Chapter 30: Crazy Saintess Strategy (1)

“Hey, what’s your name? Can you tell my sister?”

“.”

“The man you were with. Can you tell me what your relationship is with Yooseong? A neighbor? An older brother you know? Or… not your father, right?”

Karen and Hoyeon were sitting on the bed together inside Yooseong’s house.

Karen next to him was persistently talking to him with a smile, and with an unfamiliar, friendly attitude, showing that she wanted to be friends, but Hoyeon just had a blank expression and didn’t say anything.

If that guy tries to do something harmful to you, just say the word ‘on.’ Then something will work out.

His master Yooseong had said this while giving a bracelet to the purple-armored female knight just before leaving.

Hoyeon was not ignorant, so he realized that his master didn’t look very positively on the red-haired half-elf.

‘She seems like a dangerous person.’

That was Hoyeon’s first impression of Karen Redleaf.

Although she is a very pretty and cute person, her gaze towards her master, Yooseong, is somewhat unusual.

It was similar to the affectionate gazes that I sometimes saw when I was in the school, like the adults in a romantic relationship looking at each other, but to Hoyeon, who was a child, Karen’s gaze towards Yooseong seemed more than just affection, it seemed like that of a person who was possessed.

It was like the gaze of someone who went crazy while practicing internal energy… or should I say it was the gaze of someone who was showing signs of madness?

‘If I become close to this child who seems to be related to Yooseong…! I’m sure I’ll be able to get closer to Yooseong, right!? He might also tell me various stories about Yooseong that I don’t know!’

Without thinking about how Hoyeon viewed her, Karen imagined how she would somehow become close to Hoyeon and get closer to Yooseong.

‘But… what kind of relationship does this child really have with Yooseong?’

While thinking that, Karen kept her smiling face and squinted her eyes, secretly examining Hoyeon’s appearance.

The child who was just looking at the floor and not saying anything.

The child’s hair color is black, and near the crown of his head, two ears perk up, reminiscent of a cat.

A black-haired water man.

At first glance, gray hair and black hair, a water man and a human.

I couldn’t find anything related to the meteor, though.

The meteor… used to have black hair.

And if he’s half-water man… the most likely outcome when a human and a water man have a relationship….

‘Could it be this child?’

Karen imagined a sexual relationship between Yooseong and a certain Su-in for a moment.

Even if Yooseong had sex and impregnated someone at the beginning of the adventure, Hoyeon’s age is too old to have come out.

Karen, whose delusions are growing, is already halfway convinced that Hoyeon might be Yooseong’s child.

‘A woman who has sex with Yooseong…’

A murderous light passes over her golden eyes.

And Hoyeon, who felt something similar to ‘life’ with his animalistic senses, looks at Karen with wary eyes and tries to move his mouth to say ‘on’ right away.

‘Yeah. That could happen, right?’

However, Karen’s face soon loosens from its frozen state.

‘Yooseong is a man of his time. He can make mistakes… He can change his mind again, and if he’s Yooseong’s child, he’s my child, right? I can understand anything related to Yooseong.’

She even snickers and laughs, wondering what scene she imagined.

‘This guy is weird. Master…’

The image of Karen Redleaf was plummeting inside Hoyeon.

At the same time, he also understood in real time why his master had left a warning to be careful.

Hoyeon even thought of not talking to Karen at all until his master returned, treating her like she didn’t exist, and avoiding her as much as possible.

Growling.

“Huh? Are you hungry? Should I make you something to eat?”

However, his stomach couldn’t hold it in and started growling.

Thinking about it, he had planned to go home with Yooseong and prepare a meal, but the mealtime was delayed due to the unexpected guests.

Groaning.

The child’s stomach showed its hunger helplessly.

“Hehe! Are you embarrassed? Wait! My sister will make you something to eat!”

Karen, who thought this was her chance to score points with Hoyeon, immediately got up from her seat with a kind smile and headed toward the kitchen inside the house.

“Let’s see.”

The structure inside the house was not much different from the workshop in the past.

Karen, who had perfectly remembered the layout of her favorite Yooseong’s house when she received treatment last time, was the one who had the best memory of it.

She could clearly recall where Yooseong took the ingredients from and where he cooked the food as soon as she saw the inside of the house.

Sigh…

Karen opened the refrigerator first.

‘There it is!’

It was filled with ingredients that Yooseong had bought in advance.

But can I use it as I please…?

Well, I’m making food for a child who is close to Yooseong. I’m sure Yooseong will understand.

Karen thought as she imagined Yooseong praising her and treating him to a well-prepared meal, smiled broadly, took out all the ingredients she could get her hands on, and headed to the kitchen counter.

Swish…

She turned on the small brazier that was a substitute for the gas range.

Swish…

She took out the kitchen knife hanging on the wall and cut the food.

“Ah…ah! Why does it keep bouncing off? This!”

“Pepper? Salt? What should I put in it? Since it’s seasoning, it would be delicious even if I put both in, right?”

“Something about the color is strange..?”

As I said before, Karen didn’t know how to cook.

In the palace, she only received food prepared by her personal chef, and while traveling to find meteors, she only bought food or stole it with magic, but she never cooked for herself.

She only knew how to mix magical ingredients, but she didn’t know how to combine ingredients or season food.

Is it okay to leave that person like that?

Hoyeon watched Karen cooking with a displeased expression.

“Ouch! I’m bleeding..I’m bleeding!”

KarenRedleaf ended up cutting her finger while cutting herself with a knife.

“Are you okay?”

“Uh…yeah! It’s just a small cut… You don’t have to worry at all!”

Karen answered with a forced smile on her face, hiding her cut hand at the first time she heard Hoyeon’s voice, and hurriedly looked around to find medicine or first aid supplies to treat her cut hand.

Luckily, there was a first aid kit nearby that Yooseong had left behind, so he opened it and took out bandages and herbs.

“This is something that can be easily treated..!”

And as he tries to bandage the bleeding finger…

Hoyeon’s eyes widened as he watched.

Th… that!

Isn’t that an herb for wounds?!

The herb she was trying to put between the bandage and her finger was in a strange condition.

Hoyeon, who had been running around the mountains and collecting all kinds of herbs on errands since he was little, thought that the herb Karen was trying to use right now was not an herb for stopping bleeding, but a nerve agent that would numb the wound.

“Ah… no!”

“Huh?”

“Give it to me!”

Finally, Hoyeon couldn’t stand it any longer and jumped out of bed, snatched the herb and bandage Karen was holding, and began wrapping it instead.

“Where is it when it’s bleeding…

I have to use this herb!

The herb you were going to use just now was called a paralytic herb!?”

“… I see..! I didn’t know.”

“Whew. Next time, crush this herb and apply it, and when wrapping the bandage, tie it tightly like this, and then finish it off like this.”

Hoyeon expertly crushed the herb, thoroughly applied it to the wound, and tied the bandage in the shape of Karen’s finger.

It was completely different from Karen’s skill, who had only wrapped it clumsily.

“Huh…

If I keep doing this?”

At that point, Karen felt that the situation was developing differently than she had expected and got up from her seat.

“I’ll cook again…!”

“Just sit still!

Hoyeon…

And as I saw earlier, you were wasting all the ingredients!

You were just putting in any seasoning!

Are you making some kind of medicine?!”

“I’m sorry, big sister.”

“And that woman?”

“_”

Overwhelmed by Hoyeon’s momentum, Karen was speechless as she watched Hoyeon quickly get up from his seat and head towards the kitchen.

Clink–

The knife cut the ingredients in a flashy manner.

Hwaruk… bubbling.

The seasoning is added at the moment when the temperature is just right and the taste of the food is absorbed.

“Huruk…

um.

good!”

Hoyeon nods after finishing the dish in an instant.

That’s right.

Unlike Karen, Hoyeon knew how to cook.

And not just any cooking, but very well.

The reason she served raw fish and dried beef jerky in front of Yooseong was because she didn’t have any tools or seasonings to cook in the extreme environment of Sealsan.

She was just eating food for survival.

Hoyeon, who followed the compass that Yooseong had given her and camped out countless times, could not possibly not know how to cook.

“Here.

Eat, sis!”

“Yeah…

uh…

uh!”

Karen was clearly planning to take care of Hoyeon and score points with Yooseong, but instead, she felt bewildered when she was treated by a young child like Hoyeon.

Karen, who was about to speak but was blocked by Hoyeon’s gaze that seemed to be looking at someone she felt sorry for, just lowered her head and ate the food Hoyeon offered her with a spoon.

“It’s… delicious!”

“Hehe.

The ingredients for the dish prepared by the master are of such high quality and there are so many different types of seasonings, it’s bound to be delicious!

Master?

Are you talking about Yooseong?”

“Yes!

I’m Master Yooseong’s…”

Hoyeon paused for a moment as he looked at Karen’s face that was staring at him excitedly, remembering Yooseong’s warning to be careful.

“…I’m your disciple Hoyeon.”

He quickly opened his mouth again and introduced himself.

At first, he thought Karen was a strange person when he saw her.

However, seeing her subsequent actions, his perception of her changed to that she wasn’t such a bad person…

she was just someone who was lacking and needed to be taken care of.

“Yooseong’s disciple…

Your name is Hoyeon.”

“Me…

I’m KarenRedleaf!”

“What is your relationship with your master?”

“Relationship…

hmm…”

When Hoyeon asked Karen the most sensitive question and one that was not easy for her to answer, Karen, who had been hesitating, put down her dishes and spoke in a crawling voice.

“…We were former colleagues.

I did something wrong to Yooseong.

Of course, it wasn’t my intention!

But Yooseong doesn’t even want to see me.”

“Fault?”

“T…That’s…”

Karen hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should tell her story to Hoyeon, Yooseong’s disciple.

The moment he met the pure blue eyes staring straight at him, the words that had been building up inside him rose to the end of his throat and began to flow out of his mouth.

“The first time I met Yooseong…”

The story of HanYooseong and his first meeting in the royal library.

“I think that’s right, too…”

Karen’s story of how, in a situation where no one in the palace would hang out with him, Yooseong always treated him honestly.

And before he knew it, he would even look for Yooseong whenever he went to the royal library.

“I… tormented Yooseong because of the goddess’s actions… almost to the point of killing him…!

No, I actually tried to kill him!

I hated him so much just by looking at him!”

“You can stop talking.

You said Karen didn’t do it on purpose, right?”

“Of course… there’s no way I would do that!

Yooseong… I liked Yooseong!”

Hoyeon, who had been staring at Karen with a tearful face, got up from his seat and patted Karen’s back with his small hand.

“Sob…

Swollen…”

Karen burst into tears like a little child at that.

After crying for a while, she barely calmed down by wiping her tears with the cloth Hoyeon handed her.

“But after hearing all of your story, I understand why Master did that, even though it wasn’t intentional.

How could he look down on you when you did those things to him?”

“I guess so…”

“How about we just wait a little while and distance ourselves until Master’s anger subsides?”

Hoyeon already knew that Yooseong was putting in unimaginable effort to return home.

A year ago, when the goddess’s brainwashing was lifted and she searched for the books Yooseong had read in the royal library, she found a huge amount of records of magical engineering books.

Even Karen, a great magician, found books with difficult content.

However, Yooseong had spent time in Metallica, the birthplace of magical engineering, and on top of that, he seemed to have a close relationship with the Queen of the Automatics, one of the essences of ancient magical engineering.

Karen also knew that there was an information center for the ancient magical nation underground in the Iron Lord’s castle, and that the Iron Lord Queen could access it.

Even without checking, it is expected that Yooseong is making something to return home.

If this continues… I feel like Yooseong will leave before I can ask for forgiveness!

If I just wait for you to forgive me, Yooseong will disappear forever to a place I can’t reach…

I can’t stand it!”

Hoyeon flinched as he watched Karen shouting with unfocused eyes.

The madness he felt earlier was the gaze of Dojin.

However, even as a child, Hoyeon understood why Karen Redleaf continued to chase after Yooseong, her master, even though she knew she would be hated.

This older sister loves her master so much!

Karen pathologically repeated several times during the conversation, “There is no point in living without Yooseong.”

The reason for living is Yooseong, but that Yooseong is trying to return home.

It is said that he goes to a completely different dimension, not a place he can visit.

“I don’t know for sure, but… I hope you get forgiveness from Master.

Isn’t it better to get along with each other than hate each other?”

“Yes!

I will definitely…get forgiveness from Yooseong and be with Yooseong!”

Karen’s eyes lit up again as Hoyeon offered comforting words, strengthening her resolve.

“Master must be tired too…”

As Hoyeon looked at Karen, he noticed that the magic circle-shaped pendant around Karen’s neck was glowing.

“But… Karen’s necklace is glowing.”

“A necklace?”

Karen lowered her gaze to her neck at Hoyeon’s words, furrowing her brow as she looked at the red-glowing pendant.

It was an artifact necklace with long-distance communication magic that the palace magicians had begged and given her in case she ran away again when they arrived at the palace.

Even if she received it, King Seyeon or the palace magicians would surely nag her about why she left the palace without saying anything.

“No…No…This is nothing to worry about…

Okay?

Red?”

Karen, who was waving her hand and talking to Hoyeon, remembered that the light on the pendant was ‘red’ and looked at the pendant again with a stern face.

“The red light is definitely…?”

She had said that the color of the light coming into the pendant was different depending on the given situation.

“Red is… a major crisis!?”

The court magicians had said that they would shoot a red light when the palace itself was in danger of being blown away.

Take it…?

Stop it…?”

Karen hesitated for a moment, thinking that if she took it, she would have to leave Yooseong’s side and return to the palace.

However, if it was a crisis at the royal palace, it was also a problem related to Seyeon, who was a friend of Yooseong.

‘Okay…I’m just checking what the situation is for now.’

Thump-

Karen touched the pendant.

Swoosh–

Light poured out from the pendant and an image appeared.

-You… got it!

-Oh my… I thought you wouldn’t get it again!

There were bearded old men wearing the robes of a royal magician.

They were all older magicians than Karen, but in the magic world, circles are ranks.

“What’s going on?”

Karen asked informally.

The magicians on the screen straightened their posture.

-Karen, the magician!

Something incredible has happened!

-A box arrived at the royal palace and it contained His Majesty the King’s arm and the warrior’s sword!

“What… what do you mean?

The warrior’s arm and sword?

Why on earth?”

Karen, who didn’t know that Seyeon had headed to Makinia with the Demon King and the Heresy Inquisitors to capture the saint, asked back in surprise.

The court magicians on the screen explained to Karen the whole story of what had happened.

-The queen fainted, but after regaining consciousness, she told us to contact Karen and Knight Commander Sylvester.

And she told us to listen to the answer of HanYooseong, the former supporter of the warrior party.

Why did she tell us to listen to the answer of the former supporter of the warrior party?

I have no idea.

“_”

The court magicians muttered in doubt about Queen Elena’s order to listen to the answer of Yooseong, who was a ‘transmitter’ and had left the party during the Demon King’s journey and returned to the palace.

Karen, who heard that, immediately figured out Elena’s intention and felt a pang inside.

Elena thought that Karen and Sylvia had definitely chased after HanYooseong and would be around, so she ordered Karen and Sylvia to listen to Yooseong’s answer.

When the royal family, who did not know the exact information related to the Demon King’s defeat, saw it.

You might think that she asked for help from her former party members, prosecutor Sylvia and magician Karen, in a critical situation.

But Elena, who knew the truth, did not ask for help from these two people, but from HanYooseong, whom her husband trusted.

“Okay.

I’ll tell Yooseong…”

The moment Karen was about to speak while looking at the screen.

Creak-

Bang

“Huh, master?”

“Yooseong!?”

Suddenly, the door inside the house opened wide and Yooseong, with a stern expression, walked in.

“What’s going on now?”

Karen tried to tell Yooseong what she just heard, but.

“Tell the queen.”

Yooseong, who had already been eavesdropping on the entire conversation from outside, spoke to the palace magicians on the screen in a flat voice.

“I’ll go get that loser friend who was taken away by that crazy woman, so don’t worry.”

Her tone was light, but her expression was extremely heavy.