Chapter 78
**CHAPTER TITLE: A Certain Someone Has Nothing of It**
“Apparently those guys really loved the snacks and treats that Rune-nim gave us! Samssik got so excited he was jumping up and down!”
He had listened patiently all the way through and managed to piece together the process.
“So, they became close the moment they started sharing the cookies and treats you gave them, right from the time they noticed Christina’s special cookies?”
The creatures that swallowed the cookies burned especially brightly and looked thrilled afterward. Afterward, Heungmi had divided her share of snacks among the five spirits and trained them at the same time.
“Though it wasn’t intentional, she used the carrot and the stick perfectly.”
Transparent pink eyes filled with longing stared at Rune intensely.
“Heungmi did really well, right?”
“Yeah. Really well. Impressive.”
“I’m so excited!”
Smiling brightly, Heungmi hugged the Baekya sitting beside her and struck a victory pose.
Rune, watching the spirits, drifted into another thought.
“So, mana food is what drives the growth of the spirits…”
Rune recalled that his subordinate Dullahan was also a “Spirit Knight.”
His loyal spirits were filled with immense darkness.
The problem was that he couldn’t use the same method as Heungmi.
“So, if Dullahan could eat mana food, would he be able to see the same effects?”
Right now Dullahan wasn’t weak, but it was a shame that he couldn’t pursue rapid condition recovery and growth.
Even just the fire spirits Heungmi raised could evolve with continuous food intake. If Dullahan could evolve, how much stronger would he become?
There was only one problem.
“He doesn’t have… a mouth. I couldn’t feed him even if I made the food.”
No matter how he thought about it, it stung.
Rune, lost in thought, was interrupted by Perdition.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
“You know my knight Dullahan? I was thinking it would be nice if I could give him food too.”
“I see. I understand the heart that thinks of subordinates… but…”
Perdition couldn’t finish his sentence and furrowed his brow.
From the way he was glancing around, it was clear he had recalled Dullahan’s appearance.
“Right, that guy wouldn’t have any clever ideas either.”
Armor, helmet, gloomy green eyes glowing through them, a body that couldn’t feel touch well.
And Dullahan’s personality was listed as “gloomy.”
Still, it felt too wasteful to give up on these advantages.
Rune kept pondering.
Heungmi, looking a little envious, speared a piece of cake on her fork.
“Heing. It would be nice if Rune knew that this strawberry cake tastes good too.”
!
Rune blinked at Heungmi’s mumble with the fork in her mouth.
“So. As long as he can know… that’s all that matters.”
Perdition, who had sensed something, poked Rune’s waist with his elbow.
“Could it be that a method just occurred to you?”
A faint smile crept onto Rune’s lips.
“Yeah. I’ll try it.”
“...! Impressive. What on earth is the method?”
Despite the urgent and curious prodding, Rune slipped back a step.
“I’ll try it first and tell you.”
Perdition couldn’t hold back his frustration and frowned with displeasure.
But instead of pressing further, he proposed in a restrained voice.
“Then, when you try it, call me too. That should be possible, right?”
Because refusing would have looked too harsh, Rune hesitated briefly.
“Right, I’m curious whether it’ll work on Perdition as well.”
Rune nodded and showed his approval.
Only then did Perdition’s brow relax.
“Good! Can we head there right after dinner?”
The words carried his hasty temperament, so Rune shook his head.
“It’s already late, and I plan to try it tomorrow.”
“...I see. Thinking about it, you must also be tired. I should have considered it.”
Adequate rest was sometimes necessary.
In fact, Rune had wanted to try the method immediately, but he needed preparation.
“If I ran too continuously, the sleep period might come sooner.”
The sleep period was a trait of the dragon race.
Their innate abilities were strong, but as their power grew, their bodies had to grow accordingly.
The greater the fatigue, the sooner the sleep period would arrive, so it was time for proper adjustment.
“Thinking back, even ten years ago a sudden sleep period found me.”
Not long after birth, Christina’s transmission magic granted vast knowledge, and Perdition’s song allowed him to acquire word magic.
The power infused with the spirit of the forest master, the mandragora, cultivating black roses, and the ability to vassalize.
Gaining and using power too quickly without proper adaptation led to problems.
It was something necessary for growth, but the time for sleep hadn’t come yet.
“And my body is already filled with the power of the entire Dark Clan. If I’m careless, I’ll enter a second sleep period soon.”
This time, I needed to spend time making the darkness he obtained adapt properly to his body.
If the new method worked on Dullahan, Rune would be able to apply it to himself as well.
“If this method works on Dullahan, it would also help me adjust my sleep period.”
Rune finished organizing his thoughts, finished his meal, and moved the remaining dishes to the kitchen.
Heeding Perdition’s repeated warning not to try it without him, he pondered the ingredients and methods needed for production and fell asleep.
The next day.
Rune headed to the Black Room with Perdition as promised and once again cautioned him.
“Be careful not to touch any artifacts filled with curses or deep darkness around here.”
Even the energy emitted by cursed items, though sealed, left an uneasy feeling.
“Are you alright? Even though you have an innate attribute, you’re still young.”
“Of course. I’m making things here with the things around me.”
“Making things?”
“Yeah. I bought manufacturing tools from Jed’s underground market.”
Leading the way slightly, Perdition asked without seeing Rune’s face.
“So the fake doll was also made here.”
“Right.”
“Though the core materials were obtained elsewhere.”
From the flow of conversation, it was clear that Perdition believed the materials from the Black Room produced the avatar.
He nodded, approving, and muttered to himself.
“...So that was it.”
Rune decided to let the misunderstanding stand.
The spirit used to move the avatar was “Leviathan,” the boss-grade monster from the polluted field.
If he knew this fact, another scolding would certainly follow.
“I’ll just avoid reminding him about the dangers of the Water Clan’s territory. It’s not a lie, and if I say I went to a dangerous place alone again, he’ll scold me again anyway.”
Perdition, who already misunderstood Rune for exploiting the Water Clan’s naive nature, would soon enter the cursed dungeon filled with the curse of madness after being consumed by darkness.
There was no need to give him more reason to recall bad thoughts.
“Perdition can’t be allowed to tell Christina about the contrary opinion.”
If I wasn’t careful, he might try to persuade me not to enter a place filled with madness at all.
Unlike the Abandoned Mine Dungeon, the Cursed Dungeon was also a place where the Water Clan’s treasures could be obtained.
In a situation where there were many things to gain, there was no need to plant the possibility of failure by being obstructed.
To stop the conversation from continuing, Rune took out a “Cursed Tool Making Set” from the center of the Black Room.
He then returned with the artifact he had needed from the pre-prepared cursed items.
“These are cursed items? They don’t look that way at all.”
Rune gave a faint smile at those words.
“You shouldn’t judge by appearance, brother. There’s nothing more fitting for a curse than this item.”
“Well… I don’t know. Is it that dangerous?”
Perdition’s response, mixed with puzzlement, prompted Rune to look down at the gem box in his hand.
**Happy Scent Box**
- The strong rejection of the subject weakens the effect or breaks the magic according to the target’s mental strength.
- Hundreds of thousands of casualties occurred after being intoxicated by the scent.
- Recovered by a Gold Dragon Elder with a light seal applied.
“In short… it’s a magic perfume box that creates an enchanting scent.”
“If it’s a scent, does it mean perfume or something? It’s just a toy like this and it’s a cursed item?”
Even after hearing the explanation of the artifact, Perdition still showed no sign of understanding the danger.
But Rune clicked his tongue at the crafty danger this box held.
“I wonder who the maker was. He made it incredibly well.”
The one Rune chose was a luxurious design that didn’t feel like darkness at all, decorated with white pearls.
If flowers or scent branches were placed inside, it created a scent.
There didn’t seem to be any reason to be cautious about it among the cursed items.
It had a beautiful, vibrant, and elegant design that didn’t match the ominous weapons and relics filling this place at all.
Rune added a brief history of the item.
“It’s a box that creates a scent depending on what’s placed inside. If the mental strength supports it, it can be escaped from easily enough. It’s not dangerous if you’re careful.”
“Just hearing that sounds like a harmless toy made for fun.”
“Right. It’s not dangerous, and it’s made so that it can be used anytime and stopped whenever you want.”
“That’s not all… right? Well, it looks like someone put in a flower with deadly poison and used it.”
“It’s not wrong, but if that was the reason, it wouldn’t have been called a ‘cursed item’ even if it was a dangerous item.”
?
Perdition’s brow furrowed with doubt.
Rune told him the answer.
“Things that are easy to handle and provide instant pleasure have one thing in common. Addiction.”
It was better to explain the danger of the box in advance, so Rune continued.
“Previously, there were people who put a plant with narcotic ingredients in the box and got hooked on it habitually, becoming unable to be saved even.”
The hallucination and strong analgesic effect given by drugs.
If they stopped using the box, strong withdrawal symptoms occurred and they went mad, so the smell of blood around the box never stopped.
“At first it was just a hobby between the thieves’ guild and the black-market dealers, but once it was used for crimes, symptoms of drug addiction spread village by village and it was discovered.”
“Hmm. Things like that.”
Perdition looked at the box with eyes that had become somewhat uneasy, unlike before.
“When things got big, the box’s existence was revealed and countless lives were spilled to take it. In the end, the country recovered it as a dangerous item, but even then, nobles held drug parties and ruined the country.”
Sharing an example from Christina’s transmission knowledge, Rune tapped the top of the box with his index finger.
“If you touch it carelessly without caution, you’ll never be able to take your hands off this box.”
“Even a dragon would say that.”
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