Chapter 478: Faithful Servant (1)

All the Blue Guild members gathered by the sudden call felt dumbfounded. Our members also thought the situation was unrealistic. Even I felt confused.

After confirming Jung Hayan and Han Sora’s appearances, there was no other choice but to take the current situation a little more seriously. The incident that I was looking at as if it were a distant country’s story had now become my country’s story.

When I heard the news that there was a fire next door, I ran hurriedly and found out that it was our house fire.

‘What the hell did you do?’

It was quite the spectacle to see them all sitting with white hair.

In Jung Hayan’s case, her face was slightly better, but Han Sora was pale as if she had food poisoning. Anyone could see that they were suffering from the magic exhaustion phenomenon.

Seeing how not only were their hairs white, but even their skin was being peeled off, it seemed that extracting the magic power to the limit was insufficient, and so they poured out their vitality.

If others could see their faces, they probably would recommend them to take a break.

No, it was obvious that they wouldn’t even come out like that.

They looked like they were likely to fall unconscious, vomiting blood.

Even though Jung Hayan wasn’t looking good, she didn’t seem to have suffered as much damage since her magic power recovery speed was unusually fast. This was probably due to her legendary-grade attribute, the Effect of the Archmage’s Heart.

‘They didn’t just drop magic.’

I thought the accident wasn’t something that could be done with single magic from the briefing time, but seeing how even Han Sora suffered from magic power exhaustion… It wasn’t just meteorites that the party threw at the Federation.

‘Undead?’

In severe cases, the possibility that she had summoned a demon couldn’t be ruled out.

As Amera was completely obliterated, it seemed that there was a high probability that one of the 72 Demon Lords was summoned.

They were also with Kylie Yale, who had more than 90 magic power. If she had joined Jung Hayan’s party, she would probably have had a lot of help.

I didn’t know if it was Belial or someone else, but it felt like they worked with the momentum to remove the Federation from the map.

‘Why are you doing that, really…?’

There were more bothering things than I thought.

I was suspicious that Jung Hayan heard me muttering, “It’s too peaceful.” before… It might also be because I had fun with Jamilla every night, using the work-related dinner as an excuse.

We didn’t have any more physical contact than what was necessary, but honestly, it could be classified as trash behavior. Of course, there was a greater reason. At the same time, however, it didn’t change the fact that I was like trash that threw away his fiancé to go out and have fun.

‘Or did she overhear yesterday’s conversation?’

The talk I had with Kim Hyunsung last night was also worthy of suspicions.

I didn’t know the means, but it was plausible to think that Jung Hayan overheard that I was moving to the Federation, causing her to go crazy and start working. There was still a lot of ambiguity about why she was connected with Kylie Yale and why she entered the state of maximum anger quickly…

I thought I would find the detailed puzzle later.

‘I knew it was a little weird, Fuck.’

When I confirmed that the magic used to enchant Kylie Yale wasn’t normal, I felt strange.

I knew something was happening behind the scenes, but I didn’t ever dream that it would be Jung Hayan’s doing.

Of course, it hadn’t yet been confirmed that Jung Hayan was the culprit of that incident, but she was the most likely suspect based on her experience. At least, it was much more convincing than saying that Kim Hyunsung did that alone out of anger.

‘I really need to take this opportunity to get a firm grip on her.’

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

I didn’t know if that was possible, though, but…

I had to do it before she could do anything bigger. The situation was fine at the moment, but I honestly had no confidence in fixing it if Jung Hayan was added to the threats.

Regardless, the most important thing to address was to figure out what happened inside.

And…

To cover the fact that three members of our guild might have something to do with it.

‘If this didn’t happen, everything would’ve gone right. Fuck… If only.’

However, when I looked at the brighter side, there weren’t only bad things.

At first glance, it might seem like a dead-end, but the incident changed the atmosphere of the loosened continental coalition.

‘I was about to get rid of the federal guys after this anyway.’

The thought of the leaders who ruled the continent was, ‘No way that something can happen.’

It would be strange not to feel a sense of crisis since something actually exploded. If it weren’t for Jung Hayan’s group, I would’ve blown something up myself. If I thought about it generously, she had done my job for me.

The problem was that that button wasn’t the button I pressed. I didn’t know how neat the work was, but it’s hard to think that her group finished the job perfectly without leaving a single clue.

That felt even more probable if Jung Hayan had led this catastrophe.

Considering that the Federation’s Kylie Yale had joined that unknown party, there was a small expectation that they would have done the job very finely. Still, if there were evidence that our side had something to do with it, it would quickly rise like a woven sausage.

It would stem from the fact that the magic on Laios was Jung Hayan’s doing and that Han Sora was a Black Wizard.

Even the fact that the Honorary Cardinal of the State covered it would be revealed. It would be strange if I weren’t feeling a sense of urgency.

At least I had to get a step ahead of the others, see how they did it, and check if there was any evidence.

In the worst case, I wondered if putting all the blame on Kylie Yale would be beautiful.

That was also possible, considering what I was aware of about the situation.

‘I have to check if there is evidence… and clean it up myself.’

It all felt a bit chaotic, but Kim Hyunsung had just finished the briefing.

Once again, when Cho Hyejin was delivering additional details to the party members, I had no choice but to talk to him.

“Hyunsung.”

“Yes, Kiyoung.”

“… May I ask you how the Blue will respond to this?”

“In fact, we haven’t made a definite decision yet. If I think about the isolated federal people, I think we should send a rescue team right away, but for now, it was the command’s judgment that I should send a reconnaissance team. There is too little information to enter blindly… We can’t create any more victims in vain.”

“Yes.”

“It’s a bit of a cruel idea, but… honestly, I feel the same way as the current command. The Federation’s situation has gotten worse, but we don’t have to make it harder on our part. Until we gather the right information and come up with a perfect countermeasure… we will remain on standby and observe the situation a little more.”

It was a reasonable judgment.

“I think what we can do right now is to wait for the information to be gathered and to help the federal people in other cities, which are still out there, evacuate. There is a high probability that the content of the meeting will flow like that.”

Even if it were me, I would have thought the same thing. Since it wasn’t known what exactly happened to the Federation, gathering information would be the top priority.

It might be possible to help the federal people with minimal humanitarian action, but it was impossible to get into the center of the case.

It was a logical decision no matter how I thought about it…

‘I don’t think this bastard just doesn’t want to go, right?’

It was only a guess, but it seemed like he was hoping that the Federation would be destroyed.

The Federation was the hostile force that tried to disintegrate the Blue in the first place… if I thought about it from Kim Hyunsung’s perspective, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to think that way.

His problem would take care of itself, considering that increased the likelihood that my trip to the Federation would be completely destroyed.

‘Hasn’t this helped, too?’

It was true that the motive itself was felt enough. It was suspicious for some reason, but at that moment, there was nothing I could do other than to sigh.

I had a clear grasp of the guy’s position on the current situation, after all. Besides, Kim Hyunsung was passive about that job.

Our stand was simply to observe.

I was worried that he would watch until the Federation was erased, but it was hundreds of thousands of times better to rush in a tightly packed state than to suffer devastating damage by being overwhelmed by useless heroic psychology.

‘I’m not particularly against it either.’

There was no way I would let people know that Jung Hayan and Han Sora did that.

“The organization of refugee support troops is our top priority.”

“I know that some guilds and clans in the Federation have already left. I also accepted the support request. The Blue is going to wait here, and Kiyoung…”

“I will take a look around and come. Something is bothering me.”

“Ah… then, I will come with you.”

“No. You don’t have to. I’m thinking of only looking around. I’m going with Hayan, so you won’t have to worry too much.”

“…”

“…”

‘Don’t say you’re coming.’

I thought it would be better to stop him before he could say it.

“You don’t have to come with me. Even in Blue, a field conductor is absolutely necessary. It won’t take long.”

“But…”

“There are many problems I have to deal with. I think you know it best, but… you’re the one who should remain on the field, considering I was just watching the training. You don’t have to worry. I will be back very soon.”

“If you insist… I understand. Okay.”

I didn’t know why, but I felt like he’s depressed for some reason.

Listening to me insist on stopping him from coming, he might be wondering if Lee Kiyoung really lost his feelings for Blue.

Well, it didn’t matter what he was thinking at that moment. I looked at Jung Hayan whilst shaking off useless thoughts.

The main culprit of the tremendous accident and the hero who had completely solved the current Continental Union’s problems seemed to be enjoying my attention.

She flinched for a moment, but before long, her face brightened.

I felt like she couldn’t even dream that I was suspicious of her. The thought of simply going out got her in a good mood.

‘Right… I thought it was time for the medicine effect to be reduced.’

I’m grateful that she had endured well so far.

“Let’s go, Hayan.”

“Yes, yes!”

“We’ll just take a ride on the griffon and look around. We should be able to see it through the magic hologram. Are you fine with that?”

“O-Of course. Oppa. Hehe.”

“Then I will go, Hyunsung.”

“Yes. Okay.”

Would it be better to ask and pressure her openly?

Or maybe it’s better to let her realize her fault in a slightly different way.

I thought about it, but I was yet to come up with an answer. Of course, I still had a hunch.

It was a sure way to solve Jung Hayan’s problem and Kim Hyunsung’s problem all at once. It was a bit difficult, sure, but if I had a few conditions, I could easily solve the problem.

There were only two prerequisites.

That what Han Sora and Jung Hayan threw at the Union was a demon.

“…”

And the demon had to be Belial, the lord of lies and agitation.