128
128 ― The Greatest Swordsman
I returned to Seoul. After disembarking from the plane, completing immigration procedures, and entering, there was someone who came to greet me.
"Jin-woo! It's been a while."
"Shartia."
When I told her I was returning today, she came to see me on purpose. She said she had things she wanted and needed to say
"How was New Delhi?"
"It was a good city. There were many historical buildings."
Although the only day I was able to comfortably tour New Delhi was the first day, I still had memories of seeing various things. There were many tall buildings befitting a downtown area, but various cultural assets were also preserved as much as possible. There were also many things being restored at the city level.
"I heard you were invited by Mahiri. When did you two become so close?"
"More than Mahiri, I'm actually close with Kalesian. This invitation was also because I had business with Kalesian."
"Oh my, was that so?"
Shartia hummed a tune as she took out her car keys. When she pressed the button, the lock released and the door opened. Jin-woo got into the passenger seat on the side. The car he had brought was fine since he had put it in his inventory before going to New Delhi.
The car started with a smooth vibration. Once on the road, the airport gradually grew distant. After going some distance, Jin-woo spoke first.
"I heard the Erosion has stopped."
"That's right. I don't know if it's truly stopped, but recently it hasn't appeared at all."
"May I hear the details? I was in a place where it was difficult to hear the news."
"Sure. Not much has been revealed, but I'll tell you what I know."
Shartia told him about the process of the Erosion disappearing. Actually, rather than the process of disappearing, it was about the process of recognizing that it had disappeared.
The surprise at the time and the process of the whole world's expectations swelling. Information coming from the field guilds that mainly handled Erosion. She said that since her hometown, New York, still had several information sources remaining, a lot of information was coming from there as well.
Although there was nothing newly learned, he could understand the world's reaction to the disappearing Erosion. Overall, they were 'expecting'.
"Unlike Gates, Erosion is a disaster that comes suddenly... Everyone is hoping it won't appear ever again like this."
"What about the Erosion specialized guilds? Haven't those people lost their jobs?"
"That's true, but they're Hunters too. They can enter Gates, or, depending on their abilities, even if they move to regular companies, they can receive good treatment, right?"
Even so, some might feel regretful. Usually, entering an Erosion specialized guild meant they had a demand in between―safer than Gates but desiring more compensation than regular companies.
However, such people were a minority, and most were happy that the Erosion had disappeared. No, even that minority mostly rejoiced, thinking of their families and relatives. There were almost no people who were sincerely regretful that the Erosion, the disaster, had disappeared.
"I see..."
Erosion blocks the circulation of the world and sucks away the energy of the star. Although it was a ruined Earth with not even a penny's worth of energy left, Jeraxon tried to take away even that little remaining energy.
It was fortunate to have protected it. However, just because Erosion no longer appeared didn't mean the situation improved. It would only continue to maintain the status quo.
To recover the damaged energy of the star, the already blackened and dead land and water needed to be restored. That was something completely separate from the Erosion disappearing.
"I heard the Black Land has recovered."
That separate matter began to occur almost simultaneously. It was certainly a good thing, but beyond that, he had a bad premonition.
"That's right! Southwest of Hong Kong, in the Huabei Plain area. Do you think it's related to the Erosion disappearing?"
Shartia spoke happily and stepped on the accelerator. The car that had been stopped at a traffic light started moving again.
"It could be a coincidence, but timing-wise, they probably aren't completely unrelated."
"You think so? Well, the experts will figure that out. More than that, I'm very interested in the recovered land."
Shartia had been traveling around the world trying to grow vegetation from before. So she would have been the first to rush when she heard the land had recovered.
According to her, researchers, VIPs, and Hunters from all over the world were gathering in Hong Kong. She said the scale was even larger than when thirty S-rank Hunters gathered concerning Ireland.
If they could identify the reason and cause of the Black Land's recovery, humanity could reclaim its land. Under that banner, experts from numerous fields were gathering.
"Is Hong Kong the only place where recovered land was found? What about other places?"
"They're searching, but nothing yet. Perhaps someone found it and is hiding it... But the possibility is low. In the current atmosphere, if they hid something like that, they'd receive international criticism."
For now, the only place revealed so far was the Huabei Plain. Since it was close to Hong Kong, they said that the place was particularly energetically engaging in the investigation.
"It's fortunate it's not some remote area."
"Research is easier too, and even if a place like the Arctic recovered, it wouldn't be very useful."
Even if it wasn't Black Land, if it were a remote area where people couldn't live, recovering it wouldn't have much meaning. They could extract resources from that land, but resources could be obtained from Gates, too. What humanity needed now was land where people could live.
"I heard from Mayor Ma Du-sik. He said you also decided to join the investigation team?"
"Yes. The departure is the day after tomorrow, I think?"
Shartia was also included in the official investigation team being sent from Seoul. Not only was it a job perfectly suited to her abilities, but there was also her own strong desire.
Although Jin-woo ended up squeezing into a list that had been organized in advance, they said there was no one among the team members who opposed it. Since they didn't know what might happen in another region, the addition of a strong Hunter was always welcome.
"The Huabei Plain is already famous for having many Monsters."
"Did they say it's not managed properly?"
"It's such a vast plain that there are unavoidable parts, but there's also talk that they don't manage it well to begin with."
Because of that, they said a strong military force was essential for the investigation. Just to bring back a handful of recovered soil, they had to break through countless Monster fields.
The Hong Kong authorities permitted investigations by other countries but said they couldn't lend their own country's Hunters. It meant they couldn't risk their own country's Hunters' lives for other countries' investigations.
Therefore, the investigation team being dispatched included many Hunters for escort, and Jin-woo was one of them. Although Shartia had her name listed on the research side rather than escort, in a pinch, her military force would also be helpful.
"I'm counting on you."
"I'm counting on you as well."
He had been with Shartia during Grisella's incident, and now they would be together again. It was a strange connection where somehow they ended up together every time they went outside the city.
***
The Seoul investigation team that arrived in Hong Kong settled into a hotel that had been reserved in advance.
Currently, so many people were visiting Hong Kong that it wasn't easy to make group reservations, but since it was a matter between nations, it seemed to have worked out somehow. Mayor Ma Du-sik had paid quite a bit of attention to this matter, too.
"Since it's already late today, let's depart tomorrow morning."
The investigation team leader, who was in charge, was a researcher with a genial impression wearing small glasses. Following his words, the team members scattered to spend their own time. There were those who rested while managing their condition, and there were those who gathered in small groups to exchange opinions about the upcoming investigation.
Jin-woo was alone on a terrace prepared on one side of the hotel lobby, fiddling with a tablet.
'Is this video from the site?'
The tablet contained materials received in advance. Since the investigation was already in progress, there some information was released.
However, he didn't understand specialized terms, graphs, or figures related to geology, even when looking at them, and what Jin-woo focused on were photos or videos of the site taken by drones.
'There certainly are many Monsters.'
The sight of Monsters swarming, as if the talk about improper management was true. The area around Seoul didn't have this many Monsters. It was because the Erosion specialized guilds periodically went out to subjugate them.
However, Hong Kong seemed different, with many Monsters even around the city. It appeared they didn't feel the need for subjugation unless they actually touched the Barrier.
'That could be the case.'
It was the city's policy, so it wasn't for Jin-woo to interfere. Although cleaning in advance seemed safer, that also cost money.
Rather, he focused on examining the videos. Most of the videos were cut off abruptly in the middle, which seemed to be because the drones were destroyed by attacks.
Still, since they kept sending them to film, there was no hindrance in examining the site.
'I can definitely see places that aren't black.'
There was a location that seemed to be placed alone in the black plain that was densely covered. It was set apart like a round mystery circle. That was the place where the Black Land was said to have recovered.
'I won't know well without seeing it directly, but it is different from the surroundings.'
Just from the video, he couldn't tell if the land had truly recovered. Shartia might know, but Jin-woo didn't have that level of knowledge about land.
However, he clearly felt it was different from the surroundings. And there, Monsters were fighting with blood flowing profusely.
'It's like they're having a territorial dispute.'
In the surrounding Black Land, battles didn't occur relatively. It wasn't that there were no disputes, but there was nothing actively clashing.
However, in the place called the recovered land, a melee was occurring as if waging war. As if grasping at a rope descending to hell, they all struggled to possess that land.
Large-feathered birds, wingless dragon-like reptiles, beasts with tusks larger than elephants―all were fighting while bleeding.
Such a scene, Jin-woo had seen once before.
'...It reminds me of the castle in the 3rd floor.'
The place where Jin-woo had temporarily taken refuge with the Elves when Rondar took control of the 3rd floor.
The Shadow Castle, called the castle of the God of Light and Dawn, had been like this. Various Monsters jostling to possess the only moonlight shining within the castle.
"...I'll know when I go."
Whether that was real would be known when he went tomorrow. Jin-woo closed his eyes after turning off the video.
"#@$@%@!"
At that moment, he heard murmuring sounds looking in this direction. It was Chinese so he couldn't understand, but those making a commotion were three people. All three had swords at their waists.
Many of Hong Kong's Hunters used swords. There were many ability users related to swords, and even if they didn't have sword abilities, Hunters basically learned swordsmanship.
He thought there was no need to learn the sword if one didn't have sword abilities, but the city's culture was like that. Those three were probably such Hunters, too.
"!@#!$@$"
They strode up to Jin-woo and spoke to him. When Jin-woo shrugged his shoulders to indicate he couldn't understand, the three people looked at each other. The one on the right spoke in a clumsy manner.
"Kang Jin-woo, Seoul's greatest swordsman, correct?"
Swordsman―what an old-fashioned expression again.