Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Chapter 40 Like Father, Like Son (2)

It's easy to refuse money someone offers you.

You can simply wave your hands and push away the envelope they hold out. If you politely say that the thought alone is enough, you've even managed to show some modesty.

But this time, I couldn't stop it. No, I hadn't even gotten a seat at the negotiating table.

Because the person involved hadn't come in person, and there was no way to contact him.

Besides, this gift came with something other than money: the weight of experience. Along with a note bearing a short message.

『The Chairman asked us to tell you this is in lieu of tutoring fees.』

I could vaguely guess what he meant by tutoring fees. Assistant Manager Joo Dohyeok had changed beyond recognition lately.

But this was far too much compensation for that.

Like father, like son, as the saying goes.

No sooner had I refused the son's gifts than the father's generosity came flooding in.

And the gifts were quite varied.

A chair and desk worth millions of won, the latest laptop and computer, various writing instruments, and even fountain pens I doubted I'd ever have occasion to use.

It was as though someone had moved an entire display straight out of the furniture section of a department store.

Since I'd spent most of my life moving between rented rooms, I'd always been extremely wary of accumulating belongings. Thanks to that, I somehow managed to fit everything inside.

The problem was that there was hardly any room left for people to walk.

Just as I finished roughly arranging everything and was about to catch my breath,

-Jingle.

"We're here!"

"Hm? What is all this now?"

"The coffeehouse is really dirty!"

Those were the greetings from Elder Nine-Tailed Fox and Sani when they saw the coffeehouse cluttered with torn packaging and boxes.

"I received far too many gifts."

"Gifts?"

"There are loads upstairs!"

"Go up and have a look. I need to tidy up a little more."

The two divine beasts followed Lia upstairs, but it wasn't long before they came back down. Apparently, it had been too cramped for even three people to stand there, let alone look around.

"Heh heh, that empty house of yours finally has some furniture."

"But it's too cramped! There's not even anywhere to sit upstairs."

Sani wasn't exaggerating.

I'd hurriedly shoved everything inside after receiving it unexpectedly, but there were quite a few duplicate pieces of furniture, such as desks and chairs I already owned.

I couldn't exactly put them downstairs in the coffeehouse where I did business, so the second floor was practically a storage room now.

I desperately wanted to return everything, but showing up with all those things in tow would be rude in its own way.

"I really need to expand the building now."

"Very well. I'll tell Mahyeon to hurry things along."

Previously, because Lia needed a place to live, we'd planned to construct a separate two-story building beside the coffeehouse.

But for various reasons, construction had been stalled for months without so much as a shovel breaking ground.

The requirements had turned out to be more demanding than expected.

After all, it was going to be the home of the Divine Tree's spirit. The National Intelligence Service had imposed extraordinarily strict design requirements, and hardly any contractors were willing to take the job.

But now I was in a hurry too.

Whatever the circumstances, I couldn't live with all those household items piled up inside my home when I couldn't throw them away.

"I need to visit the Celestial Realm for a moment."

"Why are you going to the Celestial Realm again?"

"Yongman worked in that field for a long time, so I thought he might know some good contractors."

"Don't tell me you intend to visit the Celestial Realm over something so trivial?"

"It would be nice if I could call him, but that's not possible."

"No, even so, that's a little..."

It was a method that left no room for objection.

Since the construction was being paid for with someone else's money(?), I hadn't said anything until now. But surely they wouldn't insist on such demanding conditions even with a contractor recommended by a dragon that had ascended to the Celestial Realm.

"Goddess Mago told me to visit often, too. I'll just ask him for a contact number and come right back."

I didn't know whether her invitation to visit often had merely been a courtesy, but she had given me permission, hadn't she?

And so I packed a Divine Tree leaf and a thermos filled generously with coffee, then got into my car.

_____________

The road to the Celestial Realm was the same as before.

Petals from unknown flowers fluttered through the air, and when I came to my senses, fields stretched out before me instead of a well-paved road.

That was the Celestial Realm.

-Screech.

I stopped the car, took out the thermos, and got out.

But Goddess Mago was nowhere to be seen.

Below the meadow were familiar thatched cottages, fields and rice paddies stretching endlessly into the distance, and a familiar face running toward me.

"Heeeeeey! Coffeehouse! Chaaaaarger! Give me a chaaaaarger!"

Huh? A charger?

-Ding-ding.

Yongman practically threw himself into the car, somehow managed to charge his phone using the charger connected to the cigarette lighter, and turned it on. But that was as far as he got.

After all, there wasn't much he could do with a phone in the Celestial Realm, where the internet didn't work.

Even so, Yongman must have been terribly starved for it, because he kept pressing various icons on the screen and even grinned to himself.

"Have you been well?"

"Do I look like I've been well?"

"No."

He certainly didn't look well.

With his hollow eyes and gaunt face, anyone would have thought he'd been imprisoned in purgatory rather than the Celestial Realm.

"Haah, I thought I was going to die of boredom. There's no internet, and the only thing to do for fun is that damned game of Go! And I haven't managed to beat those blasted immortals at Go even once!"

"I expected as much."

"You knew that and still sent me here?"

"I'm not the one who wanted to come."

"Well, that's true, but... you should've explained!"

"Would you like a cup of coffee?"

His complaints looked likely to go on for some time, so I took out the thermos and changed the subject.

-Nod, nod.

To think he'd nod so enthusiastically over a mere cup of coffee.

It reminded me once again just how frightening a life cut off from society could be.

It hadn't even taken a month for his thousand-year wish to be shattered.

"But why are you here?"

"Ah, I was wondering if I could get the contact information for the company you used to work with. I'm planning a small extension to the coffeehouse, but I haven't been able to find a suitable contractor."

"You came to the Celestial Realm for something that trivial? It took me over a thousand years to get here!"

"Yes."

"..."

He was saying something similar to Elder Nine-Tailed Fox. Was it because they were both divine beasts?

"You really haven't changed. You still do nothing but the most absurd things. Here, this is the foreman's phone number. Give him a call. Though I don't think saying I introduced you will make much difference. These things usually..."

"People you know can be the hardest to deal with."

"So you know."

I'd had plenty of experiences where buying something or hiring someone through an acquaintance had put me in an awkward situation.

They say you can be taken advantage of whether you know someone or not, but unless you're prepared to fall out with that person, it's extremely difficult to bring the problem into the open.

The same goes for the other party.

Unless both sides are satisfied with the outcome, you can end up hearing complaints despite having gone out of your way to help.

But the people Yongman recommended would be different.

"These are people who formed a connection with a divine beast that ascended to the Celestial Realm. I doubt they've made a living deceiving others. Isn't that right?"

"That's right. They're all good people. They kept giving someone like me work, after all. I heard you have Divine Eyes. Can you even see things like that?"

In truth, there was no need to use my Divine Eyes. Anyone who had put up with a personality like his was practically a saint.

"Oh, and give them my regards when you meet them. I ended up coming here so suddenly that I couldn't even say goodbye properly. If you hire them, they'll appreciate it if you buy them some snacks during their breaks. Just not too often. Oh, right! How are the guild members doing? Who's the guild master now?"

"No one's been appointed yet."

"If I'd had a little more time, I would've handed it over to you before leaving. Actually, have people started reaching the level cap by now?"

"Yes. They all gather at the coffeehouse on weekends and go on raids together."

"That's good. Raids are easier when everyone can talk to each other. Oh, right, and..."

Most of what he had to say wasn't about life in the Celestial Realm, but about the people he'd left behind in the mortal world. And since most of those stories involved the game, he looked excited like a child, despite not usually being particularly talkative.

I'd gotten the contact number and confirmed that he was doing well, so I almost felt guilty about telling him I had to leave.

Wasn't he like a grandmother who kept bringing out more fruit because she was reluctant to see her children leave after a holiday visit?

After talking nonstop like that, Yongman finally gulped down his now-cold coffee in one go and smacked his lips.

"You have to go now, right?"

"Yes. I'm an outsider, so I can't stay long."

"Right, of course. Want to take something with you? We've got cabbages, and the cucumbers grew really well this time. Want me to get you some?"

"Wouldn't it be wrong to take things from the Celestial Realm without permission?"

"That's probably true, huh?"

"And why should that be forbidden?"

A familiar voice answered his question from outside the car.

"Elder Mago, you've arrived."

"Goddess Mago, is that really true? Wait right here! I'll bring them in no time!"

After confirming Goddess Mago's answer as she nodded slightly with a benevolent smile, Yongman hurried down the hill as quickly as he'd come.

"Heh heh. I thought you'd come to treat me to a cup of coffee, but it seems you had other business today."

"Yes, I came to take care of a few things at once. Since you weren't here, I was just about to leave."

What a relief.

Fortunately, I'd brought plenty of coffee just in case, so there was still enough left in the thermos for another couple of cups.

-Pour.

"Thank you, as always."

"Not at all. It's just cheap instant coffee."

"It's the essence that matters. The thought that brought you all the way here is what makes it precious."

"Thank you for always thinking so kindly of me."

"So, you're expanding the coffeehouse?"

"Yes. The house is a little small for two people to live in."

"This old woman's whims will only make your already difficult circumstances worse."

"Not at all. I don't strictly need to build it. I'm doing it because I want to. And there are many people helping me."

It was true. Even the cost of the extension was being covered by the National Intelligence Service.

Lia already had a palatial living space of her own, so if I simply got rid of my household belongings, we could essentially live as we had before.

My stubborn refusal to throw away or sell things unless absolutely necessary had turned the situation into a major construction project.

"How could that be called greed? It is simply your nature not to cast aside what you have taken into your care."

But Goddess Mago viewed even that stubbornness in a positive light.

And just as Goddess Mago finished her cup of coffee, a dragon landed heavily on the ground.

-Thoom.

【Here! Take these!】

"I really do have to leave now. I'm worried whether the car will even move if I load this much into it."

"Take it all."

"I'll try."

That was what I said, but it was impossible.

Yongman had brought far too many cabbages and cucumbers. Even if I packed the back seat and passenger seat full, would I be able to fit half of them?

It was far too great an ordeal for a tiny compact car.

"I told you to take everything, so take that one along as well."

Goddess Mago smiled and pointed toward Yongman.

"And if you have any left over after eating, could you not simply bring it back later?"

Only then did I understand why Goddess Mago had made such an unreasonable demand.

She had even granted Yongman permission to go out.

On the condition that he return after an unspecified period.

_____________

At the same time, at the coffeehouse.

Sani was leaning against the window, staring endlessly in the direction where Jinseong's car had disappeared.

"He's late. It's almost mealtime, and even if he gets here now, it'll take ages to prepare the food."

"He'll probably order delivery."

"The only thing they deliver here is pork trotters! Of course pork trotters are delicious too, but Jinseong's cooking is better!"

"You used to live in the mountains eating nothing but acorns. Why are you being so unreasonable now?"

"I'm not being unreasonable! I wanted kimchi fried rice today!"

"Honestly, you don't pay a single penny, yet you're so shameless..."

"Huh? That's Jinseong's car over there!"

"Good heavens, you little rascal!"

In the middle of their bickering, Sani spotted Jinseong's car, stepped on the nine-tailed fox's head, and leaped outside in a single bound.

"But there's something strange following behind it."

"Hm? Something strange?"

"It's Mister Yongman!"

"Ha!"

The nine-tailed fox, who came out after Sani, burst into a disbelieving laugh.

Floating gently behind Jinseong's little red car was a legendary divine beast, a dragon.

And he was holding an armful of fresh cabbages.