Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Protests and Ambush
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"It's way worse than what I saw on the news."
The road in front of the House Kang mansion.
Jang Yeon-ju stopped her bike and wore an uncomfortable expression.
The old front gate and walls were covered in graffiti mocking and condemning House Kang.
It was the work of the protesters surrounding the mansion.
They were demanding the revocation of Duke Kang Dae-guk's title to stop the waste of taxpayers' money.
Their signs claimed they were citizen groups, but their actions were radical and political.
"For a kid to grow up in this environment without losing his mind... that's something."
No Jun-yeop, who had been sulking ever since joining Jang Yeon-ju, finally spoke up.
It was early dawn, just as the first light was breaking.
The protesters were quiet.
They were asleep inside the dozens of tents illegally pitched around the mansion.
Fwoosh!
No Jun-yeop's gun barrel spat fire.
"Should I just burn them all down?"
Not really.
He wasn't trying to take House Kang's side.
Like most kids his age, No Jun-yeop had zero interest in House Kang. He didn't care one bit how they were treated.
It was just that one sign stabbed next to the tents that got under his skin.
[Even the youngest son got in through admission fraud! All of Duke Kang Dae-guk's kids are criminals!]
The protesters were making an issue out of Kang Jae-hyeok's admission to Lion's Castle.
Even long after the re-examination had proven his qualifications, they ignored the revealed truth and clung to the initial accusations without a word.
"What, do these protesters not even watch the news?"
No Jun-yeop had lost to Kang Jae-hyeok and had his position taken away.
Kang Jae-hyeok getting treated like a loser?
That would make him second-hand trash.
The moment he was about to burn down all the offending signs and tents.
"News doesn't report the truth."
A creaky old voice spoke softly.
When he turned his gaze, there was a massive caterpillar on the asphalt—no, a sleeping bag wriggling like a person.
"The stations that live-broadcast Young Lord Kang Jae-hyeok's admission re-trial haven't mentioned him even once since it ended. The videos that spread on SNS were deleted ages ago. Some people who missed the live broadcast still believe the nonsense rumors about corruption in his admission."
A white-haired old man poked his head out of the sleeping bag.
Deep into the night, at dawn.
It was Butler Hwang, who had slipped out of the mansion ahead of time while the protesters slept.
The dawn chill had made him wrap himself in the sleeping bag, and he had dozed off without realizing.
He climbed out of the sleeping bag and straightened his appearance before politely greeting Jang Yeon-ju and No Jun-yeop.
"You must be the ones sent by Young Lord Kang Jae-hyeok. I came out to greet you and fell asleep—my apologies for the late introduction. I am Butler Hwang. I've served House Kang my entire life."
"Ah, yes...."
Jang Yeon-ju and No Jun-yeop looked somewhat bewildered.
First impressions are everything.
No one would buy it if a guy asleep on the street claimed to be the ducal butler.
Reading their suspicion, Butler Hwang pulled a few photos from his pocket.
They were pictures taken with Jae-hyeok as a child.
"Wow, Jae-hyeok was carrying a real sword even as a little kid?"
"Why a sword and not a bow...?"
"These were taken when Young Lord was around nine. Even then, he swung his sword thousands of times every day."
"Thousands of sword swings—when did he practice thousands of shots with a bow?"
"Yes...? Well, even when he passed out from exhaustion while swinging and cursed at his enemies, his innate ferocity pierced the heavens."
"And the bow practice when..."
"His expressions look so dark in every photo. Though it's not shown, were the protesters surrounding the mansion at that time too?"
"Yes. After training, Young Lord would go around wiping off the graffiti on the walls. Even as protesters hurled curses and rotten eggs, he silently erased it with those small hands—from then on, he already had a steadfastness worthy of respect..."
"So he wiped the graffiti and then practiced his bow shots?"
"......"
Unlike No Jun-yeop, who was fixated on the bow to the end, Jang Yeon-ju's expression turned serious.
Butler Hwang's nostalgic recollections of Jae-hyeok's childhood were just too brutal.
'Whatever the case, it's clear that enemies exist who want to bring down House Kang.'
The media's attitude of live-broadcasting the admission re-trial nationwide only to hush it up afterward. The citizen groups that had been hounding House Kang relentlessly for eight years.
It was irrational.
She was convinced there was someone pulling the strings behind them.
That naturally sparked suspicion.
Was Duke Kang Dae-guk, who had once risen to National Treasure, really a traitor?
Why didn't any history books shed light on him?
It was something worth pondering.
"Let's head out before day breaks."
Jang Yeon-ju started up the bike and urged No Jun-yeop and Butler Hwang.
***
Vehicles incorporating magic engineering had superior energy efficiency.
They didn't rely on petroleum or electricity—pure mana use delivered even higher speeds.
Made from otherworld metals with excellent mana conductivity, their durability far outstripped steel.
They could traverse even the rugged terrain of dangerous zones where one-time gates popped up unpredictably, making infrastructure development futile.
"People really live in a place like this?"
A road long neglected.
Weeds and even trees sprouted from cracks in the crumbling asphalt.
It was hard to believe that people lived in the isolated city at the end of a road impassable by normal vehicles.
"Nothing special about it. Areas where gates appear frequently are disasters for civilians like me, but for Players like you all, they're lands of opportunity."
In places like Grishi, where gates emerged without warning, any roads or public facilities built would collapse again soon enough.
The government had halted funding from the public purse, but countless Players had set up shop.
It was how kingdoms of their own formed in areas beyond proper law enforcement.
There were dozens of such places in Korea alone.
It wasn't due to Korea's incompetence.
Even powerhouses vying for top spot in East Asia like China and Japan, and ultimate superpower America, left dangerous zones to private Players instead of investing tax money.
It was far more efficient that way.
"I never saw scenes like this even on guild dispatches...."
"Guilds with contracts to Lion's Castle wouldn't assign dangerous work to students, right? They'd just send you to gates with completed strategies for busywork... Ah, not that Young Lord put the two of you in danger. He must have judged you two sufficient... yes, probably sent just you two for that reason. Probably."
"......"
How many times was he going to say "probably"?
Jang Yeon-ju and No Jun-yeop's anxiety deepened.
Just then, the group entered Grishi.
There was no sign saying "Welcome to Grishi," of course, but the buildings—either long crumbled into part of the landscape or barely hanging on—proved this was a city.
"The name's pretty weird, though. What does Grishi even mean?"
"Probably a mangled place name. The original's long forgotten."
There were countless such areas that hadn't reclaimed their names.
The scars of the Great Change were still vivid in the world.
Vroooom...
Jang Yeon-ju and No Jun-yeop exchanged glances and switched the magic-engineering bike to low-power mode, drastically reducing the noise.
Their destination as they quietly crossed the silent city was the junkyard.
The rendezvous point to link up with Blacksmith Song from Song Fortress.
"Old Man Song, what the hell are you thinking? Packing up in such a hurry—I thought some guild scouted you. And you were waiting for these damn brats? You got dementia or something?"
The worst possible situation awaited the group upon arrival.
Blacksmith Song was restrained by several thugs.
The thugs' leader scanned Jang Yeon-ju, No Jun-yeop, and Butler Hwang before pointing a baseball bat at Song's head.
"Hey, you brats. What's your deal with this old geezer?"
"No fucking way—now even local punks are talking to me?"
No Jun-yeop scoffed in disbelief.
A second-year at Lion's Castle.
A cut above first-years. Already a Player in the making.
He had even been archery club leader until recently.
Pure skill-wise, he was top-tier among second-years.
He was in no position to shrink from punks holding an old man hostage.
"Little shit's got a foul mouth. Riding an expensive bike like that—you nobles or something? Perfect. Your ransoms will make this nice and profitable."
At the leader's gesture, new figures appeared atop trash heaps piled around the junkyard.
Like the ones holding Blacksmith Song, they had tattoos on their necks and foreheads.
Obviously part of the same gang.
As their numbers surpassed fifty, No Jun-yeop began edging backward.
"Butler Hwang? Leaking the meetup info is too much, isn't it? This is clearly the client's screw-up, so we can bail—no one's gonna complain about the request or whatever. Right?"
"You've come this far already—I'm grateful. Even if you flee, how could I complain? Though I wonder what Young Lord would think..."
"......"
"You think you can escape?"
The thugs snickered.
The junkyard entrance was blockaded by several 10-ton trucks.
As the mood grew tense.
"How much do we need to pay for his ransom?"
Jang Yeon-ju cautiously raised her hand.
"Kuhahaha! At least you can talk sense! But can brats like you even afford it?"
The thugs' leader burst into laughter before replying in a meaningful tone.
"Thirty million."
'...That's doable.'
"Dollars. Or 400,000 community points. Whaddya say?"
"......"
They never planned to release Blacksmith Song—or let us go.
Jang Yeon-ju realized this and shot No Jun-yeop a look.
Eyes that said they had no choice but to fight.
She always insulted him with her eyes anyway, so No Jun-yeop could read her intent.
"Fine. Can't pass up a chance to owe Kang Jae-hyeok one."
Clicking his tongue, No Jun-yeop stealthily chambered rounds.
All while reminding himself the girl at his side was Jang Yeon-ju.
Yeah, Jang Yeon-ju.
Few were as threatening as her when rivals, but as allies, she was the most reliable person in the world.
"Whew."
No Jun-yeop took a deep breath and heightened his focus.
His targets: the thugs holding Blacksmith Song.
If he secured the hostage's safety even briefly, Jang Yeon-ju could go wild...
As he calculated and scanned for an opening with his bow, his face crumpled.
"Hey, put that bow away? You wanna get us all killed or what?"
"......"
Club affiliation, archery prodigy granddaughter, whatever.
The Jang Yeon-ju No Jun-yeop acknowledged was the one "without her bow."
Bang!
Jang Yeon-ju ground her teeth in irritation and stomped forward.
Ratatata!
No Jun-yeop's gun spat fire, and her figure had already reached the thugs' leader.
Her upper body already twisting aside.
Blue hair fluttering along her tilting torso.
In that gap, the golden lion emblem pinned to the collar of her riding jacket came into view.
"Lion's Castle...?"
By the time the leader realized the girl's identity and gasped in shock, it was too late.
A roundhouse kick from his blind spot shattered his jaw.