Chapter 606: Troubles of a Lifetime (4)

[Really?]

“Not yet. You’re not a sinner yet… For now, I’ll have to go to the field. It seems like this has been roughly settled…”

[D-Don’t go. Believer Lee Kiyoung… don’t go. You have to stay here. Where the hell are you going to go? What would I do if I get investigated again?]

“What do you mean? Get rid of them by saying you can’t answer until your lawyer comes. And they won’t come back that fast. It’s already been reported to your supervisor, and it will take some time until the entrance is cleared from above, so rest assured and just focus on your work. You already know that, right? You were watching it during Ito Souta’s case too.”

[You’re not trying to throw me away, right? Right?]

“Why would I do that at this point? We’re on the same boat now. Anyway, even if you’re far away, we still have a way to communicate. I spent more time here than I thought. I need to get back to work as fast as I can.”

I said that, but her anxious face was still bothering me.

This felt a little bit awkward to say, but her expression seemed to match a typical criminal’s face. She had a look that could never come out if there was nothing to feel guilty about.

It was funny to look like that while surrounded by light, but unfortunately, I wasn’t in a situation where I could just laugh. Was she anxious for the silence that came to the hall for a moment? Benignore spoke once again.

[S-Still, can you stay here for a bit? I have to come up with a countermeasure… There are many things to be discussed in

“Then, let me ask you this. What the hell happened?”

I asked that, but I felt my conscience getting stabbed as soon as the words came out. I already knew that Lucifer’s holy sword itself was the problem.

However…

‘I don’t think that’s exactly the case, considering Nelia didn’t mention the holy sword…’

If there were anything wrong, she would definitely have mentioned it. I wasn’t certain, but the contract with the demon was the biggest problem for them.

‘Right. How could you sign a contract with a demon?’

Benignore seemed a little nervous about my question.

As I rushed her to tell the story, she finally spoke, albeit carefully.

[A-Actually, the problem wasn’t caused by the cursed sword.]

“Really?”

[Yes… Believer Lee Kiyoung is not on our side yet, and you’re a human in the position to be active on the continent. In our case, we can’t exercise our physical power over you. It’s not a problem that you’re close to Belial or Lucifer… Of course, if you go too far, you will be judged as the Demon King, and we will send out the holy sword or a warrior…]

“What?”

[Naturally! We wouldn’t do that! Who would dare think of Lee Kiyoung as the Demon King?! In the end, everyone knows you’re with us! You don’t have to worry about that!]

‘…’

[In this case, too, you fell into Lucifer’s twist… so the problem is…]

“Tell me.”

[It became a problem primarily… because I didn’t notice…]

“Yeah? Is it just that?”

Of course, a large secondary problem broke out in a series after that, but I couldn’t help but be embarrassed that the initiation itself was just that.

“Wow, those bastards are too much.”

The primary problem was just because she didn’t notice the invasion of Lucifer.

Of course, as a manager in charge of the continent, she couldn’t evade her responsibilities…

‘But it’s still not enough to drive her as a criminal like this. Even they must not have noticed… Can they detect someone that outstanding if they’re not in the same league as Lucifer in the first place?’

I could be 100% sure they wouldn’t have noticed, even if Nelia was the one in control.

If it were a normal demon, it would have been possible to trace it, but it was Lucifer.

Lucifer herself expressed that she didn’t want to cause a big problem and came in secretly, so it wasn’t unreasonable that Benignore couldn’t catch her presence with her ability alone.

No matter how I thought about it, it wasn’t something to blame for her incompetence. I wasn’t sure of it yet, but it felt like something was fishy with all of it.

I could sense it.

They only required that much for the inspection team to come in and turn the Benignore division upside down?

‘It wouldn’t be strange if there’s actually a conflict within the faction or provocation from other factions.’

I knew that heaven wasn’t much different from what humans lived in, but it seemed that it had a more odd form of power structure than I thought.

I didn’t know what kind of enemy Benignore made, but it seemed it was a considerable tycoon since it could move the inspectors like puppets to crush the continent. The situation was getting more complicated than I expected initially, causing a sigh to come out.

There was a probable chance for this situation to get even bigger.

In the worst case, after turning the continent into a mess, I even thought about taking Benignore and transferring her to Lucifer.

“Who did you turn into an enemy?”

[There… There is no such thing as an enemy… I have a good relationship with everyone.]

‘That’s what you think.’

I felt like I wanted to go up there myself.

Wouldn’t it be better to talk to guys like Varian or Lauren? If she really had an enemy, their side would do something as well.

Since it was no ordinary matter, I bit my lips and started gathering all sorts of thoughts.

“Those bastards are really too much…”

[As expected… I thought you would talk like that. You can take a little break while working… right?]

“…”

Her relieved face was bothering me for some reason.

[The report was a little late because I was taking a break… Actually, because of that… things got complicated over here.]

I thought, ‘it wouldn’t be that,‘ but gloomy predictions were never wrong.

‘There was no contact indeed.’

From the moment I acquired Lucifer’s holy sword until the moment the holy sword fell from the sky, I had never been contacted by Benignore.

My anxiety wouldn’t go away even when I tapped my thigh with my finger.

Although it could turn the entire continent upside down, I thought it was strange that there was no feedback. At the time of the summons of the 27th Corps, she couldn’t intervene because she was bankrupt, but didn’t she intervene right away with the whole Belial matter?

The same happened with the museum event.

When there was friction or close encounters with Myth-level creatures, Benignore always spoke to me first.

Why didn’t she give feedback first that time?

‘Fuck… She didn’t know.’

She wasn’t aware of it in the first place.

‘I mean, come on. Wasn’t there more than 48 hours? How can you not know? Fuck.’

Where and what the hell did Benignore do during that period?

Where and what was Benignore doing for 40 hours?

While the holy sword appeared on the continent, flew through the sky, and even ended their stance, where the hell was that goddess was and what the hell was she doing.

It would’ve been a rather strange situation if it didn’t turn into a problem.

“So, how long were you resting?”

Her voice trembled.

Benignore kept glancing at me as if she noticed it as well.

[I don’t know… this time a little longer… 40 hours based on human time… I think it’s about that…]

‘The faction, my ass… fuck.’

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

It was a violent blow that came down on my neck with power like a guillotine.

It was heavier than the attack I took from Kim Hyunsung when I was in Doom Kiyoung state, to put it a little exaggeratedly.

‘Fucking sh*t…’

My wrath went up to the top of my head in an instant, but I didn’t know what to say when I saw her expression.

The thought that I should have worked with Nelia came in subconsciously.

Her words didn’t even make sense. Even if I considered it natural that she didn’t notice Lucifer’s presence when she came in…

‘You really, fuck…’

[Of course, I didn’t just rest. I was a little b-busy dealing with various problems. As I said last time, I have a lot of work to do… I indeed had my attention averted for a moment, but it’s not what you think. just… Just recently, I’ve been having a lot of trouble. There were many things… like the Elune thing… I was worried a little and was having a hard time mentally… So I guess I couldn’t concentrate on work for a while.]

“Still…”

[Anyway, the problem started there. As you expected, after that, the problems I had were publicized… Of course, I can’t deny that I didn’t do anything wrong… but it’s a bit unfair…]

“No, you shouldn’t feel that way. You made a mistake.”

[Still… you won’t throw me away, right?]

I felt like I wanted to sell her right away.

[T-The demon contract was the biggest problem…]

‘I don’t know anything about it.’

[You’re joking, right? Y-Y-You twisted me to sign the contract.]

‘When?’

[You told me that you would be the notary. You’re not really trying to end it like this, are you? You’re the one that made me do it. Are you throwing me away like an old shoe? The only one I can really rely on is you. Please don’t throw me away. We are in the same boat, you and I.]

I really wanted to go away regardless of being in the same boat or not in that situation.

But as Benignore said…

‘We are indeed in the same boat.’

Our relationship was no longer separable.

Benignore’s argument forced me to become the notary of the contract, and many factors had ways.

If Benignore came out after being imprisoned for tens of thousands of years, embracing everything, all problems would be solved, but her personality wouldn’t let her do that.

Even if she went in with a rifle, there was no doubt there would be a problem in the middle.

‘What can I do? This is my karma.’

Whatever the outcome, I had no choice but to embrace it.

As I started to walk without a word, Beningore grabbed my pants and started to sag.

‘Why is she trying to become even uglier?’

I grumbled inside, but I spoke differently.

[Waahhh… don’t go! Don’t throw me away! Believer Lee Kiyoung…]

“I’m not throwing you away. Calm down. I’m really busy, so I’m going to do some work. Benignore, as soon as I leave, please tell me what was being investigated, exactly what the charges are, everything. Also, please tell me all the details of your recent use of divinity. First, I have to see what sins you committed. That way, I can prepare a countermeasure.”

[Believer Lee Kiyoung…]

“I know you already know this, but don’t think about playing around. You have to tell me the whole story without hiding anything. You must also organize and bring the divinity usage history of Elune trash, by all means necessary.”

[Okay. I’ll do my b-best. Really… Thank you very much… I’m fortunate to have met Lee Kiyoung in my life… I even thought it might be Altanus’s arrangement… If it weren’t for you, I really wouldn’t have been able to come this far. You know that I love and care about you a lot, right?]

“…”

[Thank you so much. So… please don’t throw me away. We have to keep going together. Even after you come up here… okay?]

“Just keep saving divinity. You definitely said you would accept any request.”

[Huh?]

“I will hold you onto your promise.”

[Ah… Yes… r-right. That’s… that’s right. Well, then I’ll be working hard. Way to go, my lovely believer Lee Kiyoung!]

I frowned at the unwelcome cheering, but for the time being, I had to bite my lips tightly.

Having lost there, the investor’s desire to make a profit elsewhere was on fire. Whether it was the holy sword or the 5th District, at least one of them had to produce a good result.

Personally, I was betting on the possibility of the former, but unexpectedly, the first to burst was the latter.

It hadn’t been long since we started full-fledged research. I didn’t know if it was thanks to the Living Alchemy Summoner that I decided to have as my second class, but…

Chimera research was starting to make strangely rapid progress.

‘Won’t I be able to make a homunculus in this way?’

I felt as if I was in a better mood all of a sudden.