Because there were people who had set out ahead of us, we could not stay long in the underground city.
Together with the livestock, I set down the items I had brought in the boxes in the underground city, checked the Magician’s Flower, and then spatially transferred to the terraforming ruins.
We had hurried, but the people who had left before us were nowhere to be seen beneath the terraforming ruins.
Instead, David was waiting for us in front of the greenhouse.
“You’re much later than I expected. I heard the two of you would be following, so I’ve been waiting here.”
It seemed he had been going back and forth between the ruins beneath the lake and this place in order to move the people from Earth to these terraforming ruins.
It was not a role that stood out on the surface, but he was doing well as the base administrator and as the deputy administrator of the spatial transfer device.
When Margretha and I stepped down from the altar, David tilted his head at the things in both my hands.
“I heard you were bringing livestock from Earth this time, but I suppose that wasn’t the case.”
It wasn’t as if he had stayed here waiting for us for no reason.
He had heard that I would be spatially transferring while carrying rabbits and chickens, so he had waited for us.
But what I was holding now was not cages containing rabbits and chickens.
The rabbits and chickens were currently in the underground city on the Ice Star.
The livestock that would be running around the outskirts of the underground city would continue to be diligently raised by the spirit from now on.
Instead of leaving those livestock in the underground city, I had brought food from there.
Sacks full of flour and rice.
These grains had already been completely milled and polished with magic, so they could be eaten right away.
After checking the food I had brought, David wore a troubled expression.
“So you brought food, not livestock. We certainly do need food, but…”
He looked at the food in my hands and then into the greenhouse before shaking his head.
“But this amount won’t be enough.”
The reason he had waited for me after hearing that I was bringing livestock was also because he was worried about the food shortage we would face in the future.
User candidates would be coming to this planet not only from America and Korea, but from countries all over the world.
On top of that, the awakening agent I would spread would cause even more people to come over, but even without that, David had no choice but to be worried.
That seemed to be why he had gotten his hopes up when he heard I was bringing livestock.
Watching David’s disappointed expression, I set down the food I had been holding in front of the greenhouse.
After putting down the food sacks, I said to David,
“There’s no need to worry about food.”
With those words, I began taking grain out of the box I pulled from my backpack.
In the underground city, grain had been piled high enough to fill warehouses.
There was no way I would have brought only as much as I could carry in both hands.
I had packed the boxes full of grain and brought them with me.
Some of the food had vanished during spatial transfer, but perhaps because the distance was short, the loss was not great.
Thud, thud.
Food sacks continued to pile up in front of the greenhouse.
The higher the sacks rose, the higher David’s head tilted, and his mouth opened wide as well.
“What on earth is this…”
When I had taken out all the grain, David stared at me with startled eyes.
Beyond his surprise, he also seemed to have many questions.
Before he could ask, I pointed upward with my finger.
“I only transported it. If you want the details, ask Commander Katherine.”
[Surely you don’t intend to dump it all on her?]
Of course I did.
The reason I had left her in the commander’s seat was to make her take on troublesome matters like this.
As deputy commander, I had merely done what Commander Katherine ordered me to do.
If anyone asked, that was what I intended to insist.
However, it did not seem to work very well.
After hearing my explanation, David shook his head.
“…I’ll ask Commander Katherine.”
His tone seemed to say that he did not believe me, but would go along with it anyway.
It seemed to have failed from the very start, but I didn’t mind even if things went this way.
Even if he didn’t believe me, the questions would be directed to Katherine.
As long as I was not the one inconvenienced, that was enough.
I planned to leave all troublesome explanations like this to Katherine from now on as well.
“Then I’ll leave the rest to you.”
I entrusted the food to David and went up to the surface.
Perhaps because new people had come over, the ruins on the surface were more chaotic than before.
But when we reached the corridor, the noisy hallway immediately grew quiet.
People looked at me and bowed their heads or waved, and I waved back in response to their greetings.
Margretha and I passed through the quiet corridor and arrived at the lobby.
Everyone who had come from Earth this time was gathered in the lobby.
In front of them, Carlo and Sergeant Kim were shouting in English and Korean.
“Anyone still carrying items brought from Earth, hand those items over to the management team and move as instructed!”
When Carlo shouted at the Americans, Sergeant Kim followed by shouting to the Koreans.
“We did not tell you to gather with your close friends! If you do not follow instructions, you will be removed from the hunting teams. If you fail to awaken, your families may not be able to receive tickets!”
At the word “tickets,” the people moved.
Before we arrived, it seemed they had been informed about Earth’s destruction by those who had come first.
Judging from their expressions, they seemed to believe in Earth’s destruction more readily than the people who had heard the story before.
It was only natural.
Unlike the later group, who had not known about Earth’s situation, the people who had come this time had seen the sky and sea change on Earth.
Because they had felt the crisis with their own bodies, they easily accepted the word “destruction.”
Of course, there still seemed to be many who were half in doubt, but it appeared to be enough to make them follow instructions.
They were divided by group and assigned to the existing hunting teams.
Unlike before, each group was made up half of newcomers and half of members from the existing hunting teams.
Once everyone stood with their own group, Katherine and Kim Huiwon went up onto the platform.
From the platform, Katherine swept her gaze over the newcomers, then furrowed her brows when she saw Margretha and me standing at the back of the lobby.
I waved at Katherine, but she ignored my greeting.
She opened her mouth to address the people.
“From now on, all of you will spatially transfer to the city ruins together with the hunting teams. That city is where the hunting teams have been hunting Akzar monsters. While supporting the hunting teams in their hunts, you must do your best to sense dark energy.”
It seemed Katherine intended to send the people from Earth straight to the city ruins.
It felt strange that she would send them immediately without even giving them time to rest, but once I heard what came next, I understood why she was in such a hurry.
“There are not many monsters left in the city ruins, so there will not be many opportunities to awaken. If you fail to sense the energy this time, we do not know when the next opportunity will come. I ask all of you to do your best.”
It seemed that through all the hunting until now, most of the monsters in the city ruins had been caught.
Even the monsters remaining in the city had dwindled to the point that they were scattering in all directions.
Before those monsters left the city, the people who had come this time needed to encounter them.
From what we had experienced so far, awakening came faster if one fought monsters or was near them.
I had experienced it myself, and so had the others.
In the end, until a new hunting ground appeared, this might be their last chance.
When Katherine finished speaking, Kim Huiwon, who had gone up to the platform with her, interpreted it into Korean.
They could have been startled by the sudden hunt, but perhaps because they had already heard about Earth’s destruction, the people followed the instructions with surprising calm.
The people gathered by group began preparing for the hunt under the direction of the existing hunting teams.
As I stood in front of the corridor watching the people prepare to depart, Katherine came over after finishing her speech.
“You took longer than I expected.”
At her words, I answered honestly.
“There were a lot of things to do.”
When she heard that there had been a lot to do, Katherine let out a sigh.
“I’m already getting scared. Let’s go to my office.”
Margretha and I headed to Katherine’s office with her.
As we walked there, I asked something I had been curious about.
“I don’t see the exploration team members.”
I had not seen the exploration team members either in the underground city on the Ice Star or in the terraforming ruins.
Not seeing the people who used to welcome me warmly made me both regretful and worried.
Katherine answered my question.
“They’re all in the city ruins. The exploration team members are monitoring the Akzar monsters in the city.”
That was unexpected.
When I looked at Katherine with a puzzled face, she continued explaining with a tired expression.
“As the monsters decreased due to the hunting, they must have noticed something, because they all tried to leave the city. If not for the exploration team members, we would have lost all the remaining monsters.”
It seemed the exploration team members were luring the monsters and keeping them in the city.
That was unexpected, but hearing it made me feel better.
Even without me, the team members were doing their part.
Good. Since the team members were handling their roles on their own, I could move more comfortably this time.
Nodding with satisfaction, I entered Katherine’s office, and Katherine asked me with a serious face,
“Now, tell me. What happened on Earth?”
At her interrogation, I scratched my head.
“It wasn’t anything grand. It was just…”
I told Katherine about what had happened on Earth.
From meeting the American president, to going to China and visiting a planet called Taiping, to returning to Korea and meeting the Korean president.
As I talked, I realized I really had gone to quite a few places in a short time.
“You met the American president and went to another planet, and you’re saying that wasn’t anything grand?”
Perhaps her head had become complicated after hearing my story, because Katherine frowned.
“Still, thanks to that, I was able to get a letter of confirmation from the president.”
I handed Katherine the document I had received from the American president.
A written assurance from the American president that he would recognize the independent movements of the Trappist Expeditionary Force.
This document alone would not be enough to achieve the expeditionary force’s independence, but at least we had obtained the minimum justification.
“I got one from the Korean president as well, and I should be able to get one from China too. With that much, Earth or anyone else won’t be able to pressure you.”
“I’m grateful, but this doesn’t seem like it’s for my sake, does it?”
As expected, Katherine noticed immediately.
“Still, you did well. This has certainly taken the first step.”
Even so, since Katherine seemed satisfied, I tried to end the conversation there.
But at the final moment, Margretha cut in.
“There’s still something you haven’t mentioned.”
“That wasn’t everything?”
“The biggest thing he did is still left.”
“There’s something even bigger than meeting the American president?”
“That much is nothing.”
At that point, the conversation between the two women stopped, and both of them looked at me.
Seeing Katherine’s expression, I felt I had to give a proper excuse.
“We were lacking firepower to deal with the Demon King. So I brought two nuclear bombs from Earth.”
At my explanation, Katherine’s face went blank.
It was the first time I learned she could make an expression like that.
A moment later, once she had come to her senses, she asked with difficulty,
“…Is there a country that would give you nuclear bombs?”
“No country would. That’s why I took them secretly. They were ones the remnants of North Korea had. I detonated one nuclear bomb and buried everything, so they probably won’t know I took the rest.”
[Whether other people know or not is not the issue, is it?]
Along with Soph’s words, I saw Katherine truly furious.
I immediately poured out the words I had prepared.
“So I’m going to explore places where the Demon King might be. I need to move quickly, so I’ll have to go alone. Please take care of the team members.”
After leaving those words behind, I promptly fled beyond the mountain range.
In Search of the Demon King (2)