Chapter 94: The Changing Aia
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 94: The Changing Aia
*
The western city of Aia. It was one of the few great metropolises spread across the continent's four cardinal directions. Possessing a fair number of dungeons, it was a bustling hub for summoners. The city itself, managed by the Saint Knights Order, had decent security, allowing not only the powerful but also the lower classes to enjoy a life of their own.
It seemed as though the Saint Knights Order only managed the great city of Aia, but that was not the reality. They held the most powerful voice in the Western Cities Alliance—which included the smaller cities of Legius, Leia, and Bartion—so it was no exaggeration to call them the rulers of the West.
The daily routine of Choi Younghoon, the leader and Guild Master of the Saint Knights Order and the administrator of Aia, began early in the morning by assessing the state of the continent with reports from the information guild.
When he headed to his office, he found piles of documents waiting. Choi Younghoon picked up the one on top. The continent had always been noisy, but the situation had grown far more serious recently, forcing him to read each report with a heightened sense of urgency.
[North]
[Cold Spear Han So-Hye and the Winter Clan have been appointed as administrators of a small city. An achievement reached only three years after being summoned. An unbelievable trajectory.]
Choi Younghoon knew of Cold Spear Han So-Hye. She was an individual who, after being summoned to the small city of Legius and establishing her own power base, had immediately departed for the North. Rumors of her being an unbelievable genius had led the Saint Knights Order to try and recruit her as well.
Of course, they had been turned down flatly, but she was not a bad person.
In such a chaotic era for the continent, individuals like her were a blessing to humanity. The Saint Knights Order had failed to recruit her, but the woman was growing well. Hoping she would one day return as a strong warrior he could trust to watch his back, Choi Younghoon began flipping through the documents again.
As expected, there were many other stories. The majority consisted of reports on the movements of Named Monsters or dungeon conquest logs. If not those, then they were about other cities whose recent activities had been strange. Among them, the Named Monster currently causing the biggest stir in the city was, without a doubt, Blood Dagger.
This Named Monster, also known as the Weapon Merchant, and the group he led had certainly become a headache for the smaller cities.
Choi Younghoon began to read through the quest details of the city's summoners.
A Survival Quest received by 4th-Grade Summoner Kim Gitae.
[Survive.]
[You have encountered the Named Monster Blood Dagger in the Western Forest. Your objective is to survive. Please escape to safety as best you can.]
A Hunt Quest received by 3rd-Grade Summoner Go Woori.
[Hunt Blood Dagger]
[Your objective is to kill Blood Dagger, who has murdered all of your comrades. Take him down by any means necessary.]
Like other cities, the western city of Aia also shared the quests of its summoners. Of course, important or truly personal quests were not shared, but for quests related to Named Monsters or crises threatening the city, a preliminary report to the guild was mandatory. While the guild had no way of knowing the contents of a quest if the recipient kept their mouth shut, most summoners chose to report them in order to receive support from their guild or clan.
This was because the small quests received by individuals, when gathered, could form a larger clue that would undoubtedly help in dealing with the surrounding monsters.
In a way, this too was a form of cooperation.
There were a few other Named Monsters that had made their nests in the western city besides Green Goblin and Black Spear, but these days, the Blood Dagger Clan was certainly the most troublesome of the lot.
What could be gleaned from the quests brought in by the summoners was that their range of activity was incredibly wide. Unlike Green Goblin, who occasionally appeared in conflict zones, or Black Spear, who operated around Legius, the Blood Dagger Clan seemed to have no fixed destination.
They appeared without fail wherever humans capable of hunting could be found. They moved as if they knew the humans’ movements in advance, making finding them in the vast forest a true search for a needle in a haystack. It was a relief that the other Named Monsters were relatively quiet, but it was also true that this one had put a brake on Aia's development.
“Ugh…”
Choi Younghoon clutched his head and began to worry. The subjugation of Blood Dagger had definitely been on the agenda at the last meeting. Since they had inflicted no direct damage on the Saint Knights Order, the prevailing opinion had been to wait and see, so he had held back. But with the continuous harm to novice summoners, it was only natural that Choi Younghoon could not remain idle.
He even thought that if he weren't tied down by his position, he would want to participate in the subjugation himself.
But he couldn't ignore the opinion of the group. As Choi Younghoon saw it, the current Saint Knights Order was definitely a pool of stagnant water. The guild had been launched with the intention of stabilizing the West, but so much power had become concentrated within the Order that, recently, the mistakes made by its members were eating away at the city.
By focusing on recruiting the strong and expanding their size, they had neglected to strengthen their foundation. No, to be precise, it was more accurate to say they hadn't had the time to do so. It was only natural that Choi Younghoon, who had spent his entire life on the battlefield fending off external enemies, couldn't devote much time to the guild. Fortunately, the Sword Saint, Ha Yuri, whom he considered his successor, was stabilizing the guild, but it was merely putting out the most urgent fires.
For that reason, Choi Younghoon had been thinking about ‘reform’ for a long time. He anticipated backlash from the guild members who would be unable to accept sudden change, so the only ones who knew of this were his disciple, the Sword Saint, and himself.
The Saint Knights Order, which seemed to have forgotten that novice summoners were the driving force of a city's growth, needed to change.
Choi Younghoon slowly began to think of the Sword Saint. A genius comparable to, no, even greater than Cold Spear Han So-Hye.
Her character, which cherished beginners, went without saying, and she was growing so fast that her martial prowess was closely tailing his own. He could never forget her reaction when he had subtly hinted at his thoughts.
‘I was thinking the same thing recently, Master. You've made a good decision. I'm glad you told me.’
‘That’s a relief…’
‘There will probably be a lot of backlash. Culling most of the executives… could certainly be difficult. But please, leave it to me. It will probably work out just as you think.’
Recalling her voice brought a faint smile to his face. Leaving something behind in a place like this was, of course, an important thing. The smile came from the thought that he had left behind more on this land than just this guild. The Sword Saint was showing astonishing growth, both internally and externally. It was to the point where he thought he could retire once this matter was settled…
To Choi Younghoon, the Sword Saint was a reward for a life spent fighting for so long. To him, who had never remarried here because of his wife back on Earth, she was like a daughter. That was who the Sword Saint, Ha Yuri, was. If his own daughter on Earth had grown up healthy, she would probably be around Ha Yuri's age.
After organizing all the documents he had been reading, Choi Younghoon started to head outside. He had promised to have breakfast with Ha Yuri.
As he left his office, he saw members of the Saint Knights Order waiting for him, holding the guild's flag. A crest of a winged shield with swords crossed behind it.
He couldn't understand why he was suddenly reminded of when he first created this guild. The comrades who had founded the Saint Knights Order with him were already dead, so he had tried his best to suppress such thoughts, but for some reason, that flag kept catching his eye today.
“The Sword Saint is waiting inside.”
“Ugh… It seems I’ve kept her waiting.”
“Not at all.”
As he slowly entered the dining hall with the knights, he saw the Sword Saint, Ha Yuri. A girl so beautiful anyone would think so was there.
“You’re here, Master.”
“Did I keep you waiting?”
“Not at all. I just arrived myself.”
He suspected she had probably been waiting for quite a while. That was just the kind of child she was. Choi Younghoon smiled and sat down, and the Sword Saint also bowed her head and took her seat.
“Any new reports?”
“No, sir. It’s the same as always. The monsters are still running rampant… Oh! I heard that an Ogre named Goff has been causing quite a stir in the jungle recently. It seems the situation over there is similar to the monster here, Blood Dagger.”
“Many people must have died.”
“Yes. Probably…”
A brief silence fell over the dining hall. Soon, the food arrived and they began to eat, engaging in the same everyday conversation as always. How her life was these days, what she had been up to recently, whether she had a man she liked—it was the kind of ordinary conversation a father might have with his daughter.
“I have no intention of getting a boyfriend yet, Master. Protecting the guild is my priority right now.”
It was probably just words, but it was an endearing sentiment. She was undoubtedly thinking of the conversation they had last time. Choi Younghoon smiled once more at Ha Yuri’s words and spoke.
“I see. That’s right.”
“Master. Do you remember the day I first came here?”
“Of course. I remember it well… You were a child with great talent from the moment I first saw you.”
“Oh, come on… If it weren’t for you, Master, how could I have become this strong? Back then, you were truly like a hero to me. It’s embarrassing, but you were someone I looked up to.”
“Haha… Even if they’re just words, I thank you for them.”
Choi Younghoon certainly remembered those days. He still remembered the look on Ha Yuri’s face as she always gazed at him with eyes full of respect.
“But… why have you become so weak now?”
It came in an instant.
Faster than words, Ha Yuri’s holy sword struck. He didn't know when she had summoned it, but the holy sword was held firmly in her left hand. Naturally, Choi Younghoon tried to summon his magic, but his body wouldn't move.
‘Poison.’
He couldn't comprehend the situation at all. It was hard to understand why his own disciple was shoving a sword into his chest.
“Wh-What is this…”
“Did you think I’d clean up after you forever?”
Ha Yuri’s expression was one Choi Younghoon had never seen before.
“Why didn’t you just retire quietly? I would have at least treated you like a master then… Reform? What reform? Don’t be ridiculous.”
Stabbed by Ha Yuri’s sword, Choi Younghoon instinctively looked around, intending to ask the knights who had entered the dining hall with him for help. But they, too, were staring at him with cold, hardened expressions. Only then did he realize he had no allies here.
“D-Do you… kn-know… what you’re doing…?”
“Of course I do, Master. I’m protecting the guild, aren’t I? Or… am I in the process of becoming a queen? Heehee.”
“You… you…”
As he tried to speak, the holy sword pushed deeper. Blood continued to spurt from his mouth. Choi Younghoon could feel his body growing cold. Behind the Sword Saint who had betrayed him, he could see the flag of the Saint Knights Order.
It was the flag he had made with his comrades when they first came to this place. A flag that his disciple before him would now have to carry once he was dead. A flag that carried an unbearable weight. Choi Younghoon looked at Ha Yuri once more. His consciousness was growing dim. Various memories surfaced.
‘Master, have I improved a little?’
‘Master, thank you so much.’
Funnily enough, only good memories came to mind. Even as he was dying from betrayal, memories of the disciple he had cherished kept surfacing. Within those memories, his anger gradually faded.
In that moment… he realized that he had truly thought of Ha Yuri as family, like the daughter he had on Earth. Without realizing it, Choi Younghoon opened his mouth. Dying, he spoke.
“……”
“What?”
“I’m… sorry… my… my daughter…”
His vision blurred. No, it had now gone completely dark. Choi Younghoon fell silent right there. It was a miserable end, one completely unbefitting of the first Guild Master of the Saint Knights Order, a man who had performed countless heroic deeds.
“What are you talking about? You’re making me sick.”
Then, a voice filled with bewilderment echoed over his corpse.