LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 98
“Is everyone gathered?”
“Yes!”
The trainees returned, their faces brightened as they gripped their weapons in hand.
There were many spears and shields suitable for beginners, and some trainees held hammers or maces.
Diltilli had a sword similar to that of Kim Il-shin.
I had taught them the basics of handling weapons before.
While using weapons in practical situations was another matter, none of the trainees looked awkward holding them.
“Finally, it’s actual training…!”
“I told you it wouldn’t take long, didn’t I?”
“Whew… I wonder how the practical training will go. Diltilli, don’t you know anything?”
“No, I don’t either. But… I’m going to give it my all.”
The trainees’ faces were filled with anticipation. Diltilli also appeared excited.
However, the atmosphere shifted abruptly with Kim Il-shin’s next words.
“Do whatever it takes to survive against me. I’ll start counting down from now, 5 minutes.”
“…Huh? M-Master—”
“Prepare… begin.”
Immediately, Kim Il-shin’s gaze revealed various scenes of the trainees gathered before him.
Most of them exhibited behaviors that should never be shown in a real situation.
There were some running away in panic, others hiding behind shields, and a few charging in while screaming.
Diltilli and Roham seemed to be trying to respond calmly, but they had far too many openings.
‘Did I give them too much time?’
It seemed like it would take less than a minute, not even five.
But there was no reason to be disappointed. Such sights would disappear soon enough.
“Uagh! Just give me one chance! Ugh!”
“W-Wait a second— Ugh!”
“Uwaaaa! Gah…!”
Kim Il-shin, with a peaceful expression, hunted down the trainees one by one.
He suddenly realized that quite a bit of time had passed since he came here.
A thought arose in his mind.
‘I wonder how things are going over there.’
He thought of Kim Tae-sang and Park Eun-ho, who were diligently searching for the location of the Jeokcheon Church altar.
*
As Park Eun-ho walked down the underground corridor of the Hero Association, he opened the door to the office at the end of the hall.
Inside the stuffy office, where no sunlight entered, he spotted Kim Tae-sang.
He was sitting in front of a desk overflowing with paperwork and computer equipment, eyes closed, mumbling to himself.
“Where are you? Show yourself….”
Seeing this, Park Eun-ho quietly stood at the entrance without recklessly entering.
He was careful not to make the smallest sound that could disturb him.
It seemed he was using his abilities; he didn’t want to interfere until it was over.
While waiting, Park Eun-ho glanced around at the piles of documents piled up around Kim Tae-sang.
He couldn’t believe it had only been two days since he started working; there was an enormous amount of information accumulated.
‘No matter how many times I chew it over, it’s an incredible ability.’
[Heaven’s Eye]. A power that allowed him to empathize with birds and share their vision.
Just hearing the name brought forth countless potential ways to utilize it.
[Huh? Oh… it’s nothing special. It’s just a power to eavesdrop while hiding.]
He was underestimating his ability, but in Park Eun-ho’s eyes, that was absolutely not the case.
There was probably no one in the world besides Kim Tae-sang who could extract the potential of [Heaven’s Eye] to such an extent.
The sheer number of birds he had spread across the world was staggering.
Managing so many birds and compiling each piece of information wasn’t easy at all.
For an ordinary person, merely sharing vision with tens of thousands of birds would be mind-blowing.
‘No one could demonstrate such performance.’
That’s why rumors spread about Kim Tae-sang being the leader of the Crown Guild.
No one would think that he had accumulated that much information all by himself.
‘The more I see, the more I crave it.’
It was a shame to let such a valuable ability rot away, doing requests without knowing where it would be useful.
Park Eun-ho was determined to pull Kim Tae-sang into the open no matter what.
Of course, locating the altar was the top priority.
“Whoa!”
At that moment, Kim Tae-sang suddenly jumped up from his seat.
Before Park Eun-ho could ask anything, sensing something was off, Kim Tae-sang exclaimed excitedly.
“I found it…!”
There was no need to ask what he had found. Park Eun-ho placed a hand on Kim Tae-sang’s shoulder.
“What’s the location?”
“Gyaaaak! …Ah. It’s you, Team Leader? …Ahem. Come here.”
Standing in front of a blackboard documenting the movements of the Jeokcheon Church followers, Kim Tae-sang began explaining.
“I mentioned I would track individuals suspected of being cult members whose recent locations weren’t specified. But these guys were elusive; it was as if they had dug tunnels or something, I couldn’t find their movement trail.”
“That makes sense. They’d try to hide as much as possible.”
“So I gave up on pinpointing one and noted every instance they were spotted, even for a brief moment. That’s this map.”
Park Eun-ho looked at the world map attached to the blackboard.
There were countless red dots scattered across the globe, so many that they didn’t register all at once.
But there was one area covered particularly heavily in red dots.
Far East Asia. Most notably, South Korea had the highest concentration.
“After seeing this, I resumed detailed tracking. By continuously pursuing a few visible individuals, I started narrowing down the range, and little by little, outlines began to show. And just now! I found something!”
As Kim Tae-sang pointed to a spot on the map, Park Eun-ho couldn’t help but be surprised.
“This is… the Academy?”
“Yes. All movement stopped here. They absolutely must be nearby. After checking everywhere up and down, it seems they’re hiding some sort of magic.”
“Are you sure?”
“…….”
Kim Tae-sang hesitated, unable to answer Park Eun-ho’s question easily.
It was a conclusion drawn after giving it his all, and he had confidence.
But as the thought that countless lives depended on this answer crossed his mind, he hesitated.
He still found it hard to shoulder that responsibility.
Park Eun-ho saw through Kim Tae-sang’s hesitation.
“I’m the team leader.”
“What…?”
“I’m also the one making the calls. For that, I first need to hear the opinion of the most trustworthy team member in this field.”
Kim Tae-sang looked up at Park Eun-ho with a wavering gaze.
There was a deep resonance inside him.
“I’ll ask you again. Are you sure?”
In the end, after shaking off his lingering doubts, Kim Tae-sang answered with unwavering conviction.
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“Good. You’ve done well so far.”
“…Huh?”
Park Eun-ho pulled out the items he had brought with him.
They were Volumes 3, 4, and 5 of the [Living Magic Manual], which Kim Tae-sang had been searching for desperately.
“T-This….”
Still in shock, Kim Tae-sang took the books and looked at Park Eun-ho with confusion.
He never imagined he would receive them now.
“You’ve been searching for this for a long time, right? I had a friend bring them. I figured it was good timing since I got them right away just so you wouldn’t tire yourself out.”
“Wait, you were going to give this to me from the start? Why….”
“I have no intention of taking hostages against my teammates. And I believed that you would work hard even without these.”
“…….”
Kim Tae-sang couldn’t comprehend Park Eun-ho.
They had only worked together for three days at most.
There were things from Park Eun-ho’s past that a hero like him would hesitate to associate with, having operated underground as an information dealer.
‘But why would you…’
Why would he extend such heavy trust and goodwill towards him?
Kim Tae-sang couldn’t find the words and repeated opening and closing his mouth several times.
His mind was a jumble.
He felt like he wanted to say something, yet it was hard to recall what it was.
While he was tangled in thought, Park Eun-ho patted his back and said.
“You’ve worked hard. One last piece of advice: it’s better to stop being an information dealer now. It’s not fitting for someone as good-natured as you.”
“…Good-natured? Me?”
“I can tell just by looking in your eyes. Have you ever crossed the line even once while working as an information dealer?”
The question of whether he had ever caused innocent victims by selling information.
Kim Tae-sang was proud regarding that matter.
“No, I haven’t.”
“Then that’s good. There may be minor issues here and there, but as you know, I’m not such a rigid person.”
Saying that, Park Eun-ho flashed a warm smile.
Kim Tae-sang never expected to see such a face from someone he had thought was difficult and fearsome.
Park Eun-ho gave Kim Tae-sang’s shoulders a light pat before walking toward the door.
“Oh.”
As the door partially opened, he paused as if a thought occurred to him and turned his head.
“Still, it’s better to stay here until the job is completely done. There could be dangers outside. Let me know if you need anything.”
“U-Um…!”
“Hmm?”
Just as he was about to finish speaking and head outside, Kim Tae-sang opened his mouth.
Park Eun-ho’s final words provided Kim Tae-sang with a perfect excuse.
“……I’ll help a bit more. There’s nothing else to do while waiting anyway. And if things go wrong, I’ll be in danger too. So I’ll only help until it’s completely over.”
“…Is that alright? You’ll probably regret it. Since I know your abilities, I’ll have no choice but to rely on you heavily. I won’t even get a good night’s sleep with surveillance and information gathering.”
“Well, that’s just my everyday life. Plus, it’d be awkward just to sit around.”
With a sheepish smile, Kim Tae-sang replied.
Park Eun-ho stepped forward and extended his hand, and Kim Tae-sang took it.
“Then I look forward to working with you.”
“Yes!”
Shaking hands with Kim Tae-sang, Park Eun-ho thought.
‘An expression of trust and certain compensation. A tremendous means to acquire talent.’