Chapter 323: Nothingness
Chapter 323: Nothingness
“You scared me! Why are you suddenly screaming?!”
“You… you… are you… insane?”
“What was that? ‘You’? ‘Insane’? Since when did you start talking so casually to me….”
As Park Dayeon shrieked, Yeon Hyerim instinctively covered her ears and frowned. Her eyes blazed at the ensuing tirade and her eyebrows shot up, but her words trailed off as soon as she saw Park Dayeon’s face.
A complex and subtle emotion was clearly visible on Park Dayeon’s face. As if embarrassed by the situation, Yeon Hyerim just blinked a few times before stammering.
“No… I really didn’t say much. It’s just that we were close back at the Academy….”
“…What exactly did you say? Tell me exactly.”
“Just that when he gets back to the city, he should bring the Vagabonds to our clan… and that a Call to Arms is being held soon, so he should attend….”
Yeon Hyerim’s answer drew a heavy sigh from Park Dayeon. But as if there was no time to waste, she quickly lifted her head and began racing up the stairs. Left alone, Yeon Hyerim watched her with an awkward expression before slowly following.
Park Dayeon had run to Han Soyoung’s office. She threw the door open without knocking and, upon entering, immediately began to tattle on Yeon Hyerim’s misdeeds.
Han Soyoung, annoyed by the lack of a knock, initially wore a displeased expression. But as the tattling continued, her face slowly changed until it finally settled on an expression of ‘flustered.’ It was an emotion she had rarely shown since gaining the True Name ‘Iron-Blooded Queen.’
After hearing the whole story, Han Soyoung let out a faint sigh and put down the records she was holding. She looked at Yeon Hyerim, who was hesitantly entering from outside the door, and spoke quietly.
“Yeon Hyerim. Is what Dayeon is saying true?”
“…Well, it’s just that.”
“Is it true?”
“…Yes.”
Han Soyoung pressed both hands to her forehead. She kneaded her temples for a moment before continuing in a voice thick with fatigue.
“You really are… How can you be so foolish…? I have so much to do already, why do you keep making more work for me… huh?”
“I… I really didn’t mean any harm….”
Only then did Yeon Hyerim seem to realize the gravity of the situation. She glanced at the pile of records on Han Soyoung’s desk and mumbled in a barely audible voice.
Strictly speaking, the meaning behind Yeon Hyerim’s actions wasn’t wrong. The rules were the rules. The trial for the Vagabonds was overseen by the representative clan, and given the current situation, it was advisable for the Mercenary Clan to participate in the Call to Arms.
However, it’s not what you say, but how you say it. In short, it was a matter of method. There was a minimum level of procedure that had to be observed between parties.
The most crucial point here was that the Mercenary Clan was not a subordinate clan of Istantel Low Clan; it was a Free Mercenary Clan. No, you wouldn’t even treat a subordinate clan this way. No matter the rules or the circumstances, the primary rights concerning the Vagabonds and the decision to participate in the Call to Arms were the exclusive authority of the Mercenary Clan, which no one could infringe upon.
To sum it up, Yeon Hyerim’s actions were a case of relying on the flimsy friendship they’d shared at the Academy to completely ignore all necessary procedures. From Mercenary’s perspective, it was an act they could find deeply offensive, an incredible discourtesy.
“What should we do?” Park Dayeon asked in a weak voice.
Yeon Hyerim, who had been cautiously watching until then, carefully replied.
“I know I was wrong. So, shouldn’t we just apologize? He didn’t seem like such a petty person.”
“There you go again. What kind of trouble are you going to cause this time…? If only you used half the brain you use in battle for everyday life…. Anyway, apologizing is the obvious first step, but just you try apologizing like that.”
Though it was a perfectly reasonable thing to say, Park Dayeon shook her head with a sarcastic tone. Yeon Hyerim’s actions and words were so unpredictable that she was far too anxious to leave this in her hands.
A brief silence fell. Han Soyoung removed her hands from her forehead, as if her throbbing headache had subsided a little. She looked at the two of them standing there anxiously and quietly opened her mouth.
*
I wasn’t particularly surprised to hear that we had our first visitor. Some users had shown a deep interest in Mercenary on our way back, so I thought it might be Jo Seungwoo or Koo Yeji.
However, the employee told me a client had arrived. With the Western Continent’s invasion underway, a request was honestly unexpected. But it piqued my interest all the same, so I quickly adjourned the meeting and asked the employee to lead the way.
Soon, I was guided into the reception room, where I saw a female user dressed in a neat robe. The moment she lifted her head and looked at me, I froze for a second.
“Hello!”
“Ah, yes. Hello.”
I knew who she was. Not from this second playthrough, of course, but from the first.
“Are you by any chance the Mercenary Lord?”
“Yes. I am Kim Soohyun, the Mercenary Lord.”
“Aha~. You’re younger than I expected. Anyway, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Hyeon Seunghee, the Lord of the Starlight Clan.”
With an energetic smile, Hyeon Seunghee abruptly extended her hand. Though I shook it out of reflex, I still hadn’t figured out why she was here. I didn’t remember the details, but I knew that, at the very least, the Starlight Clan wasn’t supposed to be active in the south at this time.
A flurry of questions arose in my mind. In any case, I would find out by listening, so I gestured for Hyeon Seunghee to take a seat and sat down across from her.
“I heard you have a request.”
“That’s right. Ah, am I by any chance your first client?”
“No, you are not.”
“Aw, that’s a shame.”
Hyeon Seunghee showed a genuinely disappointed expression before leisurely crossing her legs. She clasped her hands, placed them on her exposed thighs, and continued with a bright smile.
“Mercenary Lord, do you happen to know anything about me?”
“Yes. To some extent… I know you as the only user to have tamed a unicorn.”
“Yes. But I’m not the only one anymore, am I? Another user who tamed a unicorn appeared a while ago.”
She was clearly talking about me. It had been a while since I brought the baby unicorn back, so it made sense that rumors had spread throughout the region. In any case, I had a feeling this was related to the baby unicorn. I nodded for her to continue, and Hyeon Seunghee began her story with an alluring smile.
The Starlight Clan was originally a subordinate clan active in the western general city of Halo and was one of the many clans that participated in the Steel Mountains expedition. However, the expedition’s failure resulted in massive losses, and Hyeon Seunghee herself had barely escaped with her life thanks to her unicorn’s help. While she was struggling to recover her clan’s strength, the Western Continent’s invasion began. After Bess and Dorothy fell so easily, she became determined to leave Halo.
“So you withdrew from being a subordinate clan of SSUN?”
“Pretty much. Honestly, there wasn’t a single thing I liked about them after the expedition. First, they brought in a ton of new users under the guise of a ‘User Development Plan’ and made us clean up their messes. Then, Bess and Dorothy sent all those requests for aid, and they just cut off the Warp Gate. And now they’re heading straight for Halo, aren’t they? They call us in for so-called strategy meetings every day, but nothing ever gets better. So I abandoned my base and everything else and fled to Monica. I really felt like I was going to die if I stayed there any longer.”
Hyeon Seunghee grumbled at an incredible speed, as if she had an enormous amount of pent-up frustration.
“Anyway, you can call me a coward, but please try to see it from my side. There are a lot of users like me right now. How bad must things have been for us to do this?”
“I don’t think you’re a coward,” I replied clearly, looking at her.
Right now, I wanted to ask about the situation in the western cities and other things, but judging by her expression, she didn’t seem to want to talk about it anymore.
“Anyway, I’ll get to the actual request now. To be honest, it’s not much of a request, but the Mercenary Clan is the only place I can turn to.”
“I assume this is about the baby unicorn.”
“I like people who catch on quickly. You’re right. I mentioned earlier that I survived the Steel Mountains expedition thanks to my unicorn, right? At the end, my unicorn helped me even while sustaining a major injury. Thankfully, we both made it back alive, and I was able to treat its wounds. But ever since then, the poor thing has been completely listless.”
Hyeon Seunghee seemed to genuinely cherish her unicorn, as a shadow fell over her smiling face for the first time.
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but unicorns are emotionally sensitive animals. I’m not sure if it’s because it saw the clan members who cared for it die, or if it simply can’t forget that sight. In any case, I was able to heal its physical wounds, but I can’t see any way to heal its emotional ones. That’s why I want to let it meet the unicorn you have here at Mercenary.”
“You want to find a way to treat it by having it meet the baby unicorn.”
“Yes. Unicorns have a very strong bond with their own kind, right? I thought that if the two of them met, maybe some new reaction might occur.”
There was certainly logic to her words, so I nodded slowly. Taking my reaction as acceptance, Hyeon Seunghee suddenly changed her demeanor. She was wearing clothes that were slightly revealing, though not excessively so. Clasping her hands together, she leaned forward slightly to reveal her cleavage and spoke with a desperate expression.
“So. As fellow users who have tamed unicorns, I’m asking for your help. Can’t you help me just this once, as if you’re saving one poor soul?”
At some point, her ‘request’ had turned into a ‘plea.’ Hyeon Seunghee certainly had a pretty face and a good figure. Her seduction skills were also top-notch. However, I already had Ko Yeonju, who was basically the final boss when it came to that sort of thing. So, with a very relaxed heart, I was able to answer calmly.
“I understand how you feel. Moreover, you came all this way to make a request, so I have no intention of refusing. As long as the compensation is certain, I will gladly accept the request.”
In that instant, I saw Hyeon Seunghee’s face fall into a pout. I smiled to myself.
*
The Clan House had been incredibly busy lately. As if they had read my mind during the meeting a few days ago about moving quickly, the clan members’ actions could only be described as swift. The tasks I had assigned were being carried out one by one.
The Clan House I was looking at now saw frequent traffic from the Residents. Jung Hayeon had drawn up an estimate in a single day and immediately went to the Residents who had built the Clan House to request the construction work. Not long after, she brought me the blueprints and the necessary costs for the project, which I approved on the spot. As a result, construction had begun yesterday. It was the kind of clean, efficient work I’d come to expect from Jung Hayeon.
I calmly watched the Residents moving between the lobby and the basement, then happened to look up at the rooftop. Since we couldn’t keep the Vagabonds locked up during construction, we had temporarily moved them there.
As it happened, Ko Yeonju, who was guarding the Vagabonds, was also looking down and our eyes met. I waved back at her as she waved gently, then turned and entered the Clan House, heading for the third floor.
Upon entering the third-floor warehouse, I could see equipment laid out all the way into the hallway, each piece with an Goods Appraisal scroll attached. Ahn Hyun, the old man, Shin Sangyong, and Baek Hangyul were so busy organizing the equipment that they didn’t even notice my arrival.
After watching the scene with a pleased heart for a while, I turned to head to my office. I considered stopping by the workshop since I hadn’t seen Vivian much lately, but I was worried I would just be a distraction if I showed up unannounced.
Finally arriving at my fourth-floor office, I sat down in my desk chair and sank into thought. Everything was proceeding without a hitch. It seemed all the tasks would be completed soon, so it was time to start thinking about my next move.
Just as I took out a record and a quill pen, intending to briefly summarize the future events that were to come…
Knock, knock.
“Oppa! Are you in there? Oppa!”
Along with the knocking, I heard Lee Yoojung’s voice desperately calling for me.
“Come in.”
As soon as I gave permission, the door flew open, revealing Lee Yoojung with a strangely urgent look on her face. She walked quickly toward me and spoke immediately.
“Oppa. It’s a disaster.”
Lee Yoojung had been having a lot of fun as my attendant lately. At first, I had made her my attendant simply so she could be near me, but she was surprisingly competent, and I was quite impressed. However, even a diamond has its flaws, and she had one drawback. She had a habit of saying it was a disaster over the smallest things.
“Hm? What is it?”
I placed the record I had just taken out on the desk and asked back, leisurely twirling the quill pen. Lee Yoojung swallowed hard and spoke in a panicked voice.
“Someone from the Istantel Low Clan is here. And it’s the Clan Lord herself.”