The Time-Limited Leader Makes the Raid a Success - Chapter 459



Only Noblemtl

Episode 459

#459. Of course, I hope it’s just a coincidence.

My eyes were drawn to the map even more as I thought that Medusa’s head might not be the final destination.

‘If you want to know where Kang Moo-hyuk will go, you must first think like Kang Moo-hyuk.’

Gary Dee tried to guess his movements by recalling the information he had obtained about Jiang Wuhyeok from Zhao Keji.

‘First of all, the reason he came to Europe was because of the Flying Seahorse. The reason was the Great Migration of Nagas. The reason Gloria provided Kang Moo-hyeok with accommodations and immigration procedures in Morocco was probably because of Archduke Edoardo’s influence. Why? Because the Archduke offered this negotiation after meeting Kang Moo-hyeok alone. But the Archduke, who is proud of being a Hunter and never does anything against his beliefs, listened to the story of someone who isn’t even a Hunter? There must be something in Kang Moo-hyeok that would satisfy him.’

So what is it then?

Gary Dee thought the answer might lie in Medusa’s head.

‘Oh… Was my intuition already pointing here?’

Gary Dee chuckled. His intuition told him that Kang Moo-hyuk would head for Medusa’s head.

Before he knew it, he was forcibly making up reasons to convince Kang Mu-hyeok that he would go for Medusa’s head.

“But I have to make sure.”

Gary Dee points to two towns east of Rabat.

Cities named ‘Meknes’ and ‘Fez’.

“Contact these two places as well. Give the city guard some money and send them a photo of Kang Mu-hyeok. Make sure he passes by here. For now, we’re leaving.”

“I will prepare the vehicle.”

“A vehicle? When will you be chasing Kang Mu-hyeok with that?

“Then, how… … .”

“Why did you sell our plane for scrap metal? Of course you should take the fast one!”

“Okay. Well, the Rabat protests are showing signs of ending. Let’s contact the airport in advance to arrange a vehicle… … .”

“Have you ever seen such an idiot? Even if we go to Rabat, after we land and unload, we’ll be behind Kang Moo-hyuk in terms of time. If we’re going to go, we have to go ahead.”

“Then, where to… … ?”

“Here. We’re going to Fes-Saïs Airport. Whether Kang Moo-hyuk is heading to the Mediterranean or the Atlantic, he’ll have to go through Meknes to bypass Rabat. We’re going from Fes to Meknes. We should be able to catch up in time.”

* * *

The passenger plane carrying Tatsuya Sakamoto was still in the sky with less than two hours left until it arrived in Japan.

He was reminiscing about his recent mission to Italy.

‘No matter how much I think about it, I can’t shake the thought that Kang Mu-hyeok took the lead. The problem is that it was so quiet before the negotiations that no one noticed.’

A private meeting with Archduke Edoardo Asburgoeste.

Who would think of finding an S-rank hunter and trying to convince him?

If Joo Se-Ara had been there, it would have been a good idea to try it out, trusting in her support, but it was extremely rare for an S-rank to seek out an S-rank.

Moreover, since 90% of those encounters were ones where one would risk one’s life and fight, it was not a plan one could lightly mention.

‘If I had asked Lord Kishin Takeru to meet the Archduke, it would have been an impertinent remark, even before it was a matter of trust in me.’

The same was true for Zhao Keji.

If he had asked Biwonjun to meet Edoardo, he would have been beheaded immediately.

It didn’t mean that he was leaving the Hwangryong Guild, but that he would literally become a headless ghost and wander the underworld.

It was impossible to predict what would happen in an S-rank vs. S-rank encounter.

Those who are called Hunters are people who do not know the meaning of compromise and live according to their own taste, so what about the best Hunters?

So, most S-ranked people were reluctant to meet unless they were allies.

‘But Kang Moo-hyuk did it. Without Joo Se-ah, and without being a hunter.’

Rather, is it because I’m not a hunter and I don’t have any stereotypes or prejudices that I do such ridiculous things?

If it fails, you’re an idiot, but if it succeeds, it’s a challenge that deserves praise.

In that respect, Tatsuya respected Kang Mu-hyuk as a professional negotiator.

‘Respect is respect. An enemy is an enemy. Korea and Japan are neighbors. Kishin and Joo Se Ah are like water and oil. There will be many clashes in the future.’

To prepare for this, I had to know about Kang Mu-hyeok. To do so, I arranged a dinner in Venice, but the dinner ended in a disappointing manner.

It was because Kang Mu-hyeok didn’t give anyone a chance to find out anything.

He left as soon as he finished his meal, as if he had something to do. He made an excuse that he couldn’t drink alcohol.

‘A negotiator who has to meet many people, can’t drink alcohol? That doesn’t make sense. No matter how good one’s ability is, in this world of human relations, there is bound to be a limit if alcohol is omitted. It must have been an excuse to avoid the position.’

Unfortunately, Tatsuya also had a schedule the next day, so he couldn’t meet Kang Mu-hyuk separately.

Since Tatsuya had also heard that Kang Mu-hyeok had left Venice in a hurry, he decided to stay one more day and focus on building his Italian connections while he was in Europe.

Besides, there was something else he really cared about.

‘Zhao Keji’s movements are also strange. Why did he go to Africa?’

I have known for a long time that Chinese guilds have been in partnership with multinational guilds that have advanced into Africa, but the most pressing issue for China right now is the Naga issue.

I couldn’t afford to look at other things without solving that problem.

“I’ll have to find out about this through Paolo, too. Gloria might have some connections in Africa.”

Tatsuya did not limit this Italian achievement to simply importing Flying Seahorses.

Rather, from a long-term perspective, it was meaningful to strengthen the relationship with the personnel of large guilds such as Paolo.

“Now that I think of it, should I send you a message?”

Tatsuya, who had contacted Paolo using the available Wi-Fi since it was first class, closed his eyes to rest for at least the remaining hour until landing.

And when he arrived at Narita Airport in Japan, he couldn’t leave the airport because of the message he received from Paolo.

“Not only Zhao Keji, but also Jiang Muhyuk? He went to Africa instead of Korea?”

Tatsuya didn’t dare report the results of this negotiation to Kishin.

The fact that two other countries, excluding Japan, visited Africa at the same time.

A premonition that something unusual might happen there stopped him in his tracks.

‘What would the person who raised this think if he found out?’

Wouldn’t the two countries, especially the Korean negotiating team, be branded as incompetent people who don’t even know why they went to Africa?

‘It’s not a completely baseless story. My predecessor was also demoted to an unimportant position because of one mistake he made in his Korean operations.’

This was an absolutely unacceptable result for Tatsuya, who had awakened but was lacking in talent as a hunter and had chosen the path of a negotiator as a means of advancement.

He went out of the arrival hall to get his luggage and immediately went to the departure hall.

“Tickets to Morocco. Take the fastest route.”

* * *

Kang Moo-hyuk, who tried to take the highway north bypassing Rabat, encountered a difficult situation when he arrived in Meknes.

“The highway starting from Meknes is closed.”

The Eagles said, showing the news on their smartphones.

Kang Moo-hyuk took the smartphone from him and read the article. The article said that a group of anarchists who were against negotiating with the protesters until the end had flowed into Meknes and blocked the road under the pretext of preventing them from going into Spain.

“That’s a lie.”

Kang Moo-hyuk immediately figured out the truth of the article and returned the smartphone.

“Are you lying?”

“The negotiations between the protesters and the royal family have just taken place. There was no sign of this in the press until we passed through Rabat.”

“There might have been some backroom negotiations.”

“If there had been talk behind the scenes, there would have been some changes in external activities. For example, during the war, fighting would have stopped during negotiations, or fighting more fiercely to gain an advantageous position. But weren’t the news only reporting situations that were not much different from before? As if negotiations had been suddenly created.”

“It’s a bit strange, but that alone isn’t enough to call it a lie.”

“The content of the negotiations is also strange. If you look at the other articles I saw earlier, it was a negotiation in which the royal family made major concessions. What does Eagle Hunter think? Have you ever seen the Alawite royal family bow their heads like that?”

The Eagles, who had a history of working in Africa, shook their heads without a second thought.

“No. The current king is a man who is as stubborn as he is proud. He is a man with some common sense and does not suppress protesters too harshly because he is mindful of the mood in Europe, but he has always been in a position to accept concessions.”

“Then things get interesting. The king, a hunter who doesn’t know compromise, is proud, and strong, and he quickly concludes negotiations in favor of the protesters, and then suddenly mentions the anarchists who weren’t even mentioned and blocks the northern highway from Meknes. Even if the anarchists were fast, they couldn’t have been faster than us, having passed through Rabat long before the announcement of the deal. And the airport near Rabat is probably still closed.”

The more the Eagles listened, the more they inclined towards Kang Moo-hyuk’s opinion.

At this time, Kang Mu-hyeok summarized it briefly.

“This can only be interpreted as an attempt to end the protest as quickly as possible. I don’t know why.”

At this point, the Eagles began to have doubts.

‘Doesn’t this guy know the real reason for the blockade?’

Common sense tells you that not knowing is right.

Kang Moo-hyuk would have no connections to the Moroccan royal family, nor did he have any information lines there.

This was something that even Edoardo could not have figured out without investing time and effort.

‘No, even if the Archduke and Gloria come forward, it would be difficult to know the decisions of the closed Moroccan royal family.’

But the Eagles kept thinking that just as Kang Mu-hyeok sensed something strange in this incident, he must have guessed the inside story to some extent.

Kang Mu-hyeok opened his mouth as if he had noticed his intentions.

“Coincidentally, the highway in Meknes is the fastest way to Medusa’s head.”

“That means… there’s something about the royal family over there… … .”

The Eagles were left speechless with a bad feeling and became lost in thought.

It was because he knew why Kang Mu-hyeok was trying to get Medusa’s head.

If there was a force that was deliberately blocking it, there was a high possibility that that force was involved in this incident. Or that it was just a bystander.

“You, your imagination is too great. If this is true, it is almost like a terrorist attack on Europe… No. It can’t be.”

“Of course, I hope it’s just a coincidence.”

“… … .”

The Eagles recalled the worst mission they had ever been on as a mercenary unit.

At that time, I was holding out and protecting the people in a village in the middle of South Africa, where monsters had burst out in droves because the gate had burst.

‘At that time, I really thought I was going to die.’

But now, a chill even stronger than before was running down my spine.

‘Yeah. That’s not true. Kang Moo-hyuk is looking at everything too pessimistically these days. He tends to see all bad situations as obstacles to his mission.’

Of course, in battlefields where you face monsters and hunters, the more pessimistic you are, the higher your chances of survival. This is because you are suspicious of everything and cautious.

Even so, I thought this was an overly ambitious guess. It was based solely on the circumstances and was self-centered without any basis.

It wouldn’t be strange to see him as a delusional patient before he became a pessimist.

Kang Moo-hyuk knew that the Eagles were looking at him with suspicion, but he didn’t really try to defend himself.

Instead, he was busy considering other possibilities.

‘I hope it was just an incredible coincidence. But if not, we have to assume the worst.’

The worst he could think of was facing the Moroccan Royal Guard from the head of Medusa.

‘But when has there ever been an unexpected conspiracy on this earth?’

When an unexpected person acts out of the blue at an unexpected time, it can be considered a sign of a conspiracy.

Kang Moo-hyuk was definitely a pessimist.

His motto was that a pessimist should always be able to offer an alternative.

“We give up on Meknes. Let’s go to Fez. There’s nothing we can do about blocking the road at one or two places.”