Mandong the Pegasus, Kim Ji-Hee the Spiritualist, and the teleporter, Kayano Yukie, had returned from reconnaissance.
Bruuhuhu.
Mandong slowly descended and surveyed his surroundings as Kim Ji-Hee and Kayano climbed down from his back. Many people were staring at him, but it didn't feel awkward at all. In fact, Mandong loved the attention.
With a toss of his mane, he decided to show off a bit. First, he caught everyone's eye with a flap of his wings. Then, once all eyes were on him, he drew on the mana Kim Ji-Hee had lent him. Rearing up on his hind legs, Mandong unfurled his wings in a bright flash, his front hooves pawing at the air.
"Ooooh!"
"So this is a Pegasus..."
The onlookers cheered at his beautiful, splendid display. Mandong shook his tail happily at their awed reaction. Just as he was basking in their admiring gazes, a voice called out.
"Mandong?"
He turned toward the voice and saw Kim Ji-Hee's disappointed expression. Mandong imdiately folded his wings and dropped to the ground. But when he saw she was still staring at him with that cold, unyielding gaze, he shrank and flew to her shoulder, nuzzling her cheek.
Bruhuhu.
"If you're really sorry, then stop doing things like this," Kim Ji-Hee scolded.
Mandong was an attention seeker, addicted to showing off. Even at the guild headquarters, whenever there was a crowd outside, he would borrow so of Kim Ji-Hee's mana and fly out to pose for his adoring fans. Just like the show he had put on, he would spread his wings, rear up, and whinny loudly, basking in the attention. When the crowds finally dispersed, Mandong would return to the spirit lounge and check SNS to see if anyone had posted about him.
His vain behavior left most of the other ghosts sighing in exasperation, similar to Kim Ji-Hee, but it did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm. Whenever he had ti, Mandong studied how to improve his performances and sotis roped in other spirits to help him practice.
Watching it all unfold, Kim Ki-Rok muttered quietly, "Co to think of it, that really took off, didn't it?"
She turned to him. "What did?"
"Mandong, the Apostle of Light."
"Ah..." Kim Ji-Hee frowned.
Kim Ki-Rok had been so impressed by Mandong's "efforts" that he helped shoot his very own promotional video. He hadn't just helped with filming and editing; he'd planned out the performance with Mandong, even airlifting the necessary props. Kim Ki-Rok had been involved in every stage, from planning to filming to editing.
"Ugh..." Kim Ji-Hee groaned, covering her face with both hands. She suddenly recalled a part of her history she would rather forget.
The video had shown a pure white, winged horse flying up from the guild's rooftop in shining white armor. Mandong's wings had been dusted with powder that glowed gold when reacting to mana, and the rays of light scattering through the air as he flapped his wings had drawn everyone's attention, even through the video.
"Ugggggh." Her groan deepened.
At the ti, Kim Ji-Hee had just been a pure, innocent, and sweet young girl, so she had easily agreed to work as interpreter for Mandong and Kim Ki-Rok's collaborative work, "Mandong, the Apostle of Light," without realizing how embarrassing it would be later.
"Mister?"
"Hmm?"
"Why did you even bring that up now?"
"After seeing him bask in the lilight, I suddenly couldn't help thinking about it."
Hearing this, Kim Ji-Hee let out a sigh of relief. "Haaah... So I was worried for nothing."
Kim Ki-Rok raised an eyebrow. "What? Did you think I'd gotten so strange inspiration and wanted to film a sequel?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I thought," she replied without hesitation.
Faced with her certainty, Kim Ki-Rok simply patted her head and changed the subject. "Alright, Ji-Hee, so how were they?"
"How were what?" she asked, tilting her head.
"The mines and mineral veins."
Catching on, Kim Ji-Hee began to set the scene.
There were seven mines and mineral veins in total. Aside from the mineral vein beneath the city, there were three aboveground mines and three underground veins. Using the city as the center, mines had been dug in the mountains to the west, east, and southeast. To the northwest and northeast, the chanical monsters had dug huge holes—large enough for hundreds of people to enter at once—to mine the underground Pastera veins. So, apart from the city itself, there were six areas where the chanical monsters could source Pastera.
"Did you check inside the mines and the tunnels leading underground?" Kim Ki-Rok asked.
If a normal person had been asked to scout the mines, the most they could do was confirm the locations before retreating. Each mine was surely guarded by an army of chanical monsters with various sensory abilities, and any monster could instantly share what it saw or heard with the rest. It was too risky for an ordinary scout to approach. But Kim Ji-Hee was different.
"Yes, I checked everything," she said confidently.
As a Spiritualist, she could combat monsters by borrowing the power of her spirits, whom the chanical monsters were completely incapable of detecting. Kim Ji-Hee explained to Kim Ki-Rok what she had seen and heard inside the mines. Because she could share the vision of her spirits, her account was almost as detailed as if she'd seen it with her own eyes.
***
If they could attack and occupy the six sites and cut off the supply of Pastera to the city, not only would the production of new chanical monsters slow, but the city would also struggle to maintain its walls.
"However, the reduction in the enemy's production speed is still our foremost priority," Kim Ki-Rok reminded himself.
If the chanical monsters' ability to replenish their numbers was reduced, they'd be forced to cut back on their assaults, realizing the need to preserve their forces for the urban warfare to follow the Hunters' siege.
"The problem is the need to disperse our forces..." Kim Ki-Rok muttered, lost in thought as he headed to the conference room in the barracks.
Was there any way for the Hunters to attack all six sites without splitting their troops?
"No," he firmly rejected the idea.
If the goal was just to eliminate the chanical monsters at the mines and veins, dispersing forces wouldn't be much of an issue. After clearing the sites, the troops could return to the barracks before resuming the siege. But the true purpose wasn't just to clear the sites—they had to occupy all six, preventing the monsters from returning to mine more Pastera.
"Occupation..." he muttered, still deep in thought as he approached the barracks.
Just as he reached the entrance, Kim Ki-Rok noticed a group of Hunters carrying heavy boxes through the Gate. They set down the boxes and turned to head back through.
He watched the Hunters, then walked over to the pile of boxes they'd stacked nearby. Inside were various Pastera weapons forged by the dwarves—key items needed to clear the Gate for good: swords, spears, blades, clubs, bows, and crossbows.
"Hmmm..." Kim Ki-Rok humd thoughtfully.
The chanical monsters' bodies, made of Pastera, had high mana resistance and were extrely sturdy. But their weakness was the very sa tal. If everyone had access to weapons forged from Pastera, even low-level Hunters could inflict great damage on a chanical monster.
"In that case, we don't really need high-level Hunters to guard the mines..." he said, stroking his chin. "The problem is, where do we find the numbers?"
There was still a risk of failure, but also a real possibility of success. Kim Ki-Rok continued to refine the plan. Once his thoughts were sorted, he allowed himself a slight smile and resud his walk to the conference room.
***
The sites Kayano had scouted, along with Kim Ji-Hee and Mandong, were now being presented to the other Hunters in a report. It wasn't a formal briefing, but more of a casual summary during the usual morning eting. The scouting mission had taken less than a day, so they'd only confird the locations of the mining sites—they hadn't had ti to check the exact numbers of enemies or investigate the surrounding terrain.
As Kayano finished her report and the eting was about to end, the person in charge invited anyone with questions or suggestions to speak.
At this, Kim Ki-Rok raised his hand and said, "I do have one suggestion."
The Hunters, who had been about to get up or start paperwork, sat back down and turned toward him. It seed that this guy was up to sothing again.
As everyone looked at him expectantly, he responded with a bright smile and stood up. He walked to the podium at the front and politely asked in a foreign language, "May I borrow this stage for a few monts?"
The foreign Hunter conducting the eting smiled and stepped back. Kim Ki-Rok bowed slightly in thanks and moved to stand before the microphone.
"I'm here because I have a suggestion. Ah, and I'll keep this brief. Lieutenant General Akabe," he called to the raid's overall commander.
"Yes, Hunter Kim Ki-Rok?" Akabe replied in Japanese.
"Our current plan is to attack the mines and veins where the chanical monsters are mining Pastera, defeat the monsters stationed there, and capture them, isn't that right?"
"That is correct."
It had been at Kim Ki-Rok's recomndation that they launched the scouting operation and confird the chanical monsters were bringing in Pastera from outside the city. He'd also suggested the plan to occupy the six sites and keep them from enemy control. So the lieutenant general was a little confused by the way Kim Ki-Rok phrased his question, as if the plan had nothing to do with him, even though he'd been involved from the start. Quickly realizing it was likely a tactic to keep the eting running smoothly, however, Akabe answered calmly.
Seeing his response, Kim Ki-Rok pressed on. "However, we're not just going to destroy the forces at the six sites and leave, but occupy the sites to keep them from being retaken, correct?"
"That's right," Akabe confird with a nod.
"That ans we need to attack all six sites simultaneously. If we tried to occupy them one by one, the mont we attack the first, the chanical monsters will realize we're targeting the mines and send reinforcents."
Everyone nodded in agreent.
"The problem is our numbers. We need to attack and destroy the enemy at each site, but after occupying them, we'll also have to defeat any forces sent from the city or other occupied areas to retake them. If we want to stop the enemy from mining more Pastera, we can't let them reclaim the mines. So, to have enough people at all six sites, we'll need reinforcents... isn't that right?" Kim Ki-Rok asked, turning to the lieutenant general.
Including headquarters, they needed enough Hunters to guard seven locations. The Gate raid team needed to request reinforcents, and the various Hunters Associations and countries would need ti to process the requests and gather more participants.
"That's correct. We sent the request for reinforcents last night," Akabe said.
"What requirents did you set?" Kim Ki-Rok asked.
"B-Class or higher."
Lowering the participation requirent from A-Class to B-Class was a sign that Akabe knew they couldn't defend all seven locations with their current forces, and even with reinforcents it would be difficult.
That was why Kim Ki-Rok spoke up. "Allow to make a suggestion. Let's lower the requirents so that C-Class Hunters and any soldiers with actual combat experience can participate."
"What?" the lieutenant general exclaid in surprise.
Kim Ki-Rok smiled and repeated, "Let's allow C-Class Hunters and soldiers with actual combat experience to participate in this Gate raid."
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