abcnovels
Chapter 338
Chapter 338
Chapter 338
In any case, Xia Ling seemed to be in a good mood, so Choi Yeonseung decided to say what he had come here to say.
“Your Majesty, it’s the evil Chinese government that doesn’t acknowledge and disrupts your mighty empire. So please, Your Majesty, let the people from other countries go. If you do that, I shall be eternally grateful to you.”
As he was pleading with Xia Ling, Choi Yeonseung remembered the old days. He hadn’t always fought while wandering around the Abyss.
He would sometimes sit down and have conversations.
-Ugh, you’re not too shabby, but you can’t hurt me. If you want to hurt me, you should bring me a well-done red drake sirloin.
-Ugh. You brought me the red drake sirloin, but there’s still a long way to go. If you really want to defeat me, you need to bring the spirit water from the depths of the valley here...
-Oh! You brought the spirit water to me, but...
-...This guy is just playing with us!
-You asshole!
Of course, such conversations would still end up with fights. There were several races in the Abyss who had never seen humans before. Thus, Choi Yeonseung had taken advantage of that and managed to fool many Abyssal creatures despite his almost nonexistent eloquence.
However, he had received advice from Garhansha on how to deal with this particular situation.
‘If I appeal to his vanity and stroke his ego, I might be able to evacuate those people without resorting to violence.’
After a few seconds, Xia Ling said tentatively, “Hhm, if it’s to show my majesty…”
“Wait! Why are you listening to him and not us?”
“...”
Choi Yeonseung turned his head and saw some unfamiliar faces.
‘Diplomats?’
Those officials in suits hadn’t awakened yet and had no discipline at all. There were also some hunters, who looked embarrassed, escorting them.
Normally, the only people who could come here in a situation like this were diplomats from other countries.
-Successor, why are people from other clans here?
-They probably came here for the same reason I did.
After all, no country could stay idle if its citizens were detained in another country, in a dangerous location, no less. It was only natural to officially deploy hunters to go there, or to secretly send diplomats to negotiate.
However…
“Why are they doing that over there?” Choi Yeonseung asked in a puzzled manner.
The group of diplomats had been tied up with red thorns and were rolling around in the corner.
Xia Ling said in a dissatisfied tone, “These people didn’t acknowledge Almagoria’s empire and acted arrogantly. As expected, Westerners are always disrespectful.”
‘...?’
Choi Yeonseung noticed something strange in Xia Ling’s words.
‘I thought he had completely lost control to Almagoria, but apparently I was wrong.’
Xia Ling had been possessed by a powerful vampire, but his influence as the original owner of that body was still strong.
Had the two of them fused together?
-It’s possible if the vampire lost his body and wandered for a long time. He wouldn’t be able to completely suppress the will of his victim.
-...I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing.
If it was just Almagoria, his behavior would be predictable to some extent, but the fact that Xia Ling was still in there made him, or them, unpredictable.
Since it was a Chinese hunter besides Almagoria…
‘Um... All I know for sure is that he hates the West and that he’s belligerent.’
-Isn’t that too little information?
-Goddess of sloth, you should put yourself in my shoes. It’s not like we text each other every day…
“In the name of the French government, I protest vehemently against this atrocity. Untie me right this second!”
“Shut them up.” Xia Ling waved his hand, clearly irritated.
The Chinese hunters walked over and gagged the diplomats one by one.
‘This is wild...’
Choi Yeonseung didn’t know what to say in this chaotic situation.
“Hunter Choi Yeonseung! Hunter Choi Yeonseung, you... Oof… Nngg!”
One person in the group cried out anxiously after recognizing Choi Yeonseung’s face, but he was gagged before he could finish his sentence.
Puzzled, Xia Ling asked , “Do you know each other?”
“As we go through life, we bump shoulders with all sorts of people. I guess he must’ve heard my name somewhere, but we don’t know each other personally.”
Choi Yeonseung immediately denied knowing that person. Having to save the Koreans and the Americans was already stressful and frustrating, so he didn’t want to take responsibility for the French as well.
“Nnnnnnnngggg…!”
The Frenchman couldn’t speak because of the gag, but it sounded like he was trying to say, “I’m French! You know me!” He thought Choi Yeonseung ignored him because he didn’t recognize him, so he tried to tell him that they had met before.
A hunter like Choi Yeonseung would certainly not tolerate such injustice in a place like this.
‘Please recognize me!’
“Hey, be quiet already! Westerners are so damn noisy! Anyway, so you want to escort people?”
“Yes,” replied Choi Yeonseung.
“And what would you offer in exchange for my letting you take those people away?”
“I knew you would say this, so I came prepared.”
Just as Garhansha had advised him, Choi Yeonseung had taken an item with him to offer to the vampire.
Xia Ling exclaimed with delight when he saw the red liquid in the antique porcelain jar.
“Oh, it’s blood! You know things! Yes! Blood is Xia Ling’s, no, Almagoria’s favorite thing...” Xia Ling said before he suddenly paused. Looking closely, it didn’t seem like blood.
“...It’s not blood?”
“It is better than blood, Your Majesty.”
“...”
Xia Ling took the jar tentatively and took a sip of the red liquid. He was blown away by its taste.
“!!!”
***
-Any vampire would love this red liquid. I swear on my honor.
-...Uhm, I don’t know about that...
-I swear by my honor!
-Alright, I’m sorry! Calm down.
It sounded rather absurd to bring a lot of tomato juice as a gift rather than some great spell book or artifact. However, Garhansha was serious with his suggestion.
-This liquid full of the earth’s magic power is bound to be several times sweeter for a bloodthirsty vampire like Almagoria who is also hungry for magic power. If I may be honest, I think it’s a shame to give Almagoria such a marvelous elixir. It must've taken a great deal of effort on your master’s part to create something so exquisite...
-......
The orcs had just picked the tomatoes and squeezed them with their bare hands…
-Whenever I see something like this, I’m always reminded that the powers of a constellation are truly limitless. Isn’t it amazing how constellations fight each other and decide who is superior and who is inferior? I don’t regret having led my blood relatives to swear allegiance along with myself to Master, but I feel rather uncomfortable now…
-If you want to serve another master...
-Don’t insult me, Garhansha! I won’t go back on my oath so easily. In any case, I’m glad to be of help. I am going back now. I don’t think Master would be particularly pleased to see me here with you.
-Would you like to take some tomato juice with you?
-...If you are so kind as to offer me some more, I would gratefully accept it.
***
“What is this?”
“It’s called the Red Liquid Full of the Grandeur of the Earth. My master has personally made this.”
Xia Ling admired the name; it perfectly suited Almagoria’s taste.
He might’ve had the same reaction even if Choi Yeonseung had just called it “tomato juice,” but it was safer to just have a pretentious name for it. “Red Liquid Full of the Grandeur of the Earth” had a better ring to it.
Xia Ling agreed with the deal.
“Fine, you can take those people with you. My subordinates will show you the way.”
“...May I ask how many people have been injured or killed in your prison?” Choi Yeonseung asked as he suddenly became worried. It must’ve been terrible for those people to get arrested and thrown into some cold, dingy prison cells. It wouldn’t be surprising if there had been some deaths.
“What prison?”
“...Didn’t you imprison people from other countries?”
“Locking innocent people up in such a gloomy, dark place? Do you take me for one of those heartless party executives?!” Xia Ling shouted indignantly.
The Chinese hunters looked at Xia Ling with shocked expressions. If even this guy said that…
‘He really lost his mind after becoming a vampire...’
“I-I see. I’m sorry.”
“Never make such presumptuous misunderstandings about me ever again! They are over there in the residential area.”
Choi Yeonseung felt puzzled and went over to the residential area to check.
The people detained in houses were stunned.
“Was someone finally caught?”
“N-No. That man... It’s Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”
“He’s here to save us!”
“Over here! Over here!”
“Everyone, calm down. I’m getting you guys out of here, so stay calm and be patient for a bit!”
Choi Yeonseung pulled out a list and checked the names with the people. He was just about to take them out of the building when he heard noises coming from another building.
“Save us, Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”
“Are you going to abandon us?”
It wasn’t clear what country they were from, but they seemed to be pinning their hopes on the news that Choi Yeonseung had come. If it were another hunter, they wouldn’t have dared to shout for help. However, it was Choi Yeonseung, the hunter with the best reputation…!
One of the Chinese hunters, who followed Choi Yeonseung, said with a sinister smile, “The deal was that you can only rescue the people from these specific buildings. You’re not allowed to take people from those other countries, hehehe.”
Not all the Chinese hunters in this newly founded kingdom were despondent over the fact that they had betrayed their country by serving a vampire.
Rather, quite a few hunters were intrigued and said things like “Oh, I can become a vampire’s servant and live my life without having to give a damn about the government? Really? Is this true?”
They were enticed by the prospect of serving the vampire. Moreover, Almagoria even promised to give power to those who made significant contributions to his kingdom.
Did they reward people for their work?
The party: (X)
Almagoria: (O)
Did they usually monitor the hunters?
The party: (O)
Almagoria: (O)
If the hunters did something wrong, would they be sent to labor camps along with their families?
The party: (O)
Almagoria: (X)
...Almagoria was a significantly better boss than the Chinese government.
From the perspective of the low-level hunters who were suffering under the party and clan executives, this was a golden opportunity for them to turn their lives around.
Thus, it made sense for them to antagonize Choi Yeonseung in order to be loyal to Almagoria.
“I’m sure you’re upset because of this, but if you pay a price...”
“No, I’m not interested,” Choi Yeonseung firmly refused.
“...Don’t lie. Don’t you feel heartbroken that you have to leave those poor people behind?”
“...What? No. Are you crazy? I’m taking the Korean and American people with me. Why should I feel guilty?”
Choi Yeonseung found it ridiculous.
It seemed that both the foreigners screaming in those buildings over there and the Chinese hunter next to him misunderstood something.
Choi Yeonseung wasn’t that soft mentally. If he only managed to save ninety citizens out of a hundred, he would say, “Well, it couldn’t be helped,” not “I’m trash for not being able to save all of them!”
“...Is that so...?”
The Chinese hunter escorted Choi Yeonseung away with a nervous expression. This wasn’t the Choi Yeonseung he had heard about and seen on the news…!
***
All that was left to do was for Choi Yeonseung to take everyone to the airport. However, problems always occurred at the last moment.
Choi Yeonseung sighed when there was an explosion and a fight broke out at the airport.
“Sigh… If they want to fight, they should do it somewhere else. Why the airport...?”
-What happened?
-I don’t know. It’s not strange for other countries to send troops and hunters.
“There’s a fight!” shouted Aine, who had been waiting for Choi Yeonseung.
“Seems so.” Choi Yeonseung nodded.
“Who initiated the attack? Did the Chinese government send in their special forces?”
“They tried that seventeen hours ago and were wiped out. It’s Charles O’Connor.”
Charles O’Connor was an A-grade hunter from the United States.
Since the United States boasted the largest number of A-grade hunters in the world, Choi Yeonseung couldn’t remember all of them. There were more than ten American A-grade hunters out there.
“Is he perhaps...”
“Yes, he’s the hunter who’s most similar to you.”
“...Didn’t he have the nickname ‘Pushover’?’”
“...I-I didn’t mean that.”