Chapter 231 – I Will Welcome You Fiercely

“Puhahaha. What… is…”

The fragment of Jormungandr ridiculed Theo when he swung his paw and missed in front of it.

However, along the path of Theo’s front paw, the giant snake’s head split in half.

And,

Sss.

It turned to ash and vanished.

Clink!

In the spot where the fragment of Jormungandr had disappeared, white coins began to fall. The coins were not gathered in one place but appeared sparsely along the corpse of Jormungandr’s fragment.

“Gaeron, pick them up, meow!”

Theo, who was still shining with a golden light while burning money, threw himself toward the falling white coins and instructed Gaeron.

– Yes! Master!

Flick, flick.

Gaeron, situated on Theo’s head, diligently extended his tongue toward the falling coins and began to snatch them up.

They had to hurry. Below where the white coins were falling lay the ominous-feeling darkness that surrounded the tower. Instinct warned never to enter the darkness.

Moreover, as time passed, a somewhat unpleasant energy could be felt. Although weak at first, the energy gradually grew stronger. It was dangerous to stay outside the tower for too long.

***

“H-how could such a monster…”

Great Merchant Yuren froze the moment he met the gaze of Jormungandr’s fragment. The same went for the rest of the group. The agents of the Secret Inspection Bureau, even the soldiers of the merchant group. The weaker ones had already fainted.

They could do nothing, like a mouse in front of a cat. They could only tremble.

Shiver, shiver.

The trembling of their bodies continued for a long time even after Theo defeated the fragment of Jormungandr. Although the fragment of Jormungandr had disappeared, the terrifying appearance and gaze of Jormungandr’s fragment remained vivid in their minds.

“Phew…”

“Huff! Huff!”

As time passed, they began to regain their senses one by one.

And,

“Lord Yuren, who is that person?”

The agents of the Secret Inspection Bureau, thinking Theo was part of Yuren’s group, asked about his identity.

“That person is the famous subordinate of the Great Black Dragon, the Deadly Dragon Claws Golden Cat, Theo Park!”

Yuren proudly introduced Theo. He was originally a yellow cat, but at some point, the golden-glowing Theo, who had defeated the fragment of Jormungandr, became imprinted in Yuren’s mind, and the title changed to Golden Cat.

It was the first time Theo’s introduction was changed by someone else. Finally, Theo’s fame began to spread.

“Oh! So that person is the famous Theo Park?!”

Since it was a name they had heard while working in the Secret Inspection Bureau, they recognized Theo’s name immediately upon hearing it.

However,

‘I thought he was just a genius traveling merchant trusted by the Black Dragon?!’

‘I thought he was just the powerless boyfriend of Iona, the Mage of Great Destruction?!’

Theo’s military power was too different from the information they had gathered. It was only natural. The information they knew about Theo was based on the report written by Jeras when he met Theo while working as an agent of the Secret Inspection Bureau.

Although it had been updated in the middle, in their common sense, they could not properly grasp the information of Theo, who grew stronger rapidly by burning money.

‘We must discard all the existing information.’

‘Rebuild the report from scratch!’

The agents of the Secret Inspection Bureau watched Theo diligently picking up the falling coins to gather information for the new report.

***

“Over there, meow!”

– Yes!

Theo and Gaeron moved diligently, catching the falling coins.

However, it was impossible to catch all the coins, which were scattered as close as hundreds of meters and as far as several kilometers away.

In the end, Theo and Gaeron could not pick up all the coins and had to stare blankly at the ten white coins sinking into the darkness.

“What a waste, meow…”

Theo felt regretful that the coins to be brought to Se-jun were drifting away. ‘Should I jump down, meow?’

As Theo was debating whether to throw himself into the dark space,

“Kyut-kyut-kyut. As expected, Vice President Theo cannot do without me! O power of the wind. Levitate what I desire by my command. Levitation.”

Iona prevented the coins from falling with her magic, levitating them up to where Theo was.

“Meow! Gaeron, catch them, meow!”

Theo shouted as the coins drew near,

– Yes!

Flick, flick.

Gaeron quickly snatched the coins with his tongue and put them into Theo’s bundle.

Thanks to Iona, Theo picked up all forty-seven white coins dropped by the fragment of Jormungandr.

“Thank you, Iona, meow!”

Entering the merchant passage, Theo expressed his gratitude to Iona, who had helped him not to lose the coins.

“Kyut-kyut-kyut. It was nothing.”

“By the way, what brings you here, Iona, meow?”

“Mr. Se-jun sent me because he was worried about Vice President Theo.”

“President Park, you mean, meow?! Puhuhut.”

Theo became proud at Iona’s words that Se-jun had worried about him. ‘That fellow President Park, as expected, he cannot do without me, meow!’

“Mr. Se-jun is worrying. Let’s return quickly!”

Wrap, wrap.

Iona wrapped her tail around Theo’s tail, who was acting proud, and began to sleep.

“Puhuhut. Since President Park is waiting for me, I should go quickly, show him my face, lie on his lap, and eat Churu, meow!”

As Theo was about to hurry up to the 99th floor of the tower where Se-jun was,

“Excuse me… Mr. Theo. Thank you for saving my life. I don’t have any money on me right now, but if you come to the 65th floor of the tower where I am, I will give you a proper reward then.”

Although he had already been extorted of 1.2 billion Tower Coins by Theo, that amount of money was only about a month’s food expenses for Yuren. Yuren invited Theo to the 65th floor of the tower, saying he would give a proper reward.

“I understand, meow! I will go later, meow!”

Theo, whose heart was already running toward Se-jun’s lap, barely listened to Yuren’s words and hurriedly set off for the 99th floor of the tower.

Thus, Theo went back home. On the way, the 1 billion Tower Coins were completely burned, and the golden light disappeared.

And,

“The efficiency is not good, meow! As expected, burning President Park’s money is the best, meow!”

Although he did not know the reason, Theo realized that the efficiency of increasing his abilities was much better when burning Se-jun’s money.

***

“Podori, I’m here!”

Se-jun approached the grapevine, holding a branch that could produce grapes with seeds. Podori was the nickname of the grapevine that Se-jun made.

[No way?! Is that the branch that will give me seeds?]

Podori asked, looking at the branch Se-jun brought.

“Yes. Wait a moment.”

Se-jun grafted the branch he brought onto the grapevine.

Then,

[You have grafted a branch of a grapevine full of life onto the seedless grapevine for beginners.]

[The seedless grapevine for beginners is now able to produce delicious grapes again.]

[The quest has been completed.]

[As a reward for completing the quest, you have obtained the exclusive cultivation rights for the next grapes to be harvested.]

[As a reward for completing the quest, you have obtained the Relic: Violet Ring.]

Along with the message that the quest was completed, a thick purple ring in the shape of a grape vine appeared in Se-jun’s hand.

“Shall I see what the options are?”

Se-jun examined the ring.

[Relic: Violet Ring]

This ring contains the heart of a farmer who loved grapes so much.

It is a relic not registered in the Black Tower.

Upon wearing, grape yield increases slightly.

Upon wearing, you can harvest the Altar of Plentiful Grapes, which allows you to hold a harvest festival.

Usage Restriction: Grapevine Owner

Creator: Vines

Grade: S

“Huh?! I can harvest the Altar of Plentiful Grapes?!”

Since Pyupyu, who possessed the red ribbon capable of harvesting the Giant Carrot Altar, had gone down to the 55th floor of the tower, Se-jun had been unable to hold a harvest festival. He rejoiced that a way to hold a harvest festival again had appeared.

When the harvest festival was held, everyone could have fun, and the Raccoon tribe’s market, which only came during the harvest festival, would open. Although the excitement was slightly less since he could make and eat bar rice cakes now, he could still buy bread, beer, and cheese.

“Well… although I don’t know when I’ll hold the harvest festival…”

Slip.

Se-jun said, slipping the Violet Ring onto his finger. Since there was only one grapevine so far, Se-jun was in no hurry. If he repeated planting and harvesting grape seeds, the harvest festival would be held someday.

At that moment,

[Mr. Se-jun, thank you! I will make delicious grapes for you in the future!]

Podori conveyed his gratitude to Se-jun.

“Yes. Please make lots of delicious grapes in the future.”

[Yes!]

“Then I will be on my way.”

Se-jun said goodbye to Podori and headed to the kitchen to prepare lunch.

Originally, he had planned to make Samyangju and rice noodle dough in the morning, but the entire morning was spent checking the results of grafting the grapevine branch onto another tree.

As Se-jun was heading toward the kitchen,

“Huh?! It has grown a lot already.”

In the Golden Tree Stump of Abundance pot, the green color had already disappeared, and yellow-colored ears of rice were visible.

“Hehehe. I can harvest it around tomorrow or the day after. Hung-hung-hung.”

Excited at the thought of eating white rice soon, Se-jun hummed a tune and moved to the kitchen.

***

“Udon!”

Ramter, who returned after drinking alcohol with Kaiser and Kellion, called Udon, the Tower Farmer of the Red Tower.

“Great Red Dragon Ramter, did you call me?”

At Ramter’s call, a figure clad in red full-body armor politely knelt on one knee and answered. The armor was made by Udon himself, using scales provided by Ramter so that Udon could withstand Ramter’s energy.

Of course, since it was impossible to block Ramter’s mighty energy with only the armor, the wearer’s ability basically had to keep up.

“Indeed. Tower Farmer of the Red Tower. Create a statue of a great red dragon that resembles me!”

Ramter had Udon craft a statue to be sent to the Black Tower.

“Yes! I understand, Lord Ramter.”

“Then call me when it is finished.”

Ramter disappeared after saying only what he needed to say.

And,

“Phew.”

Udon sighed and took off his helmet. Udon’s face, which had a red beard, was covered in sweat. He was exhausted from enduring Ramter’s energy.

Clank.

“A red dragon statue resembling Lord Ramter…”

Repeating Ramter’s instruction, Udon stood up from his spot, but it did not make much of a difference from when he was kneeling on one knee. Udon was a dwarf, originally short.

At that moment,

“Inspiration struck!”

Udon hurriedly ran toward a rocky mountain that had become an abandoned mine. And cutting into the mountain, he began to make a giant red dragon statue in a 1:1 size scale with Ramter. It was Ramter’s mistake for not specifying the size.

***

Thud, thud.

While Se-jun was making rice noodle dough after eating lunch,

“President Park, I, Vice President Theo, have arrived, meow!”

Theo called out to Se-jun and threw himself toward Se-jun’s face.

And,

Swish.

Avoiding Se-jun’s hand that tried to catch him this time as well, Theo hugged Se-jun’s face.

“Ptooey. You’re back?”

Se-jun spat out Theo’s fur and replied half-heartedly.

“Wh-what, meow?! President Park, your reaction is too lukewarm, meow! I, Vice President Theo, whom President Park was worried about, have returned, meow! Welcome me more fiercely, meow!”

Theo had expected him to welcome him more fiercely after hearing Iona’s words.

“What are you talking about?”

“Meow…”

Theo was disappointed by Se-jun’s reaction, but

‘Puhuhut. That fellow President Park, is he being shy, meow? Then I will generously understand, meow! But you won’t be able to keep resisting my deadly cuteness, meow!’

Soon interpreted Se-jun’s feelings on his own, lay flat on his back on Se-jun’s lap, and actively showed off his cuteness.

But,

‘This guy, shedding his fur.’

Watching Theo’s fur piling up on the rice noodle dough, Se-jun’s face gradually stiffened.

‘At this rate, it would be better to make it from scratch.’

The rice noodle dough seemed to have no hope of being salvaged. Oh, whatever!

“Vice President Theo, I will welcome you fiercely!”

Since it was ruined anyway, Se-jun focused on vigorously stroking Theo’s body and scraping off his fur to prevent him from shedding.

‘Puhuhut. That fellow President Park, as expected, he was just being shy, meow!’

Thanks to that, Theo’s misunderstanding grew deeper.