Chapter 10
Korean Hunter Association Headquarters.
There was only one topic at the working-level meeting attended by everyone at manager level and above.
"Leon Dragonia Lionheart... Why is his name so long? So, he appeared in a Black-ranked Gate, and..."
"He took the Great Demon's head in one stroke? Is this a report you expect us to believe?"
"Survivors' strength varies widely, so it's not impossible. Haven't we seen cases like the Heavenly Demon (天魔) or the Killing Saint?"
"What else have we learned? A god? Wasn't that just magic making crops grow?"
"He also helped clear the Honam Plain Gate?"
"Is he a combat type? That's a relief."
The Black Gate that had appeared in the middle of Seoul passed without incident, thanks to information control.
The problem was that a survivor had been discovered inside that Black Gate.
The Association approached the survivor with great caution.
"Manager Kim Jinsu, I hear you've been keeping an eye on him these past few days. You even went with him to clear the Honam Plain Gate."
Hunter Association Chairman Oh Kanghyeok asked Manager Kim Jinsu.
"Yes, that's right, Director."
"What kind of person is he?"
In response to the chairman's question, Manager Kim Jinsu took an unusually long time to answer for a subordinate responding to a superior.
"I don't really... know."
The conclusion he'd reached after all that thought was hopelessly vague.
"You don't know?"
"He's not... a bad person. If anything, he's on the righteous side."
That much he could say with certainty.
"But his values are very different from ours. At heart, he's like a medieval lord, though..."
"This is going to be a headache."
"I wish he were a little more modernized."
Their reaction was only natural. A considerable number of survivors had blended into society, but just as many had failed to do so.
The lower their level of civilization, the more likely they were to cause trouble—especially if they had belonged to the ruling class, or if they came from a different race.
Survivors who couldn't assimilate into society had caused all sorts of social problems.
If they were merely a nuisance to society, they could be ignored. But many survivors were just as powerful as Awakened.
In short, even if some lunatic showed up, the problem was that the lunatic had a very sharp sword.
"Hmm... We should tread carefully and accommodate him as much as possible when it comes to his beliefs and etiquette."
"Yes, but he can be surprisingly easygoing in some ways. He seems to understand our culture to a degree."
That was because Leon was originally from Earth.
He was currently pretending to be a complete otherworlder, so he let some things slide.
Manager Kim Jinsu, who didn't know that, must have thought Leon was fairly accommodating in some respects.
In terms of his abilities, Leon had made an astonishing impression.
"Tell us in detail about the part where he summoned a god..."
The miracle Leon had shown at the Honam Plain Gate had appeared on a personal YouTuber's livestream, but they'd taken it down to prevent panic.
"Yes. It appears he had a being called Demera, Goddess of Life and Abundance, possess a straw doll. They seem to have actually spoken."
It had been captured on video, too. For some reason, not a sound came from the straw doll, but it had clearly moved.
"Could he have just used some kind of summoning magic?"
"A goddess? That's absurd."
Most of the executives dismissed it with the same words. A god? It was far too preposterous to believe.
"But the evidence..."
"Couldn't he have just imbued it with some kind of magical effect? Rice growing because a god blessed it? What nonsense."
"Given that demons exist, why couldn't gods exist too?"
Opinions within the Association were divided, but there was one conclusion they all agreed on.
"That rice. Its effects were undeniable."
The rice had grown rapidly thanks to Leon's blessing. And that wasn't all. As it grew, it had purified the land contaminated by mana in an instant.
The fact that the mana had been purified was shocking enough, but the appraisal results—every single grain of rice was Rare grade—set the meeting room abuzz once again.
"Rice that can cure cancer and give you a long-lasting buff..."
This ability was just as astounding as Leon's combat prowess. No, perhaps even more so.
Even a standard enhancement potion made by a master potion maker only lasted about three hours. They cost several million won, so even the major guilds were careful about using them.
But this rice's buffs lasted longer than potions, and if they were different types, they could even stack up to three times.
Used properly, this meant every Hunter clearing a Gate could keep their buffs going with just one or two servings.
"Ask Leon Drago... nia Lionheart what he thinks about this."
"Understood. And regarding the support funds for the survivor..."
"The maximum limit. Give him everything he asks for. We must bring him over to our side, no matter what."
Even as Chairman Oh Kanghyeok spoke, he wasn't confident.
Now that they'd already made contact with the Firebird Guild, they weren't the only ones who knew this information. At the very least, the Firebird Guild knew about Leon's abilities.
It was only a matter of time before the Top Ten Guilds learned about the survivor Leon.
Could the Association really compete with them? Oh Kanghyeok sighed as he looked over the budget remaining for the year.
"Um... but, Chairman. The survivor Leon has one request."
"What is it? Whatever it is, accommodate him as much as you can."
"Well..."
Kim Jinsu hesitated, as if he found it difficult to say, before finally managing to speak.
"He says he needs to meet the President."
"Huh? Why?"
"He said that since he'll be staying here for a while, it's only natural for a king to pay his respects to another king..."
"???"
* * * *
It had been four days since Leon returned to Earth.
During that time, Leon had stayed in a five-star suite in Seoul. At first, they'd directed him to accommodation run by the Hunter Association, but Leon had immediately flown into a rage.
"We're not on a battlefield, so how can the king's bedchamber have not a single work of art!"
In short, it was beneath his dignity.
He wanted a room with not only a top-of-the-line bed, but also servants on hand at all times and artwork he could admire whenever he pleased.
In the end, Hari had gone around five-star hotels in the middle of the night, rented a suite, and proposed a compromise by arranging paintings and ceramics from the hotel's decor inside it.
"Your Majesty... please, I beg you, go to sleep!"
At two in the morning, Hari imitated the full prostration she'd seen in historical dramas and begged Leon to go to bed.
"Hmm..."
Leon relented this time. Bullying a government official too much would be beneath his dignity, after all.
The next morning, Hari personally handled room service.
"Your Majesty, Assistant Manager Han Hari is here!"
-Come in.
Hari opened the door with her room key and pushed in the tray of breakfast, greeting him.
"Have you been in good health, Your Majesty?"
"Indeed."
Hari personally set out the food.
"Your Majesty's royal breakfast!"
The meal prepared was a galbi set that cost over 100,000 won. The five side dishes and premium Korean beef galbi, marinated and grilled, made her mouth water.
"Have you eaten breakfast?"
"Oh, not yet."
"You must eat when you can. Don't go hungry."
"Ah, yes..."
Just as Hari was thinking she could at least buy a sandwich at the first-floor cafe after Leon finished eating...
"Sit."
Leon invited her to take a seat.
"Y-Your Majesty...!"
He'd asked whether she'd eaten and invited her to sit down. Surely he meant to share his meal with her out of consideration.
Just as Hari, moved, reached for the chopsticks...
"What are you doing?"
"Pardon?"
"I asked why you aren't cutting the galbi into bite-sized pieces."
"W-were you not going to share it with me?"
"What king in any country would sit at the same table as a commoner?"
"Ugh..."
Just as she thought. Hari lowered her head and separated the meat from the bones of the marinated galbi.
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After checkout, Hari helped Leon into the Hunter Association's official car and headed somewhere with him. On the way, she began explaining various things.
"The Hunter Association has decided to provide Your Majesty with a subsidy and settlement support. We'll find you somewhere comfortable to stay, even if it can't compare to a palace."
"That is very considerate. When do you think the President of the Republic of Korea will be available?"
"Ah, th-that... there are security concerns on our end too—"
"Do you think I would be so ignorant of honor as to assassinate another king? A king does not kill a king!"
"N-no, of course not!"
Hari didn't think Leon would actually go and slash the President outright, but she couldn't disregard the President's safety just because he 'seemed like the sort.'
He was powerful enough that even an S-rank Hunter would struggle to stop him, and if he suddenly lost his mind, it wouldn't be strange for the worst disaster in South Korean political history to occur.
"M-more importantly, about the place where Your Majesty will be staying! As I mentioned earlier, land prices in the capital region are so high that it'll be much more cramped than your palace. Will that be all right?"
At first, they'd considered finding him a decent apartment in Seoul. The rent support for highly rated survivors came to a total of fifteen million won for one year.
Of course, at 1.3 million won a month in rent, he could live in a home that would seem palatial by modern standards, but Leon was a king.
He'd had a palace of his own, and even a single bedchamber among its hundreds of rooms must have been enormous.
To satisfy his aesthetic sensibilities, they'd have to hand over the Blue House or Gyeongbokgung Palace. Obviously, that was impossible.
"How could I indulge in luxury as a guest under someone else's roof?"
Hari didn't mention that, after extensive lobbying, the Hunter Association had taken artworks out of museums to furnish the room with the art Leon had requested.
She didn't mention that those artworks were worth hundreds of millions of won.
Nor did she mention that Leon's assigned lodging was the personal villa of Hunter Association Chairman Oh Kanghyeok.
The Hunter Association was doing everything it could to accommodate Leon's exacting tastes, hoping their efforts would pay off. She didn't mention that, either.
She was afraid he'd yell that it was beneath his dignity if she made it obvious.
"Your Majesty, speaking of the distribution of the spoils..."
"I ordered you to handle that as you saw fit. But I like the cloak, so leave it alone."
"Yes, Your Majesty..."
In the end, they decided to exempt the loot from the Honam Plain Gate from taxes as a special case.
More precisely, they'd fudged the records, claiming, 'We didn't get a single piece of loot from the Honam Plain!'
It was an even greater benefit than the one given to the Top Ten Guilds, including the Firebird Guild, but Leon simply wouldn't listen to Association employees.
He stubbornly insisted that if he spoke to this country's king—the President—then the man would surely listen to him. In the end, the Association agreed to secretly arrange a meeting with the President.
Until then, everything imposed on Leon would be exempt from liability and taxes.
Accordingly, the spoils allocated to Leon were Dullahan's Greatsword, Dullahan's Cloak, and five million won worth of the mana stones—out of ten million won worth—that had been hastily mined when the dungeon was closed.
In effect, they'd handed most of the spoils to Leon, but no employee objected, since he'd essentially cleared the Gate alone in a duel.
"We've arrived, Your Majesty."
They had arrived at an officetel in Bundang. It was close to the Hunter Association and had a helipad on the roof for emergency helicopter transport, making it popular among Hunters.
As befitted a high-end officetel, the lobby was lavish, with intricately detailed framed prints and modern artworks on display, creating an impressive atmosphere.
'What on earth are those paintings made by putting nothing but dots of paint on a canvas?'
Leon couldn't make sense of some of the artworks, though.
"Ah, are you Assistant Manager Han Hari from the Hunter Association?"
Just then, a neatly dressed man spoke to the two of them as they headed into the lobby.
"Who are you?"
Hari eyed the man warily. Their visit to this officetel was supposed to be confidential.
"Haha, what a coincidence. I'm Director Park Jongchan of Doojeong Future Foods, part of the Doojeong Group."
"D-Doojeong Group?"
The Doojeong Group was one of the country's three largest conglomerates. Why had a director from such a massive corporation been waiting for them under the pretense of a chance encounter?
"Ah... So you're the famous 'survivor' everyone's been talking about. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Leon Dragonia Lionheart."
He'd already come knowing everything. Hari's heart sank as she looked at Director Park Jongchan.
By contrast, Leon stared intently at Director Park's outstretched hand, then looked horrified.
"A merchant... offering a handshake?"