106 – 22. The Melancholy of a Rich Man
I couldn’t time the movement after hearing the voice.
When he heard a sound he shouldn’t have heard, Wang Fei quickly pulled out the sword from his belt.
Hook.
“aaah!!!”
Pain and fresh blood.
The dagger that pierced the shoulder caught the eye of Wang Fei, who shuddered from the screams.
If we look at it calmly, it was Wang Fei who made the save.
Even though Liu attacked her completely from behind, it ended with her giving up one of her shoulders. It was obvious that his instant reaction and physical ability were superior to Rio’s.
However.
Unfortunately, Wang Fei was not a person accustomed to pain.
“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!!!”
If she had moved calmly, she would have been able to launch a counterattack on Liu behind her back, but Wang Fei’s sword, which she swings at random, only passes through the air.
On the other hand, even though Liu’s surprise attack was half-failed, she strictly followed Wang Fei’s rampage and gave her dagger more power.
If this was an ordinary dagger, it would have been right to pull it out and stab it once more, but of course it was not an ordinary dagger.
Artifact .
Liu’s favorite artifact dagger that was used during the survival test.
The ability is to forcibly remove the person who is aiming the knife in front of the user, and it is not for killing, but for forcibly subduing others or creating a path.
It is a ceremonial dagger that only looks fancy, but it is not easy to pierce the shoulder like this unless you stab it with all your might.
In fact, the abilities of artifacts sometimes change depending on how they are used.
Like right now.
“It hurts!!!”
“Close your mouth, b*tch.”
Activates the dagger embedded in Wang Fei’s shoulder.
Originally, it is a suppression artifact that ‘blows’ the desired target to the side.
But what if you use it with it embedded in your body?
Euddeuk, eudeudeudeuk──
“aaah!!!!”
The left arm and body try to ‘fly’ in different directions with the dagger as the center.
Left arm to the left, rest of the body to the right.
It was King Fei who cried out in pain and tried to somehow remove the dagger.
Kwasik!
Only after his left arm was separated from his body was Wang Fei able to see Liu.
“……Ah, ah.”
A badly torn off left arm, a broken shoulder blade, hideous flesh, and even a fountain of blood.
She looked helplessly at what her left arm was like.
Within.
“I’ll kill you!!!!!”
Her face contorted in pain and anger and she swung her sword.
Although her balance was shaky due to the lack of her left arm, the blade intentionally aimed for Liu’s left arm.
“I told you to close your mouth, right?”
Artifact .
Boom!
“Big…Gasp…”
Of course, the dagger flies into the wall and hits it.
It is
A crowd that gets out of the way, which has many restrictions in many ways, but in a one-on-one match, it can only kill the opponent and have an overwhelming advantage.
That is why it was not changed into . Of all the artifacts Rio had, this was the most effective in battle.
But it is also true that it pales in comparison to Rio’s true offensive artifacts.
Was it a defeatist decision to change most of the offensive artifacts to defensive artifacts just because they were in the academy?
Because he rushed straight away without stopping by the base or warehouse, the only artifact in his hand was the handgun.
In the end, it didn’t matter.
“……Namgoong Min.”
“……………….”
This is how I found it.
Liu looked faintly at Namgoong Min, who was chained up limply.
“……Ha.”
It was definitely full of anger and suspicion.
So I kept avoiding him without saying anything.
Looking at the fortuneteller who fainted like this…… All such actions feel futile.
Once the anger disappeared, only a feeling of helplessness remained. The body, which had been very tense, relaxed and complained of pain.
Pajik.
“…This too is over.”
Along with , The artifact that Liu left behind, , Is destroyed.
It was a valuable item that increased the physical abilities of pure virgins for 10 minutes, but it could not withstand excessive use and reinforcement and was reduced to powder.
Well, thanks to this, I was able to quickly rush to Namgoong Min’s location and surprise Wang Fei.
If you think about it that way, it was a cheap investment.
‘……… Cheap investment? Is that really true?’
She had no idea when she had to find Namgoong Min, but after actually looking for her, she began to reflect on herself.
The current Rio was ugly. He didn’t have any of the earrings, rings, bracelets, necklaces, or jewelry he usually wore.
No matter how much she is in the Romance Academy, she is a
Rich woman. There are many people like Wang Fei who are trying to take her life.
Maybe I was too excited?
‘If you put it all together, it would have been the budget of a fairly small country.’
It’s such a waste, is that really true?
Liu asked himself a question.
“That’s…No.”
I answered myself.
If you really felt like it was a waste, you couldn’t have felt this way. If he had an advantage in trillions of artifacts compared to Namgoong Min, he wouldn’t have done something like that in the first place.
Then what is it? Why am I thinking like this?
No way………
‘Again…… ‘Are you trying to doubt me?’
Ha.
Liu burst into laughter. It was a very funny assumption, but she laughed even more because she herself did not deny it.
Yes, even though Liu Yen has come to this point, she is still suspicious of Namgoong Min.
I wonder if they are planning to use all the artifacts as a self-made play, or if they are trying to kill me at this time.
It was so disgusting.
Now I am purely angry.
“Why am I…….”
The mental illness-like doubt clearly helped Rio a lot. If he hadn’t had the disease he suspected, he wouldn’t have been able to overcome the evil that came his way as a child. I know that.
But, it’s different now.
The 10-year-old who was weak and cried a lot is no longer there. Standing here is a wealthy man in his 20s who has already established his own unique position.
I am an asset owner and investor who cannot be touched by the Arthur family, which rules Europe, the United States, which has fallen but is still a powerful country, and the unified Korean Empire, which claims to be the world’s most powerful country.
Why do I still suffer from pathological doubts?
“……I’m exhausted, really…”
I am exhausted.
I was tired of doubt, and I was tired of my own temper.
Liu also knows. Her suspicions have long since gone beyond mental illness and into the realm of instinct. She is a hard shell trying to protect herself, it is self-defense.
But I feel like I’m suffocating to death inside that damn shell.
Should she even doubt the only person who broke through that shell and reached out to her?
“……….”
Because of that, Liu could not get closer to Namgoong Min even though he had unchained her. If she got any closer, she felt like her suspicions would explode regardless of her will.
That’s why Rio didn’t notice.
She was focusing too much on Namgoong Min.
Thump.
“……!!”
I suddenly realized that the sound coming from behind me was made by Wang Fei.
Just as Wang Fei’s reaction was delayed in the surprise attack a little while ago.
Rio was also late.
“I’m dying!!!!”
Wang Fei, who somehow managed to keep quiet and concentrate despite the pain, threw down his sword.
Has her desire for revenge against Liu, or her hatred, become greater than her arrogant nature?
She could never believe it was Wang Fei. After much patience and concentration, she found the best timing and made her move.
…… The sword is flying.
Liu quickly turned around and saw the scene clearly, but there was nothing he could do.
Unlike the non-combat profession , Although his skills are poor, the combat profession Does not have a single flaw in his sword.
From Noble mtl dot com
I just watched as the sword flew toward her heart, as if in slow motion.
‘Is this the magic light?’
In a moment, her life passes before her eyes.
Even though I was poor, my childhood was happy.
A toad decoration I received as a gift from my parents and younger sister.
A tragedy that I don’t even want to think about.
A life left alone.
He made money through the hidden .
Suspicious of others.
Suspicious of other companies.
Suspicious of the government.
Doubting your colleagues.
Suspicious of subordinates.
Suspicious people.
Looking at it this way, I can clearly see the trajectory of life that a person named Liu Yen has drawn.
A life filled with doubts, doubts, doubts.
At the end, we joined hands with ‘Faith’ for the first time.
In the end, even he let go of his hand due to foolish doubts.
And now.
…… The sword flew right in front of her eyes.
‘If I knew it would be like this…….’
I should have at least talked to Namgoong Min.
That’s my last thought──
Hook.
“……Huh?”
── It should be.
Liu could not accept the situation at the moment.
Hot blood, a sword piercing the stomach, a collapsing body.
Everything is clearly visible.
…… Namgoong Min falls down after getting stabbed instead of Liu.
“Hey, hey…Wake up.”
“………Liu, Mr….”
“What are you doing? Wake up. Wake up. Are you playing some kind of prank again? I’m… Scared.”
“Mr. Liu, that crystal ball…….”
“Don’t say it. There’s blood, no, wait a minute. Why won’t this stop?”
“If you look at the anti…Artifact….”
“It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay. There are many artifacts that can heal you, even if it’s just first aid.”
…… Yes, no.
No, there is none.
“……Uh.”
Nothing.
No.
I tried to block Namgoong Min’s abdomen, which was overflowing with blood, with both hands.
The small, white hands just turn red.
I can’t stop Namgoong Min from getting paler.
As soon as I realized that fact.
“What is this…?”
Liu felt as if he had been hit with a hammer. It wasn’t just a metaphor.
It feels as if the walls that make up the human being Liu Yen are collapsing.
When it comes to death, I have seen it many times. Because she was the one who watched her family die.
But Namgoong Min is dying now.
It was clutching her heart.
“I……I…….”
Even the doubts that were said to be instinct or self-protection crumble.
Only then did the girl named Liu Yan realize her own feelings.
This is not possessiveness, friendship, friendliness, or suspicion.
I regret my stupidity and foolishness when I finally realized something so simple, but the bleeding doesn’t stop.
Even if you tear her clothes, tie her, and close the wound, the bleeding does not stop.
“Please…please…!”
Now I finally know my true feelings. I thought of something to say to you.
I can’t lose you like this.
Crazy obsession dominated Rio. For a moment, she turned her attention to the crowd blocking the road.
If it is dangerous because a lot of blood has been shed.
‘You can just drink my blood.’
Although it was a destructive thought without logic, reason, or common sense, Liu reached for her dagger.
Because she was so earnest and so desperate.
Just before Liu’s hand touched her dagger.
Tuk.
“Ah…….”
Someone knocked her dagger away with his foot.
I look down at Rio, who is devastated.
“It’s been a while, non-believer.”
“You, you…….”
“There are a lot of things I want to say and things I need to say… But there’s no need to say them now, right?”
Yes. Liu, who was dumbfounded for a moment, soon looked away from her.
There is only one thing she can do.
“Please, save Namgoong Min…….”
“It will happen even if you don’t say it. But…”
Liu didn’t care how the blonde fighter got here.
Because the only thing that mattered to her now was the fortune teller dying in her arms.
After nodding roughly to Liu’s earnest request, Eileen got down on her knees and placed her hand on Namgoong Min’s wound.
Even her hands turned red due to her fresh blood, but Eileen just looked at Liu who was crying.
“What I saw today is a secret.”
“I don’t mind anything, please…!”
Right after that.
On Eileen’s back, her white wings flutter.
At the same time, Liu’s expression hardened as she noticed the Halo that appeared behind her head.
Because that was a skill that Rio knew.
“You, you…….”
“Keep it a secret. Nonbeliever.”
General skill .
And.
Wings wrapped around Namgoong Min.
*
“Princess, communication with Has been cut off. It seems to have been cut off due to a skill.”
“……It doesn’t matter. I’ve seen everything there is to see.”
“What should I do now?”
“Edit the video and prepare to send it to His Majesty. Let’s go now.”
“Yes.”
Knock, boom.
After the man who bowed his head politely left.
The woman called the princess ── Kim Ha-neul burst out laughing at her.
Things went much better than I expected.
“When you told me to entrust the imperial treasure to a dog like that, I honestly wondered if this was right…”
Imperial treasure, commonly known as .
It is an item kept only in the bedroom of the Emperor of the Unified Korean Empire, and although it has a radius of about one room, it is a treasure itself that blocks tracking, wiretapping, surveillance, and raids from outside.
It is a valuable gift bestowed by Her Majesty the Emperor with His own hand, reminding her of the importance of her work.
Her hands and feet were shaking when she first received it, but the emperor’s next instructions were to make her tilt her head.
“You’re telling me to pick it out and leave it to Wang Fei.”
Kim Ha-neul has many ‘dogs’, and she mobilized most of them.
How does the emperor know the dog’s name when each one of them is a scum of society who just wears a ‘leash’?
And did you predict that this would happen this way? As a result, entrusting the treasure to a dog like Wang Fei, who did not even know the subject, yielded the best results.
‘The fortune teller’s junior will have to leave the stage for a while, and that rich man and bastard has definitely received a warning. And the existence of a saint?’
This is more than I expected.
The fortune teller I was worried about was seriously injured, so he will not be able to get involved in the ‘big business’, and the rich man will not be able to make any moves, even because of this incident.
The presence of a saint was an unexpected bonus. If you tell this to the church, you could make a huge profit.
‘I heard a rumor that Her Majesty sees her future, but is it true?’
She had some absurd doubts about his resourcefulness for a moment, but she soon erased her doubts with her smile.
“…Don’t worry about it.”
If it is nothing else but the Emperor’s work, questioning it itself is an act of suicide.
In her honor, He chose her as a useful shogi horse, and her shogi horse only sticks to its role as a shogi horse.
Especially since in return she was to receive what she had longed for her whole life.
“By the way, a super-rich person is also a super-rich person. How many trillions did you burn to break through ?”
Although its performance has deteriorated due to the addition of wiretapping and voyeurism functions as ordered by His Majesty, it is truly one of the five greatest treasures of the imperial family.
Can you just pierce it with a sharp headbutt?
Even those who want to assassinate His Majesty the Emperor will not do such a thing.
After laughing at Liu for a moment, Kim Ha-neul reached for the wine prepared on the table.
The work is completed perfectly, so enjoy the toast──
Boom!
“Woe, prince! No matter how much you are the prince, you can’t enter the royal family’s room on your own…”
“──There’s too much talking. It’s annoying.”
“……Yes.”
“…Your Highness the Prince?”
“Kim Ha-neul, it’s been a while.”
Prince Kim Seong-il suddenly appeared, opening the door.
Kim Ha-neul, who managed her facial expression despite the unexpected visit, stood up and greeted us politely.
“Your Highness the Prince, what is happening to my miserable base…?”
“This.”
Talk.
The prince carelessly threw it at her feet.
It was a small USB containing video and audio sent by .
“I think I have a lot to say.”
“…You will regret it.”
“Regret, ha! At least that’s not what you should hear.”
Kwasik.
The prince, who came closer and crushed the With his foot, whispered to Kim Ha-neul.
“Tell the person behind you. Let’s not play tricks between us.”
“……………….”
“How do you think this is a ‘simple warning’? Just looking at it, this is a declaration of war.”
“……….”
“Since all of this is a trick done by my father, it would be natural for me to answer as a child.”
My father is the noblest blood of the unified Korean Empire.
You crossed the line.
“Now that I think about it, it’s Chuseok soon? The imperial family must be busy with preparations.”
“……Yes.”
“The father is busy, so should the child rest?”
“I guess I should come visit you sometime.”
That was the end.
The prince left the room, leaving Kim Ha-neul with her head bowed, and she did not move for a long time after he left.
After a considerable amount of time had passed, Kim Ha-neul slowly raised her head.
“…What about the video?”
“Everything… Was lost. The copy I had prepared just in case, and even the computer itself was smashed…”
“All the evidence is gone.”
In any case, it was the same to report the results to His Majesty, but it became impossible to inform the church of the saint’s existence.
That bratty Pope won’t move unless there is solid physical evidence.
Kim Ha-neul, who sensed that things had gone wrong, gritted her teeth.
“Prince…….”
Why are everyone, including the super-rich and Kim Eun-ha, so cheesy?
Nevertheless, even though she is now, she cannot say a single thing about her.
Things will change soon.
“Definitely.”
I will make you kneel before me.
Kim Ha-neul’s eyes shone faintly.