Chapter 16
Lee Dowon was confident. Although time was short, he had already completed his background research on Yoo Hyun before coming here.
He might have seemed to despise barbarians unconditionally, but he had clear standards. They must not disregard the Cheonyu Empire. And the more useful someone was to them, the better they were treated.
Hadn't he ignored the Biran Party while even seating the S-rank hunter Shin Yuyu beside him? Of course, he had coveted her divinations, but he could not rule out the possibility that he simply liked pretty, young women.
'If that was the case, he would be even easier to coax.'
Even while living in America, he had never had to bow at the waist, but here he had to prostrate himself. He found it humiliating, but for the moment, he pressed his head to the ground. Having heard how the Biran Party had been captured by a spy planted in the Association, he knew the basic procedure.
Soon, Yoo Hyun's command to raise his head reached him. He intended to negotiate for the exclusive right to hunt in the gorge.
Yet there was one thing Lee Dowon had failed to consider.
"Hm, who did you say you were?"
"I'm Lee Dowon."
"What guild?"
"Ignis."
"That doesn't sound like a name from Daehan."
"Ah, that's because it's a foreign word. We're a massive guild headquartered in the United States."
"Barbarians who have sold their name to another country……."
For a moment, Yoo Hyun's name was dyed a pale orange. It meant his hostility had risen.
"It's not a bad thing! We're a multinational guild, so we actively trade not only with other countries, but with other civilizations inside the tower as well……!"
"Without the owner's permission?"
"Pardon?"
"Though I am merely a nation's supreme military commander, I extend grace to you under the sanction of His Majesty the Celestial Emperor. Have you come here with the same authorization?"
"Th-that……."
Naturally, he had not obtained the Association's cooperation. More accurately, he had not felt the need to obtain it.
He had followed an independent path from the beginning, separate from the South Korean government as well, but he could not possibly say so.
The basic rule of negotiation was to avoid mentioning conditions unfavorable to oneself as much as possible. Since Yoo Hyun valued legitimacy more than expected, Lee Dowon quickly began introducing the items he had brought.
'Convictions can't help but waver before overwhelming wealth.'
He was human, too. Other civilizations that had initially been reluctant to trade had opened their doors in the same way.
The Elven Alliance, which had been exceptionally hostile to humans, had ultimately been unable to resist its greed in the face of America's overwhelming capital.
'What could they do when America was offering them Alaska in its entirety?'
Ignis had been one of the guilds that led those negotiations. Lee Dowon pressed a switch and opened the container.
Inside were countless jewels and ornaments. There were also magic tools crafted from mana stones of at least Grade 2, packed tightly within. When the lights mounted inside came on, the dark forest brightened like a desert at midday.
"This is the initial shipment. A quantity nearly five times this amount is currently making its way across the Atlantic to Korea."
"Quite a lot."
"Haha, isn't it? It's on a completely different scale from the paltry amount someone else handed over."
He was looking at the dozen or so suitcases. A few had begun leaking foul-smelling soup inside after the impact with the container. Moon Seoyeong and the other Association hunters flushed red.
"Great General, are you familiar with Lend-Lease?"
Lee Dowon knew exactly what Yoo Hyun wanted. The extermination of the barbarians. And the security of the Empire, was it not?
"What is that?"
"The Lend-Lease Act. Put simply, it's a system that promises unlimited support to an ally. Ah, of course, 'ally' does not refer to the Cheonyu Empire here. It will never be written that way in the actual contract, so you can rest assured."
Barbarians. It was unfortunate that they themselves had one foot in that category, but the side drawing the line had the discretion to decide where it fell. To place the stick for drawing that line in Yoo Hyun's hand, Lee Dowon took out the magic tool sitting at the very top.
It was an object called the Staff of God.
"I heard you rejected every item the Association presented, but you'll change your mind when you see our magic tools. I've infused it with a little mana, so hook your finger around the latch and pull……."
Boom! Yoo Hyun pulled the trigger without hesitation. A beam shot from the tip of the staff, flying between the heads of the Ignis Guild members.
Behind them stood a Grade 3 monster, a werewolf. Watching it vanish without leaving even a corpse, Yoo Hyun nodded for the first time.
"The power isn't bad."
"Right? Since it's a prototype, it can only fire three times, but if we use mana stones found exclusively in Pamagok, it should be usable dozens more times. Its destructive power will also double."
The other magic tools were useful in their own ways, even if none matched this one. Their performance could not even be compared to the items the Association had procured from companies through the lowest bids.
"Now that it's used, you'll have to buy it, won't you? Haha."
Just as he was lightly joking and trying to get the Staff of God back from Yoo Hyun, the latter suddenly asked Lee Dowon a question.
"You said your name was Lee Dowon. Do you know what I want that well?"
"Of course! How could I not know? To drive out the barbarians and bring peace to the Empire……."
"A thousand years."
"Pardon?"
For a moment, Lee Dowon instinctively thought that the confidence he had held until now might have been misplaced.
The ominous suspicion that he might have completely misjudged Yoo Hyun was gradually becoming reality every time the man opened his mouth.
"Drive out the barbarians? They will not disappear. They were there when the Empire was founded, and they are there now. They will be there in the future as well."
"I'm sorry. I was unaware……."
"Nor do I seek universal peace. The Empire does not need to be peaceful. It must always be prepared for war."
"……."
"A relationship that, once forged, will not break even after a thousand years. That was one reason I put you at my back and pointed my spear at Togwol."
And you must show me, through deeds rather than words, that you will not betray that trust, just as I have done.
"Ten years is enough to change mountains and rivers. You casually threw around words like Lend-Lease and unlimited support, but can you take responsibility for those words for the rest of your life?"
"Yes, I can take responsibility……."
"You, who even abandoned your homeland? Wouldn't you be the sort of person who could betray not only me, but those who took you in, whenever profit dictated?"
"……."
"What about that man?"
Yoo Hyun said this as he turned his head toward Park Ingyu, who had just arrived. After hearing that the Ignis Guild had entered the Hidden Stage, he had hurried through the rift in case trouble arose.
"He staked everything to take responsibility for a single word he had let slip unintentionally. Unlike you, all he gave me was a sheet of paper with his name and position written on it, but its true substance was responsibility."
Only Park Ingyu and Yoo Hyun themselves knew how heavy that burden was.
"Yet no matter how carefully I consider it, you merely see me as a merchant like yourself. I have only one thing to say to a peddler: Get out."
"But……."
"Don't make me say it twice. You're irritating me."
His name turned red. It was the final warning.
If he insisted any further, he might truly be killed. Deciding that it was time to retreat, Lee Dowon gritted his teeth and bowed his head. He tried to leave while holding on to his resentment, but—
"Understood……."
"Oh, and leave that iron box behind."
"Pardon? I thought you were refusing tribute?"
"How could I, His Majesty's subject, call it the sincerity of you barbarians when I am merely picking up and clearing away something that fell on His Majesty's land? After all, a gift only acquires meaning once it is handed over directly."
In other words, he was not accepting the things they had brought; he was collecting trash that had been dropped without permission on imperial territory.
For a moment, Lee Dowon's mind went blank at Yoo Hyun's words, which sounded more like those of a thug than a Great General. Hadn't he been talking about responsibility and thousand-year relationships just a moment ago?
"Ah, it hasn't touched the ground yet. As you can see, it's still flying……."
Boom! The Staff of God belched fire. One of the propulsion units attached beneath it was smashed, and the container plummeted downward.
"……."
"There was still one shot left. Anything else to say?"
"No……."
Having lost all words, Lee Dowon ultimately had no choice but to leave behind everything he had brought and depart with nothing but the clothes on his back.
.
.
.
.
Once the commotion had died down, Park Ingyu, who had arrived late, heard what had happened from Moon Seoyeong.
Piecing together what Yoo Hyun had said to Lee Dowon, it seemed to mean that he would permit them to hunt in Pamagok if they promised to take responsibility.
To confirm it for himself, Park Ingyu cautiously approached him. Yoo Hyun was watching the kimchi broth that had spilled from a suitcase and was soaking the surrounding rocks, his expression strangely hollow.
Moon Seoyeong, who had heard the frightening story, cautiously asked first.
"What if a vegetarian barbarian smells it and comes looking?"
"Hm? Ah, was that it? Right, that's what happened."
"?"
"Don't worry. They're all dead. More importantly, do you have any other business?"
"Excuse me, about hunting in Pamagok……."
It went without saying that there were far more hunters among civilians. The Association employees, who had plenty of other duties, could not properly gather enough mana stones on their own, so they planned to open the area to ordinary hunters once the base was complete.
Naturally, they planned to conduct a strict screening process to prevent friction with the soldiers of Pamagok. After hearing the details, Yoo Hyun approved it as expected.
"It's under your jurisdiction, so you won't handle it carelessly. Do as the director intends."
"Thank you!"
At last, the door to their first proper trade had opened. Park Ingyu's eyes grew moist, as if all their efforts had finally borne fruit.
The Association had been troubled by Yoo Hyun's repeated rejections of tribute, but if he had accepted Lee Dowon's proposal, they would never have achieved the result they had now.
He had never sworn loyalty to anyone in his life, but from now on, he would work hard for the Great General as well. Park Ingyu made that resolve and bowed deeply.
"I will do my best until the day my term ends."
"Hm? Your term?"
"Ah, you didn't know. I'm already fifty……."
Park Ingyu was a public-sector employee. He had less than ten years left until retirement, and his term of office was even shorter.
Yoo Hyun thought deeply about that, then made him an unexpected offer.
"Really? Come work for us when you retire. I'll arrange an administrator's post for you in Pamagok."
"Pardon? But I was planning to move to the countryside and farm after retirement……."
"Going back to your hometown over something so minor? Aren't you still young at sixty these days?"
What era did he even mean by these days? Hearing that from the bright-eyed, youthful Yoo Hyun made it all the more awkward.
"Among my subordinates, there is a man named Nochil who is over seventy this year, and he is still perfectly healthy while serving as commander of the Capital Guard. The two of you could keep each other company now and then."
"Does that mean that if I go to Pamagok, he will still be holding office by then?"
"Hm? Of course. One can sleep after death, can't one?"
Yoo Hyun said that Nochil had tried to quit by making all sorts of excuses, but he had never granted permission. Even so, he claimed to have at least allowed him to transfer to the Thirteenth Pass after Nochil pestered him, and a remarkable degree of possessiveness could be felt in his words.
"Now that it's settled, I'll be counting on you for the rest of your life."
At those words, Park Ingyu regretted for the first time ever giving Yoo Hyun his business card.