There was something that wasn’t much different from healing insignia or skill in Saint Dragorin, and there were no side effects on us either. The potion that treated my eye was considered a high-grade potion in Saint Dragorin.
“How do you feel?”
Lee Tae-Han returned with an eyepatch in his hand. I couldn’t keep up with his movements when he handed it to me, so it felt like he was intruding into my personal space in the blink of an eye.
It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Moreover, the subtle aura of dominance that emanated from him was undoubtedly incredible. I was barely able to avoid getting downgraded to the Bsilgol section and had become an Awakened in the platinum section. Strength was relative. At this moment, Lee Tae-Han was someone that I couldn’t even confront. The ordinary Awakened probably saw him in this way too.
If he wished, he was in a position where he could eliminate me. Of course, that taws if he succeeded in making me drop the condensed force inside me, which seemed nothing more than a pebble! It was currently embedded in the socket of my left eye like a prosthetic eye, so that I could use it at any moment. A barrier could immediately spring forth at the moment I was attacked.
I was not a fool like the others.
***
While waiting for the Japanese Awakened to fly in from Tokyo, I was able to roughly understand the situation back on the mainland. Jonathan confessed that he had used a fake account, and he was sentenced to an astronomical fine of 1.5 billion dollars in the trial.
Nonetheless, that amount didn’t even scratch on our wealth, and public opinion was full of criticism toward the US judiciary on how they labeled Jonathan guilty. The masses turned favorably toward Jonathan and the Association, and the voice of the minority was completely ignored now.
On top of that, resolutions that the public would condemn were secretly being passed in the midst of the chaotic political circumstances. With the abolition of the Logan Act, the club put in place a system that could bring them into the light at any time. By eliminating regulations on tax havens, the financial empire had built an impregnable fortress.
Last but not least, the antitrust law was abolished. The monopolistic market influence of the Jonathan Group derived from the Day of Advent was no longer an area that could be touched by law. The public had lost their powerful weapon. Wait, no. It was taken away from them.
On a positive note… I had laid the foundation of the financial empire and built it up to the beams, so Jonathan completed the roof on top of it.
Indeed, mankind had entered an era where they would be ruled by supra-national massive capitals. The voices that tried to denounce this truth were either ignored or silenced.
However, the lives of individuals would not be any different than before as the history of humanity had always been like this.
I trusted Jonathan.
***
It seemed that those who would further solidify my position had arrived.
“Send them up.”
As Lee Tae-Han picked up the phone and looked outside the window, a helicopter carrying them was landing.
I pulled up my hood. It would have been ideal if I had the necromancer robe, but that was a rare item that didn’t even appear much in Act Two, Stage Four.
Anyway, it would be difficult to recognize me even with my hood down as I was wearing an eye-patch. Once I entered outer space, I could enchant this ordinary hood with a camouflage effect through high-ranking wizards, who were no different from servants.
Soon a person entered Lee Tae-Han’s office. It was a girl. Among the leaders, women were as rare as necromancer robes, and I could tell what she had gone through on the stage as soon as I saw her. She was charismatic and tough, but her eyes started trembling when she faced Lee Tae-Han.
It was not just her eyes. Though she didn’t sob, it was no different from crying. She looked as if she would burst into tears at any moment.
“I… I am Kobayashi Saekai.”
Her fierce eyes, akin to that of a wildcat, crumbled in an instant. She was overwhelmed by the fact that she had entered the headquarters of the Association, particularly the chairman’s office.
Lee Tae-Han’s office was known to be as sacred as Orca’s castle. No Awakened had ever directly set their foot in his office. The reason why he did not permit anyone’s access was simple. I frequently visited him, but it was only because my returning stone’s destination was set to his office.
The girl was the first Awakened invited to such a sanctuary.
“Do you speak Korean?” he asked.
“(Tiny bit.)”
“(A little won’t be enough. You will need to acquire the language skill and be fluent in it from now on.)”
Lee Tae-Han’s Japanese was fluent, but he probably didn’t learn it in the Stage of Advent.
Anyway, the girl’s face was colored with even greater awe. Actually, her invitation was already planned even if I had not requested it. We were able to discover the whereabouts of my bone ring as her group had sacrificed a lot in dangerous regions.
“I will wait outside then,” I said.
I left. I wasn’t very curious about what she was promised in return for finding my bone ring. However, when I saw her come out of his office, overwhelmed with emotion again, I became curious.
Money? Item? Or the Association’s full support?
Of course, it probably included all of that, but what I was really curious about was the reason she could savor such joy despite having to return to the battlefield in outer space.
The moment her eyes met mine, she fixed her expression. I spoke first.
“(It is fine if you talk to me in Japanese.)”
She responded, “Whether we end up staying alive or dying, we are stuck with each other, so it is better to give you a warning in advance. I hate having someone behind my back. No matter when and where.”
Then, she pointed at the elevator with her chin, indicating for me to lead the way. She maintained her spot behind me, even as the elevator went down from the forty-third floor, the top floor where the chairman’s office was located. I was able to face her once we both got into the elevator.
She said, “The chairman only told me about your status. I am not interested in your name either. From now on, I will call you the Safety Bureau.”
Her attitude was clear that she wasn’t just uninterested in my name, but my thoughts as well. She was domineering, which might have worked on the ordinary Awakened.
Nonetheless, she was endearing when I considered what she had done to find my bond ring. It must have been like looking for a needle in a blazing desert, being torn to shreds.
I responded, “Fine. You call the shots, leader. I guess I don’t have a choice.”
“What is your level?” she asked.
“281. How about you?”
The girl spoke without paying attention to me. Her questions continued, “What is your specialty?”
“The trait Explorer. I have a few close-range skills, too. You would be able to...”
Before I could finish saying that I had nothing as she could tell, her eyes lit up with surprise.
“Explorer? You’ve got quite something for a platinum section. But the fact that you are only platinum after obtaining such a thing isn’t very impressive.”
“It would have been much different if I had not been cursed during Act One, Stage Two.”
In the past, the curse I got in Act One, Stage Two dragged me to hell until the Final Stage. Therefore, it was easy for me to empathize with my current situation. The other Awakened should have not had any doubt regarding my disguise because if any transcendent beings peeked into their minds, it would all be for naught.
I added, “What should I call you?”
“Leader,” she responded.
“Yes, Leader. If you treat me like any other group member, then I will treat you as a leader. However, don’t mind my tone. I haven’t learned any honorifics. So, I hope you can just assume I am using them. If that is too hard, let’s switch to English.”
She said tersely, “Speak in Japanese. Also, be especially mindful of how you behave toward me and the group members. Let me say this again. I have to accept you, Safety Bureau, because of the association’s order, but you are a burden to us. You are the weakest among us. Normally, someone in platinum level 281 would never have been able to join my group.”
“Then, my chances of survival would be even higher.”
The girl glared at me. No one liked to bring someone into their group without verifying their credentials. Moreover, my disguised identity was Na Seon-Hu, who used to be in the Deportation Team as a Safety Bureau agent. From their perspective, I must have been someone left on the mainland living comfortably.
I didn’t want to waste my energy with the girl. “I will keep that in mind, Leader.”
The conversation ended there. The elevator arrived at the lobby, and I could easily spot the members of the girl’s group in the courtyard. Unlike the stern-faced association employees walking around, her group was in a jovial mood, seemingly unworried while gazing at Orca’s castle.
Suddenly, all of them ran toward us. As I turned my head, I saw the woman making a gesture to them to come toward her. The members gathered around her showed no interest in why I was with her. I was just a one-eyed man in a hood, who looked like an internal agent of the association. To them, I was nothing more or less.
All their gazes were fixed on the girl’s lips to listen to what the association had awarded for finding my bone ring.
“Did the association staff come?”
When the girl asked, they nodded. She continued, “They have come to find things suitable for us. Genuine items, engraved with the name of a god.”
“Genuine?”
The members of the group were excited, but that was it. Their reactions indicated that they thought it was obvious to receive rewards as they had found my powerful item that they shouldn’t even have touched.
The girl mentioned an astronomical sum of money, but the group members seemed to be unsatisfied. However, when she said the last reward with excitement, the group seemed to be content.
“The chairman promised us First-Class Authority in the battlefield command.”
They couldn’t cheer because of the eyes of the people around them. I could sense what First-Class Authority meant as I saw their eyes gleaming with ambition, reminiscent of neon signs in the night. There was a high possibility that it would be a command system that surpassed the Awakened rank, under my name and the association’s name.
That was why they relished the excitement even though they had to re-enter the battlefield. They would be in a position to oversee the lives and deaths of the other Awakened.
If that was actually the reward, then the association would give a bold reward as promised to the group that found my item.
“But there is a condition.”
Everyone shut their mouths at the words that followed.
“We must protect his ring until the day he comes to retrieve it.”
I felt the excitement that had faded for a moment surged again.
“Are we not being deployed to the battlefield again?”
“No. We are going to sector twenty-two to join the citizens of the Savior’s City, who are protecting the ring.”
Both the girl who was delivering the message and her members couldn’t contain their joy.
“Then that means we are good!”
Everyone’s faces were flushed, and their eyes were sparkling.
“Last but not least, he is aware of our group’s contributions.”
“Does that mean… He… He…is…watching over us?”
“Yes, our group is accompanied by His glory from now on. You all have worked so hard, and I sincerely appreciate it.”
That was when the girl couldn’t hold back the tears. In an attempt to stop the tears that were bursting out, she looked up at the sky blinking. Eventually, she covered her eyes with one hand. Following her, the members of the group also cried silently. It was not common to see Awakened cry.
It was then.
“But who is this?”
One guy pointed at me.
