Believers (2)
Drakal, a free city located in the south-central part of the Ion continent.
This city, where the mercenary guild’s headquarters is located, could be said to be a small country for mercenaries.
The entire economic and social system revolved around the mercenary industry, even the city’s mayor was elected according to the will of the mercenary guild, and external diplomacy was entirely focused on that.
The one at the top of these mercenaries was the Mercenary King.
In Drakal, the power and authority of the Mercenary King was irreplaceable, and the position of Secretary General, who directly carried out practical work under him, was no exception.
Patrick, the secretary general of the Mercenary Guild, is no different from the prime minister of a small country called Drakal.
The powerful man went to his office as usual today and performed the ritual of starting the day with a solemn expression.
Even though it had been an act that had continued for over a year, I couldn’t help but feel nervous every time I did it.
“···Damn it, why on earth is there no cure for hair loss in this world?”
Because as each day passed, the condition of my hair reflected in the mirror was getting worse.
To the point where I can’t just dismiss it as a feeling.
‘Isn’t magic supposed to be used in times like this? What the hell are those damn alchemists doing!’
Even if I stop combing my hair and let out all my accumulated anger, nothing will change.
All you can do is realize your own helplessness and accept the cruel reality.
And in fact, if you think about it, the direction his anger should have been directed was not at his weak roots or the alchemists who were neglecting their duties.
Isn’t there a separate source of stress that causes hair loss?
“Again, again! Where the hell did you go! This damn mercenary king—!”
The new mercenary king, Harley.
It wasn’t the first or second time that his wandering boss suddenly disappeared, but he had to take all the responsibility every time, so he had no choice but to live with stomach medicine to soothe his bitter stomach.
Even though the Mercenary King was a symbolic figure and had been entrusted with full authority, there were limits to his power.
It took a lot of effort to get him to follow his orders, having secured his place through connections in this savage mercenary world where force was paramount.
In that situation, there was no way everything would go as planned, and he would have to take responsibility for everything and clean up the mess…
‘You damn bastards, why are you picking on me when you won’t be able to say anything when he comes back?’
Patrick paused as he ruffled his brown hair, then carefully lowered his hand.
We couldn’t allow the children, who were already weakened by stress, to be worked any harder.
“···Should we go back now?”
He closed his eyes tightly and let out a small sigh.
In fact, the karma needed to return had already been collected a long time ago, so I could have gone back whenever I wanted.
‘But it’s a shame. The war with the Immortal King that will soon take place will be a great opportunity for me as the Secretary General of the Mercenary Guild.’
The true value of a mercenary is revealed on the battlefield.
If he were to truly subdue the Immortal King… no, even if the Mercenary King Harley died in battle, it wouldn’t be bad for him.
I would have packed everything I needed to, but when I felt like it wasn’t going to work out, I could just quickly run away.
‘Has it been more than fifteen years since I came here? I’m starting to get a little lost.’
Patrick Brown, an Earthling from Ireland.
His unique skill was “parallel thinking,” which allowed him to split his thoughts into several parts.
If used well, it was an incredible ability that could allow one to simultaneously manifest tens or hundreds of high-level magic spells.
“Whew, if only I had just a little more talent.”
Unfortunately, he had absolutely no magical aptitude.
It was so miserable that I wondered if a person could be like this.
To begin with, magic was a field that was particularly difficult to advance in among the mysteries because there was a lot to learn and it required a lot of aptitude.
No matter how much status is strengthened and system corrections are added, there is a limit.
However, he was not confident in fighting, so in the end, the only thing left was the administrative job he had been doing since he had been on Earth.
His ability was recognized and he was able to quickly get promoted to this position thanks to his transcendent work processing speed using “parallel thinking.”
‘···Okay, let’s hold on a little longer. This is nothing compared to the hardships I’ve experienced so far.’
Although it was stressful, I also gained a lot from it.
That moment when Patrick, lost in thought, reminisces about the past.
Bam—!
The door to the Secretary-General’s office opened wide with a loud noise.
Roughly, as if someone had kicked me.
“Hahaha! It’s been a while, Patrick!”
“···Harley?”
There was only one person in this mercenary guild who could do such a thing.
The current mercenary king, Harley, who has only recently taken office.
He finally returned from his long absence.
“Hey, the door is broken again. I just lightly pushed it with my hand. This is supposedly the Secretary General’s office, so why don’t you replace the door with a sturdier one? What do you think other people will think when they see this?”
“You said the same thing last time, so I replaced it with a full alloy one···.”
Because of that, Patrick’s and everyone else’s arms that came and went from this office were getting thicker by the day.
Should we call this life training?
His frail subordinates, who couldn’t even open this metal door, couldn’t even come to report to him.
“Uh, so what?”
“···I’ll look for a craftsman. If I look into it, I’m sure there’ll be a way to make it stronger.”
The free city of Drakal, with its many mercenaries, also had many highly skilled craftsmen.
If we could just apply the techniques used to make weapons and armor, wouldn’t it be possible to make doors that fit in Harley’s castle?
···I still don’t know why it has to be this way.
“But where did you go and why are you not contacting me… Phew, no.”
Even if I ask, you won’t answer anyway.
Now that he had figured out enough about Harley, Patrick decided to just be happy that he had her back.
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“···yes?”
Until he gave me a new job.
“Oh, that’s right! I’m the King of Mercenaries, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But I’ve been seeing it lately and it seems like something’s missing, you know? Hubert Trading Company is doing something grandiose under the name of the company, and I thought it would be good for us to do something like that.”
“No, why would the mercenary guild….”
“Oh, listen carefully. Honestly, our mercenary guild doesn’t have much influence over the entire continent. It would be great if we could show something here and take the initiative! Don’t you think so?”
Patrick closed his eyes tightly at the incomprehensible argument.
And then I held back a desperate scream that I couldn’t bring myself to let out.
‘Why on earth does a mercenary guild have to compete with a merchant who is their main customer!’
Isn’t this ultimately a call to mobilize the power of the mercenary guild to spread one’s own fame?
Moreover, it was none other than Harley himself who suggested that the inauguration ceremony of the Mercenary King be simplified.
But now that you’re saying something like that…
“···Okay, then let’s make a plan right away.”
“Hahahaha! As expected, it’s Patrick. I believed in you from the beginning, didn’t I? Then please do it as quickly as possible!”
But the absolute words he could say had already been decided.
He watched Harley’s back as she left, laughing heartily, and once again suppressed the temptation to write a letter of resignation that was in his mind.
‘Let’s just wait and see. I’ll definitely hit you with a punch before I quit.’
Patrick didn’t know.
The moment you are selected as a talented person, you are already in a quagmire from which you cannot escape.
‘He’s definitely a guy with some pretty good abilities. I’ll have to scout him out as soon as he comes to Earth.’
As soon as he returned, Harley left all the work to his subordinates and stopped by the mercenary guild’s restaurant for the first time in a while to start a stormy meal.
‘The form of faith doesn’t have to be faith. Diana has given us a good example, so we should use all the methods available to us.’
Even though Hubert’s work was going smoothly, we couldn’t afford to ignore this great advantage.
The more diverse the routes for obtaining divinity, the better.
“Ah! Harley! You’re here!”
The moment I came out after completely burning down the mercenary guild’s restaurant.
Harley encountered an unexpected figure.
A woman flew in like a butterfly and embraced him.
A beauty with the healthy coppery skin typical of Southerners, brown hair in several braids, and black eyes that shine like obsidian.
“Ah— these perfect muscles… hehehe!”
“Huh? Misty?”
“···Hot! Ahh! Harley! I really wanted to see you!”
Misty was the grand shaman of the Kalkos Tribal Alliance and the daughter of the previous chieftain.
She, who should have been in the south, came all the way to Drakal, where the mercenary guild is located.
“What brings you here, young lady?”
“Oh, right. You too, Harley. What could be more important than assisting the King? I just finished the work you instructed me to do, and I’ve come a long way to report the situation.”
“What you instructed?”
Harley blinked for a moment, then suddenly nodded.
Come to think of it, I was in charge of cleaning up the South, which had been in chaos due to the rebellion of the former Chieftain Pantheon, and putting it back together systematically.
Because we had been apart for so long, I had completely forgotten about it.
‘Huh? Now that I think about it, isn’t this an opportunity?’
He tilted his head, stroking his chin.
There was also a branch of Hubert Trading Company in the Tribal Federation, but due to the closed nature of the region, its effect was not as great as in other places.
But if you have the authority of a king…
“Hahaha! Okay, then I guess I should stop by the south again soon!”
“Oh! Really? I’m sure everyone will be happy! We all worked hard together to make sure that no one would become a victim to Harley!”
“Really? That’s unexpected. Usually, there are guys who cause trouble in these kinds of things. I guess there weren’t any of those guys?”
“Ah… Are you the ones who don’t listen and act as you please?”
With those words, Misty’s eyes instantly turned cold.
But as quickly as it appeared, that feeling disappeared as if it had been washed away.
She nonchalantly clung to Harley and answered with a bright smile.
“It was a bit noisy at first, but it’s okay now! Once they caught me and had a serious ‘conversation,’ they all understood what we meant.”
“Oh? I thought I’d have to do this once, but this is unexpected.”
“Hehehe! I can’t bother you for no reason, Harley.”
Harley smiled contentedly at her words.
If traffic control is already complete, it won’t take too long.
“Hahaha! I really like this! I should give it a prize.”
“What… is it?”
Misty blushed at the large hand stroking her head.
She swallowed her saliva without realizing it, but Harley was already busy considering her future plans.
‘Yes, the mercenary world and the South are not bad. They may not be as big as Hubert Trading Company, but their faith is more pure.’
Trust that comes from the value of the names of the mercenary king and the fighting king, not trust based on financial gain like Hubert.
That’s the asset that Harley has built up so far.
“Hey, I’m in the mood! Today is a meat party all day long! Hey, Misty. Bring all the people from down south too! I’ll pay for everything! Hahahaha!”
“Oh! Yes, yes!”
Harley, feeling better, stopped hitting the dojo after hitting five restaurants that day.
It was a declaration of war announcing the return of the king, more certain than any publicity.
***
“Abnormal phenomenon?”
“Yes, I checked the information through various routes just in case, and I think it’s safe to say that it’s certain at this point.”
A building owned by Heterosis, erected in the heart of Seoul.
Two people were talking in a space surrounded by a blackout curtain to block out sunlight.
“The number of awakenings reported in Korea has recently skyrocketed to more than three times the usual number. The Transmission Investigation Division of the Ability Management Bureau is also taking the situation very seriously. However, it seems that this is not simply a problem limited to our country.”
“Is this a phenomenon that is occurring worldwide?”
“Yes, that’s only counting the reported cases, so in reality it’s probably more than that.”
“Hmm.”
Heinz II lowered his chin with a stern expression at Jinsoran’s report.
I had just returned from Outerica and came here without much thought, but I was confused by the unexpected report I received.
‘I was just planning to focus on increasing the number of believers for the time being. What is this all of a sudden?’
Of course, making followers of Heinz II was as easy as eating cold porridge.
No, strictly speaking, I guess I should say that everything was already over without any need to do anything.
‘After all, the one who stands at the top of all vampires is the new blood Heinz II.’
The world of vampires was a strictly class society.
But the existence of a vampire of divine blood who reigns over the Holy Blood, the founder of the existing bloodline…
Out of the norm, he was literally a god himself.
‘The Immortal Hans was a similar case.’
And there was no need to take separate action on Heinrich, the angel and saint of the Lord, Harris, the high elf who spoke for the World Tree, and Hela, the 16th Demon King of the Demon World, although the degree was different.
‘Wait a minute, now that I think about it, this is when things started to blow up···.’
Then suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
The time when he sprouted divinity, came into contact with the secrets of the world, and observed ‘that existence’ coincided with the beginning of this strange phenomenon.
Could this really be a coincidence?
‘That can’t be true.’
Something is happening.
But there were limits to what he could do right away.
In the current situation, it was best to simply grow divinity as quickly as possible in preparation for the future that lay ahead.
“hmm?”
But at that moment.
Heinz’s eyebrows twitched as he felt something.
“Lord? What’s wrong?”
Jin So-ran, who was nearby, asked cautiously, but he did not answer as he was already deeply engrossed in something.
Just looking somewhere far away with a cold, sunken gaze.
‘This signal is···.’
A response from one particularly thick thread among the intricately intertwined strings of divinity.
Just recently left for another world.
It was a crisis detection signal transmitted from Kang Tae-san.
