74. Dressing for the Occasion
The ones who came after Hwan-wang were the elite troops of the Southern Branch of the Alliance.
They were not part of any dark organization, but were troubleshooters directly under the Southern Branch Manager.
“This wagon, by any chance….”
“Captain, that’s right!”
They checked the wagon parked in front of the shabby restaurant.
The stolen goods were still loaded in it.
“Then, inside this restaurant….”
Have the criminals already been subdued by Hwan-wang?
As they were about to enter the restaurant, the door opened wide.
“……!”
Black clothes, black hoods, black masks.
The two men in black appeared.
“You guys….”
Did Hwan-wang get hurt?
He was in seclusion without forming a faction, but Hwan-wang was still one of the Kings of the Alliance.
The Great Mage who had reached the 9th Circle, couldn’t subdue these guys?
“Your senior is having a meal inside.”
“What…!”
“You guys probably haven’t eaten yet either, so go in and have a meal.”
As the man in black spoke in a calm voice, the other man in black next to him nodded and said,
“But the menu is fixed.”
“……?”
What the hell is this?
Anyway, according to these guys, Hwan-wang is neglecting his duty and having a meal.
Did these guys somehow charm him?
I knew he was capricious enough to ignore the orders from the headquarters….
“We have no choice.”
The captain clicked his tongue.
And gave an order to the members.
“Since it has come to this, we will solve it with our own strength. Attack.”
“Yes…!”
The magic swordsmen rushed forward, and the other members launched their attack spells.
They were the elite unit directly under the branch manager. With their thoroughly trained movements, they tried to subdue the duo.
However, the duo did not waver in the slightest.
One of them raised his right hand and created a huge wall of flames. All attack spells were completely blocked without penetrating the wall.
The other one jumped over it and waved his hand in the air. Then, a cold air blew in and froze the bodies of the magic swordsmen.
“Damn it…!”
“Ugh…!”
The man who rushed in without hesitation moved his arms dazzlingly.
Every time they were hit by his fist or palm, the elite soldiers fell down, coughing up blood.
In addition, flaming arrows poured down relentlessly, trampling them.
“…!”
The captain was not just watching.
He cast a fire spell on the longsword he was holding.
He swung the magic sword with a flaming blade, trying to penetrate the enemies’ gaps.
However, he soon realized.
He couldn’t find any gaps in the enemies who seemed to be fighting recklessly.
“Ugh…!”
Instead, the captain was attacked.
As he was hesitating about how to attack, a palm covered in pure white cold air flew in.
The moment the palm, which had penetrated with exquisite skill, struck his chest, the captain felt his heart and circle bursting out at the same time.
“Ugh…”
He was no match for them.
Overwhelmed by despair, the captain collapsed, coughing up blood.
* * *
“We took them all down.”
Andres muttered as he checked the fallen bodies.
“They were better than I thought… Were they the Alliance’s elite soldiers?”
“They seemed to be the ones who didn’t slack off on their usual training.”
Saying so, Sirius stretched his energy in all directions.
He didn’t feel any significant reaction nearby.
However, he didn’t know when another pursuit team might appear.
“I think we should leave soon. We’ll be a bother to the townspeople.”
“Right. The restaurant was almost caught up in it just now.”
Sirius went into the restaurant.
Huanwang was sitting with his arms crossed, looking serious.
He had only eaten one piece of bread and had not touched the rest of his meal.
“Is that enough for you?”
“I don’t eat much in the morning anyway.”
Huanwang let out a sigh.
“It seems you don’t pay much attention to the rear. What would you have done if I had rushed out of the restaurant and attacked your rear?”
“I didn’t think you would do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because that would be no fun.”
“……”
“Let’s go since we are done eating.”
Sirius put some money on the table.
“……”
Huanwang showed a conflicted expression for a moment.
But in the end, he followed Sirius out of the restaurant.
“Let’s go, brother.”
“Are you really taking that guy with you?”
Andres was uncomfortable with Huanwang.
It was because he had almost died in Huanwang’s Illusion magic.
“I’ll take responsibility, so don’t worry.”
“Hmm… I guess I have to believe you if my younger brother says so.”
Sirius got into the luggage compartment with Huanwang, and Andres started the carriage.
“……”
Huanwang observed the back of the red-haired man driving the carriage.
Huanwang had already noticed that he was Andres, the eldest son of the Letiut family.
He couldn’t understand why the noble son of the prestigious Letiut family was doing such things.
He attacked the Black Order every night while hiding his identity, stole the supplies of the battlefield… and even worked as a coachman driving a wagon.
“……”
Huanwang actually knew it.
Everything must be due to the influence of the young man who was now riding in the luggage compartment with him.
Huanwang had also noticed that the young man next to him was Sirius Canisroot.
Huanwang had been living in seclusion, but he had heard that the youngest son-in-law of the Rigel family had destroyed the Eastern Branch of the Alliance in an instant.
He had wondered what kind of guy he was to have done such a thing… but after meeting him in person, he realized that he was a truly outrageous guy.
“Phew…”
In fact, Huanwang was in a situation where he could jump out of the carriage and run away if he wanted to.
Sirius had only put Huanwang in the luggage compartment and hadn’t knocked him out or tied him up.
His physical condition had also recovered somewhat, and he could escape if he seized the moment when their eyes were off of him.
But he didn’t feel like it.
Running away in this situation would hurt his pride.
He had fought on the condition that the loser would become the subordinate of the winner, and he had lost.
But instead of keeping his promise, he would run away with his tail between his legs?
Imagining the expressions on Sirius’s and Andres’s faces if they saw that… he couldn’t just sit still.
“Whew…”
He didn’t want to keep his promise either.
I don’t want to run away.
What am I supposed to do?
While Hwanwang was sighing deeply, the carriage arrived at its destination.
It was a cave hidden deep in the mountains.
“You’ve arrived.”
Verdian appeared as Sirius approached the cave.
The Cheonrang Sword Corps is currently helping the Cheonrangpyo Kingdom while moving with Justitia.
However, Verdian is hiding here alone.
This is because the Southern Branch has been after him.
“You have a lot of spoils today. You’re even leaving this to me…”
Verdian flinched.
This was because he confirmed the appearance of Hwanwang, who had appeared with Sirius.
“Your, Your Highness Hwanwang…?”
“You are…”
Hwanwang grimaced and looked at Verdian’s face.
Verdian turned his head urgently, but it was too late.
“Aren’t you the little boy that woman raised? Why are you here?”
“Th, that’s…”
“Ah, are you perhaps the traitor of the Eastern Branch…”
Recalling the rumors he heard from the East, Hwanwang made a dumbfounded expression.
“Amazing. To think you’d betray that woman and join these guys.”
“I didn’t betray Her Majesty the Poison Monarch!”
Verdian explained urgently.
“I’m just temporarily under the care of Sir Sirius so that I won’t be caught by the Yeomje faction in the South! Just how much I think of Her Majesty the Poison Monarch…”
“Huh, do you think that woman would respect your thoughts?”
It seemed that there was also some kind of conflict between Hwanwang and the Poison Monarch.
Suddenly, Sirius recalled what he had heard earlier.
At the restaurant, Hwanwang had said, ‘Sometimes I get involved with women, but I always end up with those spiteful witches. I don’t want anything to do with them either.’ So…could the Poison Monarch also be one of those ‘spiteful witches’?
“But Your Highness Hwanwang, why did you come with Sir Sirius?”
“I…”
“Don’t tell me you’ve decided to join hands with Sir Sirius?”
Hwanwang made an uncomfortable expression at Verdian’s question.
“He’s become my subordinate. So be friendly with him from now on.”
“What…?”
Verdian looked at Sirius and Hwanwang’s faces in turn.
“Are you kidding me?”
“He’s just talking nonsense.”
When Hwanwang grumbled, Sirius spoke in a calm voice.
“Hwanwang.”
“What.”
“Each of my subordinates has a rank. The youngest is Verdian here.”
“That guy’s the youngest?”
Hwangwang looked at Verdian and burst out laughing.
“What happened? I remember him being the Poison King’s disciple, so how is he the youngest?”
“Well…”
Hwangwang laughed at Verdian.
Sirius spoke as he watched Hwangwang.
“Hwangwang, you’re the youngest starting today. That’s because you became my subordinate the latest.”
“What?!”
Hwangwang’s eyes widened.
“I’m kidding.”
“You bastard…!”
“But it might not be a joke someday. I might destroy your circle, render you incapable of using magic ever again, and use you as a slave.”
“……!”
Sirius looked straight at Hwangwang, who had been caught off guard, and said,
“If you don’t reform, that will happen someday.”
“……”
Hwangwang couldn’t say anything for a while.
After a long time, he finally spoke in a trembling voice.
“What on earth… do you want to do with me?”
Hwangwang had heard from Sirius earlier that he wanted him to live in the White World.
But he hadn’t heard any specifics.
“Do you want me to help you take down the Southern Branch of the Alliance?”
“The fight with the Southern Branch is just a stepping stone.”
“Wait, are you saying you’re going to fight the entire Alliance?”
“That’s also a stepping stone.”
“What the hell…”
“Hwangwang, you can think about that later. Let’s change the way you live first.”
As he said that, Sirius gestured to Verdian.
“Verdian, bring me the map.”
“Yes, Sir Sirius.”
Verdian brought a map of the Southern region.
It was covered with information that had been gathered over time.
“Tonight, we will raid a place called the Nias Auction House in this city.”
“Raid the Nias Auction House?”
“I see you know the place. Do you know what they do there?”
“Isn’t it just a big auction house?”
“That’s not it. I heard that for the past three or four years, it’s been a major hub for human trafficking in the Southern region. They even sell children.”
“……”
Hwangwang was silent for a moment.
“Nias, how did that guy become an executive in the Southern Branch… … So he was involved in such things.”
“The owner of the Nias Auction House was an executive in the Southern Branch.”
Hearing Sirius’s remark, Hwanwang made an ‘oh dear’ expression.
He had unintentionally revealed information about the Southern Branch.
“That’s great. Let’s go and raid them together.”
“Hey, I never said I’d join you…”
“So you’re just going to leave those scumbags alone?”
“…”
Hwanwang shut his mouth.
If Hwanwang had been a one-dimensional, pitch-black character, he would have replied, ‘It’s none of my business,’ to such a remark.
However, Hwanwang couldn’t bring himself to say such words.
That was why he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.
“Hwanwang.”
Sirius’s voice turned serious.
“I’m not expecting you to suddenly become a kind and righteous person.”
“…”
“For now… … Just follow me, and we might find some new clues. That level of commitment should be enough.”
New clues.
That meant clues for Hwanwang to reach a new realm.
From Noble mtl dot com
Hwanwang had always strived to transcend the 9th Circle and reach the 10th Circle.
He had even rejected the summons from the Union’s headquarters and secluded himself to focus solely on his training, all for that very reason.
However, Hwanwang had not achieved significant results during that time.
Could he really find new clues by following Sirius?
“Whew…”
Hwanwang let out a long sigh.
To be honest, it was hard for him to believe Sirius’s words at face value.
However, he was a powerful man who had handed him his first defeat in a long time.
Moreover, he wielded a power that surpassed Hwanwang’s understanding.
Just figuring out why Sirius was so strong would be a significant gain.
He didn’t have any loyalty to the Union anyway.
If he did, he wouldn’t have rejected the headquarters’ request and gone into seclusion.
If he could just obtain clues to reach a higher realm… … It wouldn’t be bad to act with Sirius.
Having come to a tentative conclusion, Hwanwang opened his mouth again.
“What do you want me to do?”
Sirius smiled at Hwanwang’s question.
“First, let’s change your clothes.”
“My clothes?”
“Surely you don’t plan to go on a night raid looking like that?”
Sirius said with an indifferent expression.
“One must dress appropriately for the time and place.”
“……?”
Huanwang had a bewildered expression on his face.
* * *
“Goddammit…….”
The Southern Branch Chief bit his lip as he checked the carriage wheel marks once again.
They discovered traces of the pursuit squad being wiped out in a village and searched the vicinity thoroughly, but the trail went cold in the middle.
It seemed they had used some trick to make it difficult to track where they had fled.
They searched until late at night, but they could not find out where the bastards had gone.
“Where the hell did Huanwang go?”
What was incomprehensible was that Huanwang, who had set off on the pursuit first, had disappeared somewhere.
Since the illusion magic did not leave any traces, they could not even tell if Huanwang had fought the bastards.
“Did he just abandon his mission and go back?”
Huanwang was a man who always did whatever he wanted.
No wonder even the Alliance HQ could not control him and just left him alone.
That was why it was entirely possible that he had gotten fed up in the middle and gone back.
“Branch Chief.”
“What is it?”
At that moment, the man in the blue mask who acted as an aide approached and whispered in his ear.
“Apparently, the Niath Auction House was just attacked.”
“The Niath Auction House?”
That was also one of the Southern Branch’s main sources of funding.
They also obtained necessary items through there when they needed them.
“Was it that duo again?”
“That’s…….”
The aide said in a cautious voice.
“Apparently, they have increased to three.”
“What?”
The duo had increased to a trio.
The Branch Chief had an ominous premonition when he heard that.