Chapter 41: The Situation of the Heavenly King Guild

We entered the Guild Master’s office.

It feels like I’ve been treated as a VIP for some time now.

Do they know me here as well?

“Ah, welcome, Saintess.”

A woman wearing an eyepatch greeted me.

She spread her arms wide to welcome me, giving off the impression that she already knew who I was.

I approached her.

If she’s leading a guild of this size, does she already know about me?

“Do you already know who I am?”

“Yes, well, um, ah.”

What’s this?

She stared at me intently with her one eye, and her face seemed utterly dazed.

Why is she looking at me like that?

If she keeps this up, it’s going to be annoying.

Should I just crack her skull?

“Why are you making that face like a pigeon that just got hit?”

“Oh, seeing you up close, you’re even more stunning in person.”

What now?

Is this another woman falling for me?

Well, I already know I’m beautiful.

“I’m fully aware of my own beauty. It’s all thanks to the Goddess’s blessings.”

“But weren’t you supposed to have blonde hair?”

I could have something other than blonde hair, couldn’t I?

“My hair is silver now.”

“Ah, I see. Well then, please, take a seat with your companions.”

As I sat on the sofa and glanced around, I noticed the room was furnished with quite luxurious pieces.

There were also various collections, including weapons and a wide range of accessories.

While I was briefly looking around, the woman with the eyepatch clapped her hands and began to speak.

“So, what brings you here? Surely it’s not for a mission request, is it?”

“It’s something else. It’s regarding an elf.”

“An elf… Ah, it must be about that debt.”

Quick-witted, isn’t she?

Could she have anticipated that we’d come?

If so, that means she’s already prepared.

She’s not someone to be underestimated.

I should be ready to swing my mace at any moment.

“Did you already expect us?”

“Not exactly. Our guild does work similar to a loan business, so we maintain this level of an information network.”

So, intimidation won’t work here?

Running a loan business must take a lot of guts.

“It’s about a friend of mine who’s a returnee. How much debt does she have left?”

“Let’s see. The only returnee elf indebted to our guild is a person named Elena. Let me confirm just in case. Is this the person you’re referring to?”

“Yes.”

This woman… she even dug up personal information about the innocent elf.

It’s like she’s locked her into an inescapable shackle.

It was the same in the Hero’s World.

In the end, the solution is smashing the skull.

But first, let’s gather some ammunition to criticize her.

Let’s continue the conversation a bit longer.

“The remaining debt is 2 billion won.”

“Two billion? Hold on. I also heard there’s some connection to gambling.”

Two billion… that’s not something that can be covered even with the returnee pension.

I need to find out more about the gambling aspect too.

“Ah, I should explain the situation. To put it simply, this elf borrowed money. She said she needed to create a legal identity and had to pay a broker for it.”

“Two billion just for that?”

Even so, how does a legal identity cost two billion?

Does that even make sense?

“To be precise, it started as one hundred million.”

“And how does one hundred million become two billion?”

How exactly did they pull off this miracle of creative economy?

“The issue lies with the broker. He’s a notorious scoundrel the government’s been trying to catch for a long time. Our one hundred million ended up in his hands, and of course, the authorities used that as leverage to target us. So we had to pay some… appropriate bribes.”

Bribes to sway politicians?

That gives it some legitimacy, but still—why lend a huge sum like one hundred million without solid reasons?

“And that snowballed into two billion?”

“Yes. To make matters worse, when the elf made the deal, she staked her honor as an elf, saying it wasn’t anything shady. We fully believed her and lent her the money. The contract clearly states she’s fully responsible for it, so it’s a legitimate transaction.”

Even Erin wouldn’t have staked her honor just to borrow money.

Before regaining her memories, this pure-hearted elf seemed like nothing more or less than a noble but clueless elf.

“And you, someone who’s grown a guild this large, believed that?”

“Whatever my personal thoughts may be, the cause and effect lie with the elf, don’t they?”

Jeon Taeyeon’s lips curled into a mocking smile.

That smug grin makes me want to shove a mace right into her mouth.

Annoying as she is, though, she’s not entirely wrong.

It was a legitimate deal, and the elf was just naïve.

“What about the gambling?”

“That lady gambled. Quite literally, she tried to win money to pay off the debt. I took advantage of that to pressure her family, who didn’t seem to have any intention of paying back the money.”

“I see.”

She’s probably not lying.

“Hmm, with my eyes, it doesn’t appear to be a lie.”

“Of course not. I’ll do whatever it takes for the guild’s profit, but I’m not the kind of shameless person who lies.”

Whether she’s shameless or not, I can’t tell.

This woman’s attitude toward people is fundamentally flawed.

It might just be because it’s me she’s dealing with, but one thing is clear, she isn’t treating us sincerely.

“The elf’s family seems to be barely getting by on just paying the interest. Can’t you forgive the debt?”

“Unfortunately, we need to make a living too.”

Hmm, should I just smash her skull?

No, if things are this tangled, even if I break Jeon Taeyeon’s skull, the elf will get dragged into the mess.

That means the real priority is finding a way to erase the debt.

Maybe it’s time to try an emotional appeal?

“The Heavenly King Guild is already big enough without digging into the ground for scraps. Can’t you overlook the debt for one clueless elf? If you think about it, a loan company that made a deal with an untrustworthy elf is partially at fault too.”

She’s no rookie, and if it weren’t the Heavenly King Guild but a smaller, powerless guild, things might have turned out differently.

“This is us showing leniency. Originally, the first contract had the elf staking her body as collateral, you know.”

“That was back when she couldn’t even remember how to speak Korean, wasn’t it?”

“How were we supposed to know that?”

“Fine. So, are you saying there’s absolutely no room for negotiation?”

Honestly, it’s not a huge issue.

It’s a bit of a hassle, but if we hurry through the Tower of Ruin, we can make enough money.

Even just the first floor of the Tower is worth tens of millions of won.

If I funnel a few floors’ worth of rewards, excluding holy relics, to the elf, it won’t take long to pay off her debt.

The reason I’m pressing the issue here is simple.

It’s obvious just by looking.

This woman is up to something.

“Well, it’s not entirely impossible to show leniency.”

So, she’s making the first move.

“You want to strike a deal?”

“Yes. If our goals align, isn’t it better to work toward the same destination?”

If I agree to her terms, the elf can pay off her debt, and Jeon Taeyeon achieves her goal of recovering the money from the elf.

For now, let’s hear the terms of this deal.

“What is it?”

“Include our guild in the Tower of Ruin raid.”

The Heavenly King Guild in the Tower of Ruin raid?

“The Tower of Ruin raid?”

“Yes.”

So that’s what she’s been aiming for.

Did she calculate all of this the moment she met me?

If that’s the case, there’s no need for me to push this any further from my side.

In fact, I might be able to take control of the negotiation.

It looks like she’s trying to use the elf’s debt as a card to hitch a ride into the raid since they can’t join by merit like other guilds.

There’s no way I’ll just let her have her way.

“You only need to repay the principal and interest within the period, so why should we accept this deal? Is there a reason for us to agree?”

“Oh? You don’t seem to understand how deals work.”

“Excuse me?”

I don’t know how to negotiate a deal?

“Believe it or not, the Heavenly King Guild holds considerable influence.”

“Is that a threat?”

Are they implying they could prevent me from climbing the Tower?

This woman is rather sly.

“It’s not a threat. Think about it carefully. As you progress in the Tower of Ruin, won’t you inevitably get entangled with other guilds? Even for someone like you, Saintess, what if the top-ranking guilds band together to make things difficult for you?”

That would indeed be bothersome.

“Go on.”

“Until now, you’ve only dealt with high-ranking guilds, but Korea’s globally recognized guilds are tied to political powers.”

“Are you saying I’d have no choice but to compromise with guilds?”

If that’s true, it could be quite problematic.

After all, I hold Korean citizenship.

If the guilds collude to openly target me, the government could get involved and strip away the returnee benefits.

“Exactly. For all we know, they might already be preparing to throw obstacles your way.”

Hmm, she’s not wrong.

It makes sense.

So, is the Heavenly King Guild flaunting its influence to block those guilds from leveraging political connections to meddle in the Tower raid?

Come to think of it, things have been strangely quiet.

There’s also the possibility that they’ll all come at me in a coordinated attack later.

Could I block them all with my returnee status at that point?

In any case, allowing one faction to monopolize the Tower wouldn’t look good.

It wouldn’t be seen favorably either.

“So, if I join, you’re saying you can stop that from happening?”

“Yes. Because we have quite a few high-ranking connections under our thumb.”

I can see that being true.

“So, you’re not just any ordinary guild, huh?”

“Hoho, you’ve underestimated us too much.”

“Fine. Let’s say I agree to the deal. What exactly do you want? I’ll tell you in advance—there’s no way I’m giving you any holy relics.”

I can give them items worth 2 billion won, but holy relics are non-negotiable.

“That’s fine. Even if we only get some materials, we’ll make more than 2 billion during the raid.”

“So you don’t need holy relics, is that right?”

For a guild, wouldn’t holy relics still be more valuable?

Holy relics are valued much higher by the Management Bureau than the materials harvested from monsters.

A single holy relic could dramatically shift the current guild rankings.

“To say we have no greed would be a lie. We need results. Right now, while we’re well-known for our loan business, we lag far behind other guilds when it comes to dungeon raids.”

“In other words…..”

“We’d become the guild that conquered the Tower of Ruin with the Saintess—a tower no one has managed to raid. That would give us significant merit.”

That much doesn’t matter to me.

Letting the Heavenly King Guild join doesn’t really change anything.

In fact, just having them block interference from other guilds is satisfying enough.

“That much isn’t difficult.”

“And also.”

“And also?”

What now?

“How about having a meal with me sometime?”

“……?”

A lesbian?

Is this woman a lesbian?

Her gaze definitely suggests it.

What should I even say?

Still, I can respect the courage it takes to reveal one’s preferences.

“Sigh, sorry, but, uh, Heavenly King Guild Master? This Saintess is so self-obsessed that she eats while staring at her reflection in a mirror.”

While I was still debating, the Battle Mage spoke up without restraint.

How did she even know?