The Saint of Los Angeles
The Saint of Los Angeles.
The moment I laid eyes on Sophia, I swallowed hard.
A chill raced down my spine. Every fine hair on my body stood on end. All five senses blared a warning.
Didn't they say she was a Saint?
"That footwork. No matter how I look at it, she doesn't seem like a cleric."
Hmm. About that.
Sophia's epithet might be "Saint," but her class wasn't a supporter. She was a Paladin—a dual class that combined the abilities of a warrior and a priest. Her creed was something like, If you eliminate the enemy that needs healing, it's healing either way, wasn't it? She was the type who poured holy power into her main weapon, a warhammer, and smashed monsters to pulp. Most of the YouTube videos of Sophia's exploits had more mosaic-blurred sections than not.
It seems this world's concept of a Saint is different.
That's not it. She's just unique. Could you please refrain from hasty generalizations?
Click—click—
My senses, sharpened by the Heavenly Martial Body, issued a warning. It felt different from when I'd faced Director Jeong Seungil. Their hunter ranks were probably the same. But because she carried an aura that was the natural enemy of the necromancer class, she felt threatening.
"Master."
Ingrid stepped forward, her wariness plain to see.
"It's fine."
No need to put up our guard against someone here for a business meeting. Even if her holy power made me tense, that warhammer of hers that had crushed monsters wasn't about to cave in the top of my skull. Relax.
The distance closed. A glint of interest flickered across Sophia's eyes.
"My. How fascinating."
Her blue eyes settled on Ingrid.
"She seems like an undead, yet I can sense vitality."
"Hmph. I am Ingrid, a creation of my great Master."
"A creation?"
Sophia's gaze darted left and right. Ahem, ahem—clearing his throat, CEO Baek stepped forward.
"Welcome to Korea."
"Oh my. I'm sorry. What a rude first impression."
"It's quite all right."
"I'd heard Mr. Park's summons were something special, but this is off the charts."
Was it because she was a Paladin? Director Jeong Seungil had simply taken Ingrid for a summon when he saw her. Sophia, on the other hand, took a keen interest.
"I know I'm pretty, but staring so openly is a bit much."
"Oh my. How amusing. I don't think I lose out in that department either, you know."
"Is that so?"
Ingrid's eyes raked over Sophia. A moment later, she smirked—the smile of a victor. Sophia took a step back.
Why. What's with this atmosphere.
"Isn't this Mr. Park's handiwork?"
"This is how I looked in life."
"You have an excellent summon, Mr. Park."
"Thank you."
I'm grateful for the compliment, but… I feel like the point is a little off. Must be my imagination?
"I came intending to chat with Representative Baek, but I'm grateful you joined us as well."
"I personally escorted him here."
The way CEO Baek emphasized personally definitely wasn't my imagination. Everyone knew the real purpose of this meeting was me.
Whew. I'm nervous. After the domestic Big Five, now an offer from GGG, called the overlord of the American West. The Saint of Los Angeles herself had crossed the ocean. Expectation and tension crossed as I wondered what would be said.
A cafe on the western side of Yeongjong Island. Beyond the windows, the coastline stretched out below. It looked like the kind of place that would be popular as an SNS hotspot, yet for some reason not a single other person was there. Thanks to that, we could use the spacious cafe as if we'd rented the whole place.
"Business must not be great today."
Tough break for the owner. But it did make conversation that much easier.
"We reserved the entire place for our meeting with Mr. Park."
"……"
Shit. Never mind.
So this was the scale of GGG, the guild that vied for first in the American West. When I'd met with CEO Baek before, we'd also rented a whole cafe. But that had been one floor, and only part of it at that. We hadn't taken over an entire spacious three-story place like this.
"May I take your order?"
The owner himself came over to our group.
"Your most famous item."
"I'll have an iced Americano."
"An Americano for me as well."
"Orange juice."
Having taken everyone's orders, the owner headed for the counter.
"Allow me to introduce myself once more. I am Baek Seonghyeon, CEO of Seungcheon Agency."
"A pleasure. I'm Sophia of GGG."
Now it finally felt like a business meeting. You know how it is in novels—masking true intentions with complicated rhetoric, negotiating fiercely so neither side takes a loss.
Mir was like that too.
Ah. That guy had been a bit shady as well. He'd have his team leader say the unpleasant things while he only spouted the nice ones. I'd decided to leave the first half of the meeting to the CEO, so I was just going to watch the show…
"I'll cut to the chase. Mr. Park, interested in working with us?"
Guh. Cough.
Good thing the drinks hadn't come out yet. If I'd been drinking when I heard that, I might have sprayed it everywhere.
CEO Baek wore a subtle smile.
"I didn't expect you to be so direct."
"Come on. We're all professionals here. Why bother?"
"As you know, Hunter Park is affiliated with our agency."
"We made an investment offer last time, didn't we?"
"I don't believe you would have made this precious trip over a matter that's already settled."
Whoa. Scary. CEO Baek, you're smiling, but it feels like you've got a knife on your tongue.
"I probed, and you're not taking the bait."
"Even if an elephant steps lightly, the ant still dies."
"Oh my. What a lovely example. I'll have to use that on the Master."
"I do hope you've prepared a proposal that will be of help to Hunter Park."
CEO Baek, always looking out for my interests. Thank you. Overwhelmingly thank you!
"GGG wants to establish a partner company in Asia."
A partner company? I wasn't sure what that meant.
"It means treating you as equals, not as a subcontractor or an investment target."
Thank you, Baek Doraemon! But one question arose. To form a partnership with GGG, wouldn't you need to be at least at the level of Korea's Big Five?
"Well, that's the setup, I suppose."
"The setup?"
"They want to form a connection with Hunter Park, but since the investment was rejected, they're pulling out a different pretext."
Aha. Heh heh heh heh.
It felt like only yesterday that Director Jeong Seungil had hyped me up as the next SS-class. Now a global guild vying for first or second in the American West was proposing a partnership. Not even with an organization—just looking at me as an individual.
Uh. Ummm. The lack of realism left me dazed.
"I'd like to hear the terms."
That's our CEO Baek for you. I believed in you!
"We'll keep the thirty million dollar investment as is."
"Our agency has no need for that kind of money."
"We're talking about being GGG's partner company, after all."
"For the time being, we plan to devote all our efforts to caring for Hunter Park."
"You could use it to purchase equipment."
"Hunter Park's growth rate is rapid. Buying mediocre items would only hasten the replacement cycle."
So that's how the conversation went. Come to think of it, all my undead used weapons I'd crafted myself. Items made of bone had high efficiency when used. My two retainers did use a few priest items, but thirty million dollars—about fifty billion won—wasn't something we'd pour entirely into that.
"Is there anything else you'd like?"
"Hunter Park is a necromancer and a blacksmith at the same time."
CEO Baek clicked his glasses up with a light push.
"Priority supply of necessary monster byproducts. With that condition, we would consider cooperation with GGG."
Oh. Not a bad condition. When I'd risen to C-class, the types of byproducts I could handle without penalty had increased. Thanks to that, the performance of the Armed Zombie Warriors had been enhanced. If a massive guild like GGG supplied monster byproducts, undead crafting experiments would become that much easier.
A brief silence.
"Your orders are ready."
The drinks arriving broke the flow of conversation.
"Shall we take a little tea time?"
Sophia smiled brightly.
From the moment she'd arrived at Incheon International Airport, Sophia had been receiving one of the few shocks of her hunter life.
Is it possible to possess the natures of both human and undead at once?
Being GGG's Executive Director didn't mean she'd stepped away from fieldwork. She needed to crush monster skulls with her massive warhammer—no, she needed to visit the field to maintain her combat instincts.
In seventeen years, I've never seen an undead like that.
Ingrid was special. She was also curious what reaction Ingrid would show when exposed to holy power. Naturally, her expectations for the hunter who'd created the undead—Minho—had grown as well.
But Minho's abilities weren't limited to necromancy.
He's reading my presence.
Muscles and breathing. Down to every single fine hair. He maintained an appropriate state of tension, ready to react to her actions. That wasn't something you could do consciously. Sharply honed senses. You needed to be at least an A-class warrior-type hunter to react to formless pressure. Or be born with innate talent.
Is he not a necromancer?
Impossible. That Minho's main force was undead summons was something she'd confirmed multiple times. Just looking at the summon sipping juice right in front of her made that clear. A dual-nature holder of undead and human. Even in the vast data GGG had accumulated over decades, there was no such heterogeneous monster.
A dual talent as necromancer and warrior?
Sophia bit her lip hard. A laugh escaped. Jackpot.
Seeing him in person, this guy is a monster.
She understood the choice of Director Jeong Seungil, the hunter renowned as the Executioner. Necromancers were masters of one-versus-many—powerful irregulars competing for first or second among summoner classes. But he had warrior talent on top of that? Looking again after seeing him react to her presence, it seemed he'd invested quite a bit in his physical abilities as well.
Even a necromancer's weaknesses don't apply.
The weakness of summoner-type ability users was the ability user themselves. Their defense was weak, and the skills to compensate for it were a step lacking. Especially necromancers—due to dealing with corpses and being weak to holy power—were forced into solo play. But Minho seemed to possess the martial power to take care of his own body. Meaning he could turn a necromancer's weaknesses into strengths instead.
He could even use tactics of putting himself out as bait.
This really was an incredible guy. Even if GGG had to take some losses, he was someone with whom they absolutely had to build a cooperative relationship.
In a few years, the landscape of the East Asian hunter industry will completely change.
This meeting had been far too satisfying. Representative Baek's proposal was also sufficiently reasonable.
With someone like that attached, I won't get stabbed in the back.
It was annoying that he was milking them to a reasonable degree. But having an outstanding supporter at his side was Minho's good fortune, wasn't it?
Having finished all her calculations, Sophia smiled brightly.
"All right. I'll accept those terms."