Chapter 434 - Arthia (4)

Keeeek! Kyak! Kyak!

After the holy power of the Crawling Chaos disappeared from the clan house, it left behind strange monsters. Without its connection to the Crawling Chaos, the holy power took on independent identities and began to form different vestiges that were too bizarre to have evolved naturally. They were so tough that even Hell Tribulation and Holy Fire didn’t burn them.

However, Yeon-woo hesitated to increase the intensity of his fire power for fear that the clan house might be blown away.

“How troublesome.” Brahm clucked his tongue and cast his magic, aware of the problem. There were several explosions and a large magic square appeared. Holy power was a god’s strength, and he was using magic to return the clan house to its original condition.

Whoosh! As rays of light appeared, the holy power began to weaken. Galliard, who was standing quietly in the back, released an arrow, which split into multiple pieces that descended on the monsters’ heads, making them explode like fireworks.

[Hades’ Spirit Eating Sword is absorbing the Crawling Chaos’ holy power!]

[‘Hades’ Spirit Eating Sword’ skill proficiency has slightly increased. 3.2%]

[‘Atmam System’ is assessing the absorbed holy power.]

[Refinement Process: 32.1%]

[The Stone of Sin (Superbia·Gula) has reacted and is speeding up the process.]

[Final Refinement: 42.9%]

[The refined holy power has been bound to your magic power storage (Dragon Heart).]

Yeon-woo weakened the monsters with Hell Tribulation, Brahm took them apart with his magic, and Galliard and Edora took care of what was left. They repeated this process multiple times, and after a while, they finally got rid of all the holy power in the clan house as Hades’ Spirit Eating Sword greedily ate its ashes.

[You have made a small achievement.]

[You have acquired 50,000 karma.]

The clan house was exactly as Yeon-woo had seen it in the diary.

“It’s been a while.” Brahm quietly muttered to himself with a nostalgic expression. As Jeong-woo’s alchemy teacher, he had had a close relationship with Arthia, and so this place held special memories for him as well. Because he regretted not being at Jeong-woo’s side since he was busy caring for Sesha, his walk down memory lane was especially poignant.

Galliard, who’d believed he would stay in the Tutorial forever, was also emotional as he remembered the child who had followed him around everywhere calling him “Teacher”.

Edora was awed at the sight of the famed Arthia headquarters, but she also glanced at Yeon-woo with concern.

Yeon-woo stared at the clan house. “Let’s move.”

Brahm looked at Yeon-woo and took Galliard and Edora somewhere else to give Yeon-woo privacy.

* * *

The clan house was made up of a long building connected to three smaller ones which made it look like an “E”. There were separate rooms and training areas that were located far from the main building.

Yeon-woo slowly looked around each of the buildings. Although a long time had passed, the cleaning magic kept the clan house neat, as though people were still living in it. It made Yeon-woo imagine countless scenes.

“Hahaha! Why do you look like that?!”

“Haaa. That idiot has caused trouble again.”

“Haha! Yes! That’s our commander for you! Right?”

“Geez, that temper…”

“I love you.”

They were memories of Jeong-woo and his friends, like when he squabbled with Bayluk over chemicals in his lab.

“Ahh! Hey, you psycho! I said we’re fucked if you touch that!”

“Huh? It’s not like this?”

“If you don’t know, just shut up and stay still! Geez!”

Memories of Jeong-woo giggling with Leonte in the storage room as they planned to buy alcohol.

“How much do you think this is worth?”

“Hmm. Probably as much as the armor you’re wearing?”

“Damn. Why is this jewel so expensive?”

“Are you serious? Everyone is crazy about Mermaid Tears. How can a clan leader be so ignorant?”

“Should we sell it and pocket the money?”

“Hey! If we get caught by Leon, we’ll both be dead.”

“Let’s buy drinks with it."

“OK!”

Memories of the nagging Valdebich gave Yeon-woo as he taught him Giant fighting techniques in the common training area.

“Boss, you’re too weak. This isn’t good. Get up.”

“Hey! That’s not fair. Think of the difference between our bodies. Anyway, I wasn’t made for hand-to-hand combat but magic…”

“You talk too much. Get up.”

“Ahhh!”

Memories of napping in the break room with Bahal.

“I want to sleep some more.”

“Me too.”

“Let’s do it.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Memories of wrestling over money with Leonhardt in the conference room.

“Boss, do you know how much money you’ve spent this month? Please…think before you spend. I heard you bought a round for everyone at the pub because you were in the mood? You told me that it was for buying items.”

“Hey. Why are you so suspicious? It’s not like you’re my wife.”

“Someone reported it to me.”

“Hahaha! Dammit…! Who snitched on me this time?!”

“Please! Stop spending so much, you moron!”

Memories of Kun Khr and Jeanne, who always argued with each other, dropping the bombshell that they were planning to get married.

“Boss, I have something important to say.”

“What is it?”

“We’ve decided to get married.”

“What? What kind of impossible scenario…”

“We’re going to have a baby, too.”

“What? When?

Memories of Jeong-wpp with Sadi in the weapons room, with Horst in the backyard…Five years’ worth of Jeong-woo’s happy memories were all there. And in his brother’s private room were Jeong-woo’s memories with Vieira Dune.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Yeon-woo just watched all of the scenes play out, and he saw his brother laughing, chatting, arguing, shouting, and running around with his friends. At least he could see his brother still smiling brightly, unlike at the end of the diary, which was filled with tears, anger, and regret.

Of course, there were memories of his brother’s suffering as well, but Yeon-woo intentionally avoided them. Was there a need to watch them? He was already running out of time just replaying the happy memories. The pocket watch clearly understood Yeon-woo’s feelings because it was unusually quiet.

“Is this it?” Yeon-woo found the room that was in the depths of the main building: the clan leader’s office. ‘Where Jeong-woo closed his eyes for the last time.’

Yeon-woo slowly opened the door. Click. The office didn’t look too different from the other rooms. Jeong-woo had liked reading, so the room overflowed with books. There was black rug on the floor in the middle of the room, and on it were an oak desk and chairs that Henova had made. As though someone had just been sitting there, the desk was filled with pens, documents, and a little box.

Yeon-woo looked around his brother’s office and quietly sat in the chair. Creak. It squeaked since it hadn’t been oiled in a while. ‘Here…’ Yeon-woo rubbed the desk. He was sitting in the chair where Jeong-woo had died, longing for his brother and mother. This was the moment the diary ended, and the next clue began.

The dried-up pens and organized documents were exactly as they were in Jeong-woo’s final recollection, but there was one new item on the desk: ‘The box.’

Yeon-woo slowly opened its lid. His eyelids trembled when he saw the pictures inside of his brother smiling with his friends. He dug through his pocket and pulled out the picture he’d received with the pocket watch. ‘It’s the same.’

The only difference between the two pictures was that the one in the box had something written on the back: “The ninth day of the seventh month of the 6217th year of the Tower. A fun day. From Arthia’s clan house.”

The letters were crooked and clumsy, like a child had written them, and they were so large that they filled up the entire back of the picture. Only one person in Arthia had this handwriting. ‘Valdebich.’

Since the half-Giant Valdebich had been raised as a warrior from birth according to the traditions of the Giant species, he was illiterate. He’d only learned to read and write thanks to Jeong-woo. Although it was important to develop your physical abilities to climb the Tower successfully, learning how to read would give you more options.

Furthermore, Valdebich’s thoughts moved differently from others. He spoke in broken sentences, and only those close to him could understand him. It was necessary for him to learn how to read and write to mitigate this.

Jeong-woo had sat with Valdebich and taught him to read and write whenever they had time. Thanks to him, by the time Arthia had grown, Valdebich could speak normally, although his ugly handwriting didn’t improve.

The box was filled with Valdebich’s other possessions: a small dagger, a ring, and artifacts like necklaces. They were all presents Jeong-woo had given Valdebich.

Kalatus had said that Valdebich had been the one who retrieved Jeong-woo’s corpse and belongings. Was this the evidence? Why had he disappeared, only to reappear once everything was over? How had he found Laputa, whose location was unknown to the members of Arthia, and how did he learn the new coordinates? How did he send Jeong-woo to Earth?

Countless questions flashed through Yeon-woo’s head, and he hoped that he would find the answer here. There was an envelope at the bottom of the box, and neat but crooked letters spelled out: To Jeong-woo’s family.

‘So he did know I’d come.’ Yeon-woo carefully unsealed the envelope and opened the letter to read the confession of a warrior.