episode_0027

A heavy silence falls.

I could see her looking very flustered beyond my field of vision.

“Uh, uh. No, that’s not it···.”

The sight of someone waving their hands in the air with nowhere to go, trying to come up with an excuse.

“······.”

For a moment, my head went cold.

I felt like I had been lost in a fantasy for a moment, and now I was finally facing reality again.

I nodded with cold, hard eyes.

‘okay.’

What did you wish for?

What kind of dream did you have?

You must know by looking at the number of curses that are stuck to your body. You must know that the word ‘goodwill’ is a word that cannot exist for me.

What on earth were you delusional about?

The reaction she showed at the end was, to anyone who saw it, the reaction of someone who hated it. It wasn’t just empty words, it was her reaction that came out reflexively.

Rather, I was starting to feel more confident.

I quickly put on my mask and apologized to her.

“Sorry. There’s a bug on the back of my neck. I reached out without permission.”

“No, no! It’s okay. I’m the one who should be sorry. I overreacted. That was definitely not my intention. I’m so sorry!”

Her speech became increasingly rapid. I couldn’t tell what the truth was, but I could tell she was very confused.

“No. If it suddenly popped out from behind, I would have been surprised too.”

I tried hard to shield her so she wouldn’t feel embarrassed.

It’s fortunate that the dismantling work is almost finished.

Otherwise, wouldn’t we have been stuck in that uncomfortable atmosphere for a few more hours?

“Oh, it’s too late. There’s not much left. Let’s deal with the rest tomorrow. Go in and rest.”

“No. But I’ve come this far, so I’ll do the rest too···.”

“Thanks for the help, but it’s okay.”

I declined her offer as politely as I could.

As we were tidying up and getting ready to go back, the saint called out to us.

“I···.”

I see two sapphire eyes trembling violently. The expression on her face is a suitable combination of worry and regret.

She tries to grab my collar, but then hesitates and puts her hand back down.

And then he spoke to me.

“I don’t know what you think··· but I really didn’t react that way because I didn’t like it. Please believe me.”

It sounded like it was a very sincere voice, but when I heard it, I just nodded indifferently.

“Yes.”

From now on, you should be careful about trusting people.

Now is the time to move away a little.

I nodded and left her behind to go my way.

Still, I tried to feel grateful that I received even a moment of sympathy.

*

“Ah···.”

Saint Yulis sighed as she watched Luke moving away. She shouldn’t have sent him away like this.

I need to clear up the misunderstanding. My mind went blank and I couldn’t think of a way to do it.

The sight of his back walking away looks so miserable.

I didn’t plan on doing this…

I made a huge mistake.

It was all because of a curse.

It seems that the curse that the warrior Luke has is evolving.

No, I should say that it changes shape to suit the affected person.

The curses, which at first simply caused discomfort, gradually took shape and began to torment her.

The thing that Yulis hates the most is bugs.

Although I had gotten used to it to some extent after spending a week with Chungwang, my hatred for him still remained.

No, rather, I started to hate it even more after experiencing something like that.

But at what point did that happen?

When I approached him, I felt as if bugs were crawling all over my body.

It was because of the influence of the curse Luke had.

The curse of fear.

This curse makes the other person feel some of the things they hate and fear the most.

This is also part of the reason why people who see him for the first time are immediately reluctant to like him.

Still, the saint persevered.

I tried to ignore the sensation of bugs crawling all over my body and approached him, ignoring the auditory hallucinations.

In the end, the one who will suffer the most from this curse is none other than Luke himself.

But… I couldn’t resist that last approaching hand.

That hand that is trying to brush away a bug absentmindedly.

Because it overlapped for a moment with ‘someone’ who looked at me as if in ecstasy and reached out his hand.

A rotten tree, maggots crawling on it, and a bloody bandage wrapped around it clumsily.

“Please transform me into a feather.”

Yulis had no choice but to strike his hand away.

You could make excuses and say it was unavoidable, but the situation had already happened.

‘sorry···.’

Yulis watched his back as he walked away for a long time.

*

This week has passed.

Even though he got into a big trouble once, Yulis didn’t give up.

Whenever there was a dismantling operation, I was always there to help him, and if he was ever pressured by his teammates, I was there to defend him.

Not only that, but when you cast a purification spell, you gain more sexual power, and you talk to them constantly.

He continued to show consideration that was vague and yet understandable.

As a result, Luke, who had been depressed for a while, started talking to her again as usual.

··· but.

She could feel that the mask he wore was thicker than before.

She thought to herself with a bitter expression.

‘You’ve closed your heart again.’

It was like seeing an abandoned puppy on the side of the road.

This is a dog that has been abandoned by people countless times and can no longer trust people.

The door of my heart, which I had managed to keep open through my efforts so far, was completely closed because of that one mistake I made last time.

The saint looked at him and bit her lip.

‘Still, I don’t give up.’

I will open it again someday. I wanted to open it again and support his spirit.

“But, I have a question.”

As I was thinking about that, Lily suddenly opened her mouth.

Her red eyes are filled with curiosity.

“We’re running wild like this, but the King of Chung really doesn’t catch on?”

“Hmm? Didn’t the warrior say that last time? If you catch the one-eyed bugs well, there’s no reason for Chungwang to catch you. ”

“No, that’s true, but···.”

She continued.

“No matter what, you don’t know much. Even in the area where we caused trouble, we could chew up at least one territory. Even if you caught a one-eyed bug, is it possible to not know this much?”

Then Luke turned around and said, his face always wearing that faint smile.

“Good point, Lily.”

Although he didn’t open up, his communication skills made it possible to have a normal conversation.

“That’s right. Even after doing this, it doesn’t make sense that you don’t know. Perhaps even King Chung will start to notice something strange.”

All the one-eyed insects raised by King Chung are sent back and forth to the audience room.

Because contact with King Chung was essential in order to convey what he had seen and heard.

However, some of them did not return to his audience room.

If there are a few dozen, that’s fine. Considering the size of the castle, that number is only about the size of a giant’s claw.

But what if the number is in the hundreds or thousands?

Even King Chung couldn’t help but feel something was strange.

We’ll be starting a full-scale patrol soon.

“We were destined to get caught someday.”

Especially if you go deep, you will definitely be caught by the King of Chung. From there, the King of Chung’s detection range becomes very wide.

“What!? Why are you telling me that important thing now? What will happen to us if we get caught?”

“What are you asking? That’s what I’ve grown for so far.”

“Then, do you know when you’ll get caught?”

“Well, if you add up the amount of walking I’ve done and the time I’ve had so far, maybe···.”

He pauses for a moment. He seems to be calculating something in his head.

Finally, after thinking about it, he opened his mouth softly.

“It will be soon.”

This boring and tiresome life of loyalty was slowly coming to an end.

The party members were momentarily taken aback by his sudden bombshell statement, but they quickly regained their composure.

As he said, this is what he had been preparing for.

And as he had expected, the warrior party was discovered by King Chung after only a few days.

“There were rats hiding in my place.”

An eerie sound echoed throughout the palace, and changes occurred in the surrounding environment.

Ki-ki-ki-ki!

The passage was blocked and insects swarmed in from all directions.

Such as foxes, scorpions, cockroaches, and insect-like monsters.

All of these sights are eerily similar to my previous life.

At that moment, the saint’s face turned pale as she thought about her past life.

Months had passed, but the memory of that defeat still traumatized her.

“Tsk, you managed to avoid surveillance and come all the way here. It’s unpleasant that the goddess’s seed came here without permission, but it’s a good thing. I will gladly serve you as food for my children.”

But that was only for a moment.

She was frightened for a moment, but soon came to her senses and patted her cheek.

‘···are you okay.’

The sight you see is the same, but many things have changed.

Unlike last time when they just rushed in, they had prepared a lot.

I made up for the shortcomings.

Strengths have been strengthened.

The plan was thorough.

There is also sufficient prepared equipment.

The relationship between the party members… To be honest, I can’t say it’s good, but they didn’t completely ignore him like last time.

At least the sum of the party members is correct.

Then that’s it.

Now all that’s left is to confront King Chung with everything he’s built up so far.

“Come, you dogs of God. I will deal with you personally.”

The saint raised her power.

Now there was only one trial left.

Chungwang Balkan, you just have to get past that guy.