December was a month of storms: Taiwan crisis and South Korea TTG Temple hearings.
Now it was the time for the year-end settlement.
While everyone else was in a hurry, Leon stood back and looked at the thriving TTG Temple.
After the hearing debacle, Leon accepted the opposition's apology.
Forgiving them for their rudeness and disrespect was a big step for Leon.
[Ahem, you shouldn't have forgiven them so easily.]
Tatar, the God of the Sun and Judgment, mentioned the opposition leader's kneeling apology.
He, along with the Goddess Arianna, is in charge of the kingdom's laws and their punishments, and his code draws a firm line in the sand at disrespect for the king.
[His head should have been cut off, salted, and posted throughout the country, to make those who dishonored the Lionheart King pay for their insolence and to show your majesty.]
[Sun, I do not know what you mean, but this is Earth, and our laws are different from theirs.]
[Light, this world will soon have to follow our laws. They are too weak to face evil and do not know how to fight. If it weren't for the Lionheart King, they would have ended up being annihilated by the demons.]
He wasn't wrong. Even the best S-class hunters in both Japan and Korea could not defeat the Demon Archduke Akasha.
Earth has been fortunate enough to benefit from a dimensional rift that has allowed them to survive to this point.
[But Leon, my knight, I think it's a shame you rejected America's offer last time]
Goddess Arianna must have liked the idea of America rebuilding the Lionheart Kingdom and a few gods agreed with her.
Heto, the God of Iron and Smiths, coveted America's resources.
[It is one thing to fall into the arms of a great nation, but another to gradually become irreplaceable to them. As far as I can see, the land is a land of natural blessings]
"You're right, that land is special even on this planet."
It was a land of natural blessings, not only in terms of oily soil, but also in terms of all kinds of natural resources.
If the gods of this earth favored a country, it would definitely be the United States.
[Ahem, conquest, after all. Big nations are best left for last]
Petos, the God of War and Fire, is already dreaming of a war of conquest. He hopes to bring war to the land and spread the fame of the Lionheart.
[Conquest need not be by war, for the land is wide, and my favor knows no bounds beyond the horizon]
The Goddess of Life and Fertility spoke of gradual inclusion. But the Tatar of the Sun and Judgment countered.
[The people may need the goddess' hand to cleanse miasma for now, but when the job is done, they will turn their palms over, just as the Empire did].
[Sun is right, and this time we mean complete domination by the Lionheart. Vulcanus was right when he said this]
The gods had different ideas. Leon would have to reconcile their opinions and come to a conclusion, but in the end, he was the one who had to decide.
[What was my knight's plan? From what you say to Vulcanus, I'm guessing you have your own reasons for staying in Korea]
"By nature, people are fickle, often changing their positions with the flip of a palm after they've been favored. Politicians are such creatures, I suppose, just as the Empire was."
This was not the case with Lionheart's courtiers. Lionheart was ruled by an absolute monarch, whose authority was granted by a god called the Lionheart King.
"These are chaotic times, and they're stuck with us, but in time, they'll rise up and get greedy, and some of them already are."
So what is needed to rebuild the TTG Temple, and by extension, Lionheart.
[A country must be built, too; but is there any suitable land?]
"Sir Spinner has some land in mind."
[Hmm? I think I know where it is. Hmm? Is that what you had in mind when you left the knight there?]
"I am a monarch before I am a knight. A monarch's actions must be grand."
He stayed in Korea even as he gave up on going to America. The gods seemed to have a general idea of where Leon thought the land was.
"But first, there are nations to be destroyed."
Leon turned his gaze to the far horizon, where only the gods knew it was approaching the north.
And──
-Your Majesty. I have received word from Koo Dae-sung, a knight in the Heilong People's Republic. Your Majesty's judgment is required.
It came at the right time, like fate.
* * * *
After the massive Gate outbreak, Koo Dae-sung, who remained in the Heilong People's Republic, traveled across the country hunting down the monsters released from the Gate.
They were invaluable in a developing country that didn't have the ability to properly capture gates, nor the ability to capture all of them before the dungeon break.
"Thank you, knight!"
"How can I repay this favor——"
Koo Dae-sung's reputation grew as he was cheered and thanked by the people.
"Whoa—! Whoa—!"
It was the time for everyone to take a break but Koo Dae-sung was still practicing today, wielding his sword.
Thanks to his growing reputation in the area, he's been given a workout space courtesy of the residents and the hotel manager, which keeps him motivated to keep training.
"Wow, you work hard."
"Mr. Kim."
"Didn't you get bitten by a big guy today, the Shovel Tiger or something? Why don't you get some rest?"
"I put some medicine on it and it's better."
"Man, you should know when to rest."
"Haha——"
Koo Dae-sung laughed, but inside he couldn't.
He was still a Class B Hunter. The Shovel Tiger was an upper B-class monster and he had managed to capture a monster of that caliber by risking injury.
What if it was Han Ha-ri?
Or Chun So-yeon? Or Kim Jae-hyuk? Or Han Soo-ho?
No, they wouldn't need a special attack that risked their lives like he did.
'Not good enough. I'm not good enough, I can't even use the Holy Law yet.'
He prays steadily to Arianna, Goddess of Light and Justice and to Petos, God of War and Flame.
When he introduces the villagers to Demera, the Goddess of Life and Fertility, he prays to her as well, but Koo Dae-sung has more faith in the first two.
He wishes he could borrow their strength to become a knight himself.
He is not good enough and has no natural talent so all he can do is try but a nagging question stops him in his tracks.
If he's running in the wrong direction, shouldn't he fix it?
What if what he accomplished is undervalued?
"Because challenges don't need the approval of others."
At such times, the words of the old knight lift him up.
Don't worry about what others think.
Your challenge must continue.
'Yeah, my challenge doesn't need anyone's approval.'
No one. Not even His Majesty Lionheart or the gods themselves.
That was the legacy that Jerea of the Twilight left him, and it was the reason he would not give up.
And so Koo Dae-sung continued his chivalrous civilian service.
At first, it was to save people whose lives were threatened by the harsh conditions, but eventually, people would come to him for help without having to go looking for it themselves.
"Sir, a gate has appeared near my village, and I've asked the People's Army for help, but they won't do anything!"
Among them was a request to clear the gate.
"Knight. Could you please teach us more of the teachings of the Goddess Demera? We want to thank her and build an altar, but we don't know if we can do it alone."
Others came seeking the doctrines and teachings that Koo Dae-sung had begun to spread.
"That's the truth. Why would I come all the way here and lie?"
Among them, the story of the man who visited Koo Dae-sung today is remarkable.
"I'm telling you, I escaped from the camp in Hoeryong!"
The man's identity was a surprise.
He was a North Korean defector who had escaped from a political prison camp in Hoeryong, North Korea, over the Tumen River.
He told them it was a North Korean political prison camp, and that all kinds of people were held there, but that wasn't what surprised him.
"Monsters–they're managing the camp?"
"Yes. From one day to the next, some monsters, not the People's Army, took over the camp and took away the people in the camp."
Non-human beings are taking over the camp and taking people with them. If that was true, it wasn't normal.
"Maybe they're orcs or something——"
"No, they're monsters! I've seen orcs and goblins and such a few times, but they're nothing compared to these evil things!"
"No, then how on earth did you escape from the gulag and come all the way across the Tumen River to Yanbian?"
"I've been in the smuggling business for a long time, so I have a route that only I know. I escaped alone and crossed the Tumen River."
The man looked frustrated at Kim Do-han and the others, who didn't believe him so Koo Dae-sung asked Yappy over the comms.
"That's right— Lord Yappy, have you checked?"
-With our reconnaissance assets, the camp's activities are extremely normal.
He asked Yappy to check and see what he could find out, but nothing changed.
Sure, there were horrific abuses going on in the camps, but that's just the normalcy of the North Korean regime.
Noting that there was no sign of a monster, Yappy doubted the defector's testimony.
"It's real, it's real!"
The man shouted in frustration and he didn't seem to be lying, which made Koo Dae-sung even more puzzled.
'There's no reason for Lord Yappy to lie, and his information was never wrong in the first place.'
It was Yappy's overwhelming reconnaissance assets that allowed Koo Dae-sung and his troops to sweep across the Heilong People's Republic and kill the monsters so quickly.
With real-time scans of the entire country and point assignments, Koo Dae-sung only had to plan ahead and hunt the monsters.
However, this time, the defector and Lord Yappy have different scouting information. Logically, he should assume that the defector is lying, but——
"Why don't we go there first?"
"No, Mr. Koo. That's a bit——"
Captain Kim Do-han was uncomfortable with Koo Dae-sung's suggestion.
Koo Dae-sung work in Heilong has been possible only because of their unrequited goodwill and coordination with the immigration administration.
Going to Hoeryong was not a place for such consultation or cooperation, it was North Korea.
The world's most closed dictatorship, with no understanding of what it means to cross the border of a controlled country that hasn't relinquished power in the face of horrific hunger and poverty since the collapse of China.
-Irrational. If you want to do relief work, I'd suggest you go somewhere else.
"There are some things that bother me."
-What?
"Lord Yappy, didn't you say that your satellites showed that the camps are as usual?"
-Yes.
"But where did these monsters come from?"
"——-"
Yappy sent an unspoken message to Koo Dae-sung that he was stating a fact he hadn't mentioned but Koo continued.
"We'll see what we can find out. We'll have to cross the border, but with Sir Yappy's stealth drones these days, we should be able to sneak across undetected."
"——-"
Yappy thought strategically for a moment.
The uniqueness of North Korea and the pressure of crossing the border, in truth, neither of these things are particularly unsettling.
TTG Temple, who had already invaded Taiwan and crippled the administration, didn't need to worry about North Korea's protests.
It's a well-oiled machine that doesn't want variables.
-You are acting in the name of TTG Temple. You must be authorized by His Majesty.
Yappy deferred the decision to the Supreme Decider.
[Do as you please]
"Thank you. But—are you sure you don't mind? I've heard that you've been called to hearings lately about the Taiwan thing, too."
[This King is the one in charge of it all. You do your duty, and the blame falls on me.]
Leon's approval had been given so there was no reason to hesitate any longer, then.
-Will wait a day. I will send a package for infantry support.
A day later, Yappy sent a reinforcement package to the scheduled point.
Seeing the support package descending from space, Koo Dae-sung began preparations to cross the Tumen River.