To England (2)

It was Kim Shin-ryeong.

Recently, since they had both been so busy with their own work that they could barely breathe, they had not even been able to make plans to meet.

She had originally been slender, but today she looked even thinner than usual. Should he say that he could feel the weight of her work?

“Where are you going?”

“You ask something like that so casually? It’s a secret. I won’t tell you.”

“I see. Then I’ll keep mine a secret too.”

“Heh. Anyway, it’s good to confirm with my own eyes that nothing serious has happened to you. I’ve been hearing quite a few obituaries lately, so I’ve been feeling gloomy.”

“Ah.”

“Even if you’re busy, haven’t you been contacting me too rarely? You didn’t cut me off, did you?”

“No. When I found time to visit, I was definitely planning to go see you. I was just about to contact you, too.”

“Just about? So you were about to contact me today, and then, just then, by chance, coincidentally, we met?”

“……That’s right.”

Kang-hoo scratched the back of his head.

Because as soon as he contacted Groo Guild, he had truly been about to send Kim Shin-ryeong a message asking how she was as well.

In any case, now that they had met directly like this, talking had become much easier.

Kang-hoo continued speaking.

“I’m thinking of asking you for crafting next time. I have the Claw of Hatred, but I also have the Shell of Blackwood and the Shell of Bimok.”

“Oh……! How did you get all those precious materials? Even if you know where they come from, they must be really hard to obtain.”

“It just happened that way.”

“That’s good for me! You can sell them to me if you’re all right with it! I’m always buying rare materials.”

“I’m not selling them. I’d like to ask you for crafting. I’ll make sure to pay you generously for your work.”

No matter how high a price she offered, he had no intention of selling rare materials.

Because they had a high rarity that could not be exchanged for money. In addition, item crafting was also desperately needed.

If these materials were properly crafted and fused into items, there were many aspects that could improve, whether in attack or defense.

“All right. Once I finish this work and come back, I’ll contact you in advance. Don’t read it and ignore me, okay?”

“Of course.”

“My heart feels a bit empty these days. He was no longer someone connected to me, but still, someone who had once been a page of memories died.”

“Who…… do you mean?”

“Vincent Meyer.”

“Ah.”

At Kim Shin-ryeong’s words, Kang-hoo could not help but let out a short exclamation. Because he himself was the one who had killed him.

Of course, he had no regrets over eliminating Vincent Meyer. If he had not done so, he would have died.

But Kim Shin-ryeong only knew that he had died without knowing the inside story, so many feelings must be crossing her mind.

“The connections and possessions that guy had all passed to one person. Things that couldn’t have happened unless he died.”

“So something like that happened.”

“Yeah. Given the circumstances, I’m only guessing that a woman named Elizabeth may have killed him, but, well…… it’s meaningless.”

It seemed Kim Shin-ryeong had her own way of checking Vincent Meyer’s movements.

It did not seem as if they had been contacting each other directly, so she probably had a useful source of news around her.

Perhaps because of that, her guess was pointing in a completely wrong direction.

Jang Si-hwan still seemed to be hiding Vincent Meyer’s death. So there was no choice but for information to be controlled.

‘If Elizabeth took Vincent’s infrastructure and connections, that was 100% with Jang Si-hwan’s help. Jang Si-hwan handed them over. To win even more of Elizabeth’s heart.’

Through the information he unexpectedly obtained from Kim Shin-ryeong, he came to know what had happened after Vincent Meyer’s death.

He felt that if he had been Jang Si-hwan, he would have done the same. Because then he could win Elizabeth’s heart.

There was a high chance he thought Vincent’s empty place could simply be filled with new people anyway.

For one thing, Ranbir Kumar’s joining of The Thirteen Stars had already happened earlier than in the original work.

His moves to recruit companions were gaining speed. If so, he would likely contact Tian Yunha of Taiwan in the near future as well.

In any case, after briefly sharing recent updates with Kim Shin-ryeong, he parted ways with her. Her plane was scheduled to depart much earlier.

They made plans for him to visit her villa once Kim Shin-ryeong returned and informed Kang-hoo.

Not only for crafting, but also because she apparently had many prototypes she wanted to test through Kang-hoo.

From Kang-hoo’s perspective, it was an offer he had no reason to refuse and could, depending on the case, bring him great benefit, so he made the promise.

The importance of connections could not be emphasized enough. All the more so when it came to a connection with Kim Shin-ryeong, a master of crafting. It was absolutely necessary.

Inside the private jet heading to England.

Perhaps because it was a private jet specially prepared by Spitfire Guild for Kang-hoo, it was comfortable and pleasant.

The flight attendants did not even come near him unless Kang-hoo requested something first. They spent their own break time.

Lying comfortably in his seat, Kang-hoo briefly thought of visiting the “Tower of Spirits,” but then set the idea aside.

It was true that he was being treated considerately inside the private jet without needing to care about others’ gazes, but he could not judge it to be completely safe.

Since the Tower of Spirits was a place where only the spirit moved while the body remained as it was, safety was the top priority.

What if, while Kang-hoo was in the Tower of Spirits, one of the flight attendants tried to kill him?

Before he even had time to realize it, he would be attacked while completely defenseless. He could not suddenly return from the Tower of Spirits either.

Because it was a place he could go only when there were no danger factors around him, he had judged it cautiously and had only gone there once until now.

At that moment.

Dimension Plunderer opened a secure conversation like last time. Its voice was also much smaller and calmer than usual.

‘I thought it would take quite a while, but that was fast.’

A constellation with whom Dimension Plunderer, who seemed unlikely to trust anyone in the world, could freely share everything.

The conversation had not even begun yet, but he became very curious about what kind of existence that constellation was and what role they would play.

Soon, a neutral voice was heard. It was a voice whose gender could never be distinguished by sound alone.

‘Demon Tracker.’

‘Pleased to meet you.’

‘Informal speech is exclusively for Dimension Plunderer.’

Because he had become used to speaking casually with Dimension Plunderer, it was not easy to go back to using honorific speech.

In any case, just hearing the constellation’s name made his body tense up.

Demon Tracker.

What kind of demon were they tracking? Would his guess that it likely meant the Demon King be correct?

Demon Tracker was referring to Dimension Plunderer with the expression “this child.” That meant they were older.

He could not know whether they stood higher in rank, but in terms of age or experience, it was certain they were above Dimension Plunderer.

‘……?’

At the unexpected words, Kang-hoo tilted his head.

Even if Demon Tracker was close to Dimension Plunderer, he had not expected them to ask no questions and perform no verification at all.

They did not even show any reaction to the other main constellations who were with Kang-hoo.

It felt as if they were not particularly interested in who was beside him and would trust everything if Dimension Plunderer trusted it.

Of course, Kang-hoo also did not feel any reason to ask Demon Tracker anything.

Because he thought the fact that Dimension Plunderer had brought them along already completed the verification.

As expected.

Dimension Plunderer added those words with emphasis. Firm trust could be felt from the short message.

Since he still had two slots left for main constellation contracts, there was no reason to hesitate.

The contract proceeded immediately.

Meanwhile, Demon Tracker spoke in an indifferent voice.

The process continued smoothly and rapidly.

Kang-hoo saw Demon Tracker’s name sparkle in gold in the constellation window.

It meant they were an existence within the top 50 ranks of the Great Pantheon. In other words, they were among the highest ranks.

Since they were a constellation brought by Dimension Plunderer, he had thought they would be extraordinary, and their rank proved it.

As the contract proceeded and Demon Tracker’s identity was revealed, the other main constellations finally began to show reactions as well.

The Seeker of Pure Darkness immediately reacted after realizing that Demon Tracker had a neutral alignment.

Cataclysm – Darkness reacted as if Demon Tracker had joined because Kang-hoo was outstanding.

It sounded like a calmly spoken remark in a composed tone, but if one examined it, it was close to intense praise for Kang-hoo.

The Angel of the Battlefield added words that raised Kang-hoo’s value high, along with respect for Demon Tracker.

It was not new, but he felt grateful for the reactions of the main constellations who evaluated him positively and highly.

Furthermore, he felt most grateful toward Dimension Plunderer, who had brought a constellation they trusted more than themselves to his side.

‘Thank you, everyone. And once again, thank you to Dimension Plunderer-nim as well.’

‘I agree. ……I do.’

While he bickered with Dimension Plunderer, the main constellation contract was established.

Now only one slot remained.

His concern over which constellation to fill it with was still ongoing.

For now, there was a high possibility that it would become Guardian of Balance, but it was not confirmed. There was no need to hurry either.

Soon, after confirming that the contract had been perfectly completed, Demon Tracker calmly added a final remark.

‘Yes. As long as my life permits, I will definitely find the twisted existences. Without fail.’

He had gained a reliable ally far too easily. Connections were also a blessing. Meeting Dimension Plunderer was also a blessing.

Since he had newly received a main constellation, what kinds of privileges Demon Tracker would give became very important.

Kang-hoo immediately checked the privileges.

‘This is……?’

Kang-hoo had a constellation related to Wind of the God that allowed him to track them. It was the constellation he had plundered after killing Ishihara Yuji.

However, this constellation only left marks, so there was no way to recognize them unless he directly encountered them.

But.

Just by contracting with Demon Tracker, he could identify all hunters who had a connection to Wind of the God.

In Kang-hoo’s mind, the faces of numerous hunters were already being imprinted as if he were looking at a wanted criminal list.

Definitely!

Even from the first privilege, it was anything but ordinary.