If there is a giant cartel in this world, Varkan is definitely the boss. Ryu had heard his name through local investigations before the trade, then he fell silent.
‘Does it work?’
Irel waited with trepidation, clasping her hands together. But Ryu's reaction was a big laugh.
“Ha ha ha!!”
The wolf with the murderous face from before started rolling around on the grass, as if he couldn't contain his burst of laughter. Irel bit his lip, because it seemed like he didn't want to laugh but couldn't help it. Seeing her face, Ryu used his front paw to wipe the corner of his teary eyes and said with regret.
"Ah, sorry. Your words were too innocent and adorable."
[Ting! Masaka Ryu Cheong's Favorability has increased by 3 points.]
His sympathy increased, but Irel felt completely underestimated and felt uncomfortable. Ryu didn't mind her narrow blue eyes at all.
"Your fiance, no, this expression is ridiculous. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to call it Master?"
The voice indicates that her relationship with Varkan is peaceful but full of sarcasm. However, Ryu's voice softened a bit, as if apologizing for laughing at her.
"I do not deny that he is a rare and powerful Masaka. But any name is just a grain of sand in the vast ocean. The name Varkan Ha Mash will also gradually fade when crossing the ocean, and when it reaches my homeland, not even a small speck of dust will remain."
Having finished speaking, Ryu spun around, turning into a monkey as big as a bull. He stretched out his long arms, as if wanting to grab Irel.
"It's a pity. But you have to come with me."
Irel hit
acrid
into his reaching hand, but to Ryu, it was just cute whining. Right at the moment that hand was about to grab Irel's slim waist. A fierce fire flared up between them, seemingly consuming the night.
BOOM—!!
Irel's eyes widened. What a terrifyingly delicate control of power. Thanks to that, even though the fire broke out right before her eyes, she was still unharmed. Feeling the owner of this power, she unconsciously called his name.
“Varkan?”
In just a split second, Ryu quickly shrunk his body, turning into a small skunk. Thanks to that, he avoided the risk of immediate death, but his thick fur was almost burned off.
“Keeeet!!!”
The burning smell was strong, and the remaining sparks on the hair's roots burned with a dark red light. Ryu rolled on the ground in pain to extinguish the fire still lingering in his fur. Because he was in the form of a small and cute white ferret, the sight was pitiful.
However, Varkan, who had the most unique and worst personality among the countless Masakas, truly had no blood or tears. The man stepped out of the long darkness and calmly stepped on the little weasel with his leather shoes.
“Geez!!”
Ryu, crushed under that brutal foot, let out an almost suffocated cry. But Varkan didn't even glance, he looked straight at Irel, slowly smirking.
“It seems you miss me.”
The man asked, tilting his head and smiling. He must have heard his name uttered by Irel.
Today he wore a special black coat, stood against the moonlight, slowly exhaling cigar smoke. Unfortunately, the combination of moonlight and a sexy man created a magical scene, like a precious painting, with hazy smoke surrounding him.
“I planned to give you more time with your family before sending you away.”
He glanced at Irel with dry eyes, then flicked the finished cigar with his fingertips.
"But it doesn't seem to work. These annoying insects keep taking the opportunity to crawl out."
Having said that, Varkan's eyes briefly looked to the ground. His eyes were as cold as ice as he glanced at Mirda who was unconscious with her face purple from the poison. But his eyes looking at Ryu, who was struggling at his feet without even having time to escape his transformed form, were even colder.
'Useless thing, can't end a life.'
Actually, he arrived quite early. It's just that he chose this time to appear.
The decision to send Yan Luis, one of his henchmen, to spy on Irel was the right choice. Thanks to that, he promptly discovered that Irel was planning to escape the mansion and informed him.
Yan, the Masaka of floating, can make his body invisible, walk through walls, or move very quickly in a liquid state. Therefore, he is the optimal person to monitor movements.
However, Lord Hashiva is extremely fair. Although giving Yan Luis a rare talent, it took away all of his ability to speak. In particular, his ability to use language to describe in detail, vividly and fully the context he witnessed was almost completely destroyed.
'What? Irel Elolance is doing a handstand in the air in the middle of the night?'
This is nonsense, without beginning or end, and has no basis whatsoever. Varkan frowned when he heard the report.
Noble ladies are usually weak people who like to overdo things. Just showing their ankles makes a fuss like it's the end of the world. Of course, Irel Elolance was probably the most beautiful hen of them all, but it didn't make much of a difference.
Yet she was wearing only a nightgown and standing on a handstand outside at night? It was difficult for Varkan to accept this report.
‘Indeed sir. The whole body is white, and upside down.'
But Yan, as always, didn't care about the listener's feelings and just said what he wanted. While listening to Yan's report, Varkan held his head, imagining setting fire to that pale, empty head.
Fortunately, Varkan was someone with excellent situational reasoning ability, enough to make up for his subordinate's lack of words. That is, usually it is.
But this particular handstand incident was something even his extraordinary mind and acumen could not understand. So what to do? You can only come and see for yourself.
And when Varkan arrived, he became like this.
"I heard that Eastern Continent people are very polite, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It's cruel to try to coerce a beautiful and slender sister like this."
“How dare you, you insolent child…!”
Varkan coldly observed the two beetles fighting. He is the leader who rules the underworld, and like all great leaders, he likes efficiency.
When wolves and jackals are biting each other, there is no need for a tiger to appear. Waiting until one of them dies is the smartest and cleanest way.
'This way is also less likely to make her hate you.'
If he wanted, he could completely kill Mirdal or Ryu. But if you do that, Irel will definitely not be happy. Even though she couldn't show it for the safety of her family, the fear and disgust in her eyes looking towards him certainly couldn't be hidden.
‘Well, that was interesting in a way.’
However, it is clearly ineffective. The relationship between Masaka and Receiver is much more complicated.
The 'Serving' ritual drains the murderous aura from Masaka's body and in return is the life force of the Receiver. The beginning and end of the ritual are completely under Masaka's control.
But the amount of life force that can be exchanged in one ritual depends on the Receiver's choice. The more you hate Masaka, the more Serving's performance will inevitably decline.
Irel Elolance was already a woman who would die soon. Yet making her hate it to reduce the effectiveness of the Serving ritual was a foolish move.
So Varkan decided to wait. Wait until one of these two idiots drops dead.
But Ryu did not bite off that insolent brat's throat. Perhaps because he wanted to save face in front of Irel, he spared Mirdal's life.
‘Useless.’
Varkan repeated in his heart, unable to hold back his discomfort, he forcefully tightened his grip on the foot wearing leather shoes. Even though the force was so strong that it startled even him, Ryu still did not die, because after all he was Masaka.
“Chit!!”
The skunk let out a pitiful cry and collapsed. Irel was terrified, thinking it was dead, but seeing its little limbs twitching, maybe it just fainted.
Completely losing interest in the helpless Ryu, Varkan lifted his foot. He rubbed the sole of his shoe against the grass, as if he had caught something dirty. Irel looked stunned at Varkan, who was showing an amazing personality.
Varkan did not avoid that look. He fiddled with the heavy cigar box in his pocket and thought.
Now, what to do?
While those lowly Masaka fought for his Receiver, Varkan leisurely smoked a cigar and observed. He observed the Receiver's reaction in this situation.
He didn't blink, carefully examining Irel's expressions, gestures, and tone of refusal. But there was no factor for him to refute. That was quite a pity for him.
‘I already have a fiance.’
Hearing that sentence, his lips that were exhaling cigar smoke stopped. First time.