Chapter 46

Chapter 46

After sending Ha Cheol-ryong away,

Kang Ha-min firmly warned Baek Cheon-myeong and Siriel never to fight each other.

"I summoned both of you. It'll be a problem if you keep fighting from now on. So never, absolutely never fight each other."

"Yes! Lord, I shall obey your command!"

"Understood."

Thankfully, both Siriel and Baek Cheon-myeong listened for now.

Neither seemed pleased with the other.

Still,

their master's command came first.

But thanks to this, Kang Ha-min realized one thing for certain.

There's no way these two can climb the Tower together.

He had hoped that if Baek Cheon-myeong ever had trouble climbing the Tower,

another corpse could help him.

But in their current state,

there was no chance the two could climb together.

He should forget about that idea for now.

If those two started fighting inside the Tower,

forget clearing it, something irreversible might happen.

"And Ms. Siriel, I don't want to conquer this world or make it submit to me."

"What? Then what is Lord's goal?"

Why was she acting like conquering the world was the obvious goal?

"Safety first, safety above all. My goal is to live a safe and ordinary life."

"...Ordinary?"

Siriel looked like she couldn't understand.

"Then, Lord, you're not planning to brainwash all the world's leaders into slaves, or create an underground organization to take control of the world?"

Why could she say things like that so casually?

Had she done all of that before?

"No! I'm not doing anything like that. I have absolutely no intention of doing that."

If he did something like that,

the entire world would become his enemy.

That was impossible for an Estrogen Man, a timid man, a weak man, and a Shih Tzu Man!

Of course Kang Ha-min was human too.

Somewhere inside him,

there was a tiny desire to become famous and feel proud of himself.

But that desire was truly tiny.

If it actually happened,

he would probably panic and run away.

So world conquest had never even crossed his mind.

"You do intend to save the world, don't you?"

Baek Cheon-myeong quietly added.

"...Well, I live in this world, so I don't really have a choice."

If the world disappeared,

Kang Ha-min would disappear with it.

If he wanted to live,

the world needed to exist.

Though technically, Baek Cheon-myeong was the one saving the world by climbing the Tower.

Either way,

they had to do what needed to be done.

"...Lord intends to save the world?"

Siriel asked with wide eyes.

"Ahem, yes, for now. They said a Second Trial will come if we can't clear the Tower."

Saying it himself was embarrassing.

It sounded like he was talking about something grand.

Then Siriel's expression changed.

"I see. Understood. I, Siriel, shall follow Lord's will and protect this world as well!"

"Sure you will."

Baek Cheon-myeong mocked her as usual.

After Siriel joined them,

Kang Ha-min decided to visit Iziris since they were already inside the Heavenly Spirit Medicinal Forest.

"...A World Tree?"

Siriel tilted her head as though she recognized it.

"Ms. Siriel, do you know about World Trees too?"

"Ah, yes. I saw one while climbing the Tower."

Then perhaps it had been on Iziris's floor.

"I never thought I'd see one here again. Come to think of it, what exactly is this place?"

"A Secret Floor of the Tower."

Baek Cheon-myeong answered for him.

Siriel's eyes widened.

"What?"

Then, for some reason, she praised Kang Ha-min.

"As expected of Lord!"

Even from Kang Ha-min's perspective,

the Secret Floor was extraordinary.

Even after holding the Heavenly Spirit Medicinal Forest and the World Tree,

there was still an enormous amount of empty space.

I wonder what else will fill it in the future.

It was still a place full of mysteries.

While the three talked,

they eventually arrived beneath the World Tree.

Its roots were far larger than buildings.

Mechanical devices had been attached all over those massive roots.

Thick metal pipes,

light-concentrating devices,

pressure regulators,

and countless other machines.

When had they built this much?

Kang Ha-min approached in surprise.

There, he saw Iziris and Master Craftsman Im Tae-jeon.

Both of them looked like engineers.

Their faces were covered in black soot,

and they were discussing something in front of a blueprint.

Hadn't Iziris said she was an empress?

She looked incredibly far removed from politics right now.

"Heh, hehehe. Sir Im Tae-jeon, you truly are an excellent engineer. Discussing ideas with you is always enjoyable!"

"Not at all. Your Majesty is the true engineer here. Every time we exchange ideas, I'm constantly amazed. I learn a lot from you."

They had become quite close.

It was nice to see them working together so well.

Still,

why did the machines they were making seem more dangerous every time he looked?

"Iziris, Mr. Im Tae-jeon."

"Ah, Mr. Kang Ha-min! You've come!"

The moment Kang Ha-min appeared,

Im Tae-jeon immediately bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle.

"Ah, yes. Yes."

It was incredibly uncomfortable when a middle-aged man bowed to him like this.

Had Ha Cheol-ryong ordered him to act this way?

But Im Tae-jeon's eyes genuinely sparkled when he looked at Kang Ha-min.

Kang Ha-min was currently the major investor paying for everything.

And that investor was allowing an engineer to freely build everything he had ever imagined.

To Im Tae-jeon,

Kang Ha-min was practically a god.

"Hmm, you've arrived."

Meanwhile,

Iziris puffed out her chest proudly.

After being praised by Im Tae-jeon all day,

her confidence had risen higher than ever.

At least until a shadow grabbed her and lifted her upside down into the air.

"Eek!"

"Who is this little brat, and why is she being so rude to Lord?"

Iziris screamed while hanging upside down.

"W, what are you doing?! I am an empress!"

"You're noisy. Lord, should I educate her?"

"Kyaaa!"

Honestly,

Iziris could probably use a little discipline.

Still, she was starting to tear up.

That was enough.

"Ms. Siriel, put her down."

"Yes, Lord."

Siriel obeyed Kang Ha-min's orders faithfully.

"Sniff."

Iziris sniffled and hid behind Kang Ha-min.

She had already figured out that this was the only safe place for her.

"Iziris, is everything going well?"

"...It is going well. We should be able to achieve resonance within a month."

One month.

"Once you extract the energy, can we use it too?"

"Yes. We have been working with that in mind from the beginning."

Im Tae-jeon answered immediately.

They would be able to use a World Tree reactor.

That was good news.

Kang Ha-min still hadn't decided exactly what they would use it for.

But solving the energy problem would immediately improve the lives of the Returnees living here.

That alone made it valuable.

"Thank you. Please keep working hard."

"Of course. I will pour every bit of pride I have as a Master Craftsman into this."

Im Tae-jeon radiated pride.

People who took pride in their work were impressive.

That was enough about this topic.

Kang Ha-min brought up the real reason he had come.

"Iziris, there's something I want to ask you."

"What is it?"

"I received something called the Dew of Genesis."

He took out the Dew of Genesis he had brought with him.

That slimy texture was still horrible.

The moment Iziris saw it,

her eyes widened.

"The Dew of Genesis?"

"Do you know about it?"

"As far as I know, it is connected to the origin of the Fairy Race. It is said to be what gave birth to the ancient fairies. Why do you have such a thing?"

The Tower gave it to me.

"Does that mean fairies can be born from this?"

"That is what I have heard. I do not know anything beyond that."

So that was all.

For now,

he would keep it.

If he had the opportunity,

he should ask Yu A-rin about it too.

That was everything Kang Ha-min needed to do today.

He was about to leave.

Then Baek Cheon-myeong called him.

"Master."

"Where are you going? Your schedule is finished, so now you must train."

Uh.

Right.

"Didn't you say you wanted to become strong enough to at least protect yourself?"

He had said that.

Kang Ha-min bitterly nodded.

"Yes. Let's go."

He had to get stronger.

After finishing his training,

Kang Ha-min returned home and collapsed.

Beside the sofa where Baek Cheon-myeong was watching television,

a shadow rose.

Silver-white hair.

One red eye and one golden eye.

It was Siriel.

Siriel possessed an exotic, breathtaking beauty.

Baek Cheon-myeong looked like the embodiment of Eastern beauty.

Their appearances were as opposite as their personalities.

But there was one thing they had in common.

"Bat, what do you think of Master?"

They both placed Kang Ha-min above everything else.

Siriel had spent the entire day beside Kang Ha-min.

Baek Cheon-myeong was curious about her opinion.

"He's in danger."

Siriel gave her answer.

Danger.

What did she mean?

"It's not bad that he's cautious and afraid of many things. But his heart is soft. Far too soft."

"You're right. Master is too softhearted."

"As time passes, Lord will experience more and more dangerous situations."

Kang Ha-min was currently being targeted by several forces.

Of course,

Baek Cheon-myeong was standing in front as a decoy.

Still,

there might come a day when Kang Ha-min's ordinary life collapsed.

Especially with Kang Ha-min's soft personality.

Siriel gave a quiet warning.

Baek Cheon-myeong slowly raised his head after hearing it.

"No. This body thinks differently."

"...Differently?"

Siriel's eyes widened at the unexpected answer.

"Bat, how much have you heard about Master's actions until now?"

"Most of it, I think. About the country called America targeting Lord, and various other things."

"Yes. And all of those were things this body couldn't predict or accomplish."

"...What do you mean?"

When Siriel looked confused,

Baek Cheon-myeong explained.

"It's simple. If it were you or this body, we would have destroyed everything and ended it there."

"But Master chose to embrace them instead, and in doing so, made them his."

Neither of these two could make the same choices as Kang Ha-min.

By nature,

both of them killed enemies without hesitation.

They only restrained themselves because they faithfully followed Kang Ha-min's orders.

When it came to Deus,

when it came to the Returnees,

if Baek Cheon-myeong or Siriel had made the decisions,

everyone involved would have been slaughtered.

But Kang Ha-min hadn't done that.

Instead,

he spoke with them

and accepted them.

As a result,

America and Deus were desperately trying to build a friendly relationship with Kang Ha-min.

The Returnees had built a village inside Kang Ha-min's Heavenly Spirit Medicinal Forest.

Kang Ha-min himself hadn't realized it.

But the number of forces friendly toward him continued to grow.

Baek Cheon-myeong had been watching this very carefully.

Because it was something he himself couldn't do.

"Bat, could you do what Master did?"

"...No."

From Siriel's perspective,

turning those people into thralls would have been far easier.

She too was extremely far from being a forgiving person.

"Whether Master intended it or not, he has a strange ability to make situations turn in his favor."

"That is a power neither you nor this body possesses. It belongs only to Master."

Baek Cheon-myeong slowly raised his head

and looked outside the window.

The Sky Tower stood beyond it.

He quietly stared at it.

"You and this body both failed to climb the Tower in the end."

"But Master is different from us."

There was only one thing Baek Cheon-myeong wanted.

To follow Kang Ha-min's command

and conquer the Tower.

"So this body will do everything possible to make sure Master reaches the top."

After hearing everything,

Siriel silently stared at Baek Cheon-myeong.

Something about him felt different from the man she remembered.

"...That's something I would obviously do too, so it's nothing special. More importantly, I heard Lord doesn't personally climb the Tower?"

"Yes. He still says he refuses to climb."

Even after reaching the Twentieth Floor,

Kang Ha-min hadn't entered the Tower even once.

He was still a Hunter who had never personally climbed the Tower.

"So, Bat, your role is to protect Master."

"This body will climb the Tower."

"No matter what happens, protect Master while this body is away."

"Hmph. You're acting superior just because you came out first."

"I can already imagine you getting stuck later and clinging to my pants while begging me for help."

"Don't worry. This body has no intention of climbing the Tower with you."

"That's my line."

The two were still natural enemies.

But for Kang Ha-min,

they decided to work together.

Baek Cheon-myeong would climb the Tower.

Siriel would protect Kang Ha-min.

The two corpses from different worlds made that promise.

Just as they had once done long ago.