The Outer God Needs Warmth-Chapter 84: Soo’s Gangho (4)

The next day.

I wore the stiff clothes brought by a member of the Heavenly Demon Church last night and headed with Soo to the place where the funeral was held.

The location was not the Heavenly Demon Church's main building. The funeral was held in a village to the west of the Heavenly Demon Church's main building.

One thing that had been bothering me was that the leader of Cheongung, Kijacheon, had not shown himself for over a week.

Given his movements, I thought he would have made contact by now...

Perhaps he’s cautious or thoughtful.

Or maybe, seeing the form of the Heavenly Demon, he’s been discouraged.

Even if others become Harvesters and grow stronger, I wonder if they could ever defeat the Heavenly Demon.

If someone truly had a burning desire to defeat the Heavenly Demon, they might acquire a power capable of doing so, but for some reason, they never try—perhaps because they’re too old to take on that challenge.

They’d experiment with their subordinates to see how strong they’ve become, right? To gain strength, you have to bite into poison if needed.

In the end, seeing how the Heavenly Demon submits to him, it seems the expectations are low.

As I was thinking about that, before I knew it, we arrived at the village, where white cloths were draped across houses. Faintly, I could hear mournful music from afar. We should head toward the source of the sound.

“Choseol, what is this?”

Soo looked around, still unsure, and asked.

“These are decorations to honor the deceased.”

I held back from saying it was to express authority. Even I know that showing a child the harsh reality, saying this is how the world is, is a failure of incompetence.

The truth is, the world should be protected from harsh realities. If someone tries to show this to a child under the guise of teaching them, that’s just foolishness.

It’s like bringing ruins into a blueprint and hoping for a different world. Those who do this often blame the children for not following them, saying it was their fault for not understanding the reality.

It’s the same as thinking a beautiful building will come out of a blueprint full of ruins. Only those without intelligence, or those who want to see such a world, believe in that.

But people aren’t without intelligence. So, those who desire a broken world will try to exploit broken children for their gain.

I won’t do that.

Even if I show children a beautiful future, when they grow up, they won’t take my place.

Those who are weak fear that children will grow up and take their places. Only those people, who worry about their future, end up turning their world into ruins.

Hehe.

I’ll aim for the high ground.

It feels good when my Harvester can do whatever they want, right?

Harvesters live as they wish, kill their enemies, and send warmth to me.

I once imagined covering the whole world as a Harvester, but I learned in the first world that that’s not the way.

So, to gather warmth, I need to create strong people.

If I could gain the warmth of a dead being with a bomb instead of a gun or knife, I’d make a Harvester who can push the button for a nuclear bomb.

Many ways to gather warmth come to mind.

But to get to that point, there are many obstacles to overcome.

We’ll take it step by step.

There’s plenty of time.

I was thinking this as I stood with Soo, facing the people of the Heavenly Demon Church.

Looking around, no one seemed to be mourning. Instead, there were hushed whispers criticizing Jeonyang’s death.

“It’s good that the Heavenly Demon’s concubine died after causing so much harm.”

“Why are we giving such a funeral for someone like that?”

“Better dead than alive.”

I heard these murmurs throughout the funeral.

Interestingly, no one spoke ill of the Heavenly Demon.

Maybe out of survival instinct, whenever they cursed Jeonyang, they kept glancing at the Heavenly Demon.

If that’s the case, they might as well keep their mouths shut.

I covered Soo’s ears and moved forward.

With the Heavenly Demon nearby, I figured we wouldn’t hear any bad comments.

I cut through the crowd and made my way to the location of the funeral.

As I walked forward, I saw the leaders of each faction standing. In front of them stood the Heavenly Demon, dressed in pure white. Her blue skin contrasted even more against the white attire.

Perhaps because of the slight yellowish tint left by the passage of time, she stood out the most here.

In front of her, the leader of the Woljedang wore a rather complicated outfit. He recited prayers for the deceased, using the Heavenly Demon Church’s style of incantation.

The music that had been playing since we entered the village continued, now coming from the sides of the coffin. I saw several people dressed in Woljedang attire holding musical instruments.

Brass, string, and percussion instruments harmonized together.

So there is music in this world too. I wouldn’t have thought they’d care about such things, considering they’re always fighting.

At that moment, the faded man’s memory gleamed, saying that the foundation of martial arts is sound waves.

No.

What’s with the obsession with martial arts?

Strictly speaking, since everything is mixed, I can’t be sure it’ll look like the world I know.

If we’re talking about it that way, the Heavenly Demon should have died last time. And then Guseongyong would have taken the Heavenly Demon’s place and ruled until his sudden death.

But that didn’t happen, did it?

So it’s not worth dwelling on.

I’ve seen so many stories about people who thought they knew the future and fell because of that misunderstanding. I don’t understand why my memory is connecting to that idea.

I irritably quieted down the noisy memories from the second world.

Soo and I stood silently, watching the long funeral.

The last journey.

Since the Heavenly Demon remembers the faces of those around her, I raised Soo’s hand and waved it when our gazes met.

With the face stamped, I had done the bare minimum.

The funeral, where most people hated Jeonyang, felt a little unpleasant, but I suppose this was the best funeral the Heavenly Demon could offer.

I stayed by Soo’s side, poking her lightly to keep her awake until the ceremony ended. Once it did, people suddenly moved in different directions.

Following them, I saw people with reluctant expressions throwing paper money in front of Jeonyang’s coffin.

Must be some sort of custom here.

I didn’t have any money, so I was worried, but it turned out they were giving away some to make sure people could participate.

I followed their lead, threw paper money as they did, and left the place that resembled an incense offering.

They didn’t really serve food here.

Should I just go back and have lunch and dinner together?

As I was pondering, Soo grabbed my sleeve several times.

“What’s wrong?”

Soo pointed somewhere. I followed her gaze.

I saw a place selling food.

Though, it wasn’t a place serving full meals, it was a stand where fruit was cut up and sold like snacks. Well, we’ve been standing here since morning, and it’s well past lunchtime, so I guess she’s hungry.

The problem is, I don’t have any money.

I know what currency is used in this world, but I don’t have any.

“Give me some!”

Soo looked at me, acting like a typical child, which should make me happy, but...

Hmm.

“Sorry. I don’t have any money.”

“You’re amazing, Choseol?”

Am I giving off that impression? But I can’t even run away from someone hitting me or break glass bottles.

I’d want to break glass if I think about the pleasure it brings, but...

It’s okay for now.

I can hold on.

If it goes on too long, though, I think it could get risky.

Instead of imagining the future, I feel like I’d break the world for the present.

If anyone found out what I’m doing, I’m sure it would make it even harder to get to another world.

So I mustn’t act in ways that would destroy the world. Even if it means being kicked out of this world.

I can break the world with my own weight, but if no one calls me from that world, I can’t go there.

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I have to look up from below the surface.

If I break the world and harvest warmth, I’ll never be able to rise again.

So I endure, endure, and endure.

To endure, I deliberately nurture the emotions I’m feeling now.

Yeah.

It’s really embarrassing.

I don’t have any money to buy something for the child! I’m sorry for being useless!

I held Soo’s hand tightly.

“When we earn money, Soo will buy it.”

Ah, Soo’s face changed to one that looked like she was about to cry.

No, what do I do?

“Here, take it.”

Wondering what was going on, I turned around, and the man selling fruit smiled and handed Soo a small piece of fruit.

“We can’t buy it.”

“It’s okay. I’ve probably ruined my sales for today. If anything, alcohol would sell better than these fruits. If I leave them like this, I’ll have to throw them away, so you two eat them.”

The man said that while glancing at the location of the funeral.

Indeed.

Holding a funeral for someone who is glad to be dead feels bad.

I stood up from my spot. Then I smiled and, holding Soo’s head as she put the sugar into her mouth, I bent down together.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. You’re sisters, right? I haven’t seen you around here.”

“We started living up north a little while ago.”

At my words, the man’s expression stiffened.

“There? No one lives there anymore, right? And I’ve never seen kids like you in that village.”

I observed the man. His sun-darkened skin, deep scars on his arms and legs, swollen feet, and fingers with several joints missing.

I can guess his position.

He’s from the marginalized class. Judging by his speech, he’s probably from that ruined village.

Someone who has lost something precious, but still tries to survive, has value. I was thinking of waiting a little longer, but this is a good opportunity.

I pointed to his wounds.

“Old wounds.”

“Ah? Yeah, that’s right. That day, I survived.”

The man scratched his head with an awkward expression. His other hand was swollen. I smiled as I watched Soo put the fruit into her mouth.

Then, looking at the man, I said:

There's a reason.

What’s needed is a clear performance.

“I’ve received your goodwill. So, I’ll return it in the form of a contract. If you want a better reality, answer my words.”

It might seem like I’m returning goodwill with goodwill, but in truth, I’m not binding the man with kindness.

It’s quite the opposite. Those with goodwill are often caught by malice, right?

“I’ll give you myself. But when you finish everything, I’ll take everything you have. How does that sound?”

The man blinked, looking confused, but when I extended my hand, he hesitated before taking it with a reluctant expression.

“Is it okay if I answer like that?”

Yes. That’s enough.

The man’s face cracked, and soon, white skin emerged from inside. His hair turned purple.

I raised my hand for those around us to see.

The man, whose fingers had been missing just a moment ago, now had fingers again.

“Yes. Congratulations on your recovery. This is the goodwill you gave me, returned.”

What was returned wasn’t goodwill, but malice.

The man stared at me blankly, then slowly withdrew his hand, touching it several times. After confirming that the other hand had also returned to normal, he bowed his head and knelt.

“Thank you, Heavenly Lady!”

Not only him, but I saw others bowing their heads as well. I smiled as I looked at them.

Hehe.

It’s time to expand my influence.