Chapter 12
After returning to Earth, Leon assessed the state of the world in 2030 and set three goals for himself.
First: spreading the faith.
There are no true gods here.
Jehovah, Buddha, Allah, and the countless devas and devis of Hinduism.
If they were real gods, there should at least be saints who fought against evil.
Yet whether they were cardinals, priests, or even the fanatics shouting “Allahu Akbar” in the 2030s, there were no priests or saints endowed with divine power.
By nature, the greatest power needed to destroy evil was holy power—yet not even a trace of it existed?
'The priests of churches and mosques have no power to convey the gods' power.'
A god receives faith and bestows blessings.
Just consider what happened on the Honam Plain: the very concept of land becoming polluted and causing a poor harvest was wrong.
How could land worshiping and blessed by Demera, Goddess of Life and Abundance, become polluted? And with the god of rain and clouds sure to send rain, how could there be a poor harvest?
Even the crops prove it.
Rice, improved and grown with the finest technology of the twenty-first century, couldn't even cure a tiny tumor in the body?
Did it make any sense to hope for recovery from that one tumor by going to a barbaric hospital rather than a sanctuary, talking about middle or late stages?
The very fact that people fell ill was the problem. If they'd consistently eaten crops blessed by Demera, they couldn't have gotten sick.
Healing was something one sought for soldiers wounded on the battlefield or those cursed by evil cultists.
Not something to rely on mere scalpels or painkillers.
To wield holy power, he first had to spread the faith.
At the Honam Plain, Leon had managed to resolve things with the meager holy power sustained by his Lionheart, but the future would require immense holy power.
The reason Leon's world had ultimately fallen to the demons was that there were no longer any believers left to offer their faith.
Second was rebuilding the Grail Knights.
In this world, there was no fighting force that wielded holy power.
If the Grail Guardian, the Lionheart King, was a demigod, the Grail Knights were living saints of the rank just below him.
They were the knights of the gods, who wielded divine arts.
Leon had survived thanks to the holy power left behind by those who fought to the very end and ascended.
The Grail Knights of Ariana, Goddess of Light and Justice, who shared his own divinity.
Sir Jenkinson, the Sea's Guardian Knight, who protected the harbor and served Poma, god of the sea and waves.
Sir Genoa, the Knight of Flame, who unleashed the inferno of Pethos, god of war and fire.
Saint Anyak, who supported the knights with the light of Demera, Goddess of Life and Abundance.
Even as the empire fell, and the elves' great forest and the dwarves' underground cities crumbled, the Grail Knights continued to hunt demons.
They were the very embodiment of terror to the evil races.
Third goal.
To eradicate the evils running rampant across this land.
Spread the faith, restore divinity, establish the harmony and order of a proper pantheon, and train Grail Knights.
These worthless unbelievers and ignorant commoners. Expecting superhuman saints called Grail Knights to emerge from such lowly people might be too much to ask.
It doesn't matter.
Leon Dragonia Lionheart would simply do what had to be done.
"Your Majesty, someone has formally requested an audience."
"Hmm... If they followed proper procedure, I see no reason not to hear them out."
Leon guessed who had come and granted him an audience.
* * * *
Director Park Jongchan found the survivor named Leon utterly ridiculous.
The way some barbarian from who-knows-what civilization strutted around because he claimed to be royalty grated on him, a man who was practically a noble by modern Earth's standards.
But, quite apart from that, Leon's abilities were tempting.
Crops that grew in an instant but were safe for ordinary people to eat.
And their effects were extraordinary. It was shocking enough that they could cure cancer, but once he'd learned that they could even purify land polluted by mana, he was beside himself.
We have to recruit this man for our company.
"Thank you for granting me an audience, Your Majesty."
For the sake of corporate profits, he could bow his head to this barbarian for a little while.
"This is a small gift from our company to Your Majesty."
He had come with his secretaries and presented Leon with a gift.
Inside was a Weapon Closet made by a master craftsman from the Doojeong Guild, one of Korea's Top Ten Guilds.
Director Park Jongchan planned to tempt the barbarian with the dazzling, top-of-the-line items inside the Weapon Closet.
'Once he gets a taste of these, he won't be able to go back. I'll make him beg us to manage his career.'
Director Park expected Assistant Manager Han Hari and Leon to be astounded by this incredible gift. But...
"Very well. I shall accept it, in consideration of your sincerity."
'A-accept it?'
What was with that attitude? He was acting as if he were the one doing me a favor by accepting it.
Director Park was furious at the man's insolence, but forced himself to keep his business smile in place.
"W-why don't you take a look inside? I'm sure you'll like it."
"Tsk... It's tiresome to explain etiquette to commoners. Han Hari, open it."
Leon kept acting like an overbearing old geezer, getting under everyone's skin to the very end as he ordered her to open the gift.
Hari immediately opened it and gasped.
"Th-this is?!"
"Heh..."
As the sleek cabinet opened, its joints unfolded with a series of clicks, turning it into a weapons display filled with a dozen or so items.
"These are the latest weapons our group has to offer. I hope you'll choose whichever one you like."
"A-Are these Unique-grade weapons made by a master craftsman directly affiliated with the Doojeong Guild?"
They were Unique-grade weapons made by the Doojeong Guild, one of Korea's Top Ten Guilds operated by the Doojeong Group.
They were expensive items that even high-ranking Hunters coveted, so rare that money alone couldn't buy them.
"I hear you'll be working as a Hunter. These will be a great help to you."
At those words, Hari could barely breathe.
Each weapon made by the Doojeong Guild's master craftsmen was an ultra-luxury item worth at least a billion won.
Unless you were lucky enough to obtain one in a Gate, these were among the best weapons you could acquire through conventional means.
He was offering her one outright? Hari swallowed hard as she looked at the Unique-grade sword she'd only ever admired through YouTube videos throughout her academy training.
"That will do. What use would I have for such low-grade weapons?"
"L-low-grade?"
"Your Majesty! How can you call them low-grade?!"
Even Hari was shocked by Leon's attitude. Even if he was from another world, how could he see the refinement conveyed even in the pamphlet photos and react like that?
"Th-these are premium weapons made from compressed alloys using the latest magitech techniques. You won't find anything like them just anywhere—"
Director Park emphasized the incredible technology behind the items he'd brought and the expensive materials used to make them.
They were so impressive that even a child would understand how valuable they were, no matter how barbaric he might be.
But Leon saw things completely differently.
"How can you make a masterwork sword without bathing it in the power of the stars or granting it a divine blessing? Do you use your weapons only to hunt beasts?"
What was that supposed to mean? What, were they supposed to leave weapons out in the sun like drying peppers and recite prayers over them or something?
To everyone's surprise, that guess was exactly right.
"Compared to my holy sword and holy spear, all of these are mere toys fit for toothpicks. Tsk... And you brought me weapons that haven't even been consecrated with a blessing."
'Th-this barbarian!'
There were people like this—survivors who thought their own world was the best simply because they came from it.
Even technical races like dwarves were immensely proud of their craft.
But their pride had been utterly crushed by the materials science and metallurgical technology of modern civilization.
No matter how many times a dwarf master craftsman folded and tempered a steel sword, it would bend against a Normal-grade longsword mass-produced in a factory using modern and magitech techniques.
"H-ha, haha... You seem very confident in your swords, Your Majesty."
"I merely stated an obvious fact."
Leon summoned a sword from somewhere. Was it some kind of subspace technology? But Park couldn't sense any magical energy at work.
And yet the sword that appeared was an old iron blade. It was chipped all over and so worn it looked incapable of cutting anything.
Park Jongchan was so dumbfounded that he wanted to ask what anyone could do with that piece of junk, but when their eyes met, he couldn't get the words out.
"I sense a great deal of doubt in you, merchant."
"O-oh, you've misunderstood."
"Well, never mind. Merchants everywhere like to boast about their wares. It's like using an ox butcher's cleaver to slaughter a chicken, but I'll demonstrate what your offering can do."
Director Park was dumbfounded, but he had to think. Should he show the immense gap in their abilities and crush that confidence, or lose gracefully and make the man feel good?
But to have the technology of the Doojeong Group so brazenly belittled... Director Park felt he had to establish his position.
'You barbarian. I'll show you what real technology is.'
He quickly put on a smile and continued as if there were no other choice.
"In that case... I'd like to see the brilliance of Your Majesty's treasured sword for myself. Assistant Manager Han Hari?"
"Yes..."
"Would you care to try whichever weapon you like?"
Hari glanced at Leon. When he nodded, she picked up Dawn, the sword by master craftsman Park Jincheol that she'd admired for four years.
It was a weapon forged for ten days in the powerful sunlight of a Special Gate. Its durability was truly top-tier. Its special ability, the power of the sun, boasted enough melting force to melt even high-strength special alloys.
It was the perfect weapon for her, since she possessed the blessing of fire.
"Th-this... Are you sure I can really swing it?"
"Why would you need an adult's permission every time you swing a toy?"
'That bastard, all the way to the end...'
Director Park felt his anger rising to the top of his head, but he waited for the satisfying payoff that was just around the corner.
Holding the weapon of her dreams, Hari marveled at it, but worried that Leon's sword might break. Still, she couldn't exactly hold back.
She activated Dawn's special ability, and a vivid red aura enveloped the blade, turning it crimson.
"Th-then... here I go!"
The sword she swung with all her might collided with Leon's old iron blade. The result was inevitable—
-Clang!
The blade snapped with a satisfyingly crisp sound. The one cut apart in a single strike was Dawn.
"Huh?"
"Uh..."
Hari, who had swung the sword, Director Park, and the secretaries all tilted their heads in confusion. Leon alone looked bored as he stared at the severed sword.
"I had my suspicions, but you really did bring something fit to use as a toothpick. Take it away."
Wh-what had just happened?
Director Park couldn't get his thoughts to work properly as he stared at what had happened before his eyes.
Dawn was a weapon with the finest cutting power, capable of slicing through even the hide and bones of high-ranking monsters with ease.
It was the culmination of the Doojeong Group's technology, the most powerful weapon they could make.
'C-could it be a Unique-grade weapon?'
That old sword? Impossible.
Survivors sometimes brought over Unique-grade weapons, the finest in their worlds, but even those had a certain air of quality about them.
There was no way a shabby, chipped sword like that could be one of them...
"'Not even Indestructible (不壞)? What a waste of time. I shall shorten this audience. Finish what you have to say within three minutes."
"N-no... Th-that... No?"
He'd meant to establish his position, so how had things ended up like this?
Director Park tried to say something, but his mouth simply wouldn't open. It was only after his secretary shook him by the shoulder that he finally came to his senses.
Right... The gift was only meant to win the man's favor. It was unfortunate to see a weapon worth a billion won cut to pieces, but a mere billion won wasn't what mattered now.
"His Majesty Leon's—"
"In what country's etiquette does a lowly merchant presume to speak a king's name?"
"Ggh... Y-Your Majesty."
His clenched teeth ground together so hard they seemed about to crack. He'd never been so ignored and treated with contempt in his life.
"Your Majesty... About the crops you're growing, we'd like to secure exclusive supply rights for the Doojeong Group."
"The crops I grow? Do you take me for a farmer?"
"N-no! We only want to secure the seeds of the crops Your Majesty had grown on the Honam Plain and cultivate them ourselves."
"Oh? You're going to convert? At last, you've said something welcome."
"Pardon?"
What did he mean, convert?
"Those crops grow in land blessed by priests who worship Demera, Goddess of Life and Abundance. So you're planning to become one of those priests? For a merchant, you've got quite the ambition."
"N-no, that's not what I meant."
"Hm?"
Director Park Jongchan found it pointless to try to steer the conversation with someone so difficult to follow, so he went straight to the point.
"We'd like to acquire the patent rights to the seeds of that rice."
"What?"
Leon's eyes sharpened. Director Park hastily added conditions.
"Of course, we'll pay for them. Based on our management team's calculations... yes, we believe they're worth 180 billion won."
Of course, that was an undervalued estimate. There was no way the seeds of super-rice that could even cure cancer were worth a mere 180 billion won.
But if he explained the value of 180 billion won to this ignorant barbarian, the man would probably go cross-eyed with excitement.
"You want to buy the seeds with money?"
"Exactly. Of course, you'd have to sign a contract granting Doojeong Future Foods exclusive distribution rights. Ah, if you wish, we could raise the amount a little depending on how negotiations go—"
Director Park looked forward to seeing how he could toy with this barbarian.
He would undervalue the seeds, act as if they were no great loss, then overwhelm the other man with complicated explanations of the law and distribution networks.
Park Jongchan was a born businessman, skilled at lowering the other party's worth while inflating his own. But—
"How dare this lowly merchant profane the divine!"
He didn't know.
The one before him was—
the representative of all divinity, and the most devout believer of all.