Chapter 753 – 753. A Beauty’S Untimely Demise
753. A Beauty’s Untimely Demise
Ekaterina stayed in Veroprin. Veroprin, having been defeated by her, couldn’t resist.
Park Suho woke up the next day. As soon as he woke up, he had to face Ekaterina’s three trials. I stepped forward in front of Ekaterina.
“Suho needs time to recover. I’ll take one of the three trials in his place.”
“You? You think you can do it?”
She laughed silently. It was a sneer.
“You seem interested in interdimensional beings, and I’m from the same Earth as Suho.”
“You’re also an interdimensional being? Well, considering that unique power, it’s not strange. Fine. You can take the first trial. But if you fail, you’ll suffer a painful death.”
Ekaterina’s eyes gleamed sharply. It wasn’t just an empty threat. She really intended to kill me painfully if I failed the trial.
“Hyung! I’m okay! I’ll do the trial!”
Park Suho grabbed my arm urgently. I turned to look at Park Suho. His appearance was not good, to say the least. More than half of his body was wrapped in bandages. He had received recovery through potions and magic, but there were limits to that. It was impossible to recover his body in an instant, given the damage he had sustained and the accumulated fatigue. He needed at least two more days of rest.
“I’m not taking all the trials for you. I’m just taking one of them. You focus on recovering as much as possible. That’s the best thing to do, right?”
“……Yes.”
Park Suho reluctantly nodded. Although he had fainted absurdly when fighting Ekaterina, I was stronger than Park Suho, and my physical condition was much better.
Frankly, I was suspicious of Ekaterina’s intentions. I didn’t understand why she was bothering with these trials. The most suspicious thing was her power trip. She was trying to break us in by making us realize the hierarchical relationship.
“Ekaterina-nim. What is the content of the trial? What do I have to do?”
“I saw a small lake on the way to Veroprin. It’s the lake to the east of here. Bring me the jewel from that lake.”
“A jewel…? What kind of jewel is it?”
“You’ll know when you see it. It looks like a jewel to anyone. Surely you’ve seen a jewel at least once in your life, haven’t you?”
“…Of course, I have.”
I had expected it, but Ekaterina had intended this from the start. Otherwise, this trial made no sense.
“You have to solve the trial alone, and don’t get help from anyone else. The deadline is before sunset today. If you don’t return, or if you return without the jewel… Heh heh. You know what will happen without me saying it.”
Looking at the sneer on her lips, she seemed to think I would fail. If she wasn’t a beautiful woman, I would have poisoned her breakfast right away.
‘I still have some aphrodisiac left, should I feed it to her? …No. That’s too easy.’
I bowed to Ekaterina and left the room with Park Suho.
“Hyung. Are you really okay? That woman, she definitely has something up her sleeve.”
“Even if she does, there’s nothing we can do. And I’m confident too. That woman is underestimating me too much.”
“……At least take some equipment with you. You’ll have to go into the water, so I’ll get you some magic tools.”
“It’s okay. Ekaterina said not to get help from anyone. It’s better not to give that woman any reason to find fault with us from the start.”
“Haa…. I’m sorry. Hyung has nothing to do with this… I’ve dragged you into this for no reason….”
Park Suho’s face was contorted with guilt.
“Don’t make that face. We’re in this together.”
•••
Before leaving the city, I went to see Park Suho. He was worrying about me too much, so I wanted to say goodbye.
As I headed to Park Suho’s room, I stopped. The door was slightly open, and a woman’s voice could be heard.
‘Park Suho is alone in his room with a woman? That’s impossible…’
I had identified all the beauties working in the lord’s residence. There were a total of four beauties who met my standards, including Elisha. The other three weren’t as outstanding as Elisha, but still.
“Lucia. I’m okay. It’s not as serious as you think.”
“No, you can’t. Lord Mayor needs to rest as much as possible.”
It was a woman’s voice I had never heard before. A bright and bubbly voice.
At least, it wasn’t the voice of any of the beauties I knew.
“I want to see Hyung off. It won’t take long. Five minutes will do.”
“I heard that Yujin-nim will be back around evening? It’s not like you’re saying goodbye forever, so do you really need to see him off?”
I used the footwork of the Yeongcheon Style. I suppressed my presence as much as possible and approached the door. It was daytime, so the room was bright.
“Yujin-hyung decided to risk his life for me in Ekaterina’s trial. It’s not right for me to just sit still.”
I carefully peeked inside through the crack in the door.
I saw Park Suho lying on the bed, his upper body slightly raised, and a woman nursing him. Looking at the woman’s attire, she was a maid working in the residence.
I focused on examining the woman.
Dark orange hair tied up so it wouldn’t get in the way of her work. A small physique. Her chest was an A cup, and her hips were small too. However, her skin was fair and clean.
Her face was ordinary. She wasn’t ugly, but she wasn’t exactly pretty either. She was a common woman who didn’t meet the standards of a beauty.
I felt my interest wane. What was her name again?
“Lord Mayor. Please, take care of yourself first. If something happens to you… I…”
“Lu, Lucia?!”
Park Suho was flustered and tried to comfort Lucia, who was on the verge of tears.
“Ah, okay. I’ll do as you say. Calm down.”
Lucia clearly had special feelings for Park Suho. But Park Suho didn’t seem to notice.
‘Park Suho is surprisingly dense.’
Park Suho was quite popular even in reality. His face was ordinary in my eyes, but I had heard the female hunters say that Park Suho was handsome. His impression and atmosphere were also comfortable, so it was easy to talk to him.
Moreover, Park Suho was talented. Because of that, he had been approached by several women from his cohort.
‘But that bastard Park Suho has ridiculously high standards.’
That’s what I learned while hanging out with Park Suho. Maybe it was because of his beautiful younger sister, but he didn’t show any interest in ordinary women. The women Park Suho was interested in were Elisha, Matilda, Ha Seunghee… all beauties that were hard to come by.
“I know how much you guys care about me. Thank you, Lucia.”
“……Do you really know?”
“Of course. You guys revolve around me, but I’ve been too complacent. I’ve learned a lot from seeing you.”
“……”
Lucia looked at Park Suho with slightly dejected eyes. Park Suho was just smiling kindly.
Let’s say Lucia confessed her love to Park Suho here. Park Suho would be flustered but would definitely reject her. Why? Because Lucia wasn’t up to his standards.
‘Park Suho. Ekaterina is mine. No, all the beauties in this world are mine. Of course, that includes your younger sister.’
I smiled coldly and quietly backed away. And without saying goodbye to Park Suho, I left the mansion.
•••
After riding a horse for an hour, I arrived at the small lake to the east that Ekaterina had mentioned.
I let out a hollow laugh when I saw the lake.
‘This is a small lake? Is that woman’s eyesight rotten?’
The lake seemed to be at least 2km wide, and the water was overflowing.
‘What the hell did she do to the lake that the water is overflowing even though it’s not raining?’
The water was overflowing. Moreover, the currents were rough, like the sea. If you went in carelessly, you would easily drown.
Splash!
The water splashed high.
“Heeeeeiiing!”
The horse was startled and raised its front legs, starting to buck. Thwack! I knocked it unconscious and tied its reins to a tree a little further away.
‘This lake. It’s easy to die if you go in carelessly. And she wants me to find a jewel somewhere in this lake? Ha…’
I was reminded once again that Ekaterina was a bitch. This was a trial that couldn’t be overcome without special abilities.
‘Park Suho might be able to solve it without much difficulty. By bringing modern items, or using the power of his tattoo to use magic.’
I remembered Ekaterina calling Park Suho an interdimensional being. She must have known about Park Suho’s special abilities from the start.
‘But I’m not an ordinary person either.’
I took off all my clothes and walked into the overflowing lake. I stepped into the lake without hesitation. The water was a bit cold, but I would get used to it soon.
‘One of the skills I have is the Blessing of Water.’
I could walk on the water’s surface, breathe underwater, and move freely in the water.
I entered the lake. The currents inside were rougher than they looked from the outside. But it wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t withstand it.
‘I can see well too. It’s probably right to go towards the center of the lake first.’
I swam while scanning the bottom. There was only one thing I didn’t want. That the jewel wasn’t buried in the mud. If it was, it would take twice as long.
‘Found it.’
Fortunately, the jewel wasn’t buried. The jewel was a bright red ruby that caught the eye. It was emitting light from the center of the lake. The problem was that there was something around the jewel.
‘A spirit…? A ghost…? It doesn’t seem like either, what is it?’
It was something made of water. It had no form, but it had a form. It was approaching me. It was fast. I used lightning since I didn’t have a weapon.
Zzzzzzzap!
Blue lightning spread out in all directions from my body. In that state, I swam to where the jewel was. It circled around me. It couldn’t attack me recklessly because of the lightning.
I grabbed the jewel.
It took the damage and grabbed my body. Long, tentacle-like things wrapped around my arms, legs, and neck, pulling me to the bottom of the lake.
I fell to the bottom. The tentacle wrapped around my neck tightened. It seemed like it was trying to suffocate me to death.
‘You should have tried to break my neck instead. Lightning!’
I increased the output of the lightning. My surroundings flashed with lightning. And I felt the tentacles that were binding my body disappear.
The currents of the lake calmed down. I went up and surfaced. The overflowing water of the lake slowly disappeared and returned to normal.
‘Huh?’
There was a savory smell.
Hundreds of fish that had been electrocuted were floating on the water. I had grilled all the fish that were nearby.
‘The first trial. It ended easier than I thought.’
I returned to the city of Veroprin.
•••
“……”
When I returned with the jewel in less than three hours, I could see Ekaterina’s crumpled face.
“Is this the jewel you were looking for?”
“……That’s the jewel. You managed to get it quickly. You didn’t get help from anyone else, did you?”
“I solved it alone. There was something guarding the jewel, but when I defeated it, the overflowing lake became calm.”
Ekaterina stared intently at the jewel, turning it this way and that, then nodded.
“It doesn’t seem like a lie. I’ll admit it. You passed the first trial.”
“I’m glad you admit it.”
“Did you think I would try to force it? I’m Ekaterina Vasilinova. I admit what I have to admit.”
“No. I didn’t think that… If you misunderstood, I apologize. I’ll be going now.”
I tried to step back for now. To avoid provoking Ekaterina.
“Stop.”
I stopped.
Ekaterina walked towards me, clicking her heels. She stared at me intently from a distance where she could reach out and touch me. I was taller, so her clear sky-blue eyes looked up at me.
‘Looking at me like that makes me want to knock you down.’
After staring at me for a while, Ekaterina tilted her head and looked at me with a strange expression.
“It’s strange. Even now, you just look like a commoner… But seeing how quickly you finished my trial, you’re not a commoner after all….”
“A commoner… Me? Even though I look like this, I’m recognized as a genius in my world.”
“You’re just a commoner in my eyes. Or are you doubting my eyes right now?”
“That’s not it. I just wanted to say that I’m not as weak as you think I am.”
“Is that so? Shall we check it out?”
Ekaterina smirked. A water whip extended from her index finger and wrapped around my body.
“…You can’t even dodge this? Park Suho dodged this attack more than 10 times, but you…”
“You seem to be mistaken. It’s not that I couldn’t dodge it, it’s that I didn’t dodge it.”
