Chapter 147
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 147
Chapter Title: Are You Asking Because You Don't Know?
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The long night had finally come to an end.
After the Liberation Brigade's specters were purged.
Hotel Leviathan and the Black Dragon Clan's affiliates were even busier than before the attack.
They were repairing the shattered lobby and other facilities, filling the gaps left by casualties, preparing new events to normalize their sluggish businesses, and more.
There was simply too much to do as the Seven Dragon Group before they were the Seven Dragon Society.
The busiest place of all was Guardian.
They had led the defense of the affiliates this time, so there was plenty to clean up and verify.
On top of that, sign-up requests for the Guardian system flooded in from the remaining domestic affiliates and even those on the mainland.
For Wayling, Guardian's sole full-time employee, it was to the point where she might collapse from overwork.
Still, the fact that she handled most of it working overtime alone was a testament to her capabilities.
"...Where the hell is that damn CEO slacking off in this mess?"
Of course, she spent the entire time cursing the representative who hadn't shown his face once.
Thanks to their efforts, the Black Dragon Clan's affiliates quickly returned to normal.
So much so that those eyeing the chaos to expand their influence found it regrettable.
Not all affiliates were like that, though.
Those that suffered too much damage couldn't normalize on their own and had to rely on Hotel Leviathan's support.
"This is really unexpected."
"What is?"
"I had no idea the Sword Duke was this talented at paperwork too."
"...Are you mocking me right now?"
"No, I'm dead serious."
Rimon scowled as he briskly flipped through the stack of documents.
That's why Li Chingwei murmured in admiration while watching him.
"Even our Seven Dragon Society's experts couldn't process this many documents this quickly."
"That's just because their dynamic vision and reflexes are inferior to mine. This is simple sorting work."
"Sorting is still legitimate paperwork, you know?"
"Yeah, right."
Rimon clicked his tongue as he organized the disastrously piled documents by type, affiliate, priority, and timeline, pulling out duplicates and misfiles.
They wouldn't usually be this sloppy with processing.
It was because the entire clan's affiliates were focused on post-attack cleanup, so the documents came in haphazardly.
'Reminds me of sorting paperwork on the battlefield.'
The good news was that no matter how jumbled they were, they got sorted in the blink of an eye once they passed through Rimon's hands.
Of course, it was just basic work even a newbie could do.
His speed was insane, though.
With his freakish physical abilities, he sorted at the pace of a hundred newbie employees alone—that was reason enough for Li Chingwei's awe.
Even so, Rimon couldn't take the praise at face value for one reason.
Li Chingwei, who was processing the sorted documents as fast as he handed them over.
"What the hell is your brain wired like to handle this at that speed?"
"I've got a grasp on all the Black Dragon Clan's business flows. I just need to read the key parts."
"Isn't the fact that you've memorized all those flows the abnormal part? Or is that just me?"
"Must be your imagination."
She replied as if it were no big deal, casually marking errors in the documents.
Rimon stuck out his tongue watching her.
Wayling's processing skills were impressive, but Li Chingwei's ability to smile sweetly while breezing through a mountain of paperwork was on another level entirely.
[...Why does the god create monster couples like this to give all humanity across the worlds an inferiority complex?]
"I've slain gods before, but I don't recall being made by one."
"Our founder is a dragon, you know?"
[Yeah, yeah. Sure.]
Of course, to Yuna Kyung—who was just an ordinary baby bird—the two looked like infuriating talent monsters.
'In normal novels, reincarnators always get OP cheats and steamroll everything, so why am I just a normal chicken... no, bluebird?'
She grumbled inwardly like that, but when another stack of documents flew in via spatial movement,
Rimon's communicator buzzed.
[Sword Duke, the guest you mentioned earlier has arrived.]
"Hm? Already?"
[Yes. They seem exhausted, so I've brought them straight to the reception room.]
"Got it. On my way."
After receiving Youin's message,
Rimon stood up immediately and turned to Li Chingwei.
"What about you, Princess?"
"Is it that person's business?"
"Yeah. Might be better if you came too."
She pondered briefly after hearing that.
But Li Chingwei soon shook her head.
"I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"That side's work is already sorted anyway. Just some routine checks left."
She didn't have time to waste on minor cleanup with mountains of work piling up.
Stamping a document with a crisp thwack, Li Chingwei smiled and added,
"Besides, it feels like something the Sword Duke should wrap up personally rather than me."
"Alright, then. I'll be back."
[Ah, me! I'll come too!]
Rimon didn't press further.
He just scooped up the flapping-winged Yuna Kyung and strode off.
To meet the guest waiting in Hotel Leviathan's reception room.
After all, him helping with paperwork uncharacteristically was just killing time until this guest arrived.
"Well, well, you've arrived."
"No need to stand. Stay seated."
Rimon waved lightly to stop the man struggling to rise from his wheelchair in greeting.
Then, after eyeing the man's state, he spoke bluntly.
"Felt it back then too, but... your life's tenacity is something else. Didn't expect even a Grandmaster-level expert to survive that."
"It's all thanks to the Sword Duke's grace."
"Save the flattery. You know better than anyone, Wang Ginaeng, that I had no intention of saving you."
Arms severed from the shoulders and elbows.
Bandages wrapping half his face.
Plaster casts around his legs.
The mustached middle-aged man, looking less like a critical patient and more like a corpse, was Wang Ginaeng.
He grinned at Rimon's words.
"Intentions don't matter. The result is that I'm alive thanks to the Sword Duke."
"Skip the bootlicking and get to the point."
"Understood."
Even a Grandmaster would suffer immense mental and physical torment in that state.
Yet he seemed utterly numb to pain.
Wang Ginaeng chuckled and nodded with his chin.
His escorting warrior handed over a small box at his signal, and he spoke.
"Please accept this."
"What's this?"
"The entirety of the Shanghai Wang Clan's assets, shares, and a blood oath pledging our retainers' loyalty."
[Ack?!]
Yuna Kyung jolted in surprise.
Even as a lesser branch of the Black Dragon Clan, the Shanghai Wang Clan boasted centuries of tradition and immense wealth as a prestigious house.
Wang Ginaeng offering their entire fortune was utterly shocking and bewildering.
But Rimon wasn't surprised.
He just spoke calmly.
"Offering your whole fortune as a bribe just to beg for your life? Things must be pretty dire."
"Someone has to take responsibility for this incident."
"And your clan—handling initial investigations yet providing no help, only massive damage—makes the perfect scapegoat?"
"Self-inflicted wounds."
They could've glossed over it without the fanfare of capturing Ryu Gangcheol, but greed ruined them.
After eyeing the grinning Wang Ginaeng for a moment,
Rimon asked bluntly.
"Why offer this to me instead of the princess?"
"To her, our clan is a disposable eyesore. To you, Sword Duke, we're a sturdy piggy bank."
"So you see me as a sucker to diligently protect your asses?"
"Perish the thought. We simply trust in the Sword Duke's righteousness."
"It's my desperation you're banking on, not righteousness."
Rimon smirked.
After repelling the Liberation Brigade's assault,
Li Chingwei's standing in the Black Dragon Clan had shifted dramatically.
Those who once dismissed her as the fool who ruined the clan now scrambled with every trick to catch her eye.
Rimon's situation was different.
Fewer looked down on him, but more kept their distance, wary.
Unlike their princess Li Chingwei, Rimon was the Seven Dragon Society's sworn enemy from the start.
No matter his role in defending the clan this time, they revered his power but couldn't trust him.
In that light, Wang Ginaeng's proposal was tempting.
The Shanghai Wang Clan was still a prestigious house.
Taking them whole would give Rimon forces to command like limbs.
"Finding the one who'd buy a doomed house like yours at top dollar in this mess? You've got sharp instincts."
"Our clan rose to prestige on keen eyes alone."
Wang Ginaeng grinned, taking it as acceptance.
Rimon told him flatly,
"Don't get excited. I acknowledged your instincts, not that I'm accepting your pathetic offer."
"...What do you mean?"
"Are you asking because you don't know? Or because you wish you didn't?"
Perhaps because it was so unexpected.
As if doubting his own ears,
Rimon demonstrated clearly for the baffled Wang Ginaeng.
"I don't need this crap."
"...!"
Slash.
After Rimon's sword cleaved the air,
Wang Ginaeng froze as the box split in two and hit the floor.
Rimon's casual destruction of what amounted to the Shanghai Wang Clan's entirety wiped the smirk from the face that had grinned even facing death.
"...May I hear the reason?"
"Nothing grand. Just that there are sharper wits than yours in this world."
As Rimon murmured lowly, the reception room door opened, and a masked figure entered.
Wang Ginaeng swallowed a gasp inadvertently.
Not because his escorting warrior had silently swapped with the masked figure without orders.
It was the item the masked figure held.
A box identical to the one Rimon just sliced—but several times larger—that froze him solid.
Rimon took it in one hand for Wang Ginaeng to see clearly.
Unlike the light one he'd slashed, he placed the hefty box on his knee and tapped it with his fingers before speaking lowly.
"Wang Ginaeng. After getting that treatment for seeing me as a fool, what arrogance makes you still try to use me?"