Fourth Training (3)

Somehow, he wondered if Shinwol might be bothering his master without his knowledge, but Celestial Assassin’s reaction was different.

“No. Nothing happened.”

“Really?”

“I decided to show trust, so he will not suddenly accelerate out of nowhere. Shinwol is not such a shallow person.”

His master was not someone who would defend just anyone.

Seeing him speak from Shinwol’s position even though he had once had a major conflict with Shinwol.

It seemed he could take those words seriously and believe them. After all, his master was not someone who would speak lightly or carelessly.

“However, the reality Shinwol is facing will only become worse going forward, not better.”

“It will not be easy.”

“By the way. The way things are turning in the country these days is interesting. I thought Jeonghwa Guild’s iron-fisted rule might last forever.”

Was he sincere, or was he probing Kang-hoo’s true thoughts?

Kang-hoo believed that even if no one else did, his master would accurately see through the domestic political situation, so those words felt slightly strange.

When Kang-hoo said nothing else and only looked steadily at Celestial Assassin, he continued speaking.

“According to the information I obtained through K, Jeonghwa Guild seems to have been repeatedly losing in local battles against The Abyss recently.”

“Repeatedly?”

“Yes. If I had to divide it by number, it seemed like more than twenty times. Of course, since they came into The Abyss’s territory and tried to cause a mess, many cases involved them falling into traps and getting hit.”

Kang-hoo narrowed his eyes.

Jang Si-hwan was repeatedly fighting battles he lost? Something was strange.

Of course, battles had victory and defeat, and depending on strategic advantages and disadvantages, one could suffer repeated defeats.

However, it was strange for the cautious and prideful Jang Si-hwan to insist on similar battles while continuously losing.

“He may be trying to induce carelessness.”

“Hoho. Your thoughts are the same as mine. In any case, lives that will become sacrifices can simply be roughly calculated and thrown in.”

As expected, Celestial Assassin’s words had apparently been a probe. Perhaps pleased that they shared the same thought, he laughed heartily.

In any case, if Jeonghwa Guild was intentionally accumulating defeats right now, the picture that would come afterward was dangerous.

If The Abyss saw through their true intentions, there would be countless strategic means to exploit it.

However, if they judged only the situation simply, they could think Jeonghwa Guild was worth facing head-on.

‘It seems the time has come to meet Lee Hyun-seok directly. Other places aside, The Abyss must not collapse.’

The existence of The Abyss was the most important puzzle piece for Kang-hoo, who dreamed of an “anti-Jeonghwa” solidarity.

In other words, in the original work, the point when Jeonghwa Guild no longer had anything to fear was also after the fall of The Abyss.

Jeonghwa Guild, which had seized every interest, dungeon, and piece of infrastructure The Abyss had possessed, had rapidly grown from that point on.

In the original work, where Jang Si-hwan had been the protagonist and his success had been desperately needed, it had been an enormous favorable development……

But now, for Kang-hoo, who had become the challenger, what he desperately wanted was not Jang Si-hwan’s success but his failure.

And the one that could serve as the greatest brake to stop that rampage was The Abyss.

With what remained after The Abyss disappeared, it might be possible to annoy Jeonghwa Guild, but suppressing them beyond that was impossible.

‘I’ll contact him in advance through a private line. It would be perfect to meet Lee Hyun-seok on the way back from North Korea.’

The private line connected to Park Sang-oh, Lee Hyun-seok’s trusted aide, had already been secured long ago.

If he contacted him through that, there would be no concern of it becoming known outside. He would find a way to make contact secretly.

It seemed best to contact Park Sang-oh around the time he returned to the villa to rest. A phone call would be preferable.

Afterward.

Kang-hoo, who had recovered his stamina to some extent, raised his body from the cold floor where he had been sprawled out.

Then he walked along the trail with Celestial Assassin. It was a walk that had become a routine after finishing training.

Today, throughout the training, he had thought that his master had been quite talkative, and it was the same during the walk.

As if he were making up for long-overdue conversation, Celestial Assassin spoke to him without pause.

Each and every one of the things he said held great meaning for Kang-hoo, so there was nothing he could casually let pass.

“Kang-hoo.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Now, I may be the one who ends up leaving my post in reverse. I wanted to ask your understanding in advance. Would that be all right?”

“……Why are you asking me for permission for that?”

Kang-hoo asked back because he genuinely could not understand. His master was his master. There was no reason for him to be mindful of his disciple’s gaze.

“Is this not the new life you gave me like a gift? What I said before was sincere. I mean when I said I would live the life that I newly gained for your sake.”

“Master. Even so, there is no reason for you to ask me for permission for every single move you make.”

“Mm.”

“I think living in your own way, as you always have, is living for my sake.”

“That is a wise answer to a foolish question.”

“Please do not worry about it. I, too, am doing the things I want to do under your support, Master.”

“Yes. I will think of it comfortably.”

Even his always-confident master seemed to think he owed Kang-hoo his very life, and he showed a lowered posture.

Kang-hoo disliked that.

He did not want to act arrogant in front of his master because he had saved him, and needless to say, he did not want to make a show of it either.

He disliked seeing such a weak side that was unlike Celestial Assassin, who always made him feel awe.

When Kang-hoo spoke with force, Celestial Assassin did not repeat the same words again either. He had read his disciple’s heart.

Just as the atmosphere of the conversation was about to become slightly awkward, Kang-hoo asked back.

“What kind of work will you be doing?”

“First, I intend to meet again with the ‘underground connections’ I made before and after I entered Shinwol.”

“When you say before entering Shinwol…… wasn’t that almost the very beginning of the hunter era?”

“That is right. They are connections made when I was at my rawest. The reason I intend to visit them is simple. It is to find a way to lend strength to Shinwol.”

Kang-hoo nodded.

Although he had experienced conflict with Shinwol, he knew well that his master’s heart had never left Shinwol.

The reason he had tried to settle his relationship with them had likely not been because he disliked Shinwol, but because he had not had much of his life left.

Acting out the life of a villain whom everyone pointed fingers at, despite the fact that it was not actually true, was extremely difficult.

Unless one became numb to endless wounds and had a sense of mission that could make one’s heart even harsher, it was absolutely impossible.

Kang-hoo fully understood his master’s course of action, seeking a way to help Shinwol, which was currently swaying heavily.

“Are there people you can trust?”

“Quite a few. They are merely connections I buried in the past and tried to turn away from.”

“In that case, I will always cheer for and support your actions, Master. As long as it is not meaningless.”

“Thank you.”

“I always trust you, Master.”

At Kang-hoo’s emphatic voice, Celestial Assassin’s face, which had slightly stiffened, naturally relaxed.

Like the future that had changed because Lee Hyun-seok was alive, Kang-hoo also looked forward to the future that would change because Celestial Assassin was alive.

Because that was clearly likely to move in a direction beneficial to Kang-hoo. Yes, it was a virtuous cycle.

A little while later.

After returning to his room at the villa and finishing a shower, Kang-hoo sent a message to Park Sang-oh.

It was a message saying that he wanted to meet secretly soon and wished to coordinate the timing of the meeting.

Then, when he accessed a suddenly displayed mail notification, one welcome message had arrived.

It was an email from the UK’s Spitfire Guild, personally sent by Master Ganiere.

-Mr. Shin Kang-hoo, have you been well? Some time has passed, but I still think gratefully of what happened before.

-We buried our son in the cemetery where my wife and I will be buried when we die. It is a place that gets plenty of sunlight. We are always grateful for the fact that we were able to keep our son close.

-First, before getting to the main subject, I would like to offer a small additional token of gratitude.

-The limit of the gold card you are currently using has been increased from 2 billion won per month to 3 billion won. Please use it comfortably without burden.

“I was already grateful, but now I’m even more grateful. I won’t have to worry about medicine costs anymore.”

Kang-hoo made a satisfied expression.

It was only a difference of 1 billion won, but what Kang-hoo was grateful for was Ganiere and Melissa’s thoughtfulness.

Just the fact that they had not forgotten their gratitude and remembered it was more than enough for him to feel proud of having helped recover their son’s body in the past.

-The reason I am sending you a separate email is that there is something we would like to request from you at the guild level.

-We ask that you help us with dungeon conquests. The core field is maintaining bleeding.

-We would appreciate it if you could review the proposal terms below. This is the request fee set for each dungeon conquest.

“Wow.”

The request reward written at the bottom of the email was several times higher than the level Kang-hoo had imagined.

He had heard that there was recently an extreme shortage of assassins and berserkers in the UK, and it seemed the extent was truly severe.

In fact, in recent news he had seen, there had also been talk that the rate for overseas assassin mercenaries in the UK had risen again to three or four times the overall European average.

The shortage of assassins and berserkers was a worldwide phenomenon, so securing bleeding dealers domestically was difficult as well.

So calling Kang-hoo, a citizen of the Republic of Korea, to the UK, as in today’s proposal, was an even more difficult matter.

In the end, the conclusion could only be a skyrocketing price. That was how precious assassins and berserkers were.

“A guaranteed payment of 100 billion won per dungeon, or guaranteed monopoly over the loot.”

The scale of the amount was beyond imagination.

He could understand it well enough.

After all, if a dungeon remained unconquered for a long time, a dungeon break could occur at any time.

If they failed to properly manage a dungeon they owned, in the case of a guild, they could even be forcibly dissolved.

Most countries were like that.

Because tremendous interests were tied to dungeons, responsibility for negligent management was punitively demanded.

However, a dungeon that absolutely required a bleeding dealer could not be conquered even with thousands of “non-bleeding” dealers.

So even if they had to take a loss, they were trying to recruit a bleeding dealer somehow.

Moreover, because the conquest could only proceed if an assassin or berserker fitting the dungeon’s level came……

The price could only be whatever the seller called.

First of all, if it did not appeal to them, they would not even move. On top of that, it had to match their own level.

“In any case, I have observer qualifications with Spitfire Guild, so dungeon-related negotiations are meaningless.”

Kang-hoo’s eyes sparkled.

Even now, he could go to Spitfire Guild’s dungeons at any time and conquer them. That was because he had observer qualifications, like with the Cheong-an Mercenary Corps.

The request fee of 100 billion won per case was extraordinary, but there was a part that appealed to him more than that.

It was Hematite.

It was a growth material that Kang-hoo thought would definitely become his top priority if he went to the UK.

A precious material that was difficult to obtain even one of was Hematite.

If he could obtain that, the motivation to go to the UK would be certain. Other than that, there was little merit.

‘The Hematite fortuitous encounter that gave wings to the rapid growth of Jang Si-hwan, Chae Gwanhyeong, and Casey Rex in the original work is still alive in the UK, so if I just intercept it first…….’

The UK was a place he had to visit at least once anyway.

If Spitfire Guild could obtain only the dungeon license for the dungeon with the Hematite fortuitous encounter from the UK Public Safety Bureau.

The value of Hematite was so considerable that he would need no other reward at all.

Because it was not a trivial fortuitous encounter that ended after obtaining only one or two small pieces.

The minimum gain was 10 Hematites! At that point, it was a quantity that made the temptation impossible to endure without going.