The highest-grade penthouse of a 5-star hotel located in the middle of Seoul.
The living room of this place being used as Empire Guild’s temporary residence was packed full with luggage brought in from outside.
“It looks like they moved an entire luxury goods section of a department store.”
Sarah said as if dumbfounded seeing that sight. From diamond necklaces worth dozens of carats emitting brilliant light, to unique artifacts that dropped with rare probability only from A-rank or higher gates, plus hard-to-obtain luxury goods lined up in rows.
“Haah.”
The person watching the peak of that dizzying waste of money finally let out a sigh they couldn’t hold back. In her hands was a bundle of receipts for an enormous amount scraped together while sweeping through Seoul city today.
Sarah furrowed her brow and looked at her boss sitting leisurely on the highest-grade leather sofa, sipping champagne.
“Guild Master. As your secretary, I dare say this, but do you really need to cling this much? No matter how important scouting an S-rank healer is, this has gone way too far. Do you think he’ll be happy receiving bribes like this?”
Rejected at the Management Bureau, rejected when visiting directly. Still, it seemed the rejection wasn’t enough yet. Or perhaps having lived too confidently until now, did he lack the mind to accept that he’d been rejected?
“Excessive! Oh, Sarah. You lack romance. This isn’t a simple bribe but a display of my pure goodwill and sincerity.”
Alexander shrugged his shoulders and lightly swirled the glass containing wine.
“There’s nothing bad about buying this much favor. Think about it. There are a few healers who handle divine power, but there’s never been a case in Awakener history where their rank received an S-rank evaluation. That person is a talent worth pouring all my wealth into without regret.”
No, you haven’t even seen them use their ability directly, have you? They say he easily treated a seriously injured person at the hospital, but that alone can’t tell you everything about their ability. Still, Alexander had such a good eye for people. Sarah thought he must have seen something she couldn’t see. Of course, that was separate from what Alexander was doing now.
“I understand that your standard for judging people lies in ability, but.”
Sarah set down the receipts on the table with a sour expression. Certainly S-rank healers were rare enough to name their price, but Alexander’s scouting method was somehow completely off the mark.
“Yesterday, that Saintess.”
“Saint. No matter how you look at it, he was a man, so why are you still calling him Saintess?”
“Because it fits?”
“If you don’t want to get slapped, fix the title.”
“Fine! Anyway, the Saint seemed to have quite a favorable impression of me too, you know? My sincerity reached him perfectly.”
“…Pardon?”
At the nonsense Alexander confidently spouted, Sarah opened her mouth in disbelief.
“I definitely received a report that you were turned away at the door yesterday. The bouquet was thrown away, and the Saint even slowly backed away to avoid you, Guild Master.”
“Oh, Sarah. In Korean terms, that’s playing hard to get! Think about it. He accepted that precious Spirit’s Protection I offered without a word, then slowly backed away as if embarrassed by my overwhelming charm, that cute appearance! No doubt about it. His heart was swayed by these perfect conditions and devotion of mine, and he didn’t know what to do.”
‘No. He just ran away because he’s disgusted by you as a person.’
Sarah shook her head, swallowing the truth she couldn’t bring herself to say out loud.
Sculptural appearance, overwhelming force at the world’s peak, and power that controlled nations plus overflowing wealth. Despite having such excellent conditions, only materialistic people with obvious motives always swarmed around Alexander. She’d wondered why every lover he met was like that.
Sarah now seemed to understand the chronic reason. It was probably due to that characteristic ridiculous misstep tendency with perception so severely broken that he couldn’t read people’s true emotions.
“By the way, since I’ve come all the way to Korea, I’d like to enter a gate at least once with the Saint. I won’t be satisfied until I see with my own two eyes how his divine power manifests in actual combat.”
“How would that work as you please? A foreign Awakener entering another country’s gate without permission is clearly illegal. Moreover, since the Saint belongs to Stigma, Guild Master Choi Jaeheon won’t permit it either.”
Sarah tried to draw a sharp line and shatter his fantasy, but Alexander grinned and held out the tablet screen to her.
“That’s why I released some informants. I found out one very interesting fact. After the Saint recently received a rank reevaluation to S-rank, he apparently hasn’t completely finished the ‘gate adaptation training’ stipulated by Korea’s Management Bureau yet.”
“Adaptation training?”
“Right. Those whose rank rapidly rises or who are reawakened as promoted must obligatorily be accompanied by Management Bureau staff and clear lower-rank gates while leaving data—that damn regulation. The Saint hasn’t fulfilled that training time yet, so he must obligatorily enter a B-rank dungeon with those Management Bureau bastards soon.”
Alexander’s blue eyes glinted mischievously like a playful boy, or like a beast discovering prey.
“Contact Korea’s Management Bureau right away. In exchange for Empire’s highest-grade equipment support and handing over gate byproducts, tell them to let us accompany that adaptation training with observer qualifications. With such an overwhelming bribe, Korea’s Management Bureau will drool and absolutely won’t be able to refuse.”
Sometimes Sarah thought she couldn’t follow this person’s way of thinking.
***
In front of a B-rank gate that occurred on the outskirts of Seoul.
Though B-rank, the danger level was on the lower side. Perhaps if the gate’s size had been just a bit smaller, it might have received an even lower rank. So normally it was an ordinary gate they’d enter lightly for farming, but not today.
Yoon Taegyeom, looking around, narrowed his eyes.
“Did I sell out the country in a past life?”
Around Yoon Taegyeom was gathered a party so brutal and suffocating that even the air seemed to freeze. In front of him as the person in charge of adaptation training, truly maddening members were waiting.
The first thing that caught the eye was Choi Jaeheon, dressed neatly in a black coat but radiating chilling killing intent that could freeze the air within a 100-meter radius.
At his side, hand placed on his sword hilt, adding brutal presence was the strongest Holy Knight Vermouth with violet eyes flashing as if ready to lop off the head of the blonde standing in front at any moment.
And even amidst that terrible presence, one person circling Ian’s side with an obliviously bright smile. All the way to America’s Empire Guild Master Alexander Gray.
“Ah! Ian-nim’s outfit today is truly practical yet dazzlingly beautiful! Something like a B-rank dungeon, there’s no need for the Saint to lift a finger personally. If you just comfortably sightsee as if taking a walk behind my back, I’ll beautifully slaughter the monsters for you!”
“Ah, yes. I appreciate the sentiment, but could you please get at least 1 meter away from me? Every time you breathe, the perfume smell gives me a headache.”
Ian coldly pushed Alexander away with a face haggard from exhaustion. Even he, who had acted politely at first, had gotten tired at some point and his tone changed. Alexander’s secretary Sarah was watching that scene from the side but didn’t bother pointing it out. Yoon Taegyeom felt he could understand that sentiment.
The higher-ups at the Management Bureau completely fell for the sweet bribe of Empire’s equipment support. Because of that, Ian’s feelings at having to suddenly go through a gate with these crazy S-rank Awakeners would be utterly miserable.
“Ian. If that tactless American keeps hovering around you annoyingly inside the gate too, tell hyung right away. Observer or whatever, I’ll disguise it as an accident inside the dungeon and quietly bury him.”
Choi Jaeheon muttered in a calm and chilling voice, subtly raising invisible telekinesis toward Alexander’s nape.
“You can leave that troublesome role to me. I’ll kill and dispose of him so no one will know. The sin of dirtying Ian-nim’s sight must be repaid with his life.”
Choi Jaeheon and Vermouth, who would normally be desperate to kill each other, formed a miraculous duet of killing intent before the massive unwanted guest called Alexander. But the person receiving the killing intent with his whole body just shamelessly brushed off even that terrible presence and hummed a leisurely tune.
Yoon Taegyeom didn’t even have the energy to stop them.
“Today’s training objective is, to the end, Choi Ian-ssi’s safe gate adaptation. So I ask that you refrain from conspicuous behavior. Let’s clear this quickly without unnecessary friction.”
Sensing that if left like this, there would be casualties from a diplomatic dispute before even entering the gate, Yoon Taegyeom hurriedly smoothed over the situation and pushed people’s backs to shove them into the gate.
