Chapter 136 – Chapter 24: Torrent #2
The vacancy left by Felicia was rather large. Since the beginning, Felicia had been the atmosphere maker in In-gong’s groups, and now, she had left.
When Felicia left, Delia naturally went with her, while Caitlin and Seira had accompanied Felicia to Takar. Four people had suddenly gone away.
The first day after the four people left, the fourth base was pretty dull. However, the loneliness doubled on the second day. On the third day, In-gong felt Felicia’s importance.
‘I relied on her more than I thought.’
It was a spiritual, rather than material, dependence. He had never imagined their relationship would become this deep when he first encountered her at the Red Lightning tribe.
Looking back now, he was fortunate to meet Felicia.
In-gong had won up to now, but when he looked closely, there were several crises which had almost killed him several times. He had been on the verge of death from one strike in the battle against the barbarian king.
Since he had been brought into this world, he had been struggling repeatedly. In the meantime, he had been able to maintain his sanity thanks to having many good people around him. Thanks to them, he had been encouraged to fight and set his own goals.
If there had been no one around, the result would be quite different even with the power of Protagonist Correction and Conquest. Maybe he would have already lost his life.
“Why are you so despondent?”
Carack asked as he approached In-gong. In-gong watched Carack with moist eyes and said,
“No, I was just thinking that Carack is valuable. Don’t leave my side. We will always be together, right?”
He stood on tiptoe to touch Carack’s shoulder, only for Carack to move back in surprise.
“Why, are you drunk?”
“Hey, this is between us.”
In-gong looked up with moist eyes and winked. Then Carack suddenly puffed out and said with a determined face,
“Hu, if it is an order then it can’t be helped. And well, towards Prince, I too…”
Carack winked slightly. In-gong was startled and jumped back. He covered his upper body, which was naked due to training, with both his hands.
“S-stay away. You! This is somewhat questionable.”
Carack seemed unaware of Delia, Seira, Daphne and Karma, so maybe he had some dangerous tastes.
Carack chuckled at In-gong’s disgust.
“A joke, a joke. And don’t worry. I will always be loyal until I am a corpse. I will be with you until the end.”
Carack declared and raised his fist. They weren’t empty words, so In-gong understood Carack’s mindset. Carack had already proved his sincerity when they faced the Apostle of Death at Thunderdoom Fortress. Despite the fact that death had been in front of him, Carack said he had enjoyed it instead of expressing any grudges or fear. It was clearly something not just anyone could do.
“Rather, what are you doing alone?”
Carack interrupted while In-gong was in a sea of appreciation. In-gong shrugged and replied,
“Well, I was training. It isn’t my usual training.”
It was truly like In-gong said. He had spent most of the day grinding his experience. In-gong normally practiced reading and writing dwarf and dragon characters before going to sleep.
‘But it is interesting.’
The performance of this training was immediately visible. Moreover, there was a need for repetitive training. The skill itself was very easy to learn, but the skill level was always at one. Repetition was necessary to make it usable.
In-gong had been practicing mixing aura and magic power together. Carack made a tired expression.
“Ah, this person is truly determined, truly. Prince is destined to become stronger, but Prince is already very strong. It is the first time in my life that I’ve seen someone train like Prince.”
It wasn’t a joke. Even if someone else had gotten all the artifacts, they wouldn’t be as strong as In-gong was today.
While Carack was thinking this, In-gong looked at his arms. Something had flashed in his mind.
“Prince?”
Rather than answering Carack’s call, In-gong sharpened his aura like a blade, and his arm became bloody. Carack’s eyes widened as he saw In-gong lick the blood flowing along his arm.
“Ah, delicious. It is really delicious.”
Carack stepped back as In-gong laughed. It was a big exaggerated, but the green skin had turned pale.
“Prince, my eyes have been opened. Somehow, you laugh every time you face death.”
“Stop talking nonsense and try it once.”
In-gong took a wine glass from his inventory and poured in some blood for Carack. Carack grimaced, but he soon drank the blood and his eyes widened from surprise.
“What on earth is going on?”
It was really tasty. It didn’t have the salty taste of blood, but was somewhat sweet. Moreover, the fragrance was incredibly good.
In-gong healed his wound with recovery magic.
“There is a story about the gandharva being a fragrant species. Yesterday, I accidentally ate some of my sweat while practicing magic yesterday… No, it wasn’t a sweaty taste and instead gave off a sweet taste. So, I melted the magic power in my blood. The result is what you tasted.”
Carack blinked with a stunned face at In-gong’s words. He didn’t understand.
In-gong continued to speak,
“My other bodily fluids, which contain magic power, are sweet… The easiest liquid to dissolve is magic power since that is the essence of life.”
“Uh, then everything from Prince’s body is delicious?”
Not just blood, but saliva and sweat as well?
In-gong nodded at Carack’s question.
“Yes, but I have to melt down the magic power. It isn’t inherently like this, but I think it is pretty good. It might be because my magic power has become stronger due to the dragon heart.”
The blood of the gandharva wasn’t sweet. The gandharva, who could produce blood like In-gong, were rare in the Demon World.
“Now, you will never have to go hungry.”
In-gong nodded again at Carack’s words.
“Yes, so please look after me well. Take care of me until I am old.”
“I believe only in Prince.”
Carack smiled and handed the glass back to In-gong. He hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth carefully,
“Prince, that… someday. Are you going to visit the gandharva?”
In-gong’s mother’s side was the gandharva.
According to Carack’s investigation, the gandarva were being punished as a whole. All the gandharva, adults and children, with the exception of In-gong, were confined in a gandharva holy land within the Demon World.
Carack had failed to figure out the sin the gandharvas were guilty of, however, the species had been imprisoned for more than a decade. So, it wasn’t a small sin. However, it was likely to not be a sin which couldn’t be forgiven. Otherwise, the official children of the demon king would be eight people, not nine.
In-gong didn’t have sentimental feelings toward the gandharva. It was also true for In-gong’s mother. He had no relationship with them like what he had with Felicia and Caitlin. However, still, he did feel something. Was it due to In-gong becoming Shutra, or due to a resonance with his mother’s side?
In-gong gave a long sigh and replied,
“Perhaps. It would be best if I could obtain amnesty for them.”
Chris and 4th Queen Elaine had talked about the possibility of the gandharva being pardoned. If the two people said so, then it was highly likely it could happen.
“It won’t be easy.”
“Well, it isn’t impossible. I just have to build up my merits steadily.”
In-gong smiled widely, and Carack clenched his fists.
“Have strength.”
“Yes.”
After sharing a smile, In-gong felt awkward and moved his gaze away. He looked out the window where it was snowing.
“The year is almost over.”
Carack said with a warm expression. The Demon World was wide, so snow didn’t signify the end of the year. However, it was clear that the year was almost ending. Now, there was only a month until Year 513 would begin.
Year 513, this was when Knight Saga began.
In-gong looked toward the south.
What was Locke doing now? Was he studying to become a priest at the temple?
Locke had started his activities in the summer of Year 514. That was still more than a year away.
In-gong turned his attention back to the window. The snow was piling up.
&
As soon as she stepped out of the transportation formation tower, Felicia saw Silvan.
Silvan narrowed the distance to Felicia while spreading his arms and cried out,
“Felicia! Come into Oppa’s arms. Won’t you give me your sweet scent?”
Silvan spoke with moist eyes. The prince of the dark elves had a very handsome face, and his voice was sweet.
However, for Felicia, his voice was just creepy. Felicia quickly pushed Silvan away with her arms.
“Ah, come on!”
She felt like she was going to die of embarrassment every time she saw him. Didn’t he care about the eyes around them?
Felicia gasped with a blushing face while Sepira, Silvan’s aide, spoke with a gentle smile.
“It is okay, Your Highness. The only ones around right now are crew members of the Black Flame Dragon. Everyone is familiar with him.”
“Is it really okay? And don’t get used to this!”
Felicia shouted, but everyone just laughed. Of course, some of them were staring at her with pitiful expressions.
Felicia took a deep breath and covered her face with a fan. She fanned herself a few times before asking Silvan,
“Well, what did you find?”
Instead of answering the question, Silvan’s shoulders sagged, and he made a sad expression. Before the puppy eyes, Felicia sighed eventually.
“Ah, really. I understand. Come over here.”
She gestured for Silvan to approach. Felicia hugged Silvan lightly, and he gave her a bright smile.
“Are you healthy?”
“I’m in good health. There were few risky incidents.”
Despite the situation with the barbarians, Felicia was rarely on the front lines. This was because in almost all the battles, she had fainted due to the use of the recovery magic.
“How has Silvan been?”
As Felicia asked with interest, Silvan laughed and pulled out the sword Amita made him.
“Huhu, there were a few powerful creatures, but none of them were my match. The sword which contains Amita’s skill and Felicia’s love…”
“Silence.”
Felicia closed Silvan’s mouth with silencing magic and turned to Sepira.
“Sepira?”
“There were many small battles but no major dangers. Princess seems to have gained a big merit this time. You stopped the barbarians?”
“Well, I didn’t do it alone. Shutra has the biggest merit.”
Felicias said with embarrassment while covering her face with a fan. Sepira looked very satisfied with Felicia’s reaction, which was very different from Silvan’s.
“Your Highness, we managed to find the site of a ruin. It is a ruin that I have seen for the first time. The strong scent of magic power could be felt at the entrance.”
“The scent of magic power?”
“Moreover, the characters found at the entrance are quite impressive. Maybe those characters… they might be the same as the ones found in Kaltein’s lair under Sun Lake.”
Sepira had accompanied In-gong’s party at that time, so it was a credible story.
“Indeed, you were right to call me, especially if there are unknown characters.”
Felicia’s eyes started to burn with passion as she heard the words. Then Silvan, who released the silencing magic, once again spread his arms wide open.
“Now, Felicia. Won’t you run off to a world of adventure with Oppa?”
“I’ll walk without running.”
Felicia answered bluntly, and Silvan laughed. He looked at the crew members in the vicinity and shouted,
“Now, let’s depart! Lift up the anchor and spread the sails!”
Silvan and the crew members ran toward the Black Flame Dragon. Felicia laughed as she saw their backs, and she moved forward slowly.