Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Boastful Guild (2)
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Thanks to Kwon Yena's ability, we made it to the Hunter Association right on time.
"Yena."
"Q-Quick, let's go~ I'll wait!"
Even though she could carry both me and Hyeji at the same time, she still demanded that embarrassing position.
And it had been the same just ten minutes ago when we went to Hyeji's house. How shameless could she be?
For now, since we were out in public, I'd let it slide. But once we got home, I'd make sure to get proper payback for my embarrassment.
"Do you even know where we're going?"
Kwon Yena bolted toward the Hunter Association, trying to escape me, with Kim Hyeji scurrying along behind her.
Of course, even if we just walked in and asked, they'd guide us naturally enough. But since we'd agreed to meet Chae Yeonhwa first...
"Whoa! So cute!"
I was just about to message Chae Yeonhwa that we'd arrived when I heard Kim Hyeji squealing about something being cute. Or rather, someone.
I had a pretty good idea who it was, so I closed the Gallery and walked over.
"You're already here. Looking forward to working with you today."
"Yes. Everything's prepared, so it'll be over quickly."
Chae Yeonhwa, whom I hadn't seen in a while, was as adorable as ever.
"Hing... I didn't mean to say it out loud..."
Kim Hyeji, having blurted out her honest impression, rubbed her reddened forehead and started to cry.
"Even if you didn't mean to, how could you just say she's cute like that?"
Kim Hyeji was a full four years younger, to boot.
"Sorry. I should have trained her better."
"Please be more careful next time..."
From now on, Kim Hyeji was one of the representatives of Boastful Guild, so I'd have to educate and manage her properly.
There was a minor hiccup, but we hadn't arrived late, and we linked up with Chae Yeonhwa right away.
We began heading to the top floor of the Hunter Association under her guidance.
Woooong—
Unlike the early days when gates and Awakeners first appeared, the Hunter Association had lost most of its authority and power.
Now, it barely had any personnel capable of raiding gates on their own, making it little more than an administrative body.
Ding!
And yet, the reason the Hunter Association still stood.
The one man who practically held the entire organization together.
We had arrived to meet Woo Kwonhyuk, president of the Korean Hunter Association.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Woo Kwonhyuk, president of the Association."
"Yes, hello. Um... I'm Shin Yujun."
I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should introduce myself as the guild master of Boastful Guild, but Woo Kwonhyuk smoothly continued.
"Haha, the moment you arrived at the Association, Boastful Guild's founding has been officially recognized."
"Ah, I see..."
Kwon Yena and Kim Hyeji looked at me with expressions that said they wished we'd just come yesterday if it was this easy.
Of course, I felt the same way, but how was I supposed to know?
Handing over the guild name and the initial three members' list to Chae Yeonhwa had truly finalized everything.
Everything.
"So this meeting is..."
"I had a personal curiosity and asked the Crimson Lotus Guild master for a favor. Boastful Guild's guild master, Shin Yujun... you're the Boastful Blacksmith active on Hunter Gallery, right?"
"...Yes."
It was about time for those in the know to find out.
Especially Woo Kwonhyuk, the Association president.
I'd assumed he'd know from the start, given Boastful Guild's ties to Crimson Lotus Guild.
Plus, we were about to become their affiliate guild...
'Hold on.'
Originally, there had been two main reasons for joining Crimson Lotus Guild as an affiliate.
First, to handle the taxes on the money I'd earned before founding the guild and to take care of all the annoying administrative processes in one go.
The tax issue was resolved by my history of working with Crimson Lotus Guild, and they'd handled all the admin too.
Second, for my safety.
A guild suddenly raking in massive profits, run by a blacksmith and just two others—it was impossible to hide forever.
I figured using Crimson Lotus Guild as a shield would handle the dangers and hassles until we were secure, so I'd decided to operate as their affiliate until then.
But even that had been resolved by Kwon Yena's presence.
'I never expected Twilight to let Yena go so easily...'
If I'd known, I would've proposed an alliance from the start instead of affiliate status.
After much deliberation, I reached a conclusion that even I found selfish.
'I don't really need to join Crimson Lotus Guild as an affiliate anymore.'
"Yes, yes. Yes... That's hard to commit to right now. Equipment supply is limited, and demand is overflowing."
"Of course, I understand. I'm just saying the Hunter Association could be a good partner too."
"Got it. If you give me your Gallery nickname, I'll reach out soon."
"Thank you. This is Woo Kwonhyuk."
"Not that—if you give me your Gallery nick... Ah, you'll reach out soon."
The conversation with Association President Woo Kwonhyuk ended quicker than expected.
As expected, perhaps.
What the Hunter Association wanted was a steady supply of high-quality equipment from me.
But I had to supply my own guild members, as well as Crimson Lotus, Twilight, and others, so I couldn't give a firm yes right away.
Rather than ending quickly, it just wasn't a situation where we could progress the talk.
Woo Kwonhyuk understood my position and agreed to table it for later.
"Surprised your Gallery nick is your real name? I see that a lot with first-gen Awakeners."
I'd even wondered at first if he didn't know what a Gallery nickname was, he seemed so shocked.
With how much he'd been through, he looked at least fifty despite being only thirty...
So I'd unconsciously pegged him as some grandpa who didn't know how to use the Gallery.
Anyway, the important one right now wasn't Woo Kwonhyuk—it was Chae Yeonhwa.
"Chae Yeonhwa, we haven't registered as a Crimson Lotus affiliate yet, right?"
"No. It was before the founding. Should I contact them now to proceed?"
"No, wait a second..."
She'd done everything for us, and backing out now felt bad, but apologizing wouldn't change that joining as an affiliate made no sense anymore.
"Um... Chae Yeonhwa."
"Yes?"
"Let's scrap the affiliate thing."
Time to set things straight.
Not affiliate, but alliance...
"Yes?"
Whoosh!
Chae Yeonhwa's Fire Stick ignited.
For a moment, things nearly got ugly, but luckily, it ended with a fireball flickering into existence and vanishing.
I'd rushed into the main point fearing she'd actually attack, but I hadn't expected it to escalate that far.
"Of course, I have no intention of biting the hand that fed us with Crimson Lotus Guild's generosity. I just realized there's no need to start as an affiliate. Given Boastful Guild's current situation, an alliance makes more sense."
From the original contract, operating as an affiliate was always meant to be temporary.
We'd agreed to transition to alliance status once Boastful Guild stood on its own.
"But..."
We'd just achieved that condition faster than expected.
"We've got an S-Rank Awakener who gets solo-guild treatment, and Hyeji's... decent enough."
"Ah... Y-Yeah, that's true..."
Of course, it might feel like we'd sucked Crimson Lotus dry and discarded them, but since it was in the contract, they had no grounds to complain.
Still, Chae Yeonhwa hesitated because it was such a shame.
Having the future world's top guild as a former affiliate of Crimson Lotus would have been great PR.
"I'll make it worth your while."
"Huh...?"
"There are plenty of other things to discuss outside guild matters, so how about we talk later? Yena, can you handle three?"
"Probably?"
"Let's all head to my place, including Yeonhwa."
"What do you mean 'handle'???"
Chae Yeonhwa looked puzzled at my exchange with Kwon Yena.
"Eek!!"
She yelped in surprise as her body suddenly floated into the air, pulling out another fireball.
Three of them, this time.
Whoosh...
But they fizzled out immediately.
"Eek..."
Chae Yeonhwa seemed ready to prepare a bigger spell.
"W-Wait! We're just flying—why are you doing this?!"
"Where are we going?!"
"Home! Crimson Lotus Hotel!"
"Aang..."
With Chae Yeonhwa meekly settling down, we arrived at the Crimson Lotus Hotel.
"Thanks for trusting me and coming along. I'm sure you're curious, so I'll explain right away."
"Yeees..."
"Yujun, I kept putting out her flames the whole time. She was making fireballs non-stop while flying."
"...Really?"
"F-For self-defense..."
I hadn't quite believed Kwon Yena at first, but it was true.
Even if it was for self-defense, it was shocking that Chae Yeonhwa kept trying to summon fireballs—and even more so that Kwon Yena kept suppressing them.
Now that I looked, Chae Yeonhwa seemed to have been put in her place; she couldn't even look toward Kwon Yena properly.
"Our Yena's pretty strong, huh?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Want to join Boastful Guild as an affiliate?"
"...Hiiiing..."
The combination of an S-Rank Awakener who'd completely dominated Chae Yeonhwa and S-Rank gear.
Its power was beyond imagination.
Of course, I had no intention of bending Chae Yeonhwa to my will through force.
Not even now, after seeing the gap between her and Kwon Yena firsthand.
Chae Yeonhwa was part of the S-Rank gate raid team, so maintaining a friendly relationship was essential.
To that end, I needed to properly reward her for helping with the taxes, guild founding, and more.
"I'll do my absolute best to craft your new gear, Chae Yeonhwa."
"Neeeng..."
"At least A-Rank."
"At-least A-Rank...!!"
"Not just weapons—armor and accessories too."
"Armor and accessories too...!!!"
This was all part of what I'd planned to provide for the S-Rank gate raid anyway.
I was just revealing it now.
It seemed enough on its own, but I decided to share one more bombshell piece of information.
"Aren't you curious about... my equipment crafting process?"
"N-No way—Shin Yujun's equipment crafting secrets...!!!"
"You're the first besides Yena and Hyeji to know the process."
"Th-That's... such an honor... A chance to learn the world's greatest blacksmith's secrets..."
"I hope you learn a lot."