TKWRG 4

Chapter 4

Leon Draconia Lionheart.

The Hunter Association and the government found themselves in a difficult position regarding the survivor who had crossed over from the third black gate to appear in thirteen years.

The survivor was a being from another world beyond the gate—an exceedingly rare occurrence.

They had each lived within their own cultures and environments, and among them were those who were arrogant or hostile toward Earthlings.

There was a war hero sealed within a wall of ice, and a vampire who had lived for eons.

There were descendants of dragons, and dwarves who dug underground tunnels and defended fortresses.

None of them were easy to deal with, and each had their own stubborn peculiarities, but they tended to acknowledge that their own world had been destroyed and were content to be treated as survivors.

The policy of each nation’s government toward survivors was the same.

Bring them in by any means necessary. If government affiliation was out of the question, at least have them settle within the country.

As survivors who had lived through destroyed worlds, many possessed outstanding combat abilities, and each had something exceptional about them.

Of course, not all survivors were accepted. Among them were quite a few whose values were simply incompatible with modern human civilization.

And among them all, the newest survivor—Leon—was a type no one knew how to handle.

“What do we do? Should we, like, perform court etiquette or something?”

“Um… I’ve seen some historical dramas, but…….”

Section Chief Kim Jinsoo and Deputy Han Hari of the Hunter Association wore troubled expressions as they looked at the survivor—and their benefactor—who had saved them.

Leon Draconia Lionheart.

He claimed to be the king of the Kingdom of Lionheart.

He called himself an agent of the gods, a demigod, and an honorable knight.

Judging by his speech and bearing, he was clearly a product of a rigidly hierarchical society. Three investigators had attempted to interrogate him in succession, only to be expelled with threatening behavior.

Seolleongtang and kimchi. He refused to eat them, calling them food for commoners.

Jjajangmyeon. He showed brief interest, but rejected it as a vulgar, low-class dish bound to splatter broth.

They tried offering him chicken, but that too was out—eating with one’s hands was unacceptable.

“……He guesses it every single time.”

“Tell me about it.”

He rejected Earth’s foods as commoner fare based purely on their appearance. Thanks to that, they had to procure dishes from the nearest high-end restaurant.

“Hari… You go first.”

“M-Me? I’m not good at that historical drama speech!”

“Still, he seems to have some fondness for you. I heard he even praised you.”

“He just said I was brave, that’s all…!”

Deputy Han Hari was deployed to deal with this difficult survivor. The consensus was that since she had received Leon’s favorable attention in the gate, she wouldn’t be chased out.

“Ugh…….”

Hari cautiously approached Leon, who was elegantly slicing a premium T-bone steak and drinking a 1993 vintage red wine.

“Y-Your Majesty… I beg your pardon for interrupting your meal, if I may be so bold?”

“The swordsman from that time. Sit.”

She wasn’t immediately chased out. Hari let out a careful sigh and clenched her fist toward the cracked magic mirror.

Believing that her colleagues on the other side were surely cheering her on.

“I-Is the meal to your liking?”

“Not bad. I can taste the chef’s care and long years of effort.”

“I am honored that you are pleased, ohhhh… I have committed a mortal sin by serving you lowly food, ohhhh…….”

“There is a misunderstanding.”

Setting down his knife, the golden-haired man spoke as if reassuring her.

“What I pointed out to you people was your attitude toward a king.”

“Wh-What do you mean by that, if I may ask?”

“When royalty meets a representative of another nation, they must be treated with dignity befitting their station. This is also connected to the dignity of your nation.”

“I-Is that so?”

“I will eat commoner’s food without complaint. I was not raised so rudely as to be picky about food on the battlefield. However, if you stand before me as representatives of your nation’s will, then show me dignity befitting that.”

In other words, he wasn’t throwing a fit over food.

Honestly, Hari thought he could have just eaten it, but come to think of it, when a foreign head of state visited, one didn’t serve them a Big Mac set from McDonald’s.

“I see. My learning is shallow, and I have been rude, ohhhh…….”

“Then it’s fine. By the way, you were called Han Something, weren’t you.”

“Y-Yes… This humble girl is called Han Hari.”

Leon did not tell Hari, who was awkwardly mimicking historical drama speech, to speak comfortably.

A king could not treat a commoner casually.

“I have heard the story of this world.”

“Ah…….”

Even while berating the investigators, Leon had steadily gathered information about this world.

The investigators had also done their best to explain Earth and its circumstances, so Leon had grasped a certain amount of information.

“It seems this place is also being invaded by something. Gates, you called them. They appeared in my world as well.”

“Is that so?”

It was a testimony that appeared consistently in survivors’ accounts.

Gates. Doors. Dimensional rifts.

Called by many names, but sharing common characteristics.

“Demons. Those wicked things appear on this Earth as well?”

“Y-Yes… They do.”

Hari had one mission.

The best outcome was to incorporate him into the Hunter Association under the South Korean government.

The next best was to settle him in this country called South Korea by any means possible.

The appearance of a survivor always drew the attention of every nation’s government. They employed every scheme to incorporate survivors into their own countries.

In the 21st century, the center of global espionage was practically the scouting of survivors.

Leon’s value? The moment one said “survivor,” it went without saying.

Combat ability? Already proven by multiple association staff members.

The problems would be his arrogant claims of a hierarchical society and his peculiarities, but in actual conversation, he wasn’t so unreasonable. Above all—

‘This person is absolutely confident in his own worth.’

Taking an arrogant stance toward residents of a completely unknown world was itself proof of confidence.

Among survivors, there were many who were naive or tended to bend somewhat before nations.

A single individual cannot defeat the massive collective that is a nation. They instinctively knew there was nothing to gain from making an enemy of one.

But this man, Leon, was the very pinnacle of pride and self-worth.

He confidently demanded what he did not know, and insisted that what he needed be brought to him immediately.

He was the ultimate product of a hierarchical society who considered himself noble—so of course he would be confident before anyone.

“Your Majesty… I beg your pardon, but if Your Majesty would permit, our South Korean government shall handle your arrangements going forward.”

“What does that mean?”

Hari slowly laid out his options.

The path of becoming a state-affiliated hunter.

The path of settling and finding another way.

Whatever he chose, the association showed its intent to spare no support for the survivor. She emphasized that the support would be tremendous, especially if he became a state-affiliated hunter.

The upper echelons of the association still didn’t know Leon’s value. But once that value was recognized, they would eagerly try to bring him to Korea.

“This place is being invaded by evil breeds. If one is an honorable knight, one must fight. Having settled in your world, I have a duty to march to the battlefield.”

“Yes, sir!”

Hari’s face brightened. Wasn’t he more reasonable than she’d thought?

Among survivors, many refused to enter gates or fight demons. They claimed they had no obligation to involve themselves in another world’s war.

And yet those same people never failed to collect their survivor settlement subsidies. Petty opportunists, they were called.

At least this person didn’t seem to be that kind of shameless individual.

“Then if Your Majesty joins the Hunter Association—”

“No. A king cannot enter beneath another king’s banner.”

Huh? What did that mean?

Hari wore a bewildered expression.

She had certainly considered the possibility that he wouldn’t join the government. She herself thought joining the association wouldn’t benefit him.

But if he was saying this, wasn’t he also refusing to join other hunter guilds?

“I shall establish my own new knight order in this world.”

At Leon’s declaration of ambition, Hari could only nod.

* * * *

“Things are taking a strange turn.”

Putting together Leon’s story, Section Chief Kim Jinsoo scratched the top of his head. Still, Hari offered a positive assessment.

“Isn’t it not bad? At least he has plenty of will to fight.”

“That’s true. And he doesn’t seem to be trying to go to another country.”

A survivor with conditions as good as Leon’s was rare among all survivors combined.

Sufficient combat power, the will to enter gates, and no hostility toward the current world.

The fact that he was a person from a hierarchical society was a slight flaw, but it wasn’t as if he acted against reason.

“Still, I nearly had a heart attack when he said he wanted to meet the president.”

“Ugh… They didn’t allow it, did they?”

“What if he swung his sword during the meeting? That person casually puts his sword into some dimensional space and summons it back.”

“He doesn’t even have a dimensional pouch—what principle is that even?”

If a survivor who suddenly snapped swung a sword at the president… that would be a national catastrophe.

“What are you going to do?”

“What else… We support him as much as possible.”

That was the conclusion reached at the end of the association’s meeting.

Win his favor and support him as much as possible so he settles in this land.

For that, it was worth trying even if it required an astronomical budget.

“Our country’s government is just too weak…….”

“It’s all because of those major guild bastards who only care about money and power.”

Korea’s chronic disease, entrenched and fixed in place, was still sickening the nation.

“Anyway, didn’t a crimson gate pop up recently before we entered the black one? Over in the Honam Plain.”

“Yes, the Firebird Guild took it.”

“I hope it goes well… If something happens over there, it’ll be a real disaster.”

Since the Cataclysm, dungeon breaks had occurred all over the world, devastating it.

The problem with dungeon breaks wasn’t simply the outpouring of monsters. When the gate’s rift opened, ‘maso’ leaked out along with the monsters.

Maso was a deadly poison that eroded space and cursed the land. Land eroded by maso required at least a year of purification before crops could be planted.

In other words, a dungeon break in a granary region was fatal enough to determine that year’s harvest.

“The Firebird Guild has S-rank hunter Lee Yongwan, though. Even a crimson gate shouldn’t be that difficult for them.”

“……Right.”

Section Chief Kim Jinsoo agonized over whether to tell Deputy Han Hari about the intelligence he’d received from the National Intelligence Service.

That the Firebird Guild had been showing suspicious movements ever since the government rejected their demand for exemption benefits.

-Beep!

“Huh?”

At that moment, both Section Chief Kim Jinsoo’s and Deputy Han Hari’s phones vibrated at the exact same time. With an ominous siren sound—beep! beep!

[Honam Plain Gate dungeon break occurred. All available personnel are on emergency standby.]

The two of them, upon confirming the message, shouted in perfect unison.

“Those Firebird Guild bastards!!”

* * * *

They must have thought that because he was behind the magic mirror, he wouldn’t be able to hear—but Leon was clearly grasping the sounds from the other side.

His blessed body had already transcended human flesh. He was a living saint—in other words, a demigod.

‘They seem to be in trouble.’

The dungeon break wasn’t the problem. The problem was that the dungeon break had occurred in a granary region of all places.

From what he’d heard, when a dungeon break occurred, the land was contaminated and crops couldn’t grow……

‘So it’s not here after all.’

Through this, Leon was convinced that ‘it’ was absent from this Earth.

The very fact that words like ‘poor harvest’ and ‘famine year’ were being spoken was proof enough.

‘Demera, are you well?’

He asked after her well-being through the ‘temple’ hidden within his heart.

────

She gladly responded to the agent of the pantheon.