34. Struggle.

Agnes, who had tilted her head for a moment to understand Kaku’s words, soon hardened her expression with a chilly glare.

 

 

She had taken the time out of her busy schedule to meet with him privately because he said he had important information related to Harem Palace, but now he says there is no information? So, does that mean he was just bluffing to meet her somehow?

 

 

Of course, she understands the desire to get on her good side, even if it means doing this.

 

 

Someone like Agnes is one of the world’s leading high-ranking officials, and if she really wanted to, she could wipe out most small and medium-sized countries from the face of the earth.

 

 

Even if there is the unrivaled guild called Harem Palace, most of the adventurers and guilds around the world still belong to D10, and according to the terms of the contract, they are required to listen to the orders of the Dungeon Cooperation Organization in case of emergency.

And the subject of that order is the branch manager of each branch, and the person who gives orders to that branch manager is Agnes.

 

 

Also, even if she doesn’t directly use force, she can intervene as much as she wants in the trivial taxes on various by-products, manufactured goods, and equipment from dungeons around the world, as well as the technology and patents used in related industries, so, to exaggerate a little, she can withdraw a single country’s adventurers with a snap of her fingers and leave them defenseless, or paralyze the economy by interfering with the dungeon industry.

 

 

 

Because she has such tremendous power, even the President of the United States cannot treat her lightly, and naturally, she is always swarmed by flies.

 

 

There are countless people who would do anything to make even the slightest connection with her.

 

 

So, there are plenty of people who exaggerate like Kaku, saying they have something useful to attract her attention.

 

 

 

 

But at least those people come up with something that looks ‘plausible.’ It’s in the realm of ‘exaggeration.’

 

 

But what about Kaku?

He just said to her face, “I don’t have any information right now.”

 

It’s not like he’s packaging commonly known information as ‘important information that no one knows,’ he’s just saying he has something when he doesn’t.

 

 

At this point, it’s almost an insult.

 

 

 

Kaku wasn’t stupid either, so he quickly continued speaking before Agnes took any action.

 

 

“Ah, but please don’t misunderstand. Eventually, Madam Chairman will be able to obtain information about the Palace. Maybe you’ll even get to the Palace’s top secrets.”

“….”

 

 

Agnes stared at him without a word.

If Kaku is just some bum trying to get on her good side by doing this, she’s wasting a lot of time in real time.

 

 

But now that the word ‘top secret’ has come out, she thought she’d waste a little more time since she’s already wasting it anyway.

 

Of course, if he says something useless again, she’ll punish him then and there.

 

 

 

Kaku swallowed hard at the sight of her staring at him without a word.

It’s not like he ate something wrong or caught a cold, but he felt like something was stuck in his throat for no reason.

 

 

“Please listen to me until the end.”

 

 

She tilted her head slightly, telling him to say more, and picked up the teacup brought by her attendant and drank from it.

 

Kaku rolled his eyes around and explained the situation.

 

 

 

 

 

About two months ago, Kaku and his party members were hunting in a dungeon when they spotted a maid named ‘Im Ha-yan’ trying to kill three female adventurers. Aoki tried to save them, but the rest of the team didn’t want to get involved and just quietly hid and watched the situation.

However, the female adventurers, who were in danger of dying at the time, used a skill and discovered them hiding, and at the same time, the maid ‘Im Ha-yan’ also discovered them.

 

 

Kaku managed to get out of the situation with his quick wit, but Aoki’s (unnecessary) sense of justice ruined things, and the maid Im Ha-yan snapped the neck of one of the three women and then tried to deal with Kaku and the others.

 

By some stroke of luck, Yoo-eun happened to return from another world at that time, so they barely survived, and Kaku and his party members formed a new team with the two surviving female adventurers and moved to a foreign country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s the brief situation.

 

Kaku trembled as he recalled Im Ha-yan’s eerie appearance from time to time, but Agnes, who was listening, remained indifferent throughout.

 

 

In short, he’s running away because he was targeted by a maid from Harem Palace? He’s taking up her time with this worthless stuff.

Her displeasure rose another level.

 

 

But thanks to her expression management, Kaku didn’t know yet.

 

 

“I don’t have any information to give you right now. But since the Harem Palace maid is chasing us, if D10 protects us, we’ll have a justification to capture her when the maid attacks us later. At least we can get some information out of her.”

 

He said that much and looked at Agnes’s expression.

 

That’s all the cards he can play.

From the beginning, it was just a slim hope.

 

But he still thought it wasn’t completely unreasonable, so there was a slight confidence on his face.

 

 

“Hoo.”

 

 

Agnes, who had finished her tea, let out a short sigh.

 

 

“First of all.”

“?”

“What you just said is called a ‘tip-off,’ not information.”

“Ah….”

“In other words, you still haven’t given me any information, and you’re still lying.”

“That’s….”

 

 

He tried to say something, but Agnes didn’t listen.

 

 

“And secondly, there’s no group in the world that would wage an all-out war with Harem Palace just for ‘information.’ We’re the same. Especially since we don’t even know what kind of information it is, or even if we can really get it.”

“So, shouldn’t you use us to get justification?”

“Thirdly, you’re saying this because you don’t know that person, but as far as ‘women’ are concerned, justification doesn’t work for that person.”

“What does that….”

“The moment you touch even a hair on that person’s woman, in any form, it’s an all-out war. So, ‘justification’ has no value to you.”

“….”

“Fourthly, since you don’t even have the value of justification, you have no value to us either.”

 

Cold.

It feels like a dagger is flying and stabbing him.

 

 

But at the same time, a great fire rose in his chest.

 

 

“No…value?”

 

Even so, to say they have no value.

They’re the ones who risk their lives to explore dungeons and pay money regularly in the name of membership fees.

D10 has such a powerful influence around the world because all this money comes together.

 

 

But no value?

 

 

“Fifthly, you wasted my time by even lying with that kind of status.”

 

 

Anger crossed Agnes’s face.

To have spent her precious time on something so trivial.

She was also angry at herself for being fooled by someone like Kaku.

 

 

 

 

Kaku trembled at her words and jumped up from his seat.

 

 

What can he say to a woman who has even said they have no value?

He can no longer have hope in D10. Every man for himself is the answer.

 

 

Thinking that, he glared at her, panting.

 

 

“I think you’ve got the wrong person. How can someone like you be the chairman!”

 

 

He tries to turn around and leave the room, but before that, the door opens and women in black suits pour in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Did you call, Minister-nim?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

+++

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“When is he coming…?”

“Did he get caught on the way, by any chance?”

 

The six team members, excluding Kaku, were sitting in a circle in the hotel room, waiting for the results.

Their future lives depended on the outcome of his negotiation, so there was a tremendous tension in the room.

 

 

It’s been five hours since they sent him.

 

 

Just as they were seriously worrying about Kaku’s safety and wondering if they should call him, they suddenly heard a commotion in the hallway, and someone knocked roughly, banging on the door.

 

 

“Wh-what is it?”

 

-Are the members of Majime Kaku-gun inside?

 

 

A beautiful woman’s voice.

Everyone was anxious, fearing the worst.

 

 

-Agnes-nim sent us. To protect you all.

“Pro…tect…?”

-Yes. ‘Protect,’ I said.

 

 

 

The group members looked at each other without exception.

 

“Protection!”

 

And one of the women, who had a quick temper and had almost been killed by the maid before being saved by Aoki, ran to open the door with a bright expression.

 

 

“Wait.”

 

 

If it hadn’t been for Haruna’s restraint.

 

 

“…What is it?”

 

She really hated Haruna because she was Haruna who nagged Aoki, her benefactor and the man she half-loved, almost every day.

If they weren’t in a situation where they had to stick together, she wouldn’t want to be with her for even a second.

 

And that was the same for Haruna.

 

She thought of them as the three main culprits (Aoki + 2 women) who had twisted her life like this, so her attitude towards them was as sharp as it was towards Aoki.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Are you stupid? If they really came to ‘protect’ us, Kaku would have called us first!”

“…Ah.”

 

 

Although they were like enemies, Haruna’s sharp words awakened something in her.

 

 

That’s right.

If it went according to Kaku’s plan, a call should have come first.

But the phone is still silent, and a bunch of people are knocking on the door?

 

 

Something is wrong.

 

 

 

 

Knock! Knock!

 

 

-Hello? Please open the door.

 

 

 

 

She swallowed hard and looked at the door.

The fact that the hotel wasn’t getting involved despite this commotion added to the suspicion of the situation.

The group quietly gathered their weapons and gathered in front of the door.

So that they can attack immediately if they break down the door and come in.

 

 

 

 

Knock!

 

 

Were they angry because of the 10-minute sit-in(?)?

They knocked on the door twice as hard as before, with a strength that was about twice as strong as before, and muttered eerie words.

 

 

-Those bitches are damn quick on the uptake.

 

 

“!!”

 

 

 

Swearing!

 

If it was really for protection, they would have coaxed them well until the end.

But they don’t.

They swear while mentioning ‘uptake.’

 

 

At least it’s not for a good purpose.

 

 

The group members tensed up even more and put strength into the hands holding their weapons.

 

 

And then,

 

 

 

 

Pagak! Kkigiging!

 

 

Two beautiful hands pierced through the tightly locked door with a bang and came inside, then spread to the left and right and began to tear the door apart.

 

 

“Wh-what…!”

 

 

It was something that any high-ranking adventurer could do, but the shock of the scene itself was enormous.

 

“Hello, babies.”