Ch.289289. Drinking Party (2)

“Kyahaa! So good! Hey, bring some side dishes!”

At Findenai’s shout, a junkyard member immediately brings over the prepared side dishes.

The meat on the plate was competing with its violent quantity and visual appeal rather than an elegant plating.

“I grilled only the most delicious parts with great care! This side is rare, this side is medium…”

“Meat is just meat.”

She snatches a fork, messes up the plate, and takes a big bite with several pieces at once.

The member’s expression sours as he watches the carefully grilled meat pieces get lumped together.

“E-enjoy your meal.”

The guy backs away without properly complaining to Findenai, keeping an eye on me.

Findenai speaks indifferently while chewing the meat.

“If I hadn’t done this, we would’ve had to listen to everything from how to eat it deliciously to where the cow was raised.”

So that was her technique.

“You know well.”

“Well, they’re like family, those idiots.”

Findenai grins and gulps down her beer. Then she glances at me with a smile.

“Don’t be jealous, you’re family.”

“I never accepted you as family though.”

“Findenai Verdi. Honestly, it doesn’t suit me that well, but I’ll bear with it.”

I take another sip of alcohol, not wanting to respond. I’m already feeling slightly tipsy, but this is it.

I’ve always been the type who doesn’t get drunk no matter how much I drink.

Whether as Deus Verdi or Shinwoo Kim.

“What do you think about Goven?”

I ask while looking up at the mountain range scenery. Findenai answers, placing one leg over her thigh.

“I didn’t tell the boss, but Deia ordered me to thoroughly investigate that bastard. He wasn’t exactly nice, but he lived a normal life.”

I knew Deia would investigate. She always tries to dig up information that others try to hide in cases like this.

But that wasn’t the issue with this case.

“I’m asking for your intuition.”

I was curious about Findenai’s opinion, who essentially has what could be called a sixth sense.

I take another sip while waiting for her answer as she contemplates for a moment.

“He’s just a thug. Getting pushed around here and there. Then he happened to learn about Illuania and Sevia, and found a purpose in life, I guess?”

She glances at me.

I look down at my beer bottle and answer quietly.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Hmm?”

“Findenai, changes in people can sometimes come at surprisingly insignificant moments.”

To go deeper, people often miss the timing of their own transformation.

“Timing is important. When one is ready to accept it.”

“…”

“A familiar proverb, a sermon heard every weekend at chapel, advice from a senior colleague. All those things we found tiresome could become life-changing guideposts if heard at the right time.”

What a wonderful world it is.

Through books, we can indirectly experience the arduous lives of great people and savor the words they left behind.

Great people change, grow, gain insight, and realize through specific triggers.

“The existence of Illuania and Sevia became a good opportunity for Goven to change.”

“Well, right? He was just living diligently and then found a purpose in his wife and daughter. Regardless of whether they’re his actual blood relatives.”

A purpose came to a life that had been passionate but aimless.

Goven arrived in Norsweden at a good time.

“I’m not without concerns. Honestly, I’m anxious too.”

“…”

“But I want to believe. For Illuania and Sevia’s sake.”

I hoped.

That this summer, a gift from an ill-timed Santa Claus had reached the mother and daughter.

“Well, Illuania will handle it well. She’s a decent woman, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

We move away from the somewhat heavy topic. Findenai, having finished her beer, brings another one and sits down.

“Our boss has also undergone quite a dramatic change.”

“…I won’t deny that.”

Her tone was playful, but the content was not. Though wrapped in humor, the sincerity within Findenai was about to pour out.

“The man who used to coldly comfort souls is now mingling with people, trying to find emotions, and being considerate.”

Pop!

Findenai flicks open a new beer. But she doesn’t bring it to her lips.

“Are you still confused?”

Her gaze wasn’t directed at me. It was fixed rigidly on the mountain range as if something was there.

“The emotion of love, do you really not know what it is?”

“Findenai.”

“Hmm, boss.”

Slowly putting down her beer, Findenai’s gaze finally reaches me.

The madness that always filled her blood-red eyes had somehow turned to sadness.

“Do you know why you’re confused?”

Findenai’s superhuman sense.

This time it was aimed at me.

“Because unexpectedly, you’ve come to harbor feelings for several women.”

“…”

“Your reason can’t possibly accept it, so you deny that it’s love. You try to narrow it down. But it doesn’t narrow down. In the end, they’re all similar feelings.”

At that moment.

It felt like I’d been hit hard in the chest.

And I thought of Deia.

I felt foolish for thinking that she, being rational and capable, would be able to manage her emotions well.

Realizing it now, I too was just a duelist fighting emotions with reason.

“Let me be frank. Choose me.”

“…”

“I’m not joking. This is sincere. I need you more than you think.”

I could see her pupils trembling.

Always, at any moment, she had been confident, and making her this vulnerable made me feel disgusted with myself.

“Erika, that bitch said something strange. That we should find a way for everyone to be happy. Fuck, what nonsense.”

She stands up abruptly and walks toward me.

Standing before me, Findenai shouted with a completely distorted expression.

“How is that possible? Huh? Every time you’re with other women, I want to split their heads open! Fuck, I just want to smash everything, take you, and run away somewhere!”

“Findenai.”

“Don’t call me, you bastard! You made me like this!”

The cry containing a sob reaches inside me and spreads like a wave. There’s bitterness on my tongue.

“During these months, while you were gone, do you know what I thought? Do you know how tormented I was by the possibility, just the possibility, that you might be dead!”

I had nothing to say.

In the end, I was a sinner before her. The worst trash who had manipulated emotions under the pretext of not understanding them.

Whether I intended it or not didn’t matter. This was the result.

“I’m sorry.”

Hearing my apology, Findenai snorted and replied.

“You’ll have a lot of people to apologize to! Starting with those ghost women who stick to you every day, your fiancée, disciple, and even the princess! They probably all waited in pain similar to mine, with their throats burning!”

Findenai exhales a hot breath with a sigh. Wiping the teardrops from her reddened eyes with her hand, she laments.

“Yes, those women… must have experienced the same pain as me.”

“…”

“It seems pitiful at a glance. And it looks like a fate that will eventually come to us.”

Eventually, I choose someone.

The cruel choice that was pressing tightly was approaching, cruel to both them and me.

“Let me tell you in advance.”

Looking down at me sitting, Findenai declared firmly.

“Choose only one. Fuck, I absolutely cannot watch you rolling around in bed with other women. Either reject me or accept me, one of the two.”

I tried to answer.

That I understood.

That I would certainly do so.

But Findenai knelt before me as if collapsing and nestled into my arms.

“But…”

Though I can’t bear it.

Though anger rises to the top of my head.

“If you say you’ll embrace multiple women at the same time.”

Findenai laughs incredulously in my arms.

Looking up at me slowly while in my embrace, her expression contained the bitterness of defeat.

“Fuck, be prepared for that night.”

“…”

“I’ll kill you with techniques I learned from Illuania. I heard some people use handcuffs and whips.”

A smile slowly forms on Findenai’s lips. It was an unwelcome smile.

“Findenai.”

“Boss, I really hate it to death, you know? I really don’t think I can watch other women licking and sucking with you.”

She continues to pour out her feelings, cutting off my words.

“But I’ve lost.”

“…”

“Ah, to the point where I can’t let go of your hand even if I see you rolling around with other women.”

I think I love you.

The last words she blurted out were hidden by a sudden gust of wind so no one could hear.

But unfortunately, they reached my ears.

“May I ask for one thing?”

“What is it?”

Findenai, nestled against my chest, whispers so no one else can hear.

“Kiss me.”

I wondered if it would be okay.

In this state where I’m still not sure what answer to give.

Such concerns arose, but.

“Don’t overthink it. Just act on emotion. I heard men act with their dicks, but this guy…”

“…”

“Do it.”

I carefully hold her shoulders. I lower my head so no one can see and give her a brief kiss.

“Sweet, damn it.”

A bright, flower-like smile spreads across Findenai’s face.

Seeing that.

Amusingly.

Because I couldn’t resist.

Smooch.

I touched her lips once more.

“Huh…?”

I deliberately avoid Findenai’s bewildered gaze, trying to hide my embarrassment.

“I wanted to try acting on emotion.”

* * *

A week has passed.

We had already finished preparations to leave Norsweden when Goven returned to Norsweden with his carriage, right on time.

Watching him enter the mansion entrance driving the carriage, I said to Findenai beside me.

“I told you. Change comes dramatically when the timing aligns.”

“Huh? You did?”

Findenai responds indifferently.

But my eyes were still fixed on the coachman.

“But what’s important is.”

Yes, I didn’t mention it because it was ominous.

In fact, the most important thing is.

“We don’t know if it’s always the right change.”

It was a devastating feeling.

If I believed in God, I would have certainly cried out in lamentation toward Him.

[Huh?]

[Ah…]

The Dark Spiritmaster and Stella behind us also exclaim in surprise.

No one else knows.

But the three of us can see.

The countless dead clinging to Goven and the carriage he’s driving.