79 – 15 – Party Formation – 4

After deciding to officially accept the request of the Union of Summoner Species Guilds, ‘Demander.’

Gi-jun was slightly expectant, wondering if this would finally be the time he used a teleport gate, but it was not to be.

The teleport gate required a base fee of 100 gold coins just to use it, and the usage fee increased exponentially depending on the travel distance—so to speak, it was like an international phone call.

It was something that everyone knew existed and recognized as convenient, but absolutely hated to be the first to use!

“It is not even a rate per trip but a rate per person, and on top of that, Leta points must also be consumed. Summoners are much more sensitive to points than Leta’s natives. There is no way they would support it.”

“Even though they were the ones who summoned us…!”

“Instead, they provided a means of transportation. Since we sent word from our side that we would accept the request, it will probably… arrive in three days.”

“A means of transportation? Three days?”

“Yes.”

Unika, who was checking the documents, said with a gentle smile.

“In the meantime, you should practice holding onto something tightly and enduring. All of the party members.”

“Hold on… and endure…?”

Gi-jun did not really understand what that meant, but he understood at least that he had to focus more on training the party members’ physical strength over the remaining three days.

This was the reason Ji-hye was run ragged not only during morning training but also in the afternoon and at night.

In the late afternoon, after working the party members to the bone and feeding them a delicious lunch to somehow help them recover, Gi-jun stopped by the mercenary guild.

It was to register the formation of the new party.

“I heard the news. A famous spirit summoner came by, right?”

In the private room he was guided to by an employee, the General Manager, who now felt almost familiar, welcomed him with a strange smile.

Sitting next to him was Bella, the very person who had brought Ji-hye to Turis and the sub-master of the Ars Mercenary Guild; seeing their pointed ears side by side, their close relationship was no surprise.

“Ah, you already know her, right? This is Lady Bella, the sub-master of the Ars Mercenary Guild.”

“I know. She brought the last member of our party.”

“How is she doing? She is a talent our mercenary guild is proud of.”

At Bella’s words as she put down her teacup, Gi-jun replied indifferently.

“She hasn’t died.”

“…What on earth are you doing to her?”

“Training. Together with our party’s youngest members.”

“Puhahaha! As expected, your way of thinking is different from ours!”

“I don’t know if I did a good job bringing her or not…”

Since he happened to see Bella, Gi-jun decided to ask her everything he was curious about.

“It sounded like you brought her to use as a personal secretary, but is it really alright to just give her to our party? Of course, I am very satisfied with her abilities.”

“That was just a pretext. I only brought her along because I wanted a talent who caught my eye to play an active role and grow. Seeing you, I was convinced. I had to attach her to you.”

“So that was indeed the case.”

Recalling the unusual flash in her eyes the moment she succeeded in pushing Ji-hye onto Gi-jun, she seemed to desire the growth of capable summoners, putting aside personal advancement.

“What about the rest of her party members? She was worried about them.”

“We already promised to give them full support at the guild level. And my word in the Ars Mercenary Guild is by no means light. It will probably be an even better opportunity for them, too.”

“Good, then that’s fine.”

“You care a lot about humans.”

At Bella’s offhand remark, Gi-jun stared at her silently.

She averted her eyes first.

“That was a slip of the tongue.”

“Puhahaha! Seeing Sister Bella get scared, today is really, ugh!”

The General Manager, who had been laughing cheerfully, bent forward in pain as if he had been stabbed by something out of sight.

Gi-jun looked at him as if he were a fool and put down a document he had brought along.

“It is the registration form. Since we updated our party members, I was told we must register anew to officially accept requests.”

“Oh, a party update. The party leader is, of course, Jun… and the members are Priest Laura, Hunter Gin, Spirit Summoner Scintilla, and Magician Ji-hye, making a total of five. With a priest, a spirit summoner, and a magician, it’s truly a luxurious party composition. The burden on the vanguard will increase, but since Jun is in that position, there’s nothing to worry about.”

The party name was, of course, newly decided, rather than something like Jahil.

Lumen, a Latin word that meant light, torch, radiance, or day.

It was a naming that made its intention clear, not only symbolizing most of the members composing Gi-jun’s party but also considering that they would be facing vampires.

“It’s grand—at least on the surface, there’s no room for anyone to complain. But.”

The General Manager, who let slip a strange remark as he received the registration form, suddenly tilted his head.

“By any chance, is there a request you already want to accept?”

“Demander, the Union of Species Guilds in Cor. Contact came through Unika. They probably made an official request to the Lord.”

However, for some reason, the moment he uttered those words, the facial expressions of both the General Manager and Bella distorted at the same time.

Facing that, Gi-jun’s face distorted as well.

“…It seems their reputation isn’t very good?”

“As you know, it is close to a delusion for various species from different civilizations to gather and harmonize. Even more so if it is an organization where summoners, not Leta’s natives, play the leading role.”

At Bella’s words, Gi-jun nodded as if he had already expected as much.

“The reason they called me is also due to internal conflict. A faction war held over the right to apply for a territory war? They said they need my help there.”

“Ah, a faction war. It is certainly famous… but you have become entangled in a very troublesome matter.”

Actually, Gi-jun had felt the exact same way as Bella when he first heard that.

“You will have to be careful. An alliance is just an alliance; if you look inside, there are only hungry ghosts fighting to take even a little more profit. Never show a weakness. Clearly distinguish your allies through magical contracts, and be thoroughly wary of everyone else.”

“Sister Bella’s words are right. Demander is certainly a massive group forming the backbone of Gratia—and though I understand what Lady Unika meant by bringing that request, she has never been outside of Turis… so she is a bit naive.”

Hearing the General Manager scratch his head as he spoke, Gi-jun understood why Unika had seemed so excited.

“Anyway, when you go to Cor, be careful even with a glass of water or a bowl of soup. Ah—well, this is a bit hesitant to say to a hero like you who fights against vampires, but still.”

The General Manager said with a bitter smile.

“If the faction of darkness is an easy enemy to understand, the faction of light is a hard enemy to understand. As a minority species, you probably know this even better, right? In the end, the only things you can trust are yourself—and perhaps those of the same species.”

Recalling Scintilla’s face at those words and feeling a complex emotion, Gi-jun glared at the General Manager as he spoke.

“Are you, who is of a different species than me, saying that?”

“Well, that’s because I’m practically half an NPC now—ow, ow, ow!”

Bella reached out and pinched the General Manager’s ear.

Even while doing so, she excused herself to Gi-jun with a cold expression.

“We are bound by complex magical contracts such as contracts with the guild, contracts with the Lord, contracts with the country, and so on, making it impossible for us to deceive you. So, while you do not have to agree with everything we say, please give it at least one more thought.”

“I know. I was just saying.”

He chuckled, replied, and was about to turn back after saying he would count on them once the official request arrived—only to turn his head as if he had suddenly remembered something.

“Was Scintilla very famous?”

“Yes, she is very famous. She is an established powerhouse to the point that it feels strange for her not to advance to the center of the continent. There are also many speculations that she has already reached the legendary boundary as a spirit summoner.”

“That probably isn’t the case, Sister. If she were Legendary-grade, she could run wild to her heart’s content even in the great Empire of Tyrannus, so why would she only wander around border countries?”

“Hmph, do you think Unique-grades are common enough to be kicked around in Tyrannus? Even at the intermediate Unique-grade, it isn’t hard to become the master of a guild in Tyrannus.”

Gi-jun was impressed, thinking that Tyrannus indeed possessed a high standard.

An intermediate Unique-grade would be treated as one of the few powerhouses in Gratia, yet they were only around the level of a guild master in Tyrannus.

No, should he feel glad that it was at least a guild and not a clan?

“But… what you are curious about isn’t her strength, is it?”

Gi-jun was startled at the General Manager’s voice, which flew in sharply at that moment.

“I also only learned about the Flame Human species after meeting you, but when I investigated a little, Scintilla’s name popped up immediately. There was a rumor that she was a survivor of the minority Flame Human species, and since she joined you under these circumstances, the rumor gained credibility.”

“…So that was indeed the case.”

“It might be fine for you since you walked around openly displaying your identity from the start, but Scintilla is someone who, despite hiding her identity all this time, set everything aside and rushed here the moment she heard about you. This might sound funny coming from me, but—I hope you pay some attention to her.”

At the General Manager’s words, Gi-jun’s eyes narrowed on their own.

Was that not something that went without saying?

“As long as she belongs to the same party, she is one of my people. No matter what happens, I will protect her.”

“Whew, I’m practically falling for you—ouch!”

At Gi-jun’s firm voice, the General Manager whistled, but he was struck by Bella again and grimaced.

Watching the two bickering, Gi-jun could not overcome his curiosity and asked.

“So, what is the relationship between you two?”

“We are siblings. Half-siblings with different mothers.”

“…I have been hearing that kind of story a lot lately.”

“That’s how the world goes! So, our hero should also take good care of his lower half, okay?”

“Mind your own business.”

“Ah, wait! Take this.”

Snorting, he was about to turn and leave completely this time, but the General Manager, who was clutching his head in pain after being hit by Bella, grabbed him again.

What was held in his hand was a rather thick stack of documents.

When Gi-jun received it and checked, it was none other than data related to the Flame Humans.

“Since you were curious about Scintilla, I thought it would be best to hand over the materials I researched about the Flame Humans. You probably know well already, but—wouldn’t it be good to also know how other species view the Flame Humans?”

“I accept it with thanks. …It seems confidential documents are also mixed in.”

“You catch on quick. Read it alone and burn it.”

Giving a chuckle to the General Manager who laughed gloomily while speaking like someone out of a spy movie, Gi-jun said goodbye to the General Manager and Bella, who was shaking her head, in turn, and left the guild.

Leaving the guild, Gi-jun walked down the street while plagued by various complex thoughts.

Scintilla, Ji-hye, species, Demander… Cor, vampires.

―What is there to think so hard about? I can read all the malice or murderous intent approaching the contractor! Then we can just destroy them all!

‘Yeah, Lucy. I’ll count on you in the future as well.’

However, at the same time, he recalled what had happened inside the ruins he had visited this time.

A disaster and sacrifice that could not be blocked by his strength alone.

Even if Gi-jun could protect his own body, his party members could still fall into danger in the blink of an eye.

To prevent such things—as expected.

The best way was for the party members themselves to become stronger!

“I must run them ragged as much as possible before we go.”

―Ah, so that’s the conclusion.

Lucy silently offered a silent prayer for the members of the Lumen party, who would shed tears of blood.

Thus, for three days, everyone in the party rolled around, repeating their rigorous training.

Along with the delivery of the equipment they had commissioned to the Glitter Workshop, the means of transportation sent by Demander arrived.

* * *

Ye-min’s party, now reduced to three members, was indeed able to enter an efficient Rare-grade dungeon managed directly by the guild, partly due to Bella’s guarantee.

Although there was a fatal weakness in that all three of them were close-combat classes, it was not difficult for them to adapt to hunting in the dungeon, as all three were outstanding talents even among Earth’s humanity.

“It is boring without Hye-ji.”

“We really should have bought that thing called a Letaphone somehow.”

At Ye-min’s muttering, Eun-shin quickly chimed in.

Mok-su, who was tending to his wounds alone, snorted at those words.

“Even the cheapest one costs over 30,000 points, so how on earth are we supposed to buy it? And two of them, at that.”

“Ugh, still, when I think that something might happen to Sister Hye…”

“She went with a trustworthy person, so she’ll be fine.”

Nodding his head as if hoping that was the case despite saying it himself, Mok-su suddenly spoke.

“Could it be that Hye will look for that fellow Jun?”

“I don’t really like that.”

When the gazes of the two men fell upon Ye-min, who had casually muttered those words, she waved her hands in a panic.

“Ah, it’s not that I don’t want to meet Oppa Gi-jun! It’s just that I hate the thought of Hye-ji meeting Oppa Gi-jun first! Because I’m jealous…!”

“So that was the part you wanted to excuse.”

“Ugggh, seriously, why did Hye-ji go instead of meeee?”

“Well, that’s because Sister Hye is the only one in our party who has the ability to support someone else…”

Eun-shin, who replied with a sigh, added, “Ah.”

“Still, since they said they would somehow let us participate in the quest, let’s wait. While raising our levels diligently until then.”

“…True.”

Nodding her head firmly at those words, Ye-min’s eyes flashed as she looked at Mok-su.

“First, let’s get Uncle’s species to Rare-grade.”

“Heh, your eyes are scary.”

However, when they returned to the city after leveling up so intensely, there was a man unexpectedly waiting for their party.

Had that man been Gi-jun, it would have been the reunion Ye-min had dreamed of.

“I’ve been looking for you for a while! Hey, you guys should join the human guild—Union, too!”

Unfortunately, the man waiting for her was not Gi-jun, but Choi Kang, one of the other three representatives of Earth.