I Alone Resurrect Chapter 156
No Longer Human (1)
Shin Tae-gil quickly sized up the man walking towards him.
‘Mid-thirties. Extravagant. Is he a noble as Mr. Olien said?’
Since he wasn’t Asian, an exact estimation was impossible, but he appeared to be around the same age as himself.
The clothes he wore were so elaborately decorated that they were almost blinding to look at.
“Prince of the Kingdom of Heigran. Karl Heysers.”
For a moment, Shin Tae-gil’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.
If he hadn’t misheard, this man definitely said he was a prince.
It seemed someone of even higher status than Olien had expected had come.
“Yes. Pleased to meet you.”
Shin Tae-gil maintained his composure and greeted him with a comfortable smile.
He could see Karl Heisers’s face stiffening at his handshake offer.
The attendants behind also looked flustered.
‘Oh dear, I must have made a mistake.’
Olien had clearly said a light handshake would be fine.
‘Since he’s royalty and not nobility, should I have greeted him differently?’
At that moment, a man who appeared to be an attendant approached and whispered to Shin Tae-gil.
“Although this is a foreign country, you are in the presence of the Prince. Please show proper respect.”
Shin Tae-gil inwardly sneered at the attendant’s words.
‘Are they asking me to kneel?’
Though indirectly expressed, Shin Tae-gil was certain.
‘That’s impossible.’
He was here as a representative of the Republic of Korea.
The President had told him to treat them as state guests, not to grovel before them like servants.
‘Coming to another world and demanding their own customs… They’re more foolish and arrogant than I thought.’
Instead of kneeling, Shin Tae-gil gave a slight bow at the waist.
“Ahem…!”
As expected, the atmosphere remained tense, with throat-clearing sounds coming from various directions.
‘This has become troublesome. I wish I was dealing with someone more reasonable.’
Just as Shin Tae-gil was contemplating how to resolve the situation.
Olien rushed over and began explaining something earnestly to Karl Heisus.
“I thought I told you not to open that filthy mouth of yours until I speak first.”
Karl’s cold words.
Though spoken softly, Shin Tae-gil, being an ability user, could hear them clearly.
‘I heard Olien’s position wasn’t good… But it seems worse than expected.’
Shin Tae-gil thought it was truly fortunate that Kang Hyeon wasn’t here.
If Kang Hyeon had seen this, he would have surely grabbed that arrogant prince by the collar right away.
“Could you bring someone of higher status to handle this matter? Perhaps that person called the President…”
Shin Tae-gil inwardly sneered at Karl’s words.
‘Not a chance.’
Shin Tae-gil still knew nothing about Karl.
It was impossible to take such a person to meet the President.
Meeting the President would only be possible much later.
“I and my subordinates will ensure you are comfortable during your stay.”
Shin Tae-gil briefly explained the situation here and guided Karl to the prepared lodgings.
“Since it’s late today, why don’t you rest? I will visit you again tomorrow.”
“Very well.”
Karl nodded with a seemingly kind smile.
‘He’s the epitome of pretense.’
Shin Tae-gil also put on a fake smile as he guided Karl to his lodgings.
***
Ippotranslation
***
That night.
Olien walked down the hallway with a trembling heart.
“I’m here to see the Prince.”
This was the hotel room where Karl was staying.
Olien had come here at Karl’s summons.
“Come in.”
Olien swallowed hard and carefully opened the door.
“Brother, you called—”
Before Olien could finish speaking, a rough hand grabbed her hair.
“Kneel.”
Thrown to the floor, Olien silently knelt.
“What do you think is the reason the kingdom sent you here?”
Karl’s sudden question.
Olien tried to calm her trembling body as she opened her mouth.
“To determine if this place could be beneficial to the Heigran Kingdom, and to make arrangements for the investigation team to arrive safely later.”
“You know that, yet you handle things like this!?”
Karl shouted and kicked Olien.
“Obviously, this country’s king, or at least someone befitting that status, should have come to welcome me! What was with that man’s attitude today!”
“I’m sorry. If I had known you would come personally, I would have prepared more—”
“Don’t talk back!”
Olien rolled across the floor from Karl’s kick.
‘I must endure…’
This level of beating was familiar to Olien.
She didn’t even make a sound of pain as she knelt again.
“I’m sorry…”
“From now on, don’t ever step forward until I speak. Just because you inherited half-blood doesn’t mean you’re royalty.”
“I will keep that in mind…”
“If you interrupt me again or act impudently like earlier, you’d better be prepared for the consequences.”
“Yes.”
“Pfft! Get out. The stench of a whore is overwhelming.”
Olien managed to stand on trembling legs and bowed.
“I will take my leave.”
Outside, Olien let out a sigh.
By then, her body was covered in many bruises.
The royal knights glanced at Olien but said nothing.
“Then, take care everyone.”
Olien smiled brightly as she greeted the royal knights.
“…”
There was no response.
Olien quietly headed to her room.
As she walked down the hallway, her lips were tightly bitten, with blood seeping through.
***
Ippotranslation
***
The next day.
Olien was summoned to Karl’s room without even having breakfast.
“I’ve heard roughly about the situation here. There are guilds, ability users, dungeons, monsters, things like that?”
“Yes.”
Karl, having apparently been briefed overnight, asked about various things.
“This Badass Guild where you’ve been indebted? I heard it’s the strongest guild in this country.”
“Yes…”
“We’ll start there today. I don’t trust these ability users here at all. But if it’s the country’s most famous mercenary organization, they should be quite capable.”
Karl said with a smirk.
‘What should I do…’
Olien worried.
She didn’t know what Karl might do at the Badass Guild.
It could harm those who had been kind to her.
“Why no answer?”
“No, I’ll guide you right away.”
Olien carefully looked at Karl.
“Brother, may I ask one thing?”
“What?”
For a moment Karl’s face wrinkled, but he soon nodded as if granting a favor.
“Speak.”
“Perhaps, is there no local guide assigned separately…?”
“Hmph. That man, Shin Tae-gil, offered to provide an attendant, but I refused. First, I’ll look around this place with my own eyes, and if there’s anything I need, I can get explanations then.”
“Yes…”
So Shin Tae-gil had given permission.
As expected, she had no choice in the matter.
“Let’s go right now. The civilization here is quite fascinating. The food is quite good too. Unlike my first impression, this might be quite a pleasing place. Haha!”
Karl spoke carelessly as he walked out.
Twenty knights and mages followed behind him.
Olien walked quietly at the end with her head bowed.
‘I hope nothing happens…’
***
Ippotranslation
***
Badass Guild office.
“We received word of your visit. I’m Shin Seong-ah, vice guild master of Badass.”
Shin Seong-ah greeted the sudden visitors with a smile.
-Ms. Shin Seong-ah. I’m counting on you.
-Mr. Kang Hyeon isn’t here right now.
-Aren’t you the vice guild master, Ms. Shin Seong-ah? We can’t entrust this to Mr. Ahn Yu-seong…
Just an hour ago, Shin Tae-gil had called and earnestly requested this favor.
Shin Seong-ah had wanted to refuse, but she couldn’t ignore Shin Tae-gil’s request, so she eventually accepted.
“Prince Karl Heysers of the Heigran Kingdom.”
Karl Heysers looked Shin Seong-ah up and down.
‘I had expectations since they were said to be the strongest mercenaries… But this is below standard.’
Her magical power level didn’t appear very high.
At best, she might be equivalent to a knight commander of a rural territory.
She seemed incapable of even joining the royal knights.
“What is this space used for?”
Karl looked around with an arrogant expression as he spoke.
“This is the office that handles guild operations.”
“Operations… Is there no training ground?”
“There is one training ground for guild members.”
“I’d like to see the training ground.”
Having become somewhat familiar with this place, Karl was completely looking down on them.
‘They’re merely mercenaries.’
Shin Seong-ah treated Karl with utmost respect despite his attitude.
“I’ll guide you.”
The training ground wasn’t far from the office.
A moment later.
Karl entered the training ground and lightly expressed admiration.
“Quite a good number here.”
About fifty guild members were training in the training ground.
Since the guild members were told in advance about the guest’s arrival, no one paid attention to this area.
“What’s the size of your mercenary group?”
“We have just over 300 combat members.”
“Oh…”
Karl’s eyes showed interest.
‘If all 300 are at this level, that’s quite impressive.’
Though disappointed that Shin Seong-ah, the vice commander, was weaker than expected, the average combat power of the members seemed high.
Even on the continent, mercenary groups with this level and scale were rare.
‘This must be equivalent to the power of two or three knight orders of a typical territory.’
Karl, who was looking at the training ground with satisfaction, turned to Shin Seong-ah.
“By the way, how strong are you within the mercenary group? Being vice commander, are you second strongest?”
At those words, Shin Seong-ah pondered for a moment.
“Um… I’m not second. But I would probably be within the top five.”
“I see. Then how strong is that man over there?”
Karl’s finger pointed to a man.
It was Ahn Yu-seong.
Shin Seong-ah frowned upon seeing Ahn Yu-seong.
‘I definitely confirmed he wasn’t at the training ground… When did he come?’
Shin Seong-ah had checked that Ahn Yu-seong wasn’t there, just in case.
‘I wanted to avoid any clash with Mr. Ahn Yu-seong…’
Ahn Yu-seong was unpredictable.
He was a calculating man, but he also thoroughly followed his desires.
Therefore, he had thoughts that ordinary people couldn’t imagine and put them into action.
“I asked how strong that man is.”
Karl’s words snapped Shin Seong-ah out of her thoughts.
“He is also a vice guild master like me. Within the guild, he’s probably second only to the guild master.”
“So there are two vice commanders! I’d like to have a conversation with that man.”
At Karl’s words, Shin Seong-ah showed signs of concern.
“Right now, during training, it would be difficult…”
Just as Shin Seong-ah was about to politely decline,
“Sister. What’s going on?”
Ahn Yu-seong approached first.
‘Damn it.’
Shin Seong-ah swallowed a curse inside.
“This is a guest of the guild.”
“A guest? I hadn’t heard about this?”
“He’s a prince from the kingdom where Olien is from.”
“Ah…”
At Shin Seong-ah’s words, Ahn Yu-seong grinned.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Karl Heiseus, prince of the Heigran Kingdom.”
“I’m Ahn Yu-seong.”
Though Ahn Yu-seong didn’t show proper etiquette, Karl didn’t mind.
‘They said they’re ignorant of etiquette, so I, being generous, should endure.’
In Karl’s mind, humans were extremely ill-mannered.
Just looking at this Ahn Yu-seong in front of him, his body was covered in all sorts of bizarre drawings that made one’s brow furrow just by looking.
But he had something he wanted here.
He inevitably had to bear some discomfort.
“I’ve been watching a bit, and your skills seem quite good. How long have you been wielding weapons?”
“Hmm… About 2 years.”
“2 years! What amazing talent! What a promising fellow! Don’t you think?”
At Karl’s words, the royal knight standing beside him nodded.
“Yes. To reach that level in 2 years, joining the Royal Knights wouldn’t be unreasonable.”
“So Lord Beltio thinks so too!”
Karl smiled with satisfaction.
“Your name was An…”
“Ahn Yu-seong.”
“Right. Ahn Yu-seong! By the way, how much compensation do you receive from this mercenary group?”
“Nothing fixed, I just get paid for what I do.”
Originally, all employees and guild members of the Badass Guild had fixed monthly salaries.
Additionally, combat personnel received additional performance bonuses based on their achievements.
However, Ahn Yu-seong was originally wealthy enough for money to rot.
While he received money for handling dungeon by-products while traveling with Kang Hyeon, he didn’t have any fixed wages.
This was because Ahn Yu-seong himself refused it.
“To think they can’t properly support such talent…! I see this place isn’t living such an abundant life either.”
Not knowing this fact, Karl reacted exaggeratedly and clicked his tongue as if in pity.
“Say, would you consider working with me? I’ll recommend you to the Royal Knights. You might not know, but this is an incredible benefit.”
At Karl’s words, Ahn Yu-seong grinned and nodded.
“As expected! I knew you’d like it. When you join the Royal Knights, you’ll become much stronger than you are now! Not only will you enjoy the highest wealth and honor, but you can also have exclusive access to all sorts of beautiful women. You can do anything you want.”
“Yes.”
Things were going too smoothly.
Karl smiled and placed his hand on Ahn Yu-seong’s shoulder.
“Then quit this mere mercenary group right away and come with me. I’ll show you a new world that’s incomparable to anything you’ve seen before.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Of course, you’d say… What..?”
“I said I don’t want to.”
The atmosphere froze in an instant.
Shin Seong-ah, watching from the side, let out a deep sigh.
‘I knew this would happen…’
Eventually, an incident broke out.
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