Chapter 469: Continental Joint Training (4)
Honestly, I couldn’t even remember what the meeting had been about.
I could vaguely remember people thanking each other, talking about the justification and purpose of the training, as well as other strategic discussions. Other than that, we simply had to clarify the training empty talks.
After that, the only thing I could remember was a drinking party that was luxurious, even by my standards.
‘It was fun, though.’
It felt like the stress of the past few days had completely gone away.
‘As expected, South American people know how to have fun.’
They surely knew how to paint the town red. The way they properly polished the apple was also at a pro-level, and the women…
I felt a bit sorry for the common soldiers who had survived by having small rations as meals, but that was what was called corruption.
Our group’s professionals who stood at the center didn’t seem to care about such things at all.
If they did, there was no way they could’ve had a drinking party with the taxpayer’s money.
Of course, it was a valuable time for them. They must be thinking that last night was worth the money they had spent.
In fact, I focused on looking very satisfied. Some of the guys who succeeded in getting acquainted with me last night were probably screaming with happiness.
Most people knew how advantageous it was to be in close ties with the person who held the continent’s potion business.
The people in there were the ones who had a taste of power somewhere else, and they were professionals as well, so I naturally thought I was right.
Power was bound to get stagnant, and what was stagnant would rot.
Meanwhile, the majority of small and medium clans had ascended with blood and sweat. Though I found this funny, I didn’t find it weird at all.
It was rather strange that guilds or clans that could come to that place didn’t have a couple of dirty cases. When I saw the controversies about the large companies somewhere, the answer was revealed.
Considering that the Black Swan, as well as the Blue Guild, had been walking on a tightrope between legal and illegal, it felt more convincing.
‘These guys have gone too far… we at least have a conscience. Really, Blue is nice compared to them.’
Of course, normal guilds and clans also existed. There were representative guilds that had a sense of belongingness and represented a city like the Red Mercenary.
Those guys were usually different, starting right from their Guild Master.
Unlike the fat guys, they were proud of their battles, and they never stopped training.
The problem was that those guys were also of low level. They reminded me of the Friendship Clan members.
Among them, there proved to be some outstanding talents, but there were also about 20 people who could be said to be at the level of the eight seats of the State.
Honestly, I could consider it a miracle to have about twenty such people.
If I were to grade the average level of our people, they would have to be at a frozen C. I knew it would be impossible to aim for the level S, but even training our citizens to a level A would be enough to fight the upcoming threats.
I personally thought Kim Hyunsung had more thoughts than me.
He must be thinking that something was wrong. There was also a strong possibility that he was reflecting on himself about what went wrong in the previous round, and where it got twisted.
While looking at the second round result, which was made ridiculously fast, he opened the snack bag with his heart pounding, but nitrogen ended up occupying more than 90% of the bag.
In that bewildering situation, Kim Hyunsung seemed to have started panicking.
‘He’ll be wondering where to start fixing it.’
I had to worry about that, too. Honestly, I couldn’t come up with the right answer.
As I looked ahead, I could see the soldiers gathered on one side, breathing raggedly. The simulation battles of other countries that started a few minutes ago had just ended.
“Hahaha. After all, the power of the Iron Blood Knights wasn’t in vain. Even though it was a mock battle, I knew it would be easy to penetrate.”
“If it were a real war, we wouldn’t have been able to attack that way. It was a mock battle where half of the magic that the United Kingdom has couldn’t be used… the terrain shape wasn’t easy too. Rather, it’s embarrassing to have lost this much of the troops. If you had been able to use the right magic, it would’ve been our defeat. It’s, indeed, the magic army led by Gerhan of Hellfire.”
“It seems that the skills of the Iron Blood weren’t false rumors, either.”
‘…’
“But we’re not as skilled as Gerhan. Hahaha.”
‘What a load of bullsh*t. Really.’
The face of the heads of the two groups complementing each other was entertaining. Kim Hyunsung’s face, looking at them, was even more so.
‘Right. I understand what you feel.’
What he was thinking was quite obvious. The contents of the mock battle itself were ridiculous.
Nevertheless, what was Kim Hyunsung thinking when he could see those who were busy flattering each other? I wanted to get into his head and read his mind.
In the meantime, they came over and started to open their mouths.
“What do you think, Honorary Cardinal Lee Kiyoung?”
“It was amazing. I was particularly impressed with the magic army, led by Gerhan of Hellfire.”
‘Hellfire’s Gerhan, my ass.’
Compared to Jung Hayan, he was just a bonfire.
“It’s an honor. Even though I was defeated in the mock battle, I couldn’t even imagine that you would’ve thought that.”
“That’s because the terrain itself was not suitable for a castle defense battle. It was a terrain that was unfavorable to the army from the beginning. I know best than anyone how hard it was to block the knights while the front isn’t firm.”
‘In fact, I wanted to see how the magic army with the relatively weak front line would respond in that situation.’
There was no way that could be.
“Of course, I think it couldn’t be helped because the Iron Blood Knights’ breakthrough power was that strong… It was a good time to see how much the troops you two carry had grown.”
“Haha. This is embarrassing. Honorary Cardinal Lee Kiyoung is over complimenting me.”
“I just said what I felt, Gerhan.”
“Thank you. Oh… By the way, the next mock battle… Oh. It’s between the north and the west. Northern adventurers are famous for their pride… I think it can’t be helped to get a little rough, but… I hope there are no major accidents.”
The northern people seemed to have great pride, but no skills.
Excited northern adventurers walked into the clearly visible traps and ended up rushing suicide squads into the west people. I could see disassembled northerners, but I thought it might be more helpful that way. Still, they at least had the willingness to win.
It was enough to say that the childish joke from the Iron-blood and Gerhan was truly pathetic.
‘Those kinds of guys are the ones that screw up. Fuck.’
It was people like these that made the team lose.
Since he was worried about his troops’ condition, he didn’t push them hard. Since they were the troops who had to run their jobs immediately after the training was over, they might be worried about that, but the level of restraints on them was too much.
Of course, I could understand. People were properties on the continent.
Although there were potions or divine magic to help alleviate ailments, fatigue would still accumulate, and accumulated fatigue would affect the schedule afterward.
Even if I were in the manager’s position, I wouldn’t have exhausted my players. It was a problem that was directly connected to everything, including profits.
Of course, that was not the only reason those bastards were trolling.
‘Why are you hiding your power? These guys… The people who have nothing to show are the worst.’
There was also the fact that they were in a mock battle while hiding their power.
Kim Hyunsung wouldn’t be satisfied, but it was undeniable that if they fought with everything they had, it would eventually get better than that.
Even with low levels, they were adventurers who had grown up fighting. It was natural that there was a hidden card considering how much their lives were at stake.
There were a few things that were immediately visible with the Mind’s Eyes.
It was obvious why those guys were fighting in moderation.
They didn’t want to show all their strength to other countries, other clans, other guilds, other alliances, and other regions.
‘Do they think they’re the main characters or something?’
They were the ones that made it harder to watch the mock battles that were already hard to watch.
I was tired of reacting to them.
No, honestly, I wanted to wear a mask and smash them. Even if it was not exactly that, I wanted to give those that were not fighting with sincerity a blow.
‘Still, I should be patient.’
If I didn’t have anything in mind, I would never have been like that. There was only one reason why I was so perturbed.
If that kept going, it seemed that our Hyunsung would eventually explode. However, I thought it wouldn’t cause such a bad situation of he did.
Even though Light Kiyoung was chosen by Benignore, he wasn’t a returner, so it was also funny to say that he had to step up first and prepare for future threats.
Kim Hyunsung would’ve hoped for me to go forward with everyone, cheering them up, but rather, it felt that it was more effective to show my usual self.
The usual Lee Kiyoung laughed while working hard to manage the network, making the most of the given situation and moderately humoring others’ moods.
I still didn’t know if it would work out as I predicted, but it was unlikely that there was no possibility at all. Perhaps after a few days, Kim Hyunsung might think, ‘Although Kiyoung is aware of the upcoming threat…’
“…”
‘He doesn’t know how dangerous the threat is.’
The goal was to make him think that I was completely unaware. Perhaps that would get him to open up to me.
I would like to hear exactly what the threat was, how dangerous it was, and, if possible, the fact that he was a returner.
‘Shouldn’t I know what exactly I have to prepare for, Hyunsung?’
That was driving me nuts, but at that moment, I had no choice but to be patient.
‘Eventually, he will come to find me.’
I was certain that Kim Hyunsung’s patience wouldn’t prove to be that long.