Chapter 477: You Didn’t Do it, Did You? (2)

When I heard the knock on the door in the middle of the night, I felt secretly happy.

3 a.m. was the time when people were full of sensitivity.

It was because I thought that Kim Hyunsung would come to the sacrament of confession. After all, he had already reached the limitations of playing hard to get for a long period.

I couldn’t help myself from having expectations since I was told that he was so devastated that he couldn’t even do his job properly. Kim Hyunsung’s classroom was also closed down, and he was unable to attend the mock battles.

If that wasn’t enough, they said that last night, he fell asleep alcoholically wasted. It wasn’t unusual to think that he would come in the end, unable to stand it.

‘Sigh. It’ll be uncomfortable if he comes drunk, though…’

However, contrary to my thoughts, I smiled.

I opened the closed door gladly, but it wasn’t Kim Hyunsung.

I never thought that I would hear absurd news instead of a sincere confession.

“Vice Guild Master…”

“Yes.”

“The Federation… The Federation…”

“Yes?”

“The Federation has collapsed. We’re trying to figure out exactly what happened, and the rumors are… that one-fifth of the northwest area is completely ruined. The damage continues to accumulate right now… they said that their function as a nation could no longer be restored.”

‘What kind of bullsh*t is that now?’

Why, all of a sudden…

The first person I thought of was Kim Hyunsung, of course.

I got a bit of chill, but I thought there was no way he would do that. I shook my head.

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

The timing was a bit strange, but it’s impossible to think of Kim Hyunsung as the culprit of that incident.

At that moment, I thought that the situation surrounding me would change. It certainly had changed.

The problem was that it was in a direction I didn’t expect. Chonobono opened her mouth again as if she saw any disbelief on my face.

“It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. We should go, for now.”

‘Is this a prank?’

I even wondered if Kim Hyunsung prepared a party to keep me.

There was no time to think about what was going on. I turned the happiness circuit, saying that it was a prank, but after seeing some faces with heavy expressions, the happiness circuit was burned out.

When I entered the conference room, I could see the leaderships’ sour faces.

‘This is serious…’

Soldiers and secretaries were now going around in a hectic manner.

There were embarrassment and anxiety on the faces of those sitting with heavy expressions.

It was training to prepare for a threat, but it seemed that they did not think the actual situation would come.

In particular, the federal leaders responded more dramatically than those from other regions.

“Honorary Cardinal.”

“Oh… Gerhan.”

“What in the world is going on… do you know anything about it?”

‘Why ask me about that? It happened in your area, you bastard. ‘

“I have just heard the news. Hasn’t the Federation said anything?”

“It’s not accurate, but I believe we lost contact around 2:00. I-I also heard it from the aide.”

“Were there no briefings?”

“Yes. The official briefing hasn’t… perhaps it will start soon. F-first…”

Just as he was about to continue his thoughts, the door of the conference room opened, revealing a familiar face.

“Ah… Kiyoung.”

“Blue Guild Master. It’s been a long time.”

Gerhan tried to pretend to be nice, but Kim Hyunsung didn’t pay him any attention.

Even if he had become a little emotional, it was natural that I felt like Kim Hyunsung wasn’t behaving normally. I thought he would at least greet him with a nod, but he was completely ignoring him.

‘What’s up with him?’

He usually kept his composure in any extreme situation.

I was a little puzzled, but it didn’t take long before I realized why.

‘He’s reeking of alcohol.’

The smell of alcohol hit my nose.

‘How much did he drink?’

It wasn’t easy for someone with as much magic power as Kim Hyunsung to get drunk like that.

Seeing him at that moment, he looked terrible.

He was the type always to keep a neat appearance, but he looked overly haggard. It was a bit unfair to look handsome even with messy hair and an untidy look. Regardless, I sat him down.

I didn’t think he was the one who did it, but I was worried that he would go insane and unsheathe his sword.

‘It must be hard for him.’

He was already having a hard time psychologically. Considering the big incident happening at such a time, he must be very frustrated.

Considering that the Crack Museum and the joint training didn’t work out the way he thought it would, there’s a high possibility that he had reached his psychological limit.

Luckily, he had had enough breaks in the middle. It would have been hard for him to maintain a normal state otherwise.

After gently patting Gerhan’s back, who seemed a little upset, I sat down with Kim Hyunsung, and a federal official immediately began to conduct a briefing. I thought that maybe it was Kim Hyunsung who was the threat Benignore talked about, but…

‘It wouldn’t be like that.’

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

That was even more so when I thought about what had happened so far.

‘I can’t tell what he’s thinking.’

It was obvious that he was worried about the case, but…

I thought I should take a little more time to see what Kim Hyunsung thought about the situation. The first thing to do was to listen to the briefing right now.

“I would like to express my gratitude and apology to those who gathered this early in the morning.”

Starting with such words, it looked the same in any country.

The briefing had now begun in earnest.

“That being said, we received the first report at 12:34. It was reported that the Federation’s chief wizard detected a huge flow of magic power around 11 o’clock, and after the earth trembled, it went completely dark. The accident took place in the metropolitan Amera. The federal citizens of that area started evacuation around 11:43 and escaped at around 2:32, except for some citizens and adventurers.”

“…”

“People who weren’t able to leave the area are presumed to be isolated in shelters provided underground, and we are currently investigating what exactly happened. It is currently understood that there are reports of a huge explosion and continuous destructive sounds.”

‘There are too few fucking leads.’

Metropolis Amera.

The center of the Federation.

It was the tutorial dungeon site where the Americans were summoned, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it was at the center of the federal economy.

As it was a relatively small country, there were many important facilities, including production factories. There was no need to explain how important Amera was within the Federation.

‘The response is too slow for that.’

It was great to know that the citizens were evacuated quickly, at least. However, it was a bit disconcerting that they received the report at 12:34 when it happened around 11 o’clock. There were a whopping 1 hour and 34 minutes delay. It was natural to wonder what the people like Kylie Yale and Gerhan were doing. I didn’t know what the sorcerer woman was doing, but I was convinced that Gerhan was probably doing something useless.

“Currently, the investigation team entering Amera is unable to return, and it is hard to see what is going on inside, even with griffon or through other means. While the earthen trembling continues, it is confirmed that evacuation operations are in progress in other cities around it. However, the monsters in the forest are agitated, making it even harder for them to properly execute the plans.”

“Hmm.”

“The Federation’s chief wizard continues to grasp clues, but the magic waves near Amera have been scattered… It’s a situation that requires the support of high-level wizards. That’s all the information we’ve received so far, and we’re working on getting in touch organically.”

‘You’ve covered it well.’

There were too few clues to make an inference.

The possibility that the federal side was reluctant to reveal it couldn’t be ruled out at all, so I had to be cautious at first. Weren’t they the ones who were trying to tear Kim Hyunsung and me apart just a few moments ago?

It wouldn’t be strange even if they were aiming for something else.

Even if an explosion occurred suddenly and the city completely collapsed, it was impossible to know what was going on in there.

Continental Union.

In particular, it could be thought of as a plan to backstab the State. No, it was almost certain.

‘Look at how sneaky they are… okay, is there someone helping you?’

I noticed Kylie Yale’s hair had turned white.

‘The phenomenon of magic power exhaustion.’

She was pretending to be okay, but I could see that she was having a hard time.

She tried to cover her hair color with high-level magic, but her white hair was clearly visible in my Mind’s Eyes. I couldn’t find a proper connection yet, but her white hair and Amera suddenly being isolated were too suspicious.

‘You’re really making a scene by yourselves, aren’t you?’

“To rescue the isolated citizens by immediately forming troops is…”

“No. The first thing is to check what’s going on.”

“We can’t waste such time like this. Shouldn’t we rescue at least the federal people in other cities first?”

“We have to move carefully. We’re still not sure who our enemies are or what their intentions are. I want to hear what others think.”

“How about observing a little more…”

“Didn’t we gather exactly for a time like this?”

“Let’s start by getting ready to respond right away to whatever it is. I think it would be nice to prepare to be able to go out anytime.”

“I agree.”

“Same here.”

‘This is just to make a favorable impression…’

It was funny, the way things were going.

The Federation’s non-affiliates looked like they were washing their hands off before the situation got worse. The victim, the Federation, was shouting that they should send reinforcements as soon as possible.

It was so ridiculous that the gathering became meaningless.

I could understand the trash that felt relieved that it wasn’t their problem, but it seemed they were also convinced that what was going on in the Federation at that moment wouldn’t happen in the areas they managed. They needed to tell the others to send reinforcements right then, but there was no way they would say so.

Once I found out that Kylie Yale was involved, I thought it would be okay to take our time watching the situation a little more slowly.

Even if there were isolated citizens, it wasn’t my business.

There was no way to rule out the probability that it was false.

‘Would three days be enough?’

That should be enough for me to plan a favorable situation after digging up information about Kylie Yale. There were a lot to consider, but it was quite possible.

However…

After a while, I bit my lips tightly.

I could see that Jung Hayan and even Han Sora’s hair were both dyed white.

‘What did you do now, fuck…’