Envoys of Lust and Greed
After roughly a week of vacation in Jeju, I headed straight for Myeongdong the moment I landed back in Seoul.
"It's been forever."
"Haha."
I hadn't been back even once since receiving the Ring of the Earth, so it truly had been a while. The only presence I could sense inside the workshop was Master Seo Jincheol's.
"Where did Inha go?"
"My granddaughter is a student first, after all."
"Ah, right."
The image of her from before my regression was burned so deep into my mind that I had completely forgotten she was still in school.
"No sense in chatting at the entrance. Come in."
"Then I'll take you up on that."
I stepped into the workshop and had barely settled into a seat when Master Seo Jincheol came out carrying water.
"So? Shall we see what our client has dragged in this time?"
"Am I supposed to only show up when I'm carrying something?"
"Wasn't that how it always went?"
Truthfully, if I counted back to our very first meeting, every visit had come with a purpose. Not that this one was any different — I had come on business as well.
"There's something I'd like to commission."
I pulled my armor equipment and the transformation potion out of my inventory.
"Oh ho..."
The moment he laid eyes on what I'd produced, Master Seo Jincheol's gaze gleamed, and he began inspecting the pieces one by one.
"Top-grade work, without a doubt."
"I'd like to change their appearance."
Worn one piece at a time, this armor wouldn't draw much notice. Worn all together, it was far too conspicuous.
Red leather plate. Shoes worn through. Ink-dark gloves. Blue trousers.
Dressed head to toe in that getup, I would die of embarrassment. There would be plenty of battles outside of gates going forward, not just inside them, and if I strutted around in this ensemble every time one broke out, I would end up as an internet meme.
"You are my benefactor, so I shall see what I can do."
"Thank you, truly."
The transformation potion wasn't something you simply splashed on to change your look. The wearer had to imagine the desired form and realize it directly. Which was precisely why I needed a master's hands.
"Stop by again later,"
"Understood."
I left my equipment in his care and stepped out of Sunny Workshop. Once outside, I hailed a taxi and headed for the Association.
Why... am I here of all places?
The Association President and Guildmaster Han Min-joon were sitting right in front of me. Two towers of the nation. Being able to see them this easily was strange in itself. Something was wrong.
"Um, so... what's this about...?"
"Take a look at this."
I accepted the files the president held out and read through them page by page.
"So, according to this, demon remnants are still at large, and the guilds listed here cooperated with those remnants..."
"That's exactly it."
"Which is why I would like to entrust you with their purge."
Those two giants occupied positions from which they were never supposed to move. The moment either of them stepped forward personally, the whole country would be thrown into turmoil.
But they could have just dispatched Association agents...
They couldn't act themselves, granted, but they could have ordered Association personnel out. Team Leader Woo Sang-shik, for one.
So why hand the request to me?
When no answer came no matter how I turned it over, I decided to ask the two men in front of me directly. They both knew perfectly well that if they couldn't justify the commission, I would turn it down.
"Is there a particular reason you're going out of your way to give this to me?"
"Well, you see..."
The president deliberated for a moment, made up his mind, and opened his mouth.
"This is classified intelligence, so treat it as something you never heard."
"Of course."
If the secret ever leaked, I would be the one under suspicion. There was nothing in it for me to run my mouth anyway.
"Envoys will be visiting from Japan and the United States."
"Envoys?"
Envoys, at a time like this? It had never happened before my regression.
Is this because I caught Envy?
If a visit that had never existed was now happening, the odds were high that my slaying of Envy was the reason.
"Who are they?"
"From Japan, it's the Sword Demon."
The Sword Demon, Matsumoto Ken. A handsome man with a gaunt frame and long hair, and in Japan, the third most popular awakener after the Sword Saint and Himegimi.
The Sword Demon himself, of all people.
The Sword Demon was an S-rank powerhouse whose level had already passed 400 and was eyeing 500. On paper, anyway.
Lust's right hand.
In truth, he was a demon and one of its executives. Judged purely as of this moment, he was on par with Envy before she had summoned Leviathan.
An executive, coming in person.
No wonder this visit hadn't existed in my first life.
"And from America?"
"The Gray Witch is scheduled to come."
"Ha..."
At the Gray Witch's name, I could only clutch my head.
Are the Seven Great Demons insane?
The Sword Demon, and now the Gray Witch on top of him. That was two disasters inbound for Korea as we spoke.
The Gray Witch, Grace. Greed's closest confidant.
Greed, and Lust with her.
It was obvious what had set the two of them in motion. Most likely, me. Officially, Guildmaster Han Min-joon and Team Leader Woo Sang-shik were the ones credited with bringing Envy down — the truth was another matter entirely.
And there was no way those bastards hadn't planted a spy. If a spy had reported on me, then their target would be me.
I'll have to bury myself in a gate for a while. Entering the Cheonji Gate and staying put until those two went home seemed like the best call.
The problem is this...
They had named me specifically and handed over the commission under the Association's banner. It was the kind of offer you couldn't refuse lightly. And if I let this chance slip by, who knew when I would get another shot at clearing out this trash.
GM, Oren, Zara, Omart...
I had never once forgotten those garbage names. They were the guilds that had blindsided me with one massive backstab.
This is an official opportunity handed to me by the Association — too good to throw away.
But then, waiting around until those lieutenants actually set foot in the country was its own kind of problem.
I'll deal with them before they land.
That was the best option. If that proved impossible, I would have to pass on this commission entirely.
"When are the two of them entering the country?"
"About a month from now, I expect."
A month. That was more than enough time for me to deal with the guilds listed here and the remnants.
"I'll take the commission."
"I can't thank you enough."
"But why isn't Geumgang Guild purging the remnants itself?"
The Association lacked the capacity to sweep the remnants while preparing its response to the envoys. In that case, why was Geumgang Guild passing the request along?
"It seems all of their manpower will be committed to clearing the gates they hold."
A gate that demanded Geumgang Guild's entire roster. It would be right about now, most likely — the time the guild's new executive, Diamond Shield, appeared.
So this is that gate.
Zero casualties. Zero injuries. They cleared an S-rank gate with a record that was nothing short of miraculous.
Well, can't be helped, then.
Diamond Shield was an awakener who would prove useful to humanity down the road.
Which means I'm doing this alone.
I could lament the lack of support, but a chance at revenge was not something you complained about.
"Now then, what sort of compensation would you like?"
"Hmm..."
The fact that he brought this up here and now meant he intended to accommodate me as far as he could.
"First of all, could I sign a mercenary contract?"
"A mercenary, hmm..."
Called mercenaries in name, they weren't really mercenaries — a kind of reserve force the Association summoned when something was genuinely urgent. Even then, the mercenaries held the right of refusal.
Guildmaster Han Min-joon had been one himself, come to think of it.
Mercenaries received a sort of insignia and enjoyed conveniences extended by the Association. That alone was a significant boon for someone operating solo, like me.
"Is there nothing else you want?"
Perhaps settling for just a mercenary contract pricked his conscience, because the president asked again.
If there's something I actually need...
And just then, exactly what I needed came to mind.
"Then could you issue me a Companion's Token?"
"A Companion's Token, you say?"
The Companion's Token. There were others who tamed monsters the way I did. In those cases, you needed the token issued by the Association to tell whether a creature was a companion or a monster.
"You've been taming as well?"
"Haha."
"As if slaying Envy weren't enough, now it's taming..."
The president muttered to himself, sounding equal parts exasperated and bewildered.
"So, what manner of monster is it?"
"Then I'll call him out."
Through the connection that bound me to Cheongun, I called for him.
Vwooom!
A tiny gate opened beside my head, and Cheongun poked nothing but his face out of it.
"Did you call for me?"
"Lend us your presence for a moment."
"If my Contractor asks it, then."
Once Cheongun fully emerged from the gate, the gate quietly faded out of existence.
"And this monster is?"
"'Monster'? How insolent."
Apparently the word rubbed him the wrong way, because Cheongun shot the president a glare.
"He is a divine beast — an Imugi."
"An Imugi?!"
"Did you just say an Imugi?!"
The moment the word left my mouth, both men shot to their feet in absolute shock.
I hadn't been fully aware of it myself, but an Imugi was a divine beast and a monster at the same time. Imugi had appeared in any number of gates, and every one of them had been devoid of reason.
"That Imugi seems to possess intelligence."
"Yes. He's had it since the day we met."
As if I had just said something outlandish, both of their expressions hardened.
"Ha... Well then, I shall issue the Companion's Token."
The president immediately had a staff member run and fetch it.
"By the way, is that his true form?"
"My Contractor said this size would be convenient, so I have reduced myself."
Apparently he still hadn't gotten over his mood, because Cheongun answered the president's question with a pout. Ancient in years, but still a child in mind. That was probably why he sulked so often.
"It appears I have made quite the enemy of him."
"Haha."
Once Cheongun took offense, he stayed offended for a good three days. I stroked the sulking dragon's head and coaxed him gently.
After that, I received the Companion's Token and the Mercenary's Ring, signed the contract, and walked out of the Association building.
Two weeks. I'll have this finished within two weeks.
For today, at least, the plan was to go home and rest.
"Hah... hah."
The Sword Demon, Matsumoto Ken. An idol to the Japanese people, he was desperately resisting his master's allure.
"So?"
"Yes. Our entry into Korea has been confirmed for one month from now."
"Is that so?"
There was a screen between the two of them, to be sure, but Lust's allure punched through flimsy barriers like that without effort.
"We absolutely cannot let Greed steal it away, understood?"
"Yes."
Grace, who would be entering the country alongside him, was Greed's dog. He could not let a dog like that take the prize.
"I wonder what that boy tastes like?"
"......"
Truthfully, the Sword Demon did not care for this mission at all. He took a dim view of anything that might let the master's favor — fixed so firmly upon him — drift toward someone else.
Han Jin...
Long before they had ever met, Han Jin was already a man the Sword Demon had marked for himself.