Chapter 210. The Road to the Summit (5)
“Oh my! Welcome back, Lord Nameless King!”
When I returned to my throne after the long meeting, an overly sweet voice greeted me.
“Now then, I’ve already heated the bathwater for you. You must be exhausted, so why don’t you soak yourself in some nice hot water and relax? And after that, I’ll personally... ohoho.”
“What the hell are you doing?”
I felt goosebumps all over my body.
The one welcoming me with this ridiculous performance was none other than Jason.
“Huh? Not funny?”
“It’s horrifying.”
“I got bored waiting for you.”
Jason threw away the apron he was wearing and dropped into my chair.
“The Observer only shows the screens you already configured, and none of the messages that came in were important. I thought I was going to die of boredom.”
Jason had been guarding my throne while I was away.
I had left it in his hands so he could respond if anything happened while I was gone.
Of course, I had placed security restrictions on the Observer so he couldn’t touch anything important.
I had also installed surveillance cameras and the like.
So he shouldn’t have been able to fool around too much.
“And that led you to come up with that little performance?”
“Wouldn’t you feel good if someone welcomed you home like that?”
“Did your wife used to do that for you?”
“Let’s not talk about my wife. Right now, this is our special time together...”
“Why are you making us sound like we’re having an affair?”
I sighed and shoved Jason aside.
“So, how are things?”
“Do you even need to ask?”
Jason got up from the chair with a grin.
“The Sinuiju operation was completed without any problems.”
“The conquest of the northeastern mountain regions isn’t completely finished yet, but we’ve now reclaimed more than ninety percent of the northern Korean Peninsula.”
“Good.”
The attack on Sinuiju could be called the climax of the operation to reclaim North Korea.
For this battle, the Eight Guardians forces in Korea had mobilized nearly all their major Contractors.
Lee Hyeonje, Shin Minyu, and Won Pilso had participated.
Kang Yujin and others from the Golden Ram Order had taken the lead as well.
The demons remaining in North Korea had fortified Sinuiju and prepared for a final battle.
But apparently...
the city had fallen in a single day.
“With this, we can finally establish an overland route to China.”
Reclaiming Sinuiju was significant for more than the city itself.
Sinuiju was a major city near the Chinese border.
Once it was secured, Korea could open an overland route into China.
Of course, northeastern China was still controlled by Pandemonium.
But that wasn’t much of a problem.
Gremory had already decided to side with humanity and agreed to hand Liaoning Province, bordering Korea, over to the Chinese government.
“Once the overland route to China opens, Korea’s economy should recover rapidly, right?”
“Probably.”
“The economy... I wonder if Lee Hyeonje and the other Eight Guardians can manage it properly.”
“Hey, Nameless.”
Jason smiled and lightly tapped me.
“Is that really something you need to worry about right now?”
“Leave those little details to me.”
“Jason...”
“Just leave the minor stuff to me and everyone else.”
“You should focus on the things only you can do.”
Jason placed a hand on my shoulder.
“I watched what you did in Europe with my own two eyes.”
"..."
“To be honest, my jaw dropped.”
“You might be the only person in the entire universe capable of pulling off something like that.”
He looked genuinely happy about what I had accomplished.
“So naturally, I should support you from behind.”
“As your best partner!”
“Number 49 said something similar. You two should settle between yourselves who gets to be the best.”
“Anyway!”
“I’ll cover whatever you can’t pay attention to.”
Jason grinned.
“So go ahead and play on the world stage as much as you want!”
“Jason...”
“I’ll just stay here and play king over Korea by myself!”
“You probably should’ve stopped before that last part.”
I sighed as Jason proudly raised his thumb.
Still... if Jason takes responsibility for Korea, I can focus on the Committee.
I had once invited Jason to join the Committee.
But he declined, saying that even if he joined, he would only end up as a background member.
He preferred concentrating on Korea.
In any case, if Jason was willing to take responsibility for that side, I could focus on the Committee without worrying too much.
There was just one thing.
“Jason, what about Ha Mina?”
We still needed to keep a close eye on Ha Mina.
She was Merlin’s Contractor.
And we had no idea when she might wake up or what she might do afterward.
“Lee Gyu is personally monitoring Ha Mina.”
“She’s still asleep.”
“I see...”
“Daji visits from time to time to check on her too, but she says there aren’t any signs that Ha Mina is about to wake up.”
Hearing Daji’s name suddenly reminded me of Taigong Wang, Jiang Ziya.
Come to think of it... Daji is connected to Taigong Wang too.
The reason Daji had existed as a wicked woman for thousands of years was because of Taigong Wang’s curse.
For political reasons, Taigong Wang had transformed her into the ultimate villainess.
And Daji remained bound by that curse for thousands of years.
But...
I couldn’t directly ask Daji about Taigong Wang.
It’s dangerous for me to openly investigate him.
The Count had done that and lost his comrades, then had his freedom restricted.
At this stage, I couldn’t let even the slightest hint escape that I suspected Taigong Wang.
That meant I couldn’t reveal anything to Daji.
Nor could I let Wen Zhong or Princess Longji notice.
“Got it, Jason. You can head back now.”
“Sure. When are you descending to the Material Realm next?”
“In a few days.”
“But you probably don’t need to come that time.”
“Why not?”
“You need to focus on Korea too.”
“Next is the Eastern Region Third Command, isn’t it?”
The Eastern Region Third Command.
Pandemonium’s territory centered on the easternmost region of Russia.
The area commonly known as the Russian Far East, or Primorsky region.
Its commander was Forneus, one of the Seventy-Two Demons.
