Chapter 59

The blindingly white eyeballs that had once lost their luster. The eyes that had evoked a peculiar sense of dread were now transformed into a mysterious bluish hue.

Soo-ah, gently touching her eyes and spoke in a slightly trembling voice.

“I thought I would have to live as a blind person for the rest of my life.”

“….”

“It wasn’t a bad trade-off, really. Although the ability I gained in exchange for my sight was powerful, and after becoming an awakened one, my heightened senses made life manageable. But still…”

A single tear drop rolled down her cheek.

“Even though I thought it was a fair trade, waking up to that darkness was terrifying. The thought of living like with it forever made my body tremble…”

“Well, I understand.”

“You can’t understand. The feeling of regaining something once lost…”

Wiping away her tears, Jeong Soo-ah spoke again.

“Was this your intention?”

“Well… I’m not sure if I can say it was my intention or not.”

Cooking dishes beneficial for the eyes was deliberate,

but restoring lost sight was not something I had aimed for at all.

How did she interpret my answer?

“Opening the eyes of the blind… this kind of thing only happens in the Bible…”

Jeong Soo-ah muttered to herself and then flinched, looking at me.

Her blue, glowing eyes were fixed on me.

They looked quite nice, but they weren’t your typical eye color.

‘Is this the influence of the Spirit Vision?’

Ah.

“A miracle…”

“Soo-ah.”

“A miracle happened… Ah. Yes?”

She seemed lost in thought.

Still murmuring to herself,

I felt a bit sorry for interrupting her reverie after regaining her sight.

There was something that I needed to confirm.

“You said you lost your sight and gained the Spirit Vision in return, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“So now, is the Spirit Vision still intact?”

The ability gained at the cost of her vision.

With her sight now restored,

I wondered if the Spirit Vision has also vanished.

If something like that happens then that would be a disaster.

It would ruin my plan to exploit the spirit drone from the start.

With a feeling of anxiety, I asked,

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Ah.”

“Bangul”

Unlike my nervous state,

she waved her hand nonchalantly.

I saw the familiar water droplet gather in her hand once more.

“My contract with Bangul is still intact, and it seems the Spirit Vision is perfectly fine too.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

I was genuinely terrified.

“Since we’re on the topic, why don’t we take a look around?”

As she spoke, the spirit exited the dining hall.

Her gaze, once again, directed at the empty space as before.

The posture was similar, but perhaps due to the cloudy white eyes turning into a deep blue, what once felt somewhat eerie now exuded a more mystical aura.

“Amazing.”

She spoke absentmindedly, staring into the void.

“How amazing is it?”

“I can see the inside of the base from here. I’ve never been able to see this far before. This is truly…”

Trailing off, as if the shock was too great.

For me, it was just good news.

“Perfect.”

This may sound a bit cold-hearted.

But my intention was to strengthen her ability and not restore her vision.

“Thank you… thank you so much.”

Momentarily lost in emotion, she wiped her tears away and spoke.

“I’m really grateful.”

“Can you trust my cooking now?”

“I’m truly sorry for doubting you. I can’t speak for the others, but I will never forget the favor you’ve done for me. I promise.”

A favor, she says, quite grandly.

Not that it’s a bad thing for me.

“Well then, let’s start with the terms of our deal.”

“Right… You performed a miracle, so I must repay you with everything I have… Pardon?”

“We agreed that we would eliminate the plunderers and rescue the captured members of your group. In return, you would join our unit. That was the deal, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, but…”

She spoke with an apologetic expression.

“It’s something I can’t say to my captured comrades, but with the favor that you’ve granted me, honestly, if you asked me to join now, I would do so immediately.”

“That wouldn’t do. We have a promise to keep.”

Promises are meant to be kept,

Though that’s not really the main point.

“Besides, this deal isn’t just for your benefit.”

“Pardon?”

“Anyway, since you said the performance of the Spirit Vision has improved then can you now locate the plunderers’ hideout?”

“I know the areas they’ve been active in. If we start searching around the nearby waters, we should be able to find them quickly.”

“Then let’s proceed with that.”

Though it came off as a command,

Soo-ah nodded and said,

“I don’t know the details, but eliminating the plunderers will help you too, right?”

“That’s the gist of it.”

“In that case… Leave it to me!”

She responded enthusiastically.

What should I say?

The fact that we can now rescue our comrades isn’t what’s important here.

It feels strange that the focus is on how it benefits me.

‘Well, it’s not a bad thing.’

* * *

“Her sight was restored…”

After addressing Jeong Soo-ah’s issue to some extent, I decided to discuss our unit’s affairs and update Min-jae on what had happened.

After hearing the whole story, Min-jae paused for a moment before speaking.

“This is just my guess, but…”

“Hm?”

“Maybe the price of that contract wasn’t actually her sight.”

Not her sight?

“When it comes to Spirits, they don’t really communicate in any straightforward human language.”

“Then?”

“Instead of her sight, it might have been something like the magic in her eyes that was part of the contract. But ordinary people have almost no magic.”

“So, she paid what little magic that she had in her eyes as the contract’s price and went blind?”

“And then, after eating food imbued with good magic related to her eyes, her sight was restored. That’s my guess.”

Min-jae shrugged, emphasizing that it was just a speculation.

However, I thought his hypothesis was quite plausible.

‘If I were an awakened healer, maybe it would be different.’

Restoring completely blind eyes isn’t something that can be achieved through cooking.

I’m confident in my cooking skills, but not to that extent.

“Anyway, this is not a bad thing for us.”

“Right. We can now locate the plunderers’ hideout.”

“That too, but… I had a brief conversation with that woman earlier.”

“With Soo-ah?”

“Yeah. She seems to be ascribing a significant meaning to what happened with her eyes. Given how extraordinary the event was, it’s understandable.”

“What do you mean by ascribing meaning?”

“What, you didn’t notice?”

I could feel that she sees the grace she received as something significant.

But

What’s there to ascribe in the first place?

“Well, even if you don’t understand, it doesn’t really matter, does it? She already feels immense gratitude towards you. So, there’s no need to take any unnecessary risks, don’t you think?”

“Are you talking about punishing the plunderers?”

“Yeah. It seemed like that woman was willing to join the unit even without fulfilling the deal.”

I understand what Minj-ae hyung is trying to say.

I disagreed with him.

“The sooner we punish the plunderers, the better.”

“Why is that?”

“Because eventually, they’re going to clash with us anyway.”

Having experienced it firsthand on the ground,

Our unit is quite a strong force among humans.

No,

Rather, it’s a tremendously strong force.

“But this difference was only possible because of rapid growth in the mountains.”

Now that we’re on the ground, the situation is a bit different.

“Others will be aware of the awakened powers. The moment we let our guard down, the gap between us will start to narrow.”

“That could be true, but…”

“I’d rather fight now while we’re clearly ahead. Our unit members also need to gain some combat experience against humans.”

“Combat experience against humans huh.”

Min-jae hyung asked with a meaningful expression.

“Should all those plunderers be killed then?”

“No, we should aim to capture them alive if possible.”

“Capture them? Isn’t that too naive? It’s just a waste of food to keep them as prisoners. You yourself said killing is undesirable, but I don’t think you need to uphold that principle of non-violence now that you’ve come this far.”

This hyung.

Seems to be under some misconception.

“Did I say I wanted to spare them for moral reasons?”

“Isn’t that the case?”

“Come on hyung. I’m not that nice of a guy.”

“So, we capture the raiders and then… ah.”

Finally seeming to realize something, Min-jae hyung stared at me with widened eyes.

“You’re planning to increase the non-commissioned forces.”

“Correct.”

‘Non-commissioned forces.’

Literally means soldiers who are excluded from ranks.

But now, things have changed a bit.

‘Criminals.’

In the past,

The five criminals who came seeking refuge in the mountain unit mixed with Lee Sanh-ah’s group.

They submitted to my cooking and swore loyalty.

As a result,

They operated as juniors regardless of rank.

In the past, anyway.

Those guys,

Now, they’re quite a formidable force.

“Plunderers are basically criminals, and their minds may be rotten, but, well, can’t we reform them?”

“….”

It’s not a conventional reformation method.

But the results are certain.

‘I’m not particularly eager to use the ‘special sauce’ on ordinary people either.’

Gwang-il is a prime example.

Initially, I thought of just easing his cowardly nature a bit.

But when I see him completely transformed into a warrior.

Honestly, it stings my heart sometimes.

But.

“The plunderers are different.”

They’ve attacked other humans and even enslaved them.

Why should I bother caring about their personalities?”

“Well then… if what you say is true, we could rapidly expand our unit members.”

“Exactly.”

“…That’s a good idea. Honestly, I didn’t expect you to have thought this far. Were you planning all this from the beginning?”

Min-jae hyung looked at me with admiration.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I shrugged and replied, clapping my hands together. “It wasn’t my aim. It just happened to fit well.”

“If that’s what you hope for, then let’s go with that.”

Although it wasn’t exactly a tone of agreement.

* * *

A few days later,

“We’re going to take down the plunderers’ group from now on.”

I stood before the soldiers and spoke.

According to Jeong Soo-ah’s investigation through the spirit’s guidance,

Their group has occupied an entire residential area.

They’ve fenced it off and fortified the area into a stronghold.

Inside, they cultivate crops using slaves,

And the awakened members roam outside the safe zone to raid.

I didn’t particularly feel like praising them.

But when I heard Jeong Soo-ah’s story,

My first thought was this.

“To have built this level of power at this point.”

They were said to be the largest force among the plunderers operating nearby, right?

These guys.

They didn’t seem like an organization to ignore.

Anyway, they were guys we were bound to clash with eventually.

In the end, it might even benefit us to clash now.

“Everyone probably knows, but the enemies in this battle aren’t monsters.”

The soldiers’ expressions gradually changed.

While some soldiers had steeled faces,

None showed signs of hesitation.

Seems like I don’t have to worry about them.

The problem lies elsewhere.

There were soldiers who couldn’t hide a hint of unease on their faces.

“Everyone’s used to fighting monsters.”

But wielding a sword against humans.

It seems some of them still have doubts about that part.

“It’s actually for the best.”

This opportunity.

This is an opportunity to give the unit members experience in combat against humans.

Aside from the deserters, they haven’t really had a chance to engage in battles against other people.

Though they can temporarily alter their minds through the Chef’s Special Sauce.

But the aftermath lasts long.

Using it incorrectly could have the opposite effect.

So instead using that way we have decided it’s better to let them experience it directly.

“Well then… um, I have nothing else to say.”

“Phew.”

“Sergeant Shin?”

“I was just thinking I’ve never tried giving an authorative speech before. But everyone seems ready, so let’s depart.”

Although it was a departure ceremony that lacked a sense of excitement,

The outcome was quite magnificent.

“Let’s depart!”

“For the Legion’s victory!”

The soldiers, equipped with a diverse array of weapons, began marching in unison.

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