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Chapter 231

"Soo-Yeong, bring a wet towel. And contact Uncle. You know Executive Jin-Sung, right?"

"Uh... oh, yes!"

Soo-Yeong quickly brought a wet towel from the bathroom. I wiped away the blood on Ji-Ah\'s arm with the wet towel.

Then I poured warm water and fed it to Ji-Ah, and finally, her pale face regained color. I urgently brought Ji-Ah to my room and laid her down on the bed.

"...Thank you. Cult Leader, I..."

"What happened? I only heard that nuna was going to deliver something to the Gyeongsang Branch."

I pressed for answers, but Ji-Ah didn\'t easily open her mouth. It didn\'t seem like she lacked the ability to speak, but rather that there was another reason she couldn\'t speak.

I felt angry, but getting angry wouldn\'t change anything. I clenched my fist and suppressed my anger. My nails pierced my palm, drawing blood.

"Tell me. There’s nothing you need to hide from me, alright?”

"...The Romanican Church... dispatched the Crusader Order to suppress Yuk Eun-Hyung\'s mercenary corps, or rather... to massacre them."

"What\'s the situation like?"

"There have been several battles... The Crusader Order has already occupied two-thirds of the mercenary corps’s bases."

It was a desperate situation. Ji-Ah didn\'t directly mention it, but it seemed like they had lost every battle and unwillingly surrendered their bases to the Crusader Order.

The outcome was expected. Yuk Eun-Hyung\'s mercenary corps was small. It wasn’t even a small elite group—it was just small. Except for Yuk Eun-Hyung, the members’ individual combat capabilities were also low.

On the other hand, the number of crusaders under the Romanican Church\'s control was so large that it was impossible to count. There was a reason why Ji-Ah had used the word ‘massacre’ instead of ‘suppression.’

It was because Yuk Eun-Hyung\'s mercenary corps could not defeat the Romanican Church’s crusaders in battle.

"The injury... During the battle, a stray bullet hit me. They probably weren\'t aiming for me."

"How do you know that?"

"Because there is no logical reason for them to target me."

"Is that so? Then I’ll just have to accidentally kill them too.”

Thud!

At that moment, the door opened. My uncle’s head and clothes were soaked in cold sweat as he rushed into the room. He looked at Ji-Ah lying on the bed, then shifted his gaze toward me.

"What\'s going on here?"

"Nuna went to support the Gyeongsang Branch and got shot."

"...Shot? Wait, if it\'s the Gyeongsang Branch..."

My uncle furrowed his brows as if he suspected something. Then, he suddenly grabbed his forehead and said, "...That’s where Yuk Eun-Hyung’s mercenary corps is located... Wasn’t that the place where a suppression or something happened recently?"

"Uncle, where is the Gyeongsang Branch located? Do you know?"

Wiping the cold sweat off his forehead with his collar, my uncle said, "I know. But there won\'t be many ways to go there now. There\'s a high possibility that the roads are blocked. No, they must be blocked for sure."

At that moment, Ji-Ah grabbed my arm with trembling hands.

Then, she slowly blinked her eyes and said, "...It’s best if you don’t go. Even Executive Yuk Eun-Hyung wouldn’t want the Cult Leader to come."

"Why?"

"If the Cult Leader goes there... You’ll be doing exactly what the Holy See wants. Executive Yuk Eun-Hyung wanted the Cult Leader to abandon the Gyeongsang Branch."

"I can abandon the Gyeongsang Branch."

I tightly grasped Ji-Ah\'s arm.

"Ouch, wait a second, Cult Leader...!"

Her arm was thin and fragile, and a bullet was lodged in this small arm. As I thought that, my heart raced, and I became short of breath. My vision kept blurring and going white. I blinked and said, "But I still have to go. Not for the Gyeongsang Branch, but because of what happened to you."

I let go of Ji-Ah\'s arm, stood up, and continued, "Soo-Yeong, take care of nuna. If anything happens at the underground chapel, contact me immediately. If it’s something you can handle, you can take care of it yourself.”

"Ah, okay."

"Uncle, take me to the Gyeongsang Branch by car. How long will it take?"

"...No, no matter how much I think about it, there\'s no way to go there. I can take you close to the location but..."

"Because the Gyeongsang Branch and Yuk Eun-Hyung’s mercenary corps have bases located by the sea, we travel by sea."

"What? But it’s not like you can get a boat right now. There\'s no way to cross the sea..."

"There is a way.”

There was a method. I looked at my uncle and said, "We can\'t find a boat, but we can still cross the sea."

"..."

I grabbed my staff and mask. It seemed like there would be a need to cover my face.

"Let\'s go."

"Seriously, fuck... How did it come to this... Sigh. Fine." My uncle nodded and said, "This... I can’t even say anything to stop you. What did we do wrong, exactly..."

Sadness and wrath were evident in his voice.

* * *

Tap.

On top of the shogi board that had become messy due to the countless fingerprints, a man with long hair moved a piece. There were many onlookers near the shogi board, but no one spoke.

Only the repetitive sound of the man with long hair and the old man taking turns moving their pieces could be heard.

The old man stared at the shogi board with wrinkled eyes. Cold sweat formed on his forehead. Soon, the old man tightly closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

"...I lost. I surrender."

"That\'s a shame. Shall I take back a move?"

"No, it\'s fine. It\'s not a game where I can win just by taking back one move."

The old man seemed to be trying to recall the game as he counted the pieces on the shogi board with his fingers, but soon, he seemed exhausted and lowered his head.

"I wouldn\'t be able to win even if we start over from the beginning."

"I see... Thank you for playing with me. It was enjoyable."

"I enjoyed it too."

The old man shook hands with the man with long hair and stood up from his seat. The other old men who had been watching also left one by one.

Only one spectator remained—they had sandy yellow hair, bronze skin, and narrow eyes. It was Yu-Hyun.

He had been waiting for the man with long hair to speak to him first, but the man just stared at the shogi board silently. Tired of waiting, Yu-Hyun knocked on the game board.

Knock, knock.

Finally, the man with long hair looked up. He looked at Yu-Hyun expressionlessly, then raised one corner of his mouth and smiled.

"Long time no see, Yu-Hyun. What\'s going on?"

"Yeah, long time no see, hyung. Well, I just came to chat, that\'s all. Do you have time?"

The man nodded and said, "I have plenty of time."

Yu-Hyun sat across from the man. The man tidied up the pieces scattered on the game board and put them in a box. Then, he took out a chessboard and a bag of Go stones that he had placed on the floor.

"Just sitting around and talking feels a bit boring, so do you want to do something? Chess, or maybe Go? We can also play Gomoku."

"Can we play fling the Go stones?"

"That\'s not possible. It\'s not strategic."

"You\'re underestimating the fling the Go stones game. That game involves some strategy as well. Anyway, let\'s play chess then."

"Chess sounds good. It\'s a game with a rich history," the man said as he unfolded the chessboard and placed the pieces on it.

The way he placed the pieces indicated that he was quite familiar with the game. He definitely hadn’t played just once or twice.

Yu-Hyun alternated between looking at the pieces being placed on the chessboard in an organized manner and the man with long hair who was placing them.

The man\'s name was Yeon. Yeon was a single syllable, and he didn\'t have a last name because he didn\'t have parents. Although his age was officially stated as twenty-one on his documents, it was actually unknown. He was also a candidate to become the next Pope.

And just like Yu-Hyun, he was one of the few people chosen by an angel.

After finishing the chess setup, Yeon asked Yu-Hyun, "Alright, let\'s start. Which side do you want to play, black or white?"

His tone was calm, and the smile on his lips remained unchanged.

Yu-Hyun stroked his chin, pondered, and then said, "What’s advantageous? Is it white?"

"Since white starts first, they have the advantage."

"Then let\'s go with white. I start first, right?"

Thud.

Yu-Hyun moved a piece. Soon after, Yeon moved a piece.

Thud, thud.

Only the sound of them moving the pieces echoed within the silence.

Yu-Hyun always took a long time to think, but Yeon moved his pieces without any hesitation. In the blink of an eye, the game was going against Yu-Hyun.

Thud.

It was Yeon who broke the long silence. While moving a piece, he subtly asked Yu-Hyun, "I think I know why you suddenly came. It’s because of the Voodoo Cult, right?"

Yu-Hyun raised his eyebrow and smirked.

"How’d you know that? You’re creeping me out."

"It’s because of the timing. We\'re currently suppressing the Voodoo Cult\'s mercenary corps, and you just came back from the mission trip."

"I didn’t just come to talk about that... but it is true after all.”

Thud.

Yu-Hyun moved his piece. Yeon stared at the chessboard for a while. It was a strange move. Yeon always made his moves confidently, but he furrowed his brows for the first time and showed a contemplative expression.

Yu-Hyun glanced at Yeon and asked, "What do you think about the suppression of the mercenary corps this time around?"

"It was hasty."

Thud.

Yeon finally moved a piece. Yu-Hyun couldn\'t read Yeon\'s moves with his skills, so he couldn’t even think about coming up with a strange move. Yu-Hyun stared daggers at the chessboard and contemplated.

Yeon said, "It seems like they\'re trying to gain public sympathy by using the Trinitas Crusader Order... Well, I wonder if it will work as planned. The public is forgetting about the Voodoo Cult. It\'s hard to add credibility to a massacre disguised as a suppression with just this kind of trickery."

"What would you have done, hyung?"

"I would have investigated the dBP Corporation."

"Why dBP? There\'s no problem there, right?"

"The Holy Army relies too heavily on dBP Corporation\'s holy artifacts. The corporation also knows about this, and there are signs that they are starting to exploit it. It wouldn\'t hurt to investigate them to keep them in check."

"But there\'s no pretext for an investigation."

"Whether it\'s the Voodoo Cult or the Satanists, there are rumors connecting cultists with the dBP Corporation. At the beginning of the year, there was a rumor involving a kid from Florence Academy named Bae Sung-Hyun, I think."

"Is a rumor alone enough to justify an investigation?"

"We can always come up with a justification. We could say it’s a tax investigation or something like that. The important thing is the fact that an investigation is being conducted. If the Holy See starts investigating the dBP Corporation, the public will naturally connect it to the existing rumors."

"...If we do that, then we can naturally keep the dBP Corporation in check."

"Exactly. Well, it\'s always easier said than done. That’s why I was able to say this."

"True, there are many things to consider."

Yu-Hyun placed a piece on the board, ending his contemplation.

Thud.

Yeon played his next move immediately. "Above all, we can\'t suppress the mercenary corps like this. Especially if the situation involves the Voodoo Cult."

He still smiled as he said, "...The Cult Leader will come, the Romanican Church will take a hit, and the Holy See will see."