◈ Episode 170. Possible Because I Am Here (1)
“Then, I’ll leave you to it.”
Harkon, who had spoken with Yeshika and Enoch, returned to the grand conference hall.
Though quite some time had passed, Kichi was still holding his position.
The Emperor’s Sword.
The eyes of the Ryan Hart Knight Commander gleamed coldly. ‘If it were the past me.’ He wouldn’t have dropped his suspicions so easily.
The notoriety of the Shadow Mercenaries was well-known even in the imperial palace.
The crimes they had committed under the pretext of commissions had been atrocious beyond measure since time immemorial.
However, Harkon knew. ‘Everything has changed.’ The Great Upheaval.
Now that he had fallen from the Arcana Continent into the world of adventurers, it would be foolish to be bound by the past.
Besides, hadn’t he learned through Sir Hoyeol? ‘Humans, not demons, can change.’ Even Harkon himself was like that.
Never mind fame—he never imagined he would converse with adventurers who lacked even basic sword skills, let alone train them. It was unimaginable in the past.
Therefore, Harkon’s gaze had changed.
“I didn’t expect you to be waiting first, Commander Kichi.”
“Eh, all I do is drink, so of course I should come quickly.”
“I heard the news. How is Rakid’s condition?”
“He’s fine now. His foul temper is still the same, though.”
“Indeed, he’s not a man who falls so easily. He.”
An ordinary conversation.
He had thought he would drop his suspicions.
Yet he couldn’t understand Kichi’s change.
In the end, Harkon asked directly.
“You’ve changed, Commander Kichi.”
“Yes, changed, you say?”
“The Shadow Mercenaries joining the Holy War is one thing. I hadn’t expected even you, the Commander, to attend the meeting yourself. It seems some kind of occasion must have triggered it.”
“If by occasion…….”
Kichi trailed off for now. ‘Tch. This is why I hate getting involved with high-and-mighty imperial nobles.’ The reputation of the Shadow Mercenaries was even more notorious among high-ranking figures.
It couldn’t be helped. The Shadow Mercenaries’ commission fees surpassed not only commoners’ means but also exceeded the common sense of ordinary nobles.
Their clientele had exclusively been wealthy high-ranking figures from the very start. ‘Why did the Knight Commander have to show up first……!’
The reason he appeared early at the promised place?
Naturally, it was to score points.
He had to look good to our General Lee Hoyeol to pry information from that bastard Elsidor or whatever.
Because he might overhear even a hint of it.
But. ‘Guys, see how agonizingly I’m living.’
Look at those lion-like eyes.
If he answered even slightly wrongly.
These petty inner thoughts would be found out immediately.
For now, Kichi glossed over it.
“……It’s all thanks to General Lee Hoyeol, right? Haha.”
One fact he had realized while residing in the Yusra Kingdom.
For one, the moment you mention the name Lee Hoyeol, anything gets resolved.
Why, it was like how pretending to be a follower of the Goddess Church on the Arcana Continent let you avoid most suspicions.
Honestly, in the Yusra Kingdom, Hoyeol’s influence was no less, if not greater, than the Goddess’s. ‘Well, I can understand that.’
Arcanians who had difficulty adapting to the world of adventurers.
Because it was he who had normalized the Yusra Kingdom, Frost, and Muon so that they could settle without difficulty. As expected, that name did not betray Kichi this time either.
Lee Hoyeol.
The moment his name was spoken.
Harkon’s face brightened.
“I see! So you too have realized Pride!”
“Y-yes?!!”
No, but why is this suddenly jumping to Pride?!
“……Is that not it?”
Harkon’s face cooled down frigidly.
In the end, Kichi had no choice but to force up the corners of his mouth.
He had no idea what the hell that Pride was, but.
“No, that’s right! Pride, hahaha! Hic—”……
For now, let’s say he realized it.
Pride, that is.
Shadow Mercenaries, all members.
For our comfortable old age as well….
Grand Alliance.
Nam Tae-min smiled at the corners of his mouth.
“Now it finally feels real.”
Ho-yeol called us—called me!
Though it was no different from being in the same boat since jumping into the Holy War.
Attending the meeting was a new feeling.
What snapped Nam Tae-min out of his excitement for the first time in a while was Hisagi, who was walking side by side.
“Surely you’re not excited, are you, Nam Tae-min?”
“……What now? What kind of fight are you picking?”
“I couldn’t sleep a wink out of worry.”
Hisagi put on a pitiful expression.
His snake-like eyes highlighting his wretchedness made him disgusting to behold.
Nam Tae-min frowned, but Hisagi was sly.
“I stayed up all night worrying whether we were qualified to attend such a meeting. From Ryan Hart knights to Magic Tower mages. Compared to them, we are still sorely lacking.”
“……Hey, if you say that, what does that make me?”
“What do you mean. Being true to your emotions is exactly what a Barbarian would do.”
A thick frame.
A skinny frame.
The sight of the two men bickering was enough to draw attention.
“Sheesh, embarrassing.”
Leonie spat coarsely and walked a few steps away from the two.
However, despite the social distancing.
The two men turned their heads as if they had promised, neither before the other.
“What do you think?”
“Miss Leonie, what do you think?”
“Both of you just shut up.”
Almost every day, to the point where she didn’t know why they fought.
In Leonie’s eyes, both looked the same.
Anyway, the fight would only end when a conclusion was reached.
Then the attention would be less focused too?
Then she too would be less embarrassed.
In the end, Leonie gritted her teeth and opened her mouth.
“What was the cause of the fight in the first place?”
“He doesn’t like that I’m happy, that snake-eyed bastard.”
“I suppose my rationality cannot comprehend savagery.”
“Are you taking jabs again?”
“……Stop.”
The bickering isn’t the root cause, you lunks!
“N-now listen.”
Swoosh—Not only bowing their heads but even bending at the waist, the two men……
Are they making me feel small and short now?
For a moment she felt nauseous, but held it in.
“If we trace it back, the cause is the general assembly, the meeting, right?”
“That’s right.”
“That’s correct. The sensibilities of a modern person and a barbarian stemming from there…….”
Anyway, they couldn’t listen quietly for a single word.
Before Nam Tae-min could flare up.
Leonie quickly added.
“In the end, both of you are feeling the same thing, aren’t you?”
“……Huh? Me? This?”
“Isn’t it because you both want to be helpful?”
“!!”
Whether pride came first or worry came first.
In the end, their hearts were headed to the same place.
That’s why the Grand Alliance had been able to function until now.
But why on earth do they always fight and hit each other?
“Making a face like you just realized now. Seriously pisses me off.”
Commander Harkon, please look at this.
These guys need their heads fixed before stamina training.
Perhaps because she had finally heard a satisfying answer.
Nam Tae-min straightened his waist and raised his head.
“I got it.”
“I feel the same way.”
In that instant, their eyes met.
Mouths opening simultaneously.
“It’s Pride, isn’t it.”
“It is Pride.”
“……?!”
No, is that right?
Why are they suddenly swerving the wheel and crashing into Pride?!
Leonie was at a loss for words in disbelief.
“Alright, truce for today.”
“I agree, Nam Tae-min.”
“……You crazy bastards.”
Ho-yeol, please look at this.
You made them this way.
Thud-thud-thud.
Leonie headed toward the Golden Palace, leaving the two men behind.
Because that Pride thing seemed contagious, as quickly as possible….
However, Leonie was shocked upon entering the grand conference hall.
Though it wasn’t her place to say as a Berserker…….
She could dare to be certain.
“……They weren’t the only crazy ones.”
This was madness.
It wasn’t just Nam Tae-min and Hisagi who were strange.
An ominous conversation reached her ears.
“I hadn’t expected the Explorers’ League to participate.”
“The Holy War affords us explorers plenty of room to demonstrate our abilities. Of course, even I, the League Leader, was surprised. Though I am an explorer myself, it’s rare to see such a race that doesn’t unite like explorers……. I never imagined most League explorers would join together in will.”
“That is the Pride of an explorer!”
*Beginning, development, turn—Pride.*
Who were those speaking like religious fanatics?
Not players, not rankers, but none other than Ryan Hart Knight Commander Harkon and Explorers’ League Leader Fabian.
This time, a conversation piercing her left eardrum.
“We heard you handed over the Church’s sacred relic. Senior Bellier asked me to convey her thanks. Of course, I too owe you a great debt.”
“Not at all. That sacred relic is no longer ours. No matter how you use it, there is no need to thank the Church. Because we have realized Pride more valuable than a sacred relic.”
“Indeed, I can relate to those words.”
The largest religion on the Arcana Continent, the Goddess Church.
Talim, leading tens of thousands of Goddess Church paladins.
The chief of the Magic Tower who needs no descriptors, Marcelo.
As expected, they were great people beyond even that side.
At this point, Leonie became seriously worried. ‘……Wait, at this point, am I the one who’s wrong?’
Surely not, was she the only one who hadn’t realized it?
She wanted to ask frankly to get it off her chest.
Just what the hell is Pride?!
But she recalled a saying circulating among players.
—“Asking what Pride is is itself an act without Pride.”
Rumble-rumble—In the end, Leonie shut her mouth and rolled only her eyeballs.
During which she met eyes with Kichi sitting across from her.
As Pride recognizes Pride, Leonie and Kichi recognized each other too.
“!!”……
You don’t know what Pride is either, do you?
Of course, the relief didn’t last long.
Right at the appointed time.
The sound of footsteps approaching.
Clack—for Hoyeol had appeared in the grand conference hall….
“Thank you all for being punctual.”
Well, the rest is one thing, but.
Perhaps because I hadn’t expected it.
I’m especially grateful to Kichi. ‘……Otherwise, it would have been terrible.’
Lacking in Pride.
Lacking in formality and etiquette.
I nearly started the meeting with nagging.
Thanks to that, I didn’t delay.
As soon as I took my seat, I got to the main point.
“Today, the reason I have gathered you all is simple.”
As I’ve said many times, seeing is better than explaining.
I placed the [Demonic Eye Telescope] on the round table of the conference hall.
Activating its effect, I continued speaking.
“The war for the Demon King throne has begun.”
“……!!!”
Soon, the panoramic view of the Arcana Continent floated in the air.
They must all be used to the devastated appearance of the continent by now.
But this was on a different dimension than before.
A tectonic shift—the Arcana Continent was splitting apart.
Marcelo spoke in a firm voice.
“That is not magic.”
“If not magic……?”
“Demons—it must be their doing.”
Green flames rising from the split cracks……
Wait a minute.
Fabian muttered and opened his mouth with an expression of disbelief.
“Light like the Hellfire Torch……? Then surely?”
That’s right. That ‘surely’ is indeed ‘surely,’ Fabian.
“Indeed. It is the flames of Hell.”
“The Hellfire Torch, you say. Fabian, what do you mean?”
“……It can’t be. Allow me to show you.”
Fabian soon took out the [Hellfire Torch].
It was a torch burning with the same green light as the flame that had bloomed over the Arcana Continent.
I had seen it at the rift of [Tetspern Labyrinth], so I wasn’t surprised, but the others must be.
“In the past, this Hellfire Torch was left behind by a League explorer who witnessed the gate of Hell. Though I couldn’t verify it directly, I heard it has the effect of burning demons.”
Kichi, who had been twirling a finger in his hair, asked.
“Excuse me for interrupting, but aren’t the Demon Realm and Hell different?”
Good question, Kichi.
The Demon Realm and Hell are distinctly different.
The Demon Realm is the homeland of demons, but Hell, borrowing Grandfell’s expression, is the space where demons are buried.
To be exact, it is the afterlife where demons hunted by demon hunters fall.
“Well, seeing how demons run rampant on the Arcana Continent, the passage to the Demon Realm seems to have opened long ago……. Would the demons really have a reason to open a gate to Hell?”
Why would demons open a gate to the place they fear most.
To Hell?
When they don’t even know how the war for the Demon King throne proceeds.
Naturally, none of them could guess.
I was the same.
Until my vision flickered that is. [Class Quest: The Gate of Hell]
But now that I know everything.
I could stand as upright as always.
In front of those shaken by the unexpected situation.
I could babble nonchalantly as usual.
“There is no need for doubt, nor anything to worry about.”
“……?”
“Because I am here.”
“!!!”
It’s not as if I’m some pseudo-cult leader leading fanatics.
This time, it isn’t simple bluster.
There truly is a ‘plan’ only possible because I am alive.