Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 517 (Part 1)



517 (Part 1)

**Chapter 518 – Just Give It to Me Once.**

Around the time I was slightly surprised by the words I had blurted out without realizing it.

“What is it…?”

As I saw Tang So-yeol about to collapse I hurriedly supported her.

Why is she suddenly fainting?

I lifted Tang So-yeol’s light body into my arms. If I had left her like that she would have fallen to the floor.

Tang So-yeol unconscious with a flushed face.

Up to this point it was okay.

No a person fainting is definitely not okay… but there was a bigger problem than this.

‘… What should I do?’

Now that I was supporting her I felt eyes piercing from all directions.

Dozens of martial artists positioned around Tang So-yeol’s residence at the time the incident occurred.

Between them Tang So-yeol and I who had lost consciousness.

“…”

It was the perfect moment to be misunderstood.

The presence around me became clearer. A slight cold sweat trickled down.

Swish.

I heard the sound of a sword being drawn from somewhere.

“Um.”

I nodded at the sound.

It seemed that it was too late to resolve the misunderstanding peacefully.

Right after Tang So-yeol fainted.

Dozens of martial artists emitted their fighting spirit and cautiously set Tang So-yeol down whom I had been holding.

After setting her down they called over a woman who was looking at us worriedly and instructed her to take care of Tang So-yeol and she hesitated for a moment before tending to her.

After that I had to think about what to do while facing the martial artists who seemed ready to charge at me.

Get notified for updates: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

There were two immediate options.

Either calmly get captured and explain the situation.

Or subdue them all and leave.

The most ideal would be the former but I felt it was a waste of time.

Should I go for the second option then?

‘That seems a bit troublesome too.’

I was in deep thought.

Killing them all would be easy.

But subduing them all would be quite a hassle.

I would have to control each one so that they wouldn’t get hurt.

‘… Fifteen first-class and four peak-level. Plus one seasoned peak-level.’

As expected from a prestigious family the martial artists’ levels were quite high.

It seemed they had sent an entire squad from the Tang Clan’s sword division as guards.

If they charged at me in unison it would be a troublesome situation.

What should I do?

As I slightly clenched my fist and surveyed the movements around me.

I noticed someone cautiously approaching.

It seemed to be the man among the stationed martial artists with the highest level.

As I quietly observed him he came closer and suddenly performed a clasped hands greeting towards me.

“… I am Seong Yi-hyeok Captain of the Tang Clan’s guard. It is an honor to meet the bloodline of the Gu family.”

So he was indeed a Captain.

His level was higher than I expected and I had anticipated he would be someone of significant standing.

As expected he seemed to be the Captain of the sword division.

“I am Gu Yang-cheon.”

While I was introducing myself it was clear that he was also quite tense.

“… May I hear an explanation of the situation?”

Hearing his words I nodded inwardly.

Fortunately it seemed he wasn’t going to suddenly resort to violence.

“… We were talking and suddenly Miss Tang fainted.”

“Miss suddenly you say….”

“Yes.”

Even when I explained it as it was his gaze showed disbelief.

Of course he wouldn’t believe it; I wouldn’t have either.

If it were me I might have started twisting the opponent’s limbs.

Rather it was unusual that Seong Yi-hyeok who was speaking rationally was in such a state.

“It’s a story that’s hard to believe but it’s true.”

As I spoke with an awkward expression.

Join our discord and ping me to update more chapters. Discord: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

“No I believe you.”

Seong Yi-hyeok gave an unexpected response.

He believes me? That made me even more flustered.

“… Yes?”

“Miss has spoken a lot about the Master.”

Seong Yi-hyeok quietly added “To the point of being tiresome

but I pretended not to hear that.

Talking about…

“There weren’t any bad… stories were there?”

“There were occasionally.”

“…”

I had expected him to say something like ‘Just kidding’ but nothing came out.

Frowning slightly I looked at Seong Yi-hyeok and he smiled as he spoke.

“There were many good things as well.”

“… Yes I see.”

At this point I was already slightly hurt.

It felt a bit late to recover from this.

Pouting my lips slightly Seong Yi-hyeok said.

“… At least from what I’ve heard from Miss I believe the Master is not someone who would harm her.”

Perhaps bothered by that remark I shot back slightly.

“Can I really judge based on just that? As a guard you should know better.”

If he was a guard meant to protect his master he shouldn’t make judgments based on such things.

Regardless of whether the situation would resolve favorably I didn’t like the idea that someone meant to guard Tang So-yeol would think that way.

Hearing my words Seong Yi-hyeok instead smiled.

This guy is he laughing…?

“I didn’t mean to make you laugh.”

“Yes thank you for your concern. However hearing that makes me think my judgment is correct.”

“What are you talking about…?”

“You can tell by the way the Master looks at Miss.”

“…”

“I believe that as much as we value Miss the Master will not fall short.”

I clicked my tongue inwardly at Seong Yi-hyeok’s words.

Damn it he says you can tell just by looking into their eyes as if they have mind-reading abilities or something?

Yet I subtly averted my gaze.

I didn’t want to admit it but I couldn’t deny it either.

It was laughable that I could find humor in such childish behavior.

This time Seong Yi-hyeok turned his face expressionlessly and performed a clasped hands greeting once more.

“I look forward to taking good care of Miss in the future.”

“… Yes.”

As I responded something began to bubble up in my heart.

What should I say.

It was an emotion that was hard to describe.

******************

After spending a few minutes.

I left Tang So-yeol’s residence and started walking.

“… Huh.”

As I walked I wiped away a bit of sweat.

Fortunately it seemed I had managed to get through the situation well.

I was worried about Tang So-yeol’s sudden fainting but when I checked with my qi while holding her for a moment it seemed there was no major issue.

If necessary I might have to ask the deity for a check-up.

After all fainting suddenly is a strange occurrence.

[… No matter how I look at it it’s your fault isn’t it?]

“What did I do…?”

[Enough. That’s just how you are.]

Why is this old man suddenly picking a fight again?

I was about to say something more but held back.

It wasn’t the time to be playing word games with the deity.

Not to mention the noisy Tang Clan.

I thought while looking at the jewel in my hand.

‘If Tang So-yeol refuses to take this….’

What should I do? I had taken it from Elder Yi but.

I needed to think about what to use it for.

‘Should I eat it?’

Should I just eat it myself? That would be the most practical use.

If I had my way it would be better to just eat it.

If I had to pick a problem.

‘The condition not matching perhaps.’

Since I wasn’t a woman there was a risk of my energy exploding.

But I knew. Eating this wouldn’t cause me any problems.

[You’re quite confident huh.]

“Yes.”

I could feel the energy and understand.

If I ate this I could fully absorb it.

Whether it was the influence of the Magical Absorption Technique or a transformation that occurred during shedding I didn’t know but.

I could naturally tell.

I could eat this.

The amount of qi contained in the jewel was about that of a white horse stone.

For something artificially refined it was an enormous amount.

Moreover if I considered the benefits it had the aspect of enhancing poison.

However.

‘When it comes to poison….’

It would grant me myriad poison immunity and a faint poison would seep into one corner of my body.

I could use it if I wanted but with demonic qi present it wasn’t really necessary.

It was also difficult to mix with the martial arts I was currently using.

It was inconvenient to connect with flames.

In other words eating this jewel would only increase my energy and beyond that it had no meaning for me.

‘The problem is that now is not the time to increase my energy.’

It wasn’t the time to be consuming elixirs.

I still had energy that I hadn’t properly managed.

I also needed to exert effort in harmonizing my body and energy.

In that sense having too much energy would be reckless.

‘So giving it to Tang So-yeol would have been the best option.’

If that scheming guy had received this he might have destroyed it for the sake of the sacrificed.

But I wasn’t like that.

No matter how much sacrifice went into this or what it was made for.

Even knowing that it wasn’t important to me.

‘So what?’

What do I care about that?

I didn’t need to feel guilty about the mess others made.

[… You’ve really messed up. To think such a person is my successor.]

‘Are you quite satisfied?’

[This life is ruined….]

What is a dead man looking for in life?

I understand that the deity is displeased but.

This was my way.

I pondered while examining the jewel in my hand.

Tang So-yeol said she wouldn’t eat it and if I wouldn’t eat it either…

“Um.”

I turned my head and asked.

“Then do you want to eat it?”

She flinched.

As I turned my head and asked someone trembled.

It was Nahi. It wasn’t strange; I had told her to come.

As soon as our eyes met Nahi knelt down.

Her expression seemed different from usual.

“Do you not want it?”

“… What do you mean by that?”

“This is something made by Elder Yi. I have a feeling it might be related to you.”

“…!”

At my words Nahi quickly raised her head and looked at the jewel.

At the same time she tightly clenched her fist.

Seeing that I realized. Nahi seemed to have immediately understood what this was.

Her expression crumpled in an instant.

I didn’t know the details of how she ended up working for Elder Yi.

What I knew was that she was at best one of those used for this experiment.