benefactor who saved This Lord’s life.”

“It’s fine.”

“Thank you for understanding. By the way, how did you come to be here?”

When Cheonma asked how I came to be here, I noticed Manoe flinch slightly.

…What’s this? Could it be that Cheonma doesn’t know I was kidnapped?

Or perhaps kidnapping people is a forbidden practice in the Cheonma Divine Sect?

“Well, I came here through somewhat… unfortunate means…”

“Oh? Unfortunate means…”

Cheonma turned her head again to look at Manoe.

When Cheonma looked at her, Manoe prostrated herself on the floor so quickly it made a thudding sound.

“Master! I have committed a grave sin!”

“Speak. What sin have you committed?”

“To save your life, Master, I kidnapped him, knowing it was wrong but feeling I had no choice!”

“What?”

Upon learning that Manoe had kidnapped me, a vein appeared on Cheonma’s forehead.

“Haah…”

But soon after, Cheonma stopped glaring at Manoe.

It seems she understood how desperate the situation must have been.

“Rise, Manoe.”

“Yes, Master!”

Manoe jumped to her feet at Cheonma’s command.

Still apparently fearful of Cheonma’s anger, I could see Manoe’s internal energy pouch on her chest trembling up and down.

Hmm, still smaller than our Chancellor’s though.

“I understand it was an unavoidable situation. But do you realize your actions could have jeopardized our great mission?”

“Yes, I’ve realized it to my core.”

“It is only because our benefactor is a good person that This Lord survived. Otherwise, we all would have had to bury our bones here today.”

“…”

Ouch, Lady Cheonma. Take it easy. She might cry at this rate.

“This Lord knows your loyalty well. However, even in urgent situations, you must always consider the potential consequences of your actions. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master. I’ve learned my lesson.”

Hmm, Manoe accepted Cheonma’s criticism without changing her expression.

The way she brought me here was a bit inappropriate, but perhaps she’s not a bad person at heart?

“This Lord apologizes, benefactor. This Lord should be rewarding you for saving This Lord’s life, but instead began by reprimanding one of This Lord’s people.”

“No… you don’t need to apologize like that.”

When I indicated it was fine, Cheonma smiled.

“Hehe… you truly are a good person. Having such tremendous ability yet remaining humble rather than arrogant—This Lord finds that quite admirable.”

Ah… yes. Is that so? But we still have some unresolved issues.

“By the way, what brings you here? I heard you came from the Western Continent, but you look exactly like a local.”

“Well, what happened was…”

I explained to Cheonma in detail how I came to the Eastern Continent.

She showed interest when I mentioned curing the Emperor’s baldness and treating his officials’ erectile dysfunction.

But when I said I was kidnapped while traveling to the Great Houses at the invitation of the sixteen family heads, Cheonma’s face transformed into something demonic.

“Manoe!”

“Yes, Master!”

“Send someone to the Pa Sung-geum House immediately! And explain to them thus!”

Hmm? Has she thought of a solution to this problem?

“Tell them that we, the Cheonma Divine Sect, discovered evil men kidnapping their guest and are now protecting him.”

Ah! So that’s her plan!

I understood what Cheonma was thinking.

After all, the Cheonma Divine Sect had also been attacked, and I’d heard they’d suffered several recent attacks from malicious groups.

So the story would be that they discovered these attackers trying to take me away, rescued me, and brought me to the Cheonma Divine Sect headquarters.

Truly a brilliant idea worthy of Cheonma, the leader of the Cheonma Divine Sect.

“Understood! I’ll send someone to the Pa Sung-geum House immediately!”

“When sending someone, also inform them of our sect’s situation. We have indeed frequently clashed with these evil groups, so they likely won’t make much of an issue of it.”

“But won’t they have discovered my identity when I was kidnapped?”

“Ah, you needn’t worry about that. I sprayed a potent sleeping fragrance commonly traded in the underworld, putting everyone to sleep before bringing you here.”

…Wow, everyone’s quite clever in these matters.

Well, it shouldn’t cause any problems.

“Then, I’ll take my leave to resolve this matter.”

“Go.”

With Cheonma’s permission, Manoe left the room. She probably had a mountain of tasks to handle today.

After Manoe left, Cheonma extended her hand and pulled a chair from across the room toward herself.

‘Whoa, air grasping technique?’

I never expected to witness the air grasping technique, which uses internal energy to pull objects, right before my eyes.

Having brought the chair, Cheonma sat down facing me.

As she sat, an internal energy pouch even larger than Manoe’s gently rested on the table.

“What are you staring at? Do you find This Lord’s assets so enticing?”

Yikes, Cheonma seemed to notice I was looking at her chest and asked with a sly smile.

In terms of size, they were a bit smaller than our Regina’s, but they were shapely and I wouldn’t mind touching them…

No, no, what am I thinking?

Get a grip, Pathos. You’re dealing with Cheonma here. The Cheonma who can split mountains and overturn the earth with a single strike!

“Why, do you find This Lord’s assets so desirable?”

Cheonma deliberately leaned forward, positioning herself to give me a better view of her cleavage.

This is getting a bit too obvious.

“Hehehehe, This Lord is merely jesting. It has been decades since This Lord last joked like this…”

Hmm… decades would mean she’s at least 60…

“Stop that thought right there. It is rude to calculate a woman’s age so carelessly.”

Cheonma seemed to read my thoughts and emitted a slight killing intent to stop me from calculating her age.

How frightening, Cheonma! I didn’t know she could read minds too.

“Thank you for saving This Lord. Despite being brought here through unfortunate means, you still saved This Lord. Thanks to your actions, our sect lives, This Lord lives, and you live as well. So… This Lord has one more reward to give you.”

Cheonma thanked me once more and then, with a slight blush, said:

“Are you ready to receive This Lord’s special favor?”

…Excuse me?