Chapter 270: A Spectacular Beginning (1)

“As you requested, I’ve confirmed that there’s been no contact with the other four families.”

“Alright.”

“On the contrary, the Yukryeong Family is expressing their indignation about their representative disappearing. They insist it was absolutely not their will…”

“Well, I understand that much.”

The Voice, too, had picked up information about the renowned freelancers from outside.

It understood that the freelancer Mad Manson was famously not entirely sane, and that he had some sort of acquaintance with the wizard Van, also known as Adamant Thunder.

It was hard to accept that Manson vanished as soon as he contacted Van, but if their relationship wasn’t just acquaintance as widely known, but a strict hierarchical one, then it could be explained.

And if the Voice’s guess was right, then it would need to be even more cautious of the wizard Van.

“Van, huh… Van, Van…”

“…”

“He’s a difficult one. Does he know from the start that things would turn out like this, and is moving accordingly?”

It wasn’t hard to gather information about a wizard who not only confronted the Cartel head-on but virtually claimed victory.

The fact that no one thought Van had lost to the Cartel, even after his appointment as an external director, was proof enough of the wizard’s skill and status.

It was only natural that the fascination, awe, and fear surrounding him mixed to create countless stories.

However, among all the information the Voice gathered, there was no truth about Van.

His identity, origin, past, and inner workings. Not a single fact was properly known; only absurd rumors abounded.

Officially confirmed information was only what Van himself chose to reveal.

In this industry, crawling with all sorts of informants and skilled individuals, the Voice was even impressed by how cleverly and thoroughly Van controlled information about himself.

“There’s no particular reason for him to have set foot in the Fortress at this time, yet he cleverly hid his destination.”

“We can always create a pretext, but…”

“There are specific opponents you can force things on, and others you can’t.”

The Voice said sharply.

“What would the atmosphere outside be like if rumors spread that the Cartel’s external director was mistreated and driven out? He knows that well, which is why he walked into the Fortress so openly.”

“That’s…”

“I heard he clawed his way up from the bottom, but he seems to know how to use his position and authority well.”

The tone of the Voice turned chilling.

The Voice murmured softly.

“But the board is almost completely set. We’ve come too far for one person to muddy the waters. I’ll personally watch how far his arrogance can take him.”

Once the decision was made, there was no need to hesitate for long.

It wasn’t difficult to explain to Chen’s half-sister how he came to acquire the ticket.

The woman with her dark blue hair tied back silently gazed at the ticket for a long time.

“I’ve heard the story.”

It didn’t take long for a wry smile to cross her lips.

“That our father, consumed by greed, even sold off the right to appoint the family’s representative. I never imagined it would come back in such a way.”

“…”

She looked at Lennok for a moment, then stood up and turned her back.

“I apologize for making you come so far, but let’s pretend this never happened.”

“S-Soo-ryun, sis…!!”

Chen grabbed her shoulder, his face surprised as she turned away.

“You can’t give up. This is practically a miracle.”

“…”

“I don’t know why this man is offering to help us, but he’s on a completely different level. He can definitely break this situation!”

“On a different level…”

Lennok frowned at the compliment, which, while understandable given Chen’s excitement, felt like an excessive overstatement. Manson chuckled.

“Chen, you truly know nothing.”

But the woman called Soo-ryun frowned and pushed Chen’s hand away.

“I cannot accept that man’s offer precisely because I don’t know his reasons.”

“That is…”

“I’ve heard stories about him too. A wizard with such skill and acumen, capable of securing a position in the Cartel, what could he possibly lack that he would want to help us?”

Soo-ryun’s gaze sharpened.

“Now that father is dead and even our family members are scattered, if I can’t even protect what little I have left, I would be ashamed before my late mother.”

“…”

At Soo-ryun’s sharp words, Chen couldn’t readily reply.

That was because her rebuttal wasn’t merely a matter of pride, but the result of her choosing the best reality from her perspective.

Lennok also understood her position.

It was difficult for her, who didn’t know Van well, to blindly trust him, and the timing of his appearance, as if to boast, was too perfect in such a desperate situation.

Lennok briefly chose his words and opened his mouth.

“I don’t deny that my goal lies elsewhere.”

“That’s…!”

“But if I thought I couldn’t properly fulfill the role of a representative, I wouldn’t have come to you in the first place.”

With Lennok’s quiet words, the surroundings grew calm.

“If you’ve heard my name, you probably have a rough idea of what I do outside.”

“…”

“A freelancer’s trust is always guaranteed by requests and contracts.”

Lennok smiled faintly, looking at Soo-ryun.

“If we clearly state what each of us wants, couldn’t we have a more constructive conversation?”

It was, after all, a matter of trust.

Lennok, who was chasing the traces of the Guido Cult, was confident that the Oryun Family was not connected to the cult.

Conversely, Soo-ryun would find it difficult to place such trust in Lennok.

However, the solution itself wasn’t too difficult.

Since Van had openly revealed his face and entered the Fortress, it wasn’t hard to prove his past actions to Soo-ryun.

At least on the surface, Van was merely a suspiciously capable freelancer searching for spacetime-related spells or artifacts.

If they could just vouch for each other’s identities, Lennok could become the most suitable representative in this very place.

“Sister.”

Chen gripped Soo-ryun’s sleeve, his expression stiff.

“This might truly be an opportunity that won’t come again.”

“…”

“If he intended to kill or betray us, he wouldn’t have chosen such a cumbersome method.”

“My reputation…”

Is it really that bad?

Manson’s laughter grew steadily louder beside Lennok, who muttered uneasily.

Chen, undeterred by the slightly strange atmosphere, said firmly.

“I will take full responsibility and vouch for Van’s identity and abilities. If you wish, I’ll even write a pledge.”

“You’d go that far…”

Soo-ryun muttered, her expression greatly wavering, then finally sighed.

It didn’t take long for a decision to be made.

“So, what’s your plan?”

“What plan?”

After Lennok accepted the position of the Oryun Family’s representative, Soo-ryun, as if determined, began to summon her family members back.

Clinging to an already collapsed family was foolish, but an organization determined to rebuild would surely need people and resources.

Lennok sat on the rooftop observatory of the quaint wooden mansion, looking down at the people who appeared one by one.

“You know those people won’t be much help in reality.”

“Realistic of you.”

Perhaps because he was a natural businessman, Chen’s perspective and conclusions were indeed slightly different from others.

The gathering of family members to establish justification and organizational power as a family.

Chen had already concluded that Soo-ryun’s full-throttle efforts immediately after securing a representative were meaningless.

This statement didn’t stem from a lack of understanding about the importance of justification or the prestige of an organization, but from the fact that he didn’t strictly consider it advantageous in the current situation.

And by merely refraining from telling Soo-ryun that judgment, Chen possessed the qualities of an excellent businessman.

Before responding, Lennok pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and offered it.

“Care for a smoke?”

“…I suppose.”

As Chen reluctantly took the cigarette, Lennok flicked his finger, lighting it for him.

Chen’s face looked strange at the bizarre sight of the cigarette lighting up without him putting it in his mouth or drawing breath, but he still meekly held it and inhaled the smoke.

“Cough!!”

“…If you don’t smoke, you didn’t have to take it.”

“No. I actually smoke occasionally.”

Chen replied, coughing repeatedly.

“Whether one smokes or not is quite important in business, so I often join in.”

“So you don’t like it, then.”

“You can’t always do only what you want to do.”

Chen said, looking down at the Fortress’s night view with a complex gaze.

“Everyone’s like that… It’s just a matter of how much you acknowledge and accept that fact.”

“…”

“I couldn’t accept that fact and ran away from the family. My sister didn’t. Some might think it’s due to innate disposition, but I knew. My sister wanted to leave the Fortress just as much as I did…”

Lennok silently listened to Chen’s monologue.

He had sensed that Chen wanted to talk about Soo-ryun.

“Our father, steeped in pleasure, abandoned the family’s secret spear arts, but she mastered them alone and reached that level. She was too good to be tied to this dilapidated family and rot away.”

Indeed, Soo-ryun’s spear arts, briefly shown during their first meeting, seemed to be on par with Manson’s for a moment.

Although it was difficult to gauge the specific level, at that proficiency, she must certainly understand what mana property transformation was.

If she had reached that level through self-study, it was understandable for Chen to speak that way.

“That’s why, if you, Van, help us, my sister might give a different answer too.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. The reason doesn’t matter.”

Chen’s gaze turned to Lennok.

“You are beyond comparison to anyone I know.”

“…”

“Wasn’t it precisely because you never fell off the tightrope that you’re in that position now?”

Chen’s tone was calm, but his words were utterly scathing.

“I’m just betting that this wizard won’t fall off the rope this time either.”

“You’ve misjudged me.”

Lennok’s lips twisted faintly.

“If you think that, then you’re not looking at a wizard, but a clown.”

“…”

Leaving speechless Chen behind, Lennok stood up.

“It doesn’t matter. It won’t be bad to stand there and watch how long I can walk the rope.”

He adjusted his coat and started walking.

The more wealth and fame he accumulated, the higher his position and status rose.

The expectations and responsibilities placed on Lennok intensified in weight.

This man won’t fail, this wizard will win, this person will surely solve it.

He’ll overcome any disadvantageous situation, any absurd injustice, any unwinnable power dynamic.

It’s a misconception.

Lennok knew full well that he wasn’t such a great and remarkable person.

He didn’t even properly know his own future, and he had merely struggled his best to survive every moment.

And precisely because he deeply understood that, he wasn’t afraid of those expectations and gazes.

What he had to do was always set.

The resolve in his heart had never wavered.

He might stumble and get lost, but he would never sit down and stop.

That was all Lennok could answer himself.

“W-wait a minute.”

Chen, who had belatedly chased after him, urgently called out to Lennok.

“So where are you going?”

“You can only attempt a Proxy Battle to determine the Fortress Head if the numbers are balanced, can’t you?”

Lennok replied.

“Among the five families allied with the Ilwon Family, the Yukryeong Family’s representative is already on our side. So, if we win over the Paldun and Samyeong families, we can balance the scales.”

Becoming the Oryun Family’s representative didn’t mean the work was over.

No matter how confident Lennok was in his own power, confronting the representatives of the other seven families alone would be inefficient and reckless.

Fortunately, the Ilwon Family seemed to think the game was over once they secured a majority of five families, but Lennok believed there were still plenty of opportunities.

Chen said with a flustered expression.

“The Paldun and Samyeong families are in completely different situations than us. The Paldun Family has poor public sentiment within the Fortress, and conversely, the Samyeong Family’s prestige is so formidable that we hesitated to win them over, but the family itself has sufficient power.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Lennok’s eyes gleamed sharply.

His left eye rotated, emitting a vivid purple light.

“Just visiting them will give us a rough estimate.”

The eight families of Palgung Fortress each bore numbers in their names.

At first glance, it might seem like a simple identification number, but it was a designation indicating the order in which the families joined the ruling leadership of the Fortress.

Among them, it was natural that the Paldun Family, which was incorporated last, had a relatively lower status.

The problem was that even that relatively lower status was incomparably higher than the Oryun Family’s plight.

“How magnificent.”

Lennok murmured, observing the Paldun Family’s mansion with a scope from two blocks away.

Its size was similar to the Oryun Family’s mansion, but the density of people was on a completely different level.

Easily dozens of mana users. All of them were warriors who had undergone rigorous training, with only a couple of sorcerers assisting them.

At the top floor of the mansion, there were two aged mana signatures and one remarkably strong life-force signature.

They must be the Paldun Family’s Patriarch, a direct blood relative, and their representative.

“Can you do it?”

Chen looked nervous, while Manson, who had ambled along with Lennok, muttered in a bored tone.

[If worse comes to worst, it’s fine just to take their representative’s authority… but to do that, you’d have to flatten all of the Paldun Family’s forces first.]

A family’s representative is, quite literally, one who acts on behalf of the family’s will.

However, it was possible to seize that qualification through a duel between representatives.

This was because the institution of representatives was fundamentally created to handle internal political disputes within the Fortress more smoothly.

It was the result of building a symbiotic relationship where direct blood relatives of the eight families avoided being caught and killed in conflicts, and instead, distributed benefits through their representatives.

Lennok didn’t pay much attention to the Yukryeong Family after meeting Manson because once a representative was chosen, the decision couldn’t be overturned for a month.

Considering that the Proxy Battle for the Fortress Head would be held two weeks later, the Yukryeong Family had no choice but to bolster their numbers, whether they liked it or not.

It was the Yukryeong Family’s miscalculation, trying to elevate their family’s prestige by leveraging the capable freelancer Manson.

They probably never imagined that Van would have Manson on a leash.

As soon as Lennok heard Manson’s words, he stood up from the stone wall.

“These conditions are more than enough.”

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!!!

The rapid flow of mana gathering between his five fingers.

Chen’s and Manson’s faces turned pale as they belatedly realized his intention.

“W-wait…!?”

[What are you going to do right now?]

“The moment Manson joined me, the work already began. If I’m going to set the stage, it’s best to go big.”

Lennok replied.

At the same time, he unleashed the compressed, wild mana surging within his palm directly forward.

Common Impact Spell

[Shock Buster]

KWA-AAAAANG!!

A powerful shockwave exploded in front of the Paldun Family’s heavy iron gate.

The thick steel instantly crumpled and the gate was torn off, overwhelmed by an attack far surpassing ordinary physical force.

CRUUUNCH!!

“T-the main gate!!”

“Who’s the bastard?!”

Chaos erupted in the Paldun Family’s front yard. Warriors rushed out.

And Chen’s and Manson’s expressions were agape.

Lennok grinned and stood tall.

“I hope my greeting was to your liking.”

It was the beginning of the Proxy Battle.