Chapter 132
Chapter 132
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Sweet Persuasion
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After listening to Lee Si-woo for some time, Plenitas asked again in surprise.
“You were in the Infinite World?”
“Yes. Jin tried to kill me.”
At Si-woo’s mention of Jin, Plenitas’s pupils trembled.
Hunching her shoulders like a frightened rabbit, she murmured.
“Brother Jin… Yes, if it was him, he would do that.”
As if the mere thought of Jin sent a chill down her spine, Plenitas’s plump chin quivered.
Did he feel sorry for her?
Si-woo offered her a cup of coffee.
“Are you cold? Have some warm coffee.”
“Coffee? Ah, right. There’s coffee.”
As Plenitas drank the warm coffee, she felt her mind grow considerably calmer.
Looking as serene as if she had just emerged from a deep meditation, she spoke.
“What did you put in this coffee? The aroma is unique, and it feels like it’s calming my mind.”
“I added some tea leaves that are popular in the Infinite World. It masks the strong coffee aroma a bit, but it neutralizes the bitterness and has a stress-relieving effect, so I use it often.”
Alchemy Recipe
「Tranquility」
Ingredients: Leaves of the Happiness Tree, Root of the Calming Grass, a drug addict's liver, an ascetic's blood.
Effect: The one who drinks the potion will find their mind at peace.
Condition: The effect only activates in a state of stress.
Risk: Becomes addictive with frequent use. (The addictiveness is neutralized by the ascetic's blood, leaving it with an addictive quality similar to that of a cigarette.)
“Ah… this is nice. What is this? I like it so much.”
Plenitas savored the coffee’s aroma with her eyes gently closed.
Seeing how much she liked the coffee, Si-woo smiled brightly and said.
“If you ever crave coffee, come find me anytime. My door is always open for you, sis.”
“…Instead of that, this coffee. Can’t you share some with me?”
“No. It’s not good to drink this often. It’s addictive. So, only come when you’re really stressed. I have to look after your health, after all.”
“Aww, come on! What’s wrong with a little addiction? I’ll just keep drinking it!”
As Plenitas blinked and whined, she looked like a pouting piglet trying to be cute.
Si-woo spoke with a deliberately stern expression.
“Ahem, sis. Could you cut the cutesy act? It’s making my eyes hurt.”
“Jeez, I’m going to sulk.”
“Even if you sulk, what’s not allowed is not allowed. You know, right? I owe you. How could I ever do anything that would harm you, the one person who looked after me when everyone else was tormenting me? I could never.”
As Si-woo said this, Plenitas’s eyes softened slightly.
The sweet words from her long-lost troublemaker of a brother melted her heart.
She had no idea that all of this was a calculated kindness.
“It wasn’t that big of a deal. Seeing how much you’ve changed makes me happy. You used to be such a handful… but now you seem like an adult.”
“Getting older doesn’t automatically make one an adult.”
“Still, you get wiser with age.”
“No, that’s not it. Someone who hasn’t experienced a moment that forces them to mature will never become an adult, no matter how much time passes. Just like me in the past. You know how I used to live, right?”
Knowing how much trouble Alma had caused due to his inferiority complex toward his siblings, Plenitas spoke in a bitter voice.
“…Still, I’m glad. That you’ve changed for the better.”
“So, about that, I’d like you to help me, sis.”
“Me?”
“Yes. After Brother Jin went missing, the family’s line of succession became wide open. Now… don’t you think even I, the youngest, might have a shot at the family head position?”
“Hah, I don’t understand you, the brothers, or our sister. Why is everyone so desperate to become the family head? Honestly, as long as Father is hale and hearty, it doesn’t matter who the successor is, right? It’s not like any of us has the capability to threaten Father’s position like Brother Jin did.”
As if telling him to snap out of it, Plenitas continued firmly.
“Alma. Get a grip. And don’t forget. As long as Father is still in power, whoever becomes the successor will have achieved nothing but an empty title.”
At Plenitas’s lecture, Si-woo let out a quiet laugh.
As if not wanting to show his twisted smile, he covered his mouth with his hand and said.
“You’re right, sis. As long as Father is strong, no one can become the master of the Graves family. So… I’ll change my goal. Sis. I don’t want to be the successor; I want to be the family head.”
“What? What are you talking about….”
“Don’t you get it? Sis. When I said I wanted to be the successor, it wasn’t to seize some uncertain future, but to conquer the present. Yes. I covet the Graves family. Far more than you could ever imagine.”
Suddenly, Plenitas felt that the Alma before her was a stranger.
She sensed that the strange fervor emanating from him was born of an endless greed.
‘This child… is he really Alma?’
Time changes people, and pivotal moments can transform them.
However, no matter how much a person changes, some things remain immutable.
Their essence.
In the past, Alma had been a timid and melancholic child.
He had always seemed precarious, so timid that he would wet himself at Jin’s cold gaze.
But look now.
Did the Alma before her show any trace of that past weakness?
As if seeing right through the disbelief blooming in her mind, Si-woo spoke in a gentle voice.
“Ah, sis. I’m sorry. Was that a bit much? I guess I have a tendency to jump the gun because I went through a lot in the old days. I was… abused, after all.”
Was it due to the emotional magic imbued in the word ‘abuse’?
The suspicion that was about to rise was crushed under the weight of pity, unable to gain a foothold.
“…I know that Brother Jin often tormented you. No, it wasn’t just you. Brother Jin hated all of us. He always said it like a mantra. That we weren’t his siblings, that his sibling… there was only one in this world. Well, we never did hear who that one person was….”
As she murmured bitterly, Si-woo offered her more coffee.
“You look pale. Let’s talk over another cup of coffee.”
“Hm? Oh, right. That sounds good.”
After drinking the coffee, her mind once again grew peaceful.
Indeed, as if she had never doubted Si-woo at all.
Seeing her calm expression, Si-woo suggested in a soft voice.
“Sis. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, right? Let’s stop with the heavy talk and just catch up. Oh, let’s eat something delicious. How about a steak?”
At the mention of food, Plenitas’s eyes sparkled like a girl who had just seen a star.
“Steak? I’d love that.”
“I have a chef with incredible skills. So just wait a moment. I’ll provide you with an amazing meal.”
Si-woo manipulated Barathrum to summon an expedition portal inside the bedroom.
Plenitas was startled by the suddenly appearing portal, but Si-woo paid it no mind and ordered Harman, who was inside, to bring a steak.
A moment later, an elderly mage and Si-woo’s new butler, Harman, emerged from the expedition portal with the dish.
Plenitas flared her nostrils at the tantalizing aroma of the steak.
It seemed she enjoyed fine dining as much as her full figure suggested.
“Wow, it smells amazing.”
“It tastes amazing, too. Please, have some.”
The food from Barathrum boasted a fantastical taste, befitting the expression ‘a taste of heaven.’
It was so good that the gluttonous dragon, who was crazy about fine food, had remained in Barathrum for the past two years.
At first, Plenitas, perhaps not wanting to lose face in front of her brother, cut the steak carefully, but after one bite, her eyes flew wide open.
Was she moved by the explosion of flavor in her mouth?
She threw all pretense of decorum to the wind and began to focus on the steak as if possessed.
As she was lost in the culinary delight, Si-woo asked in a subtle tone.
“The Graves family has ‘Mabun,’ right? And only the blood relative who has secured the most Mabun can become the family head.”
Mabun was a concept similar to shares of stock, but with a crucial difference.
In the case of stock shares, whoever holds the most shares gains control of the company, regardless of who they are. However, only direct blood relatives of the Graves family were qualified to possess Mabun.
In other words, Mabun was a kind of voting right held by every member of the family.
Every family member possessed Mabun, and only the one who received the support of these members and secured the most of their collective Mabun could become the family head.
With her head buried in her steak, Plenitas answered Si-woo.
“Mhm, that’s right.”
“I heard you have five percent of the Mabun. Can I… consider that as friendly Mabun on my side?”
At Si-woo’s question, Plenitas held out her empty plate.
She spoke with the most serious expression in the world.
“If you give me another serving.”
“Excellent. I’ll bring it right after you sign the contract.”
At the mention of a contract, Plenitas looked at Si-woo with desolate eyes, as if her world had collapsed.
Ignoring the pleading look in her eyes, which screamed to eat first and deal with contracts later, Si-woo mercilessly pushed the document toward her.
Faced with her cold-hearted brother’s business-like approach, Plenitas whined and delayed signing, but the image of the steak shimmering before her eyes eventually won her over, and she signed.
Today, Lee Si-woo secured five percent of the Mabun with two plates of Barathrum’s steak.
Of course, this was largely due to Plenitas’s complacent thought that Alma couldn’t possibly do anything with just five percent of the Mabun, but what was important was that he had achieved all this less than twenty-four hours after setting foot in the Graves estate.
* * *
As soon as Plenitas left, Harman spoke to Si-woo.
“Taking over the Graves family will not be easy.”
“I’d expect as much. It wouldn’t be a core family of the Demon Country for no reason. Hmm, the family head’s Mabun is sixty-three percent, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. As you can tell from the Mabun alone, the biggest mountain to climb is Family Head Lete. Moreover, that man’s… all of his abilities are shrouded in a veil of mystery. No matter how much I investigated, digging up any related information proved to be futile.”
Si-woo crossed his legs and tapped his foot as he spoke.
“Don’t worry about his abilities. The moment I meet him, they’ll be laid bare by my Scouter. By the way… is Jin really Family Head Lete’s son?”
“Do you perhaps… think they are not blood-related?”
“As far as I know, Jin is a primeval demon. He’s likely lived longer than the family head, not shorter. But Lete is Jin’s father? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Then…?”
“I have a few ideas, but they’re still just suspicions and hypotheses, so I can’t voice them yet. Still, it’s worth investigating further. And after looking around today… this place is a lion’s den. From the demon butlers to my siblings. There’s not a single person to be taken lightly.”
“Plenitas as well?”
When Harman pointed out the dazed Plenitas, Si-woo chuckled and said.
“That woman. She seems foolish, doesn’t she? Don’t be fooled. Her level is over 650.”
Harman stroked his white beard, looking quite surprised.
“600… isn’t that the level of a combat division leader in a major clan? For a mere family member to be that strong? Hah, they truly are the most prestigious family in the Demon Country for a reason.”
“The other siblings are over 700. The butler, in particular, is over level 800.”
“800? My goodness, isn’t that on the level of a ‘President’ from Black Night?”
The average level of a Black Night executive was 700.
It was impossible to guess how many of them there were, but they were all powerhouses on par with the Spider Matriarch.
And that wasn’t all. A level of 800 was an absolute powerhouse on the level of a President, someone Si-woo himself had only encountered a few times.
As if satisfied by the fact that such powerful individuals were abundant in a single family, Si-woo spoke with a look of contentment.
“I was right to come here. The Graves family. It’s worth taking.”
“After you take over the Graves family, do you plan to strike at Black Night?”
“That’s right. I’ve grown as much as I can, and there’s only a year left until the Five Divine Seeds awaken. So I have to make my move before they wake up. My individual skills are already lacking compared to them; if I fall behind in terms of power base as well, there’ll be no hope.”
Although Si-woo had made remarkable progress, he was still no match for the demigod-like beings known as the Five Divine Seeds. That was why he had come to the Demon Country as soon as he had made some preparations.
To seize the power of the Graves family and launch a counterattack against Black Night.
“Still… you’re only no match for the Five Divine Seeds ‘for now,’ are you not?”
As if understanding Harman’s intent in strongly accenting the words ‘for now,’ Si-woo shrugged and said.
“That’s right. Unfortunately, I’ve hit a plateau recently, so my growth has been sluggish, but still, in a year… if luck is on my side, I might be able to catch up to them.”
Whenever he thought of the Five Divine Seeds, Si-woo felt the imposing wall of Black Night and gritted his teeth.
He had made bone-breaking efforts, but he had only just earned the right to escape being hunted by Black Night; he was still far from being able to overwhelm them.
Si-woo asked Harman.
“More importantly… where on earth is that foolish Jin being held? You still haven’t found him?”
“No. It seems Black Night has hidden him away very carefully, as we have been unable to track his location.”
“Hah, it’s been two years. I had no choice but to leave Jin for two years for the sake of my own growth. You know, right? I owe him a great debt. We have to find him, no matter what. The suffering Jin must have endured for two years… it’s beyond even my imagination.”
Harman spoke resolutely with a determined face.
“I will find Lord Jin, without fail.”
“By the way, when I looked through the brain Jin left behind of Alma… I found my old best friend. Voluf, I think.”
“Ah, you mean that playboy?”
“Yes, I’d like you to look into him for me.”
“I will look into it immediately. But if I may be so bold, for what reason do you seek such a vile person?”
Si-woo said with a light wink.
“It’s nothing much. As the returned prodigal son, I’m thinking of throwing a ball. A very splendid and intense one. Oh, right. I heard that the most beautiful woman in the Demon Country is quite the beauty, right? I figure I’ll take this opportunity to see her face. I’m curious just how beautiful she is that people praise her so.”
At Si-woo’s sudden declaration, Harman scratched his chin with a dubious expression.
He had served this young lord for two years, but he still couldn’t fathom what went on in his mind.
* * *
Behind a woman standing by the window, staring blankly up at the sky, a maid spoke respectfully.
“My lady. A ball invitation has arrived.”
The black-haired woman paid no mind to the maid, her focus solely on the full moon hanging alone in the night sky.
As if expecting her reaction, the maid took an invitation from her sleeve, placed it on the table, and said.
“Young Master Adrian has requested that you be sure to attend this ball. He said that ignoring an invitation from the Graves family, of all families, could lead to political problems….”
Despite the maid’s repeated pleas, the woman maintained her silence.
Did she feel as if she were talking to a wall instead of delivering a message to a person?
Deciding that saying any more would be useless, the maid bowed deeply with a somber face and left the room.
The room was now empty.
The lonely moonlight settled on the shoulders of the woman left alone.