Sitri lifted her hands lightly with her palms up.
"This is my private space. You would not have seen all those things in my memory in a normal virtual space. Otherwise, I would have prepared something in advance. That's my fault, though. You haven't done anything wrong. I don't have any intention to get upset because you peeked into my memory."
When she finished speaking, she let her shoulders droop. She said a little jokingly, "Well, I can't deny anymore that I'm also an exclusive dealer for the House of Mammon."
She stuck out her tongue at the end of her words, tilting her head. Normally, he could hardly see her acting charmingly like that.
Sitri was beautiful. Her acting charmingly for the first time fascinated him.
However, he couldn't erase her weeping face from his mind. He seemed to discern her feelings hidden in her charming behavior.
"Well, shall we get back to our business?"
Sitri approached him with a chair. The distance between them was wide enough to have a small table between them.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After forcibly emptying his mind, he faced Sitri again.
"I would like to buy something."
Then he quickly moved his fingers. Then, a document composed of letters of light was created before her eyes. It was about the last installment of materials needed to fortify the House of Randolt.
Sitri nodded. Then she moved her fingers and presented a bill for the materials to Yong-ho.
It almost matched the cost Tigrius specified in the report.
They stroke the deal by signing in the air. Since he already spent all of the remaining budget for the fortification, he could not purchase anything else unless Oros arranged the financial support from the House of Abigail.
It was time to leave. But Yong-ho could not stand up because Sitri, who already got close enough to touch his knees, quietly grabbed Yong-ho's hand.
"You are very urgent, dear client!"
Yong-ho did not hide. It wasn't because he peeked into her memory that he couldn't focus on her surprisingly soft touch.
"Embrio defeated the Western Owners' Alliance. Most probably, they will be marching to the south."
Embrio's forces were different from previous enemies.
He could not be compared with not only Foras and Jungceros but also Agares and Tigrius.
Sitri looked into Yong-ho's eyes and tilted her head.
"So?"
Yong-ho was embarrassed. Sitri grabbed his hand a little harder. She asked, facing close to him, "What are you afraid of?"
It was Yong-ho who boldly challenged Baphomet, one of Mammon's 12 Spirits.
Then, could Yong-ho unusually be scared of Embrio just because he was a powerful demon king who occupied both the north and west?
The reason that Yong-ho felt more nervous now was not because he was afraid of Embrio.
Even when he had to face Foras as the head of the House of Mammon with no resources, he could not think of the option to run away.
What Yong-ho felt nervous about was the difference between his fight against the floor masters in the arena as well as 12 Spirits and his upcoming fight against Embrio. He had also fought the powerful Agares. What made him feel uneasy?
Sitri discovered that Yong-ho himself didn't know exactly why he was uneasy.
That was why she let go of his hand and caressed the back of his hand gently.
"Well, it's me who wants to be comforted now. Still, since you are my deal client, let me tell you something."
Looking straight into his eyes, Sitri withdrew her hand and asked, "My dear customer. What does the House of Mammon mean to you?"
Obviously she was not asking him about the long history or tradition of the House of Mammon.
She didn't mean that he should take pride in being the descendant of that great King of Greed.
What did the House of Mammon mean to Yong-ho?
He blinked. In no time, he gave a hollow smile, for he understood why he was more scared about fighting Embrio than Baphomet.
The House of Mammon was not a place that he was taken to forcibly.
It was a precious house.
It was a place that he lived with not only Catalina and Eligos but many dungeon spirits.
But Embrio was different from Baphomet or the floor masters. He could destroy not only himself but also all of the Mammon House.
"It's okay since the King of Greed has been greedy for ages. It's natural that you want to take them all because Mammon himself was also a very greedy person."
Sitri laughed brightly. Just like she did to Elune, he kissed Yong-ho's forehead.
"Let me stop here. I look forward to seeing you again next time."
She stepped back. As soon as she moved her hand playfully, pure white swept over his mind.
***
Yong-ho opened his eyes. The Demon King's room was quiet since Yuria and Baduk left after cleaning the room.
He took a big breath. He moved his fingers and opened the reports Lucia submitted into the air again
He read them all but paid attention to one paragraph.
He saw it, but he deliberately put it off.
The door of space was completed at a time when his fight with Emrbio was around the corner. Yong-ho smiled. He reached out and removed the report. It wasn't because he didn't want to go back to his home country. He wanted to see his father and his friends. He wanted to eat chicken or coke but not now.
He already decided on something when he resumed the construction of the door of the space.
Back then, he vowed that he would go back to his home country only after defending the House of Mammon, his house, by defeating Embrio.
"Lucia."
[Yes, Master.]
"Tell Scathach to speed up healing my dungeon spirits. There is something I have to finish today."
He made up his mind.
So, instead of stopping and turning around, he just had to go straight ahead.
He stood up from the throne. Then he headed to Burgrim's workroom to pick up the weapons to give to Skull in person.
***
Gusion was different from him in Sitri's memory.
Encountering Yong-ho, Gusion burst into a hearty laughter.
"Scathach was right. It's really my first time seeing a head of a house like my little master. I've defended the arena for over a thousand years... But this is my first time in my whole life."
The former heads of the House of Mammon sitting in the stand were also confused.
Kaiwan, standing next to Gusion, did not hide her embarrassment. She laughed awkwardly as if he was dumbfounded and asked Yong-ho, pointing with her chin, "Are you really okay?"
"Well, no problem."
Replying immediately, he did not look back. Behind his back were not only Catalina but also the dungeon spirits of the House of Mammon, standing.
Nobody among the previous heads of the House of Mammon who had visited the arena brought all of them there with him.
Why? There were several reasons.
For example, it was dangerous for anybody, who was not the house head, to challenge in the arena. Or it was because those dungeon spirits, who inherited the legacy of the House of Mammon, might become stronger than its head. Or it was because the house head didn't want to share the opportunity called the arena with them, even if they were dungeon spirits, Or it was because the house head was afraid of an increase in those who knew the secret.
There was only one thing that really bothered Yong-ho.
It was none other than the danger of the arena.
But if he could share the power with them through Brigada, or if the dungeon spirits could refrain themselves from challenging the floors under the command of Yong-ho, he could reduce the danger of the arena drastically.
'When you go out to the arena, it's only after all of you get advancement.'
Yong-ho wasn't going to be content with just keeping it.
He was determined to have Embrio dare not to covet the House of Mammon, let alone the north and the east.
Now the fight against Embrio was just around the corner, Yong-ho didn't have enough time.
But Yong-ho and his subordinate spirits were determined to stop and defeat Embrio's forces.
Each of the dungeon spirits moved forward and embarked on the challenge one by one.