[I’m grateful that you are not asking further. I believe that you will definitely keep this a secret. I will provide you with an extra tip.]
I could imagine the expressions of the slavers roughly through Ahyeon’s words. They must be extremely surprised, with some directing odd looks at Ahyeon as well. But, Ahyeon was coping very well with this situation.
It seems that she didn’t care what others viewed her as. It could be true since they were all going to die anyways, but what I could confirm was that she didn’t feel a sense of ‘shame’ against towards the Humans.
[It is a little unfortunate that it will come locked in a cave. Yes. Then I will see you two days later. If you send it to the place I’m staying at, my other followers will guide you.]
The conversation was soon coming to a close. Looking besides me, Lee Wanyong who knew nothing of the contents of the conversation had a really anxious look.
[Yes. What’s most important is security. I would be grateful if you were to pay more attention to this matter… Yes? Then I will. Of course. Thank you in advance.]
It ended.
Within that time, Ahyeon finished her conversation with the leaders of Black Thorn Guild and had successfully completed her mission. Amused, I decided to be a bit playful with Ahyeon.
[I did not know that you had a peculiar preference.]
[That… That is.]
[No… No, Savior-nim. Of course not. I… I was extremely surprised… I just thought… Of Savior-nim. Please kill me.]
[It’s… it’s not because Savior-nim possess the body of a Green Skin. Be… Believe me!]
It was a very urgent tone. Seeing how truly desperate her voice was, I decided to stop playing around with her.
[I know your heard, my apostle. It’s just a joke so do not worry about it.]
[Yes… Yes. Th.. Thank you. Thank you.]
It would be another two days later before they will meet again. Of course, I couldn’t confirm if the Troll Ahyeon viewed would be that Shaman or not, but I thought that there would be a high probability since the majority were Orcs and Goblins. The superior the species, the rarer the numbers.
This should be enough to support my hypothesis. If I had to ask the reason why, it was because that Troll would be specifically looked after for.
[Ahyeon. My beloved apostle.]
[Yes. Yes! Savior-nim!]
[Good work. The day you meet me. You will obtain what you desire.]
It was the most lively response I have recently heard from her in a while. Despite her not admitting it personally, it seemed that she was anticipating our meeting quite highly. I smiled, turned off the communication, and then looked at Lee Wanyong who was somewhat stricken in fear.
I was keeping him alive since I had something I needed him to do, so I decided to throw out a peculiar piece of bait. A Human without hope wouldn’t be able to move, so I had to instead use it as a weapon.
“You must know why I’m keeping you alive?”
From my gesture, he looked at the welcomed Human children. Noticing my gaze, he was looking at me. He knew what my intention was with this simple gesture.
“Yes……”
“Your comrades, and the captured Magician have all died, but I have kept you alive since you are quite useful.”
“Yes… Yes.”
“If you provide help to the tribe, it doesn’t matter if you are Green Skin or Human.”
“Yes… Yes. I understand. I will work hard to provide you with the greatest help.”
This guy will die anyways. It wasn’t like I was going to include him in the operation, and I had no intention of working together with him, but I decided to tell him a bit about the operation. Funny enough, but it was to obtain any hidden advice against the enemy. After listening to my advice for some time, he had a surprised face as he nodded, before soon speaking out a positive answer.
“It… It should succeed. Somarah… Will surely…”
He was stumbling with his words as if he couldn’t believe what he was about to say, causing me to feel good about this operation.
“It’s a relief that you think positively. Is there an ideal place where we can hide our bodies before advancing through the city?”
“Yes. There is a frontier base not far from the city. In the past, when the city was at war for quite some time, I had heard that it was used then…”
“So you’re saying that’s it’s not in use now.”
“Yes. That is correct.”
It was said to be a frontier base, but it’ll probably be a poor trench at most. But, it definitely looked to be a comfortable place for us to put the operation into effect. Thinking that it would be ideal if I were to discuss with Hakajin and Ragia more on the matter, I smiled at him once more. He smiled back, wondering what I was thinking of, and soon I began to discuss a more detailed, foundational plan with Lee Wanyong, Hakajin and Ragia.
It would be two days before Ahyeon and the troll would arrive, and three days before they would come in direct contact with us. A great battle that the whole clan was highly anticipating would soon be about to begin…
***
Although their forces weren’t strong, Yoon Jungsoo who was in charge of managing of Somorah nodded with a satisfied face. He was very relieved and stress-free despite being the ruler of a city. It was not an exaggeration to say that he held absolute authority over the city, and was enforcing power outside of the city as well.
To express it precisely, he was being conscious and aware of foreign affairs. He held a very good relationship with several strong cities, fully aware that his armed forces were lacking in comparison to them.
Though he had somewhat lowered his pride, but despite that he was earning a lot of profits. However, he was still losing money here and there lately.
What made this matter even worse was the capture of the slaves on their way to Hadom. The Guild Master of Hadom was greatly disappointed after expecting a lot from this trade, which he barely settled the issue with a large bribe. But, what made him happy was the news that his subordinates had brought to him.
“The West’s Saint? Huh… Wow. It’s easier to trust the sayings; that there are truly no innocent people within the Continent.”
“Yes. I was really surprised as well. I wouldn’t have imagined that she would use a monster… For that purpose.”
“Tch. She was strange from the start. It was a strange occurrence ever since the Saint of the West travelled over to this location. Though there were some idiots who were proclaiming that she was spreading a religion all the way through to the East… tch! In the end, she’s the same kind as well. No, rather she’s on a class of her own.”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“For us, we do not care since we’re receiving the gold… I was worried how we were going to deal with the losses… how fortunate for us. Isn’t that so?”
“Yes. We will be receiving two hundred gold coins for the Troll serviced out to her for three days… In exchange for not spreading of any rumors, she is willing to pay a lot of money. I had called out that price just to see her reaction, but for her to pay that much, she must be really rich?!”
“Isn’t it because she wants to protect her secret? Don’t go anywhere and speak of such matters ever. It might be a nice story when we’re drinking… but she’s our customer now. If there were rumors that spread because of us, then we would be losing a customer. It seems that she’ll be staying here for the moment. I’m not sure where she is staying, but at least give her lots of service.”
“Yes, Master.”
To be honest, two hundred gold coins wasn’t a case that one should be loyal to, but it was like money falling from the skies in a dire situation. It would help provide more medicine that would suppress the monsters, and also enough gold to educate the newly-born monsters.
Yoon Jungsoo slowly recollected the Saint of the West and remembered her pure and cute face. But it was hard for even him to believe that kind of woman arrived here in search of a monster. Not only that, seeing how she had journeyed to this city, it meant that this was her way of venting out her stress. He began to dryly laugh thinking of how much she had to endure wearing a mask back in the west.
‘Saint… What bullshit.’
Though he insulted Ahyeon internally, but he knew that the number of followers that followed the Saint were extremely high, and that there were a high number of priests in ratio as well. Just with the high number of priests could provide security and stability, and will definitely cause other adventurers to want to come here as well. If they were to stay here longer, it would become a great benefit for the city. As if the other executive was thinking the same thoughts, Min Chulgi shared his musings.
“Rather, shouldn’t we try in recruiting her?”
“Tch. Are you crazy? She knows the reputation of our guild, so there’s no way she’ll accept our invitation. Of course secrecy is very important in this matter… Tch. Just think if there are some bad rumors that come out of this. She will immediately leave Somorah.”
“What if it was unofficial… Wouldn’t it be possible? It’s a situation where the West’s Saint needs us… rather than paying us two hundred gold coins every time, it might not be a bad proposal for her to enjoy it for free. When are we going stop being wary of the other guilds… with that number of Priests, our Black Thorn Guild can flourish, isn’t that so?”
The more he thought about it, the more he agreed. Right now, just the fact of being able to eliminate the ‘protection fee’ that he had contracted with the other Guilds, it was a very promising alternative. If that many priests were to all enter the Black Thorn Guild, they would no longer need to have protection of others. Thus, he subconsciously nodded.
“Tch… maybe you’re right?”
“Hehe…”
“I want to believe it, but it isn’t bad trying at least… well we need to have her wanting our assistance first right? Tch… give the Saint the most robust guy. And pay special attention to this…no. It wouldn’t be bad if I meet her directly. Ask if she has time to pay us a visit… do you understand?”
“Yes, Master.”
After greeting the Master, he soon left, causing Yoon Jungsoo to smile. Lately, it had been him that had been the most trustworthy guy in the Guild. Even if they fail or succeed, nothing would change. If they were to succeed, the situation of the city might truly change. Dreaming of the admirable future of Somorah and the Black Thorn Guild, he subconsciously muttered.
“Ha… that guy is quite intelligent. Hehe…”
It was a very pleased voice.
TL Afterword:
Calvis: NA
PR Afterword:
T0ngan: Will any battle plan truly pan out as planned.. tune in to find out tomorrow.
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