45 – Elysia Academy

After a long time, Ha-yeon diligently helped Lee Seol-ah with her training for several days.

Then, as per the contract, she spent several days clearing all the overdue B-rank gates.

Just like any other day.

Or so she thought it would be, a peaceful afternoon.

Currently, she is in the Association President’s office.

Called in by none other than Jin Ha-jeong.

‘What’s this about?’

She’s never been here except when signing the contract.

Why on earth? Did I do something wrong?

But even so, why call me to the Association President’s office?

“You need to practice your poker face. Your thoughts are all over your face.”

He said that to Ha-yeon, who was in confusion, wondering if she had done something wrong and looking back on the past… then he spoke with a small smile.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t call you here because you did something wrong.”

“…That’s a relief then.”

Ha-yeon sucked on her bubble tea and chewed the pearls.

It was something that others would never do, but Ha-jeong and she were friends before being the Association President and a Hunter.

Even though it hasn’t even been a year since they met.

“Then why did you call me?”

Even if she didn’t do anything wrong, being called to the Association President’s office was no ordinary matter.

As if that was right, Jin Ha-jeong’s face changed to a serious expression that she had rarely seen.

“Well… Elysia Academy contacted us.”

“Elysia?”

Elysia Academy.

One of the three major powers in Korea, excluding the Association, and one of the best Hunter academies in the world.

Founded and headed by Kiara, codenamed ‘Last Night’, who is ranked 7th in the world.

It was a place I once wanted to enter.

Of course, I couldn’t get in because I didn’t have the skills.

“You know that Elysia is the biggest sponsor of our Association, right?”

It is publicly known that they belong to the government.

But now it’s almost separate.

Therefore, they prioritize sponsors over the government.

Of course, if the government forces them, that takes precedence.

Anyway, Elysia Academy is a VIP among such sponsors.

The fact that they contacted us.

“They need an S-rank Hunter to serve as a close combat professor for about a week.”

“……What?”

You might think there’s nothing strange about it if you just heard that.

The academy can invite a high-ranking S-rank Hunter.

But it was strange if you thought about it a little.

Even if they are a sponsor, Elysia, the best academy, can’t find an S-rank Hunter?

That doesn’t make sense.

Besides, even so, the professorship doesn’t necessarily have to be an S-rank Hunter.

A-rank is enough.

But they specifically contacted the Association to find an S-rank Hunter to replace the professor for a week?

It was a situation suspicious enough to think there was something going on.

“I don’t know the exact reason either. However, we have no justification to refuse this request.”

It would be different if it was a big request.

We could refuse it because it was too dangerous to do it.

But this time, all we have to do is serve as a professor for a week.

Moreover, it’s a close combat professorship that doesn’t require much brainpower, taking on the role of sparring and practical training.

There was no reason for this side to refuse their top sponsor.

“So, you want me to do it?”

“Yeah.”

“But why me specifically? There are other Hunters.”

There’s Nayeon, who is the lowest-ranked S-rank Hunter in Korea, but still uses a sword.

There’s also Kim Jin-woo, the Fighting King, who doesn’t use a sword but is arguably better at close combat than anyone else.

To add a little more, there’s Posner Shin Ga-ram, who is a magic swordsman, but still mainly uses a sword.

But me, whose codename is a sword but is also mixed with ranged attacks?

“You’re famous these days, aren’t you?”

I immediately understood that.

I’m a famous person these days.

It’s not bragging, it’s true.

One of the Hunters who cleared an SS-rank gate.

Moreover, the one with the greatest contribution and a Hunter who has only recently become an S-rank.

Compared to the above, it’s a bit lacking, but even the internet broadcast has become an opportunity to become even more famous among teenagers.

There is no one in Korea who doesn’t know her now, at least among middle and high school students.

And the people that the S-rank Hunter has to teach are high school students.

So, Ha-yeon is the perfect fit.

“Honestly, I don’t mind.”

I don’t have much to do these days.

It’s boring after one big thing is over.

I decided to have Lee Seol-ah focus on increasing her buffs and told her the method and to practice alone.

I told her to call me right away if there was any progress or if she was really stuck.

I feel a bit guilty, but it’ll be okay to be away for a week.

Other than that, there were no problems.

“So, when does it start?”

“From next Monday.”

It’s Saturday now.

Two days left.

“Is there anything I need to prepare when I go there?”

“Oh, right. I heard that the academy has uniforms for teachers.”

Uniforms?

But for teachers?

“What about the money?”

“They’ll pay for it.”

“Well, if that’s the case.”

I would have been really pissed if we had to pay for it, but it seems they have a conscience.

“But something’s a bit unique, teachers can freely modify their uniforms, but students can’t.”

“Wait, then can’t I just wear something else….”

“Keep the original form.”

Ah….

“We’ll get the uniform tailored for you, so just come after 6 PM tomorrow.”

If it was made purely by hand or by machine, it would definitely take at least two days to modify it from the original form, no matter how much it was modified.

But if you borrow the power of artifacts, that’s something that can be done in a few hours.

Thinking that, Ha-yeon put down the bubble tea she had finished drinking and said.

“Is that it? Can I go now?”

“No. There’s one more thing left.”

Something, Ha-jeong’s expression became a little more serious than before.

Realizing that it was a more serious story than the academy she had mentioned earlier, she also erased her playfulness a little.

“You know the New King Church, right?”

“Of course…. Aren’t they the ones who attacked us while we were clearing the gate?”

The guys who attacked us while we were flying towards the SS-rank gate in England before.

We had to walk from the middle because of those guys.

And also, the guys who attacked the Kaade family.”

“Those guys… have increased their power quite a bit.”

First of all, East Asia.

China had a large wealth gap, so except for the ‘Yellow Dragon Society’, which is called the power of the central emperor, the New King Church had already taken over.

Japan hasn’t been hit hard yet, but they occasionally cause big incidents.

The Yami family incident was one of them.

Korea hasn’t been heavily invaded either, but they kill Hunters who clear gates from C-rank to as high as A-rank.

Other Asian countries have also been invaded by the New King Church, even if only a little.

European countries, unless they are Hunter powerhouses, have been completely taken over, and countries like England are resisting strongly, but they also cause big incidents from time to time.

Africa is about to be taken over, except for a very small number.

North America is fine because both are Hunter powerhouses.

‘South America is currently the most fiercely fighting against the New King Church, right?’

Thinking that, she listened to his words again.

“And as their power grows, their system becomes more elaborate.”

That being, presumed to be the Constellation they worship.

The Pope, who plays the role of the leader at the forefront.

Below that are the Cardinals.

This is the most important part.

“Cardinals… their power alone is S-rank.”

As if to prove their power, Cardinals sometimes kill S-rank Hunters.

But.

“Then why aren’t they on the ranking?”

If they had power equal to an S-rank, they would have been on the ranking.

But why?

“For some reason… they don’t appear on the ranking.”

When they appeared and caused incidents, almost all the people in the top 50 had alibis.

As they are high-level forces, they would have been dragged around to clear gates a lot, and the gate clearing team members would have testified for them.

“Wait, but does that make sense?”

Even so, it’s the System.

A guy that hasn’t made any errors so far.

That the System is making errors?

I can’t imagine it.

“I don’t believe it either. But somehow, that’s the reality.”

Saying that, he was silent for a moment before opening his mouth.

“The number of Cardinals confirmed so far is five in total.”

It’s information from someone who survived after seeing the one who called himself the 5th Cardinal.

Since there is a 5th Cardinal, it means that there are also Cardinals from 1 to 4 before that.

“According to what the 5th Cardinal said when he introduced himself, his name is Baek. And his codename is Thunderclap of Reversal.”

And of course, there was no one with such a name.

That alone is very annoying.

“If you exclude that, we can’t find out anything.”

It’s a miracle that someone survived to tell us that there are 5 Cardinals.

But there is no information about the Cardinals before that.

It means that those guys are that meticulous and ruthless.

In the first place, even the Hunter who told us about the existence of the 5th Cardinal barely survived by hiding his mana as much as possible from a distance.

But not long after, he was found with his head blown off.

“Haa…..”

My head is throbbing.

I’ve heard of many criminal organizations with quite a lot of power so far, and I know about them from history books.

But I’ve never heard of such a powerful and meticulous organization.

To the point where it’s a bit dangerous.

She closed her eyes and cooled her head for a moment, then opened her eyes.

“More than that, why are you telling me this?”

Is there a reason to tell me?

Don’t tell me you want me to subjugate the New King Church…!!

Seeing her expression, Jin Ha-jeong also smiled and said.

“It’s not that, it’s just that….”

Saying that, Ha-jeong stroked the side hair that was hanging over Ha-yeon’s shoulder.

“It’s just because I don’t want you to get hurt.”

According to the secretary who was waiting outside the Association President’s office.

-The Sword Demon ran out with a very red face.

That’s what happened.