LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 120
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“A strong person doesn’t just fall from the sky in a day.”
No matter how talented one is, they can’t split rocks right from birth.
Unless they’re a dragon, of course.
Even a general who shakes the earth was just a newborn baby once, growing up on formula.
It’s impossible to overlook the grueling effort and life-and-death combat experiences they went through to become a general. In short, strength isn’t something that appears out of nowhere; it’s built over a long time.
The same applies to the Lemegaton, which hides in the darkness.
The history of Lemegaton is surprisingly long, and most of the executives there have already made various records in society.
A prime example is Sephir, the leader of the 5th faction. Before even joining Lemegaton, she already had a stellar reputation as a Tower Master.
If one wanted to trace the pasts of the faction leaders, they certainly could.
…But the word ‘most’ implies that there are definitely individuals who don’t fit that description.
“Hey! So, are we doing a fireworks show for the city entry event?”
“But that will attract too much attention… We’ve barely escaped the eyes of the nations and just now got past the village level. Fireworks? I don’t want to have a welcoming for the Knights at my new house.”
“But fireworks are so pretty! Are you really going to ignore them?”
A notable example is Libya, the leader of the 3rd faction. Very few know of her past. I’ve heard that she has been with Lemegaton for a very long time, but hardly anyone knows when that was.
Perhaps only the assembly leader would know when she joined.
That means she has lived in the darkness for quite some time.
What little is known is that she has white hair and likes bright things. Also, she always walks around with an inscrutable smile.
“By the way, where’s Sephir? I have something to say. Oh, I need to tease her too.”
…There’s also the minor issue that Libya has a not-so-great relationship with the 5th faction leader. Technically, Libya is the one picking on Sephir, but still.
“Speaking of which, she’s on her way over. So, can you let me be for a bit? I already have enough headaches with money, and what’s with the fireworks?”
“Sob, why are you so harsh on me~.”
Still, due to her bright appearance, she got along well with a few select deities. Especially, she was close with Amber, the head of the financial management department.
After waiting a moment, Sephir finally appeared.
“I came because you called for me. What do you need?”
“Oh, it’s nothing special. You heard about the altar appearing, right?”
“Of course. I know the owner of the altar is Lord Beris.”
Beris is the name of the demon intending to manifest this time.
At Sephir’s answer, Libya brightly chimed in.
“Yes, so I was thinking of joining this time.”
“…Huh? Shouldn’t you be in charge of the city’s security? Securing talent and locating demons was clearly supposed to be my and the 4th faction leader’s job.”
“That’s because Sephir’s work is too poor~. You can’t even bring in decent talent, let alone find demons!”
“…What are you saying?”
At that, Sephir frowned slightly.
But it was only for a moment before Libya burst into laughter, continuing,
“Just kidding! Just kidding~ This time, a lot of adventurers will gather, right? I heard the announcement came out already.”
For a moment, Libya’s gaze narrowed.
“I’ve been holed up in the hideout for too long… So I thought I’d just burn everything down this time.”
That made Sephir feel a slight chill.
Just because she normally seemed bright and cheerful, her personality wasn’t all that great.
In fact, among the faction leaders, she was one of those with quite a twisted character.
Her hands were rough, and there was something off about her, especially when it came to adventurers; when killing them, she never hesitated.
Sometimes she even had severe hysterics.
Those who knew her might not notice, but those who hadn’t seen Libya for a while often felt fear instead.
So when such a person suddenly declared they would participate in combat, Sephir couldn’t help but worry. She didn’t like unnecessary bloodshed.
“It’ll be pointless to oppose. I’ve already gotten permission from the assembly leader~.”
Of course, the outcome was already decided from the moment Libya spoke up.
This time, Sephir would inevitably have to switch with Libya and take charge of guarding the hideout.
So Libya was set to participate in this battle.
***
“So, are you joining or not?”
“…Hmm.”
At Haneul’s words, I momentarily pondered.
If it was about dealing with a demon directly, that would be one thing, but heading out to destroy an altar didn’t excite me much.
Dealing with a demon at least had the chance to escape like Niki did in her rampage. An altar though? That didn’t seem appealing.
It would probably just lead to annoying fights. Might as well relax in a cave for the first time in ages.
Besides, I had just gotten an identification tag. I kinda wanted to visit the orphanage where I grew up after a long time.
Of course, I probably wouldn’t get a warm welcome… but still, I wanted to know how things were going.
But after a moment, I decided to just participate in the battle.
‘…I still need to post results anyway.’
Sooner or later, I hoped to reach S-rank as an adventurer. After all, being S-rank comes with perks when trading within the guild. There wasn’t really a reason to stay behind.
And I could always visit the orphanage anytime, right?
So I decided to follow her and join the mission.
…And departure was set for three days later.
According to Haneul, for such requests, the sooner you set out, the better.
In cases like the altar where you need to occupy a specific point, you inevitably end up in a siege situation.
So establishing a position first would be advantageous.
In fact, three days was quite late… Most seasoned adventurers had probably already set out by now. The distance was rather close, around two days’ worth.
This time, I was going with Yoo Chaerin and Im Haneul as always.
Chaerin, without the suppression of the Knights, seemed to have switched on the stream after a long time, chatting with her viewers.
“Today, I’m going to bring you some awesome scenes! My YouTube views have been dropping recently, so I’m in crisis right now!”
[That’s because you’ve been hunting boringly every day, right? LOL]
[Stop hunting, stop leveling up, stop hunting, stop leveling up]
[Let’s try capturing a lizardman… Part 1… Part 2… Part 3…]
Speaking of which, it felt like I hadn’t seen Chaerin in a while. Recently, she had been wandering around on the pretext of leveling up.
She probably felt slighted after not being able to contribute much during the Andras raid.
Leveling up is good and all, but… I felt a bit mischievous and asked her.
“Seems like it’s been a while, huh?”
“Ah, it really has. Hehe. I’ve been busy leveling up lately.”
[Now that’s the spirit]
[Why is she looking for views? There’s a view copier right there LOL]
[Our guild leader just barely reached A-rank while some start from A…]
[Honestly, A seems a bit lacking LOL]
[If that’s the case, why is the guild leader adventuring?]
[Ah LOL, just charmingly let a guy protect her LOL]
As soon as I asked, various reactions popped up in the chatroom. It was something I’d seen often, but today felt more intense.
News of her recently receiving the adventurer badge had made the rounds there too.
Well, there were many otherworlders in the guild back then, so it’s odd that word wouldn’t spread.
Nonetheless, that wasn’t what I cared about.
I felt a bit hurt because she had been roaming outside, and I hadn’t had the chance to show off my prowess lately.
I wanted to unleash my pent-up energy, but opportunities were hardly forthcoming.
So thanks to her, after catching Andras and returning, I hadn’t had much action in the last two weeks… not even twenty times.
…Huh? For not having done much for a while, isn’t that a decent number?
Sadly, my libido wasn’t satisfied with just that.
In fact, even a week felt long for me.
Thus, I quietly gazed at her, occasionally glancing at her chest and rear.
“…Hmm.”
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
She asked with an anxious look. I paused for a moment before replying.
“You should come visit my place soon.”
She twitched.
At my words, she momentarily shuddered. She didn’t show it, but it seemed she felt something inside.
Like a prey before a predator, her eyes trembled slightly.
But that was only for a moment; soon, Chaerin responded in a voice that seemed to crawl out.
“Y-Yeah, sure…”
I nodded satisfactorily at her reply.
And thus, we headed toward the altar comfortably, chatting and enjoying some food along the way.
“We’ve arrived!”
Upon reaching our destination, a large crowd had already gathered.
Tents set up by various adventurers and the Knights’ stronghold were clearly visible.
Given that the announcement had gone up a few days ago, many had arrived early.
‘Is this where the siege will take place?’ I thought, glancing around.
Then I casually approached an adventurer and asked,
“Do you know when the siege is going to start?”
Since I had joined on a whim, knowing when the battle would take place was an important factor for me.
That way, I could figure out when I would be able to return home.
However, as I asked this question, the adventurer wore a troubled expression.
It seemed as though answering was a hesitation.
“Uh… well…”
But after a moment, the adventurer sighed and said,
“The siege is already over…”
“Huh?”
“The altar has already been taken. We’re on our way back after having lost.”
“Eh.”
At that, I felt a brief shock.
It seemed that what I was looking at were indeed the remnants of the defeated.
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