Above Your Head

Chapter 46: Kidnapping (4)

'Oh my God. He's a transcendent. And one who's a lot stronger than Major General Chun Hyun-il…'

The old man, who introduced himself as Cheong Won, continued speaking to the still startled me.

"I came from Elohim."

I could feel a great difference in power from him; it was enough to make me weak at the knees just by looking at him. Even though Major General Chun Hyun-il was powerful enough to destroy a civilization or a planet, he would need to expend a huge amount of time and effort. Albeit possible, it wasn't such a simple thing to accomplish.

But for this old man's case, it was entirely different. The power that he could bring forward was so menacing that no one would be able to match up to him. He could destroy a planet with one blow and even devastate a star if he so desired; that was the kind of transcendental existence he was.

I'm not joking, but at this point he was no different from a God.

'No, maybe he really is God?' After thinking about it for a moment, I finally understood what he said.

"Did you say Elohim? That organization of Saints?"

"The Saints are only a part of Elohim, but… I guess, at the very least, you could call me a Saint. I've been at it for a long time."

Noblesse and Elohim. In actual fact, I didn't know much about them since I came from Earth, but I've constantly heard about them to the point that I was sick of it during this past week when I participated in various battles.

'There's no need to be scared. The demi-humans have joined hands with the Legion! It'll all be over if we let the Union know!'

After speaking something along those lines, they tattled on about the Noblesse, Elohim, War Dragon Unit, and even the Fairyland.

'That's right. It's a group that dominates over the Universe.'

To be precise, it was the Union that governed the Universe. However, Noblesse and Elohim were the two major forces that made up the Union, so it wasn't exactly wrong.

In any case, Noblesse, one of the two major forces of the Union, was a group of beings worthy of the name Nobles. They were commonly referred to as beings born with the blood of nobility. Needless to say, humans weren't a part of them. Because humans are the most common species in the Universe.

Those worthy of joining Noblesse are Dragons, massive in sizes ranging from tens to hundreds of meters; Prajna, born with intelligence that outdid supercomputers and gifted with the strongest superpowers of the Physical Realm; also, Kendler Saints who possess high-level technologies that even other high-ranking species dared not replicate.

And the only Noblesse I've ever seen was the Kendler Saint, Nathan, who was the Tech Division Chief of Albatross.

'And this guy... is a Saint who's affiliated with Elohim.'

If Noblesse were born with the blood of nobility, then those from Elohim could be said to be self-completed beings. They are those who have attained spiritual enlightenment throughout a long period of time, or those that reached the realm of transcendence through extreme training and discipline.

I sneaked a glance above his head.

Bong Rae-do

Keeper of the Bloodline, Jwa Ja

'Keeper of the Bloodline?'

He had an Asian name even though he was without a doubt a Westerner, but well, it didn't really matter because we were in the Universe, not on Earth. However, the title itself was quite bizarre. An existence this powerful only managed bloodlines?

"Cel, what's going on? How did that man get in here? Weren't we completely besieged?"

"Oh, of course it's still like that... But such a siege doesn't really matter to him. Oh, let me introduce you. This is Cheong Won, and I call him Grandpa Mae-pa." [1]

"...Grandpa Mae-pa?"

It wasn't surprising because it was common to be introduced through an alias instead of their real name, but this title was even more bizarre than Keeper of the Bloodline. What's with Mae-pa?

"What do you mean Mae-pa? Do you mean Maple as in Maplestory? " [2]

"What nonsense are you talking about? Of course I mean Mae-pa as in the korean for matchmaker. The one who brings lovers together."

"... That Mae-pa is a term that refers to a grandmother that arranges a marriage, okay? The 'mae' in jung-mae and the hanja for grandmother 'pa'." [3]

I was dumbfounded and retorted, but Celestia had a straight face on and paid no attention to me.

"Well, who cares, it's all good if it suits you. Anyways, Grandpa Mae-pa, do you think we can make a move with this guy around? I think he's the most likely one so far."

"No, wait a minute. You have to start from first explaining about the things you've been blabbering about since just now. And if that person is a Mae-pa, why are you introducing me to him?"

"Allow me to explain that."

He introduced himself as Cheong Won (though his real name is Jwa Ja), and smiled kindly in a polite manner. Even though he possessed such godly powers, he was totally indifferent to Celestia's demeanor where she called him Grandpa Mae-pa.

'What the hell is this, even if she's a Princess... How can one treat such a fearsome monster like this? Moreover, this old man seems to be working for the Leonhardt Imperial household, isn't he? Even if it's an Empire that exists in the Universe, is it so strong that it's enough to bring such a godly being under their wings?'

It wasn't an exaggeration, If this old man were to step forward now, even Albatross or the Space Carrier brought by the enemy would be totally destroyed. There wasn't any particular basis for that, but I could tell. He was in a totally different class, a lion mixed among newborn puppies.

"Oh, sorry for the late introduction. I am Kwan Dae-ha." I greeted him. Cold sweat was trickling down my back as I could feel his power head-on. Yet, I had to put on a calm front because even Bo-ram and Dong-min were calm despite being nervous for a while before due to the indifferent atmosphere.

"Hoho, you don't have to be so polite. I'm just a wanderer who has a relationship with the Imperial family."

"Let's all sit down for now."

Everyone sat down upon Major General Chun Hyun-il's words.

Then Cheong Won began to explain, "I'm affiliated with Elohim, but I also belong to the Leonhardt Empire. Let's just say... I was dispatched on a mission to restore the power of the Leonhardt Imperial household's bloodline."

"The power of the Leonhardt Imperial household's bloodline?"

Cheong Won nodded as I wondered.

"That's right. Someone who nobody can easily lay a finger on... The Untouchable. It's my job to find whether there is the possibility of passing the power of the Untouchables to the future generations."

He lightly moved his hands as he continued speaking, and some simple information was transmitted to my mind. It was some sort of Divination that he did but it felt as though it was as easy as breathing to him. And I was taken aback at the direction that the information pointed to.

"...God?"

"Yes. Untouchable is the name that's referring to a God."

Cheong Won slurped the Thousand Spirits Tea which I also used to drink, and continued, "The beings whom we often call Gods are perfectly completed existences, so it is almost impossible for them to produce an offspring. And even if they were to give birth to one, there were many cases where they turned out to be second-rate Gods. But... though it was very rare, there were also rare cases that didn't turn out that way. That was the case with the First Emperor of the Leonhardt Empire."

Nevertheless, that lineage did not pass down properly. If it had been possible for the bloodline to be inherited properly, the Leonhardt Empire wouldn't have just been an Empire, but a force equal to the Noblesse or Elohim. The information transmitted by Cheong Won was enlightening me about the fact that the Emperor's descendants were only extraordinary, but not godly. And as expected, his goal was to continue the overpowering godly bloodline for generations, just like the Noblesse.

"Then perhaps, the reason Celestia calls you Grandpa Mae-pa is?"

"That's right. I came in concern for the matters on marriage of the imperial families of the Leonhardt Empire. Because I have the ability to see the future and I wanted to guide the godly bloodline to awaken in the desired direction. However, even so, I ended up with a nickname like that because I steered them in a direction that the imperial families accepted."

"Now now, that's enough explanation, tell me something. Did you say we can make a move with him?"

I tilted my head at the sound of Celestia spouting something incomprehensible.

"No, wait. What have you been saying since just now? What do you mean make a move with me?"

Celestia explained as she saw that I was puzzled at her comment.

"Grandpa Mae-pa is a Saint."

"...What's that?"

"To put it in words, it means that he cannot act freely in the Physical Realm. Grandpa Mae-pa can only be involved in matters regarding the royal bloodline of the Leonhardt Empire. Because that's his mission."

"No, then, right now, we can only let them know that we're being attacked and nothing more can be done?"

As I turned around at a loss for words, Cheong Won nodded, "That also affects the Physical Realm, so it's a given. Furthermore, I'm not sure if there are Saints with a similar mission, so at the very least, I can't provide any assistance whatsoever."

"Holy shit."

I thought the situation had somewhat settled down when I saw that someone from the outside was inside the ship, but I scoffed in daze upon realizing the actual situation. Just then, Bo-ram, who'd been quiet all this while asked, "No, wait, then…. for what purpose did you come here? You don't intend to help, nor are you going to report this situation to the outside world, right?"

"Because he was recognized by the Princess-nim. If she discovers a companion who can strengthen the godly bloodline, she must definitely inform me. "

"...No, no, wait a minute. No way right?"

As I looked at Celestia in bewilderment, she stared at me with a bright and beautiful smile, just like always.

"Yes. It means there's a chance you might become my husband."

"Ughhh…" I couldn't help but frown.

Well, of course I knew that I had to live on first. Albatross was in a critical situation and everyone could die if things go wrong. I had to inform the outside world of the current situation. Seeing that everyone was convinced that they only needed to alert the Union regarding the news, it seemed that the situation would turn for the better just by conveying the news about the current predicament.

Besides, she said I could be her husband, but she wouldn't force me into it, right? Was it too much of a wishful thought? As I was pondering about it for quite some time, I could see Celestia staring at me. Her face was stiff as a stone.

"What, what's wrong with you?"

"You, just now, you really hated the thought of it from the bottom of your heart."

"...What? Then do you want me to hate it from the bottom of my heart, or do you want me to act like I hate it? I might have to marry a woman whom I'm not even close with."

It went without saying, but it seemed like it wasn't obvious to Celestia as her sea-like eyes darted left and right in shock.

'Why is she acting like this again?'

Celestia was bewildered, but suddenly, a golden lion emblem manifested on her eyes.

"I'll ask you again. You don't want this marriage?"

"Yes."

"You're not interested in me?"

"That's right. No, why do you even bother asking that again now? Haven't I been telling you that and expressing my dislike all this while?"

Celestia staggered at my natural reaction. It was an expression that was unimaginable coming from someone who was always confident and prideful.

"That's-, my-, didn't you act cool to attract my attention?"

"...What kind of crazy-sounding crap are you spouting?" I retorted as I was dumbstruck, and the golden lion emblem that manifested on her eyes disappeared. And at the same time…

Kwaaaanggg-!

Celestia's face flushed red as though it was close to exploding. Her expression turned into that of a jumbled mess of embarrassment and shame. For the first time ever, I saw a genuine expression coming from her.

1. ?? in this context stands for 媒婆, which is a person (typically an elderly woman) that plays the role of a matchmaker in the olden days.

2. Edited the joke for smoother reading.It is supposed to be a wordplay on the Korean word ?? which could mean warhawk or matchmaker. So the original joke doesn't really make sense when translated.

3. ??: Jung-mae is to arrange a matchmaking while ''pa" is the hanja for grandmother.