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Chapter 245

“Isn’t it foul play to use your powers?” After the high of their relationship subsided, Kim Jin-Woo started to whine a bit.

The sight of the Lord of Greed in such a state was so rare that Angela was openly enjoying the situation. “There’s no such thing as foul play in the Underworld, is there?” She smiled brightly with a triumphant expression.

There wasn’t any deep meaning behind Kim Jin-Woo’s words either. If he had intended to resist her in the first place, he wouldn’t have let the Vampire into the Highlord’s mind at all.

He tried to dispel his own feeling of hesitation as he inhaled the enchanting scent Angela released, which was rather effective. Thanks to Angela’s enchantment, he was able to thoroughly enjoy her company without any reservations.

“By the way, I’m not sure if Dominique will be upset.” Angela showed no signs of concern as she spoke, and in fact, seemed rather happy instead. Contrary to what she said, she didn’t seem to be concerned with Dominique’s anger at all.

However, unlike her, Kim Jin-Woo seemed rather serious. It wasn’t as if he was married to Dominique or anything, but somehow, he felt as if he’d just had an affair.

“She seemed rather happy when she got her legs.” Angela, who certainly knew how her master felt deep down, smiled as if she had witnessed a fun spectacle.

***

Although they had deepened their relationship, Angela knew not to cross the line. She didn’t act like an ignorant being who was riding on the back of her master, and she didn’t pretend to be on a high horse either. She remained unchanged, and stayed her usual self.

Kim Jin-Woo, too, didn’t suddenly behave like a different person just because of his exposure to the ecstasy of his first romantic encounter. He calmly accepted the deepening of their relationship, and he seemed satisfied with being able to take off one of the shackles that had bound him.

If there was one thing that had changed, it wasn’t them.

“My King.”

“My King.”

As Angela’s Vampire followers were wandering around the perimeter of the Grand Labyrinth, they saw Kim Jin-Woo and prostrated themselves on the floor to show their utmost respect. Their behavior seemed far too natural to attribute it to their witnessing his victory as a Highlord. As such, he subconsciously turned to Angela.

“If you’re the Queen’s man, isn’t it only right that you’re their King?” Angela remarked. Apparently, the Vampires seemed to know something among themselves. Angela chuckled, saying that perhaps it was better this way, as they now acknowledged him as their master.

***

“Why did you only tell me this now?” Kim Jin-Woo frowned, pressing against his temple.

“I was afraid to disturb my King’s rest, so I failed to report it,” Rikshasha explained.

Kim Jin-Woo’s emotions flared up. It was obvious that the ‘rest’ Rikshasha was referring to was the intimate time he had spent with Angela. Quickly, his expression became one of discomfort.

“Please punish me; I am willing to accept any punishment.” Seeing Kim Jin-Woo’s displeasure, Rikshasha quickly lowered her head and took a submissive stance.

“It’s fine. I didn’t mean to blame you,” Kim Jin-Woo said. It would be unbecoming of a king for him to be angry with the blindly loyal and honest Under-Elf. He sighed as he ordered Rikshasha to raise her head and continued, “That aside, have you found out the messengers’ identities?”

“I was unable to understand his words, but their appearance suggests that they’re messengers of a Duke-level labyrinth located north of the Grand Labyrinth,” Rikshasha replied.

The reconnaissance team that had lingered around the Grand Labyrinth as if they were specifically searching for it up until a few days before had suddenly disappeared, and in their place, a group of messengers had appeared.

Kim Jin-Woo pretended to think for a moment about Rikshasha’s answer.

Each of the Duke-level labyrinths that were spread out in all directions from the Grand Labyrinth had different looking summons, and among the labyrinths located in the northern region, one had summons that resembled a cross between cows and humans.

“I don’t know what the purpose of their visit is,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked. Because they couldn’t communicate, he couldn’t understand the reason behind their sudden visit to the Grand Labyrinth.

“Seeing that there’s no sense of hostility, I feel it might be for the purpose of spying or diplomacy,” Rikshasha replied.

There was some sense in Rikshasha’s words. Because the labyrinth that had defeated Luyang, one of the dignified Dukes, was nearby, it made sense that they would send messengers to find out who was behind his defeat.

“Where are they?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

“They seemed to have no intention to prematurely provoke us, as they decided to wait for our message some distance away from the Grand Labyrinth on their own accord,” Rikshasha explained. She then reported that she had responded by having Angela and the other prominent summons monitor their movements from the Grand Labyrinth for fear of the messengers underestimating their power

Kim Jin-Woo commended her for the wise response and said, “Okay, let’s meet them.”

He still couldn’t figure out what the messengers’ motive was, but there was no reason to reject meeting these self-proclaimed guests. At least, for now.

***

As expected, the messengers from the northern labyrinth were minotaurs. They seemed no different from what Kim Jin-Woo had imagined the mythical minotaurs to be. They were powerful looking summons with dreaded horns and wide shoulders.

“Ask them the purpose of their visit,” Kim Jin-Woo said.”

The problem of communication was solved more easily than Kim Jin-Woo had expected. He had visited Mimir before leaving the Grand Labyrinth, who had provided him with an interpreter just in case.

“Please take this child with you. There’s no need to send her back right away, so please use her to your heart’s content as you see fit.”

The interpreter Kim Jin-Woo had received from Mimir was someone he was very familiar with. It was the same imp who had run away with his sister’s wedding dowry when he first obtained his labyrinth. It was the imp girl whom he had reunited with at the Black Merchants’ auction house.

“I’ve taught her several other languages just in case, so she’ll prove to be quite useful.”

Assigning Kim Jin-Woo the imp girl as if she were a congratulatory gift for his recent victory, Mimir had hinted that something would be happening soon and parted by saying he would contact Kim Jin-Woo again.

From the confident look on the imp’s face, it didn’t seem as if anything bad would happen, but Kim Jin-Woo was still bothered by the insidious nature of the imp, who refused to confide openly in him.

“They say they are here to celebrate your continued victory in the future, and to foster a relationship with you,” the imp said.

Kim Jin-Woo was jolted out of his deep thoughts upon hearing the clear, bright voice that didn’t match the imp girl’s appearance.

“Is that so? Tell them that I thank them for their congratulatory message, but that unless they prove it with their actions first, I’m not interested in a pretentious relationship.” He accepted the messengers’ congratulatory message as if it were a given. He looked quite arrogant indeed, but it was well-deserved considering his victory over the Deep Floor Duke.

In fact, the half-human, half-animal beings that resembled minotaurs seemed to be awfully wary and cautious in a manner that was unbefitting of their physical size, seemingly trying not to hurt his feelings. Slowly, they opened the box they had been carrying and cried loudly.

“Communication through words is meaningless; thus, they have prepared a gift with sincerity,” the imp translated.

“Despite their dull appearance, they seem rather sharp,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked. This time, the imp girl didn’t interpret his words.

He continued, “We don’t have anything prepared on our end at the moment, so we’ll send a messenger of our own in the future to return the favor.”

If fostering a good relationship had been their goal, then the bulls had accomplished it. But somehow, even after the conversation was over, they seemed reluctant to leave.

“They look like they have something more to say,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

The imp girl spoke a few words to the bulls. If they had a deeper purpose for their visit, it would be best if they brought it up now. She then translated their response. “They state that the purpose of their visit is to seek your advi… no, a favor from you.”

“Looks like the gift wasn’t simply a gift after all.” Kim Jin-Woo spoke with a tone that implied he seemed ready to return the gift box to the bulls at any moment. They seemed to have noticed the change in his tone, as they quickly waved their hands and started to make excuses.

“They state that it is not an unreasonable request, and that they also have information that may be of use to us, so they request that you hear them out before deciding to reject them or not. Even if you do not heed their request, they have no intention of being hostile to this place,” the imp translated.

By now, even Kim Jin-Woo was curious as to what their request was. Since he could reject the request at any moment, he decided to hear them out.

“They’re suggesting that should messengers from the southern labyrinth visit you, would you consider rejecting them? They say that even if you were to ever meet them, you should never trust them.” This time, because their statements were longer than before, the imp girl interpreted their words as they spoke, but the messengers’ tone seemed harsher.

Even without necessarily listening to the imp girl’s interpretation, Kim Jin-Woo could guess from just the messengers’ intense tone that they were swearing at the southern labyrinths, even if the imp cut out most of their words and only interpreted the main points.

***

The messengers of the northern labyrinth, who called themselves the Taurus, headed back to their own labyrinth.

“Is politics always this active at the Duke level?” Kim Jin-Woo mused.

It seemed that the feuds between the Dukes had been severe even before the Restoration. Otherwise, there was no way they would risk visiting a Grand Labyrinth to badmouth other labyrinths when there was no guarantee that the Grand Labyrinth would be friendly. Presumably, the Dukes of the north and the south were at odds with each other.

“I’m not sure if this is good or bad luck for us, but it appears we’ve been caught in the middle of them.” Stating that she disliked complicated matters, Angela quietly left.

Kim Jin-Woo didn’t bother to hold her back because she wasn’t going to be useful in helping him understand the Underworld. All that were left were the Ancient Hero-Grade summons, including Rikshasha and Morrigan. Among them, Kim Jin-Woo decided to ask Morrigan. “Morrigan, how do you see them compared to the Satyrs?

“If they had the same numbers, the Satyrs would never defeat them.” Morrigan responded as if she had been waiting for his question.

Kim Jin-Woo had no reason to doubt the Crow’s evaluation when she had encountered countless battlefields. He muttered, “Things just keep getting worse. None of the Dukes are pushovers.”

“But Master is the one who defeated one of them, aren’t you?” Morrigan replied.

The summons looked at each other confidently and smiled. Witnessing another great victory achieved by their master, who had already achieved numerous victories in the past, was something they were highly proud of.

However, despite his subordinates’ gleaming confidence, Kim Jin-Woo remained expressionless as he remarked, “Unlike Luyang, these bastards are the real deal.” Individual prowess aside, when comparing the overall strength of the labyrinths, he knew better than anyone else who was inferior.

“Then what will you do?” Morrigan asked.

It didn’t appear as if the Taurus would suddenly change their attitude and invade the Grand Labyrinth. Thus, Kim Jin-Woo decided to take the time to observe the situation for now. He replied, “What do you think? We should meet the southern labyrinth they cursed so much about before deciding for ourselves.”

***

Not long after the Taurus visited the Grand Labyrinth, messengers from the southern labyrinth visited it.

“What is this? This place might as well be the national zoo, for goodness’ sake,” Kim Jin-Woo remarked.

The Satyrs were a combination of goats, eagles, and humans, while the Taurus were more like bull-humanoids. The messengers from the southern labyrinth were huge white bears. The only difference was that, unlike the other labyrinths’ summons that seemed to be a mix of animals and humans, these messengers were actually just ordinary white bears.

“We should ask them what their purpose is as well,” Kim Jin-Woo said.

Even though the imp girl seemed somewhat tired of her master’s laid-back attitude, she remained faithful to her task. The bears, in their pure white coats of fur which didn’t seem to belong in the dark Underworld, spoke in an angry tone right from the start.

However, seeing the imp girl’s expression change halfway through her interpretation, Kim Jin-Woo felt that the conversation had suddenly turned serious. He asked, “Is there a problem?”

The imp girl trembled as she answered him. “The thing is…”