Chapter 29 – The Happiest Couple in the Underworld
“The Fallen Fairy Kang Hae… sir.”
“Kang Hae can remove lingering resentment?”
It seemed Fallen Fairy Kang Hae had more abilities than just healing injured people.
“Yes, she can. But before that, I have a favor to ask of you, Human Emperor.”
For some reason, Mancheon’s face darkened.
“What is it?”
“Last time, didn’t you summon me and Captain Jeonghu and treat us to a drink of Hell Fragrance?”
“Yeah.”
“That day, I got completely drunk. Even after I returned to the Underworld, I wandered around because I couldn’t find my way home.”
That made sense.
Mancheon had been completely wasted that day. He had even grabbed his superior, Jeonghu, by the collar and nearly started a fight with him.
“So I got home a little late, and my wife demanded to know where I had been and who I had been drinking with. I told her I had been drinking with you and Captain Jeonghu, but then she completely lost her temper.”
“Why? Is that really such a problem? A man can drink and come home late sometimes.”
If even a rough-looking guy like Mancheon, who reminded me of Zhang Fei from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, couldn’t stand up to his wife, she had to be one terrifying woman.
I imagined a large, heavyset middle-aged woman with a fierce and ill-tempered face.
“That ain’t the problem. My wife said there was no way legendary heroes like you and one of the highest-ranking officials in the Underworld, Captain Jeonghu, would drink with a guy like me. She thought I made the whole thing up as an excuse.”
“Ah…”
I finally understood.
For example, imagine I was late for work and some old-fashioned team leader asked me why.
Then I answered that I was late because I had been drinking with Admiral Yi Sun-sin and the director of the National Intelligence Service the night before.
Naturally, the team leader would curse me out.
Yeah.
It was basically something like that.
“My wife thinks I lied because I was trying to hide the fact that I was fooling around with another woman. She still won’t talk to me.”
“You didn’t actually cheat on her, did you?”
It was a perfectly reasonable question.
I had sent a completely drunk Mancheon back that night, but I hadn’t personally watched him enter his house.
“Are you questioning my innocence?”
Mancheon stared at me with a deadly serious expression.
“So what do you want me to do?”
“Please explain it to my wife.”
“You want me to be your witness?”
“Hehehe. Exactly.”
Mancheon grinned broadly again, clearly assuming I would agree.
“Fine. I can do that much. But how am I supposed to meet your wife?”
Even though I had a bad habit of getting jealous when things went too well for others, I was still his superior.
Helping maintain the morale of a subordinate was the least I could do.
“Aren’t you going to summon Fallen Fairy Kang Hae?”
“Of course. I need her to remove the resentment… Wait. Don’t tell me Kang Hae is your wife?!”
“Yep. That’s right.”
The Fallen Fairy I’m basically the only person I respectfully call ‘nim’ is married to this Zhang Fei-looking bastard…?
My brain immediately started spinning at full speed.
Fallen Fairy Kang Hae was currently number one on my list of people I wanted to recruit.
Now that I knew such an important person was Mancheon’s wife, a dozen tactical and strategic meetings seemed to begin inside my head at once.
“Ahem… You’re a surprisingly talented man. How did you manage to marry such a precious… mother?”
“Human Emperor… ‘jadang’ is a respectful way to refer to someone’s mother…”
Mancheon stared at me with a dumbfounded expression.
“…!!”
I had made a catastrophic mistake.
I could practically hear the majestic image I had built in front of Mancheon collapsing into rubble.
“Ahem. Come on, man. It was a joke. A joke.”
“Hehehe. Of course I thought it was a joke. There’s no way the Human Emperor wouldn’t know what ‘jadang’ means.”
—Idiots…
At that moment, the female vengeful spirit who had been staring at the ground the entire time suddenly spoke.
“……”
Apparently, even a vengeful spirit couldn’t endure listening to our conversation any longer.
“Ahem… Anyway, I’ll open the Ghost Domain first so I can summon Kang Hae.”
“…Please do.”
Mancheon, who had become an idiot just like me—
No.
Who had become an idiot because of me—
answered weakly.
Ghost Domain.
Vmmmm—
With the sound of the Ghost Domain activating, a black veil spread outward from my chest in every direction.
Then I summoned the Sovereign Command Tablet into my right palm and called Kang Hae.
Sharararang—
Lights gathered around us and slowly took the shape of a person.
As the form became clearer, Fallen Fairy Kang Hae appeared.
Mancheon had appeared with a poof, but perhaps because she was a fairy, Kang Hae appeared with a graceful sharararang instead.
She must have been preparing a meal, because she was wearing an apron over her celestial robe.
“Oh my! It seems the Human Emperor summoned me. Were you injured?”
Kang Hae asked while looking at me.
“Hahaha… I’m sorry for summoning you so suddenly, Kang Hae.”
Then she noticed Mancheon standing awkwardly nearby.
“But… why are YOU here?!”
She completely ignored my greeting and shouted at him.
Two facts were now confirmed.
First, Kang Hae really was Mancheon’s wife.
Second, her personality was probably even stronger than I had imagined.
“Honey, listen… I really was drinking with the Human Emperor and Captain Jeonghu that day. So the Human Emperor said he’d prove my innocence…”
Mancheon spoke with the pitiful face of a mouse begging for its life in front of a cat.
“Oh, you hopeless man! Even if that’s true, how could you drag the Human Emperor into a private matter between husband and wife?! Seriously!”
Kang Hae pounded her chest in frustration.
I waited for the right timing to intervene.
Now.
“Kang Hae, Reaper Mancheon is a very respectable man. At the time, I didn’t know what kind of birthday present I should prepare for Princess Arang. Since I considered Reaper Mancheon and Captain Jeonghu experts in that area, I summoned them, treated them to drinks, and asked for their advice.”
I praised Mancheon in the most dignified way possible.
Mancheon looked deeply moved.
I could feel my collapsed dignity being restored.
“Hohoho. It seems our marital problem has inconvenienced you, Human Emperor. I’m truly sorry. Since you personally explained it like that, I suppose I’ll have to believe that man.”
Kang Hae pressed a hand against her forehead as though she had a headache.
“How about it, Reaper Mancheon? From what Kang Hae just said, it seems everything has been resolved.”
“Oh! Thank you, Human Emperor!”
Mancheon’s expression finally returned to normal.
“But surely you didn’t summon me only because of our marital problem, Human Emperor?”
