133 – The Crimson Merchant (4)
“Then I shall listen.”
As Kim Hyunwoo naturally sat in front of the crimson merchant and started talking, she responded with a faint smile.
“You don’t necessarily have to listen. You’ll probably have plenty of questions anyway.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, so before I explain, what would you like to hear first?”
“What do you mean…?”
“I’m asking whether you prefer to hear about the contradictions the Lord heard or the story I’m about to tell.”
In contrast to the polite tone of the blue merchant, the crimson merchant asked with a formal tone. After a moment of contemplation, Kim Hyunwoo asked,
“…If I were to choose one, would I not hear the other properly?”
“Oh no, that’s not it. Why do you ask…?”
“Well… the blue merchant started telling the story but just left halfway through.”
As Kim Hyunwoo spoke with a slightly awkward laugh, the crimson merchant, after a brief moment of confusion, seemed to understand what he meant and chuckled as she spoke.
“Hmm… what I’m saying may sound funny, but the reason the blue merchant didn’t continue further is simply due to self-restraint, so please understand.”
“…I heard that before, but what exactly is ‘self-restraint’?”
With curiosity, Kim Hyunwoo asked, and she immediately replied,
“It includes the literal meaning of the word. Just self-restraint… However, it seems I won’t be explaining this part in the explanation I’m about to give.”
As if preemptively asking which of the two to choose first, the crimson merchant looked intently at Kim Hyunwoo and said,
“Then I’d like to hear the story that must be conveyed first.”
“Alright.”
In response to Kim Hyunwoo’s words, the crimson merchant, after organizing her thoughts for a moment, began,
“First, could you tell me how far the blue merchant’s story went?”
“…If it was a story by the blue merchant… it was about the demons and celestials invading this continent… and about preventing other races.”
“Has the reward part of the story been concluded as well?”
“Yes, I heard it was about receiving an inevitable wish.”
Nodding at that, the crimson merchant replied,
“It seems the blue merchant has finished telling all he had to, so there shouldn’t be a need for additional explanations. Let’s move on to the main point.”
With that statement, she immediately began her story.
“Today, I will inform the Lord about the purpose of the continent’s invasion.”
“…The purpose, you say?”
“Yes, the purpose. It may seem sudden, but have you speculated why the high-dimensional demons are trying to invade the intermediate realm?”
In response to the crimson merchant’s question, Kim Hyunwoo answered,
“I suspect… but could it be for world domination?”
“Hmm… their actions do seem somewhat similar in a way, but world domination is not their goal.”
“Then…?”
“In this dimension, the reason the higher-dimensional beings, the demons, have invaded is to resurrect the Demon King.”
“…Resurrect the Demon King?”
Kim Hyunwoo, feeling as though a somewhat extraordinary statement had been casually made, inquired, to which the crimson merchant nodded.
“Yes, their goal is to resurrect the Demon King. By the way, the Celestials aim to revive the Sage of Virtue, and the rest of the fellows… it’s a long story.”
“…So, are you saying they are invading the continent to resurrect their big boss?”
“That’s right. Both the Demon King of the demons and the Sage of Virtue of the Celestials are currently only existing as souls without bodies.”
“And is it a setting that the only way to resurrect those bodies is in this intermediate realm?”
“Setting, though a bit of a vague term, is correct according to Lord Yeongju; these higher-dimensional beings, amusingly, require this intermediate realm to create bodies. Shall I explain the reasons as well? It’s a bit convoluted.”
“…Is it very complicated?”
“To grasp the basics, one needs a bit of understanding of the Law of Karma Preservation along with the paradoxical relationship between magic and karma, but shall I explain?”
Upon hearing the first sentence, Kim Hyunwoo quickly made a judgment and spoke, “I think understanding to this extent should suffice.”
“An excellent choice. Actually, delving into this won’t be helpful; just knowing their objectives at this level is sufficient.”
“It would be challenging for me to explain everything in detail, even if I wanted to, as it’s a matter of restraint,” chuckled the crimson merchant, looking at Kim Hyunwoo.
“…That’s quite disappointing.”
Seeing Kim Hyunwoo’s genuinely disappointed expression, the crimson merchant shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Don’t be too disappointed; there are still stories to tell.”
Saying so, she gazed at Kim Hyunwoo intently and continued, “But before I start the story, can I hear a bit more detailed account?”
“If it’s a detailed account.”
“Well… to be more specific, I’d like to hear a bit more about the moment you felt a contradiction in a peculiar way.”
Kim Hyunwoo nodded while slowly beginning to describe the moment when he felt emotionally contradictory.
After listening to his story for a while, the crimson merchant nodded a few times and then said, “Listening to the story, it seems to be true.”
“If that’s the case?”
“First and foremost, it’s perfectly natural for Lord Yeongju to feel a contradiction. It’s not strange at all.”
“…Not strange, you say?”
“Yes, because you, as you are now, are unable to properly entertain such thoughts due to the limits imposed on you.”
That was the story told to Kim Hyunwoo.
####
The Indigo Tower’s conference room.
Observing that nine out of the total ten chairs were occupied, the Second Division Commander, Beor Darkheart, glanced around and spoke.
“The content of this meeting is simple; there’s nothing more to discuss. We will select two division commanders to enter the intermediate realm immediately. Two individuals will be chosen.”
At Beor Darkheart’s words, a murmur rose in the conference room, and a question was promptly raised.
“Two individuals? Not one?”
The first to ask the question was Agares, who had returned from the intermediate realm on the previous mission.
Nodding in response to his question, she asked, “Yes, this time it’s not one, but two.”
“Could it be a partial incarnation, not a perfect one?”
“No, it’s a perfect incarnation.”
“…So, as a perfect incarnation, they can go to the Middle Realm with two at once?”
“Yes, honestly, I didn’t believe it, but thanks to Kelba’s enormous amount of offerings, it became possible.”
Inside the conference room, murmurs rose in response to Beor’s words.
“I’ll go.”
“I will! Me!!”
In an instant, they started clamoring to be the ones to go.
Of course, due to Ageres’s incident in the Middle Realm, the commanders were well aware of the presence of dangerous beings in the Middle Realm among them.
For the commanders, death in the Middle Realm meant a permanent loss of power.
However, the reason the commanders could raise their hands without hesitation was because this time, there were two commanders who could go down.
The difference between one commander going down and two commanders going down was a completely different matter from the start.
“This time, I’ll go down and neatly take care of those so-called great heroes that Ageres couldn’t handle, kill them all, and cleanly wipe out the Outer Realm too!”
“Stop blabbering, I’ll go! Once I release my plague, those guys will all die without me lifting a finger, both in the Outer Realm and in that place they established… Larthania, was it? I can easily wipe them out within a month.”
So, the commanders raised their hands to go down to the Middle Realm.
“Be careful with your words-“
As Beor frowned at the commanders who were speaking without restraint, about to intervene in the conversation.
“-!”
For a moment, everyone fell silent.
The 7th Division Commander, who had just vowed to kill the Outer Realm by raising his hand moments ago, shut his mouth.
The 9th Division Commander, who had just declared turning Larthania into a wasteland with his plague, started sweating coldly.
Clang-!
A metallic sound echoed.
Clang-!
The metallic sound, getting closer.
Clang-!
It rang out.
And finally, after the metallic sound ceased.
“Just now, say it again.”
Beor, unknowingly, let out a deep sigh, closed his eyes, and spoke.
It was because, where he was looking at now.
“What about Larthania?”
The Hero King, with chilling eyes, was staring at him.