Chapter 203 - Welcome to the Palace of Joseon, Strangers (1)
"Is that the place?" Oh Kang-Woo asked.
"Yes," Khadgar said.
They were at an S-rank Gate located in Western Europe. Unlike the Gates in Korea, this Gate wasn't being managed, so there were monsters all around it.
"The factory is inside that Gate."
"Inside the Gate?"
Khadgar nodded.
Kang-Woo looked at the S-rank Gate with great interest. It was the first time he'd seen a Demon Cult branch located inside a Gate.
"Si-Hun, let's kill the monsters around here before entering the Gate."
"Yes, hyung-nim."
The Sirius Corps, a corps under Si-Hun's direct command, had been added to the operation. It contained about three hundred members and was made up of powerful Players from Guardians. Han Seol-Ah, Kang Tae-Soo, Cha Yeon-Joo, Baek Hwa-Yeon, and most of the people Kang-Woo knew were in this corps.
The Sirius Corps was also the only special force that had acted like a proper corps within the disordered Guardians during its establishment.
'I don't get why it's called the Sirius Corps, though.'
It was as if an author had been too lazy to come up with a decent name and just slapped on a random word that they had just thought of. Si-Hun had been the one to choose this name, which did not seem to have any meaning behind it.
"D-Doesn't it sound cool?"
Kang-Woo recalled seeing Si-Hun with a proud expression while wearing the epaulet with the corps emblem.
'He has a childlike side to him.'
Kang-Woo smirked.
Si-Hun's personality was like a shonen manga protagonist's, and he also seemed to like childish names. Although he was in his mid-twenties, he sometimes acted like a teenager who had just entered puberty.
'Although I don't hate it.'
If Reynald or Alec Osborne had acted in such a way, Kang-Woo would've felt disgusted, but since it was Si-Hun, it was kind of cute. This could be considered a double standard. Kang-Woo himself was aware of his own duality, but he paid it no mind.
'There's no one who isn't like that.'
Barely anyone in the world followed a single conviction or had unchanging beliefs. They would be considered to have no soul—or be considered inflexible.
'I guess a child always looks cute in the eyes of a parent.'
He watched Si-Hun command the Sirius Corps with a bit of awkwardness in his voice.
Khadgar walked toward Kang-Woo, who was smiling like a proud father.
"Excuse me…"
"Ah, yes?"
"Like I had mentioned before, please collect the research materials stored in the branch as well."
He looked at Kang-Woo with an uneasy expression on his face, seeming really worried about those research materials.
No, Kang-Woo could tell that he placed more importance on those research materials than on rescuing his comrades.
Kang-Woo made a good-natured smile.
"Of course, I will let the corps know to secure them."
"H-Haha. Thank you very much." Khadgar bowed.
"What are those research materials about for you to care so much about them?"
"Pardon? Ah. Haha, i-it's nothing special! You could say that they're materials to help us on our quest for the truth."
"Oh?"
"W-We still haven't made much progress. After all, the truth is more complex and abstract than anything."
He smiled awkwardly while avoiding Kang-Woo's gaze.
Kang-Woo looked at Khadgar while laughing in disbelief.
'He's a terrible actor.'
Possibly because Khadgar had spent all his life locked away researching magic, forget acting, Khadgar couldn't even hold a proper conversation. He was so bad that Kang-Woo wondered if it would be more dangerous if he pretended to have been deceived.
'Materials for their quest for the truth, huh?'
He certainly was curious, but nothing more.
'It's not like I'll be able to understand it.'
It would be comparable to someone who was bad at math reading a book full of complex mathematical formulas.
Kang-Woo had little magic knowledge, so there was no way he would be able to understand the research materials by just looking at them.
'I wonder if Amon would be able to?'
There was no one who could match Amon's knowledge of magic in the Demon King army.
He thought about it for a while but shook his head.
'I don't need it.'
Kang-Woo already knew the truth, and Khadgar was wrong. The truth was never complex or abstract. The simplest explanation was usually the correct one.
[Master Kang-Woo, shall we proceed with the plan?]
He heard Lilith's voice. He didn't answer but nodded, which was more than enough of a response.
[May your will be done, my king.]
He heard a mischievous giggle. He ignored it and turned his head to face Khadgar.
"We will infiltrate the branch as soon as we finish cleaning out the area of monsters. We will be counting on you to stick with the main force and guide them to where the mages are being held, Khadgar."
"Oh, g-guide them? The path is not that complic—"
"We require your cooperation for a swift execution of the operation."
"…"
Khadgar bit his lip and nodded. It was obvious he didn't want to do it, but it didn't matter.
'He has no justification for a refusal.'
While making a deal, the most important thing was who was more desperate. Kang-Woo was the one who held all the power, so there was no need to be forceful. Just a simple nudge was enough for Khadgar to be unable to refuse.
"Let us begin."
Kang-Woo sent a short signal, and the operation commenced.
The three hundred Sirius Corps members cleared out the monsters around the Gate. Then, with Si-Hun leading the way, they followed Khadgar and entered the Gate.
Kang-Woo heard screams and the sound of swords clashing against each other. He also felt demonic energy and smelled a faint trace of blood. He used the Authority of the Beholder to look inside. He didn't take action because he didn't need to.
'I nurtured forces for a reason.'
It was so that he wouldn't need to go out of his way to take action in every single trivial battle.
'Rather, I'd just be a nuisance if I joined the fight.'
EXP was a very important growth factor for Players. Therefore, if he joined them, the amount of EXP they would gain would be reduced. No, they wouldn't be able to gain any.
"Right then…"
Kang-Woo looked around. He didn't intend to stay still just because he wouldn't join the battle. He had other things to do.
Kang-Woo slowly walked elsewhere.
* * *
The short battle between the Sirius Corps and the Demon Cult ended, and the Sirius Corps won by a landslide.
There had been a considerable amount of resistance, possibly because this factory was a very important facility for the Demon Cult. However, the Demon Cult had not been a match for the Sirius Corps—a unit made up of only the elites of Guardians.
The performance of Si-Hun, the commander of the Sirius Corps, stood out especially. He easily wiped out the demons that had been guarding the branch. Although the members of the Sirius Corps knew about Si-Hun's abilities, they couldn't help but open their mouths in surprise.
The demons of the Seventh and Eighth Hells had been killed so easily that one couldn't help but feel bad for them.
It wasn't just Si-Hun. Yeon-Joo, who was in charge of the center, took advantage of their solid vanguard and poured an outrageous amount of attacks on the enemies, and Seol-Ah at the rear supported the vanguard with powerful healing magic and buffs.
Thanks to their support, Si-Hun had been able to be more active on the battlefield and had grasped victory in a flash.
"Khadgar!!"
"You were safe?!"
The mages of the Magic Tower had been forced to make magic tools as if they were machines. The faces of about thirty of them brightened after they saw Khadgar. Their malnourished bodies were haggard, and their legs were chained by extremely large chains.
"Sniff! I-I knew this day would come!"
"We're finally free from those damn demons…!"
The mages, who had been saved with the help of the Sirius Corps, hugged each other and cried. That only lasted for a short while. Everyone's attention soon focused on Khadgar.
"We're glad you rescued us, but…"
"You haven't forgotten about that, right?"
"Hahaha," Khadgar laughed.
They were mages through and through; it was obvious what they were referring to.
He said, "Of course."
To mages, research materials were more important than their own lives.
A clue to the truth that they had discovered after searching for almost a thousand years… those research materials stolen by the Demon Cult contained that very clue.
"All of you, follow me," said Khadgar.
As the Sirius Corps freed the mages, they followed Khadgar.
Khadgar activated the tracking magic he had cast on the research materials.
"Huh…?"
The tracking magic was not activating. Khadgar looked around, flustered.
Kang-Woo walked toward him.
"Is something wrong, Khadgar?"
"Ah! K-Kang-Woo! Do you happen to know where the research materials that I had mentioned are…?"
"Ah…"
Kang-Woo sighed and took them somewhere. He led them to a room whose contents had been turned into a pile of ashes.
"Th-This is…!"
"Everything had already been burned by the time I got here."
"The research materials… were burned…?"
That was impossible. The Book of Hecate, a book with compiled knowledge regarding the truth, was protected by powerful magic. Forget fire, the book could even survive being submerged in lava. Burning the Book of Hecate was impossible unless they had the Authority of a demon.
Khadgar ran toward the pile of ashes and rummaged through it. There, he found the Book of Hecate, with more than half of it turned into ash.
"A-Aaahh."
He cried in despair. He flipped through the Book of Hecate with fumbling hands.
It was definitely the original. If it were a replica, he would've noticed. No, the Book of Hecate was not simply a record of words. It had been made with ever-changing cryptic codes and patterns to make it impossible to replicate. If it had been stolen, they could have found where it was through tracking magic, but that was now meaningless.
The Book of Hecate had been burned to ashes.
"Shit! Shit! What the fuck were you doing until this happened?!!" Khadgar angrily grabbed Kang-Woo's collar and shouted, his saliva spurting in all directions. "You useless sons of bitches! Do you have any idea how important the truth contained in this book was?!"
"Please calm down, Khadgar."
Kang-Woo grabbed Khadgar, who was deranged, by the shoulders. He bowed his head and said in a regretful voice, "I apologize for being unable to protect your important materials."
"Urgh…"
"I am ashamed to offer this as an alternative, but… how about I promise that Korea will support your research so that you can restore the materials?"
"Support our research?"
"Yes. Even if it is research material, isn't the most important thing the knowledge within your head? With enough support, replicating the book should be possible."
"... I guess that's true."
Khadgar's eyes shone.
As if he hadn't been cursing Kang-Woo just a moment ago, he started to use formal speech again. "But the research costs an enormous amount of money…"
"You don't have to worry about that." Kang-Woo smiled. "As long as you provide us with some of your help, we will offer you all more than enough support."
"What kind of help?"
"Please supply us with magic items like the ones you had been making."
"Mmm."
"There is no need to worry. It will be completely different from what you went through here. The working hours will be on par with any corporation in Korea."
He could see the doubt on the mages' faces, but they did not need to think for long. The Magic Tower had been destroyed because of the Demon Cult, and the Book of Hecate had been burned to a crisp.
To be honest, Khadgar couldn't even demand compensation for damages since Guardians had rescued them, and in their current situation, it was hard for the mages to refuse their support.
"... I understand."
The thirty mages nodded.
Kang-Woo smiled.
"Then, let us go to Korea right away. Oh… but I guess the initial funding would be a problem."
"What do you mean…?"
"It would be hard for me to fund your research out of my own pocket. I will have to write up an official proposal once I check the value of the magic items that you make."
"Ahem! We don't only do enchantment magic. We can also produce useful magic scrolls and—"
"I am aware, but it will still take a long time for the head office to approve the funding. It would take half a year at the earliest and a year at the latest…."
"Th-That is too late!"
They had gone through painstaking effort to reach Hecate's knowledge; they couldn't waste any more time after they had finally been freed from the clutches of the demons.
"Mmm…" Kang-Woo expressed difficulty. "Oh! There is one way to get the initial funding."
"Ohhh?"
"What…?"
"A credit loan," Kang-Woo said with a smile.
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