To Ha Eun-seong, the world had always been a harsh, unpredictable place filled with uncontrollable dangers. Whether he was alive or dead, events swept him up regardless of his will.
The incident that had turned him into Minjun's debtor was no different.
"Mister, I'm telling you again... I had no idea I swallowed that many Talents."
He literally hadn't known, not even in his dreams.
Ha Eun-seong was currently lamenting his fate.
"And I didn't even know 180,000 Talents was such a massive amount!"
The only one listening to his whining was the three-eyed priest. Yumtus nodded, wearing his usual faint smile.
"You were sorely mistaken. By the standards of any dimension, 180,000 Talents is a staggering amount. In Earth's terms, it is a fortune large enough to bankrupt a major corporation and revive it."
He delivered these harsh words in an incredibly affectionate, gentle tone. Ha Eun-seong's face grew even paler.
Whether it was because he was a man of the cloth or simply born that way, Yumtus was an excellent listener. Before he knew it, Ha Eun-seong felt his guard coming down.
Spilling everything as if in confession, Ha Eun-seong ultimately recounted the reason he had ended up in this state: how, while possessing this dragon's body, he had (to borrow Minjun's phrasing) "gobbled up" 180,000 Talents.
Upon hearing the amount, Yumtus had asked,
"180,000 Talents? Are you sure?"
Ha Eun-seong, who had vaguely guessed it might be worth a few hundred million Korean won, felt his very soul violently assaulted by the priest's subsequent explanation.
"That is an amount that would be impossible to pay off even if you worked your entire life. Oh, but you are already dead, aren't you? This is a huge problem. What to do."
Ha Eun-seong muttered in a daze.
"I didn't know it was that much money."
He stared blankly out the window. The unfamiliar city of an alien species spread out before him.
The capital of the Shutan Kingdom.
Most of the buildings seemed designed to gather as much sunlight as possible and concentrate it inside. The house Ha Eun-seong was currently in was no exception; if he were in a real human body, he would have already collapsed from heatstroke.
Just as oppressive as the intense light and heat was the humidity. He had never been there, but he imagined this was what Southeast Asia felt like—a stifling dampness that left him feeling trapped in a thick mist.
However, the Stanians seemed to be a people who couldn't be satisfied with just that. Alongside the dizzyingly complex roads, water-filled moats ran in parallel. Artificial waterfalls and fountains adorned every intersection. Thanks to Yumtus's explanation, Ha Eun-seong learned that they served a similar purpose to street trees on Earth. While they contributed somewhat to the city's humidity, their main purpose was to soothe the emotions of the Stanians who looked at them. In short, landscaping.
Ha Eun-seong had already somewhat memorized the city's layout. Following Minjun's orders, he had scoured every nook and cranny. In his out-of-body ghost state, that was.
But he couldn't find the target Minjun had mentioned.
"It can't be helped. I'm not a spirit. No matter how fast I move, my thinking speed is exactly the same as a normal person's. I can't just scan the entire city like a computer. Plus, this place is insanely huge and complicated, you know?"
Minjun had simply stared at him in silence after he failed the mission. Under that gaze, Ha Eun-seong had shrunk back like a criminal.
The ghost muttered,
"I just have a bit of debt, but he keeps treating me like a sinner..."
"You are a sinner, though."
"Huh?"
Ha Eun-seong looked at him with an expression that said, Are even you going to do this to me?
But Yumtus remained unfazed.
"By our standards, sin is debt, and debt is sin."
Whether "our standards" referred to his race or his religion, Ha Eun-seong decided he didn't like the sound of it.
"Incurring debt is a sin?"
"If you examine the root of sin, it is not very different from debt. Sin means that despite being able to act otherwise, you chose a path you shouldn't have taken and caused harm. Those who commit a sin must pay the price. You must make up for the loss and repay it. We refer to that as paying for one's sins. The guilt of knowing you must one day repay it is exactly the same as the burden of debt. A sinner is a debtor."
It was a vague explanation that he felt he almost understood, yet didn't.
"Ironically, the group that built the most definitive economic system based on the ethics of sin and punishment is the Committee. They weigh the gravity of a sin and demand a penalty in monetary value: Talents. To them, punishment is a debt-repayment procedure."
Ha Eun-seong felt wronged. The explanation sounded right at first glance, but at the same time, it felt slightly off.
Instead of squeezing his brain for complex logic, he blurted out the first words that came to mind.
"What if it wasn't intentional?!"
Absorbing the Talents was an incident that had occurred while he was asleep.
He had incurred a debt, sure, but he hadn't done it on purpose.
Yumtus replied as if he had expected the question.
"Doesn't Earth also have the concept of criminal negligence? Yes, like involuntary manslaughter. Even if it was done by mistake, if you ultimately caused harm, shouldn't you make amends?"
"To begin with, Agent Minjun was the one who told me to stay in this body for a while!"
"Didn't you say you possessed that body of your own accord to begin with? And he never gave you permission to absorb the Talents."
Yumtus fell into thought for a moment before adding,
"However, I will admit that your debt is absurdly large. To the point where it makes me wonder if you even have the ability to pay it off."
"Then what should I do?"
"There is only one way. The creditor has to forgive the debt."
Ha Eun-seong recalled Minjun's ice-cold, murderous expression.
He asked gloomily,
"Would that even be possible?"
"A similar concept is written in our scriptures. The greatest debt mortals can experience across life and death is a debt owed to a Transcendent."
"Who's this amazing, transcendent loan shark?"
"A deity, of course. I've heard Earth's religions have a similar concept, no?"
Ha Eun-seong felt a headache coming on.
"There is only one way to repay this debt. The Transcendent—in other words, the creditor—must pay the price Himself and forgive it of His own accord. It's not the one who owes the debt, but the one who gave the debt paying it off in their stead. It is redemption."
"Why would He pay it off for them?"
Ha Eun-seong couldn't understand it with his common sense. The person who lent the money just writes off the debt as nothing without taking anything in return?
At that question, Yumtus smiled affectionately and said,
"Because He loves us, even as we endure the trials and suffering of a nightmare."
"..."
Ha Eun-seong admitted that the sentence was overflowing with love, warmth, and affection, but he thought it was far too much of a stretch to apply it to his own situation.
"I don't think my debt can be handled like that. I don't swing that way, and... seeing as how the Agent chose a Tentacle Princess instead of a tentacle prince, he has a pretty normal preference... No, I absolutely can't call it normal, but... No, fundamentally speaking, should I call it normal?"
Falling into confusion, Ha Eun-seong gave up babbling any further. He shut his mouth and asked himself: Was there truly any possibility that Agent Minjun, his heart overflowing with love, would forgive his sins, or rather, his debt?
What kind of dragon-grazing nonsense is that...
Ha Eun-seong let out a deep sigh.
*
To Princess Yuria, the eldest daughter of the Shutan King, her mother's love had never once been distributed fairly.
The King had laid exactly three fertilized eggs. It was a remarkably small number, far below the average. Among the children spawned from the same clutch, Yuria was the first to break her shell, becoming the eldest. Just as she had seen the light of the world early, she proved her excellence by outpacing her sisters in other areas as well. Following the King's teachings, she worked tirelessly and flaunted her outstanding abilities.
But the King's love always flowed downward, ever downward.
"Yuria, you can take care of yourself just fine. You must be more considerate toward your two younger sisters, who are less capable than you. You have to understand."
It was a phrase she had heard until her ears bled during her childhood.
"Yes, I understand, Mother."
Even in the face of the King's blatant favoritism toward her sisters, she complied, and complied again.
But as she grew older, the situation worsened. A few decades ago, the King had begun preparing to gift a portion of her personal wealth. By the standards of other races, it was nothing special, but to the Stanians, it was a massive fortune.
Yuria had been confident that she could expect the largest inheritance. Or, at the very least, that it would be divided equally.
But the King's arrangement was neither equal nor fair.
This is too much, Your Majesty! Even leaving the second sister aside... What possible reason is there to hand over this much wealth to the youngest in advance!
She couldn't comprehend it.
Objectively speaking, she was the most capable daughter. And until now, the King had constantly emphasized the value of hard work to her children. After all that, when they came of age, she disparaged the value of effort? Yuria was being stripped of her reward simply for the crime of working hard and achieving results?!
The injustice was unbearable.
Furthermore, the King's favoritism grew increasingly blatant as time passed. When Yuria heard the news that the youngest, Princess Vermi, had been assigned an alchemy corporate-raiding mission and was heading to Earth, she thought she would go mad with jealousy and rage.
Such an easy mission! If it had been given to me, I would have executed it perfectly.
Princess Vermi's merits would be evaluated not just by the Shutan Royal Family, but by the United Kingdom. Then, the marriage right—which everyone speculated would be granted to only one of the three sisters—would naturally fall to Vermi.
She would secure the right to lay fertilized eggs as the only one among the three sisters, and simultaneously become the new King.
While preparing for that mission, the King and Princess Vermi met in secret with increasing frequency. It got to the point where Yuria suspected there was some other plan hidden in the Earth dispatch besides a simple corporate raid.
But Yuria couldn't figure out what the two were plotting at all. She had been thoroughly shut out of any information.
Mother loves Vermi more than me. She wants to pass the throne to her favorite child. That's why she's so blatantly pushing her forward!
They said every finger hurt when bitten, but Yuria understood that not all fingers could hurt equally. However, knowing that and craving her mother's equal affection were two entirely different matters. A child's love toward the King became a shackle that bound her.
Vermi... is dead?
When she heard the news that the youngest had committed a crime on Earth and died while being escorted to the Committee, Yuria genuinely rejoiced. The second sister had gone off-world for convalescence long ago due to health issues, leaving Yuria as the only proper heir.
The situation within the Shutan Royal Family was poor. The United Kingdom rained interrogations down on them, demanding to know if the royal family was implicated in Princess Vermi's crimes. It was a severe trial for the King to bear alone. Yuria was ready and willing to help her mother—as a reliable child, as a strong eldest daughter who would be her pillar of support.
But she had miscalculated. Ever since the news of Princess Vermi's death arrived, the King had vanished without a trace. Not only did she fail to appear at official events, but she wouldn't even show her face in response to Yuria's desperate pleas. She only issued state directives via long-distance communication.
The nation grew restless, and Yuria felt an even greater rage.
Mother, was Vermi's death truly such a sorrowful event? Was it an agony that choked your throat and tore at your guts, so much so that you couldn't even spare a glance for your other children? But... what about me?
Yuria couldn't endure it any longer.
She knew perfectly well what the only possible revenge against the King was.
"Princess Yuria, all preparations are complete. Tomorrow at midnight."
The human who had visited the Princess under the cover of darkness bowed his head deeply, a meaningful smile on his face.
"We couldn't have imagined it. That such a secret place, known only to the direct Shutan royal bloodline, even existed. If you hadn't told us, Princess, we would have had a hard time finding the King's whereabouts."
Yuria spoke in a tone that seemed as calm as possible.
"This is entirely a choice for the sake of my country. If this continues, the Shutan Kingdom will plunge into even greater chaos. Mother must step down from her position."
"And hand the throne over to you, Princess, via 'peaceful means.' Do not worry, we will assist you. The position of the Stanians within the United Kingdom will rise even higher in the future. After all... you are different from the previous Kings, who were unnecessarily hostile toward other races."
After bidding farewell to the Princess—who was classified as a representative figure of the Pro-Human Faction—the human withdrew.
Yuria looked down at the Shutan capital through her window. Her motherland was terribly backward compared to other nations. It was retaliation for the fact that the previous Kings, including her mother, had "refused to act submissively" regarding several agendas.
Things will be different from now on.
There is no progress in clinging to a past that was over eight hundred years old. Long ago, the Stanians might have been the masters of this world, but not anymore. They needed to adapt to reality and accept foreign aid.
If they wanted to keep living here.
She gazed out the window with eyes swirling with a myriad of emotions. A brilliant glory was right before her eyes. Having already ridden the rapids toward her goal, surely no one could stop her. She guaranteed it.
No one.
*
"We are kidnapping Princess Yuria."
When Minjun—who had vanished holding the Black Coffin before reappearing in front of the party—made that declaration, Ha Eun-seong, who had no right to speak, couldn't utter a word, but internally, he was appalled.
Again?!
Thanks to Yumtus's explanations, Ha Eun-seong now roughly understood the current situation. The princess of the tentacle kingdom, who was (presumably) Minjun's ex-girlfriend, had been kidnapped—half voluntarily, half forcibly. She was a hostage of high enough caliber to be useful against the Committee.
But now, he was going to kidnap a princess here too?
Had that guy suddenly developed a hobby of kidnapping and collecting alien princesses?
Or did he need another "ride" to go somewhere?
"..."
Surprisingly, Ha Eun-seong's second guess had brushed somewhat close to the truth. Like a blind squirrel finding a nut.
Of course, it didn't mean Minjun was going to ride that crocodile somewhere, but he needed that crocodile's information to get where he needed to go.
Yumtus spoke as if making an educated guess.
"So that princess is the Key to the Sanctuary, which is supposedly known only to the direct Shutan royal bloodline."
"Yeah. Even that guy Darkbara didn't know exactly where it is."
Darkbara, whom Minjun had captured in the capital, outwardly masqueraded as an employment agency director, but his true identity was a high-ranking official in a secret society serving the royal family. Naturally, he knew much more than Gulesh.
According to him, there was a secret vault accessible only to the direct Shutan royal bloodline, called the Sanctuary. It seemed to be the only place where they could hide something from the eyes of other races.
He also mentioned that the King, who possessed all the information Minjun wanted, had not made a public appearance in months and was likely hiding there.
In that case, where was the Sanctuary?
Ha Eun-seong had scoured the capital based on vague information, but he hadn't found it.
"Among the direct royals who would know the secret, the King seems to already be holed up inside, the second daughter is off-world recovering from illness, and the third is..."
The King's youngest daughter was a Stanian whom Minjun had also met face-to-face, and her death had already been publicly announced a few months ago.
"The only one whose current whereabouts are confirmed is that princess named Yuria. Therefore, we kidnap her."
Minjun's declaration was resolute, and Yumtus, readying himself, asked,
"Then, when is the timing...?"
"What room is there to take our time?"
Minjun shot back, looking at him as if asking why he would even bother with such a question.
"Right now."
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