Chapter 71: Once-in-a-lifetime love

“You’ve thought of something that will pique her interest?”

“Yes.”

He had prepared an offer she couldn’t refuse if she enjoyed acquiring rare items.

Without further questions, his uncle fiddled with his phone. Soon, someone answered.

–Oh, you’re calling me? It’s been years!

A woman’s voice flowed from the phone.

“You haven’t called me either, so why do you make it sound like I’m the only one who hasn’t called?”

–Haha! That’s true. So, what’s up?

“It’s not me who needs something, but a young man named Yu-won… Do you perhaps know him?”

–If it’s a Yu-won I’d know… are you talking about that hot academy student 요즘? There’s a video circulating of him defeating an S-rank boss monster in a single blow.

“That’s the Yu-won. He wants to make a deal with you.”

–Information came in that you two are close. It seems that was correct. Considering you, who dislikes me, are personally introducing him.

It seemed their relationship wasn’t very good.

“Enough with the useless talk. So, what will you do?”

–Fine. For someone that age to put on such a performance, even The One couldn’t have done it. I can’t help but be interested. Put him on.

The One, ranking 1st, the only one called SS-rank on Earth, above S-rank. The owner of the Black Market praised him, mentioning The One.

He took the phone from his uncle and spoke.

“This is Kim Yu-won, a first-year at Beatrice Academy.”

Even though his uncle had mentioned his name, he started with a self-introduction. It was basic etiquette when starting a conversation.

–I’m Ceres, the owner of the Black Market. Nice to meet you, Yu-won.

“As the head of the Jin family mentioned, I contacted you because I want to make a deal.”

–Deals are good. But considering you contacted me instead of asking the Yu family, who can obtain almost any item or information, it seems you need an item or information that ‘only I can obtain,’ right?

A sharp deduction, as expected from the owner of the Black Market. Hearing her deliberately emphasize “only I can obtain,” he understood why she was called the best merchant.

“There’s no need to beat around the bush. Yes. I want information on the seller of the item called Gungnir, which the family head recently purchased.”

–Hoo… You’re saying this knowing I’ve never sold seller information to anyone before, right?

“Yes.”

–That person next to you must have told you that divine relics or the corpses of transcendent beings won’t cut it, so you’ve prepared something more… Can you tell me what it is?

‘She took the bait.’

He had succeeded in piquing the interest of her, who was said to be unfazed by most things.

Now it was time to add some seasoning to keep her interest from waning and make her anxious.

“This material is difficult to explain verbally. I’ll give you an address. If you send someone there in an hour, I’ll send a very small sample of the material. After that, you can decide whether to proceed with the deal or not.”

–…Alright. Just what kind of material is it that makes you so confident…

After giving the address, he hung up and handed the phone back to his uncle.

“Thank you. You’ve helped me again.”

“Isn’t it natural for a disciple to help their master? This is nothing.”

‘Ah… right.’

Come to think of it, hadn’t this whole mess started because he was debating whether or not to accept his uncle as a disciple? He had already received Gungnir, and at that moment, his uncle had essentially become his disciple.

“That’s right. Since we’re master and disciple.”

He had anticipated that his peaceful daily life would disappear from the moment he accepted Jin Baek-ryong as a disciple, no, from the moment his wives crossed dimensions.

Accepting the head of a Top 10 Family as a disciple wasn’t a small thing… it was actually a pretty big deal, but he had no intention of backing out.

He had already received a lot and might receive more help in the future. For 17 years, he had been lazy, achieved nothing, and had merely existed.

Except for the absurdly accumulated diverse experiences compared to an ordinary person, he was still lacking and insufficient. Even after living for 137 years, he was someone who needed the help of others.

Jin Soo-ho, who had helped him, was already his person, and he had the ability to help Jin Soo-ho achieve the growth in martial power he most desired.

He wasn’t someone who hesitated to invest in his people.

Just as Ha-yeon had taught him wholeheartedly, he would teach Jin Soo-ho as much as he could.

“Then, review what you learned today until we meet next week. I don’t know what the situation is, but I hope it resolves well.”

“Thank you.”

Leaving Jin Soo-ho behind, he stopped by a tool shop and purchased glass bottles of various sizes that prevented decay. They were vessels to hold his blood.

After putting everything into his inventory, he arrived home to find his wives waiting.

It wouldn’t do any good to show them he was shaken, so he acted as normally as possible.

“You’re finally here. We’ve been waiting.”

“Did the spar with that family head go well? He seems like a sparring maniac, just like Ludric.”

“You don’t smell like another woman…”

Liera sniffed him as soon as he arrived, and the other two greeted him.

But Seung-ah was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Seung-ah?”

Ha-yeon’s expression soured slightly.

“The first thing you ask upon arriving is her whereabouts…? Her parents called for her.”

It made sense. A daughter living in a dorm wouldn’t just not visit home when she was out of school. She was probably being teased with things like, “Did you enjoy sleeping over at Yu-won’s house?”

“Wait… What’s that on your right arm…?”

Estelle looked extremely surprised.

Gungnir, the divine relic from the dungeon he and Estelle had first entered together.

He’d worn it every day until he gave it to Ruina, so it would be stranger if she didn’t recognize it.

“It’s what you think it is. The head of the Jin family had it.”

“What’s that..?”

Liera asked, looking at Gungnir on his wrist.

“It’s something I gave to a friend… in Estelle’s world. But it suddenly appeared in this world.”

“Doesn’t that mean there’s a high probability that the friend who had that item is also here?”

Ha-yeon was right.

He didn’t know if she cherished Gungnir, but honestly, since it was an item impossible to lose, it was certain that the owner of this item was on Earth.

“That’s right. So I’m trying to find the seller.”

He then formed his internal energy into the shape of a sword and cut his finger.

His Stamina, having reached 99, made his body tough enough that ordinary blades wouldn’t cut it, so he had to use his energy.

After confirming blood was flowing, he took out the smallest glass bottle from his inventory and put a drop of his blood in it.

He knew it was extremely valuable, but it was an ambiguous amount, not enough to be utilized anywhere.

This would make her even more tantalized.

“Why did you suddenly draw blood?”

They had all been through thick and thin, so a few drops of blood didn’t make them bat an eye.

“My body became very valuable after I took that elixir last time. So I thought I could obtain it by offering my body.”

“That sounds a bit strange…”

Wasn’t the expression “offering my body” technically correct? Not long after he collected the blood, the doorbell rang.

It seemed Ceres’s subordinate had arrived to pick up the item.

When he opened the door, an old man with white hair stood there.

“I’ve come to pick up the item.”

“Here it is. It’s extremely precious, so please deliver it carefully.”

“Don’t worry.”

The old man instantly disappeared into the shadows.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen that.’

In every world, there were those who wielded the power of shadows, and among them, of course, were those who hid and moved within shadows.

It was a skill he could never learn because it didn’t suit him at all, so it felt nostalgic.

The moment he came back inside, Estelle was standing in the hallway.

“Oppa. I need to talk to you for a bit.”

Right. You’re the only one I can talk to about Ruina.

“We need to talk alone for a moment, is that okay?”

Estelle turned and asked her other wives.

“Do as you please.”

“Alright.”

They weren’t people who would agree so readily, but things were moving surprisingly smoothly.

“Come in.”

“Yes…”

Estelle, for some reason acting forcefully, grabbed his wrist and pulled him into her room.

Once inside, Estelle sat him on the bed and spoke.

“Why do you look so down?”

“Was it that obvious..?”

“Extremely. Otherwise, why would those two allow us to be alone without any interference? It was strange how everyone acted normally when the resentment hadn’t even fully dissipated, wasn’t it?”

He’d tried to hide it, but he hadn’t expected to be found out so easily.

He really couldn’t hide anything from these people. And he’d even been considerate of them when they weren’t even in a good mood.

“It’s because I don’t know.”

“What?”

“Whether it’s okay for me to try and find Ruina.”

“Why? Because you rejected Ruina’s confession?”

‘How do you know that…?’

He hadn’t told her.

“You look like you’re wondering how I know. How could I not know when a girl who made it so obvious she liked you every day suddenly disappeared and never contacted us again? Since you didn’t bring it up, I didn’t ask, but I had a hunch.”

‘Everyone knew except me…’

He really was an idiot. He was the only one who didn’t know Ruina liked him.

“Oppa. But do you know this?”

“What?”

“Elves only love once in their entire lives.”

“What…?”

He was truly hearing this for the first time.