The expedition team headed back after Abis’ neok returned to her body. However, their expedition wasn’t over yet. Even though they had reached their goal, the expedition didn’t officially come to an end until they returned safely to the capital. Thus, Hawa, who had been guiding the team at the very front, was now in the middle of the group. The forefront of the expedition team was the most dangerous position. Since they just needed to trace back the same path they used to reach their destination, there was no need for Hawa to put herself in danger again.
The expedition team didn’t lower their guard for days, but they allowed themselves to relax once they passed the border. Chi-Woo snuck a glance at Hawa, who was walking next to him. He was slightly surprised every time he saw her. Even though all humans showed their emotions, Hawa had been emotionless for 23 hours and 59 minutes out of a day in earth time, and her expression was always blank.
She reminded him of how he used to be when he was young. He softly said, “Ms. Hawa, I heard that you’ve reached an awakening?”
Hawa threw Chi-Woo a glance before going back to staring ahead. In a quiet voice, she replied, “…Yes.”
“I also heard that you saved my life.”
“…”
“And two times and that.”
“…”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me.” Hawa finally spoke up again.
Chi-Woo replied, “Anyways, congratulations on awakening your powers.”
“Yes.”
“…” At her curt reply, Chi-Woo glanced at Philip to check if what he said about Hawa was accurate.
–I’m telling you, I saw it. She flew while carrying you like a bag. I saw it with my own eyes!
Philip pointed at his eyes with his thumb and middle finger and reaffirmed Chi-Woo’s statement with a peasant expression from the ancient times.
Then Chi-Woo cleared his throat and asked Hawa, “What are you planning to do in the future?”
“…”
“You’ve finally obtained the power you wanted.”
Hawa’s gaze moved towards Chi-Woo again. She didn’t quickly avert her eyes like last time and instead stared at him.
“…Ms. Hawa?”
“I’m going to figure it out,” she said in a quiet murmur.
“Figure it out? What are you trying to figure out?”
Hawa became quiet again. She just stared at Chi-Woo without replying. What was up with her? Chi-Woo nervously gulped as the silence lengthened.
Then Hawa suddenly said, “I’m going to try following for now.”
Following? Who? Chi-Woo thought for a few seconds and pointed at himself, tilting his head questioningly. When Hawa nodded, Chi-Woo asked, “…Why?”
“Because I’ve reached an awakening.”
“Could you please explain in less than a thousand words the correlation between your awakening and your decision to follow me?”
“Ah.” Hawa’s monotonous expression finally changed into one of annoyance, and she said, “Don’t ask me. Why don’t you go and ask Goddess La Bella since this is her will?”
“Goddess La Bella…?”
“If you don’t want me to stick around, you can build a temple for me.” With that, Hawa quickly turned away.
Chi-Woo scratched his cheek, not knowing how to react.
—Oh, I see. It seems like she has to pay quite the price.
Philip voiced his thoughts after watching Hawa closely.
‘A price?’
—I’m talking about the vow. Or pledge.
Philip continued calmly.
—Since it was a special case, she must have had to make a vow worthy of the situation.
A pledge with a god was extremely important, and the contract could be nulled should the individual fail to keep their vow. For example, if a hero made a pledge to be just, they had to fight against injustice, and if a hero made a pledge to live bravely, they must not behave cowardly.
—It makes me really curious. What kind of vow did she make that she won’t even tell you…
Philip thought for a long while and seemed to have realized something. He gave Chi-Woo a shrewd look.
—Heyheyhey, let me borrow your body for a bit later.
‘Why?’
—There’s something I want to test.
‘Never. Don’t even dream of it.’ Chi-Woo flatly refused because judging by how Philip’s mouth had curved into a huge smile, he was probably concocting a mischievous plan.
“Is there a specific reason why you have to build a temple?” Someone stepped between Chi-Woo and Hawa. “We can all just move in together. The two of us.” It was Evelyn, who had the ability to turn her surroundings into a painting even while wearing a rag.
“Lady Wi—priestess too?” Chi-Woo quickly swallowed the word ‘witch’.
“Of course. Why not?” Evelyn tilted her head as if this was the obvious course of events.
A few nights ago, Chi-Woo and Evelyn had a private conversation. While they were on watch duty, Evelyn shared with him something shocking.
[I was betrayed.]
An internal friction of the Abyss had been involved with the great demon’s capture of the Abyss’ witch.
[The fact that my bond with the queen broke so easily is clear evidence that they betrayed me.]
[The bond I had with my queen isn’t something that can be so easily severed. It shouldn’t have been unraveled by Zepar like he was opening a gift. It doesn’t make sense even if he was a great demon–unless the Abyss was involved.]
[Huk Cheong-Ram probably led the plan. Then it’s basically set in stone that the King’s faction was involved.]
Chi-Woo became furious that Evelyn was betrayed, but Evelyn told him that the King’s faction probably considered her the traitor instead. When he asked her why, Chi-Woo was shocked by the answer he got.
[It’s because I didn’t kill you back then.]
When Chi-Woo fought the god that the Sernitas transformed to face the Abyss and won, Huk Cheong-Ram had wanted Evelyn to kill Chi-Woo. However, Evelyn kept her promise and firmly refused. Huk Cheong-Ram grew angry and probably returned with a vindictive plan in mind. After listening to her, Chi-Woo felt apologetic that Evelyn went through a terrible experience because of him, but Evelyn told him she didn’t mind it in the least.
[I’m fine.]
Instead, she looked strangely exuberant.
[I ended up gaining a new life thanks to you. My heart is pounding. I’m so excited that I can’t hold it in.]
Since Evelyn couldn’t enjoy her life properly when she was alive, it was natural that she would be excited. Of course, the current situation made it impossible for her to enjoy her life as a normal country girl. Moreover, Evelyn planned to return to the Abyss at a later point in time.
[The Queen of Abyss who brought me out and took me under her wing is good and fair. Since I’m gone… Of course, the queen still has those two left, but I’m still worried.]
Since Evelyn was revived as a human being, she was no longer tied to the Abyss, but she planned to meet the queen she served again and finish her business with Huk Cheong-Ram. However, this wasn’t something she could immediately do. She didn’t have the ability to do so, and her first priority was to develop sufficient strength with her previous experiences and current abilities as the foundation. Therefore, for the time being, Evelyn decided to stay at the human camp under the guise of a Babylon Church priestess, who had been caught by the Demon Empire and forced to live as a slave, but was coincidentally rescued by the expedition team. Evelyn’s presence would be welcomed with open arms by humanity.
Unlike the other natives on Liber, Evelyn would probably earn quite the reputation as soon as she began working as the only priest with the ability to heal in this world. Evelyn probably was also well aware of this fact.
Chi-Woo had thought Evelyn would be willing to help them to a certain extent, but he hadn’t expected her to continue following him. Then Chi-Woo realized that he still hadn’t heard about Evelyn’s condition.
‘I wonder what that light was?’
Chi-Woo suddenly got curious and was about to look at her user information with his Spirit Eye when—
“No.” Evelyn held a hand up. “How dare you try to peek into a lady’s secret, you pervert.” Tilting her head to press her face against her palm, she gave Chi-Woo a smile.
Chi-Woo was startled, “How did you know?”
“Haha. This is how scary a woman’s intuition is. You should be careful.” Evelyn flicked her index finger and moved between Hawa and Chi-Woo. “Anyway, don’t we make a pretty picture?” She looked left and right and said, “There’s the hero who’s going to save the world.” She pointed at Chi-Woo and then pointed at herself. “The saintess who helps the hero.”
Then she hesitated a little when pointing at Hawa. “And…uh…the childhood friend…who gets jealous of the relationship between the hero and the saintess, and after going through a lot of heartache, she sacrifices for the hero in a time of crisis?”
“…”
“Why, you don’t like it? Do you want to be the knight instead?”
“Please don’t talk to me.” Hawa didn’t look at Evelyn, but she snorted loud enough so that Evelyn could clearly hear her.
* * *
Finally, the expedition seemed to almost reach its end. According to Nangnang, they would be stepping through the capital’s gates by tonight. Since they heard this at sunset, they just needed to march for half a day more. And as if to prove Nangnang’s words, Chi-Woo’s device rang like crazy after passing a certain point. Notifications rang in his ear one after another.
Chi-Woo didn’t even need to look at it; he knew they were messages from Chi-Hyun. While they were returning, Noel’s condition hadn’t improved in the slightest. Evelyn took care of her every day and poured divinity into her body, but she showed no signs of improvement. The only thing Evelyn could do was to prevent Noel’s condition from worsening. Chi-Woo was already concerned about various matters, but his heart grew heavier when he saw his brother’s messages like ‘Where are you?’, ‘Come back’, and other ones to the effect.
“What are you thinking so deeply about?” While Chi-Woo was walking, deep in thought, someone suddenly asked a question. It was Apoline.
Chi-Woo was taken aback that she would suddenly strike up a conversation with him, but he shook his head. “No, it’s nothing.”
Despite his denial, Apoline could roughly guess his concerns based on his downcast expression. She said, “Why are you blaming yourself so much? She chose to join this expedition by herself.”
“…”
“You didn’t expect something like this to happen? Did you perhaps decide to participate without even this much determination?”
She wasn’t technically wrong, but Apoline could only say that because she didn’t know the full circumstances behind Noel joining the expedition team. Apoline smacked her lips when the gloom remained on Chi-Woo’s face. She said, “Don’t worry too much. That person will probably have a way to recover her.” She was referring to Chi-Hyun by ‘that person.’
Apoline continued, “She’s the only person he allowed to follow him after all. I can’t guarantee it…but I think he’ll probably check up on her once.”
“…Check up on her?”
“Probably. If he thinks she’s worth it. Then, considering his character, won’t he try to recover her at all costs?”
Chi-Woo was perplexed; it seemed as if they were having two separate conversions. Of course, he knew he shouldn’t hope for it, but he thought his brother would definitely do his best to treat Noel. However, Apoline seemed to be suggesting that Chi-Hyun might not try to cure Noel if he thought she was not worth it.
Chi-Woo said, “Why do you think…she’s Ms. Noel after all.”
“Ha.” Apoline let out a short breath from her nose. “It’s obvious what you’ll think if I say this, but…” She looked Chi-Woo up and down and continued, “I don’t acknowledge him as a hero.”
“What?”
“Ah, of course I admit he has made significant achievements. He definitely deserves to be called a legend for his achievements, and they’re still ongoing.” Apoline tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “But he’s not a human being like myself.”
What was she talking about? Chi-Woo asked, “Are you saying that he’s not human?”
“If he’s human, he would have never been able to do what he’s done.”
“What do you mean?”
Apoline clearly explained, “He’s extremely calculative and merciless. He really doesn’t care about using any means to accomplish his goals. He’s the type of person who doesn’t try to minimize sacrifice and instead calculates the sacrifice people have to make in order to accomplish his plan without a second thought.” A bitter remark ensued. “I…can’t accept a person like that as a hero.”
After speaking, Apoline looked at Chi-Woo as if she was curious about the latter's reaction. It was because whenever she said something like this, other heroes usually got angry and shouted at her to not insult Chi-Hyun. However, Chi-Woo simply looked confused. “But…he might not be like that.”
“That guy?” Apoline smirked and shook her head. “I really can’t imagine that man risking his life to save someone. He’s the type of person who would use even his family as a mere chess piece if it’s necessary.”
“…”
“He really…doesn’t seem human.”
A moment of silence. Chi-Woo wanted to refute her statements, but there was nothing he could say because he didn’t know anything about his brother as a hero.
“But it’s surprising.” When Chi-Woo remained silent, Apoline piped up again like she found his behavior unexpected. “I thought you were one of his fans as well because of your connection with that woman.”
It was understandable that Apoline would assume he was on Chi-Hyun’s side because of his relationship with Noel. On the other hand, his relationship with his brother might be completely shattered when he returned. He was certain that a second sibling war would soon follow. He had said everything he wanted to say in the first round, but in the second round, he had a huge disadvantage, starting with the justification of his departure. When Chi-Woo remained silent, Apoline cleared her throat as if to lighten the atmosphere.
Then she asked, “By the way, do you still have no plans to tell me?”
“?”
“Your name.”
Chi-Woo became conflicted at her sudden question. “…It’s Chichibbong.” He finally spit it out with the feeling of defeat.
“…”
“…”
A short silence fell between them. Apoline narrowed her eyes and asked, “…What did you say?”
“Chichibbong.” Chi-Woo repeated clearly.
“You really…ah, forget it.” Apoline sighed and clicked her tongue. “Don’t tell me your name if you don’t want to. And don’t regret it later on.” She smirked and left.
‘What did she mean by that?’ Chi-Woo stared intently as Apoline disappeared and suddenly realized that their surroundings had grown dark. Chi-Woo took a deep breath, turned on his device, and wrote a message that he was almost at the capital with details about Noel’s condition.
While he was writing and sending the message, he heard Nangnang’s shout from the head of the team. A huge structure covered in darkness slowly emerged over the horizon—it was the capital of the former Salem.