Return， Control， and Eat 40

Chapter 40 – After (2)

There was a fact that I realized clearly while sharing information with Doggie and discussing future work.

We, especially Kang Ji-ah, were in a very difficult situation right now.

Since she was discovered to be an enemy spy, of course her account is frozen.
If you try to use magical currency anywhere in the empire, you will be caught immediately.

Besides, she couldn’t even send a call to her kingdom without knowing where her information about her leaked out.
Even though she found out her important secrets about her enemies and her Emperor, she was unable to publicize them or to seek support, leaving her completely isolated.

Jiah Kang was talking about it, she looked at me blankly and she said.

She said, “Speaking of being isolated, the owner did it too much.
The lieutenant was already hypnotized, you could tell me that he knows all the magic he uses!
Why do you only know the master and bully me? I mean, I was really embarrassed.”

“So it was.”

“Yes?”

When she answered her nonchalantly, she opened her mouth.

“Suga was caught off guard when you were genuinely flustered.
I’m the type to do my best in acting, but rather than a genuinely surprised reaction, I can’t really feel it.
By any chance, if Suga notices something strange and starts to shy away from it, it could be annoying, so I did it on purpose.
I just want to see how you react to a sudden situation.”

Jiah Kang can’t keep her mouth shut and shudders at her betrayal.
What I said to her was the same as what she said of using her as her bait and testing her at will.
From the victim’s point of view, anger can rise.

“It’s too much!”

“What are you doing too much? I just want you to win.”

“Mr. Lee…”

Rather brazenly, Kang Ji-ah stuck out her lips.

She has the face of being betrayed by the master she trusted so much.
I’m a little sorry

But I don’t think I did anything wrong.
Even if the same situation comes again, I will use the same method without hesitation.
Doggie let out a sigh as if realizing that I didn’t care at all about his sad gaze.

“Okay. Then, how was my skill in the eyes of the master?
I’m not really curious about anything, just for reference…”

Just looking at it, Doggie was very curious about my evaluation and said that with a look and gesture that would kill him.

“The movements weren’t bad, and the actions were pretty quick.
It was good that I was alert and tried to locate the enemy as soon as the first attack missed.
It was okay to follow the instructions without hesitation.
He seems to have fought well as a team leader over the past few years, and he certainly looks as seasoned as he has been training since he was young.”

“Lol…”

She liked it, not knowing what to do with my compliments.
I just ask for reference, and he smiles as if he is very happy.
I just wanted to give praise because I heard all the good points that I had, but that wasn’t an action that would help our doggie’s future.

Her face, which looked happy at the criticism that followed, gradually hardened.

“But I don’t know if it’s a beast or a match, but I don’t have any experience in person-to-person combat.
I fell for the vice-captain’s provocation and got angry easily.
You probably didn’t know that the commander used magic to hide himself while you were screaming.
Whether it’s a game or a duel, the one who gets pissed off loses.
Even if you’re angry, you shouldn’t show it.
It’s basic not to take your eyes off the enemy’s eyes.
Did you know that everyone is supposed to light up their eyes the moment they use magic?
If you had been calmly looking into Suga’s eyes, you might have been able to catch the timing of the magic and give it an effective hit.
There are other things to say, but to conclude, Jia, the person who trained you must have cared for you too much.
The basic skills are great, but you didn’t teach me how to fight to death.”

When I stopped talking, I glanced at the doggie, and I wondered where the happy smile from earlier had gone. Her tail was drooping and her face was sullen.
It seemed that he couldn’t come to his senses when he hit him so harshly.
When I saw the doggie sulked, my heart ached, so I threw out a word.

“Don’t be too heartbroken. I was sincere when I praised you.
At such a young age, that’s pretty amazing.”

“…It’s inconsolable.
Haa… I thought I put in a lot of effort, but I was just a kid.
It can’t go on like this…”

Doggie made a sad expression.

I’m being strict, but that’s the case in theory. You don’t have to take it too seriously.

Doggie had a talent.
At the point of succeeding in assassinating me, that’s unmistakable.

“Cheer.”

“Of course. Because I can’t afford to stretch out.
I won’t give up until I mess with all those ten fingers or whatever.”

Judging from the words of the unit commander, there was a high possibility that Kang Ji-ah’s enemy was indeed someone from the imperial family.

It seems that the emperor often bestows special powers on his followers, so it was obvious that he would have bestowed powers on his family first, unless there were some serious flaws.

A human who can handle poison.
Whatever the process, it is a great fortune to have found the clues leading to them so quickly.
If you find the emperor’s finger and hit it, he will have some useful information.
Since I said that they are the ones who are favored by the emperor and control the empire behind the scenes, that should be enough.

The problem was if the assumption that they dealt with miasma like me was true.

Mind-controlling magic is really nonsensical magic.

I use it so naturally that it doesn’t really feel real, but it’s impossible for any powerful mage to directly interfere with a person’s mind.
No wizard with unique magic had ever done that.

The reason why I am the only exception is probably because of the miasma.
I’m not sure about the principle.

Not too long ago, it was thought that miasma’s ability to dissipate mana neutralized the human mental barrier.
However, after I got the magic that activates after death and goes back to the day before, I couldn’t figure out what was what.
It’s to the point where it’s comfortable to stop worrying about the principle and think that if you use magic with poisonous magic, it’s super strong.

I wish I was the only one who used miasma and powerful magic.

I mean, I’m not an optimistic enough person to judge so easily.
Since they have sensed and tracked my magic, it was right to assume that they also know how to deal with miasma.
We had to prepare for what kind of bizarre magic they would try to kill us with.

In fact, it was said to be prepared, but there was only one way I thought of.

I am also proud of my magic.
There is no one better than me at manipulating people’s minds.
No matter what kind of magic the opponent uses, it’s just a matter of taking away that person as a whole.

If possible, I just hope that the emperor’s followers are the kind of people that will stimulate my collecting desire.

When I said my thoughts, Kang Ji-ah, who was sullen, asked.

“It would be nice if that were the case…
You will have to manipulate many people to reach the upper reaches of the Empire.
Didn’t the owner come into the hunting unit to collect poisonous spirits?
You can’t use it like magic, can you?”

Actually, she was right.
The storage capacity, which had been filled up to 50 pages, had been considerably reduced due to various things.

I used 5 pages every time I returned, 1 page for Kang Ji-ah and the commander, 2 pages for the commander, and 1 page for fighting the damn robot.

He killed a lot of young beasts and recovered a page, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the amount he consumed.
Poison, like money, disappears when you use it, but it is not easy to collect it.
Assuming that you are honestly wandering around and working as a hunter, it will take you a year to collect 10 pages.

Excluding hypnosis magic or regression magic, there are many cases where miasma is used.
In particular, it is poison that becomes my trump card in battle.
It’s not enough even if you fill it up to the upper limit, but it’s only 36 pages.

There was a feeling that it was too lacking to fight against the emperor.

It was fortunate that there were advantages to us, though.
It was one of them that I was not greatly suspected.

My name was not listed in the order given to the unit commander.
They knew about the approximate location where the regression magic was activated, but they couldn’t identify me personally.
We’ll have to make good use of this in order to pounce on the gaps they’re not paying attention to.

“As you may know, the emperor is looking for a miasma user, namely me.
It looks like they’ve pinned you as a prime suspect, who they’ve been keeping an eye on for a while, but we take advantage of this.
Coincidentally, the commander has the right magic, so he fakes your death to buy time.
The mission is over. Even if you disappear, the people around you won’t think it’s strange.
Leave that procedure to the unit commander and you’re hiding in my tent.”

“Is that how you buy time and work as a wandering hunter?”

“No. It’s taking too long to put together like that.”

Kang Ji-ah is surprised.
It seems you understand what I mean.
I said that I would seek out the miasma of the ancient beast.

The feeling of sucking in the miasma left by a thousand-year-old beast is still vivid.
A dense miasma that is incomparable to wild beasts or those who have just been born.
The feeling of filling the blood vessels throughout the body.
It felt like my soul was on fire, like it was taking me to the next level.

I actually got a new magic.

I don’t know if that will happen every time I absorb the power of the ancient beasts.
But I think it’s well worth a try.

My strength is not enough now to fight the country.
In vulgar terms, leveling up was essential.

“Haven’t ancient beasts been hunted or disappeared for the last two hundred years?
Even these ruins would have remained hidden underground had they not been exposed by an accidental earthquake.
Even if you’re looking for an ancient beast in good shape, hunting it is another matter…
It’s too difficult.”

“Who honestly hunts them?
Even those who are already dead leave poison.
Even if you defeat an ancient beast, if you don’t clean up the corpse, the miasma will linger for hundreds of years. There are several places like that.
The closest place from here would be near Daejeon.
So, the next destination is Daejeon.”

“I’ve never heard of such a word. I thought about it the other day, but the owner really knows everything.
Did you read that in a book?”

Jiah Kang asked.

“That’s right. Anyway, you understand the plan, right?
You probably have a lot of things to rely on. You smell poison better than anyone else, right?”

“Sure.”

She patted her ears.
It feels good to hear that you will rely on yourself.
But that was only for a moment, and she soon lowered her head despondently.

“I feel like I depend too much on my master…
I won’t be able to move in the tent for the time being, and since my identity has been discovered, it will be difficult to even go out to buy groceries.
The money I saved is no longer usable.”

“What are you talking about? You kept a strict secret.
There must have been a mistake on the part of the kingdom, and you’ve got all your doubts so I can act more freely.
And enough money for us. I have enough.
I don’t think it’s a waste of money for a cute doggie, so don’t worry about it.”

“…Now I can’t live without my master.”

Kang Ji-ah said as if she was depressed.
However, seeing her wagging her tail, it seemed that the feeling of completely relying on me for life was not too bad.

It’s like a dog.

I grinned and patted her on the head.

“Let’s talk about the rest when our Suga comes. Lock the door and wait until evening.
I’m going to go buy groceries and necessities and have dinner outside.”

“I will faithfully wait until my master returns without eating.”

“It was kind of funny. Anything here can be used, so I’m making my own.”

“Have a good trip, master.”

I playfully tugged at her cheek as she threw a joke, and left the tent while being seen off behind her back.

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