Today’s nu was an unknown demon beast at.
I placed the pre-salted at on long skewers and laid them over the fire.
Sizzle…!
The surface turned golden brown over the hot fire.
Choi Hyun-seok quickly turned the skewers to prevent the at from burning.
“Hwoook! Hwoook!”
“Stop making those weird noises.”
“Hwooook!”
Telling her not to do it only made it worse.
It was strangely irritating as she kept exhaling loudly right next to him.
Choi Hyun-seok grabbed Rachel by the scruff of her neck and roughly tossed her away.
“Kyaah! Why only …!”
“What are you talking about.”
Ignoring the fading noise…
Choi Hyun-seok focused on grilling the at again.
“Hwooook… Hwoook…!”
Choi Hyun-seok’s brows furrowed deeply.
He had thrown Rachel far away, but the sound of exhaling continued.
At this point, it seed like soone was doing it on purpose.
“Hey! Take it easy!”
Choi Hyun-seok turned around and shouted.
This startled Abelson, who was staring at the at with clenched fists.
“Yes…?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Please continue.”
“Continue what?”
“Uh… Never mind.”
“Pardon?”
Choi Hyun-seok kept his mouth shut.
Seeing Abelson with flushed cheeks, clenched fists, and heavy breathing, he didn’t know what to say.
After contemplating, Choi Hyun-seok decided to change the subject.
It seed like a good opportunity to ask sothing he’d been curious about.
“Ms. Abelson.”
“Yes.”
“Why do you keep carrying that mace around?”
Choi Hyun-seok asked, looking at the mace tightly gripped in Abelson’s hand.
At so point, Abelson had not let go of the mace, and it wasn’t exactly a pleasant sight.
The dried blood that hadn’t been properly cleaned was still visible.
“M-m-m-mace!?”
“Yes. The mace.”
Abelson’s response to the question was quite strange.
Her breathing began to get rougher.
“Th-th-th-th-this, this!”
“Calm down! You’re going to hyperventilate.”
Repeating the sa words with wide eyes, she looked just like a broken robot.
It was the first ti seeing Abelson, who usually maintained an expressionless face, so flustered.
“Th-this is, well…!”
“Well?”
“This, um…!”
Abelson’s eyes darted around.
Choi Hyun-seok knew what this ant.
‘I can almost hear the wheels turning in her head.’
For whatever reason, Abelson was desperately searching for an excuse.
Just then, Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes narrowed with suspicion…
“This! It’s for self-defense!”
“Ah.”
All that thinking just to co up with ‘self-defense.’
Choi Hyun-seok made a deflated expression and turned his attention back to the at.
Abelson wiped the sweat from her forehead with a sigh.
While continuing to check the at, Choi Hyun-seok casually continued speaking.
“Ms. Abelson. Why don’t you put it down now? There’s no need to carry sothing so heavy around.”
“Yes…”
“If you really need a weapon for self-defense, why not try learning the sword instead? I could even teach you martial arts if you’d like.”
“I don’t want that!”
Abelson shouted abruptly.
An unexpected intense reaction.
Choi Hyun-seok nodded reluctantly.
“Yeah… Well, do as you please…”
He decided not to worry about the mace anymore.
“Alright! It’s done.”
Shortly after.
The perfectly cooked at was cut into large pieces.
One chunk in front of Abelson.
One piece in front of Rachel.
Half was cut and placed generously in front of Bobo.
“Then, let’s eat!”
Just as Choi Hyun-seok was about to put the at in his mouth.
“Choi Hyun-seok! There you are.”
A familiar bull-head figure approached.
Choi Hyun-seok greeted him with a friendly smile.
“Would you like to join us for a piece, Lord Reidrun?”
“No. This is no ti to be leisurely eating at.”
“Pardon?”
“The Corps Commander is looking for you. Let’s go now.”
“…”
Despair settled on Choi Hyun-seok’s face.
‘I did all the grilling…!’
He glanced back, but no one was looking at him.
Everyone was focused solely on eating the at.
“Rachel.”
“Have a safe trip. We’ll keep eating.”
Rachel waved her hand to dismiss the guest.
She didn’t even lift her head while doing so.
“Mmm, delicious as expected!”
Choi Hyun-seok stared at Rachel intently.
He really didn’t like watching her munching on the at.
At that mont, he quickly grabbed the back of Rachel’s neck.
“Kyaaak!”
“You can’t go alone!”
“Why!? Why just !”
“Just because!”
He absolutely couldn’t stand watching Rachel having fun by herself.
***
The 8th Division Commander’s office that Grat used to use.
This place had beco Hemis’s office.
She looked at the large letters written on one wall that read ‘8th Division Commander’s Office’ and twisted her lips.
“They still left this here.”
With a light flick of her hand, the letters were erased and rewritten.
Hemis turned around after seeing it rewritten as ‘3rd Corps Commander’s Office’.
Three n stood before her.
Reidrun, Choi Hyun-seok, and Roiger.
“Choi Hyun-seok. Was Grat tasty?”
Hemis asked.
Without her help, Choi Hyun-seok would never have been able to catch Grat.
Getting lucky and landing the final blow was originally the best-case scenario.
In this situation, thanks to Hemis, he caught Grat and even gained 32 levels, so he couldn’t help but be grateful.
“Haha…! Yes. Thank you once again, truly!”
“What thanks. I had fun too. And when you get stronger, more fun things will happen in the future.”
A deep smile spread across Hemis’s lips.
Choi Hyun-seok scratched his head while smiling awkwardly.
While he was certainly grateful for the help, he couldn’t shake off an uneasy feeling.
“Anyway, do you know why I called you all here today?”
“…”
A brief silence passed at Hemis’s question.
Reidrun was the first to speak.
“Is it about the unit reorganization?”
“Correct!”
Hemis spread her snow-white hand.
A magically created 3rd Corps organizational chart appeared.
“Under our 3rd Corps, there are a total of 5 divisions. In order, the 6th Division, 7th Division, 8th Division, 9th Division, and 10th Division.”
Five branches extended downward from the 3rd Corps positioned at the very top.
Each branch transford into symbols representing the divisions.
“Among them, the 8th Division is the division that fought most fiercely at the very front.”
The crocodile symbol representing the 8th Division gradually distorted and then completely disappeared.
“We can’t leave such an important Division Commander position vacant, so I’m going to appoint a new one.”
Hemis looked at Reidrun.
“Reidrun. You can do it, right?”
“Yes.”
“Roiger will be the Vice Division Commander.”
At that mont, Roiger’s eyes widened.
“Would it be alright for to serve as Vice Division Commander?”
“Of course. Your skills are more than sufficient. I also like how clever you are.”
Hemis spoke calmly.
Choi Hyun-seok found himself nodding unconsciously.
He agreed with her words.
‘Roiger would be excellent.’
The last ti he checked, Roiger’s Combat Power exceeded 110,000.
This level would make him high-ranking even among Regint Commanders.
“Smart subordinates are always welco. I was thinking of completely reorganizing the 8th Division anyway, now that we’re changing commanders.”
“I will do my best!”
“Good.”
Hemis looked at the last remaining person, Choi Hyun-seok.
“Choi Hyun-seok.”
“Yes.”
“Do you rember the first promise we made?”
“I rember.”
It was obvious what she would ask in this situation.
Not long after Choi Hyun-seok ca to the Black Giant Star.
She proposed a deal.
“From now on, I’ll protect you.”
“One month. Within that ti, fight and win against the one I choose.”
“You’ll rise in rank by killing those above you, step by step.”
“If you can just make it to Battalion Commander, you might be useful enough.”
Hemis protects Choi Hyun-seok.
In return, Choi Hyun-seok fights whoever she designates.
The final goal was Battalion Commander.
‘Back then, I thought it was completely impossible…’
He achieved it in less than a year.
“Am I becoming a Battalion Commander?”
“No, you’re going to be the Regint Commander of our corps’ direct command regint.”
Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes grew round.
Not only did he suddenly skip Battalion Commander to beco Regint Commander, but it was even corps direct command.
Generally, corps direct command units are held to a higher standard than other units.
“Putting soone of your level in a Battalion Commander position would be a waste of potential.”
“Thank you.”
“Honestly, even I didn’t expect this. That a day would co when you’d survive and beco a Regint Commander.”
“…”
“Even if such a day were to co, I never thought it would be this fast.”
Hemis approached.
She reached out her hand and smoothed down Choi Hyun-seok’s chest.
“You’ve worked hard until now. With this, our contract is terminated.”
Sothing felt strange.
It was strange that Hemis was saying such things.
It felt awkward that those who had been so far above that he couldn’t even look up at them now felt not so distant.
“What should I do from now on?”
“What do you an what should you do? Just keep doing what you’ve been doing.”
“Yes, that’s true… Haha!”
“Try broadening your stage from now on. At the level of a Regint Commander, you won’t get beaten up wherever you go, even without being under my shadow.”
The atmosphere of Hemis speaking is sohow strange.
Choi Hyun-seok was overwheld with anxiety.
Could it be that she’s thinking of pushing him away?
That must not happen.
This is still a ti when he needs Hemis’s shadow.
Until he becos at least a Division Commander, he will stick to her like a bedbug.
“I’m still very lacking! I can’t even imagine how to live without being under the Corps Commander’s shadow!”
“Ohohoho! You don’t need to worry that much, Choi Hyun-seok. You need to look at your level more objectively.”
“Objectively…?”
“Do you perhaps not know what position a Regint Commander is?”
Choi Hyun-seok made a puzzled expression.
A Regint Commander is above a Battalion Commander and below a Division Commander.
Is there anything else besides that?
“You know that in the Demon King’s Army, rank directly represents power, right?”
“Yes.”
“You also know that there are only Division Commander and Corps Commanders above the Regint Commander position?”
“Uh… Yes.”
Only then did he get an idea of what Hemis was trying to say.
“To explain more intuitively, even if you gathered all humans and demons on this continent, there wouldn’t be more than a thousand beings stronger than you.”
“Am I that strong!?”
He couldn’t help but be surprised.
To think there weren’t even a thousand people stronger than him on the entire continent.
Though he didn’t know the total population of this land, he never thought he would be that strong.
Honestly speaking, it’s hard to believe.
Here, Choi Hyun-seok was still weak.
It was inevitable since he only hung around monsters among monsters like Reidrun and Hemis.
“But this is just the beginning. Because you have room to grow more.”
“Thank you!”
“It’s not a complint. I’m just stating objective facts.”
He didn’t know why she was suddenly coating him in gold, but it didn’t feel bad.
Hemis extended her snow-white hand.
“Anyway, I look forward to working with you, Regint Commander Choi Hyun-seok.”
“I will serve with all my loyalty! Corps Commander!”
The hand he grasped was cool, but it was a refreshing coolness that made him feel good.
“Oh right, just to let you know. I’m going to be busy for a while. Don’t mind it even if I’m not around.”
The three n made puzzled expressions at the word ‘busy’.
Hemis is busy.
It’s a completely mismatched sentence.
For the past hundred years, her only schedule had been the occasional Corps Commander etings.
Though there had been various incidents recently, it wasn’t enough to say she was busy.
“What’s going on?”
Reidrun asked.
“Well, I plan to go here and there alone, so this friend will be in charge of the unit during that ti.”
Hemis’s lips parted.
Creeeeak!
Her lips parted nearly 2 ters wide.
Despite seeing it several tis, it was still an unfamiliar sight.
Clank, clank!
The sound of tal colliding ca from inside her lips.
And then a black form began to reveal itself.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you would like to support or read advanced chapters, you can do so by unlocking chapters.
sko-fi/ippostranslations
Reviews
All reviews (0)