Chapter 143. Those Who Move (1)
I’ll cooperate with whichever side provides decisive help in capturing Ha Mina. I don’t need any other conditions.
Kang Yujin had told both the Black Dragon Society and the White Forest Alliance that.
Even so, for tonight, he ended up staying in lodging provided by the Black Dragon Society.
Liu Xianfei had insisted that they had already prepared a place for him, and that it would be troublesome if he refused to stay there.
Kang Yujin didn’t particularly care, so he accepted.
But...
He looked around and sighed.
Isn’t this way too big?
The residence prepared by the Black Dragon Society occupied the top floor of a super-high-rise building.
Through the enormous glass walls, the entire night view of the surrounding city spread out beneath him.
Looking down from more than a hundred floors above ground was enough to make him slightly dizzy.
Was this always supposed to be my accommodation, or did Liu Zhenping or Liu Xianfei change it after what happened?
As Kang Yujin explored the absurdly spacious interior, he even discovered a training facility designed for Contractors.
The Black Dragon Society had truly prepared their finest accommodations for him.
But if I’m this high up, going outside is going to be annoying... Wait, did they put me here on purpose for exactly that reason?
While he was thinking that, a chime rang out.
He went into the living room and saw a woman’s face displayed on a screen built into the wall.
“Lord Kang Yujin, we came to prepare a few things before you sleep.”
“Prepare what?”
“We also brought a late-night meal. Please open the door.”
Come to think of it, Liu Xianfei had told him earlier that he could freely eat or drink anything in the refrigerator.
Had they sent additional food on top of that?
Without thinking much about it, Kang Yujin pressed the button and opened the door.
“Excuse us.”
Something felt strange.
There wasn’t just one woman.
Several entered.
And every one of them was wearing rather revealing clothing.
They were carrying baskets filled with alcohol and food, but...
something definitely felt off.
“We received orders from Lord Zhang Siyuan to take good care of you, Lord Kang Yujin.”
“Zhang Siyuan?”
Why was Zhang Siyuan’s name coming up here?
“Lord Zhang Siyuan said you should relax and enjoy yourself without feeling burdened.”
While the woman who seemed to be their representative spoke, the others moved busily, setting drinks and dishes on the table.
What is this?
Kang Yujin was still wondering what was happening when the woman smiled alluringly.
“Please, have a seat on the sofa.”
“Uh...”
Since they had already gone to the trouble of setting everything up, Kang Yujin figured he might as well eat.
He sat down as instructed.
The women immediately began sitting on either side of him.
“Lord Kang Yujin... allow me to pour you a drink first.”
The woman who seemed to be in charge raised a bottle and smiled.
At the same time, another woman beside him reached toward Kang Yujin’s thigh with a suggestive touch...
“I’m done showering, honey.”
At that exact moment...
someone appeared from behind the sofa.
"...!"
It was an extremely seductive-looking person.
He wore nothing but a bathrobe over his naked body.
Apparently, he hadn’t dried himself properly after showering, because the wet robe clung tightly to his figure and outlined every curve.
As he swept back his damp hair, the front of the robe opened slightly, exposing pale skin underneath.
But...
“A-A man?”
“Hmm?”
The newcomer tilted his head at the startled women.
“Honey, who are these women?”
“Late-night food delivery.”
“Oh, I see?”
He smiled and approached the sofa, placing a hand on Kang Yujin’s shoulder.
“Thank you for your hard work. You can leave now.”
"...!"
Watching him caress Kang Yujin’s upper body with intimate familiarity, the women hurriedly jumped to their feet.
They babbled something and fled the room almost instantly.
The man watched them disappear with a smug expression.
“Hehe. What a bunch of immature little girls.”
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Kang Yujin frowned and turned toward him.
“What is this, Daji?”
At that moment, the man’s eyes narrowed and glimmered with an eerie, seductive light.
“My, how did you notice?”
“I could smell you.”
“That’s strange. I even showered.”
Daji sniffed at herself and lifted the bathrobe slightly.
In the next instant, the seductive handsome man transformed into the familiar figure Kang Yujin had seen countless times before.
“Why are you here?”
“This is China, my homeland. Is there some reason I shouldn’t be here?”
“No, I mean why are you here, in this place?”
Kang Yujin frowned.
“How did you even get inside?”
“If women like those can stroll in so easily, then sneaking into this place is child’s play for me.”
“No, when I checked the rooms earlier, you definitely weren’t here...”
Kang Yujin genuinely felt like he had been bewitched by a fox.
“Could you at least act a little more welcoming?”
Daji pouted.
“I personally stepped in and rescued Lord Kang Yujin from a crisis.”
“What crisis?”
“A crisis involving your chastity?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, never mind that.”
Daji hopped over the back of the sofa and sat beside him.
“I came to deliver a message from my master.”
“Your master?”
“Who else besides the Nameless King?”
"...!"
The instant Kang Yujin heard that name, he straightened his back and sat upright.
Daji rolled her eyes at him as though the sight were unbearable.
“First, He believes you handled the situation wisely.”
“What?”
“Making both the Black Dragon Society and White Forest Alliance compete to find Ha Mina.”
Daji smiled.
“He said it made things easier in several ways.”
"...!"
Kang Yujin was deeply moved.
It was rare for him to receive such direct praise.
Even if the words came through Daji, they were still praise from Him.
That alone was enough.
“So you can focus on something else now.”
“Something else...”
“And!”
Daji placed a hand over her chest and smiled proudly.
“This time, I, a native of China, will be supporting you personally!”
“You?”
“Yes! I’m more reliable than Seok Taejun, Lee Jukheon, or Joo Minha, aren’t I?”
She grinned.
“With me at your side, it’s practically like gaining an army of ten thousand!”
Kang Yujin looked at her and answered coldly.
“Why don’t you go gather information on Ha Mina too?”
“I’m asking you to show at least a little happiness that I’m here.”
Daji’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.
“Actually, He originally intended to have me gather information too.”
She sighed.
“But this country has excellent countermeasures against yao like me.”
“If I sneak carelessly into an important facility, some kind of spell trap will activate and... bzzt! I’ll turn into roasted fox in an instant.”
Roasted fox...
Was that supposed to be like rotisserie chicken?
“I’ll support you in my own way, but don’t expect me to uncover information about Ha Mina.”
Daji waved a hand.
“You should rely on the Black Dragon Society and White Forest Alliance for that.”
“You’re not very useful.”
“My, how cruel.”
Daji laughed.
“From now on, you’ll be operating around Shanghai and traveling to other areas as a Contractor.”
“Most of the time, you’ll move alone.”
“But when something happens that’s difficult for you to deal with by yourself, I may step in.”
"..."
Daji’s sorcery was extremely powerful.
If it was something that could be solved through ordinary physical combat, Kang Yujin could handle it alone.
But for things that couldn’t...
having Daji around would definitely be reassuring.
As long as she doesn’t betray Him and continues serving Him loyally... she really would be useful.
Thinking that, Kang Yujin turned toward the window.
“Daji.”
“What is it?”
“Over there.”
Kang Yujin pointed outside.
“That place has been burning for a while. What’s going on?”
“Hmm. Let me see.”
Daji approached the window and looked outside.
“Ah... It looks like monsters appeared.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“That’s near the slums, so Contractors probably aren’t showing up immediately.”
“What do you mean?”
“Chinese Contractors pursue profit very strictly. They don’t usually do things that don’t pay.”
Come to think of it, Ma Taesu had mentioned something similar.
Because China’s government still existed, its Contractors tended to focus heavily on their own profit.
The Eight Guardians in Korea felt responsible for protecting civilians in the Capital Region.
That was because they considered themselves to be ‘governing’ those civilians in place of the government.
Chinese Contractors didn’t really think that way.
They protected civilians because doing so earned rewards from the government or private parties.
Even organizations like the Black Dragon Society had ultimately evolved into something resembling profit-driven corporations.
“Daji.”
“Yes?”
“You said you’d help if something came up that I couldn’t handle alone, right?”
“I literally just said that.”
Daji tilted her head.
“Do you need help?”
“Yeah.”
Kang Yujin approached the window.
He threw open the enormous glass pane.
Because they were so high up, a violent wind immediately blasted into the room.
“Um, Lord Kang Yujin? What exactly are you planning to do?”
“You can make sure I’ll be fine if I jump from here, right?”
“What?”
“I don’t feel like taking the elevator all the way down.”
They were more than a hundred floors up.
Waiting for the elevator, getting inside, and riding all the way down to the first floor sounded annoying.
“W-Wait a moment.”
“Can’t you?”
“Haah. You really are reckless.”
Daji shook her head and sighed.
“Fine. I said I’d support you, so I suppose I have no choice... Hey! How can you jump before I’m ready?!”
Ignoring Daji’s panicked shout as she chased after him, Kang Yujin threw himself into the night sky over Shanghai.
Interesting country.
There were prosperous central districts filled with high-rise buildings, nearly as lively as they had been ten years ago.
At the same time, there were slums where monsters could appear without anyone coming to help.
The government still existed and maintained the national system.
Yet Contractors behaved like corporations, pursuing their own interests above all else.
Meanwhile, ideological differences divided them into Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions that competed and fought with each other.
And now...
Kang Yujin had jumped directly into the middle of all of it.
But wherever I am... I just have to do what I should.
His destination was the burning slum.
He would kill the monsters there.
No one needed to order him.
As His Contractor, it was simply the obvious thing to do.
And so, on this land of countless different faces...
Kang Yujin’s true activities began.
“Isn’t this sandstorm way too strong?!”
“I agree!”
At the moment, Belial and I were walking through a desert.
Though I called it a desert, we were actually in the middle of China.
The land had apparently already become barren due to industrialization in the past.
Then the war with Pandemonium devastated it completely and turned it into an actual desert.
“I think that’s it over there!”
“Let’s hurry...!”
We spotted a lone shipping container standing in the middle of the desert and hurried inside.
“Good grief... I’m starting to regret arranging a meeting in a place like this.”
“Same.”
The container had been converted into a living space and even had glass windows.
While watching the endless sandstorm rage outside, we shook the sand from our clothes.
“Did we really have to meet somewhere like this?”
“They said they wanted to avoid other people’s eyes.”
“This certainly accomplishes that... but surely there were other places.”
We chatted while waiting.
Eventually, something began moving through the sandstorm.
Someone was riding a camel toward us.
“Looks like she’s here.”
"..."
A short while later, the rider dismounted and entered the container.
When she removed the cloth wrapped around her face, long, flowing red hair spilled free.
She was a beautiful woman.
“It has been a long time, Belial.”
She bowed politely to him.
“Allow me to introduce her, Kim Nameless.”
Belial spoke gently.
“This is Duchess Gremory, a member of Pandemonium’s peace faction.”
Gremory.
Number 56 among the Seventy-Two Demons of Pandemonium.
A female demon who commanded twenty-six legions.
She had long been known as a demon friendly toward humanity.
And in reality, like Belial, she maintained relatively amicable relations with humans even within Pandemonium.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Gremory.”
“The pleasure is mine, Kim Nameless.”
Even before a suspicious nobody like me, Gremory remained perfectly polite.
Unlike Belial, she didn’t seem to be hiding some deeper calculation.
She simply appeared to be naturally courteous.
“Gremory, we don’t have much time. It would be best to get straight to the point.”
“Understood, Belial.”
Gremory nodded and looked at me.
“Kim Nameless... you are aware that Pandemonium divides the Far Eastern front into three regions, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Among them, northeastern China is designated the First Far Eastern Region and is considered the most important.”
For reference, the Second Far Eastern Region was the northern Korean Peninsula, while the Third covered Manchuria and the Russian Far East.
“The Second and Third Regions each had one commander chosen from among the Seventy-Two Demons.”
Gremory continued.
“But here in the First Region, three of us have been assigned.”
"..."
“Another is Marquis Sabnock, Number 43 among the Seventy-Two Demons.”
“He belongs to neither the pro-war faction nor the peace faction. He is neutral.”
Her expression darkened.
“But the remaining one... Number 32 among the Seventy-Two Demons, who possesses the title of ‘King,’ is one of the most powerful figures within the pro-war faction.”
“Asmodeus...”
Asmodeus was almost as famous as Belial.
He was an ancient demon who even appeared in the Old Testament’s Book of Tobit.
Within the so-called Seven Deadly Sins, he was often associated with lust.
“And Asmodeus is closely connected to Ha Mina.”
Gremory’s voice became grave.
“We have not yet uncovered the specifics, but Asmodeus is cooperating with Ha Mina, who is hiding among humans, and is currently preparing a full-scale military operation.”
A full-scale military operation.
Pandemonium had stopped its advance after occupying Beijing and other parts of northeastern China.
This meant they were preparing to move again...
and attempt to conquer all of China.
“Please, Kim Nameless.”
Gremory spoke desperately.
“Belial told me about you.”
“That you are a human of exceptional wisdom... and someone deeply trusted by a Constellation.”
"..."
“So I beg you.”
Her voice trembled with urgency.
“You are the only person we can trust right now.”
With those words, Gremory bowed deeply before me.
“Please move the Constellations and stop Asmodeus and Ha Mina.”
One of the mighty Demon Gods who ruled over countless demons...
was bowing her head and asking for help.
From me.
A man who, not long ago, had been nothing more than a bottom-tier Contractor.
