I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 406

“I apologize for my rudeness, Garcia Feyler. It was extremely rude of me to visit you this way, and I believe it has caused great trouble to the Feyler Family. I will fully apologize for this issue, and if necessary, I promise to provide sufficient compensation to you,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Gerdok, the leopard Beastkin standing next to Garcia, stepped forward at this moment. “Do you think you can be forgiven for your rudeness toward the Feyler Family with just a few words?!”

Gerdok knew that Garcia was an extremely kind person. If the other party apologized like that, Garcia would most likely accept the apology.

‘If you forgive and move on because of this mere apology, people will look down on the Feyler Family!’ Gerdok thought.

Jin-Hyeok nodded. Since he had a normal way of thinking, he thought Gerdok made sense. So, he said, “Of course, I’m not saying I’ll ask for forgiveness with only words.”

“Then tell me specifically how you’re going to apologize,” Gerdok replied.

“As I see it, most of the barriers here seem to have recovered on their own. But I also observed a few artificial barriers. As for the cost of repairing those barriers...”

“Ha! I can’t believe you’re trying to fix things in your way when you’re the one who did the damage!” Gerdok scoffed.

Gerdok did not like Kim Chul-Soo’s answer. Not only had Chul-Soo arbitrarily set a standard based on whether the barriers recovered naturally or not, but he also wanted to fix the problem with money.

‘Does he truly not know that such a suggestion further insults the Feyler Family?’ Gerdok fumed. “How dare yo—”

“Of course, I will donate three hundred billion Dias as compensation too,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“That’s a large sum of money.” Gerdok quickly came to his senses.

He was Garcia’s aide and also the financial executive of the Feyler Family. Therefore, he was the most materialistic person in this devout family. However, Gerdok did not want to be caught being materialistic.

“Just because you say you will donate does not mean your rudeness will be for—”

“And as a fine for my rudeness, I will donate another seven hundred billion Dias,” Jin-Hyeok added.

Gerdok’s tail began to tremble. He thought that with so much money, even the act of insulting one’s mother and father could be forgiven to some extent.

“In addition, as a thank you donation for purifying the tainted priestly robe...”

Gerdok’s tail stood straight up. With a serious expression, he said, “Patriarch! Although these people were extremely rude, their sincere apology and reflection are very moving. Seeing their devout and humble attitude, I can tell they are believers with very strong faith. I humbly suggest that you show them generosity in consideration of their noble faith!”

***

As the financial executive of the Feyler Family, Gerdok stamped the documents with an air of confidence.

‘Has Sir Gerdok finally gone crazy?’ one of his subordinates thought.

Gerdok often said he was going crazy. As the financial executive, he was the person who used the most vulgar language within the Feyler Family.

“Sir, is this really okay?” the subordinate asked.

“Yes! Growing children have the right to eat their fill!” Gerdok replied.

Sometimes, contrary to his intentions, Gerdok had to perform the role of a villain. This was especially so when it came to money. Just a few days ago, Gerdok had to weigh the options between compensation for soldiers who had received terrible injuries while fighting monsters and the quality of food eaten by children growing up in orphanages with a limited budget. No matter how large a budget was, the money was always insufficient.

In the end, he decided to increase the compensation for the injured soldiers. Accordingly, expensive meat was removed from the orphanage children’s menu. The orphanage priests came to protest, saying they needed to provide more nutritious food and toys for various experiences, but Gerdok chased them away with harsh words.

“If you’re going to make such unreasonable demands, you need to earn money and do it yourselves!” Gerdok had said. After chasing the priest away like that, Gerdok had been so distressed that he could not sleep for three days and nights.

“This too!” Gerdok excitedly signed a document. “This too! This too! Yes! Bring it all!”

As he examined the documents, he tore one paper to shreds. “Those damned construction guild bastards! I hope they all rot in hell!”

Unable to watch this any longer, the subordinate said, “Sir, you did check the contents of the document just now, right?”

“Of course, I did.”

The document in question was about a construction guild that was threatening the Feyler Family under the pretext of steady donations. The construction guild was in the midst of preliminary work to purchase a children’s playground site within the Holy Empire of Helen to erect a building.

“They should get lost! That place should forever remain a children’s playground!” Gerdok shouted.

Children from wealthy families with private property would not care about the playground, but many children were not so fortunate. This playground was the place where those children gathered. Although the playground was a bit big compared to the number of children, Gerdok did not care.

“The merciful Kim Chul-Soo protects the children! Cheers to the believer Kim Chul-Soo!” Gerdok grinned, showing all of his teeth. He continuously laughed as if he would die if he didn’t. “Chul-Soo... is the best. Chul-Soo... I love you. I praise you, Chul-Soo...!”

The subordinates had to seriously worry about whether he would become a crazed follower who worshiped an idol.

***

Garcia waved a glowing white wand and chanted a spell. “Shrink.”

The gigantic priestly robe shrank.

“Would you like to try it on first?” Garcia asked.

“Try them on? But they’re tainted.” Jin-Hyeok flinched. By telling him to wear the tainted priestly robe, Garcia had shown that he was well-versed in livestreaming.

“No, that’s not my intention.” Garcia was a bit flustered, but he calmly continued, “You have to wear it first to know what kind of effect it has on you. The purification method differs depending on the effect.”

“I see.” Jin-Hyeok felt grateful to Garcia. Garcia had not only proposed a new direction for the livestream but also secured the narrative on how to react. It was as expected of a great family of the Helen Empire. “Do I just put them on?”

“Yes, I have put on a protective prayer to minimize the impact of the tainted effect. You don’t have to worry,” Garcia assured him.

Jin-Hyeok remembered the view count of his livestream had skyrocketed when Mole Woman stripped off her clothes.

‘Is this finally my chance?’ Jin-Hyeok thought. Wondering if he could have the same impact on the viewers, he stripped off his top.

‘He could’ve just put it on over his clothes.’ Garcia found Jin-Hyeok’s actions hard to understand, but he did not try to make sense of it. If Jin-Hyeok was more comfortable wearing the robe that way, then that had to be right. He did not want to point out every little thing. ‘He is done putting it on.’

Garcia observed Jin-Hyeok, his wand in hand, thinking about what impact that cursed artifact, imbued with the tainted soul and mana of the Ancient Rock Giant, would have on the Streamer.

‘The manifestation is a bit late,’ Garcia thought, but he never let his guard down. The results of the tainted priestly robe would surely appear somehow. He could only hope that the powerful Eltuber would not go crazy and run berserk.

Jin-Hyeok spoke first. “It seems fine for now.”

Garcia wondered if he had chanted the protective prayer too strongly. “I will weaken the protective effect a little.”

Garcia muttered something in the holy language.

***

‘It doesn’t affect him at all!’ Garcia was at a loss for words.

Garcia had expected the tainted priestly robe to harm Chul-Soo’s mind. The Ancient Rock Giant had developed a twisted love and admiration for Gaia, the Goddess of Earth. Since the tainted priestly robe was influenced by the giant, there was a high possibility of it producing a similar effect on Chul-Soo. For example, it could cause an obsessive fixation on a certain target.

‘But why doesn’t it affect him at all?’

It could be because of one of two reasons: either the tainted effect had become extremely weak because the Ancient Rock Giant had disappeared or Chul-Soo’s mind was already so tainted that it could no longer be tainted further. However, Garcia did not think Chul-Soo’s mind was corrupted to that extent.

‘I guess the tainted effect has become very weak,’ he concluded.

“May I try it on?” Garcia asked.

“Of course,” Jin-Hyeok replied.

After putting on the priestly robe, Garcia immediately gripped his wand tightly.

‘Ugh!’ A flood of dirty and ominous energy surged in, eroding his soul. All kinds of evil words and vulgar language in the world resounded in his mind. Chanting a holy spell to resist the tainted effect, he hastily took off the robe and threw it aside.

‘The tainted effect is truly powerful!’ Garcia realized. ‘Then, does that mean that Chul-Soo has a mental world that can no longer be corrupted? But he looks fine on the outside! He even proved his devout faith with offerings!’

Garcia’s mind became complicated.

***

Jin-Hyeok was very grateful to Garcia. Thanks to Garcia deliberately taking the priestly robe, he could wait with his upper body exposed for a while. Blatantly stripping while saying, ‘Hey guys, please admire my exposed physique!’ would be unsightly and corny for his livestream, but waiting with his upper body exposed out of necessity while the head of the Feyler Family examined the tainted priestly robe was okay. The situation was not too forced either.

‘The number of viewers has surpassed 2.5 billion!’ Jin-Hyeok thought. At this moment, the competitor that came to his mind was not Marshmallow but Mole Woman. ‘I learned well from the best. And I beat you, Mole Woman!’

Indeed, there was something to learn from everyone. For some reason, exposure had a huge impact on increasing view count. Jin-Hyeok was in a good mood. Then, he heard Garcia talk.

“Chul-Soo, do you plan to wear this artifact?”

“I’m going to modify the appearance a bit, but I plan to use it,” Jin-Hyeok replied.

“You’re going to modify the appearance?”

Thanks to Garcia’s question, it became much easier for Jin-Hyeok to state what was going to happen next. He bowed his head slightly to express his gratitude.

“The priestly robe form is inconvenient for swinging a hammer. I happen to have something good in mind for it, so I decided to redesign it.”