Chapter 109: Aftershock
by AfuhfuihgsInside the hospital. In a single-patient room, Lee Hyun-seung opens his eyes.
“Ugh…”
His whole body aches, and his head feels like it’s going to explode. It seems like he had been in such an intense battle before passing out, or maybe it was the tension of thinking he might actually die, which lasted for so long, but his body wasn’t in good condition.
-
Hssss…
-
Hssss…
He hears the sound of air leaking and turns his head to find Jeong Eun-seo sitting beside his bed, her head resting against it as she sleeps.
‘Has she been nursing me this whole time?’
After assessing the situation, it seemed that he had passed out at Broad Academy and was moved to this hospital afterward. Given that it was a single-patient room, it was probably because Jeong Eun-seo had paid for it.
-
Swoosh
Lee Hyun-seung carefully moved Jeong Eun-seo’s head aside and got up from his bed. The first thing he did was check the time—just around lunchtime.
‘How long have I been out?’
It felt like he had been unconscious for over a week, but when he checked properly, it had only been about a day.
He moved his arms, stretched his shoulders, and tested his legs. Thankfully, there was no issue with any of them.
“Hyun-seung?”
As he rustled, Jeong Eun-seo must have sensed his movement, as she woke up, looking at him with a relieved expression despite still being groggy.
Her eyes, heavy with fatigue, indicated that she must have been awake and nursing him without sleeping until just recently.
“How long have you been here?”
“Since you were brought from Broad Academy to the hospital… I’ve been here the whole time.”
He thought it was a bit foolish. After all, just having someone by your side wouldn’t make you wake up faster or heal any quicker. Still, he also felt a sense of gratitude.
“You’ve had a hard time. Thank you.”
Having someone by your side when you’re sick is more comforting than one might think. It’s a lonely thing, being sick, and being at home doesn’t make it any better. And this was a hospital. If he had woken up alone, it might have felt even more isolating.
Jeong Eun-seo smiled brightly and spoke.
“What do you mean, thank you? You saved my life, Hyun-seung. If you hadn’t stopped them earlier, the damage would have been enormous. Someone might have even died… Everyone at the academy is grateful to you.”
Upon hearing this, Lee Hyun-seung’s curiosity grew, and he asked a question.
“Now that I think about it, how was the Broad Academy terrorist incident handled? People must know that the attack was from the Hillheon faction, right?”
Jeong Eun-seo rubbed her eyes, got up, and straightened her posture, answering him.
“Yes, based on the bodies found at the scene, we’ve identified several of them as members of Hillheon, known to the public. The weapons they used were also ones commonly associated with Hillheon, so it’s hard for them to deny it.”
“How are we dealing with it?”
“For now, the government is taking the situation seriously and considering punishment for Hillheon for unlawfully infiltrating the academy and putting lives at risk. Broad Academy has also formally lodged a complaint against Hillheon.”
“So, basically, nothing is being done about it.”
“….”
Jeong Eun-seo quietly nodded in agreement.
“You know how Hillheon is. They’ve been causing trouble in the black market for a long time. They’ve been a pain in the neck for years, but their main base is deep in a labyrinth, so taking them down would require a large-scale operation. Also, many criminal organizations are connected with them, so the government is hesitant to act rashly. Anyone who takes action against them becomes a target.”
“What’s the Artemis Guild’s response?”
“Well…”
Jeong Eun-seo looked at him with a puzzled expression and spoke.
“Apparently, Yu Hee-yeon was also involved in this terrorist incident, right? In a way, it might seem like Hillheon targeted the Artemis Guild leader’s daughter. I thought the Artemis Guild would immediately declare war, but surprisingly, they’ve been quiet.”
“That can’t be right. The Artemis Guild is notorious for exacting brutal revenge. You know that.”
“Yes, I know. So I secretly did some background research.”
-Whoosh
As Jeong Eun-seo swung her staff, a magical barrier that blocked sound and vision was cast. A giant screen appeared in the center of the private room.
“Please check the screen.”
The screen showed a large map of the country, with red dots scattered across it.
“The dots on the map represent places visited by Artemis Guild elders or affiliates from yesterday to today.”
If what Jeong Eun-seo was saying was true, it meant that Artemis Guild had mobilized their entire force and traveled around the country in less than 24 hours. But why? What was the reason?
“Did they really go to all those places? Why?”
“Weapons. Artifacts. Artemis Guild was originally planning an expedition to the labyrinth, right? But they’re trying to buy a large quantity of human-killing weapons. Not just one or two, but hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands. So, I suspect that they’re pretending to go on a labyrinth expedition, but in reality, they’re planning to strike the heart of Helion instead of hunting monsters.”
Helion’s headquarters was located in a labyrinth teeming with monsters. How exactly humans could establish a base there was unclear, but it was a fact that their headquarters was in the labyrinth. Artemis Guild buying large quantities of human-killing weapons before entering the labyrinth was a reasonable sign that they were preparing for war against Helion.
Lee Hyun-seung, curious, asked Jeong Eun-seo with a confused expression.
“But, all the blacksmiths across the country are part of the Blacksmith Association, right? They wouldn’t be cooperative with Artemis, would they?”
“Ah, you know about that? Yes, that’s right. For some reason, blacksmiths have been uncooperative with Artemis Guild. I think that’s why Artemis Guild members are traveling all over the country, to buy good-quality weapons cheaply.”
The reason why the blacksmiths, who were part of the Blacksmith Association, were being uncooperative with Artemis Guild was simple.
‘Yu Hee-yeon must have really pissed off Tak Woo-hyeon, the head of the Blacksmith Association, and this is how the snowball is rolling.’
Tak Woo-hyeon had once visited the Broad Academy to deliver a weapon he made for Lee Hyun-seung. At the time, Yu Hee-yeon made a ridiculous demand to buy the weapon at a discount, saying she’d pay for it. Tak Woo-hyeon’s face, as he overheard her absurdity, had turned cold.
It seemed that Tak Woo-hyeon had used his influence with blacksmiths across the country to tell them not to accept orders from Artemis Guild or to increase the prices. This was likely his way of making Yu Hee-yeon pay for her foolish actions.
‘He must have quite the pride.’
If Artemis Guild tried to fight with the Blacksmith Association, Tak Woo-hyeon wouldn’t be safe either.
‘Of course, he knows that, so he’ll probably handle things carefully.’
He wouldn’t outright refuse weapon orders but would likely limit the quantity, lower the quality, or charge inflated prices to make things difficult.
Artemis Guild had blacksmiths of their own, but it was nearly impossible for blacksmiths with single crafting slots to create the tens of thousands of high-quality weapons needed for battle with Helion in the labyrinth.
‘Yu Hee-yeon, if this gets out, you’re going to have a tough time. Serves you right.’
Artemis Guild Headquarters.
Deputy Guild Master Bae Gi-young reported to Yoo Han-beom.
“Guild Master, I’ve checked with all the skilled blacksmiths in the country, but they’re either telling us they can’t handle the amount of weapon orders we want or demanding too much money for the quality.”
-CRASH!-
Yoo Han-beom slammed his fist on the table in frustration.
“What did I tell you? I don’t think you remember, so I’ll say it again. We’re about to wage war with Helion in the upcoming labyrinth expedition. They attacked our territory first, so we need to retaliate. To do that, we need an excess of weapons. And I’m sure I told you to get weapons for the expedition, right?”
“I-I’m sorry. Until recently, they were all cooperative, but now we don’t understand why they’re behaving like this. It’s not just one or two blacksmiths, but all of them across the country. We’re at our wit’s end. We suspect Tak Woo-hyeon, the Blacksmith Association President, may be behind this.”
“Useless fool.”
Yoo Han-beom shoved all the papers on the desk aside and stood up, grabbing his coat.
“Get ready. We’re going to meet Tak Woo-hyeon. I need to hear directly from him why he’s treating us this way.
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