Tigol fortress book 6 of.., p.1
Tigol Fortress: Book 6 of The Second Coming of Gluttony, page 1
Tigol Fortress
The Second Coming of Gluttony | Book 6
Ro Yu-jin
Translated by
Minjae Kwon
Wuxiaworld Limited
Copyright © 2021 by Wuxiaworld Limited
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from Wuxiaworld Limited, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
1. The Prodigal Son
2. Guidance
3. Going Round and Round
4. Preparations
5. The Eve
6. A Tiger Father Does Not Beget a Dog Son
7. Simultaneous Outbreak of War
8. Immediate Battle
9. Awakening, the Last Stand
10. Promise
11. The Twisting Gears
12. Freeze, World!
13. Counterattack
14. Comeback
15. The Queen Descends
Acknowledgments
1
The Prodigal Son
That night, Seol Jihu had a dream. He wasn’t summoned by Roselle but was having a real dream. The young Seol Jihu and Yoo Seonhwa were bickering with each other, and Seol Jihu could also see his mother and Aunty Yoo.
“Hurry up, Jihu,” the young Yoo Seonhwa urged.
Seol Jihu pouted in response. “But Hyung and I are going to play video games without Mom knowing…”
Yoo Seonhwa shook her head. “No, you can’t. Aunty told you to go to bed. Let’s go to sleep together.”
Still looking at her with wavering eyes, Seol Jihu said softly, “But I want to sleep with Hyung… Do I have to sleep with you?”
“Yes, you definitely have to.”
When the young girl gave such a firm response, the boy simply asked, “Why?”
“Because—my parents sleep in the same room every night. Your mom and dad do the same, right?”
When Yoo Seonhwa asked, the young boy nodded.
“Yeah!” Looking at him, she explained, “That’s why. Think about it. My dad and your dad are biologically male, and my mom and your mom are biologically female.”
“Right.” Little Seol Jihu nodded just then.
After a while, Yoo Seonhwa added, “And you’re male and I’m female.”
“Hmm?”
Looking at his young earnest face, the young girl then said, “That’s why we need to sleep together.”
The young Seol Jihu tilted his head. It must not have made sense, no matter how hard he thought about it. He turned his head and looked for his mom.
Seol Jihu’s mom was looking at the two children with a pleased expression. “Mom.” Seol Jihu called out to his mother.
“Yes, Jihu?”
When she met his questioning eyes, she nodded with a kind smile. Then, he said, “Seonhwa told me—”
“Yes, what Seonhwa said is completely true.”
At that response, Yoo Seonhwa’s Mom was shocked. “...?! J-Jihu’s mom?”
But it was too late, the young Seol Jihu asked again in surprise, “Really?”
“Yes, of course.” Seol Jihu’s mom nodded.
The young boy seemed to understand. “Aha.”
Looking at him, his mother urged, “Got it? Okay, so go and catch some Zs with Seonhwa.”
“Okay.” Just like that, the obedient young Seol Jihu was dragged to the bedroom by Yoo Seonhwa.
As the two children held each other’s hands and laid down on the bed, Jihu’s mom giggled quietly. Yoo Seonhwa’s mom laughed while looking a bit uneasy. “What trouble. I’m sorry, Jihu’s mom.”
“Sorry about what?”
Yoo Seonhwa’s mom replied, “I always tell her not to do that, but Seonhwa just won’t back down when it comes to Jihu.”
Seol Jihu’s mom raised an eyebrow, while her eyes twinkled in sheer delight. “Oh my, she likes him that much?”
“Yes! Last time, she even asked if I was interested in Jihu and how someone with a family could do something like that. Really, I don’t know where she learned those things.” Yoo Seonhwa’s mom shook her head helplessly.
“Oh my, oh my!” Seol Jihu’s mom laughed out loud while clapping her hands. “Jeez, Seonhwa’s just so adorable!”
“Adorable? I’m worried. What if Jihu develops bad habits because of her?”
Seol Jihu’s mom giggled. “Eiii, don’t worry so much. Seonhwa can just live with him forever.”
Seol Jihu’s mom waved saying that it was okay, but Yoo Seonhwa’s mom looked at Jihu worriedly as Yoo Seonhwa sang a lullaby for him. “But still…”
On the other hand, the adult Seol Jihu dreaming of the past smiled in joy. Of course, when he woke up, he forgot the dream completely. However, he thought it was weird seeing Eun Yuri apologizing to him, saying how she misunderstood him on her own and how she didn’t know his circumstances before.
The three-month period came to an end. Today was the day the Neutral Zone would end. During the completion ceremony, it was customary for the head manager to congratulate the graduates and wish them good luck.
However, Seol Jihu took after Cinzia and decided to end the ceremony in a minute. He even left the speech in Kim Hannah’s care.
Kim Hannah grumbled, “Why don’t you just open the door and tell the graduates to go off on their own?” She even added, “If you’re too lazy, just say it. You’re making me do this because you don’t want to.”
However, the graduates didn’t mind it all that much. The Paradise they had been looking forward to entering was right in front of them, so it would feel strange if boring formalities entered their ears.
And just like that, the completion ceremony safely ended at breakneck speed. Seol Jihu was satisfied that there weren’t any complaints like, “Ah, fuck, why is it so goddamn long? When is it ending?”
The manager and instructors sent out all the graduates other than Eun Yuri, and then left the Neutral Zone after cleaning up the area they were in charge of.
The other organizations must have finished signing contracts with the newbies and brought them away as it was rather empty outside. The only ones they could see were the Earthlings who invited Park Woori and Yoo Yeolmu, Kim Hannah negotiating with them, and the coachmen who came to pick up Valhalla as per the contract between them.
Seol Jihu saw Eun Yuri looking left and right without rest, and made her take a seat before taking out a contract. By the time he finished signing a 4-year contract with her, Kim Hannah came back with Park Woori and Yoo Yeolmu.
“Thank you! We’ll work hard to meet your expectations!” Park Woori smiled.
Meanwhile, Yoo Yeolmu bowed slightly. “Please take care of us.”
Seol Jihu spoke while looking at the two men greeting Valhalla’s members, “That was quicker than I thought.”
“The organizations behind them were both enemies with Scheherazade,” Kim Hannah revealed.
Seol Jihu asked, “Weren’t they suspicious? It wouldn’t be strange for them to think, ‘Why do they want them?’”
“I just gave a few believable excuses. Well, I guess they aren’t excuses since they’re true. I just said, ‘Our precious Magician wants to continue teaming up with the two of them. So I’m just throwing the idea out there~’ Then once I made the two open their Status Windows, it was easy sailing.”
Although Kim Hannah still had to put out gold in exchange for them, the amount was a drop in the bucket compared to the time Carpe Diem recruited the Yi siblings.
Once the matter was over with, Valhalla’s members hopped on the carriage ride back to Eva. The moment the carriage started moving and the clitter-clatter of the wheels rang out, Eun Yuri’s eyes lit up. Inside the full carriage and the clamorous atmosphere, everyone smiled in satisfaction.
Seol Jihu smiled satisfactorily as well. The grains of sand in the wilderness they were passing by looked like contribution points that had been recovered to a good amount.
He gently stroked the bag holding the VIP store’s items and stealthily snuggled up to Seo Yuhui’s side. Feeling her hand gently patting the back of his hand, he closed his eyes. He felt calm and relaxed for the first time in a while.
That night, the carriage stopped at an appropriate place to set up camp. Even though they were in a safe zone, there was no guarantee that there wouldn’t be trouble. By the time dinner ended, Seol Jihu called out the 2-person night watch teams he came up with.
Listening quietly, Hugo raised an objection. “Seol, why are you and Lady Seo Yuhui in the same group? And in the middle of the night, to boot.”
“Is there a reason we can’t be?” Seol Jihu asked.
Hugo narrowed his eyes. “Don’t try to fool my eyes. Do you think I can’t see through your lecherous thoughts?”
“Lecherous thoughts? Noona would misunderstand if she heard.” Seol Jihu frowned.
Hugo smirked, “Fine, you might be innocent. I trust you. So you gotta change the group for my trust.”
“What kind of logic is that?”
“Sigh, who’s the one with lecherous thoughts here? Hey, hey, just change the group. You can be on night watch with me.” Walking by, Chohong clicked her tongue and offered apathetically.
However, Seol Jihu couldn’t let that happen. After all, he had waited so long for this day.
However, Hugo was unrelenting. He threw a tantrum, saying he wanted to keep a night watch with Seo Yuhui at least once. Only when Seol Jihu threatened with his authority as the representative did Hugo lower his tail. It was because Jang Maldong, who hated disregard for authority, stood up with his cane in hand.
“This is unfair. Just you wait. You think I’ll stop here?” Hugo gritted his teeth and ran off. He raced to Seo Yuhui, who was opening her sleeping bag, then told her that “Seol Jihu was scheming to be on night watch duty with her.”
However, Hugo’s expression immediately turned sour as Seo Yuhui rejoiced instead. “Oh my, is that true?” She giggled with the back of her hand over her mouth before leaving the tent. Smiling joyfully, she looked at the restless rabbit as if he was adorable.
Seol Jihu let out a dry cough and turned away. Feeling the strange, hot air flowing between the two, the emotion on Hugo’s face quickly vanished. Phi Sora placed her hand on the petrified Hugo’s shoulder and shook her head silently.
Having succeeded in getting rid of the obstacle, Seol Jihu took out the item from the bag and left the tent as soon as his night watch shift arrived.
Seo Yuhui was already outside. The way she was reading a book by the campfire looked like a scene out of a painting, grabbing Seol Jihu’s attention before he noticed. If Seo Yuhui didn’t notice his presence and gesture to him to come closer by tapping on the seat next to her, he would have spent the entire night staring at her.
“Noona.” Taking a seat right away, Seol Jihu cleared his throat and called her name. Seo Yuhui held in the laughter that was constantly trying to burst out. Seol Jihu was probably trying hard to reveal it, but even the way he was staring at her was mellow. He revealed, “I have something to give you.”
“Hmm? What does our little prankster have for me?” Perhaps finding Seol Jihu setting the mood adorable, Seo Yuhui giggled while lightly pinching his cheek. However, as soon as Seol Jihu took out the item from his pocket, her smile vanished.
In Seol Jihu’s hand was a beautiful sculpture of a goddess that was about 20 centimeters tall. Although it looked like a simple souvenir on the surface, Seo Yuhui could clearly feel the immense, sublime divine power it held.
Even the Daughter of Luxuria, who traveled all around Paradise in her early days and experienced all sorts of mystical things, was surprised by the amount. Seo Yuhui could not say anything for a while. In fact, she did not even move.
Seol Jihu must have liked that reaction as he grinned. “It’s Moirai’s Souvenir.” He continued bashfully, “You said so before, didn’t you? That you would be able to recover if you had Moirai’s Souvenir. That’s why…”
Barely managing to snap out of her stupor, Seo Yuhui spat out the breath she had been holding in. She shook her head vigorously.
After all, calling Moirai’s Souvenir an extraordinary item would be an understatement. Only one of it existed in all of Paradise, and bringing it to a temple and offering it to a god could net the giver a tremendous, almost frightening amount of contribution points.
Seo Yuhui knew where Seol Jihu was coming from, but she couldn’t use the item this way. “Jihu.”
“No.” Seol Jihu took the initiative, guessing she was trying to reject it. He must have known what Seo Yuhui would say as he forced the item into her hands and wrapped her hand around it.
Seo Yuhui could feel the back of her hand heat up, so much so that she worried it might get burnt.
“This is yours. No matter what,” Seol Jihu said firmly.
Seo Yuhui tried to protest, “Listen to me.”
“No, I won’t.” Seol Jihu stared straight at Seo Yuhui, his nose practically touching hers in close distance. “If you really don’t want it, I’ll take it back. But no one will be using it, including me.”
He even gave a chilling threat. However, Seo Yuhui knew that these weren’t his true feelings. He was simply expressing them so he would make her take it no matter what.
Seo Yuhui sighed. If Seol Jihu used it, he could aim to become a Unique Ranker. At the very least, he would be able to instantly raise Eun Yuri’s battle power to a level that was usable against the Parasites.
But setting aside all these uses, he was trying to give the souvenir to her. In truth, it couldn’t be called inefficient even if Seo Yuhui used it. After all, Valhalla would end up with a Level 8 Priest. However, she was hesitant because she felt uncomfortable taking such a precious object.
“Noona, this trip to the Neutral Zone was all for this. I used a gold stamp to invite Miss Eun Yuri just to obtain Moirai’s Souvenir,” Seol Jihu revealed.
Seo Yuhui’s eyes widened. Until now, she thought it was for Eun Yuri, but he just denied it. “Just because of me?”
“Just because?” Seol Jihu shook his head. “I haven’t slept peacefully since you sacrificed yourself for me. It always felt like there was a huge boulder on my chest that I just couldn’t shrug off.”
It was a bit funny to say that he couldn’t live with debt, but Seol Jihu’s disposition changed to the Golden Rule after entering Paradise. But if somebody asked if he was giving the Moirai’s Souvenir to repay his debt, then he would have to tilt his head.
Seol Jihu didn’t know why. No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t figure it out. Although he couldn’t put his tongue around it, there was something he couldn’t forget. Just like Teresa Hussey, he felt a strong attraction when he first saw Seo Yuhui. That emotion and attraction was making him do this. It was telling him to give her Moirai’s Souvenir, that he had to protect her.
Seol Jihu loosened his grip. Slowly taking his hand off, he spoke with a burning gaze, “I want you to take it.” A short sentence escaped his mouth, but this simple sentence carried many indescribable emotions condensed in it.
Seo Yuhui slowly closed her eyes. After careful consideration, she slowly stroked the stone statue. “…Can I really use this?”
“You better. Otherwise, I’m going to cling to you and bother you until you do.”
Seo Yuhui’s determination wavered. That didn’t sound all that bad. Seo Yuhui opened her eyes. With a somewhat dreamy expression and a pair of hazy eyes, she stared at the young man in front of her. “…Jihu.”
Seol Jihu’s breath stopped just as he was about to reply. It was because Seo Yuhui had abruptly embraced him. She murmured, “Poor baby. How regrettable. You’re so kind and thoughtful… Just why…”
Seol Jihu looked up furtively within Seo Yuhui’s warm embrace. Under the night sky scintillating with stars, her face truly looked holy as it reflected the starlight. Moreover, the affectionate gaze with which she was looking at him was hot enough to melt almost anything.
Nearing her face even more, Seo Yuhui whispered into his ears, “Jihu.”
Gulp. The sound of Seol Jihu swallowing his saliva rang out loudly. His face and the back of his neck were itching.
“Our Jihu—” A whisper mixed with the sound of breathing brushed Seol Jihu’s ears. He subconsciously closed his eyes. He might be mistaken, but it seemed like the sound of breathing was getting closer. As a delicate fragrance flowed down and melted onto his tongue…
“Oppa.” Seol Jihu’s eyes shot open just then. The pair both turned at the same time. Eun Yuri was walking out of the tent while rubbing her eyes. “I just had a dream.” She randomly brought up her dream.
Yawning until her mouth was almost split open, Eun Yuri said apathetically, “The Queen is asking when you’re coming.”
“The Queen?” Seol Jihu asked.
Eun Yuri clarified, “I mean Charlotte Aria-nim. She wants you back quickly.”
“Ah.” Seol Jihu understood instantly. Eun Yuri must have talked to her in Roselle’s dream world. Then he asked, “Why?”
“I’m not sure. But Teacher sent her back in a hurry, saying that someone was trying to wake her up. Anyway, she sounded pretty urgent…” It was only then that Eun Yuri saw Seol Jihu in Seo Yuhui’s arms. She immediately raised her eyebrows.
The pair slowly separated. Seo Yuhui let out a slight cough before picking up her book upside down and fixing her eyes on it. Perhaps because of the campfire, her cheeks were flushed red.
