Chapter 139

The task of finding the mother wolf and the task of opening the Spirit Gate in Jun-sang’s body both required a considerable number of fairies. The fairies, who had been asleep for about a thousand years due to the Queen’s tantrums, had to work tirelessly as soon as they woke up.

It was, of course, no surprise that the fundamental nature and behavior of the fairies who had been asleep in the Fairy Realm were not much different from their usual selves.

“Ugh… I’m tired.”

“What happened? Didn’t the Queen just wake up?”

“I don’t know.”

“Me neither.”

“I’m sleepy. I want to sleep more.”

The fairies grumbled incessantly, but thanks to the diligent work of the aides, led by Cella, the work progressed steadily.

“We will begin the ritual. Please come outside.”

“Alright.”

This man, who had been audaciously lying down and resting with a woman who was not the Queen in the Queen’s bedroom, stretched and got up with a nonchalant expression, whether he was aware of Cella’s suppressed anger or not.

“Do you… really have to do it?”

Henes asked, as she wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of something being done to Jun-sang’s body.

“It’s necessary.”

“I see.”

If Jun-sang thought it was necessary and made the decision, Henes had no reason to stop him. Everyone has a certain boundary that they don’t like others to cross, and Jun-sang’s boundary was wider and more solid. Henes understood very well that even though she had been recognized to a certain extent, she was not permitted to interfere with the boundary itself.

Conversely, perhaps it was precisely because of this trait that Jun-sang’s heart had opened up to her.

Anyway. Jun-sang went outside and, taking off his shirt, stepped into the circle the fairies had made.

“Do you have the fairy stones?”

When Cella quietly approached and asked, Jun-sang showed her the fairy stones he had with him. Cella was briefly surprised to see his pockets full of fairy stones, but she quickly composed herself and took out three stones.

“As you already know, in order to open a Spirit Gate, the fairy stones need to be implanted in your body.”

Jun-sang replied calmly to Cella’s words, which she mentioned just in case. “I know.”

To be honest, since he had such a vivid understanding of how the fairy stones were made, the act of implanting them was not very appealing. However, the benefits of opening a Spirit Gate far outweighed that discomfort, so he had no choice but to accept it.

When Jun-sang replied, Cella quietly implanted the fairy stones around his navel, forming a triangle. As Cella’s slender fingers touched the fairy stones to his belly, they disappeared as if sinking into water, just like when they were implanted in the tree before.

“Hmm…”

Jun-sang raised his hand and stroked his belly where the fairy stones had been implanted, but he didn’t feel any foreign object. Seeing this, Cella added an explanation.

“One of the fundamental essences of a fairy is to exist but not exist. The fairy stone is a concentration of that life force, so it naturally has that same attribute.”

“To exist but not exist, huh…”

This was, in fact, one of the reasons why the delicate fairies could live in the outside world without much danger, but Jun-sang hadn’t realized that until now.

After the fairy stones were implanted, Cella spoke to Jun-sang again.

“We will now begin the ritual.”

“Alright.”

Cella slowly stepped back from Jun-sang, and the other waiting aides directed the fairies to begin the ritual. Jun-sang and Henes had already watched Yooran lead the fairies to open the Spirit Gate in the outside world.

However, since the fairies’ sizes were different here, the feeling was completely different from the previous ritual, which was like fireflies gathering and dancing.

“XXXxxxX XXxXxXxxXXxxxxX…”

Holding hands, the fairies slowly circled Jun-sang, singing in a voice that was still impossible to understand. Jun-sang stood still and watched them calmly, but at some point, he began to feel the fairy stones implanted around his navel tremble and resonate.

And as the fairies’ dance and song became faster and more intense, he felt the fairy stones heat up slightly. No, at that very moment, a green light bloomed around his navel and slowly enveloped Jun-sang’s body.

“…”

Jun-sang silently raised his hand and looked at the softly glowing green spiritual energy that bloomed around his body. Aside from being신기, it was a comforting energy.

The fairies’ dance and song seemed to intensely draw out the green spiritual energy, and then, at some point, it stopped abruptly as if a power had been cut off. When the dance and song ended, the green light that had bloomed from Jun-sang’s body slowly faded away and disappeared.

“Is it over?”

Jun-sang asked, and Cella, looking a little tired, nodded and said, “Yes. Are you feeling any strain on your body?”

Jun-sang shook his head. “Not at all.”

Cella looked a little surprised. “That’s incredible. To not feel any strain at all…”

But Jun-sang, with an indifferent expression, put his shirt back on and said, “How do I open and close the Spirit Gate?”

Cella quickly recovered her surprised expression and replied, “You can place your hand on your belly and concentrate your will. Opening and closing the gate is not much different from how we communicate. It might feel a bit difficult at first, but once you get used to it, you’ll be able to do it with just your will without placing your hand there.”

“I see.”

He had expected a title or something to appear in honor of opening the Spirit Gate, but the interface remained quiet. It seemed that the act of creating a Spirit Gate directly in one’s body was something that the quest planner hadn’t even considered.

Jun-sang spoke again. “Good work. Could you give me some space for a moment?”

“Space?”

“I need to take something out.”

“Alright.”

Cella looked a little suspicious, but she immediately had the fairies step back and cleared the space where the ritual had been held.

Once enough space was created, Jun-sang immediately took out the container house and placed it there.

“Whoa!”

“W-what is this?”

“What was that? What was that just now?”

“I don’t know!”

“Me neither!”

And ignoring the fairies’ fuss, he went inside and brought out a box of chocolate bars from the cupboard. It was a small amount, barely enough for anyone, compared to the number of fairies who had gathered for the ritual, but he planned to distribute the rest to the fairies mobilized to find the mother wolf.

“This is…”

“A token of my appreciation for your hard work.”

Seeing Cella’s suspicious look, Jun-sang took out a chocolate bar from the box, peeled the wrapper, and held it out to her. When the rough, thick, black, shiny stick-like thing was held out to her face, Cella unconsciously took a step back and said, “W-what are you doing…”

“Don’t talk, just eat.”

Jun-sang used his Telekinesis to bind her and forcefully pushed the chocolate bar into her mouth.

“Gah!”

Cella was flustered and tried to scream. But, at the next moment, her eyes widened at the sweet taste she felt on her tongue.

“…”

Jun-sang then released his Telekinesis and said, “Don’t eat it all by yourself. Share it with the others who participated in the ritual.” He then immediately put the container house back into his inventory and went into the Queen’s bedroom with Henes.

“…”

Cella held the black stick in her mouth with a trembling hand.

“W-what… is this…”

Then, the other aides who were watching quickly rushed to her.

“Are you okay, Cella?”

Cella silently nodded, then put the black stick back in her mouth and savored the taste with her tongue.

“Ah…”

The aides who saw Cella’s expression suddenly thought she might have been put under some kind of bad spell. It was because the sight of her, who always appeared so composed, with slightly flushed cheeks and trembling slightly, was so unfamiliar to them.

Cella trembled slightly as she savored the sweetness of the chocolate bar, and after a long time, she took the chocolate bar out of her mouth and sighed with a flushed face. She had tasted many kinds of honey, but she had never felt such a sweet taste that it made her consciousness fade.

Perhaps that’s why. A desire to monopolize the contents of that box suddenly arose in her mind. But Cella soon shook her head and cast that desire aside. It was because she remembered the words Jun-sang had said as he went back inside.

“Phew…”

With a sigh that seemed to make the ground sink, Cella looked at the other fairies who were looking at her with worried expressions and said, “This is… a gift from him.”

“A gift?”

“Yes. Check how many are in the box and distribute them fairly to all the fairies who were here.”

“Ah, yes.”

The fairies were suspicious, but they couldn’t ignore the order of Cella, the chief aide who was known as the Queen’s right-hand woman.

As the chocolate bars were distributed, the fairies, just like Cella, brought them to their mouths with suspicious expressions. And, without exception, they all trembled at the exquisite sweetness.

“Ohh…”

“T-this is… what is this…”

Since there were many fairies, the amount of chocolate bar they each received was not much. But because of that, the fairies desired the taste even more.

“I want to eat more!”

“Why did he only give us so little?”

“Where can we get this?”

Of course, Cella could only give one answer to the fairies’ questions. “This is a reward from him. So, if we fulfill his request, we will get this.”

Since Jun-sang hadn’t told them the name “chocolate bar,” she had no choice but to call it “this,” but the fairies all understood the meaning perfectly.

“He said to find the mother wolf, right?”

“Find her! Find her quickly!”

Normally, they would have been nonchalant and bothered by the task, but the fairies, blinded by their greed for food, put all their effort into finding the mother wolf with a passion they had never shown before. As a result, the fairies were able to find the mother wolf before the day was even over.

It was a revolution that revitalized the fairies’ society, which had been managed in a sloppy manner until now, but the fairies had not yet realized its significance.

Author’s Note

Finally, tomorrow, history will be made.