The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 60

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 60. Princess Knight

At the end of the meeting, Dylan agreed to escort Ian to the designated meeting place.
The Forest of Negation lay at the southernmost frontier of human territory—a borderland where human forces, the Federation, and the Parasites converged. The rendezvous point naturally lay on the route back to Haramag. Besides, it was impossible to send Ian, who lacked close-combat abilities, alone.
It meant taking a detour, but a job was a job regardless. Since they’d agreed on compensation, Carpe Diem harbored no serious complaints.
For this reason, Seol Jihoo decided to join the escort as well.
While Dylan haggled with two porters, Seol Jihoo found Cho Hong. She sat there fuming, her dissatisfaction plain—the string of curses tumbling from her mouth (“Damn it” and “This is ridiculous, seriously”) made it clear her mood was foul.
When she felt his gaze, she spun around sharply, her expression souring.
“Don’t tell me you’re about to ask me something again.”
……
“Why are you so curious about everything?”
“…Got it. I won’t ask anymore.”
Seol Jihoo turned away dejectedly. Then—
“No, wait!”
Cho Hong came running and grabbed his arm.
“Hold on, hold on! That’s not what I meant.”
“No, it’s my fault for being insensitive.”
“Just listen to me for a second. You come find me whenever something piques your curiosity, but Dylan does it more than—”
She broke off, pointing at Dylan, who was in the middle of striking a new contract with the porters.
“Actually, Ian does too.”
Ian stood with his eyes closed, his face etched with deep contemplation. And then—
……
Cho Hong shook her head as she watched Hugo rolling around mindlessly in the grass.
“…Just ask.”
“Forget it. It’s not even that important.”
“Are you sulking? That’s pathetic for a grown man.”
Seol Jihoo laughed at her glare.
‘For all her bluster, her heart’s soft.’
Of course, he kept that thought to himself.
“What’s the Aden Fortress?”
Cho Hong pressed her palms to her face as if she’d expected exactly this.
“A fortress in the Gorge. It’s in the borderland with the Parasites. It’s probably still under construction.”
“Why were you so angry just now?”
“Well, that’s…”
Cho Hong’s expression turned troubled.
“It’s complicated.”
“Is it tied to the Civil War?”
“Oh, where did you hear that?”
He’d thrown it out as a long shot, but Cho Hong’s face brightened noticeably.
“Sit down for a minute.”
He’d come to ask a question and ended up being pinned down instead. Her irritation had vanished as quickly as it arrived, and Cho Hong opened her mouth with an almost pleading intensity.
“You said it yourself—the war between the Federation and the Parasites is escalating these days.”
“Yeah.”
“So think about it. They’re already tearing into each other—why get involved? We’re already the weakest ones around.”
“I suppose…”
“Exactly! We should be lying low and building strength, but then the Royal House just plops a fortress in the borderland? How do you think the Parasites will take that?”
“As an invitation to fight.”
Cho Hong smacked her knee.
“Right! So why provoke them? When the Royal House announced the plan, most of the high-ranking members operating in Haramag opposed it, but they pushed ahead anyway, claiming it was necessary!”
She vented her frustrations vehemently.
“They do whatever they want and now they want our help? Did they really not expect to be attacked? Did they think that aggressive Parasite Queen would wait around while the fortress was being built? This is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous.”
Listening to Cho Hong’s tirade of complaints, Seol Jihoo fell into thought. There was truth to some of her grievances—according to Kim Hanna’s phrasing, it was like a forced quest interrupting their free enjoyment of the “game.”
But Paradise is a genuine “reality.” You have to hear both sides of a story to understand it. Surely the Haramag Royal House had its reasons for pushing the fortress construction. He found himself curious about how this princess—Teresa Hatse—viewed the matter.
After pouring out her complaints, Cho Hong grew pouty when Seol Jihoo didn’t take her side.
“Look, I know. We have obligations now that we’ve entered Paradise. But there are limits to loyalty, aren’t there? They’re always looking for an excuse to wage war, stirring up endless work. It’s always ‘do this,’ ‘do that.’ Don’t you think it’s too much?”
When Seol Jihoo quietly nodded in agreement, Cho Hong finally looked satisfied.

The meeting place was set at the entrance to the path leading toward the Gorge—roughly two days’ journey from the Forest of Negation. Pressed to arrive as quickly as possible, the expedition quickened their pace.
The expedition party, having marched all day, made camp as the sun descended. Dylan seemed satisfied, remarking that they’d covered considerable ground and could arrive by late morning tomorrow.
After dinner, Ian asked Seol Jihoo if he could appraise the earring. Seol was curious about its effects himself, so he handed it over without hesitation. When Ian mentioned it would take some time, Seol stepped out for a cigarette. His unease still hadn’t settled.
After smoking aimlessly for a while, he felt a sudden warmth against his cheek. Dylan was offering him a cup of steaming tea.
“Thank you.”
“Actions speak louder than words.”
Seol smiled and pulled out a cigarette, passing it to Dylan. The man drew a long, deep drag and settled beside the young man with an air of contentment.
“What’s on your mind?”
“Samuel and Alex.”
Seol answered candidly. Dylan, who had been about to sip his tea, paused.
“Oh my gosh. I guessed wrong.”
“?”
“I thought it was the war bothering you.”
“Ah, well—it’s something we all have to face eventually.”
Seol’s smile was thin, and his words came hollow.
“I just… still can’t believe it, somehow.”
“Is this your first time seeing death?”
Not quite. But Samuel and Alex weren’t strangers to him—not by his measure.
“That’s how life is in Paradise. Someone you laughed with in the morning comes back as a corpse by evening.”
“You seem fine, though. So does Ian, and Cho Hong, and Hugo.”
“…Hmm.”
Dylan seemed reluctant to speak, for reasons Seol couldn’t quite grasp. Wondering if he’d said something wrong, Seol decided to change the subject.
“By the way, what are you planning to do?”
“Hmm? Ah, I’ll join the war—as long as the Royal House doesn’t make unreasonable demands. Ian’s not saying much, but I can tell he wants us involved.”
“Won’t Cho Hong be upset about that?”
“Nope. Despite everything, she knows how to separate public from private. I’ll need to make her understand, of course, but opportunities to owe a favor to a mage don’t come often. It’s worth the price.”
There was no certainty in his words, but Dylan seemed to have Ian in mind—a calculated move to win his favor. It felt calculating, weighing cost against gain, yet Seol felt no real objection to it.
With that, silence settled between them. Only the sound of tea being sipped and smoke drifting into the night.
After a brief pause, Dylan spoke again.
“Seol.”
“Yes?”
“This might be too soon to tell you, but….”
Just then, a voice called from behind, looking for the young man. Ian had finished the appraisal.
“Oh, let’s go.”
Dylan rose without finishing his thought, as if it didn’t matter.
‘What was Dylan about to say?’
It didn’t sound like a recruitment pitch—something else entirely. Seol carried the unanswered question as he walked back toward the tent.
Inside, Ian stood waiting with a knowing smile, while Cho Hong and Hugo stared at the earring with gleaming eyes.
“Congratulations.”
The moment he saw Seol, Ian offered his congratulations outright.
“I have to say, calling it an empire—how they could create something like this and still fall, I’ll never understand.”
Ian chuckled and handed over the earring himself.
“The name of this item is the Festina Earring. That saint really thought of something fine for you.”
“Is it good?”
“Good and then some! Let me explain—the Festina Earring has the property of binding to its first wearer.”
“Think carefully. The moment you put it on and use it even once, its value as a trade good becomes zero.”
Cho Hong added this warning, and Hugo let out a dry laugh.
“What’s to think about? Obviously Seol should wear it. That’s a piece made for an archer or a warrior.”
“Now, let’s turn down the local commentary for a moment.”
Ian cleared his throat and continued.
“The Festina Earring works by channeling magical power to activate an internal Boost function. In short, it increases the wearer’s speed. By my Appraisal Magic calculations, the coefficient is approximately 1.5 times, and the duration is around one minute.”
“Whoa!”
“Moreover, it can store up to three uses, and automatically recharges after each one. The time needed between uses is about six hours.”
“Amazing!”
Seol sat quietly while Hugo made a fuss. Ian, with the look of someone unsure whether even this good news would get a reaction, pressed on.
“But the truly remarkable thing is that both the coefficient and duration can stack!”
“Oh.”
Seol let out a small exclamation.
“So if you use all three charges in succession…”
“The coefficient becomes 3.375 times, and the duration becomes three minutes. You could cover one hundred meters in three or four seconds—and maintain that speed for three minutes straight!”
Ian spoke with unmistakable pride, as if he himself had been the one to gain such a treasure.
“If the wearer knows how to handle it properly, it’ll wield terrifying power!”
Seol Jihoo gazed down at the object in his hand. The silver earring, shaped like a delicate six-pointed star, bore a pale coral jewel at its center that cast a soft luminescence.
“How much is this worth?”
“Whoa!”
Hugo yelped in alarm. Ian smiled broadly.
“It’s worth whatever you ask for it. But are you really going to sell it?”
“No. I obtained it during the expedition.”
“Nonsense.”
Ian shook his head.
“The Proof of Chastity and the Festina Earring are accomplishments you earned through your own independent actions. I don’t think there’s a soul here who’d try to claim a share of your earnings.”
Hugo made a sound like a barking dog. When Ian gave him a look of utter bewilderment, he quickly yelped again.
“My personal opinion? I’d love to see you use it. It’s too fine an earring to part with.”
Seol Jihoo carefully fitted the earring to his ear. He’d expected to need to pierce it, but when he held it against his left lobe, it adhered with a soft suction.
“Good. Now channel some mana into it.”
It bonds to you the moment you activate it, they’d said. He hesitated briefly, but Seol Jihoo had made his decision.
‘…It’s not like I’m desperate for money anyway.’
He shut his eyes and summoned his mana.
Whoosh!
His hair whipped upward as
“!”
a gale swept across his entire body and vanished just as abruptly.
Seol Jihoo gazed down at himself in wonder. An invisible force seemed to wrap around his whole being.
“Want to take it for a run?”
Running was Seol Jihoo’s forte. He launched forward with all his strength.
Once he’d left the Campsite and was sprinting across the open field, he couldn’t hide his astonishment.
‘Good heavens.’
Running at full speed, he could feel the difference unmistakably. When he glanced back, the Campsite receded at dizzying velocity. It hardly felt like his own body anymore.
‘They said it could stack, didn’t they?’
Arcing through the field, he channeled mana once more.
Boom!
The sensation of his entire body sinking into itself made him gasp in shock. The world blurred around him. The oncoming wind felt like it was shaving the flesh from his bones. The disorientation vanished in an instant, replaced by something transcendent.
Ian had been right. In combat, in charges, in escape—depending on how you wielded it, the applications were limitless. With proper control, this could be an extraordinary weapon.
The Campsite drew rapidly closer. Seol Jihoo decided it was time to slow down. Or tried to.
“Wh—wh-wh-wh-whoa!”
His legs wouldn’t obey. They tangled beneath him like a circus act, and his body, unable to overcome its momentum, careened forward in an uncontrolled dance.
“N-nooooo!”
Crash!
He tumbled into the Campsite and finally skidded to a halt after rolling across the ground several times.
“Ow, ow, ow, ow.”
Cho Hong and Hugo, who had been watching in silence, erupted into laughter, clutching their sides. Even Dylan and Ian guffawed openly.
As night deepened, the Campsite remained filled with laughter.

The following day at noon, the expedition arrived at the appointed place before the sun had even reached its zenith. Ian, who had communicated with the Royal House, relayed that the forces would arrive soon. Seol Jihoo tried to suppress the pounding in his chest as he surveyed the surroundings.
The landscape nearby offered little of interest—the terrain was simply harsh and unforgiving. Scattered rocks grew steadily more numerous toward the northeast, until boulders the size of houses appeared, stretching into mountain ranges visible in the distance.
‘So we’ll be heading into those mountains.’
No—nothing had been decided yet. Part of him wanted to turn back, but… the Nine Eyes would guide him to the right choice.
“This will be your first time meeting someone from the Royal House, won’t it?”
Tired of simply waiting, Ian struck up a conversation. Seol Jihoo, who had been fingering the Festina Earring, murmured in response.
“Hmm. Whatever you’re imagining, you’d do well not to expect too much.”
“?”
“The Royal House or not, they’re still just people. No need to be nervous.”
“Are you saying the Royal House’s authority is weak?”
Ian smiled. If you asked Cho Hong or Hugo the same question, they’d give you a blank stare, but this young man at least paused to think before answering.
“What comes to mind when you think of Haramag?”
“Uh… a fortress? A city?”
“Right. Most Earthians would probably answer the same way.”
Ian sighed.
“Haramag is less a kingdom these days than a regional concept. The current authority of the Haramag Royal Family amounts to little more than that.”
“The civil war must have had a significant impact.”
“It would be a lie to say it didn’t. But afterward, Haramag’s king deliberately relinquished his own authority.”
“The Royal House… of its own accord?”
“What choice do we have? We’ve learned that authority and coercion don’t work on Earthians. Our only option is to shift our stance. To survive.”
The word survive carried a note of desperation.
Seol Jihoo, who had been quietly turning over Ian’s words, finally spoke.
“What sort of person is this princess who’s on her way?”
“Teresa Hatse. A remarkable woman.”
Ian smiled broadly, his eyes warm as an elder’s when boasting of a grandchild.
“She’s grown up watching the Sub-species invasions since she was very young. Quite unusual for a native inhabitant, I’d say.”
“Unusual in what way?”
“Well, the Paradise system we know is originally a Divine Blessing bestowed upon Earthians, but she’s one of the rare native inhabitants to have received a Divine Blessing herself.”
This was the first he’d heard of it.
“Is that so. Even the natives of Paradise can….”
“From what I gather, she obtained the blessing through the Royal Promise. It makes sense, though. To protect the Royal House as a woman with only two remaining heirs, one needs strength.”
“What level has this Princess Teresa Hatse reached?”
“Ah, so you’re interested after all? I see it written all over your face.”
Ian’s expression turned mischievous, and he gave Seol Jihoo a playful jab in the ribs.
“Well, why not! First, her chest measures 70D, and she has a lovely narrow waist—”
“Ian.”
“Only joking, only joking. Ahem. She ranks among the upper tier herself. Level 5, Princess Knight.”
Princess Knight? The unfamiliar concept made Seol Jihoo tilt his head in confusion.
“The class name is a bit odd, I admit. But don’t get the wrong idea. Forget any prejudice that a Princess Knight would inevitably be captured by orcs.”
“She seems to have arrived.”
Just as Seol Jihoo was about to ask what Dylan meant, the latter spoke up.
Seol Jihoo’s eyes snapped toward the source, catching sight of something rushing through clouds of billowing dust.

(To be continued in the next episode)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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