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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 47
“You’re asking for an essence?”
“I don’t think I can break even unless I’m paid at that level. And it must be high-rank or above.”
Marquess Cunningham’s face twisted with surprise.
And understandably so; essence wasn’t some common commodity.
It was the pure crystallization of mana, rarely found even inside a gate.
Not even defeating a boss-tier monster guaranteed it.
And high-rank essence the kind Seojun was asking for couldn’t be bought with money.
That level of resource was managed strictly at a national level.
Officially, it was well-known that the Cunningham household possessed no such essence.
Officially, that is.
In truth, they had two awarded directly by the royal family.
But somehow, Seojun had pinpointed exactly what they weren’t supposed to have.
“…Essence is difficult for even me to procure.”
“Instead, I’ll raise the payment. What if I doubled it?”
Eighty billion won.
An astronomical sum for an ordinary person even for someone like Cunningham, it wasn’t pocket change.
Most would have relented by now.
But—
“It has to be essence.”
Seojun showed no signs of compromise.
The unexpected response caused even the Marquess’s attendants to stiffen.
Dozens of eyes were now fixed on Seojun.
Holding one’s ground under that kind of pressure was no easy feat and yet, Seojun remained completely composed.
Because he held the handle of the blade, not them.
“If that’s not acceptable, then I’ll be on my way.”
“…Very well.”
Seojun, who had half-risen from his seat, calmly sat back down.
“However, it will take some time to retrieve the essence from the main estate.”
“I understand.”
Essence was always stored in a secure location that was the rule.
If its location became known to outside forces, the risk of theft was too great.
The fact that Cardinal Francis carried one on his person had been a rare exception.
“…Still, How did you know I had essence?”
“I’ll keep that a secret.”
“Hah… I see.”
With that, the meeting came to an end.
Seojun finalized the time and place for their next appointment and then left the café.
On the terrace he left behind.
“Sir… are you really going to hand over the essence?”
“You saw it too, didn’t you? The way he held that sword and spoke.”
“…Even seeing it with my own eyes, I can barely believe it.”
“He was showing off, obviously.”
The Marquess shook his head with a mixture of disbelief and admiration.
Eudes was a well-known cursed sword.
Infused with the second Sultan’s curse from the Kingdom of Ruum.
Even for someone like Cunningham, maintaining sanity while holding it was no easy feat.
And yet, Choi Seojun had grasped it casually, as if the curse meant nothing.
He even seemed to enjoy the feel of the sword as if to flaunt it in the Marquess’s face.
That moment confirmed it for him:
Choi Seojun was someone who could purify Eudes.
And in that case, forty billion won was a price well worth paying.
If Seojun could truly purify Eudes, then forty billion no, even double that would have been worth it.
The loss of an essence would sting, yes…
‘But if it’s to save the family, then this much bleeding is necessary.’
No matter how rare an essence might be, it wasn’t more precious than the family itself.
***
Russian Orthodox Church, Korean Branch.
“…This is insane.”
Nikolai buried his face in his hands as he read the orders from Moscow.
He was currently living through the worst days of his life.
He’d voluntarily handed over the Church’s enforcers to the Korean government.
As a result, he had fallen from the Patriarch’s favor but he’d had no choice.
Had he not done it, without a doubt, he would’ve died.
Swish, swish.
That eerie sound of scissors spinning still echoed faintly in his ears.
Ever since that incident, Nikolai had been haunted by phantom sounds like those.
He’d woken up countless times in the middle of the night, startled by the imagined snip of blades.
Eventually, he had every single pair of scissors removed from the church.
Even the sight of them made him picture her smiling face.
—There are plenty of others I can negotiate with.
“……”
Nikolai shivered.
He prayed the next negotiator would never come because that would mean his death.
The problem was that Moscow was demanding results.
Ever since the failed attempt to secure the Saint, he hadn’t achieved a single notable success.
But going after the Saint again was out of the question.
As he agonized over this impasse…
News arrived: Marquess Cunningham had entered Korea with the cursed sword Eudes.
This was his chance.
‘She may be out of reach, but Eudes… Eudes could work.’
Despite being a demonic sword, Eudes was also classified as a divine relic.
It once belonged to Godfrey of Bouillon, one of the Nine Great Saints and a leader of the Crusades.
The Patriarch had expressed interest in the sword before.
If Nikolai could deliver it, perhaps his past failure could be redeemed.
Of course, taking Eudes wouldn’t be easy.
Its owner, Marquess Cunningham, was a top-tier Hunter, expected to rise to S-rank soon and to go after Eudes meant dealing with his elite bodyguards as well.
Still, it was far less suicidal than targeting the Saint again.
What’s more, Cunningham was also attempting to bring essence into Korea.
He hadn’t announced it publicly, but Nikolai, who had been closely monitoring him, already knew.
The Orthodox Church’s intelligence web in the West was woven tightly.
The moment that essence left Britain, it had already entered their crosshairs.
‘Trying to take both Eudes and the essence is impossible.’
He wanted them both badly.
But the Church’s ability to operate in Korea had been severely compromised.
After the mass exposure of their enforcers, the Korean government had launched an aggressive crackdown.
Regrettably, he would have to give one up.
After some thought, Nikolai made a decision he would use the essence as bait to draw in another faction.
And he didn’t even have to think twice about which one.
“Get in touch with Ambassador Wang Wei.”
“Yes, sir.”
China.
If you so much as whispered the word ‘essence’, China would go absolutely mad to get their hands on it.
***
The Magoo Festival had begun.
The park in front of The Dawn’s Constellation guild’s headquarters was packed shoulder to shoulder with Hunters not an inch of space left.
Meanwhile, I was inside the headquarters, meeting someone important.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Shin Sua, Guildmaster of Dawn’s Constellation.”
The Guildmaster was a slender woman with twin-tails.
“I’m Choi Seojun.”
Shin Sua’s eyes sparkled brightly as she looked at me.
“I’ve heard so much about you. You’re that famous—!”
“Guildmaster!”
“Oh no, was that supposed to be a secret?”
At Ha Jinwoo’s sharp interjection, Shin Sua scratched her head sheepishly.
She came off a little scatterbrained but she was not someone to underestimate.
Plenty of Hunters had been fooled by that harmless air… and ended up flattened.
The Ominous Star.
Her alias said it all. ‘
When pushed, she was utterly merciless.
A woman who led with her fists, not her words.
Back during the Great Seoul Gate Break, she infamously smashed the Mayor’s face when he suggested abandoning the city.
—S-Sorry! My hand moved on its own… ah!
That line had become a legend in the Korean community.
Apologizing as she kept swinging unintentionally, of course.
“…Ugh, sorry. That was careless of me.”
“No worries.”
I accepted her apology with all the grace I could muster.
This ditzy-looking woman was, in fact, Seoul’s ultimate weapon.
An S-rank reinforcement-type Hunter.
No weapons required.
Her entire body was a deadly weapon.
“You’re kinder than most Hunters I’ve met, Seojun.”
“…Guildmaster.”
“What? I never said I was Team 1’s leader.”
Rubbing his temples, Ha Jinwoo gave me an apologetic nod.
“Hunter Choi Seojun, I know you’re busy. Shall we get going?”
“Yes, of course.”
I was already scheduled to meet with Marquess Cunningham anyway.
I stood up from my seat.
“See you next time!”
I left, with the ever-energetic Guildmaster waving enthusiastically behind me.
***
Meanwhile, at the festival grounds, Chinese Ambassador Wang Wei stood watching the crowd.
He had once recklessly charged into the Noryang Gate, trying to claim Yi Sunsin’s helmet and failed.
Now, he was working on a new plan.
“The essence is as good as ours.”
“Do as you please. I only want the relic.”
Wang Wei glanced at Bishop Nikolai as he spoke of the relic, inwardly clicking his tongue.
Tsk tsk. What a nutcase.
Just because something’s called a relic doesn’t mean it’s a good thing.
Some relics were more trouble than they were worth.
The cursed sword Eudes was one of them.
Anyone who wielded it would slowly go mad, consumed by the urge to swing it endlessly. Why anyone would call that a ‘divine’ relic was beyond Wang Wei’s comprehension.
Not that he had any interest in understanding the minds of religious fanatics in the first place.
“All I care about is getting the Essence.”
Learning from his previous failure, Wang Wei had meticulously prepared this operation.
The odds of success were high.
Dawn Constellation’s attention was completely focused on the festival grounds in the park.
Meanwhile, their real target Marquess Cunningham was far away, in a separate event hall well outside the park.
Wang Wei asked, just to confirm:
“No dangerous individuals inside?”
“Just be cautious of Marquess Gerald and his bodyguards. No one else there is worth noting.”
Nikolai, watching the hall from a hilltop, spoke with confidence.
According to his scouting, the only high-profile individual inside was Gerald Cunningham.
The rest were just lower-ranked Hunters.
In truth, there weren’t many high-rankers at the Magoo Festival to begin with.
He had heard a concerning rumor that The Ominous Star had returned from America but it didn’t matter.
She wouldn’t be involved in what was about to happen inside that hall.
“…Then let’s begin.”
Bishop Nikolai picked up the stake he had prepared.
—The Stake of Titus.
A relic said to have been used by Rome’s 10th emperor, Titus, to isolate and seal the Temple of Jerusalem during the Jewish persecution.
Its effect: Total Dimensional Isolation.
It could only be used once, but its value justified the cost.
Nikolai drove the stake into the earth.
And at that exact moment—
BOOOOOOOM────!
A thunderous boom echoed out as thick, pale mist engulfed the hall.
***
“Huh?”
What the…?
“What’s going on?”
“No idea.”
I had been speaking with Marquess Cunningham in one of the inner rooms when I noticed the tremble in the building and instinctively looked up.
An earthquake?
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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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