Chapter 132

As Unia-ran left, Jun-sang saw the quest information update in front of him.

Epic Quest – Oblivion

4. Gather information.

• In the process of driving out the intruders, you have obtained a clue about the Spirit Gate. The weak power of Spirit Users in this world is undoubtedly related to this. First, talk to the fairies to gather more information. (Completed!)Reward: A very small amount of experience.-> Would you like to receive the reward now? (Y/n)_(Note) Unclaimed rewards will be automatically deleted after 7 days.

After receiving the reward, new quest information appeared again.

Epic Quest – Oblivion

5. The Spirit Gate

• Through conversation with the fairies, you have found a way to restore the Spirit Gate. It is now time to gather the necessary materials and restore the Spirit Gate. If you succeed, the spirits’ weakened power will be restored to its original state.

“…”

Jun-sang looked at the quest content and had a thought. Compared to the previous Epic Quests he had experienced, this one was considerably easier. Of course, it was true that Jun-sang had an easier time raising his affinity with the fairies because of the kisses he had received from the two fairies, Inia and Ilmaren, as a thank you for his help. But it was also clear that the quest itself was simple.

This might be a consideration for the weakened power of Spirit Users. While Jun-sang had received so many rewards that he was powerful enough to easily defeat most enemies, a person who purely used the power of spirits would not have been able to defeat the mercenary band so easily.

“So that’s why the quest wasn’t about exterminating them.”

Still, it was pointless to reflect on these things now. Jun-sang looked up at the cupboard. He saw Mia-ra and Mong-mong-i with chocolate smeared all over their mouths, sleeping side by side. Jun-sang, who was about to smile and walk past, realized something and woke Mia-ra up.

“Mia-ra.”

“Mmm… yes?”

“If you’re going to sleep, go brush your teeth and then sleep.”

“Why?”

“If you eat chocolate and go straight to sleep, your teeth will rot.”

“…”

Mia-ra was startled and got up. Jun-sang poured her a glass of water and then approached the bed. He slid into the empty space on the bed. Henes, who was soundly asleep, opened her sleepy eyes and gave a gentle smile.

“Mmm… you’re here.”

“Yeah.”

Henes leaned her head on Jun-sang’s outstretched arm and closed her eyes again. Jun-sang watched her sleeping with the child in her arms, and only after he saw Mia-ra flutter-fly and lie down next to Mong-mong-i did he close his eyes and try to sleep.

How much time had passed? After sleeping soundly for a while, Jun-sang woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door.

“Mmm…”

When he opened his eyes, Henes also woke up, but Jun-sang gently pressed on her head to make her lie back down.

“Go back to sleep. I’ll go see what it is.”

“Okay…”

Jun-sang got out of bed, straightened his robe, and first used his Super Sense to check the situation outside. He was surprised.

“Hmm?”

He had already guessed that a fairy was visiting, since the wolves would have warned them if it were other intruders. But he had not expected them to come in such a large group.

“…”

Jun-sang, feeling his sleep completely gone, scratched his head and carefully approached the door. When he slowly opened the door, Unia-ran, who was standing at the front, immediately shouted, “The Fairy Stones are here…”

But Jun-sang quickly put a finger to his lips and said, “Shh! The children are sleeping, so be quiet.”

The fairies, who were all holding a Fairy Stone and were soaked from the water, immediately followed Jun-sang’s words and fell silent.

“Shh!”

“Shh-shh!”

“What’s ‘shh’?”

“I don’t know, don’t ask!”

“What do you know then?”

They were trying to whisper quietly among themselves, but with dozens of fairies chattering at once, it was just as noisy.

“Be quiet. From now on, any fairy who speaks without my permission will not receive a reward. Understand?”

“…”

The fairies immediately fell silent, as if they had never spoken, and just rolled their eyes at each other. Only after seeing this did Jun-sang let them inside. The fairies, who had been soaked and exposed to the cold night air, looked surprised as they entered the warm house. Jun-sang first took out some dry towels for them to dry off and then started boiling water in the kitchen.

“You all worked hard in the cold. I’ll make some tea, so just rest there for now.”

“Yes!”

After hearing Unia-ran’s reply, Jun-sang made green tea in several cups and moved them to the table. The fairies, who had been playing around and rolling on the towels, quickly came over and each grabbed a straw in the tea.

“Ooh! It’s warm!”

“What is this?”

“I don’t know!”

“I don’t know either!”

The fairies, captivated by the warm and fragrant tea, once again forgot Jun-sang’s warning not to talk.

“Quiet.”

But when Jun-sang gave a short warning again, they all put their hands over their mouths. While Jun-sang chuckled at the sight, Mia-ra, who had been sleeping leaning on Mong-mong-i, rubbed her eyes, got up, and frowned at the fairies gathered around the table.

“I wondered why it was so noisy… Yawn…”

Mia-ra let out a huge yawn, then turned over and tried to sleep again. Jun-sang shook his head at Mia-ra’s behavior, as if she owned the place, and asked Unia-ran, who was leisurely enjoying the warm green tea, “Are these all Fairy Stones?”

Unia-ran, startled, snapped out of her daze and replied, “Yes. I hadn’t cleaned the bathhouse in a long time, so there were more than I expected. Ohhoho…”

“…”

Jun-sang quickly changed the subject, thinking that if he answered incorrectly, she might say something he didn’t want to hear. “How many are there in total?”

Unia-ran’s eyes sparkled as she replied, “Thirty-five.”

He had been told that he only needed three. Well, it wasn’t a bad thing for Jun-sang. Jun-sang picked up one of the Fairy Stones from the table. It looked like a brown rock candy, and its size was bigger than he expected, about the size of a fingernail. ‘How much Fairy Powder would it take to make just one of these?’

Jun-sang, who had such a thought, quickly shook his head to empty his mind and then performed an item appraisal.

Item Information

Name: Fairy Stone

Level Requirement: None

Type: Gemstone

Grade: Rare+

Effect: Increases resistance to curses.

Description: The Fairy Stone is a mystical gemstone in which life force has been condensed over a very long period. This gemstone is very rare, and it is said that the Philosopher’s Stone is the result of mages’ long efforts to artificially create it, but its credibility is somewhat low. Fairy Stones are often used as catalysts for item creation, magic, or as a sacrifice for special rituals. Simply possessing one without processing it increases resistance to curses.

“Curses…”

The process of its creation was unsettling, and seeing over thirty of them stacked in front of him made him question their rarity. But since they increased curse resistance just by possessing them, there seemed to be no harm in having them. Jun-sang took out a large leather pouch and swept the Fairy Stones into it.

Unia-ran, who had been watching, quietly asked, “And… the reward?”

“Oh… wait a moment. I’ll get it right away.”

“Ohhoho… you know the number, right?”

“Of course.”

Although the contract was for one and a half per stone, the number of fairies who had helped was large, so Jun-sang, feeling a little guilty, decided to be a little more generous.

“The original deal was one and a half per stone, but you all worked hard in the cold, so I’ll give you two each.”

“Ohhoho! Oh, you don’t have to! Ohhohohohoho!”

She said it was fine, but her continuous high-pitched laughter showed that she was very pleased. Of course, Jun-sang warned her as soon as she started laughing.

“Quiet.”

“Yes, of course. Kids, be quiet.”

“…”

Unia-ran, who was telling the other fairies to be quiet as if it didn’t concern her, while they were just rolling their eyes, made Jun-sang chuckle.

Jun-sang first stored the Fairy Stones in the cabinet, then opened the box of sweet red bean jelly he had stored in the kitchen cupboard and took out seventy of them.

“Ooooh!” Unia-ran exclaimed again at the sight of the mountain of sweet red bean jelly.

“Should I take them to the village?”

Unia-ran thought for a moment, then shook her head. “It would be better to just call the children here.”

She then gave an order to one of the fairies who was standing idly by.

“You!”

“Me? Me?”

“Yes. You go and bring the rest of the children from the village here.”

“All of them?”

“Yes, all of them.”

The designated fairy made a face as if it were a bother, but it seemed they couldn’t refuse, so they quickly flapped their wings and flew outside.

“What are you going to do with all of them?” Jun-sang asked. Unia-ran smiled with a warm expression and replied, “What else? We’re going to have a party. The children will love it.”

“…”

Jun-sang nodded at her obvious answer and smiled back. After all, the reward had already been paid, so it was up to her what she did with it. The fact that his prediction of her hiding and eating it all by herself was wrong was a surprise, but it was a twist that Jun-sang could gladly accept.

While Jun-sang and Unia-ran were talking, Henes, who must have found the commotion too much to bear, got up from the bed, looking groggy.

“Mmm…”

The child, who had been sleeping in her arms, also quickly opened her eyes and got up.

“…”

The child seemed confused for a moment by the unfamiliar surroundings, but then the memory of before she fell asleep came back to her, and she leaned into Henes’s arms.

Jun-sang saw them and got up from his chair. “I’m sorry. Was it a bit noisy?”

“No.”

Henes, with a sleepy expression, looked around and her eyes widened at the sight of the fairies gathered around the table.

“Is something… happening?”

“Well…”

Jun-sang told her what had happened with Unia-ran while she was sleeping and then slowly explained that there would be a fairy party here.

“It must have been cold. The fairies must have had a hard time.”

“Probably.”

Henes, straightening her robe that had come slightly undone, said, “I’ll go get dressed first.”

“Aren’t you going back to sleep?”

“I’m wide awake now.”

“…”

She was probably being considerate, knowing that the fairies couldn’t play freely inside if she and the child were sleeping.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Jun-sang watched Henes and the child go into the changing room and only got up after the door closed.

Not long after, the fairies swarmed into the Container House.

“Wow! It’s warm!”

“What is it? It smells delicious!”

Then Unia-ran puffed out her chest and said, “Everyone!”

“Yes?”

“It’s a party!”

“Yaaay!”

As Unia-ran’s simple and clear declaration rang out, the fairies rejoiced and started the party. It was nothing more than sharing sweet red bean jelly, green tea, and some juice that Jun-sang had provided, but the fairies enjoyed the party as if they had gained the whole world, with expressions so happy that they would make anyone watching feel happy as well.

Henes, who was helping cut and distribute the sweet red bean jelly to the fairies, looked at their happy faces and smiled softly. “I feel a little embarrassed somehow.”

“Why?” Jun-sang asked. Henes stuck out her tongue slightly at him and replied with a laugh, “No reason. Hehe.”

“…”

The party, which had started like that, lasted all night and finally came to an end around dawn. Jun-sang and Henes brought out some boxes, put blankets and towels on them for the fairies to lie on, and then carried the fairies who had fallen asleep scattered around the living room onto them one by one. By the time they had moved all the fairies, the morning sun was already rising.

“You worked hard. Are you tired?”

“A little.”

The child, unable to resist her fatigue even amidst the noisy party, was sleeping soundly in the bed. First, Henes took a quick hot shower and came out, and Jun-sang followed.

Henes, who had finished her shower and was lying in bed, said to Jun-sang as he approached the bed with her eyes half-closed.

“Jun-sang.”

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me.”

“…”

It was a bold request. Jun-sang gave a wry smile, got into bed, gently put his arm around her shoulder, and kissed her.

“Hehe…”

With her eyes still half-closed, Henes smiled like a child, looking satisfied, and then fell asleep with her head on Jun-sang’s chest. When she fell asleep, he also closed his eyes and tried to sleep. However, he couldn’t fall asleep easily.

The subtle scent of shampoo from her hair. The soft and moist touch of her lips that had just briefly touched his. And the glimpse of her chest peeking out from beyond her open robe. All of these things kept stimulating Jun-sang’s senses.

“Whew…”

Jun-sang sighed to himself and forced his eyes shut to try and sleep.