The Monarch's European Boot Camp
“I’ll have the results for you real soon~!”
Amelia bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle.
Something… something big must have happened.
Just look at her eyes.
She’s completely lost it.
I briefly wondered if I should stop her, but the Rayden Company employees all wore the exact same expression, so I didn’t have the heart to butt in.
They’re all insane. No doubt about it.
I need to get out of here!
After successfully(?) finishing the meeting, I returned to the hotel.
Whew.
This really is a terrifying neighborhood.
In the hotel lobby, my party was huddled together, waiting for me.
“Did everyone finish their assignments properly?”
“Of course!”
“What do you take us for, Master?”
Jiyoung and Ping Lei answered with proud, confident voices.
“But your outfits are pretty flashy.”
“We got bored while resting, so we figured we might as well train.”
“There’s blood on your knee.”
“What?! I wiped it off in a hurry!”
“Just kidding.”
What?
They trained on their own?
It was obvious they’d heard I took the private jet and rushed straight into clearing a gate.
If I hadn’t scheduled the visit to Rayden Company, they probably wouldn’t have even finished the gate raid.
When I gave Hyung-nim a meaningful look, he chuckled.
“We don’t know when you’ll come back to New York again. Hehe.”
He subtly avoided my gaze.
Even you, Hyung-nim!
Tsk.
Since Hyung-nim was covering for them like this, it felt awkward to press the issue any further.
“You cleared it properly, right?”
“Naturally, Master.”
Looking at his smug face, there didn’t seem to be any lies.
Fine.
As long as they finished the assignment in time, that was enough. No point nitpicking.
Cramming is a perfectly valid study method, after all.
“Everyone, go wash up and pack your things.”
“Are we heading back to Korea now?”
“We’re going to Germany.”
“Ugh. Germany.”
Jiyoung grumbled with the face of someone who’d bitten into a bug.
“That place only makes me think of gates.”
“Everything we did was for the peace and safety of the people.”
“Who said anything against that? I’m just saying it was exhausting.”
“This time, you can drink as much beer and eat as many sausages as you want.”
“For real?”
“I’ll give you plenty of free time.”
“Yay! I love you, Master!”
I reject that love.
At Jiyoung’s rapid-fire words, Enrique flinched in surprise.
You… don’t tell me…
“No beer for you.”
“Huh?”
“Enrique. You’re a minor.”
“W-why are you suddenly coming after me?!”
“You got nervous the moment beer was mentioned, didn’t you? I’m here in place of your parents, so behave yourself.”
Always trying to sneak things.
Back in my day, I didn’t touch a single drop of alcohol until I graduated high school.
Soju has such a high alcohol content it’s basically medicine, right?
That’s not alcohol. It’s medicine.
The neighborhood elders all called it medicine and gave it to me.
So yeah, it’s medicine. End of story.
“Jiyoung, you keep an eye on Enrique and make sure he doesn’t drink.”
“Huh? We can’t give him any?”
Aish. Goddamn it.
“Want to taste a sparring session?”
“Since when did sparring become a threat?”
“I’ve never done that.”
Exactly.
Why would you interpret a match meant to improve one’s skills as a threat?
You kids are the ones who are twisted.
That’s why you need to keep a pure heart at all times.
—There’s no end to your sophistry.
Pfft. The goddess burst into laughter.
Teacher, whose side are you on?
—I am on the side of truth.
That line has a separate copyright holder. Did you get permission?
“If I catch you next time, I won’t let it slide.”
“Yessir.”
Jiyoung, please don’t get caught.
If I see it with my own eyes, I’ll gladly schedule a hundred sparring matches for you.
Three days later.
Frankfurt Airport, Germany.
This was the airport I’d come to after uprooting the Qlippoth forces in Algeria, intending to give Rene a good poke in the ribs.
It had been quite a while, yet the airport layout felt familiar, leaving me with a strange feeling.
—In terms of actual time passed, it hasn’t been that long.
Every single day had been so spectacular that it felt like a lot more time had gone by.
When I actually thought about it, only about three months had passed.
Anyway.
“Lord Jinho!”
Who the hell put him up to this?
⊳ He was waving an enormous banner that read [Welcome to Germany, Yu Jinho — Savior of Paris].
⊳ The text was written entirely in Korean.
“Pfft. Master, you even have fans. I’m genuinely jealous.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“But why didn’t they make this much of a fuss last time?”
“I told them to focus solely on climbing the Tower.”
Marco Hofman was a guaranteed jackpot lottery ticket if you scratched him.
After all, not just anyone could become a High Ranker.
The first time I met him in this life was during the promotion match.
I’d told him to build up his strength in preparation for when the Yeokcheon Guild began operating in Europe.
But the Great Collapse in France happened much earlier than in my previous life, so I couldn’t give him proper support.
This time, I needed to thoroughly temper—no, train—this guy and turn him into a proper European Ranker.
That way, managing the European branch would become much easier, right?
Jiyoung dabbed a single drop of water onto the corner of her eye.
“Mr. Marco. I pray for your soul.”
“Such a pitiful soul, taken in by sweet words. Truly tragic.”
Grind.
These little shits.
I glared at the guild members before walking over to Marco.
“Have you been well?”
“Thanks to your concern, Lord Jinho, I’ve been doing great!”
Why is he so tense?
Anyone watching would think this was the military.
“What floor have you reached in the Tower?”
“The 59th floor!”
“Still Platinum, then.”
“I haven’t even hit max level yet, and my skills are lacking, so I plan to challenge it slowly.”
Slowly?
Did I hear that right?
“Whoa.”
“That friend is quite lazy.”
“Saying ‘slowly’ right in front of the old man.”
“Mr. Marco, it looks like you’ll be suffering from now on.”
The guild members each offered words of sympathy.
Normally I would have snapped at them not to exaggerate, but right now I couldn’t bring myself to stop them.
“This won’t do. Marco, we’re sparring.”
“Pardon?”
“The guild house that Goldmoon prepared for us has a sparring field, right?”
“Yes, it does.”
“Let’s see how much your skills have improved.”
“I prepared a welcome ceremony, though…”
Bewilderment spread across Marco’s face.
My friend.
What’s urgent right now isn’t some welcome ceremony.
“You were going to set it up at the guild house anyway, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Since it’s been a while, we’ll have a proper sweat session first, then hold the welcome party. It’ll feel even better that way.”
“As expected of Lord Jinho! Your consideration is truly profound!”
Look at those sparkling eyes.
Seeing him stare at me with such admiration made even my heart soften a little.
“He says it has deep meaning. From Master.”
“Once you experience some proper education—no, sparring—you’ll change your mind.”
“You’ll only come to your senses after getting beaten by the old man.”
“My condolences. I pray for your soul.”
“It’s something that friend needs to experience at least once.”
Guild members?
You are on my side, right?
A black van waiting at the airport.
The moment everyone got in, it immediately set off.
“How long until we reach the guild house?”
“About twenty minutes.”
“Land prices must be high here. You picked a good spot.”
“Goldmoon has been very accommodating.”
William had been trying to expand his influence in Europe through the Yeokcheon Guild’s European branch.
Since his main base was in America, securing a building near the airport made sense.
It was a win-win situation, so I didn’t feel particularly indebted.
“Did you contact the people I mentioned?”
“Most of them responded, and all showed positive reactions.”
When I instructed Marco to establish the Yeokcheon Guild’s European branch, I also gave him another order.
To recruit the powerhouses still remaining in my memory.
My name value had skyrocketed thanks to the Great Collapse in France.
It was time to seriously start reeling in strong individuals and bind them to our forces.
I’d given him several other instructions as well, and he had carried them all out flawlessly.
Marco, that guy… he had a real talent for guild management.
Maybe I should have picked him up right after the promotion match and raised him.
Tsk.
Oh well.
Just reforming Ping Lei and Enrique had already been a pretty heavy task.
It had been a fork in the road—turn future Monarchs and High Rankers into allies, or kill them.
My personality wasn’t really suited to raising a bunch of guild members anyway.
Still.
From now on, I could just train them properly—or rather, take good care of them.
We arrived at the guild house not long after.
Just as Marco had said, a grand welcome ceremony had been prepared on the first floor.
“I’ll do the welcome ceremony later.”
“Guild Master, did something happen?”
“Does Mr. Yu have another schedule?”
“Ah. Lord Jinho is coming later. He said he wanted to spar first.”
We walked straight past the welcome party set up on the first-floor lobby and headed directly to the sparring field in the basement.
“Mr. Yu?”
“Sparring the moment he arrives?”
“What is going on?”
The staff of the Yeokcheon Guild’s European branch hurriedly followed after us.
Barrier Deployment
“Please activate the barrier.”
“Y-yes, right away.”
Woooong!
A faint blue light overlaid the sparring field.
The barrier that prevented shockwaves from affecting the surroundings had been activated.
Since it was installed by Goldmoon, its durability was top-tier.
Still, with my full power, I could shatter it in one hit, so I’d have to adjust my strength appropriately.
“I can fight anytime.”
“I’ll prepare as well.”
Necromancy – Call Death Army
Blessing of the One Who Governs Death – Holy Dead
A summoning spell that called forth the undead he had created.
Mid-tier undead began appearing one by one from the shadows cast on the ground.
Then Osiris’s blessing was bestowed upon them.
Bandages wrapped around the undead’s entire bodies.
The undead wrapped in purple cloth transformed into mummies under the influence of divinity.
Clank! Clank!
A group of mummies armed with golden armor and four-meter-long spears.
“Their numbers have decreased?”
“Osiris’s blessing is a concept that overlays my subordinate undead.”
“So you organized them into an elite force in case there’s no supply of corpses.”
“As expected of Lord Jinho! You saw through it immediately!”
Yeah.
That’s not it.
Osiris’s blessing didn’t consume much power.
Even if they were torn to pieces.
Even if they were ground to dust, the mummies would resurrect without pause.
With almost no mana consumption, they shone brighter the longer the battle dragged on.
The correct answer?
Overwhelming the enemy with sheer numbers.
—Truly the model answer of a regressor.
Cheat sheets really are this useful.
That said.
It wasn’t as if Marco hadn’t put in any effort.
The divinity permeating each individual was nothing to scoff at.
Although he’d said he was taking it easy, this was proof that he had been constantly honing his abilities.
Turning his undead into a small elite army must have been Marco’s best option.
However.
Best and greatest weren’t always the same thing.
This was the perfect opportunity to teach him what the ‘greatest’ method truly was.
“I’m ready.”
His face was filled with anticipation.
Too bad things weren’t going to go the way he expected.
I stomped down with Giga Impact mixed into the strike.
The sparring field shook violently from the shockwave.
The barrier had activated, so the facility itself wasn’t damaged, but the mummies caught in the wave staggered.
The moment the undead army’s formation broke—
Shrink
I folded space and moved to Marco’s side in a single step.
“Checkmate.”
A heavy silence fell over the sparring field.
Marco, with my hand blade pressed against his throat, was speechless.
The observers also froze with dazed expressions.
“What the hell is this?!”
“You called it a spar, but isn’t this way too boring, Master?”
“Boo. Lame.”
Why are you guys booing?
I raised a bunch of hooligans instead of guild members.
“That’s one death.”
“Ah, yes.”
“You’re scheduled to die several times today.”
The efficient application of Osiris’s blessing.
Rather than explaining it a hundred times with words,
Experiencing it with his body would be much faster.
Since I planned to give an intensive lecture today,
He’d better keep up with the pace and follow along diligently.