Chapter 209 Greed 5
"She's doing alright at the tavern. Yesterday, she went around the Free City all day long, and today, she is just gambling all day."
Yong-ho briefly recalled her image. She was a bright, cheerful-looking beauty with red hair and wings. He didn't think she would look sad just because she lost some money at the gambling house.
"I think it's okay to meet the Queen of Fury unless there is any big trouble. What about the date?"
"I think it would be better for the king to choose the date. Instead, we can choose a meeting place. I think somewhere in the north or west would be nice."
As always, Ophelia presented a good solution.
Eligos, who somehow nodded with a satisfied expression, said, "Looking at her, requesting for a summit, meeting with you, it looks like she has high expectations for our alliance."
In fact, the Queen of Fury herself, not anyone else, would come to the place to meet Yong-ho face to face. So, Yong-ho could not treat this meeting lightly.
Right at that moment, Catalina, who was rolling her eyes at the heated discussion, raised her hand timidly and said, "By the way…"
"Huh?"
When Yong-ho turned around, Catalina curled her lips once. After checking Kaiwan's look, she asked, waving her tail gently, "I wonder if this is a trap. I mean just like the King of Gluttony ambushed our master all of a sudden."
Yong-ho thought someone would raise some doubts about her question but no one did.
Catalina checked his face nervously as if she felt she asked a silly question, but Yong-ho reached out and stroked her head.
"That's a good question. But it's unlikely because she doesn't know I'm the King of Greed. Even if it's a trap... Well, I can deal with her duly in that case."
Yong-ho was no longer weak as he was in the past.
He was a strong man who was on par with the six kings who ruled the demon world.
If the Queen of Fury did a trick on him, he would definitely smash her.
Her proposal for a summit meeting was risky not only for Yong-ho but also for her.
When they were done discussing the important agendas, Eligos, Rikum, and Burgrim began to report about some pending issues respectively.
Eligos and Rikum briefed them about the general dungeon spirits of the House of Mammon, its dungeon, and the Free City, while Burgrim talked about various equipment and dungeon restoration. Burgrim reported about the status of the restoration on the blackboard.
"Silver Dragon Armor is under its own repair right now. The destroyed dungeon entrance is currently undergoing restoration. I think it will be possible to recover completely in two days."
After sipping a new tea brought by Yuria, Yong-ho moved his neck gently. It was about time for him to wrap up the meeting that lasted almost an hour.
"Okay, this is my last agenda."
The word 'last' made them tense a bit. Yong-ho, who waited for his subordinate spirits to pay attention to him, said after taking turns to look at Catalina and Kaiwan, "I'm going to visit my hometown again."
"It seems like your visit is very timely because it is very likely that a terrible confusion will come again sometime later," Ophelia said.
The King of Gluttony was dead.
Like Ophelia or Tigrius predicted, they could not keep the secret forever even if the king's allies tried to hide it.
The death of the king with great power could soon lead to the collapse of his entire forces.
Didn't the House of Mammon collapse in an instant after the death of Mammon, the King of Greed?
Moreover, because of the war in the north, the six kings were nervous wrecks.
The sudden absence of the King of Gluttony could be the starting point for the disruption of the balance of power that had been maintained in the demon world.
So, if Yong-ho had to visit his hometown in the human world, now was the right time like Ophelia said.
He could meet the Queen of Fury a few days later, and it was unlikely that the death of the King of Gluttony would be revealed during that time. It was impossible that the war in the north could end suddenly.
Yong-ho's plan to attack the north on the occasion of his absence was attractive at first glance, but it was not realistic. Although the king and his right-hand men were killed, the powerful forces who used to be under the king's command were still alive. It was absurd for him to start attacking the north with a small number of troops when he decided to hide the fact that the king was killed.
What the House of Mammon currently needed was time, as always.
Yong-ho had to take control of the whole unclaimed areas in the south completely.
He had to increase troops and hurry up the attack against the Labyrinth of Greed and the arena.
He also needed to secure a means of transport that could move his troops to a long distance speedily like the Queen of Fury or the King of Gluttony.
So, his alliance with the Queen of Fury would make him gain 'time' until he secured all of those things.
If the Queen of Fury's decisive reason for showing goodwill to Yong-ho is because "the House of Mammon is a royal family," 'time' was the decisive reason for Yong-ho.
It wasn't because Yong-ho coveted the Queen of Fury as the incarnation of anguish, like Aamon cracked a joke about it. It was motivated by his calculations that he responded to her goodwill with his goodwill.
'Of course, it is true that I hate to fight her, if possible.'
However, it was just his own personal feeling. If the time came when he had to draw a sword for the Mammon family and its dungeon spirits, he thought he would do it without hesitation.
When they began to talk about his visit to the human world, Lucia, who checked the status of the dungeon, quickly spoke, [There is one day left before the reuse hour of the space door expires.]
[It's really the right time for your visit.]
It was never easy to travel to the human world through the door of space. Not only did it consume a lot of mana, but it also took a considerable amount of time to reuse it. It was like a long cool time in games.
Now, the reuse time was running out at the right moment. It was as if an invisible force was pushing Yong-ho to travel to the human world.
"Are you going to start right away?" Asked Eligos.
Yong-ho tapped on the table with his fingers for a moment as if he was organizing his thoughts then said, "Since there is a day left as Lucia said, I think I had better get things squared away first before traveling."
There wasn't much time for him to spare. It was unlikely that the Queen of Fury would suddenly make any provocations, but in any case, Yong-ho had to respond immediately if something happened. The King of Gluttony's allies might not be able to conceal the king's absence well, as expected.
Like before, it would be two or three days during which he could visit the human world. It was difficult for him to stay there more than that period. Even those two or three days were not short. Ophelia smiled with a mixture of regret and wistfulness, "Well, I can't help it if Scathach insists on it. Please take a good rest when you go there."
Yong-ho wasn't going to travel to the human world for pleasure. Following Scathach's advice, the healer of the House of Mammon, he was going there for healing purposes. So, it would be wrong for his subordinate spirit to oppose his visit.
Catalina smiled warmly as she thought of going back to the human world. Kaiwan seemed excited, too.
And there was one more who got excited about his upcoming visit to the human world.
[Pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat.]
[This is not the sound of my heart pounding.]
[It's someone else's.]
Lucia spoke small enough to be heard by Yong-ho alone, and he could find the owner of the heartbeat sound. He burst into laughter unwittingly.
Yuria was standing in the corner, with her eyes twinkling. Although she didn't know it in detail, she could figure out roughly what they were talking about.
Yong-ho was supposed to travel back to the human world.
The last time he returned from the human world, he brought a surprisingly delicious chicken and Coke. Moreover, he brought her the best treasure— beautiful colored pebbles.
Looking at her twinkling eyes, Yong-ho understood that her acting cute was her survival strategy. He waved his hand to Yuria gently and stroked her head.
"Let me bring you a present."
A bright smile was on her face. He pinched her cheek lightly before he knew it and looked over her shoulder. Then he said to Baduk who was impatient, too, "Yes, I'm going to bring you one, too."
"Wal! Wal!"
"Meowing! Meowing!"
As if he pointed at them, Baduk and the baby dungeon meerkat were also excited.
Bowing to him, Yuria returned to her seat with Baduk and the baby dungeon meerkat.
She kept smiling even at the thought of his gift.
He again looked at his subordinate spirits.
As the meeting was almost at an end, Eligos said, "Well, why don't you have a meal first, Master?"
"Great! You're my best butler."
Actually, he didn't eat anything all day.
He got up and headed for the restaurant in a pleasant mood.