Chapter 533

Chapter 533

“This is a dye called Dark Imperial Ink,” Quandt said while sloshing the liquid in the flask.

Siegfried tilted his head in confusion and asked, “Ink? Dye? You mean the thing people use to color things?”

“That is what most people will think of first, but this Dark Imperial Ink is different.”

“How is it different?”

“Why don’t you take a look for yourself instead,” Quandt said, extending the flask over to Siegfried. Clearly, he wanted Siegfried to inspect the flask with his Rune of Insight.

Siegfried flashed his rune at the flask.

[Dark Imperial Ink]

[A dye passed down as the heirloom of the Black Crow Family, a renowned family of martial artists on the continent during the olden days.]

[They wore gears dyed with mysterious ink to the battlefield and racked up achievement after achievement.]

[Type: Dye]

[Rating: Legendary]

[Note: It is known to have gone missing after the Black Crow Family’s fall.]

“Hmm? It says there’s something mysterious about this, but I've never heard of the Black Crow Family before.”

“The Black Crow Family is a renowned family of martial artists that had produced numerous famous warriors for centuries.”

“But why did they fall?”

“The Black Crow Family were the guardian family of the Offenbach Kingdom, but that kingdom fell to the Ephedrine Kingdom three decades ago.”

“Huh? Ephedrine Kingdom? Isn’t Stallone the king of that kingdom?”

Siegfried was familiar with the Ephedrine Kingdom. He had spoken to its ruler, King Stallone, once when he plotted to teach George the Third a lesson. King Stallone was a friend of George the Third, but he did not hesitate to stab George the Third in the back the moment Siegfried had made a tempting offer.

“Yes, it is that Ephedrine Kingdom.”

“The Ephedrine Kingdom caused the Offenbach Kingdom’s fall?”

“The Ephedrine Kingdom and Offenbach Kingdom were founded by the same ruler, so they are practically blood relatives.”

“But?”

Quandt proceeded to tell a tale from thirty years ago. “King Stallone was the crown prince back then, and a royal marriage offer was sent to the Black Crow Family. The Black Crow Family accepted, and the marriage ceremony went ahead, but King Stallone tainted the wine with poison and killed everyone.”

“What?! S-Stallone did something like that?!”

“Yes. And the king, prince, other royals, nobles, and even the Black Crow Family were annihilated on that single day.”

“O-Oh my god...” Siegfried could not help but be shocked after learning that King Stallone was far more deplorable than he initially thought.

“Was that the reason behind the Ephedrine Kingdom's fall?”

“Yes, and we call his actions one of the most evil things a person could possibly do.”

“I had a feeling he wasn’t a good person, but I had no idea that he was that evil.”

“There’s a reason people call him 'the depraved king.' I’m sure what he did to George the Third has told you what kind of a person he is. The only reason the Ephedrine Kingdom still has relations with other kingdoms is solely due to their military and economic might. Otherwise, nobody would be willing to have any relations with them.”

“Wow...”

“Anyway, this dye was left behind by that Black Crow Family, and our workshop has chanced upon it.”

“Oh!”

“I was wondering where to use it when I suddenly thought of you. What if I used this to dye your gear? Something like that.”

“Quandt-nim... You’re the only one for me,” Siegfried said with eyes filled with inexplicable emotions.

Quandt gazed back at him and replied emotionally, “You are also the only one for me, King Siegfried...”

“...”

Hamchi felt like puking at the sight, but he did not say anything.

‘Owner punk... didn’t you just say that man cannot live on bread alone?’

The giant hamster could not help but shake his head in disbelief at how two-faced Siegfried could be.

***

“Take your gears off. I’ll dye them for you,” Quandt said.

Siegfried took off his gears and handed them over to Quandt. “Here you go.”

“Oh, by the way,” Siegfried said.

“Hmm?”

“I obtained these recently. Can you craft them into anything?”

“Aren’t these the feathers and talons of a Blade Falcon? Oh! You brought its eyes and beak, too! Where did you find these? The Blade Falcons are extremely rare creatures!”

“Ah, I hunted them on Mount Kunlun.”

“Huh?”

“They came at me first... They’re not protected species or anything like that, right?”

Click...!

The door closed so softly that only a faint clicking sound was heard.

“We will now depart,” the chauffeur said.

“Sure,” Tae-Sung replied nonchalantly.

The group of bodyguards got in the black Cadillac Escalades parked behind and in front of the Phantom, and the convoy of luxury vehicles departed.

They were around forty minutes into the journey when Tae-Sung looked outside the window and noticed something.

“Huh? Isn’t this Gimpo Airport?”

He could tell from the planes landing that he was staring at Gimpo International Airport.[2]

“This is Gimpo Airport, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Why are we here?”

“I am afraid I do not know, but Chairman Cheon has instructed me to drop you off at the Gimpo Business Aviation Center, sir.”

“Huh? Business aviation center? So we’re not going to the airport?”

“No, sir. We are heading to the airport.”

“Oh, was that the name of this airport? Wait, no, I don’t think so...”

“I believe the Gimpo Business Aviation Center is the private jet terminal of Gimpo International Airport, sir.”

“What?!”

“We have arrived, sir.”

Tae-Sung reached his destination without receiving any satisfying answers from the chauffeur.

“Hey! You’re here!”

“Hyung-nim!”

Cheon Woo-Jin and Seung-Gu welcomed Tae-Sung as soon as he got off the Phantom.

“What the? Why did you bring me here?” Tae-Sung asked, slightly flustered. Then, he looked around and added, “Are we going to Jeju Island? But why are we here at the private jet terminal?”

“Why else?” Cheon Woo-Jin asked in response. Then, he smirked and said, “We’re going overseas.”

“O-Overseas?!” Tae-Sung screamed and jumped at those words.

***

One hour later...

“...”

Tae-Sung had been forcibly dragged into the plane by Cheon Woo-Jin and Seung-Gu. The airplane was not an ordinary airplane; it was a Gulfstream G650 owned by Cheon Woo-Jin, and this private jet was currently en route to somewhere.

‘I knew this guy was rich, but...’ Tae-Sung thought. He knew Cheon Woo-Jin was rich, but he did not expect him to be this rich. Just then, a thought popped up in Tae-Sung's head. ‘I’m going to suck this guy dry from now on!’

Ironically, the first thing that came to his mind was turning into a leech and leeching off of his unsuspecting rich friend.

“Hey, why are you so quiet?” Cheon Woo-Jin asked.

“What?” Tae-Sung grumbled in response.

“You haven’t said a single word for an hour now.”

“I’m just tired.”

“Tired from what?”

“I’ve been playing the game a lot these days.”

“Come on~”

“What do you mean, 'come on?'”

Cheon Woo-Jin smirked and whispered, “You can be honest with me. You’re intimidated, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

“You’re intimidated right now.”

“Intimidated by what? Stop making shit up.”

“I’m not. You’re intimidated by those beautiful women, aren’t you?” Cheon Woo-Jin sneered while pointing with his chin across the aisle.

“Wow! Your arms are so big, Seung-Gu!”

“Can I touch them?”

“I don’t like it when it’s too big...”

Across the aisle was a group of beautiful women chatting with Seung-Gu, who was sipping on an expensive glass of champagne.

1. The Japanese word for recluse. It is widely used in Korea so I kept it as it is. More info here:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori ☜

2. Gimpo International Airport is the only airport within Seoul City. ☜