It only took a moment for the dark city to light up.

At first, several free cities, including Lindel, were active even at dawn to the point that people called them "cities that never sleep."

Of course, the situation couldn’t be completely the same as Earth, as there were many adventurers waking up early in the morning.

During night time, however, Lindel was drastically different compared to the other cities, so it was easy for anyone to get confused. The situation in the capital of the Sacred Democratic Country was even more extreme.

The capital city, which was close to the Vatican, had a high percentage of priests and was the home to public officials who handled minor and major affairs of the Sacred Democratic Country. In fact, except for some of the areas, the city was so quiet that people would think that there was a curfew.

Of course, this didn’t apply to places like the pub or the night market, but it was an undeniable fact that the city suddenly became busy.

The sight of so many talented adventurers showing up all at once could be a confusing sight. I looked around using my telescope and nodded. A certain guild operating in the capital caught my attention, as I heard that they had a pretty organized system…

“Damn it… I’m happy that things ended up working out but holding a meeting late at night. He’s being ridiculous by telling us to come to the Blue Guild at three in the morning,” Director Kim complained.

‘You jerk. I've memorized your face and name.’

“Hey, tell Manager Kim to come here,” Director Kim ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

“Manager Kim, did you prepare all the documents?” Director Kim asked.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m preparing them right now,” Manager Kim answered.

“What?”

“Damn it. Are you even doing your job? Didn’t you hear me tell you to prepare them just in case?” Director Kim complained.

“I’m sorry,” Manager Kim replied.

“Will your apology do anything?

Huh?

Shit! Just tell them to bring me some clothes to wear. The meeting is at three in the morning. If I’m late, you better be prepared to write an apology letter and be punished. Got it? No, you better be happy. If things go wrong, I really won’t just stand by and watch,” Director Kim continued.

“...”

“Did you hear me or not, you bastard?!” Director Kim shouted.

“I understand. I’ll take full responsibility,” Manager Kim said.

Manager Kim ran out of the room amidst Director Kim's harsh words.

“Tell Manager Jung and Chief Kwak to come here,” he ordered.

“...”

“Damn it! How are you two handling things here?! Do you think your work is done once you’ve completed all your tasks? You think you can just go out and have a drink once the day is over?

"Since when did the guild operate like that? Either work overtime or don’t sleep at all. Shouldn’t you try to finish your tasks as quickly as possible?!” Director Kim complained.

“I’m… sorry, Director Kim.”

“Wake up the staff and tell them to get ready. Damn it, damn it!” Director Kim ordered.

What happened afterward was pretty obvious.

“Mr. Lee! Mr. Park! Where is everyone?!” Director Kim yelled.

‘Of course, I naturally thought that I caused trouble.’

No, that guild was just a bit special. Anyone could tell that it was a black guild.

I had to look at the other guilds.

“

Whoo…

let’s hurry and get ready. I know he’s an unpredictable person… but this is kind of shocking.”

“We must file a formal complaint, Master. Our guild and other groups aren’t guilds subcontracted under the Blue Guild. They are clearly looking down on us. How can they suddenly summon us so early in the morning with a single phone call… I know the Blue Guild is a powerful guild, but—” Р

“That’s enough. I’m sure Father Lee Ki-Young had no choice.”

‘At least he has a brain, but those under him need to be educated.’

I looked away and saw a familiar face. It was the face of Mist Summoner Cheon Kwan-Wi. It seemed that the guy whose roots were in the free city of Dawan was staying in the capital as well.

“Mr. Cheon Kwan-Wi, this is—”

“I’m heading to the Blue Guild right now. Make sure to inform the other guild members so that they will not speak inappropriately about this,” Cheon Kwan-Wi ordered.

His words were short and straight to the point.

I knew he knew about me, but I liked his attitude.

He was convinced that my eyes and ears were everywhere.

I wasn’t Big Brother from

Nineteen Eighty-Four

or a tyrant, so I couldn’t understand why he was being so careful, but I really felt like giving him more items upon seeing him act without any complaints.

‘I’ll take care of you.’

Except for a few people, it wasn’t all that different from the first guild.

Some were angry, saying that their guild was being looked down on, while others followed the order without any complaints. However, the ones who were in the most pain were the staffers and the guild members working under the leader.

It seemed that some of them had failed to bring with them inappropriate clothes, as I saw them use the warp gate.

It was just a simple meeting, but I was sure they were aware of the fact that I was in the middle of recovering, so some were wandering around the city buying gifts for me. The others decided to contact the shop owners themselves, as the majority of the shops were closed.

The press, who were out to get the scoop, was outside, and the guilds that had yet to complete their expedition report, were stuck to their desks. The entire city was moving busily as if the sun had already risen.

‘Why cause all this trouble by waking up those who were sleeping?’

There were many black guilds among them.

And that was when I heard knocking on the door…

“Sir, it’s Kim Mi-Young.”

“Okay. I’ll head out right now,” I replied.

“I’ll take you to the meeting room,” Kim Mi-Young offered.

“Okay.”

The problem was that the Blue Guild was brightly lit up as well, and people were moving busily. Some were getting ready to welcome the guests. When I walked past the office, I saw the staffers working on their tasks.

“Actually…” Miss Kim Mi-Young muttered.

“Yes?”

“I was going to take care of the matter quietly with Mr. Park Joong-Ki, but…” Miss Kim Mi-Young paused.

“Yes, Miss Kim Mi-Young?” I said, urging her to continue.

“It seems like he told some of the staffers,” Miss Kim Mi-Young continued.

“

Oh

, really?

Ah

, I wish he didn’t do that…” I said.

“The staffers said that they wanted to help out, so I'm sure they heard about this from him. From the people who had a group dinner until late to the people sleeping in their rooms… everyone returned to the guild to work.

"The news must’ve also reached the members living far away… because they came to work as well. Some even said we don’t have to pay them overtime…” Miss Kim Mi-Young explained.

“No! We shouldn’t do that. Even if they said that… I feel bad that they came to work…” I said.

“I knew you were going to say that, so I’m thinking about giving a bonus to all the staff,” Miss Kim Mi-Young suggested.

“I’d expect nothing less from you,” I said.

I felt proud.

‘This is a family-like company and a family-like guild.’

Everyone wanted to help me.

I noticed passion in the working staffers, and I also saw others smiling while working.

I couldn’t help but nod at the beautiful sight.

Honestly, Kim Mi-Young and I could have handled it ourselves.

We just needed to work slowly on the loot distribution, and we didn’t need so many people to help us. Since the staffers were competent, I was sure they were aware of that, so I liked them even more upon seeing them come to work so early.

Just then, a short-statured staffer walked up to Miss Kim Mi-Young.

“Miss Kim Mi-Young, Miss Lee Ji-Hye is here.”

“

Ah

, okay. Please take care of her as I instructed earlier,” Miss Kim Mi-Young said.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

'How come she's already here?’

“Please call her to the meeting room right away,” I ordered.

“Yes, sir,” Miss Kim Mi-Young responded.

It bothered me that Ji-Hye noona was making a move so fast.

Naturally, my face turned red.

‘Damn it.’

Ji-Hye noona flung the door open and walked into the meeting room.

“What brings you here?” I asked.

“What do you mean? I came to see you,” Lee Ji-Hye replied.

“That’s not what I meant. You’re part of the management committee, and I didn’t even contact you in the first place…” I told her.

“I should attend

because

I’m part of the management committee. I have to see if the items are being distributed fairly,” she said.

“...”

“That’s what the public knows, but there's a different reason behind my visit. Yeon-Joo unni has asked me for a favor. I don’t need to tell you about the contribution of the Black Swan Guild, but I would like for you to take care of us a little more.

"Here’s the list of items. The guild wants to obtain three items… these mission logs and battle logs should be enough for us to get them. I worked hard to prepare this, so I’m sure you won’t disagree.

"Additionally, here’s the counterargument of other guilds that want the same items as us, so look over them carefully. It won’t take long for you to look them over, right?” Lee Ji-Hye asked.

“Noona, you know this is illegal, right?” I questioned.

“It’s not illegal as long as you and I stay quiet,” Lee Ji-Hye argued.

‘Oh Ji-Hye noona.’

'Look at her being so confident. This is what you call corruption.'

I saw the neatly organized documents, and like she said, I didn’t need to think much about the Black Swan Guild’s contribution. However, she still brought so many documents to ensure that I wouldn't be able to argue.

The evidence was extremely solid to the extent that I couldn't find any holes.

However, I found it strange that the other guilds and groups were discussing this matter rather than wrapping up their discussion as soon as possible.

‘Did she assume there was going to be a meeting this early in the morning?'

‘She was certain that I'd immediately convene a meeting upon seeing that video.’

I couldn’t help but assume that she got everything ready first before contacting me.

Of course, it was just pure speculation on my end, but she was certainly capable of doing that. Rather than making a request by using her personal connections, she used this method, as this was the more

official

way

.

It could be said that she had been waiting for me to convene a meeting since she gave me that video.

My face turned red again.

“

Hm…

not bad. I’ll use it as a reference, noona,” I told her.

“I’d appreciate that,” Lee Ji-Hye said. She then sat next to me and propped her chin with her hands while staring directly at me.

“Anyway, I thought it was going to be really effective, and it must be true. I thought you were going to summon everyone tomorrow morning… You shouldn’t call for people in the middle of the night. I’m sure people won’t say much, but it’s still too sudden,” Lee Ji-Hye said.

“...”

“Did you like it that much? You must’ve been excited,” Lee Ji-Hye commented.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“The video. You convened this meeting because of the video I sent you. The video showed your guild members going nuts to save you. They said they don’t care if the world gets destroyed after seeing the rift and about how they couldn’t forget you…

"They all cried and came together; even Jung Ha-Yan went desperate with her spells. Wait, did I send you the wrong video?” Lee Ji-Hye questioned.

“...”

“Did I accidentally send you a video of Jo Hye-Jin and Elias drinking coffee together?” Lee Ji-Hye asked.

“Yeah, I think that’s what I saw,” I replied.

“...”

“...” “You’re so cute, oppa,” she commented.

“Well, whatever. I was going to get up anyway. I’m busy, and it’s not really because of the video you sent. Anyway, thanks for the data,” I said.

“...”

“But did those two

really

drink coffee together?” I asked.

Lee Ji-Hye nodded.

"Really?” I asked.

“Yes, really. They

really

drank coffee together,” Lee Ji-Hye said.