Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 455

- This is...!

Grid’s hands, the one who had received the Rune of Sloth, were trembling violently.

It was only natural. The Rune of Sloth, displayed as ???’s ? in the system, was processed as question marks for Players, but in the eyes of Grid, who was a fellow Great Demon, it was clearly visible.

- H-How...?

“Secret. Have you ever seen me tell you anything just because you asked?”

- Th-That’s true. But I didn’t think you’d find it this easily...!

The Great Demon of Sloth, Sloth.

In the first place, the Seven Deadly Sins were the root and origin of sin as defined by Christianity, and at the time, labor was considered extremely sacred and important within Christianity.

In other words, the very act of not working and just lazing around was itself a sin.

In that sense, Kinsey, a coma patient in a vegetative state, was from Sloth’s standpoint the best possible host. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

'Since Kinsey, as a vegetative patient, really didn’t do anything and just lay there.'

Of course, Kinsey hadn’t been a vegetative patient from the very beginning.

By sheer coincidence, Kinsey had happened to discover the Rune of Sloth, and the activation condition of the Rune of Sloth was to sleep for a very long time.

For example, at first it was a sleep of no more than a few hours, then after that a course of several days, and after that a course of several weeks, and the final stage was a sleep that lasted ten full years.

Of course, Kinsey never saw the last condition.

It wasn’t even shown in the first place.

In other words, it had been Sloth’s trap.

However, Kinsey in the previous life had actually lived as a vegetative patient for ten years, and thanks to that had managed to obtain Sloth’s power, and by virtue of the laziness that had been accumulated during that time, had been able to become a powerful Player.

'And all the ones who still haven’t woken up are all like this too.'

The Runes of the Seven Deadly Sins were without a doubt a tremendous power.

They were enough to turn even Players who were latecomers into powerful supervillains.

But even so, Su-ho had no intention of obtaining the power of these things.

Because aside from Grid, the conditions attached to the other guys’ runes were far too demanding compared to the power that could be gained.

'Grid alone is enough for the Seven Deadly Sins.'

Leaving the fussing Grid behind, Su-ho climbed onto Cheolma.

Because he had to go look for the next rune.

*

Two days passed.

Amazingly, in just two days, Su-ho was able to gather all of the Runes of the Seven Deadly Sins that were still just before hatching.

- An Su-ho! You’re really the best! You’re the best!

“I know, so you don’t have to make such a fuss about it.”

Over the course of two days, Su-ho succeeded in gathering the remaining four runes: the rune of Ras of Wrath, the rune of Gluttony of Gluttony, the rune of Envy of Envy, and the rune of Pride of Pride.

Fortunately, all of them were still in an unliberated state, and because the information from his previous life matched exactly, he had been able to find them without much effort.

- Now, since you’ve found them all, hurry up and give them to me!

Grid drooled as he raved.

He looked just like a dog with a treat placed on its nose.

Seeing that, Su-ho laughed and said,

“No.”

- What?

“I don’t want to give them to you all at once. From now on, I’ll take these out and hand them over one by one only when necessary.”

- No, what is that supposed to mean...! Su-ho! This isn’t what we agreed on!

“What are you talking about? I kept my promise.”

- What?

It was true.

At that moment, the conversation they had exchanged inside the Big Gate surfaced in both of their minds at the same time.

- If we manage to get out of here, couldn’t you first gather the other Runes of the Seven Deadly Sins for me? Then I’ll cooperate with your growth as much as possible and live up to your expectations.

The instant they both recalled the words Grid had said, Su-ho’s eyes curved like a crescent moon, and Grid’s brow scrunched up endlessly.

Su-ho said,

“Judging from your face, it looks like you remembered. You asked me to first gather the Runes of the Seven Deadly Sins once we got out of the Big Gate, so I gathered them for you. On top of that, since we’re partners and all, I even just handed over the Rune of Sloth as a kind of service.”

- That’s true, but...

“I still have a long way to go. And in the meantime, there will definitely be moments when I’ll need your help. But frankly speaking, what am I supposed to do if you take all of these and then suddenly run away? What does that make me then?”

- Hey! What do you take me for! I would never do such a thing!

“What do I take you for? I take you for a demon, obviously. So what, are you going to sign some kind of guarantee? No, you’re a demon, so something like that wouldn’t mean anything, would it? If there were some sort of notary office around, I might at least try asking, but unfortunately, there’s nothing like that between us, is there?”

- Ngh...!

“Still, look on the bright side. From my standpoint this is the best option. And frankly, instead of me dallying around later going all over the place to collect the Runes of the Seven Deadly Sins, me having all of them in one go like this is more reassuring for you too, isn’t it? Even if it does make you a bit antsy.”

- You really...

“Even if you’re disappointed, there’s nothing you can do. I’ve simply thought things through rationally from my position. If anything, you should be the one to propose a deal that would make it okay for me to hand all of these to you. Not some vague, pie-in-the-sky abstraction, but something concrete and definite, something you can really feel on your skin.”

- ...

Grid fell silent.

Then, before long, he nodded.

- I see. I’d momentarily forgotten. You and I are nothing more than a simple transactional relationship. And admittedly, what you’re saying has a point. Rather than constantly fretting over when to go gather runes, it’s probably better that you’re holding all of them. In that sense, I’ll stake one of the runes you’re holding and make you an offer that will be of great help to you.

“If it’s an offer, you mean a deal?”

- That’s right.

Grid was the one to propose first.

It was a situation Su-ho had almost never seen, so his lips rounded in surprise.

“I wonder what it could be? I’m getting excited already.”

- It’s a story related to the growth of your power. Judging from the path you’ve been taking, you’re definitely going to prepare for the next Big Gate.

“And?”

- Then what you need is power. And you like things that have solid grounds. So I thought of this: then all I have to do is give you help regarding the powers you already possess. Because there’s nothing more certain than that. For example, things like the Ilwoljiche I mentioned not long ago.

Oh-ho?

The more Grid explained, the more Su-ho grew interested in Grid’s proposal.

“Yeah. Now you’re finally starting to make some sense. So, what exactly is this offer you’re going to make me?”

- I want to talk about the Hercules Candidate trait you possess.

Hercules Candidate.

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