Chapter 427

Raon briefly closed his eyes before opening them again, then he took his hands off Mustan’s body. He was still immobile, probably because he wasn’t ordered to wake up.

What are you doing?

Wrath tilted his head.

Didn’t this loser make you angry? This is the perfect chance to vent your anger.

He punched into the air, saying that he couldn’t say anything even if he was beaten up.

‘I can do that at any moment.’

This is different from back then. You can order him around however you want to since he is your slave now.

‘I don’t really like stuff like that.’

Raon shook his head while feeling the bitterness in his mouth.

‘I can’t turn him into a slave even though he is trash.’

He was killed as a dog after the hunt was over in his previous life.

He was abducted when he was a child and lived his entire life as a hunting dog on a leash, only to go straight into a boiling pot in the end.

Since he had no intention of becoming like Derus Robert on his way to his revenge, he wasn’t going to treat Mustan as a slave even though he was a servant.

You are rather annoying when it comes to things like this. However…

Wrath faintly smiled while looking at Raon.

That’s not too bad. People might call you foolish, but the King of Essence would say that it's humane behavior.

He murmured that Raon was sometimes like a fiend but also humane occasionally.

Does that mean that you are also going to share the envy he has with him?

‘I’ll take that out. But I’ll go down from the mountain first because it would be annoying if he woke up here.’

The mountain peak was almost destroyed, and there was even a sleeping bear.

Since he would need to explain a lot if Mustan woke up in that place, waking him up after descending from the mountain was the correct course of action.

Raon turned around from Mustan and looked at Sloth.

‘He’s not waking up until the very end.’

Even though the floor was destroyed because of Envy’s energy, Sloth was still somehow maintaining his balance and was fast asleep. He even looked more comfortable.

The King of Essence told you already. He’s never going to wake up.

Wrath shook his head, saying that at least Sloth wouldn’t do as Raon pleased.

‘It’s fine. I just need to create a way to manipulate sloth by myself.’

He was certain that he could create an ability to control sloth by dismantling the technique he’d learned from Envy and reassembling it.

‘It should work if I make it specialized in recovery.’

Recovery was the best way to utilize sloth’s innate ability no matter how he thought about it.

He could possibly obtain as much regeneration as low-tier healing magic if he was successful.

Raon smiled faintly and took out his subspace pocket. He pulled out the highest-quality bedding that Dorian had given him from deep inside the pocket.

Are you really giving a gift to the sleepyhead even though he didn’t do anything for you?

‘He allowed me to take advantage of his name. That’s more than enough.’

But the King of Essence did the same!

Wrath raised his voice while pointing his finger at Sloth.

‘That’s why I told you that I was going to eat the pineapple pizza.’

Raon picked Sloth up to set up the mattress and a pillow before laying him back down. Since he was a white baby bear, picking him up wasn’t an issue.

“Good night, you saved me.”

He was about to stand up after covering him with the blanket, but a powerful energy leisurely emerged from around Sloth’s horn.

‘Sloth? Moreover… It’s the energy I gave him.’

Raon had shoved the energy of sloth into him to wake him up, and it was returning to him multiple times bigger.

Whir!

Raon extended his hand towards the energy of Sloth that was gathering like water drops, and it was naturally absorbed into his body and got stuck in his soul.

[30 points of the emotion of sloth have been created.]

He’d only shoved 10 points into Sloth, yet 30 points had returned. It was way too profitable to be a business.

‘Moreover…’

He managed to understand Sloth’s breathing technique from the flow of sloth he had exhaled a moment ago.

Creating a new trait would be a piece of cake if he used that flow of sloth.

“Is this why people should do good deeds?”

Raon nodded in satisfaction while looking at the message.

You stupid doormat!

Wrath murmured that he was the worst doormat, since he was being a doormat even in his sleep.

This isn’t right no matter how he thinks about it! The King of Essence also needs some rewards!

‘Pizza should be enough.’

Two pizzas aren’t enough! You need to eat at least three of them, including the desserts, to make it equal!

‘Be honest.’

Raon lowered his eyebrows while looking at Wrath.

About what?

‘You have gluttony as a sideline on top of wrath, don’t you?’

What are you talking about?!

* * * 

After giving the gift to Sloth, Raon carried Mustan on his shoulder and went down from Stallin Mountain.

‘I should get started now.’

He briefly caught his breath and put his hand on Mustan’s shoulder.

The emotion of envy that hadn’t perfectly settled yet naturally surged from his soul, and Mustan’s blank eyes sparkled with a light green color.

[Will you absorb the envy?]

The message he’d seen at the peak of Stallin Mountain appeared once again.

‘What’s going to happen to Mustan if I absorb all of his envy?’

What else? He won’t have any envy anymore.

Wrath immediately responded, probably because he was going to eat the pineapple pizzas soon enough.

A human soul normally contains many sinful emotions. He is just a case where envy was especially developed among them, and it will simply be gone. Don’t worry about him, since he’s not going to die or lose his sanity.

‘Does that mean I can also give or take the sinful emotions from other people?’

That’s not the case. This is only possible because that loser became your servant.

Wrath shook his head, telling him to stop being greedy.

‘I see.’

Raon nodded and decided to absorb the envy. And he was going to absorb all of it.

Whir!

Along with a sense of freedom that felt like the soul deep inside his body appeared on the outside, he could feel the huge energy of envy that Mustan had been gathering enter through his grasp.

‘This amount is no joke.’

He was expecting it to be an extraordinary amount because he’d even managed to summon Envy, but it was even worse than he’d anticipated.

His breathing became rough, and his head felt dizzy just from absorbing the energy.

‘But I still shouldn't absorb it as it is.’

He used the Ring of Fire to melt down the impurities inside the energy of envy and only absorbed the pure emotion into his soul.

Pssh!

The energy of envy he absorbed from Mustan seeped into the authority of envy that wasn’t awakened yet and turned a larger area into green.

“Haa…”

Raon sighed and checked the messages that appeared.

[The emotion of envy has been created.]

[You’ve absorbed 50 points of emotion of envy.]

It was 50 points in one go. It wasn’t an overstatement to call it an absurd amount, considering that the authority of envy wasn’t awakened yet.

‘This explains why Envy suddenly appeared.’

Mustan was the most talented person in the continent in a way, since he managed to accumulate 50 points of envy on his own.

‘I’m curious what I’ll be able to do with this.’

Raon smiled and took his hand off of Mustan, and the green light brimming from his eyes subsided.

“Huh…?”

Mustan regained consciousness and gasped while checking his own hands and feet.

“Why am I here?”

He tilted his head. He didn’t even seem to know why he was in that location.

“Y-you!”

Mustan’s eyes widened upon finding Raon. However, the malice that always used to cover his eyes was nowhere to be found.

“Raon! Did you… Huh? Huuh?”

He seemed to have realized something was wrong as he blinked his blank eyes multiple times. His emotions drastically changed every time his eyes could be seen.

“Why did you…? No, why did I…?”

His head trembled like a fool, probably because the envy that disappeared from him was the biggest emotion he had.

“Aah…”

His face turned as red as a ripened apple upon remembering what he’d done.

“M-my bad! I mean, I’m sorry!”

Mustan immediately lowered his head and went on his knees.

“I apologize for picking a fight and insulting your master!”

He apologized for what he’d done without the slightest hesitation.

“I knew I was wrong, but I couldn’t stop myself because my heart felt like it was burning from the boiling emotions.”

“Huh…”

Raon gasped while watching Mustan, whose head was reaching the ground.

‘Why is he doing this? I didn’t even say anything yet.’

It’s simple.

‘Simple?’

That loser must’ve been justifying himself with the emotion of envy, even though he was well aware that his words and actions were problematic.

Wrath bobbed his finger while sneering at him.

He could ignore the spike of his conscience poking at him from the bottom of his heart with his envy as armor, but that armor disappeared without even leaving a trace. That’s why all he has left now is the spike of conscience.

Wrath murmured that it was obvious he would end up that way since his envy that used to protect his mind was gone.

“I-I’m also going to beg for forgiveness of the Sword of Light once I return!”

Mustan raised his head. His clear eyes didn’t have a single speck of cloudiness in them. Raon started wondering if it was even allowed for a human being to change that much.

‘I won’t need to kill him at this rate.’

He was planning to cut his neck and get rid of the corpse as soon as it became problematic, but he didn’t want to kill him anymore because he was begging for forgiveness.

“By the way, why am I here?”

Mustan stood up and looked around. He seemed surprised because he woke up at a location he’d never seen before.

“Don’t you remember anything at all?”

“Indeed, I don’t remember anything!”

Mustan went down on one knee and lowered his head like a knight serving his lord.

“Huh?”

He swallowed nervously because he couldn’t understand why he was doing that even though he did it on his own accord.

“Stop acting like that and answer more casually.”

“Yes, Sir! Understoo—huh? Eeeh…”

Mustan rolled his eyes while creaking like a broken doll.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

The King of Essence said before that Envy handles his subordinates roughly. The master-servant contract you had with that loser is a one-sided contract that makes you pretty much unapproachable.

Wrath frowned, saying that Mustan would have to stay that way for the rest of his life.

“Speak more casually.”

“Yes! Ca-casually? What does casual mean?”

Mustan straightened his back and quickly nodded. Anyone could tell that he wasn’t being casual at all.

“Haa.”

Raon shook his head. It looked like he wouldn’t be able to fix his behavior in a short period of time.

“Let’s return for now.”

“Yes!”

Raon shook his hand at Mustan and went ahead towards Habun Castle. Mustan followed from behind while bending his knees and leaning forward like a goblin.

“Please act casually.”

“Yes! C-casually… But this is casual…”

He started creaking once again like a broken doll. Raon suddenly thought that Envy was such a nasty demon king as he watched him.

“Do as you wish.”

Raon shook his hand to tell him he didn’t care anymore and went forward.

“Yes!”

Mustan walked without changing his posture. He must’ve really been feeling at ease while leaning forward.

Raon could see the Light Wind squad and Habun Castle’s scouts running towards him after walking for about four hours.

There were many other people moving around, and Raon could guess that they had come out to look for Mustan.

‘Fortunately, it looks like no one noticed it.’

There was a barrier at the mountain peak, it was far away from the castle, and Envy didn’t show her true power. That must’ve been why none of them noticed her presence.

Whoosh!

A violent wind blew right before he reached the Light Wind squad, and the Sword Demon appeared in an instant. He frowned while looking at Mustan, who was awkwardly standing there.

“Mustan! What do you think you are doing?!”

The Sword Demon shouted at Mustan for the first time.

“Where did you even go? Do you realize how much trouble everyone went through because of you?”

“Err…”

Mustan’s neck trembled as he watched Raon instead of the Sword Demon.

“Huh?”

The Sword Demon’s lips parted as he noticed that Mustan’s eyes had changed.

“Wh-what? Why is he reduced to that state?”

“Wow, he must’ve beaten him up even harder than the last time.”

“He’s thoroughly dispirited.”

Burren, Martha, and Runaan blinked their eyes while looking at Mustan, who seemed terrified.

“How much did he even beat him up?”

“He’s completely in tatters.”

“Did he beat him up as soon as he saw him?”

“I’m surprised he’s still alive after so many beatings.”

The other swordsmen and scouts also shook their heads while examining Mustan’s appearance.

It was understandable because the bandages covering his body were untied to reveal the bloody bruises, he was bleeding from his forehead because he’d fallen from the sky head first, and there were even traces of bloody foam on his mouth.

He looked exactly like he was beaten to death to other people.

“Mustan, say something. What happened to you?”

“Hmm…”

Mustan didn’t respond even though the Sword Demon asked him.

“Haa.”

Raon sighed and turned his head around.

“Sir Rector is asking you a question. You have to respond.”

“I-I’m sorry! Master! It was my mistake. I have no excuse for disappointing you all along!”

It was only after Raon told him to do so that Mustan went on his knees and begged for forgiveness.

“……”

The snowfield fell silent.

Everyone narrowed their eyes while looking at Raon instead of Mustan.

Their expressions were asking him how much he even beat him up to change him so much.

“That’s our Mad Dog squad leader for you!”

Rimmer arrived late at the scene and walked up to Raon while whistling.

“He’s a professional when it comes to training a mad dog! How much did you even beat him up this time?”

“I didn’t beat him…”

Raon shook his head, but no one believed him.

“That’s the great king of violence!”

“The wielder of the Mad Dog squad’s leash!”

“A demon. No, he’s a demon king.”

“The demon god!”

‘I really didn’t.’

* * *

Raon immediately went inside the Branch of Frost upon returning to Habun Castle.

He wanted to recover his body by using sloth in his sleep, but he had no other choice because of the sideline demon king who kept urging him to eat pizza.

“Yua, can you bring me three pineapple pizzas and five pineapple cookies?”

“Pineapple pizzas and cookies…”

Yua nodded while rolling her eyes upwards.

“Aren’t you lacking any ingredient by any chance?”

“Not at all!”

Raon asked while hoping that it would be the case, but Yua firmly shook her head.

“My grandfather made sure to prepare enough ingredients because he’s aware that the young master Raon likes pineapples.”

“I-I see.”

Raon bit his lip. It was his last hope, but he had no choice but to eat pizza.

This is why the King of Essence likes that manager!

Wrath shook his hand towards the kitchen like a king praising his knight.

‘Damn it. Everyone thinks I have strange tastes because of a certain blue pig.’

Who are you calling a pig?!

‘You!’

Most people started to misunderstand his preference because Wrath kept making him eat strange food.

Recently, some people even asked him to try out a curry that included fish heads as an ingredient.

“Please wait a moment. It will be ready soon.”

Yua smiled cheerfully and went to the kitchen.

How nice.

Wrath smiled in satisfaction while looking at Yua’s back, her twin tails fluttering in the air.

Watching Pineapple Girl heals the soul!

He smiled happily, saying that the memories from Stallin Mountain were fading away even though they were the worst memories of his life.

‘Indeed, she makes me happy just from watching her.’

Raon nodded. Yua has always been cheerful, but she became even more so after seeing her grandfather. He felt happy just from seeing her.

‘But we need to return now.’

Since he’d obtained more than what he came for, it was time to return to the house.

‘It was an unexpected harvest.’

The original reason for his visit was to ask Sloth about how to use the sloth.

He thought he would be satisfied with that, but he gained the authority of envy from Envy, and he even gained extra sloth and a breathing technique from Sloth.

Profit wasn’t enough to describe it anymore. It was a once-in-a-lifetime jackpot, and he couldn’t stop his smile.

‘There should be some rewards waiting for me once I return.’

The incident at House Arianne was way worse than a promotion mission should’ve been.

Since Glenn always made sure to reward and punish accordingly, Raon had high expectations for what he was going to give him.

‘I’m sure it will be delicious.’

Raon licked his lips while watching Yua bring out the pineapple pizza, and Wrath wrinkled his nose.

In the King of Essence’s opinion, you are the pig here! A greedy pig who loves profit too much!

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Writing Ant, 글개미]

[Translator – Kyangi]

[Proofreader – Harley]