Flone’s Dowry – III

"T-Thank you for your mercy, Sir Jihu, Sir!" The leader of the group was an old and overweight man wearing fancy clothes. Someone used to riches and indulgence as well as having his way.

Even so, by the time I arrived in front of him, he had already smacked his head against the ground in a kowtow and had the other captured fox girl untied.

Surprisingly, he was also the one without a shred of karma or resentment on him.

Considering he was the leader of the poachers, that was odd. But...

xxx

[Park Dongchun]

Leader of the Dongchun Merchants. Does anything for money and focuses strictly on business but has surprisingly good judgment. Thought that he would dabble in the poaching business due to the amount of money it brings in, but didn't expect the danger. Now that he realizes your involvement, he's planning to turn back to regular extortion and shady business practices.

xxx

"...I guess you're a guy who knows where to draw the line, huh?"

I sheathed my sword, ignoring the corpses slowly dissolving all around me.

The leader, Park Dongchun, trembled a bit and then hesitantly raised his head. He glanced at me and then Seonhwa before focusing on the two fox sisters who were playing with Flone in the back. After that, he focused his gaze back on me and said, "Sir Seol-"

"Jihu's fine." I smiled, staring at the mixed black, gold, and violet karmic threads wrapping around the man's neck like a noose. "I'm the sort of person who returns good will with goodwill, you know? A little trust goes a long way."

Seonhwa snorted beside me.

Park Dongchun gulped at that, but he nodded and said, "Then... Sir Jihu. M-May I ask what bring the Godslayer and the Sacred Empress out here near Eva?"

"Mm..." I tilted my head and stared at the guy for a bit before nodding. "You're a man who values money over his own life, right?"

"Y-Yes?"

"Great." My smile widened and I said, "Then I have an offer you can't refuse. And for an advance on the deal..." I flicked my wrist and dissolved the weird energy that would have killed him. "...There. Now you don't have to worry about dropping dead on the way back to Eva. That's a pretty good bonus, isn't it?"

Park Dongchun started to sweat. Did he realize what I had done? No, from his sharp judgment, he definitely did.

"T-Thank you, Sir Jihu! Th-Then... your proposal...?"

xxx

After sending Park Dongchun back to Eva to set the stage for my foxy wife's show, we started heading deeper into the forest with the pair of fox sisters in two, Haeryeo and Haeya.

It seemed like the two kids were being too curious and chased after a group of Sky Fairies who were performing a ritual at the Pagoda of Dreams... which should be the same place we were heading.

Since it was on the way, we decided to bring the kids along with us at least for a while longer until we could talk to someone with the Federation to get them back home safely.

Flone was entertaining them right now while Seonhwa and I took the lead to scout for any dangers.

Like that, we advanced. Silent except for the happy sounds of chatter from the young girls behind us and our own footsteps.

And then Seonhwa broke the silence and said, "I'm surprised you didn't kill the man." She gave me a sideways glance and said, "Park Dongchun has ruined a lot of lives."

"True." I nodded and said, "But there's hardly anybody in business who hasn't gotten their hands dirty at least once. And it wasn't like he *only* exploited people."

If that was the case, I would see those lingering resentments around him like with the others. But it seemed like his karma was on balance... somehow.

I had a feeling it was more due to him knowing how to stay out of the more overt sins and sticking to lesser ones, but that was fine. A sinister poison could be controlled and put to use. A madman couldn't.

Seonhwa sighed and said, "I'm finding it hard to read you these days, Jihu. You're so... different. Harsher."

"I *did* warn you."

"I know." Seonhwa nodded. "But even so..." She frowned and said, "I keep seeing flashes of the old you as well. Back then, when you banned yourself from the casinos with Jinhee, what exactly-"

"Oppa!"

My eye twitched at being called that again, but I fixed my expression and turned around to the one who called out.

Haeya looked up at me with sparkling orange eyes and said, "Unni says you're super strong! Did you really beat two Army Commanders? Really?"

I looked over at Flone to see her hiding an amused look.

I resisted the urge to sigh and instead put on a bright smile. "That's right. But I had a lot of help from other people, you know?"

Seonhwa snorted and said, "Lying to kids again?"

Haeya blinked and tilted her head. "Lying?"

...Okay. Maybe I needed to sit down and have a proper hash-out of things with Seonhwa sooner rather than later. That bitterness of hers was starting to pop up in weird ways, and I didn't want to tempt fate.

But let's put a pin in that for now.

I shook my head and laughed. "Well... Okay. Maybe I told a little white lie." I reached out to ruffle Haeya's hair and said, "But a hero shouldn't be saying they did everything on their own, you know?"

Haeya gasped and said, "So you are a hero! No wonder you have two pretty Unnis as your wives!"

...

Flone laughed.

Seonhwa's face turned red and she pulled down her veil, looking off to the side.

Hah... kids. So innocent and yet so often dropping casual conversation bombs...

xxx

A relatively peaceful trek through the woods.

While managing Seonhwa's emotions, fending off the innocent loaded questions from the children, brushing off the weird energy that kept trying to wrap around us, and ignoring Flone's pointed looks when glancing at the two fox girls, we finally arrived at the border region of the Federation and Eva.

Of course, that was still within the forest.

I thought that the Forest of Denial had been pretty big, but apparently not.

Though this place was still similar in having another weird energy overlaying it...

Was there some other pitiful resentful soul trapped in the middle of it?

...Nah. That couldn't be true, right? Flone was a special case, and we were just heading out to pick up some of her family's heirlooms for her dowry.

Yeah. It... probably wasn't the case. What were the odds, right?

[Considering your crazy ass karma, 100%, Harem God.]

Don't call me that! And what the hell are you even doing, Blackie?

[Cleaning up some messes, tying up some loose ends for you... By the way, Mikael says hi.]

Mikael says- What?

[Also, you can drop the kids off with the Sky Fairies there. They'll recognize you. The Godslayer is pretty distinctive, you know?]

Wait a minute. Are you the reason why I'm fucking-

[Fucking? No. Called a bunch of random names? Yeah. Now stay sharp.]

A gust of wind enveloped us. Shortly after that, the sound of wings echoed and twelve cloaked figures appeared around us.

Seonhwa immediately raised her spear.

Flone pulled the two fox girls close and glared at the group, spectral swords hovering around her.

As for me...

I stared at the leader of the group.

A woman wearing white ceremonial robes, strands of pink hair peeking out from her hood. Butterfly wings on her back...

And a strange familiarity.

The reason for that-

"It has been some time, Seol."

A beautiful and enchanting voice that I heard a while back after my one and only trial run of explosion magic.

The woman pulled down her hood, revealing an unnaturally beautiful face. Smiling, she said, "Lady Mikael sends her greetings... Although she would like to know how it is that you seem to appear when we need your help the most."

I let out a deep sigh.

So this is what you meant, you bastard.

[Karma's a bitch, and she ain't yours.]