Chapter 587: Chattering Sloth Part 1

Seo Ye-in usually communicates by nodding, shaking her head, or using one or two short words.

But right now, she’s speaking in complete sentences.

“I’ve become less bothered.”

“So you’re saying you didn’t do it before just because it was too much trouble?”

“Because even if I shorten it, you understand everything anyway.”

Her gray eyes were filled with trust.

Well, it’s true that I’ve become fluent in sloth language.

As if the others also sensed something strange, they gathered around.

Seeing the half-finished glass of juice, they seemed to grasp the situation.

Dang Il-bi and Dang Han-bi’s expressions stiffened.

“We warned her so many times.”

“And yet she still caused trouble.”

“The Dang Clan’s reputation will fall to the ground.”

Even if it was meant as a prank, the severity depends on who the target is.

Compared to the Dang Clan, the backing behind Dang Gyu-young and me is insignificant, but Seo Ye-in is the young lady of the Hye-seong Group.

If someone like her gets poisoned while visiting another household?

It could escalate into a conflict between groups.

Beyond that, the twin brothers seemed to feel guilty for not properly keeping their younger sibling in check, as well as apologetic toward their guest.

They bowed deeply toward the Hye-seong Group.

“We are truly sorry.”

“…For now, I think it’s best to understand the situation in more detail.”

Ahn Jeong-mi replied with a serious expression.

The top priority right now is to determine exactly what poison Seo Ye-in has been affected by and to detoxify it.

If they hesitate, the poison could spread and become uncontrollable.

The Dang twins nodded and spoke in turn.

“That is correct.”

“We will bring that reckless girl here immediately.”

They were about to dash off right away, but fortunately, that didn’t seem necessary.

Seo Ye-in stared at a corner of the training ground and said,

“She’s over there.”

“……!”

As everyone’s gaze turned, Dang Eun-bi slowly stepped out from that spot.

She had pretended to leave but had actually been hiding and watching.

Realizing that things had gone wrong, her face had turned pale.

She couldn’t even lift her head and kept bowing repeatedly.

“I’m sorry……”

At this, the twin brothers stepped closer one by one.

“You will be punished accordingly, but now is not the time.”

“Explain in detail what kind of poison you used.”

“Do not leave out a single thing.”

Faced with her brothers’ fierce demeanor, Dang Eun-bi answered in a shrinking voice.

“The one from before… the one that makes your true thoughts leak out… and the catalyst… plus a magic potion that changes randomly…”

The twins cut her off with their eyes narrowing.

“You mixed in a magic potion?”

“And one that changes randomly? Without knowing what it would do?”

“And what were you thinking, making someone else drink that?”

A member of the Dang Clan should be more knowledgeable than anyone about the poisons they use, yet she had irresponsibly mixed substances and didn’t even verify their effects.

Dang Eun-bi protested in an even smaller voice.

“I thought it’d be better than using a lethal poison… I also added an elixir, so I thought it would be okay…”

“An elixir? What elixir are you talking about?”

“It was something I got a long time ago… a gold, gold something pill…”

“True Gold Spirit Pill?”

“Yes! That’s it!”

Dang Eun-bi clapped her hands.

She looked relieved, as if something had finally clicked.

But under her brothers’ glare, she shrank back again.

Soon, Dang Il-bi spoke to Ahn Jeong-mi.

“The poisons that girl makes are not of the harmful kind. Moreover, even the small amount of toxicity seems to have been suppressed by the medicinal energy.”

“That is a relief.”

“However, as long as we don’t know what the ‘random effect’ is, we cannot be at ease.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Seo Ye-in.

Ahn Jeong-mi carefully asked,

“Young miss, do you feel any discomfort?”

“I feel fine.”

“Still, just in case, please receive a diagnosis at the medical hall.”

“I knew it was fine when I drank it.”

Seo Ye-in gestured toward the glass of juice.

Then she looked this way, so I added an explanation.

“You’ve probably already guessed, but we all have traits. That’s why she said she knew and drank it.”

“…As expected.”

“Since we’re on the topic, I’ll try it too.”

“Kim Ho-nim, there’s no need for you to go that far.”

Ahn Jeong-mi looked startled and tried to stop me, but I simply smiled and raised the glass.

It’d be a waste not to drink it.

The hidden piece I obtained in the first semester while clearing [Demon Sealing], the Gold Spirit Pill.

The True Gold Spirit Pill is an A-rank elixir, two ranks above that.

Even if its potency was somewhat reduced after being mixed into the potion, it should still grant a significant amount of mana.

And there are spectators, too.

I could feel eyes on me from afar.

It was likely people from the council again, so I intended to show them once more by drinking poison.

So they’d stop bothering me since it clearly doesn’t work.

With that, I downed the juice mixed with the potion in one go.

“……”

“……”

Although the Dang twins and the four members of Hye-seong Group accepted my reasoning, they still watched me with some concern.

Of course, even after some time passed, I was completely fine.

Unlike Seo Ye-in, I didn’t suddenly become more talkative or feel less bothered. There wasn’t even the slightest psychological change.

Because I’m a Monarch.

The effect of the juice was likely that the “true thoughts leaking out” effect had shifted into a positive form.

However, it seemed my mental barrier completely blocked even that.

Even without poison immunity, I probably would’ve been fine.

At last, Dang Eun-bi let out a sigh as she looked at me.

“Ah……”

She must have been holding onto a final sliver of hope, but even that failed.

All her efforts had come to nothing.

Then Seo Ye-in spoke.

“Since poison doesn’t work, stop now.”

“…Yes, I’ll stop.”

“I’ll get mad next time.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Judging that the situation was mostly resolved, Ahn Jeong-mi spoke to the twins.

“Her intentions weren’t malicious, and the damage was minimal, but I don’t think it’s appropriate behavior toward a guest. There was also a risk of something going wrong.”

“That is correct.”

“We will make a formal complaint regarding this matter.”

“That would be appropriate. Once again, we sincerely apologize.”

Of course, since the fault ultimately lay with the Elders who orchestrated this, they would be the ones to pay the price.

It was also safe to assume that any further attempts to use poison would be unlikely.

With that, the Dang twins dragged Dang Eun-bi away to somewhere else.

The attention of those remaining then shifted back to Seo Ye-in.

“Young miss, are you really alright?”

“I’m really fine. Thank you for worrying about me.”

“…Huh?”

Ahn Jeong-mi’s eyes widened.

The other staff members were also exchanging confused glances.

They might have expected her to be more talkative, but hearing her say “thank you” was clearly beyond anything they had imagined.

As Ahn Jeong-mi stood there at a loss for words, Seo Ye-in spoke again.

“I’m always grateful.”

“…….!”

Ahn Jeong-mi looked as though something was welling up inside her, then turned her body away.

“…Please excuse me for a moment.”

And she quickly retreated to a corner of the training grounds.

It even sounded like a faint sniffle could be heard from somewhere.

Glancing at her, I casually remarked,

“You could’ve shown that kind of expression more often.”

“I guess I should have.”

“But it was a hassle, right?”

“…A little.”

Seo Ye-in subtly avoided my gaze.

Meanwhile, Dang Gyu-young was watching us with a very curious and fascinated expression.

“I’ve never seen her talk this much before. She’s like a completely different person.”

“It’s less of a hassle now.”

“Just how much of a hassle was it before?”

“A lot.”

Seo Ye-in tilted her head as she answered.

It meant she didn’t know exactly herself either.

This time, Dang Gyu-young turned to me with a question.

“How long do you think it’ll last? The effect.”

“I have no idea.”

Since it was mixed with a magic potion that produced “random effects”, no one knew how long it would last.

Not even Dang Eun-bi, who made the potion.

A faint trace of worry passed over Dang Gyu-young’s face.

“Isn’t she going to stay like that forever? I feel like I’d kind of miss it.”

“It’ll wear off eventually. If it were permanent, it would’ve become a trait.”

“Now that you mention it, that makes sense. Roughly when?”

“If it’s short, a few hours. If it’s long, it could last several weeks.”

Considering that one of the ingredients was the A-rank elixir [True Gold Spirit Pill], it would probably be closer to the latter.

At that, Seo Ye-in stepped closer, lightly tugging at my sleeve as she spoke.

“You know.”

“What?”

“I’m going to make an effort now.”

“With training?”

“Mhmm, before it gets annoying again.”

I pretended to be deeply moved.

“Now you’ve even moved me. Truly admirable.”

“You can do the challenge hardship.”

That was unexpected, so I exchanged a glance with Dang Gyu-young.

Then I asked casually,

“You just asked me to go easy on you earlier. Said you’d rest and do it in two days.”

“I don’t think I need to rest. I’m going to do it anyway.”

“Every word you say is absolutely right. Indeed.”

“But instead,”

Seo Ye-in stared straight at me for a few seconds.

“Give me one wish ticket.”

“So you want an incentive in exchange for working hard?”

“That’s right.”

“But doesn’t that only benefit you? You’re the one raising your specs.”

“You benefit too.”

Her gray eyes gleamed sharply.

If the ranks of skills like [Feather Step] or [Destructive Gale] increased, the ranks of the copies I used would rise as well.

And Seo Ye-in’s point didn’t stop there.

“I think a movement quest will come up in the harship.”

“Because you just got [Sailboat]? Or just a gut feeling?”

“Both.”

If it was a hardship quest, it would likely set a goal of quickly developing the trait she had just acquired.

On top of that, it was also true that her lucky intuition had been right almost every time so far.

So if she cleared this hardship quest, there was a high chance that [Feather Step] would improve significantly as well.

With that in mind, I nodded.

“You’re not wrong. Let’s put a wish ticket on the line.”

“It’s a promise.”

I looked at Seo Ye-in closely and asked,

“…You seem smarter, too?”

“I usually just half-ass things because it’s a hassle.”

“Because you have to talk more to negotiate?”

“A lot, and at length.”

In other words, she couldn’t be bothered to finish even an extra sentence or two, so she usually just went with a whatever-happens-happens mindset.

Anyway, since she said she’d put in the effort, that was good news for me.

So just as I was about to pull out the challenge book,

Seo Ye-in turned her head to look at Dang Gyu-young and said something unexpected again.

“I’m going to work hard.”

“Okay, I’ll cheer you on.”

“My goal is first place.”

“…….!”

Dang Gyu-young’s face stiffened.