CHAPTER 42

My consciousness returns from the endless depths of death.
The grim reaper still had no intention of taking me.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a room with red lanterns hanging from the ceiling.
The room where the infected had been gathered.
A languid sensation filled my body.
It was proof that my body was still in the process of returning from death.
The Apostle’s Disease would have no time to re-enter me now.
Fumbling, I pushed myself off the floor and walked to the door.
Creeeak— Thud—
When I finally opened the heavy door, I saw a dark corridor.
“You’re awake?”
And a familiar face.
Under the moonlight, two-toned hair—black on the outside and white on the inside—shimmered.
The woman sitting in the corner was Aranseol.
Babiyen was lying on her lap, asleep.
“Why are you here?”
“I was waiting for you, Harua.”
Aranseol knows I can return from death.
Perhaps because of that, her face showed she had guessed what had happened inside.
“The others kept trying to open the door when you didn’t come out, so I stopped them.”
“Thanks.”
So that’s why she was standing guard out here.
Thud—
I closed the door to the infected room once again.
The Madame would take care of this room now.
My role was over.
Meanwhile, Aranseol gently laid Babiyen on the floor and stood up.
She came over and felt the collar of my clothes near my neck.
It was stained with the blood that had gushed out when I stabbed myself.
Aranseol bit her lip slightly.
“...You need to change.”
“I’ll just ask the Madame for some clothes. I saved her people, in a way. She’d do anything for me, right?”
“A hundred people.”
She looked up at me.
“Harua, you saved a hundred people in a single day. How can you say ‘in a way’?”
“That was the deal, wasn’t it? I was desperate for money.”
“But you had to die because of it.”
Aranseol squeezed her eyes shut.
“I… I don’t understand. I can’t just accept you suffering so much to save all these people, even if it led to this outcome. And what makes it more complicated is that I know how hypocritical I’m being.”
Aranseol herself had once willingly entered the Fairy Forest where Cosmic Jac was to save strangers she didn't even know.
But even to her, my actions now were difficult to accept.
“Still, deciding to die and actually coming back from death are two different things, aren’t they?”
Aranseol looked at me again.
The worry in her eyes was clearly visible.
Perhaps because she had witnessed me return from death with her own eyes.
Aranseol was particularly worried about things like this.
“Harua, are you really okay?”
If she was asking if I was okay after going through something like this…
“Of course, I’m fine. Look at my face. Do I look like a madman?”
I had already been broken once, a long time ago.
From the first day I was captured by the cult, my limbs torn off amidst my desperate screams.
I died that day.
And a death already experienced was no longer frightening.
The only thing I feared was one thing.
A situation where I would have to continue suffering even after returning from death.
As long as it wasn't that, death was no longer something to be feared.
But perhaps my appearance seemed different to Aranseol.
She looked at me for a moment, then, without another word, took two steps back.
“Alright, I get it.”
Aranseol exhaled and lifted her head.
A brightness had returned to her face.
“I’ll always be here to take care of you if you’re not doing well. So if you ever feel like something’s wrong, you can lean on me.”
“So I’m getting an ‘Aranseol Mamma,’ just like Babiyen?”
I got a punch from Aranseol for that.
It was a heavy fist.
“This is a safety measure for you, Harua.”
Did my actions seem that 불안해 to Aranseol?
I felt a little sorry for causing her unnecessary worry.
“Then, Aranseol, can I ask just one thing?”
“What is it?”
“Aranseol, why do you do so much for me?”
Aranseol and I had been through quite a lot of turbulent events.
In the process, we had revealed our true feelings to each other for the first time.
But I still didn’t understand why Aranseol cared for me so much.
When I asked about it, Aranseol’s gaze shifted to the window.
“...You remember when I said I wanted to create a world where our people don’t hate Transferees, right?”

Aranseol’s parents were murdered by a Transferee.
Since then, she had viewed all Transferees with prejudice and hated them.
The murderer still hadn't been caught.
But she hoped that others wouldn't have to experience the same life she had, unable to move on from that time.
“I think you’re that kind of Transferee, Harua.”
Moonlight streamed in through the window.
The faint smile on Aranseol’s lips, shining in the moonlight, was incredibly beautiful.
“So I hope you never change.”

Never change.
It was a sentiment I couldn’t quite grasp myself.
“Of course, I don’t mean you should push yourself like you did today. I just hope you don’t go through anything so difficult that it changes who you are. Because you’re the first Transferee I’ve ever thought was okay.”
They were warm words, meant for me.
Aranseol seemed a little embarrassed by her own words and touched her neck.
“Why does there have to be a reason for everything? You just do it when you feel someone is a good person.”
Human relationships are complex.
But sometimes, they are simple.
I like this person.
That alone was enough for a relationship to continue.
“I may not have much else, but I’m lucky when it comes to people.”
At the end of every ordeal I had faced since being transferred to this world, there had been people.
Aranseol was one of them.
“Ahem, hem.”
Becoming flustered, Aranseol cleared her throat.
With slightly reddened cheeks, she took two steps back.
“Well, now that all the worrying is done, it’s time to see the results you’ve created.”
Aranseol woke the sleeping Babiyen and started walking.
Following her, we soon arrived in a spacious room.
A hundred people were lying there.
A few of Monghwagol's women were tending to them.
Their faces were incredibly bright.
Their colleagues, who they thought would never return, had come back alive.
There could be no greater joy.
The atmosphere of Monghwagol, which had been so dark just moments ago, was now bright.
That was the result I had created.
“Ah, Harua-ssi!”
Among those caring for the women was Horizon.
The moment she saw me, she smiled brightly.
She was overjoyed that the people she had lived and worked with were safe.
Click—
Just then, the sound of heels echoed.
Madame Karuang was walking in.
“All the women in Monghwagol are those whose parents or family ties are unknown.”
This was the street of pleasure, Monghwagol.
Most of the women who worked here had either been captured and sold, or abandoned.
For those living in the underworld, it was impossible to have proper family relationships.
“And that’s why we decided to consider each other family. Whatever they may feel in their own hearts, that’s how I’ve always seen them.”
Karuang stopped in front of me.
Then, she bowed her head deeply.
“Therefore, you are now the benefactor who saved a hundred of our family members.”
“Then, does that mean you’ll grant any request this benefactor makes?”
This was my chance.
As I quickly seized the opportunity, Karuang covered her mouth with a fan and laughed.
“Yes. I have no intention of devaluing my own family. I must repay you with equal value. Besides the advance payment, I’m more than willing to grant a personal request.”
Karuang’s smile deepened.
“Right now, I’ll give you the chance to embrace the most beautiful woman of all time.”
An incredible opportunity.
For some reason, Aranseol’s eyes narrowed.
“I’ll have to decline.”
“Oh, what a shame. It’s something that even money can’t buy anymore.”
Aranseol’s eyes quickly returned to normal.
“I’ll gladly accept any additional money you offer, but separate from that, I’d like to find someone.”
“Finding someone, is it? I know a few people who specialize in that.”
They were specialists in finding people in Nox.
They would find him, by any means necessary.
“His name is Bulldog. He was a standard mage who used fire and lightning and worked as an adventurer. He went missing a few months ago. He disappeared with his wife just before their son’s wedding.”
“Bulldog?”
Karuang tilted her head.
Could it be she knew Bulldog?
“Do you know something?”
“No, not really. Monghwagol is a place where lips loosen without thinking, so useful information comes in from time to time. I just recall that name being mentioned.”
My eyes flashed.
Information from a completely unexpected place.
Just as one’s lower half loosens, so does the upper mouth.
Information always has monetary value.
So the women would remember various pieces of information and report them to the Madame.
“Please tell me the details.”
“The Radiant Faith Church. Do you know of it?”
Shit.
My face instantly contorted.
Of course I knew it.
The Radiant Faith Church, the cult that had torn me limb from limb.
“There was a client related to that place, and he mentioned the name Bulldog among others.”
“Of all the damn places.”
The Radiant Faith Church was a cult of madmen.
But apart from that, there was a question.
They hated Transferees, not This-worlders.
Why would they be involved with Bulldog?
As I made a complicated expression, Karuang snapped her fan shut with a thwack.
“I’ll look into that information for you. I’ll pass on whatever I find through Horizon, so leave it to me.”
“Thank you. I’d appreciate that.”
Bulldog was the first person I could trust after coming to this world.
If something had happened to him, I wanted to help.
“Is that all for your requests?”
“Yes, this is more than enough.”
I had earned enough money to buy the elixir from the designated merchant.
Things couldn’t be better.
“Then, it’s time for you to be entertained.”
“Pardon?”
“Alright, girls. It’s time to entertain our hardworking guest. Give him the full deluxe course.”
“Yes, Madame.”
As Karuang clapped, women suddenly appeared from all over.
They surrounded me and linked their arms with mine.
The weapons wielded by these women, famed for their beauty in Monghwagol, were formidable.
“W-wait a minute.”
“Alright, over there too.”
As Aranseol showed her bewilderment, women flocked to her side as well.
“Mamma.”
Just then, Babiyen woke from her sleep and started looking for food.
Seeing the women with their chests half-exposed, she wiggled her fingers and cried out.
“Mamma!”
There was plenty of Babiyen’s Mamma there.
And so, Babiyen was also captured by the women.
When I gave Karuang a dumbfounded look, she smiled sweetly.
“We don’t just let our benefactors leave. Indulge to your heart’s content in the dreams of Monghwagol.”
This was excessive gratitude.