The Time-Limited Leader Makes the Raid a Success - Chapter 111



Only Noblemtl

111. Why do you want to make a new decision?

“Ah, even if you beat me to death, I can’t do this anymore. Chief Kang, this is a breach of contract. It’s grounds for resignation. I’m not a mine detector!”

Goeulji, who had suddenly burst into the director’s office, suddenly lay down on the floor. A shadow appeared over her head. She met the shadow’s owner’s eyes and stood up in shock.

“Huh! Why is Gilma here… …?”

“Why did you come here, Goeulji Hunter? Instead of coming to me, are you trying to get in touch with Captain Kang?”

Joo Se-ah, who happened to be with Kang Mu-hyeok, quietly thrust her fist in.

Goeulji waved his hand urgently.

“No. I just came to play, to play… T, first, put that fist down.”

“You said you were retiring?”

“Oh, just let that be the whim of a teenage girl. She’s so self-indulgent at that age. It’s not that I don’t clear mines, it’s that I have nothing left to do. I cleared them all. I cleared them all.”

“Really? If it explodes later. One per mine?”

“What the hell is going on, you’re not being rude or anything… I’m not. Yes, of course. Why would Gilma be rude? He’s the epitome of intelligence. Haha… No, I told you to keep your fists in.”

Goeulji shook his head and retreated. And just in case, he set up a defensive barrier. And he did it in ten layers.

Others might think I’m overreacting, but I once rebelled against Joo Se Ah and got a beating. The defense I had set up back then was shattered by that beating. It was so easy.

It was a terrible sight. If this had been a real battle, I would have died.

Because of that memory, I felt that Goeulji was not enough even ten times.

‘Something feels fishy. My defenses aren’t that bad. Even if I’m an A+ rank. It can’t withstand a single hit.’

Joo Se Ah smiled bashfully as she looked at the guard post.

“Relax. If someone saw you, they’d think you were abusing the child. I don’t hit without a reason.”

“That means, if there’s a reason, you hit.”

“Right?”

“… Right.”

“Since you’re thinking about what’s right, does that mean you know what you did wrong?”

“… … .”

Goeulji was speechless. It seemed like he had done something wrong, but he didn’t know exactly what.

She seems to have had a rough childhood because she spent her adolescence hunting monsters instead of going to school, but she is actually the granddaughter of the president of the Hunter Association, a powerful figure in the Korean hunter world.

Since it was natural for him to be supported by others, he was close to being a fool who did not know the ways of the world.

Joo Se-ah was the first person, other than her maternal grandfather, to treat her rudely.

As I was receiving such unfamiliar treatment, the only thing I felt these days was a sense of innocence.

‘What did I do wrong? Was it because I brought up breaking the contract? By coming to the manager to ask questions? Or by talking to Gilma? Did I get caught breaking the leg of the chair in Gilma’s room without telling him?’

There are more than ten reasons that just crossed my mind.

Goeulji turned his horse’s head to hide the corner where he was being stabbed.

“Honestly, removing the landmines in Bukpocheon alone is labor exploitation. I’m still a minor. I should be treated with moderation.”

“Even if you’re a minor, a hunter is responsible for your actions. That’s the excuse you gave your grandfather when you joined our guild.”

“That’s true. If we don’t do that, how can we convince our grandfather?”

“Don’t try to act however you want. From the moment you become a Hunter, you’re a pro. Once you join the guild, you can no longer be a child. And this isn’t work, it’s training.”

“Is this training? Why don’t you just tell me to catch a truckload of monsters?”

“Want to catch it?”

“Of course. Just give me a hunting ground. Go there right now… … .”

“Searching hunting grounds, planning supplies, securing equipment, processing byproducts, hiring porters, writing post-hunting reports, etc. Is there anything you can do alone?”

“That, that is… … .”

“Everyone else has done it for you, right? You’re just hunting. You still have a lot to learn. And I think that Captain Kang has already promised a price for this training.”

Goeulji couldn’t refute even a single word.

My grandfather always emphasized skills. He said that practical experience was a secondary factor that could be gained later.

In the end, the only way to rebel was to scream loudly.

“It’s vacation time, but you’re making me work until Christmas Eve. That’s too much.”

“That’s why I sent you home early to be with your family, Miss Runaway Girl?”

“Did you send that? I crawled in on my own two feet.”

The locals grumbled that it was unfair.

I ran away from home with such pride, but I never thought I would fall for the plot of the captain I trusted.

He immediately told me to bring Joo Se Ah as a shooter, but then he went out to find mines, saying it was training. He told me to find and remove all the mines in the area that the water horse swept through when destroying the water gate of Sanjeong Lake.

‘If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have broken the dam then.’

Eventually, exhausted from the endless labor, he returned home on his own, even though his grandfather did not come to pick him up.

“Thank you for your hard work, Hunter Goeulji. Take this and let out your anger.”

Kang Mu-hyeok, who had been quietly watching the two, took out an envelope from a drawer and handed it to Go Eul-ji to appease her.

“What… what is this? Is this a bonus? Hey, but it’s too thin. You didn’t put in a few ten thousand won bills, did you? Maybe a big one? Can I look forward to it? Hehe… hic? Eww, this is!”

Go Eul-ji took out the contents of the envelope and shivered as if he had been shocked by electricity.

“The group that Hunter Goeulji likes. These are Christmas concert tickets. I heard that you apologized to Team Leader Pyo because you failed to reserve tickets. I also included your friend’s tickets, so please come and enjoy.”

“Every, front row… Oh my god! I knew this would happen. I believed you, Captain Kang!”

“Is Chief Kang your friend?”

“I believed in you, Captain Kang Mu-hyeok!”

“Since it’s tonight, enjoy the concert. See you tomorrow.”

“Yes. I’ll see you today and tomorrow… Tomorrow? Tomorrow?”

“yes.”

“Tomorrow is Christmas… … .”

Go Eul Ji checked again. Kang Mu Hyuk asked with a puzzled look.

“Is there a family gathering? I checked and it seems that Chairman Han Byeong-gu has a separate schedule.

“My grandfather is a man who doesn’t even have Sundays.”

“Oh, by any chance, are you dating? Do you have a boyfriend?”

“If I had a boyfriend, would I have been digging the ground on Christmas Eve? Is this what you call picking a fight?”

“Well, I guess that’s what it seemed like.”

“Wait a minute. You think that’s true? Maybe she’s incapable of having a boyfriend? You don’t think that’s what you’re thinking, do you? It’s not that I can’t date. It’s that I don’t date.”

“I don’t know about the possibility of dating. I meant that no male student would approach the president after seeing his appearance.”

“Well, my grandpa doesn’t seem to have a very good impression… Hmm~ I don’t think that’s what he meant.”

When Go Eul-ji looked at him with suspicion, Kang Mu-hyeok avoided his gaze and spoke.

“Anyway, I’m glad it’s not like that. Well, see you tomorrow.”

“Are you glad you don’t have a boyfriend? No, before that, it’s not something you can just brush aside. Christmas. Xmas. Holidays. Can’t you think of anything?”

“Are you a Christian?”

“I’m not religious.”

“I don’t want to go to church. Go to work.”

Goeulji sighed deeply at the conversation that had returned to its original point.

The captain was not a person who could be dealt with with words. He was the kind of person who could even make my maternal grandfather, who had a strong personality, into a mute.

No wonder my maternal grandfather said he didn’t even poop in the direction of Bukpocheon.

‘Honestly, if it’s enough to make Grandpa sick. Is that a human?’

But I was afraid that if I did that, it would be a waste of time because of Joo Se Ah.

“Everyone is working hard without resting at the end of the year. If you’re a member of Iron Will’s guild, you should work together like a guild member, right?”

“Yes… Put your fists away and speak. I understand.”

At Joo Se-ah’s kind(?) words of encouragement, Go Eul-ji declared surrender. Then, something suddenly occurred to him.

‘Wait a minute. Wasn’t it the captain who put the main sword on in the first place? What the heck, am I being designed?’

It was Go Eul-ji who realized anew that he had fallen for Kang Mu-hyeok’s conspiracy.

* * *

After Goeulji left, Joo Se-ah continued the conversation that had been interrupted.

“Let’s continue with what we were talking about earlier. So, are you saying we should keep the Russian affair a secret?”

“Especially regarding the guild leader rank. We plan to limit those who share confidential information to those dispatched to Russia, Hunter Jang Deuk-gu, and Expedition Leader Lee Jin-ju.”

“Without informing the government?”

“If they find out there, they’ll be more enthusiastic about promoting it to the public. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten an S-rank.”

Joo Sea nodded in agreement.

“Well, I won’t just let it go since it’s something that will change the national status. But it’s a bit disappointing. If you had the right to speak at S-rank, you could get all sorts of concessions and benefits.”

“I feel sorry for you too. But this world is not one where power alone can do it. The guild is not yet capable of handling its leader. It could easily collapse under external pressure.”

Kang Moo-hyuk calculated the benefits of revealing Joo Se-ah’s rank information and not revealing it for several days.

After much thought, I decided to hide it.

In a situation where the guild’s power was not supporting, the S-rank was nothing more than a reason for restraint.

Aside from the growing pressure from Japan and China, the way domestic tier guilds viewed Iron Will would also change.

From dark horse to dangerous competitor.

There was a possibility that they would immediately terminate the contracts with Rider Wolf and even unite to block their sales channels.

‘The wolf shipment is still a long way off, so it’s not urgent, but if you start using lethal methods, there’s no countermeasure. It’s hard to solve unless you make up your mind and don’t shed blood, and the aftermath is even harder. If you try to deal with them one by one, you’ll get tired first.’

There was no way to deal with them putting pressure on the Hunter equipment suppliers, sweeping up potions, or discriminating against freelancers entering and leaving Bukpocheon by excluding them from guild quests.

“In the past, I thought that if I got an S-rank, everything would be solved. But after becoming a Gilma, I realized that reality is completely different.”

“Everyone misunderstands that S-rank is a panacea. After the Great War, the national system was reorganized to fit the Gate living area, and the power of S-rank individuals alone has its limits. Tyrants are one example of this.”

The Tyrant was also a wanderer until his brother Darden elevated the Tyran Guild to a tier guild.

If Dardenne had not negotiated with the government and received a pardon, he would have had no place to set foot in Russia.

“Even S-ranks are people. They need to eat and sleep. They need to borrow the help of ordinary people to solve their food, clothing, and shelter needs. Unless they are robbers or terrorists, the influence of S-ranks is limited to violence.”

“That violence is recognized as protecting people from monsters. The problem is that there are many people who don’t know that.”

During the conversation, something suddenly occurred to Joo Se Ah.

“While we’re on the subject of tyrants, let’s talk about my rank. Even if we’re careful with our mouths, it’ll be hard to shut the Russians’ mouths, right?”

“We have spoken with the Tsar’s Guild. They have also decided that it would be better for them to cooperate with us, and they will remain silent even if our government requests it.”

“What about Tyran? Don’t be so angry. He’s the tyrant’s younger brother, so he has a bad temper. I bet he’s sharpening his teeth at us.”

“Maybe Dardenne will keep his mouth shut too.”

“Why? You’re so sly. You know that revealing my rank could cause trouble for me.”

“A tyrant is drawing with the hunters of Korea, a weak nation? That in itself shows weakness. With the Tyran Guild and the hostile guilds starting their offensive, there will be no answer if the momentum is pushed back.”

“Could it be… that the Tsar’s Guild was asked to inform the other Russian guilds about what Darden had done in Vladivostok…?”

Joo Se-ah continued speaking, confident in Kang Mu-hyeok’s intentions.

“That wasn’t advice just for the Char Guild. Was it originally intended to keep Darden from paying attention to us?”

“In addition, I intended to direct Darden’s resentment primarily at the Tsar Guild. Even if we knew where the information was leaked, the Tsar would be the first to be targeted. If there were any issues with the Tyran Guild on the Russian side, the Tsar would be the first to warn us.”

“From the Char’s perspective, Tyran is our common enemy. Naturally, he has no choice but to rely on us, who have S-ranks. Is that so?”

“It will be useful for our guild to maintain its influence in Vladivostok, which is close to the Korean Peninsula, in many ways going forward.”

Joo Se Ah shook her head, saying she was fed up with Kang Moo Hyuk’s audacity in treating Vladivostok’s best guild as nothing more than a useful tool.

‘I suddenly feel sorry for Darden? And Char Guild. In the end, those two will end up going down together. Maybe getting involved with Director Kang was their biggest misfortune… ‘

Kang Mu-hyeok neatly summarized the issues that even the Tier Guild would approach cautiously, then brought up a new issue.

“Let’s sort out the Russian problem. There are more difficult problems left.”

“Is there anything else? Something difficult?”

“It’s a family feud.”

“… … Taesung Group, you mean?”

“It’s almost half a year since the guild leader promised Chairman Taejinseong.”

“You got results.”

“The criteria for that achievement are vague. The very fact that the conditions were set so vaguely in the first place is to ensure that the guild leader will never win, no matter what the outcome.”

“That was my mistake. I was so caught up in the situation at the time that I didn’t think about it that much.”

Joo Se Ah scratched her head awkwardly.

“Rather than regretting something that can’t be undone, we need to come up with a solution for the future. Before that, we need the guild leader’s help, so we need to confirm it first.”

“What can I do for you?”

“Ever since I took over as the leader, or rather, even before I took over, when I was trying to figure out the guild’s situation, there was one thing I didn’t understand.”

“What is it?”

“Chairman Tae Jin-seong. Why is that person trying to appoint a new successor?”