Chapter 3: The Lionheart King
Chief Kim Jin-soo, of the Korean Hunter Association, returned home with a huge accomplishment, the closing of the Black Grade Gate, only to be met with unwelcome scrutiny and long meetings.
“Ha-ri, what do you think?”
In the lobby outside the interrogation room Han Ha-ri’s exhaustion was evident.
“They don’t seem to believe me.”
“Of course they don’t.”
The Black Gate was cleared by a vanguard that was half expected to die. Moreover, the gate was a notorious demon gate, and an Archdemon had appeared? They should have been wiped out, not half dead.
Kim’s immediate supervisor thought to himself.
-Are these assholes organized now?
But when all the Hunters in the vanguard spoke in unison, their eyes naturally turned to a man.
“What is your name?”
A brilliant blonde man seen through a magic mirror. A powerhouse who had defeated the Archdemon in a single blow and killed all the demons.
Measured as an S-class Hunter at the very least, his identity was…….
“A survivor… right?”
“Yes, an otherworldly survivor.”
There were some beings who survived beyond the Gate.
The Gates that had popped up around the world over the past thirty years had something in common. They all had one theme: a world that had fallen, or was in the process of falling.
Governments around the world speculated that the gates were connected to the records of a lost world, or a post-apocalyptic world, and on rare occasions, survivors would cross over.
Not just humans, but elves, dwarves, and other fantasy races.
People started calling those who crossed over from the otherworld ‘survivors’.
“But it was a Black Grade Gate, is it possible for a person to survive there?”
“He’s actually right in front of us.”
Given his extraordinary strength, it doesn’t seem impossible.
It’s also odd that they’re arguing about common sense after the apparition of the gates.
Thirty years ago there was a cataclysm with monsters bursting out of cracks they’d never seen before.
More than half of humanity has died, the land has been poisoned, and cities have been destroyed.
Luckily, the mana-blessed beings commonly referred to as the Awakened…Hunters, appeared, and humanity survived, but there was still so much they didn’t know about the Gate.
“Survivors…….”
Survivors, unlike the awakened Hunters, were innate mana users, and having survived the fallen world, many of them were as strong as or stronger than the Hunters.
However, they also have a high opinion of themselves, and their culture and lifestyle are vastly different, making it difficult for them to integrate into the modern world.
The people of the XXth Empire, the Sages of the Forest, and the Masters of the Underground Dungeons must have lived a life completely alien to modern civilization.
Therefore, the government has a policy of treating the survivors with the utmost respect and accommodating their wishes.
“We have to bring him in, he’s…he’s a very powerful man.”
“Yes… unconditionally.”
Even an A-ranked Hunter would have to risk his life against an Archdemon.
Aside from the Chaos Lords, the Archdemons are the strongest monsters but Leon defeated one in a single blow.
There have been Hunters who have repelled them, but none who have overwhelmed them.
Even the survivors were afraid of the Archdemons and could not overpower them like Leon.
Regardless of their strength, survivors have emerged from all over the world, many from cultures completely alien to Earth.
At least royalty, judging by the way he called himself investigators should proceed with caution.
“I think we might be able to talk to him.”
“You have reason to believe that?”
“Because I sensed it in his voice. He seems…nice.”
Ha-ri hadn’t forgotten the warm tone in the man’s voice as he pulled her to her feet.
A man like that, who looked at the courageous with a praising and compassionate gaze… how could he not be good──
“You lowly thing, how dare you sully the name of the glorious Lionheart!”
Boom!
The desk collapses with a single punch and the shockwave shatters the reinforced glass that protects against even monster attacks.
Beyond the shattered magic mirror, a brilliant blond man bellowed at the investigator.
“I thought you said you were stuck in…….”
“Cultural differences?”
* * * *
Leon felt a sense of strangeness when he returned to Earth after 300 years.
He had been a poor orphan who had died of overwork in his twenties.
After his reincarnation, he had been a knight and king of a kingdom for more than 100 years, and he had hunted demons for 200 years after the demons invaded the world.
That was over 300 years ago, so he was lucky to have even a faint memory of it.
The problem is, even if he compared that faint memory, the Earth is a different place now.
“Hello, Leon Dragonia…Lionheart?”
“Hmm…….”
They called him a survivor, which meant there were others like him.
‘It wouldn’t do any good to reveal that I’m from Earth.’
Being from Earth, while it might make for an unusual resume, didn’t do him any favors.
After all, wouldn’t a 300-year-old knight-king from another world be much better than a young man in his 20s who had just died of overwork?
After all, he had been a knight and a king for so long.
“Call me Your Majesty. Commoner.”
“Yes? Ah, yes, yes…! Your Majesty!”
The investigator bowed and complied with Leon’s insistence. Hmm, either the investigator was a gentleman, or the government was taking a cautious approach to the survivors.
“You made contact with our Hunters in that…Black Gate… uh, Your Majesty’s world, and slayed all those… demons?”
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“Yes.”
The demons he had slain last night were the last demonic energy he could feel in the world. They had been marked by Arianna, the Goddess of Light, with the last of her power.
“I forgot.”
“What?”
“This king has upheld the honor of knighthood by destroying the demons, and I hereby appoint you as my temporary scribe to record this honorable event.”
“Uh…yeah…yeah…yeah……….”
The investigator, looking at him like he was half-crazy, muttered ~huh culture difference~ as he scribbled down Leon’s notes.
“By the way, doesn’t this place have any etiquette for serving guests?”
In other words, it’s a more elegant way of asking for a meal.
“I’m sorry, I’ll have your meal ready in a moment!”
The investigator hurried out the door and ordered a decent takeout meal from his men.
Before the food arrived, Leon asked the investigator a question.
“You, commoner, you shall reveal to me the information of this world. What world is this?”
Leon asks him, even though he knows about Earth. What he wants is not the Earth he knew, but the Earth after he disappeared.
What the hell happened to the Earth of the 21st century?
“Oh, right, let me explain.”
The cataclysm of thirty years ago, the Gates and the dungeon breaks.
Demon Gate, the Hunter’s Association… Leon felt that the catastrophes that had struck Earth were similar to those that had struck the Lionheart Kingdom and the other world.
‘A little different.’
In his kingdom, the Demon Gates opened immediately since imperial wizards had made a pact with the demons to open the gates.
Countless species of demons poured out of them, and one by one, the nations fell but Earth was different.
Earth was flooded with gates, but they were not invaded by demon gates in the same manner as the other world.
Each gate had a concept, and upon entering the gate, there was a system window called Clear Mission As if testing the planet and strengthening it step by step.
While Earth saw the existence of the gates as a disaster, Leon saw it as a testing and strengthening process.
“And there are other beings like me?”
Survivors also known as otherworlders from beyond the Gate.
He wondered if they were from Earth like he was, but he was certain that none of them had identified themselves as such.
“The meal is ready, Your Majesty!”
An investigator brought the food and Leon’s eyes widened at the sight of it.
A thick soup, salt and pepper in a whitish broth and kimchi!
For a man who had just finished labor on Earth, seolleongtang(ox bone soup) was like soul food.
The broth made from the bones of a cow, salt and pepper added at his discretion, airy white rice, and cabbage kimchi!
‘No… no.’
But Leon swallowed the saliva that was pooling in his throat. He reminded himself of his position, even though he hadn’t tasted seolleongtang and kimchi in 300 years.
Leon Dragonia Lionheart, otherworldly royalty, gent of the gods, guardian of the Holy Grail and master of the holy sword and holy spear.
How could he possibly be interested in the soul food of the common people?
Sipping broth and munching on somen noodles is more like royalty!
“What kind of food is this?”
“It’s a dish called seolleongtang, Your Majesty. It’s the soul food of the common people──”
Leon slammed the desk as if he had been caught red-handed, then stood up and shouted.
“You lowly thing, how dare you defile the glorious name of Lionheart!”
“Yes? Yes?”
The poor investigator shook his head in disbelief, trembling at Leon’s overbearing presence.
“How can royalty be served commoners’ food, and how does your kingdom, the Republic of Korea, treat the royalty of another country like that!”
“Oh, no, not that…….”
Mr. Park Jong-pal, a 42-year-old investigator, having lived his entire life in the free Republic of Korea, should know how to treat royalty.
“Why don’t you get out of here, you lowlife?”
Leon chased the investigator away with a shout, and read the common knowledge of Earth that he left behind.
During the Three Hundred Years’ War Leon Dragonia Lionheart had slain Chaos Lord Malus, Twenty-Three Archdemons, and millions of demons.
He was a demigod, the Guardian of the Grail, an agent of the pantheon, the lion-hearted king with the heart of a lion, a living saint and wielder of the Holy Sword and Holy Lance and also the first knight of Arianna, goddess of light and justice.
Finally, the former returnee from Earth, who had returned to Earth after a 300-year absence, thought to himself.
‘This is what happens when you don’t have the right faith.’
It was the duty of royalty to enlighten the foolish commoners.
