Chapter 393: Green Ghost Mask.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 393: Green Ghost Mask.
I shouldn’t doubt her.
Since Luna summoned this item to help me, this disguise mask must surely be of some use.
If I were to fly there on the Nimbus Cloud now, I’d end up exhausting all my remaining energy, but surely this will help with something.
“…What should I do?”
First, let’s calm down.
In the past, I managed just fine even in conditions far worse than this.
I need to perceive the situation clearly and think through what I can do, one step at a time.
Fortunately, Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils is still active, and my Innate True Qi hasn’t depleted to the point where combat is impossible.
Excluding the assumption that I have to use Innate True Qi for movement, I should be able to endure one or two battles.
Right. Looking at it point by point like this, I have more options than I thought.
I might not be able to go faster than the Nimbus Cloud, but it’s not like I have no other means of transportation.
Humans are creatures that seek help from others, so if I ask my father to lend me a plane or something…
Ah, the main body took it, so I don’t have my smartphone. Do I have to find a public phone in this day and age…?
Wow, things are looking real bright.
“Pa… Papa.”
As my deliberation grew longer, Luna began to look anxious beside me.
“No, Luna. Papa is fine. I’m really okay. You have no idea how much it helped that you lent me this mask.”
To be honest, even I thought it sounded like a ridiculous lie, but surprisingly, I was being sincere.
Whatever the reason, Luna is a high-ranking deity born from the stars, so for some reason I might not understand, this mask is likely the most helpful item for me right now.
“I’m serious. When Papa puts on this mask, it’s like I become a different person—I get real talkative, and maybe I even get smarter.”
To convince the skeptical Luna, I put on the spare tuxedo I had hidden under the double bottom of my wardrobe and slipped on the ominous mask.
It had been a while, but my mouth still moved naturally behind it.
[So, there is no need for you to be sad. My Deity.]
…Huh? Hmm, I feel like I’ve calmed down a bit since putting on the mask.
Surely she didn’t give me this just to help me keep my cool, right?
I thought she might be put off, but being my daughter, Luna seemed to have cheered up.
…Well, standing still won’t change anything, so let’s find a public phone and contact my father first.
However, it seemed the heavens hadn’t entirely abandoned me yet, as a broadcast began to echo through the dormitory at the perfect time.
[Ah, ah, mic test. We have received reports of a suspicious individual roaming the campus carrying vegetables. We advise all cadets who have recently been picky with their food and do not have classes to remain inside the dormitory.]
…What? Is that man, Ban Gi-san, here again?
Lately, he’s been appearing so often it’s almost like a scheduled event, so the cadets are quite used to it, but since he is technically an outsider, they still make an announcement whenever he shows up.
Well, it’s not like he does anything grand; he just “corrects” those with severe picky eating habits or scatters vegetables like eggplants and cucumbers before making his escape…
[Hmm? Wait.]
Ban Gi-san is here?
“Papa? What’s wrong?”
[You have my gratitude. My Deity.]
“Huh?”
[Thanks to this mask, it seems I can at least save on the plane fare.]
That’s right. This is exactly the kind of time when I should receive help from the precious villain comrades I’ve gathered.
* * *
Ban Gi-san was sweating today as well, feeling the joy of labor.
“O-oh, it’s been a while. It seems your picky eating has been somewhat cured?”
“Ah, Mr. Farmer. Thank you. The asparagus you gave me last time was actually better than I expected.”
“Indeed. Food eaten poorly during childhood easily remains as a trauma. In youth, the sense of taste is sensitive, making it easy to avoid the bitterness or astringency of vegetables, but surprisingly, they often taste fine when tried again as an adult.”
“Haha, that’s really true. Well, I’ll be going now!”
“No, stop.”
“…Yes?”
“Since you’ve overcome asparagus, the next one is even simpler. You aren’t lactose intolerant, yet you dislike milk.”
“Uh…? Milk isn’t a vegetable, is it?”
“What nonsense. Cows grow up eating hay. Hay is also a plant, a product of the earth’s bounty. Therefore, the milk that inherits that bounty is also a vegetable in a broad sense.”
Of course, even Ban Gi-san didn’t believe every word he was saying.
He only said it because he liked the way people looked at him with a strangely exhausted expression after hearing such things.
“Are you perhaps crazy? Ah, you are crazy.”
“Don’t worry. Soon, you will come to love the slippery texture of milk, its savory taste, and its vast versatility…!”
Besides, to cure the cadets’ picky eating, it was sometimes necessary to put on a bit of an act.
“Aaaah!? Help me…!”
“Haha, it’s no use calling for help…! There’s no way a hero would appear just to stop someone from being fed milk!”
The poor cadet was trembling, but surely, after drinking this warmly heated milk, their body would relax and they would find peace.
[…Why don’t you stop there?]
However, the moment that voice reached his ears, Ban Gi-san had no choice but to stop what he was doing and sharpen his senses.
[Even if there is no hero coming to catch a villain using milk as a tool of terror, there is a villain here who is disappointed by a comrade’s eccentricities.]
“…Go.”
“Huh?”
“It breaks my heart that I couldn’t fix your picky eating, but today is not the day.”
“I-I can go? Can I really go?”
In fact, since he hadn’t let a target cadet go recently, it was natural for the student to be suspicious, but now that he had appeared, keeping the cadet around was by no means the right choice.
[You may stay here if you wish. In that case, I will not stop him from doing whatever he wants to you.]
“Goodbye…!”
Seeing the cadet flee as fast as possible brought a sense of relief.
It didn’t seem like the newcomer intended to chase the fleeing student, either.
[Should I start by saying it’s been a while?]
“…Yes, it has been a while. Are you finally planning to command me to do my work as a villain?”
[Command? It’s a bit disappointing to hear you put it that way. I’d prefer to call it the first step toward our great cause.]
“Haha, right. Since we decided to board the same ship, I knew a day like this would come eventually. So, what do you need me to do?”
[It’s simple. You are coming with me to the Elf Forest.]
“What? Elves? Are you planning to create discord between races? Elves are a race that maintains a fairly neutral attitude toward humans among the demi-humans…”
[And they are also a race that claims human agriculture is a lowly practice that harms nature.]
“I have been waiting for this day. It is time to clean up those pieces of trash and decide who the true companion of nature is.”
* * *
Well, honestly, I knew it would turn out like this.
Elves are a race made of the very tropes that a crazy farmer like him would hate.
In reality, Elves do not farm like humans.
To be precise, they have a special method called Elf-style farming that has high affinity with nature, so they don’t breed plants or modify them to be easier to eat like humans do.
Add to that the typical Elven disdain for humans, and there are indeed those who insult human farming as a lowly act.
I calculated that there was no way Ban Gi-san would stay quiet after hearing that.
“Wait a moment. I have something I prepared for when a day like this would come.”
Saying that, he rummaged through the bag at his waist, pulled something out, and snapped it onto his face.
It was a green Ghost Mask with a design very similar to mine, except for a single horn on the right side.
It didn’t seem to be a high-grade artifact, but it appeared to have a simple perception-blocking effect.
…No, why would you prepare something like that? It makes us look like a matching set.
[You are well-prepared.]
[It’s a fact that nothing good comes from exposing one’s face. So, is the goal the massacre of the Elves?]
[…No, we can’t dispose of all Elves just because some of them make such claims.]
[Then?]
[Your goal is to deal with the hardline Elves who mocked agriculture. My goal is to send a warning to the hardline Elves who kidnapped Chairperson Leilan. Our reasons are entirely different, but our targets overlap.]
[I understand. But may I ask one question?]
[What is it?]
[Is helping the Chairperson this time also for the sake of the ‘Proof of Evil’ you mentioned?]
[I’m glad your question isn’t as foolish as last time. Yes. All heroes, those hypocrites who cry out for justice, must fall for the sake of proving the existence of the one and only Lord of Myriad Worlds.]
[…Fine, I understand. I don’t have such grand goals, but I cannot leave those who dared to ignore agriculture alone.]
The two masked villains at the Academy nodded and faced each other.
…This is a bit much, isn’t it?
[Now then, regarding the means of transportation…]
I was wondering how to naturally get him to pay for the plane fare, but he naturally pointed to his truck and smiled.
…What? This crazy bastard. Surely he’s not thinking of driving a truck when we have to go abroad?
[My truck is equipped with a small warp device for going overseas to distribute vegetables.]
…No matter how I think about it, that’s a waste of technology. Why on earth did you install that on a truck? Besides, going abroad via warp without permission is a crime.
[…Freshness is the lifeblood of vegetables, after all.]
[I knew you would understand.]
I suspected it, but did he really install it for that kind of reason…? On a truck? A warp device?
No wonder that truck seemed to pop up here and there even though it wasn’t an artifact.
…Well, whatever. It actually worked out for the better.
[Is the target the Elf Forest? Hold on tight…!]
[…I ask for safe driving.]
* * *
Meanwhile, Leilan Claudia, imprisoned in a cell, was trying to persuade the Elf King who was watching her from beyond the iron bars.
“It’s not too late. If you withdraw all your statements and apologize, this can pass without anything happening. Your Majesty.”
“Teacher… no, Lady Leilan. If you’re going to lie, at least try to make it a more sincere one.”
At the same time, she was feeling frustrated by his refusal to believe her, no matter how much she told the truth.
“In a small country called Korea, a single hero cadet has the power to drive the entire Elven race to extinction? If that’s the case, why haven’t those greedy humans dealt with the Elves long ago?”
“…It’s because that cadet’s personality isn’t one to submit to others, and he has a moderate temperament compared to the power he possesses.”
“…If you were in my shoes, would you be able to believe what you’re saying right now?”
“It’s hard to believe, but it’s the truth! Things are truly dangerous right now. He will be coming here, thinking his work has been interfered with!”
“Phew, even the fairy tales and legends you used to read to me as a child had more consistency and plausibility than this.”
“No…! I’m telling the truth!”
“Yes, even if you don’t try so hard to convey the danger of humans to me, I know it well enough without the exaggeration. I have no intention of becoming hostile toward humans again immediately, so do not worry.”
Right, she thought it was understandable that he wouldn’t believe her.
Still, she had hoped he would at least show some sign of strengthening defenses or preparing for a potential contingency.
“Then please stay here quietly until the day of the ceremony. The fact that I haven’t used any special restraints is a sign of my sincerity, so I hope you won’t betray me.”
Wouldn’t it save more Elves if they just knelt when Cadet Kang So-hyun arrived and begged him to spare them from extinction?
“I understand your concern, but the guard at the entrance is already sufficiently tight. Behind us, the Fairy Forest and the World Tree Barrier are holding firm, so there is nothing to worry about.”
…Fairy Forest? World Tree Barrier?
“If those things could stop him, would I be this frustrated…!!!”
“I get it. I get it. I will prepare.”
“No, not prepare! You have to surrender…!”
The Elf King, taking Leilan’s desperate cry as nothing more than a bride’s tantrum before the wedding, left the room, leaving her behind.
Later, the Elf King would deeply regret the choice he made at this moment, but that was a story for a little while later.