Chapter 141 – LV.Nine Priest Seo Rayeon – [Two]

Seo Yun decided against trying to persuade her that if she became the Goddess of Beauty, she could be celebrated not just in a tiny village but across the entire world. She probably already knew that much. Seo Yun guessed that no matter how much more praise she might receive, she likely didn’t want to abandon and leave behind this magnificent body of hers.

A moment later, the plate was empty. Seo Yun savored the feeling of fullness she hadn’t experienced in a long time and spoke.

“The cake was delicious. Actually, I have something to deliver to you, though it’s not a gift.”

“Something to deliver?”

“It’s from the Troll.”

When Seo Yun held out a crystal orb, Seo Rayeon took it.

“What’s this?”

“A video projector, roughly a magical item for delivering messages. The Troll said it had something to tell you?”

At Seo Yun’s words, Seo Rayeon grimaced with disgust.

“It’s not some threatening letter saying it’ll kill me if I don’t become a Goddess, is it?”

“Probably not.”

“Then?”

“I’m not really sure either. Why don’t you see for yourself?”

“Hmm… I’ll watch it later. Hearing that choppy voice is mentally exhausting. But how has the Troll been lately? I haven’t seen it since I borrowed some stuff last time…”

“It Ascended.”

“Ascended? It’s no longer in this Mortal Realm?”

“Right. It left on its own.”

As she said this, Seo Yun glanced at Gaeulbi’s expression, but there was little change. Compared to her aunt’s situation, perhaps whatever happened to the Troll wasn’t that shocking? She merely twitched an eyebrow.

So, the only one thrilled by the news was Seo Rayeon.

“Really? Then I really don’t have to become a Goddess now!”

“Aren’t you a bit too happy? I hesitated to tell you this news because I thought you might react like this…”

At Seo Yun’s criticism, Seo Rayeon shamelessly shrugged her shoulders.

“What’s the big deal, Unni? Promises with the Troll or whatever, I’m busy taking care of this village. How would the people here survive if I left? Before I came, this village was on the verge of collective freezing and starvation. I’m this village’s savior and Leader, Unni.”

Seo Yun sighed.

“Alright, fine. I’ll relay our village’s official business to you, our esteemed Leader.”

“What official business?”

“Mister Haengun made a request. He asked if your village could help if the Centaurs invade again. Is that possible?”

Was the fact that the Troll had left this world so delightful? Seo Rayeon grinned broadly without any attempt at negotiation.

“Sure, I’ll help.”

“Just like that?”

“Well, if I risk my life to help in a crisis, they probably won’t treat me shabbily. They’ll likely offer rewards like sharing summer hunting grounds, giving some seed potatoes, or properly supporting the village’s Farming, right? Ideally, it’d be good if they could put in writing what they can offer…”

Listening to Seo Rayeon’s subsequent demands, Seo Yun blinked.

Seo Rayeon was demanding support for this village as compensation for her participation in the war. Seo Yun was surprised that she was prioritizing the village to the extent of participating in a war, and not just paying lip service.

She’s really acting like a Leader. Who on earth did she take after?

A Doppelganger’s transformation is incomplete, resulting in degraded abilities compared to the original. That original must have been remarkably wise and virtuous, that much was certain.

“Alright, take care, Unni!”

After finishing various tasks, Seo Yun loaded her two teammates into the truck and left the village. On the return journey, people from the neighboring village came out again, sending them off with enthusiastic shouts, and the truck quickly returned to Happy Village.

However, they couldn’t enter Happy Village. The gate was firmly shut, and a group of people was staging a sit-in in front of it.

For a moment, she wondered if the Centaurs had invaded again, but that wasn’t it.

“Open the gate!” “Come out quickly!”

Gathered in front of Happy Village’s gate were what seemed to be Refugees. People who had fled from somewhere, not even properly carrying bundles.

“You not coming out, you bastards!”

They were shouting, demanding to be let into Happy Village. Their demeanor was truly menacing. The two Gargoyle Stone Statues in front of the gate seemed to deter them from attempting to break the gate or cause any other mischief, but still.

And then their gaze fell on this truck.

“What’s that? Looks like they were trying to get in here…” “Grab them!”

People swarmed towards the truck, and Seo Yun tried to drive away, but the Refugees were faster. A bang sounded, and the truck tilted. Had a tire been shot?

Seo Yun cast various Spells on herself and her two teammates, then got out of the truck. She asked the people surrounding her.

“What’s going on?”

The gazes of the people gathered here focused on her face. They seemed to glance at her appearance briefly, but the atmosphere wasn’t really suitable for appraising looks.

A man, his lips twitching, asked.

“Are you kids from this village? Trying to get in?”

Seo Yun responded.

“Yes. Do you have business with our village?”

“Of course we do. The bastards in this village won’t come out when we tell them to! You need to cooperate a bit to make them come out.”

“What kind of cooperation?”

“Be hostages for a bit. We won’t harm you, just for a little while…”

As the man said this, he tried to grab Seo Yun’s wrist. And the hand reaching out was slapped away by Gaeulbi. It didn’t seem like she hit it very hard, but the man’s hand was flung far away and bent.

The man’s scream was drowned out by Gaeulbi’s chilling voice.

“Anyone who touches her dies.”

A fact often forgotten because her Race is so inferior, but Gaeulbi is also a Level 11 Superhuman. Her voice carried something like infrasound, dripping out, and the surrounding people seemed to feel pressure from it.

Han Siwoo also drew his sword and shield and stepped forward to block the way.

In response, the Refugees drew their weapons.

One of them muttered an incantation. Then, with shining eyes, he scanned this side and his eyes widened.

“Wait a minute, their Levels…”

He seemed to be a Mage. It appeared he used a Detection Spell and learned that all Levels here were 11 or above. Just as he was about to relay that fact to everyone, and all the Refugees were widening their eyes and stepping back, creating distance—

The gate opened. Oh Haengun, leading Warriors from inside, walked out and asked in a low, gruff voice.

“What are you all doing.”

Not only Happy Village Warriors but also a massive Golem and Gargoyle Stone Statues stood guard around him. It seemed he was thoroughly angered by this disturbance and was ready to use force if necessary.The refugees shrank back at his momentum, but they didn’t retreat. Though frightened, they seemed determined to say their piece and shouted angrily.

“What the hell are you doing, we came to protest, damn it! Do you know what kind of mess your village chief is making…?!”

“Our chief?”

Oh Haengun’s eyes narrowed slightly. He asked.

“You’ve met our chief? Where? What was he doing?”

One of the refugees yelled.

“See for yourself!”

Wondering what he meant, it was a smartphone. Somehow it seemed to have been charged, as its screen lit up, and soon the smartphone screen began to display a video.

Seo Yun also approached along with Oh Haengun to look at the screen.

“This is…”

The smartphone screen showed a survivor group somewhere.

It seemed Centaurs and Skeletons had occupied that village. This was evident from the people kneeling before the Centaurs.

And at the very front of the Centaurs was not a Centaur.

It was a two-legged standing Orc. Its helm and armor seemed freshly painted, dyed a painfully bright, glaring red.

Oh Haengun shouted.

“Chief!”

The Orc Vampire on the smartphone screen growled.

「Are you all on your knees? If there’s any missing bastard, I’ll smash their skull… If everyone’s gathered, only the one I point to, stand up.」

Seo Yun’s eyes widened. In the video, Oh Haengbok was intimidating the people as if he were the general of the Centaurs. The Vampire’s Mind Domination had clearly taken effect. It seemed his side had completely switched.

「You and you. Get up and show me where the warehouse is. If you try any tricks and cause trouble, I’ll slaughter you all, you worthless bastards.」

Had the Centaurs decided to use that Orc as something like the vanguard for the invasion of the Korean Peninsula?

‘Well, he’s fluent in the local language, so there probably wasn’t a better way to utilize him…’

Seo Yun looked at Oh Haengun, and sure enough, the Mage’s eyes were shaking uncontrollably.

The video continued a bit more, and before the Orc and the other plunderers, a brave Warrior revealed himself.

Standing guard in front of the kneeling people, a Barbarian Warrior roared.

「What are you doing. Get out of here—!」

It was Arnold. He was supposed to have left to hunt some giant, but somehow he must have gotten involved in this incident.

Oh Haengbok’s helm turned towards Arnold, and he slowly raised his Warhammer.

「Step aside.」

Those two Warriors had sparred many times back in Happy Village. They knew each other was no easy opponent.

Soon, Arnold and Oh Haengbok moved towards each other, and Arnold, who seemed about to charge at Oh Haengbok, suddenly changed his running direction.

It was towards the Centaurs and Skeletons gathered in one place. The Greatsword swung from their midst scattered the blood and flesh it touched.

Leaving the overwhelming Oh Haengbok aside, Arnold began rampaging among the soldiers he had brought.

The video recorder couldn’t capture beyond that. Seeing the screen point to a strange place, it seemed they too had been filming while hiding and then started to run away.

「Go to Incheon! To Incheon—!」

However, Arnold’s fierce shout alone rang out clearly from the smartphone.

「Go there, to the big village, and ask for help—!」

With that shout, the video ended.

Silence fell over the gathering. One refugee asked accusingly.

“This bright red armor, it’s your chief, right?”

Oh Haengun, unable to take his eyes off the now-dark smartphone, muttered.

“Shut up.”

“It is your chief, right? Huh? I checked with a Detection Spell, he’s reached Level 15. Why is your chief with the Centaurs…?”

Only then did Oh Haengun’s gaze turn towards the refugee. The refugee shrank back under that gaze.

Oh Haengun stared at the refugee with an extremely cold gaze, a gaze that seemed like he might do something, then slowly opened his mouth.

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up? You think our village is an easy target because we don’t throw our weight around with Levels, Mister?”

The threat from Oh Haengun, Level 12, perhaps the highest-level Mage on the Korean Peninsula, carried sufficient force. Normally, the refugees would have been cowed and surrendered, but now it seemed they had nowhere to retreat even if they wanted to. As the refugees also began shouting, a fierce scuffle broke out.

The scuffle between the refugees and Oh Haengun ended quite a while later.

After finishing the argument with them and returning inside the Fortress Wall, Oh Haengun muttered.

“Those damn bastards, they must have a Rulebook too, so they can roughly guess what happened, right? They’re demanding we take responsibility, damn it, those fucking assholes.”

“They’re probably trying to get some promise of support somehow. They must feel terribly wronged too…”

At a Warrior’s words, Oh Haengun shouted.

“How did our chief become a Vampire! He fought those monsters to protect people and ended up like that, and the bastards who survived thanks to him say that kind of shit?”

After that, Oh Haengun fumed and then convened a village meeting.

He disseminated the information he had just learned to the village Warriors.

“It seems the Centaurs are currently active in Gyeonggi Province. They seem to be sweeping through and plundering there, and our chief is among them…”

Everyone was exchanging various words in serious tones.

Seo Yun was also attending the meeting when she noticed something glowing piercing through the thick leather of the tent.

It was a glowing blue hawk. The meeting stopped, and everyone’s eyes were drawn to it.

“What’s that?”

Seo Yun knew the identity of that glowing hawk.

“Everyone stay still, it’s not an enemy, it’s sent by Arnold.”

“By Arnold?”

“It’s a Beast Spirit. A high-level Barbarian Warrior’s Summon. It seems to have come to deliver some message…”

And so, with everyone keeping quiet, the blue hawk opened its beak.

「Help me」

And Seo Yun asked.

“What kind of help do you need? Should many of us go?”

「If you do that, you might be discovered, so like last time, only Seo Yun you come—」

“Alright.”

Seo Yun rose from her seat.