Bearing The Weight Of Many Things… (2)

When he returned to the mansion, he was informed that a guest had come to see him.

“I think she came to meet you, Mr. Seong-chan, but the atmosphere is quite serious.”

An So-mi said cautiously. He moved to the drawing room and saw Jeong Do-bin, who had been in a deep discussion with Go Yu-jin, brighten up upon seeing him.

“You’re very late.”

“It hasn’t been long since I saw you, but it seems something has happened?”

“That’s right. Please stop my grandfather.”

It was a sudden request, but given the conversation he’d had earlier that morning, he could immediately tell what was unfolding.

“Is Old Man Jeong Gil-sun making a fuss about going to war?”

“If it were just that, I might be able to stop him.”

“Is Tower Master Cheon Jong-un stepping forward as well?”

Jeong Do-bin nodded slowly. Seong-chan clicked his tongue and took a seat.

“It’s not as if everyone is being forced to participate; those who want to are crawling into the jaws of death on their own. I don’t see much need to dissuade them.”

There are always those who prefer war.

Moreover, for those who have been persecuted, there will inevitably be those who want to use such an occasion to flip their public image.

“Both the Association Chairperson and the Tower Master have worked for the rights of black mages and will continue to do so. They wouldn’t mindlessly push everyone into a deathtrap. Aren’t you worrying too much?”

“…Do you also prefer war?”

“I hate war.”

Jeong Do-bin let out a sigh of relief at his firm words.

“So you don’t intend to step forward even if war breaks out?”

“No. It’s something that neither the government, the military, nor even the Association can force.”

“But according to the wartime mobilization order, all Awakeners are subject to mandatory mobilization. Do you know what happens if you refuse?”

“Tell them to exile me. If they have the confidence to do so.”

It wasn’t a problem that could be solved simply by exile. He was a potential asset, so they would try to coax him into staying in the country by any means.

They might try to put him in prison, but the problem was that there was no means to restrain an Awakener’s power.

Currently, prisons are operated by Awakeners who possess the power to control other Awakeners.

In such a situation, to send someone whose strength is absolutely unmanageable to prison?

It would be easier to just kill him.

“Must be nice. Being strong.”

“It is. Being strong.”

Jeong Do-bin stood up abruptly, but Go Yu-jin spoke to her.

“There must be a reason why you oppose the war. If you explain that….”

“If war breaks out, let’s see each other on the battlefield.”

Jeong Do-bin walked out of the mansion.

Go Yu-jin asked cautiously.

“Is it true? That you might really be mobilized for war?”

“I have no intention of moving in the direction the government pursues. And those old men wouldn’t recklessly grind precious black mages into a war. Most likely, they’ll try to collaborate with the media, just as the current government did in the last war. If it were me, that’s what I would have done.”

“The media! Wow….”

An So-mi, who had been listening, shouted in admiration.

“Certainly, if we can show images of ourselves building up proper achievements in war through the media, it might be worth fighting.”

“It’s best not to have a war, but if one must happen, we must find a way to win thoroughly.”

It remained to be seen whether the heads of the two groups would truly make such a choice.

‘Old man Han Sang-gil is the only one left in an awkward position.’

That didn’t mean all other 7th Circle black mages would agree.

After all, even just Go Yu-jin and I don’t support the war.

China began to rapidly increase the number of Awakeners deployed on the North Korean front. Russia, recalling China’s frequent irrational behavior, deployed a certain level of Awakener units under the pretext of guarding against them.

In response, Korea also began to establish a standoff by deploying an additional 100,000 Awakeners on top of the originally planned 200,000. The problem was that Japan chose to dispatch nearly 200,000 Awakeners to Tsushima, further heightening the atmosphere of war.

The news was in an uproar every day, and Gates occurring within the country were frequently left unhandled, leading to situations where a ‘Break’ was imminent. As the situation grew more serious by the day, many media outlets, fueled by foreign capital, began pouring out articles with strange content.

The content claimed that the current government was committing illegal acts, and the public became agitated by stories that heroes had gone missing in large numbers due to those experiments.

The government struggled to stabilize the situation through briefings as if their feet were on fire, but the matter was only becoming more serious.

It was then that the Black Mage Association and the Black Tower held a press conference. Through it, the two groups declared that they would lend their strength to protect the country, limited to those who wished to participate.

They moved quickly, distributing countless materials to the media to remind everyone that they had provided similar cooperation in the past war and had shown immense sacrifice and determination to protect the nation then as well.

“Those damn bastards, have they been waiting for a moment like this?”

Kim Dae-san pressed his throbbing head, looked around at his aides, and waved a document.

“It’ll be troublesome if all the materials they prepared turn out to be true. Secretly leak some false information in between. And… summon the old men from the two groups.”

“They might refuse to comply.”

“Call them in publicly and hold the talk in private! Do I have to explain every little thing for you to understand?”

While the surroundings vibrated gently due to Kim Dae-san’s aura, Chu Myeong-hun, who was seated as a member of the State Council, cut in.

“It has essentially been proven that Han Sang-gil cannot properly control the black mages, so wouldn’t it be better to shake them in a different form?”

Kim Dae-san looked at Chu Myeong-hun, who was using formal address since it was an official setting, and asked what he meant.

“How about telling that friend Bak Young-min to shake up the provinces a bit?”

He was a representative based in the Gyeongsang-do region and possessed hero-level power, making him a figure with quite a lot of supporters.

Furthermore, Chu Myeong-hun was speaking about the fact that there were quite a few guilds following Bak Young-min.

“Anyway, the government forces have no spare capacity to deal with Japan, and the reserve forces and civilians must step forward. So, by raising power on a larger scale, we can shift the attention focused on those two groups elsewhere.”

Kim Dae-san went into calculation. If he announced that the entirety of Gyeongsang-do was rising up to respond to Japan as Chu Myeong-hun suggested, the power problem could be solved. Since it was an actual public declaration, they could respond immediately if Japan invaded, so he judged it to be beneficial in many ways.

“Will you seek his cooperation?”

“I shall do so.”

Kim Dae-san could only click his tongue at how rapidly the situation was turning.

‘I won’t let things flow according to your will. It is only right that powerful strength be accompanied by the constraint of control….’

Whether this was the only truth was something that needed to be considered in various ways.

“Ha, those damn bastards are determined to resist and not follow our will.”

General Liu Chang, who was in overall command of the Chinese Awakener units, looked around at the other generals and asked.

“What should we do?”

“Even if we push in right now, there is no reason at all for us to be pushed back. We can bring in millions of Awakeners through a mobilization order.”

At Lieutenant General Yu Hyeon’s claim, all the other lieutenant generals and major generals nodded. However, since discussions at the top were proceeding in a way that suggested they should wait and see for now, General Liu Chang, who wanted to resolve the situation further, spoke of one thing.

“Everyone here essentially knows the reality that we cannot be handed Wang Sun. Is that not so?”

At the affirmative response, he tapped the table lightly and asked.

“Those islanders also want to move again, thinking this is the time. There’s a hotline to that side, right?”

“Yes, the emergency communication network is still active.”

“Contact them. And let’s set a date.”

“The opposition from the top will be severe. And… they’ll try to hold us responsible?”

“We just need to win. Do you think there’s a leader who would scold a war hero who returns after a victory?”

The risk was too great, but no one could find fault with General Liu Chang’s judgment. That was how absolute the command authority of the rank of General was.

And realistically, there were many Chinese people who still did not understand why China and Japan had failed to win against Korea when they joined forces.

It was because the number of personnel mobilized during the war alone was an enormous figure, five times that of Korea.

Yet they lost the war, and one of the three countries that tried to lead the war was ruined and absorbed into a unified state.

If time continued to flow and Korea reached a stage of accumulating strength as its chaos stabilized, he reached the conviction that they might never be able to achieve the long-standing ambition of subjugating the Korean Peninsula.

At the same time, the Korean Awakener units were also considering the situation seriously and preparing a response.

“Welcome, General An Sang-ik.”

An Sang-ik, responding to the hospitality of the lieutenant general and staff commanding the Awakener units with a light wave of his hand, moved to the head seat, looked down at everyone, and said.

“It wouldn’t be strange for a battle to break out at any time. However, the government judges that a too sudden reaction is not appropriate. So, if hostilities begin, we will lure the enemy into the interior step by step by withdrawing the army to Jeongju and Hoecheon.”

“Why is that?”

“At the same time the war breaks out, massive power will be deployed to the underground facilities in Manpo and Kanggye.”

“…Is there such power?”

“There is. The strongest power.”

Only then did the generals realize what that power was. They said as if surprised.

“The black mages…. They are scheduled to move?”

“They are in a situation where they wish to participate in the war. The members of their force are also formidable.”

Everyone remembered the last war. That was why they could understand the reason for withdrawing the front line.

Everyone, understanding that they intended to take an operation of crushing the enemy—who would have come down with high spirits—by pressing them with a pincer movement, began to establish operations quickly.

Furthermore, as the Korean public sentiment began to rise due to the massive cooperation of Gyeongsang-do, the somewhat worrisome atmosphere gradually reversed and began to change into hope that they could win again.

‘Phew, did they say that even if the black mages cooperate, there will be at most around 5,000?’

That by no means meant it was a small number.

An Sang-ik was certain that the mere fact that two 7th Circle Masters and twenty 6th Circle Masters were joining the battlefield would result in a power beyond imagination.

But the biggest problem was that he had great concerns because China also possessed many unidentifiable powers, contrary to public information.

What if, by some chance, the black mages were defeated without being able to perform their roles properly?

An Sang-ik considered it the biggest problem that it would not only lead to a drop in morale but also a decline of the black mage forces within the country, causing the situation—which had been beneficial due to the imbalance—to head toward the worst.