The Archangel's Scouting Offer
Eliminating the threat (5). A contract with the angel in charge. Michael had finally revealed her true intentions. Of course, as someone who already knew everything, I tilted my head, pretending to be completely oblivious. "A contract? What are you talking about?" I even feigned ignorance at her nuanced attempt to probe me. "Didn't I already sign a contract with Estiel when I was first summoned here?"
"Ah, that's just the preliminary hero contract. A contract with a formal hero is something entirely different!" She was excited. Despite the fact that the person who could actually initiate such a contract was standing right next to us, Michael began pacing the room in high spirits, as if Estiel were nothing more than a piece of furniture.
"Actually, this conversation is supposed to happen only after you've cleared three stages and officially signed the hero contract... but I figured it would be better to give you a tip in advance. Hehehe."
"A tip, you say..."
"I recommend you listen, preliminary hero Yu Siwoo," Estiel said in as calm a voice as she could muster. "It is not often that an Archangel descends like this. In a way, this might be an opportunity you absolutely must seize."
"Our Estiel, you know your stuff."
Deep down, she probably wanted to scream, 'Don't you dare put your mark on the regressor I've already chosen!' but bowing her head to Michael, who had placed a hand on her shoulder, was all she could do.
"I am honored, Archangel. By any chance, what about the other preliminary heroes..."
"Ah, for now, just this friend."
Estiel was acting, showing a subtle sense of excitement as if to say, 'Among the tutorial heroes I manage, there is someone the Archangel has taken an interest in!' rather than acting like an angel whose performance was being snatched away right before her eyes.
"So, what I mean by an 'angel in charge' is..."
"Wait."
I cut Michael off. She looked a bit dumbfounded that I’d interrupted her, but Michael soon wore a bold smile. "Fine, what is it?"
"If this is only beneficial to me, I won't listen. I'd like for Shin Yuhee to hear this as well."
"Shin Yuhee?"
"The preliminary hero who fell here with me. Surely you don't mean to say you don't know her? Especially since you mentioned her yourself."
"Ah, did I...?"
Is she provoking me on purpose? Or does she just remember her as 'one of the women Yu Siwoo picked up'? Either way, it doesn't matter much. Michael thinks she’s the one orchestrating everything here as an Archangel, but she hasn't the slightest clue about the true intentions underlying the implicit agreements being made behind the scenes.
"Forget it. I don't want to call people over for no reason. If you really want to convey the information, you can have that side pass it on later. I’m a busy person, you know? Do you have any idea how many heroes are begging for my blessing?"
Michael refused my request, hands on her hips. At the same time, she appealed to how busy she was, subtly leaking the benefits of contracting with her.
"Begging for a blessing?"
"That is exactly the benefit of signing a contract with an Archangel. Hehehe."
"Would you like me to explain in your stead?" Estiel, who was currently 'working' (not really), stepped forward.
"Well... go ahead."
"Thank you. Preliminary hero Yu Siwoo. Once you achieve three victories and become a formal hero, you will be assigned an angel in charge. During that process, you can apply for a specific angel to be your handler, and Lady Michael is offering to grant you her blessing if you request her as your angel."
"What exactly is that blessing?"
"The most representative one is the Flame. It is the ability to conjure natural fire using divine power or mana."
"...Is that possible?"
Conjuring fire. Just as the 'use of fire' is cited as the catalyst for the full-scale development of human civilization, the mere ability to freely manipulate fire grants a hero immense power.
"Yes. It is possible. You can conjure fire even in places where it wouldn't naturally ignite, and in pitch-black darkness, you wouldn't need tools; simply by praying to Lady Michael, a light to illuminate the darkness would flare up. Naturally, if you use Lady Michael's mighty flames against monsters, no monster would be able to withstand them."
"Heh, hmph. Estiel? There's no need to go that far."
The way she was pouring out praise for her superior's abilities was on par with a Michael fanatic. Of course, despite the sycophantic words, Estiel's true feelings were likely closer to, 'Just go away already.'
"It is as Estiel says. To put it in terms you can easily understand... you become fire-attribute? You can enchant your attacks with flames? You can perform this level of Fire Style in a vacuum? Something like that."
"Where on earth did you pick up such expressions...?"
"I just borrowed some words from the heroes I am managing, or used to manage."
Michael crossed her arms and gave a bitter smile. Her gaze shifted slightly to the side, and she paused for a moment as if missing someone, before smiling again and opening her arms toward me.
"So, you really need to send me an offer, okay? It’s not common for an Archangel to talk like this. I don't know if a metaphor from your world will resonate, but this is like the chairman of a major conglomerate coming to scout you personally, you know?"
"......Understood. I will consider it."
Refusal.
"Really?!"
"Yes. Well... I don't know why you think so highly of me, but—"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Michael held up three fingers and flicked a halo ring over her head.
"You've obtained the blessings of the Great One three times, haven't you?"
"......What are you talking about?"
"Hey, don't play dumb, it's disappointing. There were exactly three times when Estiel's reporting communication was cut off, right?"
"......!!"
Estiel froze for a moment.
"There are time zones even I, an Archangel, cannot access. And the reason why Chekhov's Arena was issued a [Usage Prohibition Order] has become top-secret information that even I cannot access."
"Archangel Michael. That is—"
"Can you tell me? Can you tell me?"
"......."
"Seeing as our kind and capable Estiel won't tell me, there must be a reason. And I can guess at least two reasons for that..."
Michael looked at me and grinned.
"At least it's not just one. Hehehe."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Can't you speak in a way people can understand?"
"You want to understand? Then apply to me. It will never be a bad proposal for you."
Whoosh. She conjured flames, shaped them into a form, and swung it. A burning hand axe. I was slightly—no, very—tempted.
"Got it?"
"...Understood. Then, what happens to Park Changsoo now?"
"As per protocol, he will be placed in the Soul Repository."
"Can't he be destroyed?"
"...Excuse me, preliminary hero Yu Siwoo."
I threw the comment out to see if I could cross the line. Archangel Michael shook her head blatantly, as if to say, 'That's not it.'
"He treats all life equally, regardless of human good or evil. No matter how much you feel he deserves it for killing you once and throwing your companions into a brothel, from His perspective, he is just a poor soul who needs to be reformed and embraced in his next life."
"You think even such vomit-inducing trash can be rehabilitated? The Goddess?"
"Of course. All humans, no, all living things are like that. If there is only one existence that cannot be—it is the current Demon King."
Grind. Archangel Michael gnashed her teeth in fury.
"The Demon King seeks to dominate all life, no, all souls. That bastard—ah."
Whirrr. Michael's halo began to flicker. It shimmered with a red light, as if a smartphone screen were flashing with an incoming call, and Michael sighed and waved her hand.
"It seems there are kids on the battlefield looking for my blessing. Hero Yu Siwoo! You must contract with me, okay? You hear me?"
"I will consider it positively."
Whoosh! Without even being able to say anything else, Michael vanished along with the flames.
"......."
"......."
An awkward silence in a world dyed gray. We could have talked while holding our own colors, just the two of us, but—
"Congratulations, preliminary hero Yu Siwoo."
"What are you congratulating me for?"
"Your hero life is about to bloom. Receiving attention and blessings from Lady Michael means your chances of defeating the Demon King and returning to your original world have increased."
Still not dropping the act, she smiled with false words.
"Is that so. Then that is a relief."
I quietly clenched my hand, extending only my pinky finger. Estiel’s eyes widened in surprise, but she soon extended her pinky as well, pressed her thumb against her own body, and immediately released her hand.
"A sudden situation has unfolded, but... soon, time will begin to flow normally again."
Color slowly began to return to the gray-dyed world.
"About the King of Lampades—"
"Ah, don't worry about that. I will handle it all."
The King of Lampades? For me, I was just relieved to have dealt with the Archangel who had been keeping a close eye on me.
"It seems both the Desert King and the Archangel have tacitly agreed to the disposal of that trash, Park Changsoo."
* * *
Whoosh. Red flames flared in the empty brazier, and Michael appeared in the center of the temple, which shone brilliantly with platinum.
"Hmph, hrmm~"
Humming a tune, Michael picked up the disc placed in front of her.
"Hero Yu Siwoo. It's still a bit early, but... he's the perfect talent to fill this one empty seat."
Ten crystal orbs were embedded in the disc, and only one of them was faded and not glowing. Inside the other glowing orbs, colorful individuals were fighting demons in their own ways, and most of them were conjuring flames similar to Michael's hair color.
"Hero Yu Siwoo."
Michael stroked the empty spot with her hand, wearing a smile as if that empty seat would soon be filled.
"At first, I thought he was a regressor like [Death Regression]... but he had absolutely no skills related to regression. If he had been a regressor from the start, he wouldn't have committed the act of killing his own companions. Well, I stepped in to smooth it over, but other strict principle-followers are quite fussy."
Slide. Michael tossed the soul repository she was holding into the air, and soon the repository floated as if swimming through the air, then disappeared toward somewhere.
"......."
Michael looked at the disc. The crystal orbs reflected the figures of various men and women, each fighting in different places. Someone was facing a dragon, someone was wiping out an army of hundreds of undead, and someone else was scorching an Orc colony. There was one commonality. Everyone was enveloped in flames. And if there was one more, it was that they possessed overwhelming power.
"The strongest hero."
Michael smiled, fiddling with the empty seat.
"If one is to be called the strongest hero, it is only natural to harbor my blessing."