Chapter 43 : Throwing Money, You Have Some Too (1)

The next morning.

“…Uh, Geomgwi, isn’t this a bit much?”

“No! This is the bare minimum!”

“Ugh… this is embarrassing.”

From early in the morning, I was blushing in front of the mirror.

I never imagined in my life that I’d end up putting on makeup.

Three full hours of makeup.

Geomgwi took the lead while Hwarang and Death Knight chimed in with their reactions.

“…Kya, as expected of our liege. The base is already so good—it turned out amazing.”

“Even this lowly knight, whose heart stopped long ago, feels it beating once more.”

Thanks to the two monsters throwing out such embarrassing compliments, my face just wouldn’t cool down.

[You really are this lady’s daughter.]

[This mother is so proud of you, my dear.]

Even my usually quiet mom made a sudden appearance just to shower me with praise.

‘Why are you doing this too, mother…’

[Did I not tell you? It was always my dream to have a daughter. Now that you’re finally doing something daughter-like, how could I not be delighted?]

‘…I’m never doing this again.’

[Well, there’s no need for you to act like a girl if you don’t want to. Do as you please.]

At least she wasn’t forcing it on me.

That was a relief.

“…Haah… how did it come to this.”

I should never have allowed the makeup yesterday.

I should’ve been more firm in refusing.

But regretting it now wouldn’t change anything.

“It’s almost time for the Hunters to arrive.”

The reason I had gotten made up in the first place.

The people from the committee and my precious friends were scheduled to visit the Tower.

It was too late to remove the makeup anyway.

“Everyone, it’s a masterpiece, right?”

“Lady Geomgwi, who knew you had such a talent beyond swordsmanship.”

“When I was in the Demon Realm, I always wondered why the Geomgwi clan wore servant’s clothes… now I understand.”

Listening to the monsters shower her with praise, Geomgwi stood proudly, basking in the attention.

Honestly, I felt like she’d be disappointed if I wiped it all off now.

So, I had no choice but to meet my friends like this.

Honestly… it was a little—no, very—embarrassing.

Because the face reflected in the mirror was an absolute beauty.

‘…This feels like cognitive dissonance…’

[You really do take after me. I can’t help but smile.]

‘……’

[What’s the matter?]

‘Why do you keep reading my thoughts without permission?’

[…I’ll restrain myself.]

The message window faded away slowly, as if sulking and hoping I’d notice.

Catching onto her intent, I just scoffed lightly in return.

Then I looked back at the mirror once more—and I really was beautiful.

I was already pretty, but with the hands of a true artisan, my appearance had transformed into something almost otherworldly.

‘…Isn’t this a bit too much?’

Worried it might be over the top, I turned to ask my subordinates.

“…If the Master of the Tower is dressing like this, it’s actually rather modest.”

“Eh… it’s not even full makeup, just something light. Still, since we’re working, we should look presentable.”

“Hmm. It’s appropriate, Master.”

Since all three of them said that, I had no choice but to nod.

“Shall we head down now?”

“Ah, yeah.”

Death Knight offered me his arm.

He probably meant to escort me like a noble.

‘…Linking arms is a bit much…’

I wasn’t comfortable clinging to a man, so I politely declined.

“…Step aside.”

“M-my apologies.”

Well, I meant to politely decline, but… somehow, I had too strong a mental aversion to do it gently.

I ended up refusing a bit more forcefully than intended.

I glanced over at the Death Knight, who looked a bit awkward.

I was about to offer an explanation out of guilt, but—“…Wasn’t our Lord someone who liked clinging to men? I’m sure last time…”

Because of what the Death Knight muttered, I immediately lost any desire to deal with him.

I guess you could say my guilt vanished in an instant.

“…Hey, stop mumbling and lead the way.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

At my words, the Death Knight tilted his head at my cold demeanor, then silently guided me to the bottom floor.

‘…Ugh, I feel gross.’

Drinking alcohol for no reason and creating such a dark past.

Now that I knew how I acted when drunk, I’d never touch alcohol again.

At least not unless there were no men around.

[…D-drink with me! It’s this mother’s dream…!!]

‘I’ll drink with you, Mom. Just you.’

I figured drinking with my mom would be fine.

So I decided: I’d only drink when I was with her.

From the way she was talking, it seemed likely we’d eventually be able to meet face-to-face anyway.

‘I won’t drink again until you come visit, Mom.’

[Yes! You should learn to drink from an adult!]

‘…I am an adult, though.’

[Compared to me, you’re still a baby. And since you were reborn, aren’t you technically just a year old? How are you an adult?]

So annoying.

But she had a point, so I couldn’t argue back.

Swallowing my frustration, I continued down to the first floor.

When we arrived, I saw skeletons busily moving about, constructing something like a negotiation table on the Ashen Lawn.

“…What’s this?”

“We thought our Lord might need a negotiation table, so we began preparing one.”

“Ooh, good job, Death Knight.”

“Thank you.”

I gave the Death Knight a couple of pats on the back and stepped onto the ashen grass.

A black-purple gazebo stood atop the gray lawn—its color scheme suited the first floor’s somber mood.

‘…It’s a little gloomy, though…’

It was a little gloomy, but maybe because I’d become a monster, it actually made me feel calm.

Though I imagined the humans arriving today would probably find it quite intimidating.

“…Hmm. I guess I can stream the negotiations.”

To be honest, “negotiation” was mostly for show.

If the committee folks had come all this way to the tower, I intended to accept most of their demands.

There was only one thing I really wanted:

“…I don’t mind wearing restraints—I just want to hand it out myself.”

Even if I had to wear shackles, I wanted to step outside the tower and personally hand the Tower Coins to the victims.

No matter what, they were people harmed because of me, and I wanted to apologize directly.

“Come to think of it, I still haven’t apologized to that poor bloodied Hunter from last time.”

As I held my forehead, I realized how many people I owed.

There was a mountain of things to do.

Once I finished compensating the victims, I wanted to take a break and do something healing.

‘…The top floor is spacious enough. Maybe I could go camping in the forest up there.’

‘It’s been a bit lonely too. Maybe I should invite some residents and monsters over.’

I figured inviting residents would be the better idea.

If I brought in monsters, I’d lose my mind trying to train them not to attack humans one by one.

At least the residents were only scared of me, which was manageable.

The monsters, on the other hand, were terrified of me and openly hostile to humans, which made things tricky.

“…I hope the spirit keeps an eye on Sword Ghost.”

I was still worried because Stella hadn’t opened up to any monster other than the Sword Ghost.

Anyway, just as I was thinking like a true tower boss again—worrying about my people and how to run things going forward.

[Alert: An outsider has broken into the Tower!]

“…You’ve arrived!”

With a message popping up in the status window, the front gate of the tower opened and the hunters began to walk in one by one.

I could see Hunter Hanseong looking around from afar.

Just as I was about to shout toward the gate.

“Please stay seated, my lord. I’ll bring them over.”

“Oh, could you?”

Death Knight gestured toward the chair and had me sit down, then ran off to greet the hunters himself.

It seemed even Death Knight had formed some attachment to them—he gave a small wave to Hanseong as he approached.

They were too far for me to hear their conversation, but judging from the way Hanseong gave a helpless laugh and rubbed his forehead, it was probably about Chanseok.

Behind him came Chanseok and Hanyul, following Hanseong.

Hanyul, the only woman among the three, walked with a calm and observant gaze, quietly matching the pace of her companions.

Then came other guests who weren’t my friends.

There was Jeonghan, a member of the raid team that did the initial investigation here and also the guild master of Taesan.

Following him was Yuna, the guild master of the Fairy Guild, trying to pretend everything was fine but clearly nervous and glancing around timidly.

Then, about three people in suits entered.

Among them stood a man with a strong impression, wearing sunglasses, between a man and a woman.

I knew his face well.

‘…Kang Seohan, the right hand of the chairman.’

Kang Seohan, the head of the Monitoring Department and the right hand of Chairman Sung Myungho of the Committee.

A man who had built an incredible career at a young age.

If he had chosen to be a hunter instead of joining the Committee, he might have been standing where Chanseok is now.

‘I remember him contacting me nonstop during the whole “wrecking” incident.’

He had reached out several times demanding I tell him everything I knew.

Well, not literally like that—he had contacted me for investigation materials and testimony.

Naturally, I had witnessed the crimes committed by the hunters I personally dragged into ruin.

‘Seeing him now… feels nostalgic.’

‘I wonder if he handled my case properly.’

I think I was cleared of charges after my death.

As memories rushed in.

“…Gu, Miss Gumiho?!”

“Ah, Hunter-nim.”

Hunter Hanseong, his face flushed red, stared at me in shock.

Tilting my head, I gave him a smile.

‘…Is he not feeling well? His face is super red.’

The #1 ranked hunter, continuing his work despite being unwell.

Truly a role model for all hunters.

I admired him silently and politely greeted the guests.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Gumiho Yubin.”

“Thank you for coming all the way here today. I hope we can work well together.”

When I smiled and said that, the people just stared at me blankly.

“…Um, do you not like me?”

The reaction was kind of weird, so I asked, and only then did they start clapping.

‘…W-What’s going on?’

Usually, when someone introduces themselves, the other side introduces themselves too, right?

I couldn’t understand why they were just murmuring among themselves.