An emergency occurred around two in the morning the next day.
A flock of Yupis appeared in Essex's airspace and golems charged from the mountains towards Dagenham. Eleven other provinces suffered from a monster invasion. Fortunately, the heroes stationed there could handle it.
Rachel ran out with Galatine as soon as the mobilization order arrived. She summoned her wind spirit, Windy, when she received the coordinates on her smartwatch.
Windy created an updraft and Rachel soared on it like an eagle. It took less than 3 minutes to arrive at Dagenham, London. However, the huge golems had already wreaked havoc and destroyed the houses and roads.
Dudududu!
The soldiers stationed at Dagenham fired their rifles with mana bullets, but the golems' innate recovery speed posed a problem. They couldn't inflict any damage unless they destroyed the golems' cores.
Rachel pulled out Galatine and infused the royal family’s treasured sword with her spirits.
"Gra!"
The golems instantly turned to her after sensing mana. She kicked off the ground and charged at them. They swung their long arms, but she dodged all their attacks and easily overpowered them thanks to her agility.
Shwaaa!
Rachel stabbed the golem’s heart with Galatine covered in a silver flame.
"Geu…"
The golem growled before crumbling into dust with its core destroyed. Rachel used the crumbling golem as a stepping stone to jump even higher.
She confirmed eight golems when she arrived. Seven more remained.
***
The golems’ remains scattered all over the place. Piles of mud, sand, cement, and metal littered the ground. Rachel brushed off the dirt while standing on a battlefield that resembled a landfill.
“I greet the English Royal Court’s vice leader!”
A soldier stationed in Dagenham saluted her.
Rachel nodded and asked, “What’s the damage?”
The English Royal Court’s guild members appeared after she spoke. She glanced at the heroes and told the soldier. “Report the specifics to them.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The soldier replied with another salute.
Rachel immediately left for Essex. It would take at least 10 minutes even if she ran with all her might. She expected it would take more than 30 minutes to subdue the flock of Yupis, so she hurried.
A strange report popped up on her smartwatch when she prepared to summon Wendy.
[Essex, the flock of Yupis has been neutralized.]
“…?”
Rachel tilted her head and called the officer in charge of Essex. She thought the report had been an error and continued running while waiting for the officer to respond.
“Is it true the flock of Yupis has been neutralized?” Rachel asked when the officer picked up.
— Ah, yes. We’ve neutralized all of them. There’s no need for you to come, Vice Leader.
Sievert spoke from the other end. He belonged to the Rayton guild that ruled over England’s southeastern region and his arrogant tone struck a nerve.
“How is it possible that you’ve neutralized a flock of Yupis in less than 10 minutes?” Rachel asked with obvious skepticism.
— Haha! You don’t have to worry about that.
Yupis could be considered at least medium-low rank, grade 3 flying monsters. These distant relatives of harpies resembled eagles larger than adult humans. They would be difficult to deal with because of their vicious temperament and the fact that they usually appeared in flocks of more than twelve. The Rayton guild lacked the competence to neutralize an entire flock in less than 10 minutes.
“Can I trust your words?”
— Ah, of course. We have fully neutralized them, Princess. You should trust us from time to time.
Rachel bit her lower lip in anger before retorting, “I’m quite certain I’ve asked you to address me more carefully.”
— Ah, right, right. I apologize. I got carried away. It’s been a long time since we took care of a situation before you. I’ll make sure to properly address you next time, vice leader of the English Royal Court!
“Just hurry up and send your reports…”
— Yes, yes. I’ll send it right away, Vice Leader!
Sievart sent her a video file. It showed a mountain of Yupis corpses piled on the ground. However, something seemed strange. Holes riddled their bodies and some sort of steam rose from the pile.
“…?”
Rachel squinted for a closer look, but couldn’t make sense of it.
Did someone compress their mana into bullets and rain it down on the Yupis? No, the Rayton guild doesn’t have anyone that talented. No one would waste their mana with such an inefficient method. Aiming for the Yupis’ hearts would’ve sufficed rather than drilling holes all over them.
Rachel subconsciously grumbled while inspecting the video.
“I wonder how much all of these will be…”
Yupis talons and feathers fetched a hefty price. A single Yupis corpse would easily net a whopping 300-400 million won. A well-preserved corpse, or one that possessed a horn and led the flock, would easily go for a jaw-dropping 1.5 billion won.
Most Yupis in the video had been so badly riddled with holes their hides would only serve as rags, but she continued inspecting until she finally found it. A large horn stuck out from a Yupis that seemed larger than the rest.
“…”
Rachel silently tapped the image.
Tap… Tap… Tap… Tap…
The horn’s image enlarged and shrunk whenever she tapped it. Twelve corpses worth at least 200 million won surrounded the horn worth at least 1 billion won.
Sievart snickered in the video and gave two thumbs up while standing next to the mountain of corpses.
Rachel couldn’t help but envy him since the golems she destroyed had no worth.
***
“I told you. That’s not how you do it!”
Shin Yeohwa’s high-pitched voice rang out and a sharp gust of wind grazed Rachel’s hand.
Rachel flinched at the sudden pain, but endured without a sound.
“Why are you so stubborn? Will you continue to ignore what I taught you?”
Shin Yeohwa screamed while waving her hand all over the place. Her anger didn’t quell as she berated Rachel.
“Are you looking down on me now that you’re all grown up and sitting in a big chair? Ha! Are you?”
Rachel’s movements hadn’t been exactly what Shin Yeohwa taught her. She simply extended her hand and feet by a bit, but Shin Yeohwa raged like a beast at this slight adjustment.
“I’m sorry…” Rachel apologized as the back of her hand burned from Shin Yeohwa’s spirit.
Shin Yeohwa gritted her teeth as if she still hadn’t been satisfied with physically punishing her student.
“I accepted a nobody like you as my disciple, but you think you’re somebody now with your face plastered all over the media?”
“…”
Rachel dropped her head and didn’t utter a word. She knew well from experience that Shin Yeohwa would take whatever she said as an excuse.
“Tsk… Know your place. Hey, don’t you know? I’m so embarrassed to tell others you’re my disciple.”
Shin Yeohwa condescendingly spat while poking Rachel’s forehead.
Rachel immediately returned whenever Shin Yeohwa pushed her forehead. Shin Yeohwa would shove her head again whenever it bounced back.
“Come on. Why don’t you use your brain? You think I can go around telling people my disciple is the vice leader of a broke guild from a broke country? Why don’t you tell me?”
Rachel hung her head and bit her lower lips. Those words stabbed at her heart. A poor country and a poor guild. Shin Yeohwa knowingly struck at Rachel’s inferiority complex.
“Hey, I’m so embarrassed to meet my master. I can’t show my face because of my shitty disciple. Master Changwoon used to rub shoulders with the South Korean president. I’m also of the same prestige, but… Sigh… Why did the spirits have to choose you of all people? Ah… right… I hope you’re still not doing that shitty thing these days. Are you?”
Shin Yeohwa meant Rachel’s spirit sword. Rachel believed a spirit could harmoniously combine with swordsmanship. However, Shin Yeohwa stressed the purity of spirits and abhorred the idea of tainting it with swordsmanship. She made it clear to Rachel that such a blasphemous deed should never be committed. She never even allowed Rachel to try.
“Yes…” Rachel muttered.
“Tsk… I knew you still did that useless shit. I just can’t monitor you every second. Anyways, I dare you to try again. I’m going to expel you immediately. I’m sure you’re aware you won’t be able to set foot in Korea if I expel you, right?”
“…” Rachel continued to silently hang her head.
Shin Yeohwa glared for a while before sighing.
“Sigh… You’re quite the frustrating one. This is the end of our lesson for today. I don’t feel like teaching because of your attitude. Just make sure to do your assignment. No, it’s up to you whether you want to do it or not. I don’t care.”
Their lesson ended just like that as Shin Yeohwa turned around and left.
Rachel stood there without raising her head. She remained in the same spot for some time even after her teacher left. Her insides hurt and she felt something boiling deep in her guts. Rachel wiped her tears.
Pat… Pat… Pat…
Blood dripped from the wound on the back of her hand.
“Let me tend to your wound.”
An old butler appeared out of nowhere. He didn’t show any particular emotions as he applied a potion to the bandage and wrapped it around her right hand. She felt a stinging sensation as the potion seeped into her wound and healed it.
“There’s an emergency!” a staff rushed in and shouted.
“What’s the matter?” the old butler asked.
The staff handed a flyer to Rachel.
[The royal family of England. I still remember what happened 15 years ago. I hope you haven’t forgotten my name…]
Lancaster sent them a message.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om