Stop, Friendly Fire!

The reason he even attempted to make wine was because the winery kept the technicians’ records. And in addition, there was someone he could trust...

"Hello, Pleine. I’m here."

"Guten Morgen! Oh my. Now that I think about it, it hasn’t been that long since we last met, Mr. Lee Shin Woo."

Pleine greeted him enthusiastically, waved her hand at him, stopped, and tilted her head. Soon, her eyes moved in a crescent motion. She was laughing with a satisfied expression, so she was definitely thinking about something weird.

"Did you make some money in that short period of time? No, there’s no way you did. No matter how badly you want to see me, you can’t waste your permits to the secret shop. Didn’t I tell you that each and every permit was like a portion of God’s grace?"

"I have a lot of money, though."

"You don’t need to try so hard to lie... Mm."

Lee Shin Woo said calmly, and his lips curled upwards; at some point, Pleine, who had been probing him, blinked quickly. Was she trying to brag about her eyelashes? Of course, it didn’t have much of an effect on Lee Shin Woo.

Then, her eyes shined. She let go of her chin, and asked seriously.

"This would be unbelievable, but the one who defeated one of the 12 generals..."

"Oh, that was me."

"Oh, God..."

It had been a long time since Pleine had looked to God for help, as it seemed like she didn’t even really like God that much. She should’ve heard about the general’s death from God herself, so it seemed like she just didn’t know who had killed him.

"I believe that your growth is incredibly fast, and that you have abilities much greater than your level might imply, but to think you already defeated a general. What are the other heroes doing?"

"I’d like to ask the same thing."

Lee Shin Woo sighed and replied, but recognized that it was tough to expect the same things from the other heroes.

He utilized his karma’s unique properties to infiltrate the city, borrow the strength of several undead, and had even manipulated the Treasure Eater, which had come at an opportune time, to defeat Hansen.

"That’s good news. You see, I heard that someone had killed a general, but I didn’t know who exactly did it or how. To think that you were the one who killed him! You’re free, right? Please tell me all the details."

"If you want to hear about it, then you need to help me. You see, I have something I really want."

"Mmm, alright. So hurry up and tell me all about it."

It might’ve been the vibe, but Pleine seemed a bit rushed. Lee Shin Woo tilted his head, picked out the core details, and told her about what happened. She looked intrigued at around the midway point.

"Hansen Von Dorthe... I see, he is indeed someone that you could face. Most were reluctant to face him 1 on 1, but you possessed a similar ability to him, Mr. Shin Woo."

"To be honest, certain parts of his ability were strange."

At that final moment of their 1 on 1 fight, and then experiencing those dense memories by absorbing his bone. At the time, Lee Shin Woo felt that his swordsmanship was a bit familiar.

He wasn’t just talking about Hansen’s ability to use lightning. Though Hansen had been debuffed, he had been able to predict his sword’s course and the power behind it, so it wasn’t very difficult for him to dodge. In other words, that meant...

"You’re right. God created Bursting Thunder by gathering several skills. The Lightning Shadow General’s swordsmanship is also in there."

"As I thought."

Now he understood why he could absorb so many of Hansen’s memories. It was because he already knew swordsmanship that was closely related to Hansen’s.

He had solved the puzzle, so he sported a refreshed expression, but was faced with a truly mysterious expression; he didn’t know whether Pleine was looking at him in wonder, or if she was relieved.

"I can understand why God was so excited now. I thought you’d die several times against a general and would have to aim for their weak spot to win. Of course, that in and of itself is plenty amazing, but God raising the maximum level of Invisible Heart was to take that into account..."

To think that he would take down a general without losing a single life. Rather than using any lives, he’d just increased his maximum lives with Invisible Heart.

Moreover, whenever he defeated an undead hero and put them to rest, the maximum level of Invisible Heart would increase, so it wouldn’t be impossible for the maximum level of Invisible Heart to continue to increase.

"What’s the point in even stockpiling them?"

"Please just save them. They’ll be really helpful later when you’re faced with a lot of danger."

And if he managed to save them to the very end... Lee Shin Woo let it go, shrugged his shoulder, and discarded such thoughts. His abilities were still lacking, and the chance of that was quite slim.

"In any case, my goal is to have a quiet and peaceful life no matter what it takes."

"How can a level 6 hero who took down a general say that? Any hero passing by would laugh at that."

"Of course they would. They would say ’what kind of hero is that?’."

In the process of defeating Hansen, Lee Shin Woo realized that his actions and his plans weren’t all that praiseworthy.

Of course, he didn’t feel anything like embarrassment, and although he never really cared about other people’s opinions and was satisfied with the Joker karma...

"But you know, you’re probably the most hero-like out of all the heroes I’ve seen."

"...That’s quite surprising. Did you actually hear my explanation?"

Pleine spoke with such a serious expression, so it became a bit embarrassing for him. Because it was embarrassing, he decided to just accept the compliment and move on, but Pleine added more.

"Since you can’t hide your good-heartedness, no matter how cynical you may act."

"I really hate human drama."

"That’s quite a coincidence. I really hate human dramas as well. However..."

Pleine smiled mischievously.

"My friend once told me. There is not one person loved by spirits who is a bad person. You’re completely covered in the marks of the Dryads, so I guess that’s not really persuasive."

"..."

As expected, this misunderstanding was because of the Dryads! He needed to explain how he got involved with the Dryads, but that would just prove that he was rotten to the core, so it felt kind of weird. However, he then thought back to Sinea’s pure gaze and felt that it was complicated, so he decided to just let it go.

"Just sell me some stuff."

"Ah, how embarrassing."

"I want the bone of a wine manufacturer. Please cooperate like you promised."

"A wine manufacturer!?"

Pleine, whose head had been filled with ways of teasing Lee Shin Woo, changed immediately! She pushed her body across the counter in an instant and tightly grabbed Lee Shin Woo’s bony hand.

"Are you going to create a winery!? Ah, now that I think about it, you told me that you cleared out an entire winery... There’s a vineyard that’s still alive! Are the winery’s facilities still intact?"

"Correct answer."

"But you usually wouldn’t even think to create wine from there again...!"

"I have some manpower."

"Keuk, Kerr Century’s wine... They’re renowned for their extremely sweet and delicious wine that’s created through their special ripening process. Ripening them for dozens of years may be impossible, but if you continue to go in that direction...! No, I have to find that bone no matter what, no matter what...!"

Pleine seemed to talk a lot more than usual, and eventually, she was lost in her own little world. However, when Lee Shin Woo engaged her in conversation, Pleine stood up suddenly and yelled.

"I’ll find it no matter what!"

"Ooh..."

"I’ll give you some books on wine, so please read those while you’re waiting! You know how important theory is!"

"Ah, I understand."

Lee Shin Woo, who was frightened by Pleine’s sudden drive, meekly sat down and perused the books she’d given him. Before he could work on replicating Kerr Century Winery’s technique, he needed to have a basic understanding of wine, so these books, which laid out the basics for him, were incredibly helpful.

He quickly read through a few volumes, and when he thought about buying these books and going home, he raised his head.

"I found it!"

Pleine’s eyes glimmered, and stuck out a few bones towards him. There were two level 1 bones, one level 2 bone, and surprisingly, one level 4 elite bone.

"Fortunately, I had these in storage. Why are you so surprised? The reason for the Kerr Century Winery’s groundbreaking technique and security was because it was protected by a renowned family of magicians for generations."

"I see. Thank you... So how much is it?"

"30,000 Perium."

No matter how he thought about it, that was a really low price for a bundle including a level 4 elite bone. However, Lee Shin Woo just decided to pay at her asking price.

[Absorbing a Lv4 Skeleton Wizard’s skull through Bone Reinforcement. Absorbing a significant amount of memories and experiences.]

[This facility is alive. That is how we made it... in order for it to be in the optimum environment for fermentation and maturation - Unknown Magic Master Craftsman]

Pleine, who had been watching him, snorted once he was done absorbing the bones, and asked.

"How is it? Do you know how to do it?"

"No, the information is too complex, so... It seems like I’ll have to learn by doing."

"Do your best...! The revival of the Kerr Century Winery lies in your hands, Mr. Shin Woo!"

Pleine grabbed onto his hands tightly and yelled desperately. It seemed as though she thought the Kerr Century Winery was more important than killing a general... Lee Shin Woo just responded with a smile.

"Please let go. So I can go and try."

Once Lee Shin Woo had left the shop, amongst all those waiting for him, a Dryads reacted first. It was one of the Dryads that really liked and followed Lee Shin Woo.

[I smell another woman’s scent on you, Paul Zero.]

"’You know you can’t do that’ is third on my personal ranking of lines I want to hear a woman say at least once in my life, so thanks."

"What are you always doing over there that makes you come back so late?"

"That woman seemed quite unpleasant."

They kept showering him with complaints, and once Lee Shin Woo checked the time, he realized that four hours had already passed. He told them about what he’d talked about with Pleine, and explained that he’d come back late because he had to wait for her to find the bones.

"You may understand if you watch what I’m about to do."

"Mmmm?"

"Ah, could you call a few Dryads over? I feel like I’ll need your help to make wine."

[Of course! Just wait sec. I’ll bring some!]

The Dryad rushed over to the vineyard. Lee Shin Woo gathered all of the golems, took out a large container, and poured all the grapes out.

"Alright. Then shall we start with mashing the grapes? In order to create this year’s Kerr Century Nouveau...!"

"Ah, you just said Nouveau, right!? That’s French!"

Lee Shin Woo completely ignored Jin’s retort, and started mashing the grapes. The level 4 golems followed his lead and began moving diligently. The Bronze Golems and up had the basic ability of synchronizing with each other.

"The fact that you’re using this many golems to do this is..."

"Shin Woo, you’re always so surprising and exhilarating..."

"That’s not enough! Watch, and follow me more closely!"

Lee Shin Woo was saying something strange again, but Jin and Kratia, who were both used to his eccentricity, didn’t say anything in response. No matter what they said, the golems would just continue to mash the grapes.

The Pauls were searching the Empire for a mine, and Lee Shin Woo and the golems were making wine. Work was in full swing.