How To Suck Honey With Extras [EN]: Chapter 172

191. The Business Trip Isn’t Over Until I Return (1)

I was lazing around in the inn, enjoying my leisure time with a ‘whatever happens, happens~ not my problem~’ kind of attitude.

To add to that, I had already asked everyone not to look for me.

Yes, after working, you need a break like this.

‘I worked hard, so it’s a holiday!’

Working adults need holidays.

I slowly sipped on a drink mixed with honey and fruit juice.

Sweet things are the best after all.

Chuckling contentedly, I thought about the bait I had spread.

The aforementioned armistice negotiations.

In the end, the Empire will take all the responsibility, whether they have it or not.

For the time being, they won’t have the leeway [time or resources] to pay attention to other places while dealing with the aftermath.

‘I don’t feel sorry for them at all.’

If you want to complain, complain to the Third Prince, who is always plotting, you poor royals.

In a way, it was a case of finding fault and passing the buck.

Aside from Marquis Celrond’s foolish짓 [a Korean suffix implying an action or behavior, often negative], the demonic ritual site I discovered has nothing to do with the Forellos Empire’s intentions.

It became the trigger, but it wasn’t intentional.

However, since it was the demons summoned by the Marquis who caused it, there is justification to hold them responsible for providing the cause.

‘Well, all I gave them was circumstantial evidence.’

I wasn’t exactly forcing things.

I suggested to Grand Duke Nilphas that he use the information about the demonic ritual site in the negotiations.

He readily agreed.

Even if I didn’t add my personal opinions or reveal all the information I had, just presenting the circumstantial evidence left there in a plausible way would be enough for them to suspect each other.

‘Thanks to that, they seem to be in a difficult situation, so it was worth the effort.’

I hope they successfully negotiate, but more than anything.

‘Giving the Empire a hard time once will help keep them in check.’

It was unsettling to just leave them alone.

I also wondered how much that mercenary, Elraut, had been blabbing about me when he returned.

There’s a possibility they might do something again.

If so, it would be better to incite other royals to keep them in check, which would buy me time.

Since they are fundamentally rotten guys, they will start fighting each other in a power struggle if I do that much.

‘In the meantime, I just need to build up my wealth and skills.’

After all, it was Sylvester and his friends who made their names known, and I’m just a merchant A with little presence.

As time passes, people like me will be out of their minds.

I just need to live diligently in the meantime.

And when the time comes, I plan to step forward confidently.

I took out the privilege card I had received a while ago, unfolded it, and hummed to myself with satisfaction.

“I wonder how much more I can earn with this~.”

It’s fun to imagine.

It’s so rewarding to see the results of struggling to live gradually increasing.

Did I ever get anything back in my hands when I was working overtime like crazy on Earth?

It’s not a big deal to suffer.

I can handle it as long as I get something in return.

It’s painful when you don’t get anything.

“Hmm~ delicious.”

I took another sip of the sweet drink and slowly got up.

I should wrap up my life here now, right?

Since I don’t intend to get deeply involved, it’s the true way to leave beautifully when the time is right.

“What should I do now?”

I started to think slowly without being impatient.

Soon, I will experience another incident, whether from afar or up close.

Anyway, the world keeps turning, and I just need to live my life my way.

…….

…….

I closed all the messages and chuckled.

There are many things to do in the future.

So there’s no need to be impatient.

The guy who gets impatient and anxious dies first.

I know this is that kind of world.

* * *

“…….”

Sylvester was wielding his sword with a slightly more anxious look than usual.

What he’s doing now is the same training he always does.

Shuk!

A faint noise like cutting through the wind rang out, and sword energy spread in all directions.

It was messed up.

“……Oh dear.”

As if dissatisfied with it, he looked at his sword energy from a moment ago and bit his lip slightly.

Soon, he released his stance and sheathed his sword.

“I’m screwed. ……It’s still not enough.”

He sighed deeply, as if dissatisfied with something.

“I was wondering what you were doing holed up here, but what are you doing so pathetically?”

Someone made footsteps that didn’t even try to hide their presence.

Alnix, one of Sylvester’s companions, had arrived.

He had been watching the swordsmanship Sylvester had been demonstrating from a while ago, and he gave him a dumbfounded look.

“What are you so unhappy about?”

“……It’s nothing.”

“I could see the impatience in your swings more than usual. Even I can tell that for sure.”

“…….”

Sylvester turned his head, as if he couldn’t deny it.

Alnix shrugged his shoulders as if dumbfounded.

This boy still has childish aspects.

He is strong and talented, but in some ways, the personality that supports it is still immature.

The fact that the sword energy was messed up a moment ago clearly shows that there was agitation in this boy’s mind.

Does he have any worries?

“What is it? Was the last request that shocking? You said you were used to demons?”

“It’s not exactly that…… no, yes. It was definitely unexpected.”

Sylvester almost denied it without thinking, but he honestly admitted it after seeing his companion’s eyes.

“……I had to rethink my current skills.”

For him, the activities in the Falzente Duchy were not supposed to have much meaning.

The reason he decided to go to the Falzente Duchy was just to get the information he wanted through the successor of the artifact.

And he had obtained the information he wanted from Princess Elnia a few days ago.

The purpose has been achieved.

But he didn’t feel refreshed.

“Is it because of that prophecy?”

“No, it’s not that.”

The information obtained through the prophecy is what he had assumed, and it is not related to his current worries.

“Alnix, how strong do you think I am right now?”

“……You’re asking such pointless things again. Is it because of that merchant boy again?”

He doesn’t deny it.

“At least I think it’s not normal to have the power you have now at your age, Sylvester.”

“I think so too.”

“You are strong.”

“I know.”

It’s not that he’s not aware of it.

Sylvester is definitely showing qualities that belong to the first class beyond the outstanding class.

But.

“I can’t help but be shaken when I see someone better than me. It makes me realize that I’m still far away…….”

Eilon.

He already knew that the boy was an unusual person.

He had heard enough information from Rucel.

The first time Sylvester felt that Eilon was unusual was when Eilon asked him for a duel, saying he wanted to compare his skills.

It’s common to ask for a lesson, so there’s nothing strange about it.

Sylvester pretended to reluctantly accept, thinking it was a good opportunity.

And he realized.

He also thought he was gauging his own skills to some extent.

He’s definitely in the strong group.

In other words, he thought he had the skills that would not cause any problems in his career.

But Eilon is more than that.

The firepower of his spiritism clearly exceeded the level of an intermediate level.

The reason why the boy remains in the framework of an intermediate spiritist is probably not a matter of power, but a matter of inner self.

Originally, the rank of a spiritist depends on how big a vessel the contractor’s mind has and how much spiritual growth they have achieved.

The important thing is the strength of Eilon now.

What if it was a real battle?

What if Eilon had used all his power from the beginning?

‘I can’t guarantee the result.’

He put aside pretense and humility and coldly predicted the possibility.

The boy is like a walking fortress.

Even just looking at the amount of mana that subtly leaks out from time to time, the total amount cannot be estimated.

How many times more than his?

What if he gathers all of that into firepower and shoots it indiscriminately?

It’s the same as a high-class wizard.

Nevertheless, the reason why Sylvester was able to compete almost equally with Eilon was nothing special.

The boy is strangely bad at fighting.

It’s not a problem of not having skills or not having enough power.

Fights between masters above a certain level often target gaps in the mind and psychological gaps rather than posture.

Eilon’s case is like that.

His psychological posture is so 허술 [Heoseul, meaning 허술하다(Heoseulhada): 허점이 많다, 대충하다, 어설프다, 소홀하다, 엉성하다, 느슨하다, 헐겁다, 엉성하다, 시원찮다, 변변찮다, 시답잖다, 신통찮다, 탐탁찮다, 미덥지 않다, 시원치 않다, 탐탁지 않다, 변변치 않다, 시원스럽지 않다, 탐탁스럽지 않다, 변변스럽지 않다, 시원시원하지 않다, 탐탁탐탁하지 않다, 변변변변하지 않다], as if in inverse proportion to the power he possesses.

It’s like a novice who has only learned to fight for about a year or two.

He has fatally little experience.

‘Come to think of it, that mercenary seemed to give similar advice during the surprise attack back then.’

He heard it from Rucel, but he seemed to know what it meant.

The boy’s exterior and interior are strangely separate.

Great power and a lack of practical experience in inverse proportion to it.

Who taught him? What kind of training did they give him to make him like that?

Questions sprang up reflexively.

You could call it curiosity.

You could call it a desire to compete.

What is the basis of the boy’s power?

He wanted to know.

Originally, Sylvester was planning to leave the duchy earlier.

However, there was something on his mind, and he only accepted the request because he heard that the Grand Duke was trying to recruit Eilon.

And Eilon showed him more absurd behavior than he expected.

He knows that he has the ability to control space.

But he was about to cover his head for a moment when he saw him interfering with space through it and breaking the disguise.

‘Does he even know how absurd that is?’

He tore off the demons’ advanced technology with only power.

Just by that, he had a mountain of things he wanted to grab and ask right away.

There is one more thing he realized.

‘His power has become stronger?’

Eilon’s power has increased even more.

What happened in that short period of time?

But there was no time to be shocked.

It was said that the demons he himself had missed were presumed to have caused the anomaly.

Responsibility came before curiosity and shock.

First of all, he needs to capture this place first.

Sylvester decided to do so and took the lead.

Eilon acted as if he was predicting the structure of the place.

He chose the path without hesitation.

He explained that it was a sense of ability, and it was a power within the range that Sylvester could accept.

That’s why he wasn’t worried about Eilon even when they were separated.

And his thoughts were accurate.

Eilon doesn’t shrink even when facing a dragon, he just has difficulty.

Most of all.

He was speechless when he saw him connecting space to a dangerous area, and to make matters worse, using spiritism to strike the dragon.

‘……Does even a mere merchant have such power in this era?’

Of course, he knows it’s crazy.

He doesn’t know the world that much.

Sylvester realized that he was still far below.

‘Can I do the same?’

He is still far away.

He can’t help but realize that.

While watching Eilon, who was making a strange expression while looking at the dragon’s severed forefoot, Sylvester quietly grabbed his sword without saying a word.

He can’t fall behind.

A strange desire to compete sprouts.

“Alnix.”

“Huh?”

“If you don’t have any other business, we should go back to the Selbas Kingdom.”

“Oh…… well, let’s do that. What about Rucel?”

“I’ll tell him.”

After getting his companion’s consent, Sylvester quietly looked down at his hand.

He wants to become stronger.

Surely he can do it too.

There are still many realms to reach, and he certainly has the qualities to do it.

“Power, huh.”

What he wants is power.

Although he couldn’t fully bloom it in his hometown of the past era.

He will be able to achieve it in this era.

The boy, who is pursuing power, made a promise.

He can’t stay still like this.

Surely that feeling is impatience.

* * *

Clang!

The sound of two wooden swords colliding rang out fiercely.

However, the refreshing collision was only for a moment.

Soon, one wooden sword couldn’t withstand the impact and flew away with great force.

The one I was holding was the one that was dropped.

“Ugh!”

When I dropped my wooden sword, the boy holding the other wooden sword, Sylvester, scratched his cheek as if embarrassed and started thinking about something.

He must be thinking about what advice to give.

“Ah…… Did I give too much power? When it seems like you’re being pushed back, you need the knack of letting the power flow as if you’re just grazing it. No matter how hard you try to push back, it’s meaningless. The important thing is how to let it flow. Do you understand?”

“……I’ll keep it in mind.”

I listened to the advice and gestured towards the dropped wooden sword.

“Bring it.”

-Here! Take it!

Undine scurried out of the air, picked up the wooden sword, handed it over, and disappeared.

Sylvester’s eyes narrowed at the sight.

He’s slightly dumbfounded.

“……Eilon, do you really need swordsmanship?”

“I need it.”

No matter how many times I ask, the answer is the same.