Chapter 159: Incomplete Revival (3)
‘It’s strangely quiet.’
After investigating for several days,
I discovered something strange.
It’s quiet.
The main heroines are too quiet, even if they are quiet.
By now, there should be movements in the Holy Kingdom, the North, and Petersburg to capture me.
However, there is no special movement anywhere.
As if nothing had happened, the world just goes on peacefully and intact.
It’s a strange phenomenon considering that the main heroines have already put up a super-strong barrier on the dungeon.
They’re blocking my money supply and declaring war, and they’re just sitting still?
It’s an incomprehensible act.
‘Did I get it wrong?’
The curse on the dungeon may not be a declaration of war.
The possibility of that could not be ruled out.
Every time I enter, I get angry thinking about the chill that permeates my bones as if it’s going to freeze me to death, the venom filled with malice, and the malicious blessing.
But that may not have been their intention.
When I think about it that way, my mind opens up.
The number of possibilities increases.
‘Wasn’t it a curse aimed at me? Or Draken’s distortion? If not, then······.’
Of course, no amount of brainstorming will give me the right answer.
The most certain thing to do is to go directly to the main heroines and ask them······.
But that’s too risky.
I can’t ignore the possibility that they’ve set a trap.
‘I’m sorry, but I can’t fully trust them yet.’
I don’t want to doubt them either, but I can’t help it.
They also suspected me without evidence in previous rounds, so I guess it’s a draw.
So the place I should go now is not somewhere else, but Elvengard.
Currently, one of the strongest allies.
I need the advice of Mia, the priestess who controls the entire Elvengard.
‘Should I go to Basel before that?’
I have something to do with Taehan.
I need to make sure he’s okay.
Basel.
This city, which means the city of water.
Apart from the fact that the magic stone industry was developed, it was just a quiet tourist city.
It definitely was.
That city is now······.
“What is this?”
“······It’s magnificent.”
“I, is this Basel?”
It’s developing in an unrecognizable way.
Before, there was only one building that stood tall like a magic tower, but now there are four more such buildings.
Around those buildings, a dizzying cityscape unfolds.
“Are these all branches?”
According to the story I heard from the passersby, these are all buildings owned by Taehan’s workshop.
Since Taehan has a considerable stake in them, it’s safe to say that they’re all Taehan’s.
Taehan took special measures when the amount of work piled up so quickly that the speed at which it was cleared was slower than the speed at which it piled up.
He decided to take on disciples.
Until Taehan appeared, several of the top-notch magic stone craftsmen who had been hoarding money bowed their heads to Taehan and asked for his teachings.
Taehan selected his disciples after a rigorous examination and gave them harsh training.
In that way, four disciples were selected as Taehan’s assistant craftsmen in a month.
Each of them is in charge of a branch and is digesting the workload······.
‘Since the supply of magic stones is large and their usefulness has increased······. It must be very busy.’
Magical engineering is running at the cutting edge of technology in real time.
The mercenaries’ dungeon raids are more active than ever.
Even the highest-grade magic stones that have already been processed will have their efficiency increased by more than double if they pass through Taehan’s hands again, so it’s only natural that he’s suffering from a murderous workload for the time being.
‘It definitely wasn’t this much in the previous round······.’
In the previous round, Taehan awakened his talent late.
And the market was just starting to grow when the ending came.
I didn’t know that if I had awakened him earlier, it would have come back to me with such a butterfly effect.
Now, the income of Taehan’s workshop seems to be greater than the income of the entire Basel.
“What’s going on here?”
“I have someone to meet for a moment.”
“Do I know them too?”
“No. You don’t know them at all.”Kali, who was clinging to me and whispering.
The changed scenery of Basel seemed very unfamiliar.
However, there were some things that were the same as before.
“······Water?!”
“Hey, hey, hey. Don’t pull my ears. It hurts.”
Periodically, water would surge up, causing Miso to have a seizure and jump on my head.
This is a characteristic of the blood ghost race, so it will never be cured······.
In the end, Miso shivered and got on my back.
For some reason, Kali walked beside me and glanced at Miso with a slightly envious look.
I guess my legs hurt a lot from walking for a long time.
We soon arrived at the main headquarters of the workshop.
“Hello. How can I help you······ Ah! Please come this way.”
The employee’s attitude changed as soon as he saw the black magic stone.
Then he led us to the VIP waiting room.
A sword that has become obsolete since the advent of magic swords.
The black magic stone that was removed from that sword is now used as a nameplate to prove my identity.
“Do you know the craftsmen here?”
“No. I know the manager here.”
“Ah······. Are you using a professional manager?”
“Not a professional. He’s just the one who created this workshop, so he’s involved in the management.”
“······?”
Kali made a strange expression.
It seemed that she didn’t understand easily.
That’s understandable.
The size of this workshop did not increase because of investment.
It was purely built with Tay’s funds and the workshop was expanded.
But is there enough money to open four branches?
I was a little curious.
“If you let me know that you are Kali-“
“I know. I know. I won’t reveal my identity unless you allow it, because I don’t know where their spies are hiding. I’ll pretend to be an orphan you picked up. I remember everything.”
“Okay. Then······.”
At that moment.
The elevator door opened and a girl with copper-colored skin popped out.
Tay, who always looked healthy.
“Investor······!”
“Yes. Nice to meet you. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here······. What’s changed a lot.”
“hehehe! Right! The workshop has gotten so much bigger!”
“I see······.”
It seems that it’s not just the workshop that has gotten bigger.
Tay, whom I met again after a long time, had grown much bigger than I remembered.
She was already taller than Miso.
Her body shape had also lost its childishness.
I felt it clearly thanks to the sensation of hugging her.
Of course, she’s still just a kid.
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“What’s the matter? Should I guess? I don’t think it’s because of the magic stone. You haven’t come to entrust the processing of the magic stone lately······.”
“It’s because of the magic stone.”
“What? Really?!”
“I think I’ll entrust you with an important magic stone soon. So please don’t go on vacation or leave the workshop empty.”
“Of course. Even if you didn’t tell me that, I wouldn’t go anywhere.”
Tay said confidently.
When I glanced at Kali, she tilted her head.
An important magic stone.
One will be born soon.
Kali probably can’t even imagine what it is······.
“But who is this child?”
“A child! Who’s looking at whom······!”
“Wasn’t she a human? Is she a long-lived species?”
“We, well, yes······.”
Kali, who had shouted out loud, subsided when I warned her with my eyes.
It seems that she hasn’t forgotten my request.
Seeing her faithfully following my instructions, it seems that she won’t go around telling people that she is Kali.
“······Just an orphan.”
“Aha.”
Tay nodded without asking any more questions in response to Miso’s answer.
It seemed that she thought it was a bit uncomfortable to ask for details.
But something about Kali’s scent is strange.
When Miso looked at her, she immediately lowered her eyes, as if she was afraid of Miso.
Did something happen to her without me knowing?
“But what happened? Why did you suddenly increase the number of branches so much?””We’ve received a huge order. It seems like it’ll be difficult to handle within the contract period with just the main office, so we received investment funds and expanded our scale.”
“Investment funds? Who invested?”
“The one who placed the order. The order was placed by the Petersburg Foundation, and whether they’re preparing for war or not, they need to process over 3,000 of the highest-grade magic stones.”
“······.”
Petersburg Foundation.
It’s a foundation established by the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce, but it’s a well-known fact that Julia is in charge of its actual operation.
Why does Julia need so many top-grade magic stones?
“Can I see the order details?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. It seems difficult to disclose the contract details, even if you’re an investor. However, I think it’s possible to give you a brief explanation. Can you lean in here?”
“······?”
As I tilted my head, Tay brought his hand to my ear.
Then, Tay whispered quietly.
“The output required for each magic stone is different. When I put them all together, they were forming a certain pattern.”
“······!”
A vague explanation.
But with this, I realized.
I got a hint from Tay’s words.
Julia doesn’t want to start a war.
I had almost forgotten, but Julia is a capable magic engineer.
And when it comes to anything related to magic, she has the talent to incorporate it into magic engineering.
The place where Julia got her idea this time is none other than the otherworld and the dungeons.
Dungeon cores form a network that interacts with each other and exchanges energy.
Julia must be trying to reproduce that network with magic stones.
A system that allows you to place magic stones all over the world and simultaneously issue commands and receive reports in real time.
If this is completed.
Julia will have information power that surpasses all intelligence agencies.
Is that all?
If she wants to use it in war, she can do it as much as she wants.
Maybe this will give Julia omnipotent power.
“Hey, don’t tell anyone I told you this, okay?”
“Yes, of course. Thank you.”
I got valuable information.
That Julia is trying to build a large network.
And the purpose of that is probably······.
To find me.
Suddenly, my whole body gets goosebumps.
I feel like tearing up the contract right now.
But I’ve already received investment and started working on building four branches, so breaking the deal means making Tay go bankrupt.
I can’t do that.
This is something I have to solve by facing Julia someday.
After coming to that conclusion, I was about to leave the workshop.
Kali showed interest in one of the rings hanging on the wall.
“What’s wrong?”
“The ring is pretty······.”
“Oh, that. You can take one. I heard it’s made from the failed ones among the top-grade magic stones, so it’s not worth much.”
“······.”
I’m speechless.
Even this magic stone is already quite efficient.
At the beginning of the game, this was considered a high-end magic stone.
But now, magic stone processing technology has advanced so much that it’s already considered ‘trash’.
I think I now know what kind of monster I’ve raised.
Kali takes the ring and leaves.
We decided to head to our next destination.
To make the ‘important magic stone’ I mentioned earlier.
There is only one material to make it.
Kali’s soul.
.
.
.
-Kali!!!-
Whoa!
A spirit body tore through space and screamed wildly.
At that scream, the ghosts and spirits that had been wandering around the area disappeared all at once.
I definitely felt Kali’s energy somewhere here.
The wavelength of Kali’s soul!
It meant that Kali was somewhere nearby.
-If only I had Kali’s soul! If only I had her soul! If only I could get her soul back······!-
Luna quickly began searching, rummaging through various places.
If she had Kali’s soul, she could be revived at any time.
Creating a suitable body for Kali was nothing to Luna.
That was ‘complete resurrection’.
-Where are you, Kali! Where are youuu!!!-But no matter where she looked, Carly was nowhere to be found.
There were certainly traces of Carly’s soul left behind.
As if she had disappeared somewhere along the way, her traces had vanished cleanly.
-aaah!!!-
Then, at one moment.
Luna’s spirit body discovered an unforgettable face.
The hateful man.
The one who had coaxed Sola into killing Carly and ruined Luna’s plan.
Luna, who had been following him with resentment, noticed a girl with a strangely familiar appearance next to him.
After confirming that face.
Luna’s spirit body stopped in mid-air.
It was Carly.
It was definitely Carly’s young appearance.
Carly was holding the man’s arm.
She was walking close to him, leaning on him as if she deeply trusted and relied on him.
At that sight, Luna’s mind collapsed once.
-What, what did you do to my Carlyyyy!!!-
Luna belatedly chased after the three people.
But she was blocked by the barrier surrounding the building and had to bounce back.
It was a barrier that blocked spirits.
Luna had no choice but to wait, sucking her finger.
After a while, the main gate opened and the three people reappeared.
-aaah!!!-
And Carly, who reappeared, had a cheerful face and was arm in arm with the man.
She was trying on a ring on her hand.
At this, Luna’s mind completely collapsed.
-I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!!!-
Luna’s spirit body’s swinging fist passed through the man powerlessly.
Luna got (not)cucked
Ahahahahaha… How fun!!!