Temporarily sealing off the leak went smoothly, as some of the members of the G.o.d of Life religion were skilled in sealing magic.
Plus, the priests of the other religions supported them with their own skills and magic, so they were able to plug up the hole and prevent the undead curse from leaking. Lee Shin Woo was surprised to see that and was especially surprised at their ability to seal a portion of the curse into a small container with said sealing techniques.
"What a nice ability."
"It would"ve been nice if we were a tad bit stronger, but this is our limit. But at the very least, we were able to strengthen the seal with the help of your magic, Sir Kay. Thank you very much."
The priests of the G.o.d of Life religion didn"t respect the Pope, yet they were well-behaved in front of Lee Shin Woo. At this point, they were almost revering him, but Lee Shin Woo decided not to let it bother him. Since his t.i.tle as the Sun G.o.d"s hero wouldn"t be enough to unite all of the surface"s forces in their fight against the undead. However, this was a good enough position to do start on that.
"Please don"t forget what happened today. This awful mana... You must not make light of this energy of death. This isn"t something that can be solved by a few sacrifices. We all have to work together."
"I agree with Kay. I believe the Sun G.o.d sent Kay to us in order to deal with this threat. Please lend us your strength. I promise that each religion will be rewarded appropriately for their deeds."
The Pope"s att.i.tude wasn"t much different from Lee Shin Woo"s, but there were differences in core areas. His words were swaying all those present, and it was also coaxing the leaders of the three religious orders as well; the three religious leaders nodded their heads.
"Of course."
"Pope. You don"t even need to ask. We trust Sir Kay."
"It"s a bit strange to say that we trust him. It"s more precise to say that there"s no reason for someone with such strength to lie to us."
Hey, wait. It wasn"t just reverence, but a full blown religion! Lee Shin Woo was surprised and went into a cold sweat, as the situation had progressed so smoothly.
Yet, the Evileye General, Shurina Von Hegel, bit her lower lip and gazed at Lee Shin Woo. However, she looked at him warmly. Her type (the one who couldn"t hide what they were thinking) was so easy to trick! Of course, Lee Shin Woo was the swindler!
"If I can coax her, then I should be able to acquire some information on the other 12 Generals."
Of course, Rem was providing him with general information on them through the golem network, but it would be different to hear it from one of the 12 Generals themselves.
Moreover, if things went well, he could learn more about the Magic Emperor as well. If he could, he"d like to know more about the Emperor prior to meeting him.
"You"re thinking about something evil again, aren"t you?"
"No I"m not."
Initiating a s.e.xual relationship would be best, but... Jin"s gaze was scary, so he decided against it.
Looking at her now, he felt like he could control her if he just picked up one of her weaknesses. His relationship with her would go in a different direction from the religious members, which was worsened by the fact that she didn"t think of him as human.
"Then, let"s go back. You"ll be really busy from here on out."
"If it"s to stop the coming catastrophe, then... We"ll do whatever it takes."
"...Kuheuk."
They sealed the hole and were on their way back to the capital. The religions had broken down all barriers and became close. They didn"t speak to the Evileye General or her troops, as if they"d made a promise prior (what"s worse, the soldiers were too weak to even enter the dungeon).
They wouldn"t allow the Emperor"s forces to get in their way. Although they wouldn"t be able to exclude the Emperor"s forces in such an important matter, they would only allow them to join once the Emperor had acknowledged his mistake.
...And in the process, the Evileye General would be subject to ridicule. To be honest, they had already considered her a corpse. At that point, Lee Shin Woo quietly spoke to the Pope.
"Pope. Could you please leave her to me?"
"You... I know you don"t have a lover, but are you really going to go after one of the 12 Generals? I know she"s good-looking and all, but everything else is a trap."
"Sir Kay, there"s no need for one such are yourself to desire such a dirty woman! A dog of the royal family is not fit to be by the side of one who can wield a G.o.d"s power...!"
"...Haha."
The Pope reacting like that wasn"t anything new, but Maria Eldaletz had, at some point, come over and was p.i.s.sed. Her, the Evileye General, and every other strong young woman he"d met were all the same: they couldn"t hide their feelings. Lee Shin Woo smiled bitterly and said.
"That"s not why I"m approaching her. You never know what one will do when they"re at risk of death. If possible, I want her to help us. We should be able to help each other out."
"...I"m not sure if I"ve told you before, but I"d like to say it again. I"m glad we"re not enemies."
"As expected of you, Sir Kay. You had such a plan ready...!"
Ah, this won"t do. The Shining Flame"s buff was way too strong, so they took it positively, regardless of what he said! They should be glaring at him instead!
Lee Shin Woo felt burdened by them and did his best to avoid their gaze. When he locked eyes with the Evileye General, she shrieked and turned her head away from him. Mm, her mental state was so fragile right now that it"d break if he just gave her a slight nudge.
"Let"s get away from the General following us and then talk."
That would be simple with the use of his Wild Card and Disguise skills. Lee Shin Woo had successfully relayed his message, and the Evileye General, who was at a loss, had cried and accepted his offer. After that, the party reached the capital and the various factions split and went their separate ways.
"Mr. Shin Woo, you came back safely!"
[Paul Zero! I"m so glad you"re safe. You"re even stronger than before?]
"Of course I am. Ah... Sorry, but I think things will be even more hectic than before, so stop with the cute act for now. You can do it all you want later. I"d like to hear your report first."
Lee Shin Woo, having safely returned to his residence within the capital, was met by Sinea and Ye Jin Jin rushing towards him. However, he somewhat cold-heartedly restrained them, and then learned of what had happened while he was away.
Transferring the newly born spirits to the Spirits" Spring was going smoothly due to Sinea and the other spirits" efforts, but there was a problem with his shop. He had expected this, but someone was openly sabotaging his shop.
Not only were there several people messing with his shop, but the key members of the Empire were discreetly aiding the Lawrence shop"s compet.i.tors. But because Bisher Moon had mobilized his workers and taken certain precautions, they were able to weather the storm.
"But you should have nothing to worry about soon. Public opinion will side with us, and above all, the other religions will support the Lawrence shop as well."
"How did that happen!?"
"To put it simply... You could see it as all the forces, aside from the Emperor"s, have joined a single team. Since the undead curse isn"t just a threat to us heroes."
[That"s not simple at all, Paul Zero!]
"Mr. Shin Woo. You"re so amazing...!"
He hadn"t even told him about the innate elements that he"d acquired, yet Sinea and Ye Jin Jin"s eyes were already sparkling. At this point, Lee Shin Woo barely realized that something was off, and as a result of his self-diagnosis, he confirmed that something was indeed wrong.
When he leveled up, he gained the innate skill, Wild Card, which was always active. But it turns out that it not only buffed all of his skills, abilities, etc... but also had a hugely positive effect on all of his words and actions! In other words, it had evolved into a cheat skill!
"The skill really fits me and my "level" as a Joker has increased, but still, what the h.e.l.l is this? It seems like my "level" as a human has gone down."
Lee Shin Woo felt a bit down and shook his head, but then, Jin retorted, who was the only one that had remained calm. Since this is something that he needed to hear, he was here too.
"But Shin Woo, do you really need to rely on the shop anymore?"
If Lee Shin Woo added his Dark Shadow to his Disguise skill, then he could reduce Jin"s body to less than half. To be honest, he could do even more, now that he"d acquired Wild Card and Dark Shadow, but he was keeping that for later. Lee Shin Woo needed to prepare himself too.
"Yeah, I don"t really need it since I"ve cemented my position as the hero Kay. But in the future, the Lawrence shop will probably be more beneficial to us than Kay"s name."
"Huh?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Mm. I"m talking about after we"ve eliminated the curse and have dealt with the trouble on the surface. ...It"d probably be difficult for us to return to our original worlds. So, we have no choice but to continue to live on the surface. You get me thus far, right?"
"Yes, of course."
The reason Lee Shin Woo was preventing the undead curse from spreading to the surface was not only because he didn"t want his enemies to increase, but mostly because he didn"t want to live in a world filled with death. That would be a stagnant world, unable to move forward! Ye Jin Jin probably thought the same.
"But if we just protect the world, we lose out. I"m protecting this shop so that we have a way to enter the world without using force. Since money and status are the best for living happily in peace. And the shop lets us gain both."
"You were thinking that far ahead? ...Then, you must"ve planned for me to be your representative a long time ago."
Ye Jin Jin seemed to be misunderstanding something and blushed in happiness. Of course, there was no way Lee Shin Woo thought that far ahead. Disguising himself as a merchant and figuring out the surface had gone a lot better than expected, so he"d changed his objective. That"s all!
But for some reason Ye Jin Jin was really touched, so he decided to just let her think whatever she wanted.
"In any case, we can just leave the shop as is. So... what about the Red Moon?"
"They"re currently fighting against our Moon Shadow."
That made sense. If Bisher Moon were inside the capital then there was no way he wouldn"t know about Lee Shin Woo"s return. He had felt it was strange that Bisher hadn"t come to see him, but it seemed like he was busy fighting off the Red Moon.
"By the way... Mr. Shin Woo, if we don"t have to worry about the shop from now on, can I fight against the Red Moon too? If we have to move only at night, I can do that."
"I"ll allow it once you"ve reached level 7. ...Anyway, I plan on going back down soon, so will you be ok?"
"I thought about it, but there"s a lot more I can do up here than down there. If you"re not here, then I"ll be here in your stead."
Ye Jin Jin had made her decision. Since she was drinking plenty of medicine because of his trickery, she would soon become strong enough to move around safely without fear.
It might be tough on her, as her stats had increased while her skills had not, but her stats should supplement her long-range spear throwing, and if need be, her ability to run away...
"Ah."
"Huh? What"s wrong?"
"Mm... It"s nothing. Really, it"s nothing."
The Evileye General, Shurina Von Hegel"s eyes would be a good fit for Ye Jin Jin, but it was a little too late to be changing his strategy. After all, he"d decided to use her to gain information on the Emperor.
Moreover, Lee Shin Woo had no taste in deliberately killing someone weaker than him, especially when they had no intention of harming him. If she were a monster, he would"ve killed her without any hesitation...
"I"ll go to the secret shop later and see if there"re any similar abilities or artifacts... Oh, right."
At that moment, someone softly knocked on his mansion"s front door. Could he really not become a n.o.ble? Lee Shin Woo shrugged his shoulders and stood up.
"We have a visitor. A really important one at that."