The Support Ate it All - Chapter 587: Chatty Sloth (1)

Seo Ye-in’s usual way of communicating is nod-nod, shake-shake, or one or two short words.

But right now, she was speaking in complete sentences.

“I got less annoyed.”

“Wow. So you just didn’t do it because it was annoying up to now?”

“Even if I say less, you understand everything.”

Her gray eyes were filled with trust.

Well, it’s true that I’ve mastered sloth language.

The others also crowded in, and their gazes settled on the half-finished juice cup.

Maybe they’d guessed what happened, because Dang Ilbi and Dang Hanbi’s faces stiffened hard.

“We warned you so many times, and yet.”

“You went and caused trouble anyway.”

“The Dang family’s honor is going to get slammed into the dirt.”

No matter how much of a joke it was, the weight of it changed depending on who the target was.

Compared to the Dang family, the backing behind me or Dang Gyu-young was minor, but Seo Ye-in was undeniably Hyeseong Group’s young lady.

That young lady came to someone else’s house to visit and got poisoned?

It was the kind of thing that could easily spread into a conflict between one group and another.

Aside from reasons like that, the Twin Heroes also seemed to be feeling guilt for not managing their little cousin properly, and apology toward the guest.

They bowed deeply toward Hyeseong Group’s side.

“We truly apologize.”

“…Right now, it seems our priority should be to understand the situation in more detail.”

Ahn Jeongmi answered with a grave expression.

The top priority was figuring out exactly what poison Seo Ye-in had been hit with, and detoxifying it.

If we hesitated, the poison would spread further and become impossible to control.

The Dang twins nodded and spoke in turn.

“That is correct.”

“The fastest way would be to ask the one who administered it.”

“We will capture that wild brat immediately.”

They were about to spring out of their seats and dash off, but fortunately, it didn’t seem like they’d need to go far.

Seo Ye-in stared blankly toward one corner of the training grounds and said,

“She’s over there.”

“…!”

As everyone’s attention focused, Dang Eunbi came creeping out from there, step by step.

She’d pretended to leave, then hidden and watched.

Her face was pale blue, like she’d realized things had gone wrong.

She couldn’t bring herself to lift her head and kept bowing over and over.

“I’m sorry……”

The Twin Heroes took a step closer each.

“You’ll be punished properly, but now isn’t the time.”

“Explain in detail what poison you used.”

“You must not leave out a single thing.”

With the sharp, icy air coming off her two older cousins, Dang Eunbi answered in a shrinking voice.

“The one from last time… the inner-thought-leak one… and Poison-Assist Powder… and a randomly changing magic potion….”

The twins cut her off, eyes snapping wide.

“You mixed in a magic potion?”

“Something that changes randomly, at that? Without knowing what would come out?”

“And what were you thinking, feeding that to someone else?”

A Dang family martial artist was supposed to know more about their own poison than anyone, but she hadn’t just mixed it irresponsibly—she hadn’t even verified what it did.

Dang Eunbi protested in an even smaller voice.

“I thought it would be… better than just using something really harsh…… I even put in a precious medicine, so I thought it’d be okay…….”

“Precious medicine? What precious medicine?”

“It was something I got a long time ago… a Gold, Gold-something Pellet……”

“True Gold Spirit Pellet?”

“That’s it! True Gold Spirit Pellet!”

Dang Eunbi clapped her hands.

She looked like she’d finally scratched an itch, like her chest had cleared out.

But under her older cousins’ glare, she shrank back down again.

Soon, Dang Ilbi spoke to Ahn Jeongmi.

“It seems she didn’t mix anything truly harmful. And even the little bit of poisonous energy that was there looks like it was pressed down by medicinal energy.”

“Then that’s fortunate.”

“However, it’s too early to relax unless we know what the ‘random effect’ is.”

Everyone’s eyes went to Seo Ye-in.

Ahn Jeongmi asked carefully.

“My lady, do you feel any discomfort?”

“I’m fine.”

“Still, just in case, please receive an examination at the medicine hall.”

“I drank it because I knew it was fine.”

Seo Ye-in gestured with her eyes toward the juice cup.

Then she looked this way, so I added °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° an explanation.

“You’ve probably already guessed, but all of us have traits. That’s why we were sure.”

“…So that was the case.”

“While we’re at it, I’ll drink it too.”

“Kim Ho, you don’t need to go that far.”

Ahn Jeongmi tried to stop me, startled, but I smiled and lifted the glass.

‘If anything, leaving it would be a loss.’

A Hidden Piece I’d gotten while clearing [Seal-Demon Reclamation] in the first semester, a Gold Spirit Divine Pellet.

The True Gold Spirit Pellet was an A-rank precious medicine two levels above that.

Even if the efficacy had been reduced somewhat by being mixed into a potion, it should still give a substantial amount of mana.

‘And I’ve got an audience, too.’

I could feel someone watching from far away.

This time too, it was probably someone from the Elder Council, so I intended to show them again by drinking poison.

It doesn’t work, so stop fooling around already.

So I downed the juice+potion in the glass in one shot.

“……”

“……”

Even though the Twin Heroes of the Dang Family and Hyeseong Group’s four-person team understood what I’d said, they still watched me with a slightly worried look.

Of course, even after a long while, I was fine.

I didn’t even have the slightest psychological change—like suddenly becoming more talkative, or getting less annoyed—nothing at all.

‘Because of the Sovereign.’

The effect of Dang Eunbi’s mixture was probably the ‘inner-thought-leak’ effect changing into something else.

It seemed positive in its own way, but either way, it was the type that affected the mind, so it looked like it got blocked by the barrier.

Even without immunity to all poisons, I probably would’ve been fine.

Dang Eunbi looked at me and let out a sigh.

“Ah……”

She’d probably been clinging to a thread of hope until the end, and now even that didn’t work.

All her efforts had gone down the drain.

Then Seo Ye-in said to her,

“It doesn’t work, so stop now.”

“…Yes, I’ll stop.”

“Next time, I’m going to get mad.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Judging that the situation was mostly settled, Ahn Jeongmi spoke to the Twin Heroes.

“It was close to a prank, and the harm was minor, but it doesn’t seem appropriate as an attitude toward guests. There was also the possibility that an accident could have occurred.”

“You are correct.”

“We will lodge a formal protest regarding this matter.”

“You should. Once again, we apologize.”

Of course, the fault was ultimately with the Elder Council that had instigated all this, so they would be the ones paying the price.

And it was safe to say the odds of them trying to play tricks with poison again had dropped to nearly zero.

With that, the Dang twins dragged Dang Eunbi off somewhere.

And the attention of those remaining returned to Seo Ye-in.

“My lady, are you truly all right?”

“I’m really fine. Thank you for worrying about me.”

“…Pardon?”

Ahn Jeongmi’s eyes widened.

The other employees also exchanged bewildered looks.

Being more talkative was one thing, but it seemed they never imagined the word “thank you” would come out of her mouth.

As Ahn Jeongmi stood there, speechless, Seo Ye-in said again.

“I’m always grateful.”

“…!”

Ahn Jeongmi’s expression turned like something surged up inside, and then they turned their body away.

“…Please excuse me for a moment.”

And they hurriedly fled to one corner of the training grounds.

I thought I heard the sound of someone sniffling somewhere.

Watching them go, I said offhandedly,

“You should’ve expressed it sometimes even usually.”

“I guess I should’ve.”

“But it was annoying, right?”

“…A little.”

Seo Ye-in quietly averted her gaze.

Meanwhile, Dang Gyu-young was watching us with a look that was both amazed and fascinated.

“I’ve never seen her talk this much. She’s like a totally different person.”

“I got less annoyed.”

“How annoyed were you up to now?”

“Really, really annoyed.”

Seo Ye-in answered with a slight tilt of her head.

Meaning, she didn’t even know exactly.

Dang Gyu-young asked me this time.

“How long do you think it’ll last? The effect.”

“I don’t know either.”

Because she’d mixed in a magic potion that produced a ‘random effect,’ nobody knew how long it would last.

Not even Dang Eunbi, who’d made it.

A hint of worry flashed over Dang Gyu-young’s face.

“What if she stays like that forever? Then I think I’d kind of miss it.”

“It’ll end. If it were permanent, it would’ve been born as a trait.”

“Huh. That makes sense. So roughly when?”

“If it’s short, a few hours. If it’s long, a few weeks.”

Since an A-rank precious medicine had gone into the ingredients, probability-wise, it was closer to the latter.

Even though we still didn’t know when it would end.

At that, Seo Ye-in came closer and tugged lightly on my sleeve, starting to speak.

“Hey.”

“What.”

“I’m going to work hard now.”

“At training?”

“Yeah. Before it gets annoying again.”

For Seo Ye-in, this was a special situation and an opportunity.

There was no guarantee the same thing would happen again.

None of the ingredients Dang Eunbi mentioned were easy to obtain, and even if you did obtain them, there was a high chance the effect would change.

I found it very welcome, so I pretended to be utterly moved.

“What a truly admirable thought.”

“It’s okay to do Challenge Austerity.”

I exchanged a look with Dang Gyu-young.

I didn’t think she’d go that far.

“A little while ago you were asking me to go easy on you, saying you’d rest and do it two days later.”

“I don’t think I need to rest. I’m going to do it anyway.”

“Every single word is absolutely correct. Indeed.”

“Instead, a condition.”

“So you’re saying, if you work hard, you want an incentive.”

“Yes.”

“What do you want?”

Seo Ye-in stared at me for a moment before answering.

“A wish coupon.”

“To use later?”

“Yeah.”

It seemed like she planned to use it after the effect wore off, when everything got annoying again.

By then, what she wanted might change, too.

I asked in a half-joking tone.

“But isn’t this just good for you? You’re boosting your stats.”

“You go up too.”

Her gray eyes held a sharp light.

If ranks like [Featherstep] or [Destructive Gale] rose, then the rank I used by copying them would rise as well.

And Seo Ye-in’s logic didn’t end there.

“I think a movement quest will come out.”

“Because you just got [Sailboat]? Or is it your gut?”

“Both.”

Austerity quests usually suggested objectives that shored up weaknesses or emphasized strengths even more.

From that angle, it was highly likely they would make her use what she’d just learned.

And Lucky Charm intuition almost never missed.

‘If she uses [Sailboat], she’ll obviously use [Featherstep] a lot too.’

Growth would focus in that direction, and the rewards would as well.

It made plenty of sense, so I nodded.

“Fine. We’ll do it with a wish coupon on the line.”

“Promise.”

I looked Seo Ye-in in the eye for a moment and asked,

“…You feel smarter too.”

“I’m the same.”

“It felt like you usually half-assed it.”

“I did. Because it was annoying.”

“Because negotiating means you have to talk a lot?”

“A lot. And long.”

Meaning, even making one or two more complete sentences was annoying, so she’d gone with a whatever-happens-happens mindset.

Anyway, for me, her working hard was pure good news.

So, just as I was about to pull out the Challenge Book—

Seo Ye-in turned her head to look at Dang Gyu-young and said something else unexpected.

“I’m going to work hard.”

“Yeah. I’ll cheer you on.”

“My goal is first place.”

“…!”

Dang Gyu-young’s eyebrows shot up.