Chapter 773: The last (6)
“Huh? Huh?”
“First, take a seat, Benignore.”
“Where… are we? No… more importantly… huh? Huh? Huh… Are you really junior Lee Kiyoung? Really?”
“Yes.”
“Uh… J-Junior Lee Kiyoung Lee… Ugh… Ugh… junior Lee Kiyoung…”
‘What the. What’s wrong with her?’
“Junior Lee Kiyoung… Ugh…”
‘What?’
Benignore, approaching with her arms wide open, caught my eye. I didn’t know if she was trying to hug me, so I couldn’t help but be disconcerted.
I thought she would be surprised, but I didn’t think she would show such a dramatic reaction.
If anyone asked me if that reaction was good or bad, I thought it was a good one, but I didn’t think it was because she really missed me.
“You were here. Junior… Lee Kiyoung… Ugh… I-I believed. Everyone said that your existence disappeared, and Elune said that the continent, no, the dimension, couldn’t bear you, and it had to spit you out. Ugh…”
Her face seemed about to cry, but her tearful expression soon disappeared. It was because she hugged me like a cicada sticking to a tree.
It wasn’t enough for her to shed tears. I could hear her gasping over and over again. This one also seemed to be the type with much affection.
“Junior Lee Kiyoung… Ugh…”
‘Now stop it.’
I wanted to talk about something in earnest, but the problem was that I couldn’t.
“Benignore?”
“I’m really glad to see you again like this. Ugh… I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything. I’m very, very sorry for not being able to help you much.”
‘No, you don’t have to be so sorry.’
I couldn’t get used to her like that. I wondered if she would let go of me now, but I could see her looking at Seraphim after I pushed her a bit. After checking my face once again and seeing the light wandering around, she started pushing away the blue and silver lights with her palms.
“You! How dare you guys! Again?”
I didn’t know how to explain the way she scattered the lights with the small palm of her hand. It looked like she was catching flies and mosquitoes.
“What do you think you’re doing! Go away immediately. I won’t let you touch Lee Kiyoung even with a single finger! Junior Lee Kiyoung! Come behind me! I will protect you!”
‘Really, what’s wrong with this one? Did she eat something wrong?’
“You were trapping him here! M-Mean b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! Ugly creatures! You dirty monsters!”
‘If you call them ugly creatures, they will get hurt… You went too far with dirty monsters…’
“Do you think I will let you bother him?!”
‘No, what’s wrong with her…’
On the one hand, she had a colorfully designed shield. On the other hand, a holy spear was summoned.
‘What. That’s… I’m seeing that shield for the first time.’
Benignore’s Shield.
Even in the library at the temple, I hadn’t heard anything about that. It might be because she didn’t use it in the first place, but frankly, it was a sight to see.
Honestly, I didn’t think she could fight, but it looked cool though.
‘She’s not a combat type, no matter what…’
It looked good on the outside, but the way she was preparing to fight felt a bit awkward. If I thought about it, the fight against Belial was acting.
I wanted to leave her like that for a little longer, but after seeing such dense divinity at the end of her spear, I had no choice but to call her in a hurry. I didn’t want her to blow up this s.p.a.ce because she couldn’t control her force.
“No. It’s not that, Benignore. Please calm down and sit down. They are no longer enemies. Oh. Except for one. I think you probably have a lot of questions. I think it would be nice to talk step by step… first…”
“…”
It would be better to ask about how she had been. If I started talking about work right away, I would look like I have no affection.
“How have you been?”
“Ugh… Ugh…”
“How were you doing?”
“Junior… L-Lee Kiyoung…”
f.u.c.k. She had gone back to the beginning again.
I patted her back while smiling. I didn’t know how much time had pa.s.sed, but by the time the noise diminished, I finally heard her speak in earnest.
“It was so hard. Really! It was really too hard! They kept complaining from above. There’s no divinity in my hands, but there’s a lot to deal with! They said, ‘Do this, do that’ without even supporting me! I don’t know how long it has been since I rested properly… Ugh… They keep pressing, asking me where you were, and I was… in sorrow…”
“It must have been hard…”
“Yes. They’re all in an emergency. Closing the crack opened by the outer G.o.d is also a problem… Suddenly, even the ones who lent the divinity came to me… There really is no such thing as consideration from everyone. They know that our side is in a difficult situation and they had to come and ask me to pay them back right away, you know? They could’ve been just a bit patient… they just had to wait a few hundred years. Was that so hard to wait for? They even sent a letter saying that they would sue me, knowing how difficult it is for us to get into conflict in this situation!”
“I know.”
“In the meantime, Elune said he was preparing to move to another place, you know? It was too lonely and hard for me… Really. You have no idea how much I missed you…”
‘Will it actually be easier than I thought?’
“Well. It’s also an old story, but… since you’re here, everything will be solved now. Can you help with this? That’s exactly how much we have right now. There is no other support anymore… Honestly, I might have to reduce it further here. As I looked at it, many things were delayed I thought I could solve it with what we earned this time, but… we got less than I thought… most of it must have gone to the G.o.d of sunset light.”
‘It came to me. By the way, our Hyunsung has already become the G.o.d of sunset light.’
“Oh! C-Come to think of it, you must have received a lot of as well? J-Junior Lee, Kiyoung. We shouldn’t stay like this, wait… are you thirsty? Or is there anything making you uncomfortable? I… I’m a little embarra.s.sed to say this as a senior, but if it’s okay, can you invest? As you know, the situation on the continent is not so bad… After a little more time, it will be the end of hardships and the beginning of happiness. If you provide us with a little help, I can give it back twice, no, three times!”
I didn’t think I should ever lend it to her.
“If I look at your face, I want to invest, but I don’t think I have that much vision.”
“D-Don’t say that… Junior Lee Kiyoung. Why wouldn’t you have vision?! I have it, so there’s no way you don’t.”
“I believe in you too. If you were completely managing the continent, of course, I would have invested in you, but you weren’t, were you? I am telling you that I know that they are taking a lot from above. As you just said… There are a lot of taxes to be paid… In the end, even though the continent is going well, it seems that the so-called tops only have a structure that only enriches them.”
“…”
“If you think about how dedicated you have been to this continent, don’t you get an answer right away? You couldn’t even take a proper break from moving the pen to the point that your hand felt numb, and there’s not even anything left for you. The continent is still poor, and you are also poor. You can’t even make a proper update. And the budget you get is so low… It means that even if you work more, you won’t gain. You just lose. Honestly, even if I invest, I don’t know if I can properly recover the original amount… I’m not sure.”
“Honestly, you’re not wrong, but…”
“No matter how you look at it, it looks like an unstable structure.”
I thought it would be possible to win Benignore over, but I felt that things would be easier than I had previously expected.
Everyone would have thought of independence at least once, even more so if they weren’t satisfied with their current job.
Benignore wasn’t a newcomer and was responsible for one continent, so she must’ve seen many dirty things must’ve known better than me about how this system was currently working. She might also be wondering if she should play within this system.
Since she wasn’t a fool, I wondered if she’d soon notice what I was trying to say.
I could see her looking around.
A s.p.a.ce completely disconnected from the outside.
And the four angels, no, the three angels, who were standing by as if anyone could tell that I would use them as managers, looked at my face quietly once again.
At this, Benignore’s eyes narrowed. It was an unfamiliar look.
“It’s impossible, Junior Lee Kiyoung. I also understand your feelings, but it’s not that simple.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be simple either.”
“…”
“I want you because I know it will be hard. Now the continent is at a new crossroads. Look at our Hyunsung, who opened a new light and opened a new sunset. Isn’t this how new myths are born?”
I could see Benignore sporting a slightly anxious look.
I thought I knew what she was thinking. Perhaps she was worried about the gradual decline of the Benignore Church.
Since I said that, hoping that she would be thinking so, I was happy that it seemed to be going the way I intended, but seeing her with such a serious face made me feel weird.
That was a natural phenomenon. There would be no problems with the Benignore Church right now, but there was no guarantee that it would remain after a few hundred years.
When a new myth took place on the continent, what had been established as an existing myth might gradually become blurred in people’s memories.
I could even speed up the period a little bit more if I just made up my mind.
“That’s…”
“But I didn’t really want to choose that sad method. I want to make it for a new continent, but I don’t want to work on a continent without Benignore.”
“J-Junior Lee Kiyoung…”
“I have no confidence to do it without you.”
“Junior… Lee Kiyoung…”
‘What? What’s wrong, Benignore?’
“I-I actually… actually thought you were trash.”
“…”
“I thought you were a fallen soul that had no room for enlightenment… Ugh…”
“…”
“I didn’t know you were thinking of me like this.”
“Then…”
“Still…”
I could see that she kept avoiding my gaze.
I wondered if I should talk about something realistic like the detail about the salary or the distribution of profits. Regardless, I instinctively felt that Benignore was reluctant.
‘Can’t I do this?’
Even if I were Benignore, it would have been difficult to easily make up my mind. She had never been out of bounds and had no intention of leaving it.
She seemed to be proud of her career in her own way… and it felt like I was asking for a change of values ??rather than changing jobs.
Of course, if she were the Benignore I knew, she would be tempted by the divinity, but…
“It’ll be 60 to 40. Mine is 60, and yours is 40.”
No, honestly, she seemed to be shaken a lot.
“The divinity that Benignore will receive for the next hundred years is about… It should be this much.”
Although her pupils were visibly shaking in real-time…
“A number of additional terms and conditions are all listed in the doc.u.ment I have sent you now.”
I could see that the hand that was holding the doc.u.ment was trembling. I could also see her swallowing hard. However, I thought this wasn’t enough. It didn’t suit me, but why shouldn’t I say it with a little more sincerity?
“I’m not building a subsidiary. We’re building a subsidiary.”
“…”
“I sincerely hope that you will be with us.”
Before going into full-scale negotiations, I had to sweet talk first.
‘It looks like it will be a long fight…’
It wouldn’t be easier than I thought, so it would be better to prepare again. Looking towards Dialugia, I opened my mouth.
“First, take a little break…”
“I… I’ll do it!!”
‘Huh?’
“I will do it! I want to do it! I will do it no matter what, Junior Lee Kiyoung!”
‘What?’