Chapter 815: The Last (48)
-You’ve worked hard, Mercenary Queen.
-Thank you for your hard work, Guild Master.
-It’s been a long time, everyone. When is the next wave?
-…
-Check when it’ll arrive.
-On it.
-I’m going to take a bath.
-I’ll prepare one.
-I’ll have a meal too.
-We’ll have it ready for you to feast upon after your bath.
-I’ll be eating a lot.
-Okay.
-A lot.
-Okay.
It wasn’t only the citizens of Lindel who welcomed Cha Hee-ra as she opened the gates and entered.
I saw that the member of the Red Mercenary who disappeared with her lined up before her first.
There was great respect in his eyes, who covered her with a seemingly heavy coat of fur without saying anything. The others were no different.
She was fully armed to the point of being intimidating, seemingly announcing the political intent to resurrect the Red Mercenary, but they didn’t address it. That was an expression of respect for the red warrior they trusted and followed.
‘They are amazing, too.’
The fact that recognizable adventurers on the continent were waiting for her to return was enough to tell how loyal they were.
As if denying that the group that lost their leader would collapse, it was also surprising that those wild mercenaries kept their positions without causing an accident.
They probably knew that their Guild Master would be back soon.
‘In that sense, it’s understandable why Ahn Ki-mo left the Red Mercenary.’
He most likely joined them in an impulse, finding his traits very different from them. I remembered him looking strangely happy when he got the offer from Blue.
‘Well…’
Choi Young-ki, who had been silent for the past hour, started reciting reports to Cha Heera.
Although she seemed to be listening with one ear and out the other, Cha Heera kept nodding.
-The influential figure of the committee appears to be Song Sookyung and is called the descendant of the Son of Light, or the wise man.
-What is your personal opinion?
-He doesn’t seem to have great ambition or greed, but…
-…
-I felt uncomfortable many times. I can’t explain it, but… I don’t think he’s really serving the continent.
-Can you take responsibility for that judgment?
-Yes.
-Good. Next.
-This is an official letter from the New Continental and Management Committee requesting cooperation from the heroes of the continent. It is written that a cooperative organization will be created and the designated targets will be specially operated. The list also includes Cha Hee-ra…
-With whose permission?
-…
- Whatever. If they don’t want their head to be smashed, tell them to come and explain in person. Next.
-The assassins who aimed for Lee Kiyoung’s body attacked the Blue Guild.
-…
-Currently, the Blue Guild…
-Is a mess. Next.
‘It’ll be very busy today.’
Cha Hee-ra wouldn’t be busy, but the staff of the Red Mercenary would. Maybe for a few days, they’d be working so much that they wouldn’t have time for personal exercise.
Since they had to solve all the problems they had been putting off, perhaps some of the employees were worried about losing muscle.
-Has nothing been revealed about the dungeon?
-We’ll find out as soon as possible.
-Ask the Black Swan to cooperate. Get a brief report from the magic tower… no, from the second. Create a dedicated team and figure out the locations of the dungeon and named monsters. Start from the capital.
-I’m sorry?
-The capital of the State. Laios. The Union. And the northern area.
-Speaking of the named monsters’ locations…
-It’s a dungeon. I don’t know how this dungeon works, but beating the boss monster is the most basic attack method. If there is a dungeon with the name the Continent Where the Son of Light Was Sacrificed, isn’t it obvious that there must be a named monster in the area where my honey suffered? Look around the Union especially. 27th Corps incident. There.
‘Hee-ra is actually pretty sharp.’
I couldn’t say it was the right strategy, but… I thought it could be a hint. In a way, it seemed like she was getting to the point.
‘Even I didn’t think about it.’
The Blue Guild members wouldn’t have thought about it either.
If there was a meeting, such a topic could come out, but perhaps the most basic direction might have been missed because of the specificity of the entire continent as a dungeon, and the clearing method was fixed. While the Blue thought we had to adapt and survive through various changes, Cha Hee-ra tackled it head-on with the most basic and primal method, which assumed there was a named monster and that it might have something to do with the Son of Light.
‘There’s no way Lee Jihye would just let that slip.’
Either way, it wouldn’t be wrong to think that she prepared the basic configuration.
It was premature to judge that the dungeon attack was a clue, but…
“Any dungeon that doesn’t have named monsters is just pitiful.”
-Gather a few useful people and deploy immediately. Take action, and… call Kim Hyunsung. No, invite him formally. Ask him to have a meal with me.
-Okay.
‘Why do I feel that this woman got stronger?’
Seeing her eating after the bath made me feel that way for some reason.
In the meantime, I could see her continuously munching the food, no, nutrients down her throat, seemingly judging that her nutritional status was poor.
It felt like she was building a body that could fight rather than having a meal. Just as Jung Hayan continued to gain magic power with her heart, she probably kept gaining other kinds of power as well.
‘I can’t even call her human anymore.’
I felt like everyone who could be called the continent’s powerhouse was beyond the human race, but no one was as far from the limits of humanity as Cha Heera.
Being able to become strong without training, without wielding a sword, and living as one pleased… It was a privilege and irreplaceable talent. No, the word talent wasn’t appropriate.
To her, climbing over or jumping over the walls felt close to instinct.
I realized all over again why Cherubim called her the red beast and why Belial and Benignore said that Cha Hee-ra was worthy to come up here.
Perhaps Kim Hyunsung felt it, too, considering he was also sending her a strange gaze.
It was a modest meeting for an official invitation, but it was a meaningful event, so he seemed to think it was right to make time for it.
-Long time no see, Red Mercenary Guild Master.
One problem was that Kim Hyunsung had strange thoughts for a moment.
It was so fast that I couldn’t even notice it, and it was such a small thought that I didn’t know exactly what it was.
Kim Hyunsung, too, might have embraced it unconsciously, without much meaning or his knowledge.
However, Cha Hee-ra, who was sensitive in this direction, seemed to have realized what it was just about. I could see her smiling quietly.
-You are funny.
-…
- You’re really funny. Really.
- I don’t know what you’re talking about, Cha Hee-ra.
-I really want to know what you’re doing here.
-It was you who invited me. I thought you had business to talk about, but if you just want to pick on me, I’ll visit you next time.
-Business, yes. I had business. There were a lot of things I wanted to ask personally, there were things I wanted to hear from your own mouth, and the Blue Guild and the Red Mercenary were allies, so it can be said that I invited you for that too. Still, isn’t it weird? You’re not like me…
-…
-You’re definitely not like me. Even after rubbing my eyes, I can’t seem to find the feeling of the foreign blue-haired. Why did our Blue Guild Master measure me as soon as he entered the room?
-…
-You. Thought of fighting with me.
-…
-You thought of it unconsciously, right?
-You must be mistaken.
-Mistaken, my ass. You thought about who would die. You wondered if I would die the moment you stabbed me with that sword.
-You’re mistaken. If I made you feel that way, I apologize.
-It’s not about apologies. I’m not blaming you or anything. After all, I also think about that sometimes. Anyone can think of that. That’s instinct. If there’s no killing aura, and if it’s pure fighting spirit, I find it interesting. But that’s weird. Why did a guy who doesn’t fight for no reason suddenly stare at me and think like that? Why did you have such a useless thought out of nowhere?
-…
-I don’t think you’ll betray my honey… and it doesn’t seem like you have any other intentions…
-…
-Perhaps… do you know something I don’t?
-…
-Aside from the resurrection of the Son of Light, did you learn something about the first option?
‘Why is the atmosphere like this?’
-Even I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking what you’ve learned.
-I don’t know what you’re talking about.
-Stop that. Share it with me.
‘What’s up with those two?’
Cha Hee-ra was giggling, and Kim Hyunsung quietly gazed at her.
‘Hee-ra, why are you so quick…’
It was just that Cha Hee-ra didn’t like to think. It wasn’t that she couldn’t.
She just enjoyed surrendering herself to her instincts, but she wasn’t always out of herself.
I knew that she was sensitive to danger and was quick-witted, but I didn’t expect her to say something like that to Kim Hyunsung.
‘What’s up with her? Did she get enlightenment while drinking?’
It had all happened so fast that I literally couldn’t even feel it.
‘Kim Hyunsung, why are you like this again? Are you really becoming crazy?’
No, Kim Hyunsung didn’t show any hostility either. If you were an adventurer, a warrior that was making a living out of combat, measuring your opponent’s strength was something anyone could do.
Cha Hee-ra herself was advertising with her whole body, ‘I’m fucking strong,’ so wasn’t it natural to imagine the outcome of fighting with her at least once?
Still…
‘Why are you thinking about that? It’s not ruined yet.’
Why was he already thinking of a Plan B? He shouldn’t be interested even the slightest bit about Plan B. Really.
Both of them would have meant to test each other lightly.
Even in Cha Hee-ra’s position, it was bait thrown without much thought, and Kim Hyunsung only thought of that unconsciously.
But I felt the atmosphere gradually changing.
Cha Hee-ra was giggling and radiating magical energy with her whole body, and Kim Hyunsung was still quietly looking at her. It seemed that the red hair was slowly rising upward under the influence of her magic power.
As if she had confirmed that the red beast’s eyes were changing, Kim Hyunsung’s hand became tense.
It was a defensive instinct, finding out that the predator could be a threat to him.
After realizing that the woman might kill him, his body started to send a signal.
‘Don’t. Fuck. Don’t do it even as a joke. Hee-ra, don’t do that.’
-I don’t want to fight.
‘Right. Don’t, Hyunsung. That’s right.’
-Really? It doesn’t seem like that.
‘Why are you nitpicking at him? Don’t do that.’
-I. Don’t want to fight. Now.
“This crazy bastard…”
I didn’t know if I should call it fortunate or not, but…
-I’m sorry to interrupt, but Cha Heera, the capital…
-I’m busy right now.
-A named monster appeared in the capital. They said there’s an undead dragon and that someone unknown on top of it sits on the State’s castle.
-…
-Next report. A huge magic power in Laios…
-Sigh…
-Next report. At the Federation…
-Such a funny joke…
-Next report.
-A very funny joke.
Kim Hyunsung and Cha Heera quickly got up.
-I’ll go to the Federation.
-And I’ll…
-…
-I’ll…