◈ Episode 292. I Had Overlooked It (1)
A reversal as if wrought by magic.
The world could not hide its astonishment at that reversal.
All except those who called themselves a great nation.
Bang!
The leader of the great nation, Ji Anwei, slammed his fist down on the desk. More grating than his stinging fist were the foreign news outlets clamoring beyond the screen.
The captions streamed by.
-The truth revealed as if by magic… The cruel face of Unification Under Heaven
-Luo Junchun, why did he incite the tragedy?
-Anonymous ranker: “High possibility that members of Unification Under Heaven are suffering from abnormal statuses”…
The attendants watching the news with him spoke up.
“Has it not always been like this, with those outside making noise? As always, it is news that will never reach the eyes and ears of the people. Please do not worry.”
Grind.
Ji Anwei gnashed his teeth.
Do they think I am on edge because I am worried about the people?
They were far too oblivious.
‘Luo Junchun…!’
At this moment, what Ji Anwei feared was none other than Luo Junchun. After all, Luo Junchun’s dignity had now been utterly, horribly trampled.
Tremble!
Purges.
Purges.
A succession of purges.
When he thought of what Luo Junchun had shown him so far, a chill ran through his body. He still could not forget the icy look in Luo Junchun’s eyes when he had warned him.
-“Do not offend me, Chairman Ji.”
-“Do you know why I have kept you alive?”
-“Because you have value to me. I sincerely hope you do not betray my expectations and prove that value nonexistent. If that happens, I doubt even I can guarantee your safety.”
Damn it!
Regret sank deep into Ji Anwei’s bones.
‘I raised a tiger cub with my own hands.’
A saying had appeared after the Cataclysm.
He who rules Arcana will rule the world.
Ji Anwei resented himself for having been tempted by those words.
Look at the result of giving Luo Junchun and Unification Under Heaven unlimited support.
Was it not Luo Junchun, not himself, who now seemed poised to rule the world?
Ji Anwei sensed it.
‘At this rate, I do not have long to live.’
Whether Luo Junchun had lost face.
Or whether he had not.
That was not what mattered.
What mattered was that Ji Anwei had failed to prove his usefulness.
Had he not shown his face directly before the cameras?
Had he not declared that an attack on Unification Under Heaven would be taken as an attack on the great nation?
It had not been a joke, but a grave warning.
And yet, as they could see, its effect had been nonexistent.
The reason was simple.
Because of who their opponent was.
‘…Lee Hoyeol!’
A player who had shown moves even more incomprehensible than Luo Junchun’s.
Public opinion and predictions did not apply to Lee Hoyeol.
Even now, it was the same.
‘I thought I would at least be able to buy time to think.’
The Shadow Mercenary Corps had become entangled in the situation unexpectedly.
He had been certain that if he wanted to hide the truth of the incident, he could do so as much as he wished.
The vast bribes and connections he had scattered across the world were not merely for show.
That was why he had shown his face.
However.
‘Everything was meaningless.’
Lee Hoyeol, that man…!
Ji Anwei looked at his wristwatch.
There were roughly five or six hours left until Luo Junchun’s return.
‘…When he returns, I…’
Would he truly still be breathing?
After weighing his options, Ji Anwei reached a conclusion.
Before Luo Junchun returned.
He would flee his homeland.
‘I no longer have any value to him.’
That he could not even play the role of a figurehead.
There was no way a cold man like Luo Junchun would fail to realize that.
But usefulness was relative.
Had he not witnessed the possibility on the screen?
‘Lee Hoyeol, if it is him…’
He certainly did not seem like someone who would submit to the likes of Luo Junchun.
Ji Anwei had confidence.
Luo Junchun and Unification Under Heaven’s shameful secrets?
There was likely no one who knew them better than he did.
At last, he opened his mouth.
“Everyone, make preparations.”
“For what, Chairman Ji?”
“It is time to redesign the future.”
Ji Anwei had kept only the most capable and loyal attendants by his side. With them, there should be no concern that information would leak. Thinking so and putting his plan into action was the cause.
“If you understand, then move.”
The attendants’ eyes sank low.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Did you not understand? There is no future for me here.”
“How could that possibly be?”
“…?”
At the changed tone, Ji Anwei looked at the attendant and flinched.
For some reason, those eyes were cloudy like the eyes of a rotten fish.
Like a doll, like someone being controlled, “brainwashed”…
‘Wait, brainwashed…?’
An audio clip from the TV suddenly flashed through his mind.
The Zero Mountains that had appeared through magic.
The voice of a Unification Under Heaven player.
-“Please tell me what you desire! Do you perhaps want internal information about Unification Under Heaven? If so, use me! I am no longer Luo Junchun’s puppet…!”
Ji Anwei stammered.
“W-when did he get his hands on even you…?!”
But what came back was not an answer.
“Let go. Let go of me, you bastards!!”
Only the rough hands of the attendants restraining Ji Anwei from both sides.
Even if it was not their true will.
What showed outwardly was absolute, blind loyalty.
“To think you would consider betraying our lord.”
“I am disappointed in you, Chairman Ji.”
“You should quietly await our lord’s judgment.”
“…!!”
Thud.
Ji Anwei’s legs gave out beneath him.
*
Creak—
I left the Magic Tower’s office with light steps.
While the world was in an uproar.
If you asked what I had been doing in the office…
“Research into the bizarre.”
That’s right.
I had been surfing the internet.
Because I had been a little worried about that.
‘About whether anyone might recognize Claudi.’
Naturally, and fortunately.
Interest in Claudi was, for now, pushed to the back burner.
It was thanks to my loose tongue making a spectacular fuss.
‘Because I detonated the bomb called Unification Under Heaven.’
Of course, cleaning up afterward was always my job.
After leaving the Shadow Mercenary Corps to Bellier.
I went straight to Marcelo.
Because I thought Marcelo would naturally know.
About magic that could replace CCTV as well.
As expected, Marcelo answered my expectations.
‘They must be burning up inside.’
The true face of Unification Under Heaven.
It was far uglier than I had expected.
Luo Junchun, I somehow never felt any fondness for him…
“The stench of rot was overwhelming.”
Indeed.
Should I say there had been a reason for that?
Thanks to that, the lingering question surrounding the Shadow Mercenary Corps was also resolved.
‘Because Unification Under Heaven was the one that threatened them first.’
The world was not a flower garden.
The world of players even less so.
If you aimed for someone’s life, you had to be prepared to lose your own as well. That was the world of players. In that sense, I, Lee Hoyeol, generously understood the Shadow Mercenary Corps.
‘Even so, they were rather gentlemanly for a group of masterminds.’
The worst and most vicious criminal organization on the Arcana Continent.
But was it because they had been alongside Unification Under Heaven?
Relatively speaking, the Shadow Mercenary Corps looked like a group overflowing with loyalty.
It was not that I was favoring my own side; the world’s evaluation was not much different.
Because even after seeing Henderson and Rockkid get beaten helplessly.
The sight of the Shadow Mercenary Corps rushing at the great evil had spread across the world.
‘If it works out well, then it works out well.’
I simply did not want to scratch at something and make it worse.
However.
Who was Grandfell?
The owner of a blade-like pride that would not yield even an inch.
The owner of a troublesome personality that could not let anything slide. So the destination I headed to after leaving the office naturally had to be the Healing Magic School’s annex.
Clack.
At my presence, which was full of weight, a familiar face flinched.
It was Cle, a skilled mage of the Healing School.
Cle bowed deeply.
“Chief Lee, it has been a while since I last saw you!”
I generously responded to her courteous greeting.
“You have been working hard, Cle Odia.”
“Not at all!”
In the Magic Tower, aside from that obnoxious cat (the Tower Master),
there was hardly anyone who was not working hard. Even among them, the Healing School had been especially burdened recently. From finding a way to purify the evil fruit swallowed by the dragon to healing the Shadow Mercenary Corps.
‘I have asked them to do quite a lot.’
However, who was Grandfell?
Because he lived each day more exhausted than anyone.
He was an iron man who could confidently lecture anyone.
“Even so, one must not neglect research.”
“Of course, Chief Lee!”
“Your research has more than enough value to warrant it.”
Always adding an unnecessary line at the end of a compliment.
There was no other superior quite so irritating, truly…
It was fortunate that Cle had a good personality.
Soon, when I opened the door to the annex, I saw patients lying in beds.
Nine in total.
Every member of the Shadow Mercenary Corps except Kichi.
Only Wolf, the sole one awake, had raised himself up.
“Is that not still too much for you?”
“…!”
At my voice, Wolf hurriedly turned his head.
Then he spoke in a low voice.
“Why did you take us in, Captain…?”
Wolf had turned his head, but he could not lift it.
Judging by that, Wolf must have guessed as well.
The request from the great evil related to me, to Claudi.
‘No, I’m telling you, you really don’t need to worry about that.’
In the first place, at that time, not a single one of the current members, including Kichi, existed in the Shadow Mercenary Corps, right? Even Grandfell, who valued procedures so highly, had some flexibility.
‘I’m saying I have no intention of holding you guilty by association.’
Besides.
‘Nothing good will come of digging into that for no reason…!’
Because in the end, the root cause of everything would lead back to my dark history…!
Let us not mention that endlessly dark past any further, Wolf.
With that meaning behind my words, I said,
“I will not hold you responsible.”
“…Why?”
“Kichi, the leader of your group, has already borne that responsibility, has she not?”
“!”
Wolf did not seem ready to back down easily, so appropriately mentioning Kichi was probably the best move. Of course, even if I met Kichi in the future, I had no intention of holding her responsible.
Even then, Wolf still could not lift his head.
“Is that so…? But we do not have the right to accept your grace, Captain. If you become involved with us, who are nothing but hideous, it will surely become a blemish on you.”
Then he continued.
“Even now, that is the case. Though we had our purpose and circumstances, we took the lives of adventurers. If that truth becomes known to the world…”
Ah, that?
Seriously, you don’t need to worry about that either.
Even if they tried to manipulate public opinion all day long, Marcelo’s magic had shown the truth of that time. For the time being, even those who had accepted bribes would have nothing to say, right?
After all, even now, a backlash was blowing up.
-How are you supposed to hold back when someone next to you is threatening you with a knife?
-For real, Unification Under Heaven were the ones who rushed their own deaths first
-They try to kill you if you’re disguised and try to kill you if you aren’t…
-Shouldn’t they investigate the players who went missing in the Zero Mountains more specifically?? If you met those guys without a guild, you’d have died a dog’s death, no??
What was more certain than internet public opinion was the reaction from Unification Under Heaven and China.
Despite the bold declaration made by the supreme ruler himself.
Now that their true face had been revealed, they had not put forth any reaction whatsoever.
So I spoke confidently.
“There is no need to worry about that either.”
“…Pardon?”
“You do not bring shame upon me.”
…
At first glance, it sounded like a pretty decent thing to say.
‘But this is just bragging, isn’t it?’
To my ears, knowing Grandfell’s manner of speech better than anyone.
It could not help but sound different.
And yet, for some reason, Wolf lowered his head once more.
Then he murmured softly.
“…At this rate, even a lifetime of effort will not be enough to repay you.”
Of course, as I said, what Grandfell wanted was a clear conclusion.
So I had to hear the exact circumstances.
I also had to ask clearly about the Shadow Mercenary Corps’s future course.
Vrrr—
But at the vibration that rang out, I briefly stopped speaking.
Vrr. Vrrrr. Vrr.
The vibrations did not stop.
The familiar intervals of the notifications.
That alone was enough for me to realize the severity of the situation.
…This persistence had to be that damned enemy!